Note 4 at Gal. 3:2: In today's English we would say, "Just tell me this" or "Let me just ask you one question."

Note 5 at Gal. 3:2: Paul is the one who shared the gospel with these Galatians. He knew they received the Spirit by grace because that's how he ministered it to them. Now he's reminding them of this. The obvious answer to this question is that faith alone produced the dramatic change in them. If they started by faith, how could they be so stupid to think that now they have to earn the favor of God?

Colossians 2:6 says, "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him." That means if you were saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8), then that's the way you should continue to walk with the Lord. Yet it is a common mistake for people who come to the Lord, "Just as I am, without one plea" to fall back into the deception that they have to be holy enough for the Lord to answer their prayers. That's inconsistent and it's what Paul is pointing out here.

We often extend grace to the drunk or prostitute who are not born again. We tell them of God's love and how He wants to help them. But let them get born again and then sin again, and the very people who told them how much God loved them before they were saved will now damn them to hell for the slightest infraction. If that was really the way things were they would be better off to wait until their last breath to get saved so that God would keep loving them. That is not the gospel. We are not started by grace then maintained by works (see note 9 at Gal. 2:16, p.1062).