Category: Galatians

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Galatians

What really counts

Galatians

Paul closes this letter by basically summarizing all that he has said in it. And here he discounts all that doesn’t really count for anything in this world.

  • What others think of us doesn’t matter, particularly their approval (Galatians 6:12).
  • Our own efforts to keep the law don’t matter. None of us can keep it perfectly anyway, and that’s the standard if you’re trying to gain God’s approval through the law (Galatians 6:13a).
  • Our pride in what we have “accomplished” for God doesn’t matter. Particularly if we are mistaken about what he approves of (Galatians 6:13b).
  • Circumcision or uncircumcision, rituals, and mere outward religious practices that don’t have any effect on the heart mean nothing (Galatians 6:15a).

We have died to all these things. And these things are dead to us. At least they should be (Galatians 6:14).

Instead, there is only one thing that really counts. The new creation that we become because of what Christ did on the cross (Galatians 6:14-15).

Our lives are not a matter of reformation through our own efforts, but of retransformation through the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s what counts.

Paul told the Galatians,

Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God. (Galatians 6:16)

The Judaizers told the Galatians, “You become part of the Israel of God by getting circumcised and following the law of God.”

Paul told them, “No. It is only by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit as you put your faith in Christ that you become God’s people.”

The result when we truly understand this?

You find peace, in contrast to the strain of trying to keep the law of God in your own strength. And you start to truly understand God’s mercy in your life, realizing you are no longer under any condemnation.

How about you? Are you trying to live the Christian life in your own efforts? Is it your focus on being the “good Christian” by trying to keep the rules?

Or are you resting in the grace you have received, walking with the Spirit each day, and following his leading?

My prayer for you is the same as Paul’s.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers (and sisters). Amen. (Galatians 6:18)

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Galatians

Biblical principles: The seeds we sow

Sowing seeds

I would have never made a good farmer. I remember as a kid trying to plant a seed. I can’t remember if it was from an orange or an apple, but either way, I wanted it to grow right then and there. And when it didn’t, I swiftly dug it up.

Farmers need patience, and I was in short supply of it.

In this life, we all sow seeds. Unlike my childhood sowing experience, however, there’s no way to dig up those seeds. And ultimately, we will reap what we sow. Paul writes,

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8)

There were probably some in the Galatian church and in other churches for that matter that tried to twist the teaching of Paul.

Because Paul taught salvation by grace alone through faith, they said, “Well, Paul must mean then that we can live however we like. We can just sin and trust that Jesus will forgive us anyway.”

But Paul says, “God is not some naive fool to be underestimated or trifled with. He knows your heart and he knows all you do.

And if you claim to believe in Christ and yet all your life you are merely living to please yourself, he will see right through your claims of faith and see you for who you really are.

So even if you somehow avoid the results of your sinful actions here on earth (and I wouldn’t count on that), you will reap destruction when you face God on judgment day.

If on the other hand, you truly love God and live to please the Spirit, you will ultimately reap eternal life.”

He then exhorts us,

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)

It can be disheartening to serve God at times because we don’t always see the results right away. We are a fast food society, expecting things on our plate instantaneously. But seeds take time to grow. They don’t grow in a day.

And the same is true of the seeds we plant in living to please the Spirit. Sometimes we don’t see the results right away. There are some seeds whose fruit we will never see in our lifetimes.

But Paul assures us, “They will grow. So don’t give up. Don’t faint from exhaustion and despair. You will reap the rewards of what you sow, and most importantly, you will reap eternal life.”

What does this mean for us practically? Paul says,

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Galatians 6:10)

One important way to please the Spirit and show our love for him is to bless those he has put around us. God has called us to be a blessing, to our family, our friends, our coworkers, and especially to our fellow Christians.

And if we focus on that, in the end, God will make sure we reap the benefits of it.

What seeds are you sowing?

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Galatians

Lifting those who lift you

Galatians

Pastors have a hard job. I certainly wouldn’t want to be one unless God specifically told me to do so.

Not only do they have to prepare the Sunday message, they have to constantly deal with the people within the church.

And on top of taking the burden of their people’s problems, they inevitably have to deal with complaints and criticisms along the way.

I doubt there is a church that exists where all the people are satisfied with their pastor and their church.

Our pastors have their own load to bear, the load Christ has given them in leading the church, but also in leading their families as well.

And with all the complaints and criticisms that get heaped on beyond that, that load can swiftly turn into overload.

I think Paul recognized that. And so while he told the Galatians that each person needs to carry their own load, he swiftly went on to say,

Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. (Galatians 6:6)

In other words, our pastors and teachers feed us spiritually and lift us up. But they too need support with their burdens as well. So let us provide that support in whatever way we can.

Certainly, we should be providing financial support so that they can support themselves and their families, giving them the ability to focus on the load God has put on them to lead the church.

But I also think we need to share our words of encouragement and our prayers for them as well.

It’s so easy to see our pastors as super-Christians. To forget that they are just human as we are and need support just as we do. I forget that too sometimes.

So let us make a conscious effort to lift up our pastors. To pray for them, and let them know that we are doing so. To email them, or better yet, call them with a word of encouragement.

In short, let us be a blessing to our pastors.

How about you? Are you a blessing to your pastor?

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Galatians

Focusing on what God has given us to do

Galatians

It’s amazing, but on this day 20 years ago, I moved to Japan for the first time. Over these past 20 years, I can honestly say I have seen God work to touch the lives of people through me.

At the same time, I can’t help but wonder how much I have really accomplished. I can’t help but wonder if I couldn’t have done more. I don’t know.

It would be so easy to compare myself with others and what they’re doing and get discouraged. There are others that I can look at who probably have a lot more to show for their ministry than I do.

And it’s humbling.

So as I look at these verses and meditate on them, they really make me think.

Paul tells us,

If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. (Galatians 6:3)

If there is a humbling verse it’s this one. Because the truth is, none of us are really anything.

We’d like to think of ourselves as something, but the truth is, all we are are unworthy servants simply doing our duty. (Luke 17:10)

If we think we are more than that, we are only fooling ourselves. The only question we need to ask then is, “Am I doing my duty well?”

And so Paul says,

Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load. (Galatians 6:4-5)

In other words, because we are God’s servants, each with our own individual duties which he has assigned to us, it’s a waste of time to compare ourselves to others and what they’re doing. Instead, we simply need to focus on what God has given us to do.

And any pride that we have in the things we have done for him should not come from thinking how great we are, or how much better we are than others.

Rather any pride we feel should come from Jesus saying to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

So whenever we are tempted to compare ourselves to others, we should remember the words Jesus spoke to Peter when the latter asked about John and his destiny:

What is that to you? You must follow me. (John 21:22)

What are you focused on in your life?

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Galatians

The fruit of the Spirit in our relationships

Galatians

A lot of times, we think of our relationship with God merely in terms of how we relate to him. We think, “Am I reading my Bible? Am I praying? Am I going to church?”

But as we look at our relationship with him and how spiritually healthy we are as Christians, an important gauge of these things is how we relate to others.

We see this throughout this entire passage.

It seems that within the midst of this controversy about circumcision and the need to follow Jewish law, a lot of interpersonal relationship problems were popping out in Galatia: discord, dissensions, and factions, jealousy and envy, and the provoking of others to anger.

And so Paul warns them,

If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. (Galatians 5:15)

He then shows us the fruit that should be seen in our lives as we deal with each other: love, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness. (Galatians 5:22-23)

And as we saw yesterday, he told the Galatians, “You crucified your old way of life. Don’t go back to it. Don’t indulge in it. Rather, walk each day in step with the Spirit.

But you can’t do that when you’re conceited, constantly provoking and envying one another.” (Galatians 5:24-26)

How then should we act toward each other? Paul becomes fiercely practical in chapter 6. He says,

Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)

Two of the major problems with legalistic Christianity are pride and condemnation. Pride in that “I’m good,” and condemnation in that “You’re not.”

And so it’s possible in Galatia that whenever someone fell into sin, the others fell on that person like a pack of wolves.

But Paul says, “Are you truly spiritual? Are you truly led by God’s Spirit in your life? Is his fruit coming out of your life? Then this is what it looks like: Gentleness. Kindness. Love. Patience.

It’s with that spirit that you should deal with that person. Don’t look to destroy them. Look to restore them.

And do it with a spirit of humility knowing that you are weak too. Know that you can fall too. So don’t just look at other people’s faults. Keep watch on yourself as well.”

Paul says further,

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)

Looking at the context, it seems that Paul is specifically talking about supporting others when they are burdened with the guilt of their own sin and their struggle against it.

And he says, “Do you want to fulfill the law of Christ in your life? Don’t be devouring those who are struggling with sin. Support them. Pray for them.”

This of course extends beyond simply dealing with others’ sins to every part of their lives. When a person is struggling with problems that are beyond their ability to handle, stand by their side and support them.

That’s what a truly spiritual person looks like. Not just reading their Bibles. Not just praying. But bursting with the fruit of the Spirit in all their relationships.

I have to admit, I’m not sure my life always looks like that. But I want that. How about you?

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Galatians

A whole new way of life

forest

We talked yesterday about staying out of the pig sty of sin that we were set free from. But once again, Paul reminds us that this is not a matter of keeping the law in our own strength.

Rather, he says,

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. (Galatians 5:16-17)

Notice he does not say, “Live by your own ability to keep the law and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

Rather, he says live by the Spirit. The picture here is of walking in the leading of and by the power of the Spirit each day.

In other words, we shouldn’t just be reading our Bible and praying in the morning, and then saying, “Okay, God. I’m outta here. See you later.”

Rather, we should be saying, “Holy Spirit, walk with me today. Help me to hear your voice throughout the day. And help me to do the things you desire me to do.”

And Paul says that if we do this, there is no way we will fulfill the desires of our old rebellious heart.

Why not? Because what our old rebellious heart desired is completely different from what the Spirit desires and vice-versa. All our old habits and attitudes are in constant war with what the Spirit desires to do in our lives.

That’s why we still struggle with sin even to this day. Paul talks about that struggle in Romans 7:14-25.

But if we learn to hear his voice moment to moment, day to day, and let him lead us, he’ll lead us in a direction totally opposite from where our old habits and attitudes would take us.

The thing to remember, though, is life under the law is totally different from life under the Spirit. Paul makes this crystal clear, saying,

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. (Galatians 5:18)

How are the two ways of life different?

Life under the law is lived in our own strength. Life under the Spirit is lived in his strength.

Life under the law leads to feelings of condemnation. Life under the Spirit causes us to cry out, “Abba, Father.”

Again, though, life under the Spirit is totally different from life under sin. Paul goes into this long list of what a life under sin looks like, and it’s pretty ugly. (Galatians 5:19-21)

He then makes it crystal clear that no one who lives that way will enter the kingdom of heaven.

But after that, Paul shows us what a true Christian inhabited by the Spirit of God looks like. They are people filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Two things to note here. These fruit may not be fully mature in your life right now, but if you are a true Christian, they should be growing in your life. You should see a difference between what you were before and what you are now.

Second, notice that it doesn’t say, “The fruit of all your efforts to keep the law is love, joy, peace, etc.”

Rather, it says the fruit of the Spirit is all these things. When you are plugged into Jesus who is the true vine, then these things will naturally start to grow in your life. (John 15)

Apart from a relationship with Christ, you will find it impossible to bear all these fruit in your life.

So again, the focus in our lives shouldn’t be on trying to keep the law, but in walking in relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Paul says,

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)

True Christians have crucified that old, rebellious, hardened heart toward God. They don’t indulge it. They may struggle with sin, but they won’t gladly embrace it in their lives.

So Paul concludes with this exhortation:

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25)

How about you? You have received eternal life from the Spirit God has given you. Are you now trying to live life in your own strength?

Or are you walking each day, following after him, listening to his voice, and leaning on his strength to do what he says?

How are you living your life?

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Galatians

Returning to the pig sty

Galatians

For most of this book, Paul has been addressing those who thought they needed to turn to the law for their salvation.

And while Paul strongly disagreed with them, I think he did understand one of their huge concerns: If we are no longer under law, then aren’t we just free to do whatever we want?

“If we are no longer required to follow the law, why not just live for yourself? Why not sleep with whoever you want? Why not just do whatever sinful things which bring you pleasure?”

And for the rest of this chapter, he addresses those concerns. He starts by saying,

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another in love. (Galatians 5:13)

“You were called to be free!” says Paul.

Free from what? Free from the law, certainly. Free from trying to follow the law in order to be accepted by God as his child. And free from the condemnation of the law because we can’t keep it perfectly.

But we’re also called to be free from something else. We’re called to be free from the life of sin that was destroying us.

We were living in the pig sty of our own sin. For years, we indulged our sinful nature.

What do I mean by sinful nature? I mean a heart that lived in utter rebellion against God and lived to please itself. But by indulging that sinful heart, we made a mess of our lives.

We messed up our relationships, we messed up our marriages, we messed up our health, we messed up almost everything if not everything in our lives.

But Christ died to set us free from all that. He gave us “heart surgery,” removing our heart of stone and giving us a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)

In other words, instead of having a heart of rebellion that was utterly hardened toward God, Jesus gave us a new heart that was soft and responsive to him. And as we follow him, he leads us into freedom from all the sins that were destroying us.

Still there are remnants of that old heart or sinful nature within us, the habits and attitudes that were formed while we were under its control. And those are things we’ll be fighting for the rest of our lives.

But Paul says don’t give into them. More importantly, don’t indulge yourself in those old habits and attitudes. Why go back to the pig sty in which you were so miserable when you were set free from that?

Instead, Paul says, “Serve one another in love.”

Do you want the joy that comes from the freedom you have gained from the law and from sin? Then start serving others in love. As you revel in the love God has for you, start sharing that love with those around you.

We were designed to have relationships in which we bless each other with the blessings we have received from God.

That’s what brings us joy, not going back to the pig sty.

Paul then says,

The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:14)

In short, “Are you worried about keeping the law? If you’re using your freedom as you should, to serve others, and not yourself, you will fulfill the law.”

On the other hand, if we insist on going back to the pig sty, Paul warns,

If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. (Galatians 5:15)

How about you? Have you found the joy that comes from the freedom Christ has given you? Or are you going back to the pig sty? Which will you choose?

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Galatians

Abolishing the offense of the cross

Galatians

I mentioned not too long ago that many people find Christianity narrow-minded. They take offense at the idea that it is only through Christ’s work on the cross that we can be saved. Paul calls this, “the offense of the cross.”

And it was this offense of the cross that the Judaizers were trying to abolish, though perhaps for different reasons than the people who try to do so today.

It seems the Judaizers were most concerned with how the other Jews perceived them.

The other Jews were offended by the message of the cross because it welcomed anyone into God’s kingdom who came to Jesus by faith. No longer was circumcision or rigid obedience to the law required.

These Jews were probably offended for a couple of reasons. First, they took the Mosaic covenant and all its laws very seriously. It set them apart as God’s people.

But now, Paul was saying that through faith in Christ, and totally apart from trying to keep the law,

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

In short, the law they took such great pride in no longer set them apart as God’s special people. Rather anyone who came to God through Christ would now be declared as God’s people.

This was something the Jews simply could not accept, particularly because of their pride.

And that was the second reason they took offense at the cross: the Jews took pride in their identity as God’s chosen people.

They were proud of how much more “righteous” they were in the eyes of God than the other nations because of the law God had given to them. This despite the fact that they never could keep it perfectly.

In the same way, pride is the great barrier to people coming to Christ today. Pride in their own religion. Pride in their own “righteousness” before God.

And so for Christians to say, “Your religion is not sufficient. Your ‘righteousness’ is not sufficient,” is offensive to them.

But by clinging to these things, they don’t draw closer to God, they actually cut themselves off from God. Paul said of those who taught the need for circumcision,

The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.

As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! (Galatians 5:10,12)

Paul had said earlier that those who taught a false gospel were under God’s divine curse. (Galatians 1:8-9)

Here he repeats that, and then he gets very sarcastic and says, “If you’re going to get circumcised, you might as well go all the way and castrate yourself.”

That would have been shocking to the Judaizers because getting castrated would get them cut off from the Jewish congregation. (Deuteronomy 23:1)

But Paul was saying, that’s exactly what you’re doing if you let yourself be circumcised, you’re cutting yourself from God’s people.

That’s true of anyone that rejects the cross of Christ and tries to obtain salvation through their own religion and own righteousness. You’re cutting yourself off from God and his people.

And if you dilute the cross of Christ to please them as the Judaizers did, you risk cutting yourself off as well.

The cross is offensive to many people. But we cannot be concerned about trying to please them. We need to preach the gospel, no matter what flack we catch from people because of it.

The question you need to ask is, “Who am I trying to please? God or people?”

Remember the words of Paul who said,

Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10)

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Galatians

Getting cut off

Galatians

If there is one thing I hate, it’s getting cut off in traffic. To be cruising along the road, and to have someone cut in right in front of me. At best, I have to brake suddenly to avoid an accident, at worst I’d have to get into another lane entirely.

And here, Paul gives a similar picture. The Galatians were running the Christian race, headed for the goal, running in grace. And suddenly someone swerved in front of them hindering them from their goal.

Worse, it forced them to swerve off the path of grace and onto the path of law. So Paul says,

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. (Galatians 5:7-8)

In other words, “You were doing so well. Who was it that got you off the path of grace and onto law? It certainly wasn’t Jesus. He called you to the path of grace through faith in him.”

He then said,

“A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” (Galatians 5:9)

The traditional interpretation of this passage is that this false teaching of these Judaizers would quickly spread if the Galatians didn’t watch out. It strikes me though that there is another application.

If we start letting in the idea that we must keep the law in order to be accepted by God even a little bit, it will start to dominate our whole way of thinking and our whole way of life.

And instead of walking in joy and humility, knowing that we are already accepted though we don’t deserve it, we’ll slowly start walking with either feelings of condemnation for not being able to keep the law, or feelings of pride for thinking that we’re able to do so.

It kind of reminds me of the words of Yoda in Star Wars: “If once you start down the dark path, forever it will dominate your destiny; consume you it will.”

Yoda wasn’t entirely correct. Anakin Skywalker ultimately was able to escape the dark path, but before he could do so, it made a total mess of his life.

And so Paul told the Galatians, “Don’t give into circumcision. If you do, it won’t stop there. You’ll need to keep every other law perfectly in order to be accepted by God, and every day, every hour, every second, you’ll have to worry about keeping it perfectly or you won’t make it.

It will come to totally dominate your way of thinking and keep you from the freedom and joy God wants you to have.”

You may ultimately escape that path, but it will wreak havoc not only in your life, but possibly in the lives of those around you, particularly if you start walking around in pride judging them for not “measuring up.”

How about you? Are you walking each day in the grace of God? Or are you walking each day in pride or feeling under God’s condemnation?

Don’t let yourself get cut off. Remember that we are already accepted as his children. And as you do, you’ll find yourself living this life as God intends, in the freedom and joy of a child of God.

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Galatians

Severed from Christ, fallen from grace

Galatians

I don’t know about you, but I think most people looking at today’s title would think, “Wow! What terrible thing must a person do to be severed from Christ and fall from his grace.”

In fact, we often use that phrase, “fallen from grace,” in society today for people who once used to be seen as honorable but who fell into utter disrepute because of something they did.

But the whole context of this passage is not murder, or rape, or bribery, or some other such vice. Rather the context of this passage is legalism. By trying to become righteous before God through keeping the law, we become severed from Christ and we fall from his grace.

Paul wrote,

Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.

Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. (Galatians 5:2-3)

In other words, it’s all or nothing when it comes to the law. If you are determined to become justified before God through the law, it doesn’t stop at circumcision. You have to go all the way and keep every single law in the Old Testament or you’re not going to make it.

It’s also all or nothing in the fact that if you are determined to be justified before God through law, Christ’s death has no value to you at all.

It’s not like the Judaizers were saying, that Christ plus works equals righteousness before God. It’s either obey the law perfectly, or put your faith in Christ and have his righteousness credited to your account. There is no in-between.

That’s why he tells the Galatians,

You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. (Galatians 5:4)

The word “alienated” in the NIV is translated much more harshly in the ESV. It says you are “severed” from Christ.

Basically by turning to the law to make yourself righteous before God, you turn your back on Christ. You’re telling him, “I don’t think your work on the cross is enough,” and in doing so, you spit on all his suffering that he endured there.

Some people such as the Mormons teach, “By grace you are saved after all you can do.”

But Paul clearly states that by putting any faith in your own works, you actually fall away from grace, not put yourself in it.

Paul then says,

But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. (Galatians 5:5)

I believe here that Paul is talking about how the hope that we have, that though right now we struggle with sin, the day will come when we will be made righteous not only in our legal standing before God, but in reality.

In Romans 8:23, Paul talks about how we groan while we are in this body, longing for the day when we will receive our new bodies.

Why? For one thing, we will no longer face sickness or death. But I think the other thing is that once and for all we will be free from sin in our lives.

That’s the righteousness we hope for. And anyone who has that hope will not indulge in sin. Rather, they will live day by day trying to please the one who saved them.

Not because they have to earn their salvation. But because they’re rejoicing that they have already received it.

And so Paul says in verse 6,

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Galatians 5:6)

How about you? Are you still trying to earn God’s favor in your life? Is that why you’re trying to do good things?

Or do you believe that God has already made you righteous in his sight, and look forward to the day when you will be made perfect? And is it from that belief that you love God and want to please him?

How are you living your life?

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Galatians

Children of promise

Galatians

In this passage, Paul makes a very interesting allegory to drive home a simple point: We are children of God based on His promise, not children of God based on our keeping his law.

He talks about the story of Hagar and Sarah found in Genesis 16-21.

God had promised to give Abraham a son, but after years of waiting, Abraham and Sarah had started to lose hope that God would keep his promise.

So Sarah suggested that Abraham have a child through her slave Hagar (something atrocious to us, but perfectly normal back in those days).

Through Hagar, Abraham got his first son, Ishmael. But this was a son that came not based on the promise of God and his provision. Rather, it was based solely on human efforts.

Later though, Sarah did give birth to a son named Isaac. His birth was a total miracle, a total act of God, as Sarah was 90 years old when she gave birth.

And it was through Isaac, God told Abraham, that He would keep his promise to make Abraham into a great nation.

Paul then says those who try to be justified by the law are symbolized by Hagar and her son Ishmael. They are not trying to receive the blessing of God based on God’s promise and God’s work. Rather, they are trying to achieve it through their own human effort.

But there’s a problem with this. Children born of a slave are slaves themselves. So people who try to be “children of Hagar,” justified by their own human efforts, will in reality only find themselves enslaved by the law of sin and death.

In other words, the law can’t save them at all. All it does is point out their sin and condemn them to death. (Galatians 4:24-25)

On the other hand those who are trying to be justified before God by his grace are like Isaac, children and heirs of God based on God’s promise and God’s work.

Because of that, we are no longer enslaved by the law of sin and death. We have been set free and are now true children of the most high God. (Galatians 4:26-28)

But just as Ishmael, the child born of human efforts, persecuted Isaac, the child born of God’s promise, so the Judaizers persecuted the Christians.

In particular, the Judaizers tried to shut out the Galatian Christians until they agreed to put themselves under slavery to the law like the Judaizers were. (Galatians 4:29)

So Paul speaks very strongly here:

What does the Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” (Galatians 4:30)

In short, “Get rid of these false teachers. They are children of the slave. And they will never share in your inheritance. They have no part with you. They are trying to exclude you when the reality is that it is they who are excluded.”

And then he reemphasizes,

“Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.” (Galatians 4:31)

He then charges them,

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again under a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

Let us never forget that. Christ set us free from the law, not so that we would go under it all over again, but that we would truly be free from it forever.

He set us free so that we could live as children of God, knowing that we are already accepted by Him, and not worrying about whether we are good enough.

How about you? Are you living with the peace and joy of a child of God? Or are you still living like a slave burdened by all the rules of religion?

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Galatians

Zealous for what?

Galatians

In this passage, we see two kinds of zealousness. One that leads to good and one that does not.

We see here that the Galatians used to be zealous for Paul. Because of the gospel he had preached and the joy that had filled their hearts as a result, they were willing to do anything for him. (Galatians 4:14-15)

Paul himself was zealous for the Galatians. You see it in every word, the hurt he felt because they had been deceived by the Judaizers. He said,

My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you! (Galatians 4:19-20)

He was so zealous for them that he told them the truth, even though they regarded him as an enemy for doing so (Galatians 4:16).

But then there was the zealousness of the Judaizers. Paul said of them,

Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you [from us], so that you may be zealous for them. (Galatians 4:17)

When he says, “They want to alienate you from us,” the “from us” is not actually in the text, and so the ESV puts it, “They want to shut you out.”

The idea is that they were saying “You’re not really one of us. You’re not really a Christian. If you want to really be ‘in’ with Christ, you need to listen to us.”

But in doing so, they were locking up the Galatians under law all over again, and stealing the joy and blessedness God intended them to have.

In short, these people were zealous to win over these Galatians, but it was not for the Galatians’ ultimate good.

And so Paul tells them,

It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you. (Galatians 4:18)

Paul’s telling them, “Be zealous. That’s a good thing.

When you were zealous for me, showing your love and caring for me because of the joy that was in you, that was good.

I’m zealous for you too. I want to see Christ formed in you such that you become more and more like him.

But these people are not looking out for your good. And by being zealous for them, you’re losing your joy and blessedness.”

So there’s two questions I think we need to ask.

First, there may be some charismatic leaders around us, who are filled with zeal. But where are they leading you? Are they leading you closer to God? Or are they stealing your joy by what they are teaching you?

Are they teaching you truth, even though it’s painful to hear? Or are they leading you astray?

Second, what are you zealous for? Are you zealous for Christ and to know him? Are you zealous to see Christ formed in the lives of others that they may know his joy? Or is your zeal leading you in the wrong direction?

Zeal once led Paul to persecute the church. Zeal once led the Galatians back to a life of slavery under the law.

Where is your zeal leading you?

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Galatians

How to lose our joy (and blessing)

Galatians

You can really see how perplexed Paul is with the Galatians in this passage (actually going all the way to verse 20).

When he had first come to the Galatians, he had had some sort of physical problem, and yet, though it caused no small inconvenience to them, they still received him with great joy.

Why? Because of the gospel that he had preached which set them free from sin and brought them new life. Having heard the message and received it, they were filled with God’s inexpressible joy and a deep sense of his blessing.

So filled with this joy were the Galatians that it overflowed in their love and concern for Paul such that they were willing to do anything for him. Paul said,

I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. (Galatians 4:15)

But having been infected with the teaching of the Judaizers, everything had changed. All their joy was gone, and now they looked at Paul with suspicion.

They wondered if he had really told them the truth of the gospel. They wondered if he had perhaps left something out that could actually keep them from salvation.

So Paul asks them,

What has happened to all your joy… Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? (Galatians 4:15-16)

The word “joy” there is translated “blessedness” in the ESV and “blessing” in the NASB. But however you translate it, the Galatians had lost a precious gift God had imparted to them upon their believing in Christ. How?

By returning to religion. By making their salvation a matter of their own works and their own efforts and causing the cross of Christ to lose its value to them. (Galatians 2:21)

The same thing can happen to us. When we make our Christian lives all about “keeping the rules” of religion, we lose our joy and our blessing. Instead, we start straining to earn God’s favor.

And in the process, one of two things inevitably happens.

Either we become proud because we are “succeeding” in our efforts (as if someone could actually earn God’s favor by their works).

Or we become utterly depressed and despairing because we realize it’s impossible to keep the rules perfectly.

Either way, we lose the blessing and joy of God in our lives.

But when we realize that our salvation is by grace alone, it does two things. It keeps us humble and it keeps us grateful.

We are humble because we realize that we did nothing to deserve God’s favor in our lives. We see that all we deserved was God’s condemnation but how he has showered us with his grace and mercy anyway.

More, we become filled with joy and gratitude at this grace and mercy we have received. As a result, the blessedness that comes from Christ flows not only in our lives but through our lives touching the people around us.

What kind of life are you living? One of pride? One of defeat and despair? Or one of blessing and joy?

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Galatians

Going back to worthless religion

Galatians

Many people wonder why Christianity is so “narrow-minded.” Why can’t all religions be considered equally valid ways to God?

I will admit that most if not all religions have some good in them. Most preach avoiding evil and doing good, although there is some difference in the definition of those two terms.

(But not as much as you would think, as C.S. Lewis has pointed out in Mere Christianity and The Abolition of Man).

The problem is that all religions and their rituals are mere pictures of who God is.

In the case of Judaism, it’s a pretty good picture, as God specifically gave the Jews their laws and rituals as a picture of himself and of Christ.

In the case of others, the pictures are much more distorted, many to the point where you can barely recognize God for who he truly is at all.

Because of this, none of the laws and rituals they present can in any way bring us closer to God.

Even in the best of them, namely the Jewish laws and rituals, they are not the reality of Christ nor of salvation.

The Jewish rituals, sacrifices and festivals, wonderful pictures of Christ and his sacrifice on the cross though they are, are not Christ himself. They are not his sacrifice on the cross itself.

As a result, they have no power to save. And if these rituals, sacrifices and festivals, ordained by God himself, are powerless to save anyone, how can the rituals, sacrifices, and festivals ordained by other religions be any more effective?

And so Paul says,

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.

But now that you know God–or rather are known by God–how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles?

Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?

You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. (Galatians 4:8-11)

Paul speaks specifically here to the former gods and religious practices of the Galatians.

And he says, “Before you were saved, you were slaves to things that were not gods, forced to follow rituals and religious celebrations that could not save you.

But now you know better. You actually know God now. And he knows you. You are in a real relationship with him as his beloved children.

Why then are you going back to what is weak and powerless?

Oh, sure, you’re not going back to your old gods and religious practices. Now you’re turning to Jewish religious practices to save you.

But these are just as powerless to save you as your old religious practices were. They were just the ABCs of getting to know God. Helpful in their own way in that they help you see your own sin and need for a Savior. But they can’t actually save you.

All they can do is make you miserable because you see you can’t keep the rules perfectly and deserve to be condemned.

You know this! Why go back to them?

He then says, “Look, I became like you. When I’m with you, I eat with you, eat your food, and break all kinds of Jewish customs.

So don’t be afraid to be like me. Stop living by the rules of religion, but by faith in Christ.”

And that’s Paul’s charge to us. Let’s get away from the pictures of Christ.

That’s all the Jewish laws and rituals were. They have no power to save in themselves.

So let us come into relationship with Christ himself. And let us rejoice in the relationship we now have with God as his children because of what Christ has done for us.

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Galatians

The wonder of adoption

God's family

It’s really amazing to me that God would actually adopt us into his family.

He could have accepted us as “pets.”

He could have recognized our status as people, and yet kept us at a distance as acquaintances.

He could have brought us into his household as mere servants or slaves.

He could have even accepted us as friends.

But he did more. He adopted us into his family and now recognizes us as his children.

Paul tells us,

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Galatians 3:26-27)

He says here that we are all sons of God through faith in Christ.

What he is saying here must have stunned some of his original listeners. Because back in those days, only literal sons had the right of inheritance.

But he makes it clear that all Christians, whether male or female, now have that right that once only belonged exclusively to the sons. Not only that, Paul said,

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

Previously, the Jews considered all non-Jews outsiders. More, they looked down on women. And of course, being a slave was never considered a good thing.

But Paul says that in God’s eyes, all who belong to Christ now belong to him and he recognizes us all as his children. All of us have been clothed with Christ’s royal robes of righteousness and are now identified with him.

In case we didn’t quite get his point, he then draws an analogy between us and children in those days.

In those days, a child was no different from a slave practically. That is to say, he had no true access to his inheritance even though he was an heir to it.

Rather, he was put under guardians or trustees and he remained under their authority until the day his father formally recognized him as his son and heir. (Galatians 4:1-2)

In the same way, before we were adopted as God’s children, we were like slaves. We were put under the guardianship of the law and had no right to any heavenly inheritance.

We were told, “Do this, and do that,” by the law, but while it generally guided us in the right direction, we could never keep it fully and as a result, had no rights as God’s heirs. (Galatians 4:3)

But that all changed the day God formally adopted us as his children and made us his heirs.

The process started when he sent his Son to purchase (or redeem) us as his own through Christ’s death on the cross. And now when we put our faith in him, he formally adopts us as his children. (Galatians 4:4-5)

Not only that, he gives us his Spirit of his Son who cries out from within our hearts, “Abba, Father.”

In other words, God in Trinity cries out this new relationship we have with him. A relationship not of a beloved pet, or an acquaintance, or a slave or a servant, or even a friend, but as a son and daughter of the King.

So Paul concludes,

So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:7)

How do you see yourself? How do you see God? Do you see him as your Father and yourself as his beloved child and heir?

He sees us in that way. It’s time that we see things the same way He does.

So don’t ever put yourself down as worthless or unworthy. You are a child of the King. Let’s start living that way.

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Galatians

What the law is and isn’t. What the law does and doesn’t do. (Part 3)

Galatians

We saw yesterday that the law was not some alternative way God developed to bring about salvation, but rather was something that was meant to lead us to Christ.

Paul goes into further detail in the next few verses.

Paul said,

But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. (Galatians 3:22-23)

A lot of this is similar to what Paul wrote in Romans 7-8. And basically, what Paul says there is that before the law came, people were not really aware of what sin was. They just lived their lives, blissfully unaware that a lot of their behavior was displeasing to God.

God then brought in the law to show the people, “This is the way to live.”

The problem was, the law didn’t cause people to say, “Oh, really? I didn’t know. I’m sorry. I’ll live your way now.”

Rather, for many, it stirred up an even more rebellious attitude toward God.

And even for those who were repentant and wanted to please God, they found that they still weren’t able to keep the law. Their sinful nature still had such a hold on them, it was impossible for them to keep the law. They were in bondage to sin.

Still, what the law did do was help put some restraints on sin until Christ came. The new NIV puts verse 23 this way,

Before the coming of faith, we were held in custody under the law.

In other words, for those Old Testament believers, the law couldn’t make them perfect, but it did help them from going completely wild into sin.

Staying with the new NIV in verse 24,

So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.

A guardian back in those days was someone who was in charge of supervising the life and morals of boys. Wherever the boys went, the guardian went with them to make sure they didn’t get into trouble.

It was also his duty to take them to and from school, thus putting them in the hands of the true teacher.

That’s what the law did for Old Testament believers.

First, it helped keep them out of trouble (although not all trouble, because all still sinned).

Second, it eventually led people to the true teacher, Christ. How?

Through the law, God gave the Israelites many pictures of a Savior to come through, among other things, the sacrifices, the Passover feast, and the Day of Atonement.

These things in themselves could not save them from their sin. But through these pictures, Moses and all the Israelites following after him until the time of Christ saw Jesus and what he would do on the cross (John 5:39, 46).

And as they did, they put their faith in him.

The law in itself then, couldn’t save them. But it led them to put their trust in Christ, though they of course didn’t have all the details yet because Christ hadn’t come yet.

And it was on the basis of that faith, not keeping the law itself, that God saved them.

So then, we come to the ultimate point of this passage. Paul said,

Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. (Galatians 3:25)

With the coming of Christ, faith has truly come with all the details filled in.

We are no longer like Moses and all the Old Testament believers forced to look at the pictures. Now in Christ, we have the reality, and thus the law is no longer needed as our guardian.

Rather, we look solely to Christ for our salvation. And through the Holy Spirit whom Christ gave to live in us, we start to naturally do the things that are pleasing to God.

So as we go through life, let us not put all our focus on trying to keep a bunch of rules. Rather, let us look each day in gratitude to the cross, and walk each day under the guidance of God’s Spirit.

That’s the true Christian life.

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Galatians

What the law is and isn’t. What the law does and doesn’t do. (Part 2)

Law

We talked yesterday about what the law does not do, namely, it doesn’t replace the covenant God made with Abraham.

God’s covenant with Abraham was a one-way contract solely based on God’s promise, not on anything Abraham or any of his descendants did. Because of this, nothing could ever supersede it.

Paul continues this theme on why this is so in verses 19-20. He said,

The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one. (Galatians 3:19-20)

When Moses went up the mountain to get the ten commandments, the people were so frightened by God that they told Moses,

Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die. (Exodus 20:19)

And so while Moses approached God, the people stayed at a distance from God. (Exodus 20:21)

All the words God spoke to them had to go through Moses.

God spoke to Moses, saying “Tell them to do this, this, and this. If they do, they will have life. If they don’t, they will die.”

And Moses passed on all this information to them.

But think about this a minute. Why did God need a mediator to pass on any information at all?

It was because the law was a two-way contract. Both sides had their part to fulfill. And if the Israelites did not keep their part, all the blessings promised to them in this covenant would be void.

Ultimately, that’s what happened. Because they repeatedly broke the covenant, God did away with it. It was an utterly fragile covenant.

Paul then says, “But God is one.”

That is to say, God is only one party and the only party responsible for doing anything in the covenant he made with Abraham and his descendants. Abraham didn’t have to do a thing to obtain his blessings.

So the covenant with Abraham was totally different from the covenant based on law. It was totally unbreakable because it wasn’t dependent on what we did, but on what God did.

In short, a fragile, breakable covenant can never supersede one that can never be broken.

What, then, was the purpose of the law? (Galatians 3:19)

Logical question. Paul answers,

It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. (Galatians 3:19)

In other words, it was a temporary way to deal with sin until Christ came.

Hundreds of years passed between the time of Moses and the time Christ came. And God needed a way to deal with sin until then. The law was that way.

But in saying that, Paul makes something very clear. He asked,

Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? (Galatians 3:21)

Put another way, “Is the law then an alternative way to salvation?”

Answer:

Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. (Galatians 3:21)

Paul’s saying here that the law is not an alternative way to salvation because if it were, there would have been no need for Christ. All we would have needed to do is keep the law.

But the truth is, no one can keep the law, and so it has no power to give life to anyone in itself. Rather, all it does and is meant to do is lead us to Him who can truly save us from our sin.

How does it do that? We’ll continue on this theme tomorrow.

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Galatians

What the law is and isn’t. What the law does and doesn’t do.

Galatians

A lot of times, people look at the ten commandments and other laws that God gave in the Old Testament and they think, “This is what makes us righteous in God’s eyes. If I want to have eternal life, I have to keep these rules.”

But that way of thinking shows a misunderstanding of what the law is and isn’t. It shows a misunderstanding of what the law does and doesn’t do.

So Paul goes into detail about what exactly the law is all about. He writes,

Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.

The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.

The Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.

What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. (Galatians 3:15-17)

The first thing that Paul says is that once a covenant has been established, one simply cannot set it aside. The word “covenant” probably holds the idea of a will.

When a person makes his final will and then dies, it cannot just be set aside. Why? Because it’s a one-way “contract.” All the terms are set by one person. And its execution is based on one person’s “promise.”

That’s how God made his covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. When he confirmed it, it wasn’t dependent on anything that Abraham did. It was solely based on God’s promise.

In Genesis 15, we see God making promises to Abraham and telling him about his descendants’ future.

Then God, appearing as a smoking firepot and blazing torch, walked through the pieces of some animals Abraham had cut in half.

That may seem strange, but in those days, it was the common custom of two people making a covenant.

After making the covenant, usually both parties would pass through the pieces, with the implicit meaning of, “If I fail to keep my end of the bargain, may I be put to death.”

But in this covenant God made with Abraham, Abraham didn’t walk through the pieces, only God did. It was a one-way contract.

And according to Paul God’s promises were made not only to Abraham, but also to his seed, that is Christ.

Paul’s interpretation of Genesis 12:7, 13:6, 15:18 and other verses which cover God’s promises to Abraham is very interesting.

Obviously “seed” or “offspring” (as the word is translated in Genesis) can be plural or singular and it appears that in Genesis, God was speaking with the plural meaning in mind.

But Paul seems to say that while the blessings of the covenant would come to all of Abraham’s true children, the promise was made specifically to Christ, and that it is through him, all of Abraham’s children would be blessed.

Paul then makes clear that one thing that the law doesn’t do is make the promises of God to Abraham and us dependent on our ability to keep the law. Why?

Paul tells us in verse 18,

For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. (Galatians 3:18)

In other words, if the blessings of God depends on our keeping the law, then it is no longer a one-way covenant based on God’s promise. Rather, it’s dependent on our actions, and how well we can keep the law.

But that’s not the basis on which God gave Abraham these promises. It was a one-way contract based on grace.

And because it was a one-way contract, God cannot simply set it aside. He must keep his promises, for that is his nature. What he says he will do.

The thing to remember then is that the law was never meant to replace God’s covenant with Abraham and make the blessings God promised to Abraham and his spiritual offspring dependent on keeping God’s law.

What then was the purpose of the law? We’ll look at that tomorrow.

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Galatians

The true children of Abraham

Galatians

As I look at this passage, I can’t help but wonder if Paul thought back to the argument Jesus had with the Jews in John 8. Because essentially, it’s talking about the same issue: who are the true children of Abraham?

To the Jews, it was they who were the true descendants of Abraham. He was, after all, their forefather and what’s more, they had and followed the law of God given through Moses.

And so when Jesus said that if they held to his teaching, they would know the truth and the truth would set them free, they immediately answered,

We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free? (John 8:33)

And that started a long conversation about who the true children of Abraham were.

Jesus pointed out, “You guys still sin. You claim to be free as children of Abraham, but you are still slaves to sin. But I am the one that can set you free from sin so that you will no longer be slaves to sin, but true children of God.” (John 8:34-36)

When the Jews continued to insist that they were true children of Abraham, Jesus told them,

If you were Abraham’s children…then you would do the things Abraham did.

As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.(John 8:39-40)

In other words, when Abraham heard God’s words, he believed them. He took them by faith, and that’s what saved him. That’s what made him a child of God.

But the Jews proved themselves to be not true children of Abraham because they didn’t accept Jesus and his words by faith. Instead they rejected him.

And that’s what Paul is saying here in Galatians.

Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.

The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”

So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (Galatians 3:6-9)

Paul is saying here, that Abraham himself was not credited as righteous by his keeping the law. The law had not even come into existence yet. Further, if you look at his life, Abraham fell into sin from time to time.

But ultimately, he was justified by God because he had put his faith in God and His promise.

All true children of Abraham are the same way. We may fail. We may sin. But we are not credited as righteous because we keep the law perfectly. Rather, we are credited as righteous because we put our faith in Jesus.

In fact, Paul says that if we try to earn this status as “righteous before God” through our works, we actually put ourselves under a curse. For,

Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law. (Galatians 3:10)

And as I said, no one keeps it perfectly.

But Christ took our curse for us. More, Paul says,

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” (Galatians 3:13)

By dying on the cross, he took all the curse of the law upon himself, taking all of God’s wrath toward us upon himself. Paul then tells us that Jesus redeemed us, that is, he bought us out of slavery to sin and Satan’s kingdom.

And now, the blessing of salvation that Abraham received is available to us if we do what Abraham did: simply believe in the promises of God.

In short,

No one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” (Galatians 3:11)

How about you? Are you a true child of Abraham, putting your trust in Jesus? Or are you still trying to make yourself right before God by your own efforts?

No one can truly say they are saved if they can’t truly trust God for their salvation and insist on trusting their own efforts or qualifications.

Who or what are you trusting in for your salvation?

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Galatians

Starting by faith, continuing by faith

It is so easy, especially in Japan, to fall into the trap of trying to follow “the rules” after becoming a Christian.

After all, every other group the Japanese are a part of, whether it’s a school club, a company, or even their own families have their own “rules” to follow or “obligations” to fulfill.

And so upon becoming Christians, many people try to find out, “What are the rules? What’s expected of me? Do I have to read my Bible every day? How long do I have to pray every day? How much am I expected to serve in the church?”

And if they fail to keep the rules, they start feeling guilty. They start feeling like they’re bad Christians.

What’s even worse is when other people start throwing their expectations on these new believers.

“Well, a real Christian would never drink alcohol. A real Christian would never miss church on Sunday for any reason. A real Christian needs to give 10% of their income to the church.”

That’s exactly what was happening in Galatia. The Judaizers were coming to the Galatian Christians and saying, “Well yes, you start the process of becoming a Christian by putting your faith in Jesus. But after that, you have to be circumcised.

And from that point on, you can’t be eating pork or any other ‘unclean’ foods. Don’t forget to keep the Sabbath too.”

And so on and so forth.

And these people were speaking so authoritatively, that the Galatians were buying it. So much so that Paul exclaimed,

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?

He then asked,

I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? (Galatians 3:2)

And again,

Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? (Galatians 3:5)

The obvious answer was that they received the Spirit and all these blessings from God not through their own efforts to keep the law, but by simply believing the gospel that had been preached to them.

So Paul then asks,

Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? (Galatians 3:3)

In other words, we don’t just start our Christian walk by faith and then shift over into a life of keeping the rules. Rather, we continue living our whole Christian lives by faith.

Our Christian lives start by grace and they continue by grace.

We never ever reach a point where we start living by law, attempting to keep God’s rules by our own efforts. Our lives are never to come to a point where we are to focus on rules.

Instead, our lives are to focus each day on Jesus Christ. To walk closely with him each day, learning to hear his voice, and then putting our faith in him, doing the things he asks us to do.

And as we believe him and step out in that faith, he gives us the power to do what he asks. That’s the Christian life. Not keeping a bunch of rules.

So how are you living your life? Are you living your Christian life focused on the rules and doing your best to keep them?

All that will lead to is a life of guilt and condemnation, because none of us can keep them perfectly.

Focus on Jesus Christ. Learn to draw near to him. Learn to hear his voice. And learn to follow his leading.

That’s what it means to live by faith. And that’s what the Christian life is all about.

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Galatians

The main problem with a gospel of works

Galatians

Throughout this chapter, Paul has kind of been on the defensive, fighting the claims that God’s gospel of grace leads to a promotion of sin.

But here in verse 21, he goes on the offensive. He says,

I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! (Galatians 2:21)

In short, he was saying to these Judaizers, “If we need to keep the law in order to be righteous before God, what was the point of Christ’s death? God could have just kept the old system, and Christ would not have had to come at all.

Are you telling me that God let Jesus get punched, whipped, beaten, bloodied, battered, and crucified…just to put us back under law again? That’s ridiculous!”

Yet many people hold this idea today, particularly in the cults where they say, “Yes, Jesus died for your sin, but that’s not enough to pay for your sin. You have to work for your salvation as well.”

But Paul totally debunks that view, saying, “That’s ridiculous! It is simply impossible to do enough to earn your salvation. If it were possible, God would have never sent Jesus in the first place.”

Paul’s argument also debunks the idea that Jesus is just one of many ways to God. That people can get to God through Buddhism, or Hinduism, or through one of the countless other religions in this world.

If it were possible, God would have just used those methods. Why let Jesus suffer as he did if there was another way? It makes no sense.

So let us do away with the idea that there are other ways to heaven. And let us do away with the idea that we can somehow earn God’s favor through our own works.

Jesus suffered on the cross because there was no other way for us to be made right before God. Let us never spit upon what Jesus did for us on the cross by claiming there is another way.

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Galatians

That we might be made righteous

Galatians

We talked yesterday about how the Judaizers were basically accusing Paul of preaching a gospel that would make Christ out to be a promoter of sin.

That whenever they saw Paul or any other Christian fall in any way small or great, they would be quick to say, “See, this is the result of your gospel of grace. You’ve become just like the sinners of this world.”

But Paul pointed out that even if he brought back the law and preached that people must keep it in order to be saved, it wouldn’t stop people from sinning.

The law has never produced any perfect people, aside from Christ. All the law can do is point out that we are sinners in need of a Savior.

How then can we be made righteous before God, if not by the law? Paul tells us in these next two verses.

For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:19-20)

What is Paul saying here? What does it mean that through the law, I died to the law? And why is that important?

In Romans 7, Paul talks about how the law has power over a person only as long as that person is alive (Romans 7:1).

As long as I live, for example, I have to pay taxes. I am under tax law. But the moment I die, I am dead to that law.

Now I’m sure the government will come after my wife to get any taxes I owe from her. But the government can’t come to my corpse and demand taxes to me. I am dead to that law. It has no power over me.

Paul then says in verse 4 of Romans 7, that we died to the law through the body of Christ. This is parallel to what Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ.”

What does this mean, though?

The law required a penalty for our sin: death. But when Jesus came to this earth, he lived as a man under the law and he fulfilled it perfectly, never doing anything wrong.

And then he did something more. Though he did nothing wrong, he paid the penalty for our sin on the cross. When he died there, God put all of our sins on him. (Isaiah 53:5-6, 2 Corinthians 5:21)

When God saw Jesus on that cross then, he saw everyone that Jesus was dying for.

When he saw Jesus on the cross, he saw me there, and said, “That’s Bruce. He is now dead. The law has put him to death for his sin.”

When he saw Jesus, he saw my wife and said, “That’s Satoko. She is now dead. The law has put her to death for her sin.”

That’s what it means by “I have been crucified with Christ.”

But what happened once we died there with Christ? The law lost power over us. We are dead to it.

We no longer have to worry, “I have to keep the law or God will nail me to the wall.”

We no longer have to strain under our own efforts to keep God’s law, only to fail time and again, coming under its condemnation.

Rather, we start to see Christ living his life in us. As the days go by, we start to see him directing our steps, whispering through the Holy Spirit the way to go, and not only that, but also giving us the power to do so.

And so living each day is no longer a matter of us changing ourselves, but rather learning to hear his voice and trusting him day by day.

And as we do, we start to find that we’re living lives pleasing to God. We in short, start to actually live the righteous lives the law requires.

How about you? Are you still trying to become righteous before God by keeping a bunch of rules? Are you getting discouraged because you keep failing?

Or do you know the love of Jesus who gave his life for you? Are you able to relax before God, enjoying his company, and learning each day to walk in relationship with him, trusting and loving him?

That’s the Christian life. Is it yours?

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Galatians

A promoter of sin?

Galatians

One of the accusations Christians face, particularly from the cults, is that by adopting a gospel of salvation by grace alone apart from works, we actually promote sin.

After all, if we are saved by faith in Christ apart from trying to keep the rules, why keep any rules at all? Why not just lie, steal, commit adultery, watch pornography, etc? What’s to stop us from living that way if salvation is by grace alone?

Even Christians wonder this sometimes. If we’re not living by rules, doesn’t that mean we can just live any way that we want to?

Don’t we simply have to have rules and keep them if we are to live the Christian life? Isn’t the only alternative becoming like all the other people in the world, living in sin?

That’s what the Judaizers (those who said you must keep Jewish law in order to be truly Christian) were saying to Paul and the Galatians: “By throwing away the law, you are lowering yourself to the standard of the pagans. You’re becoming like them.”

And whenever they saw Paul or the Galatians either breaking Jewish law or flat out sinning (because all of us do fall even though we are Christians), they were quick to point to them and say,

“See. It’s just like we said. You’re acting just like the pagans. By this gospel of grace, you are actually making Christ a promoter of sin.”

In Paul’s words here, we see his response to these accusations. He said,

We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.

So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2:15-16)

In other words, Paul is saying, “We (that is, Peter and himself) are Jews, not Gentiles. Yet we admit that we cannot be made right before God by obeying the Jewish law. By ‘obeying’ the law no one can be justified.”

Why not? Because in order to be justified by the law, you must keep it perfectly, and no one can do that.

And so Paul told Peter, “So we too, along with the Gentiles, realize that we must put our faith in Jesus in order to be made right with God.”

He then brings up the argument of the Judaizers.

If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin?(Galatians 2:17a)

Paul’s saying, “People are pointing to us as people who are seeking to be justified by grace, and saying, ‘Look at you! Even though you say you belong to Christ, there’s still all this sin in your life. This proves that your gospel promotes sin. This proves that your Christ promotes sin.'”

Paul’s response?

Absolutely not! (Galatians 2:17b)

He explains,

If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. (Galatians 2:18)

What does Paul mean by this?

I think he’s saying this:

“Let’s say that I do what you want me to. I bring back the law and say, ‘To be a Christian, you must follow all these Jewish laws.’ Will that stop people from sinning? Has it ever stopped you from sinning?

No. All bringing back the law will do is bring us back to square one: realizing that we are sinners in need of a Savior.”

What can we get from this? We need to get away from the idea that following God’s law can in any way make us righteous before him. It can’t. All it can do is point out our sin and our need for a Savior.

There is only one way we can be made righteous before God, and that’s by putting our faith in Christ.

How does doing this make us righteous before God? We’ll talk about this more tomorrow.

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Galatians

Fighting for the gospel

Galatians

In this passage, we see Paul fighting for the truth of the gospel.

First he went to Jerusalem to make sure he was on the same page as the rest of the apostles concerning salvation by grace apart from law.

And in the midst of that, the Judaizers started insisting that Titus (the same Titus Paul wrote to later in the book of the same name) had to be circumcised in order to be truly considered a Christian.

But Paul said,

We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you. (Galatians 2:5)

The other apostles, fully on Paul’s side on this matter, then gave their blessing for him to go out to the Gentiles with this gospel of grace. (Galatians 2:7-9)

But later, Paul had to confront Peter himself on this matter.

Apparently, Peter, because of his experience with Cornelius earlier (Acts 10-11) had fully embraced the Gentiles and had gone to the extent of actually eating with them and most probably eating their food, even though it went against both Jewish custom and law.

When people from Jerusalem came, however, they were apparently looking side-eyed at Peter for what he was doing, and so he started separating himself from the Gentiles.

As a result, the other Jews with Peter started to follow his example, threatening to split the church all over again over a false gospel.

And so once again, Paul went to the mat, fighting for the gospel, essentially saying, “What in the world are you doing Peter?

All this time, you’ve been acting as a Gentile, eating their food and hanging out with them, this though you are a Jew. And why?

Because you know that we are not saved by keeping the law but through faith in Christ.

You know perfectly well that nobody can be saved by keeping the law because nobody can possibly keep it perfectly. So why are you doing this?” (Galatians 2:14-16)

Why was Paul so passionate about this? Why did he fight for the gospel so desperately? Because it was this same gospel that had saved him.

It was not some gospel that he or anyone else had simply made up (Galatians 1:11).

It was a gospel that had stopped him in his tracks from a life headed toward death and gave him life.

But this was not a gospel that had come to him because of his own goodness or worth. It was not a gospel that had come to him because he had kept the law perfectly and because he had earned his salvation. He had murdered people, persecuting the church of God.

Rather, God had called Paul solely by His grace from before Paul was even born. And it was by His grace that God was pleased to reveal his Son to Paul. More he called Paul to spread that same gospel of grace to the Gentiles (Galatians 1:11-16).

And so when people attacked this gospel that had saved him, Paul fought for it.

So should we. We have been given life through this gospel. God set us apart for himself before we were born and he called us. Not because of our own goodness. Not because of our own worthiness. But because of his grace.

And now he calls us to spread his gospel of grace to those around us. So when this gospel of grace is attacked, we need to defend it.

How passionate are you about the gospel? Do you realize just how much you have been given? Do you understand the grace that God has showered down upon you?

Then let us fight for the gospel and defend it against those who would attack it. Not because they are our enemies. But because they and all those around us need the truth of the same gospel that has saved us.

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Galatians

A people-pleasing gospel

Galatians

Let’s face it, the gospel we preach is hard for many people to swallow. And because of that, sometimes Christians try to dilute it or sugar-coat it in order to make it more palatable for people to accept.

“Oh yes, Jesus said he was the only way, but he didn’t really mean that. There are many other godly people in this world and God will surely accept them even if they never put their faith in Jesus.”

“Jesus doesn’t ever want you to suffer under any circumstances. It’s his will that you live the good life, and to be healthy and prosperous here on earth.”

“Yes, I know that the Bible says this is sin. But really, it was just laws for that time. We are no longer under those laws. The important thing is that we love and accept people for who they are.”

(I am not saying here that we are saved by keeping rules, which is the main thing that Paul speaks against in Galatians. I’m speaking against the opposite error of saying that we are free to live what God calls a willfully sinful life and still call ourselves Christians.)

For the Galatians, it was the grace of God that was diluted. No longer were people saved by God’s grace alone. Instead the gospel was diluted with the idea that you had to keep the laws Moses gave the people in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Why did some Jews try to dilute the gospel? Probably because they were too worried about what the non-Christian Jews would think.

They were worried that if they preached the grace of God alone for salvation, that they would no longer be seen as good Jews. That they would be rejected by their family and friends.

And so they adopted this gospel that they hoped would be more acceptable to them.

Many people today do the same. In order to make the gospel more “acceptable” to those around them, they dilute the gospel message.

But Paul says in this verse,

Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10)

In short, he’s saying, “When I preach the gospel, I’m not concerned about people’s approval of the message. I’m not trying to please them. Rather, I am trying to please God.”

And because of that Paul fought to preserve the utter simplicity and purity of the gospel, even going so far as to oppose Peter to his face when necessary (Galatians 2:11-14).

How about you? Are you diluting the gospel message to make it more acceptable to people? Or are you telling people like it is?

As long as we are worried about what people think of us, we cannot please God. And we certainly can’t please God by sharing with people a diluted gospel.

What kind of gospel are you sharing with those around you?

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Galatians

Deserting God

Fork in road

A lot of people today see Christianity as a set of rules. They think that you have to keep these rules to be accepted by God. Even many Christians tend to think this way. But is this what the Bible teaches?

In this letter, Paul was writing to a troubled church in Galatia, which is in modern day Turkey. Paul had started many churches there on his first missionary journey, and at first all had seemed well.

But then word came back to him that some people called Judaizers had crept into the church.

These were people that were teaching that it wasn’t enough to just have faith in Jesus. In order to be truly saved, they said you also needed to follow the Jewish law.

In particular, they said that one needed to be circumcised. And if you weren’t circumcised and keeping all the Jewish laws, then you weren’t really a Christian.

Because of this, the Galatians were falling into confusion, and had started to buy into this false gospel. And so Paul wrote them this letter.

Right from the very beginning, he reminds them of this gospel that he had first preached to them, saying,

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. (Galatians 1:3-5)

Here he reminds them that they had received grace from God and peace with God. How? Through keeping the law? Through getting circumcised?

No, this was all of God, who had planned the way of salvation, and who through Jesus Christ had paid the penalty for all our sins through his death on the cross.

And because this was all the work of God, we don’t receive any of the credit for our salvation because we did nothing to earn it. Rather, it is God that receives the glory because salvation is all of him.

This was the gospel that Paul had preached to them.

But now he tells them,

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel– which is really no gospel at all.

Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-7)

That first phrase strikes me. By turning to a gospel of law, to a gospel of salvation by keeping a set of rules, the Galatians were actually deserting God.

They thought they were pleasing him. That they were drawing close to him by trying to keep these rules. But in reality, they were turning their backs on him.

They were essentially telling him, “We reject your plan of salvation by grace alone through Jesus’ work on the cross. We’re going to follow these other teachers and add these other requirements to your plan of salvation.”

In short, they were no longer putting their total faith in God for their salvation, but in these false teachers and their own ability to keep the law of God.

And so Paul reacted harshly, telling them,

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!

As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! (Galatians 1:8-9)

Paul was saying, “This ‘gospel’ you’re embracing is no gospel at all. I don’t care who it is, if anyone, even an angel from heaven or even us, preaches a different gospel from the one we first gave you, they are worthy of eternal damnation.”

Why? Because they have deserted God. And anyone who follows a gospel of rules has deserted God too.

Which gospel are you following? Are you following a gospel that says that faith in Jesus is not enough, but that you must keep a bunch of rules as well in order to be saved?

Or are you keeping your eyes on the cross, trusting in Jesus alone for your salvation?

Let us not desert God by following a false gospel, but put our full trust in him and Christ’s work on the cross for our salvation.