The Fruitfulness of Faith

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. – Galatians 5:16-26 ESV

Not only are we free to love others, but we are free to live under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. But if we're not careful, we are also free to live according to the desires of our own sinful flesh — our sin nature. It's a choice. I can choose to let the Holy Spirit guide and direct my life, or I can give in to the constant cravings of my sinful nature. It's not only a choice, but it's also a daily battle. Paul puts the contentious nature of these two options on full display when he writes, “These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions" (Galatians 5:17b NLT).

The Holy Spirit directs us one way, while our sin nature prompts us to take an opposite and radically dangerous path. Allowing ourselves to get enslaved to the law only feeds our sin nature. Paul pointed out his own personal experience with this reality in Romans Chapter 7.

…it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! – Romans 7:7-8 NLT).

Paul asserts that the law tells us what we should not do, and then our sinful natures respond by tempting us to do those very things. It's like telling a young child not to touch a hot stove; that “law” becomes the one thing they want to do. Their sin nature creates a desire for the very thing that has been denied or placed out of bounds.

Like Eve in the garden, we can't seem to stay away from the one thing God has told us is off limits. When you attempt to live according to laws, decrees, rules, and standards, your sin nature will always resist, tempting you to break those rules or justify your decision to ignore them. When you try to keep God’s commands in your own strength, you will fail. But when you live empowered and guided by His Spirit, you will have all the strength you need and the motivation to do what needs to be done. The apostle Peter explains the life-transforming power that God has made available to every believer.

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. – 2 Peter 1:3-5 NLT

But again, we have a choice to make. We can choose to follow the desires of our sinful nature or rely on the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. They both produce unavoidable outcomes that stand in stark contrast to one another, and Paul provides a comprehensive list for both. Relying on our sin nature produces “sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these" (Galatians 5:19-21 NLT).

Notice the diverse nature of his list. He includes sexual immorality alongside jealousy. Drunkenness makes the list right there beside envy. All of these things, from the dramatic to the seemingly inconsequential, have one thing in common: they are focused on the self. They are self-centered and driven by selfish desires. This list contains destructive behaviors that are anything but conducive to community and selfless servanthood.

Attempting to live your life according to some set of standards or rules will feed your sin nature and produce an unhealthy and destructive list of “fruits.” You'll end up comparing yourself with others. You'll compete and attempt to outdo others in rule-keeping. You'll justify your own insufficiencies and expose those of others. All of this will lead to division, dissension, quarreling, jealousy, anger, and more.

When we try to produce the fruit of the Spirit on our own, we end up with results that look nothing like what we were aiming for. Rather than producing love that is focused on others, we end up loving ourselves. In place of joy, we find ourselves displaying discontentment and dissatisfaction. Instead of producing patience, we become irritable, judgmental, and angry. Kindness gets replaced with pettiness and an overwhelming need to find fault in others so that we can feel better about ourselves. Goodness gets trumped by selfishness. Faithfulness manifests itself as unreliability and an unattractive penchant for self-promotion. Gentleness becomes harshness. And self-control goes out the window, as love of self takes over our lives, turning our attention inward rather than outward.

Only the Spirit of God can produce the fruit God is interested in; they cannot be self-produced. We are incapable of manufacturing any of them on our own. When we try, we only end up with cheap imitations that are like those knock-off perfumes you can buy at the local drug store. They may cost less, but they are nothing like the real thing. Paul encourages us to live by the Spirit, according to His power and not our own. Rather than living enslaved to the desires of our old sinful nature, we are free to live in the Spirit's power, allowing Him to produce in and through us what we could never have done on our own.

The Spirit supernaturally produces in us what we could never have produced naturally. Just as with our salvation, this is the work of God, not our own self-effort. It is no longer about trying to live up to some set of standards, rules, or laws. It is not about trying to behave in such a way that somehow makes God happy and satisfied with us. There is no longer any need to compare ourselves with others or measure our righteousness based on some arbitrary standard that makes us look good.

Paul is emphasizing the fact that we must learn to recognize that our righteousness is the work of God from beginning to end. It is the fruit of His Spirit and not our flesh. It is made possible by the work of Christ, not anything we do or don't do. That is why Paul so emphatically states, "Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives" (Galatians 5:25 NLT).

Let's live in His power and operate according to His agenda. Let's seek His will, not our own. Let's watch Him produce His fruit in us, rather than trying to produce it on our own. Paul encouraged the believers in Rome to place their hope for true life change in the power of the indwelling Spirit of God.

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. – Romans 8:1-2 NLT

We are free to live in the power of the Spirit and to bear the fruit of the Spirit — for the good of others and not ourselves.

Father, I want to live increasingly in the power of Your Spirit. I want to say no to my sin nature and yes to Your Spirit's leading. I desire to see His fruit produced in and through me. My attempts at fruitfulness always fall short and never produce what You're looking for. My sin nature tends to make everything about ME. But I want to live for You. Continue to patiently show me how to live in Your power, according to Your will, and expressing Your love for others through my life. Amen.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Free to Love, Not Compete

1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. – Galatians 5:1-15 ESV

When we attempt to earn favor with God or attempt to keep His righteous standards in our own strength, we end up self-obsessed. That kind of life can be totally self-centered, restricting us from loving others and pouring out our lives on their behalf. Instead, we can end up seeing them as competition, causing us to find fault in them so that we can feel better about ourselves. We can heap guilt on them and demand that they keep the same exacting standards that we have set for ourselves. This can cause them to be just as miserable with life as we are.

Slavery to the law is debilitating. It robs us of joy and is a dead-end road that leads nowhere. But as Paul reminds us, Christ has truly set us free. However, if we try to make ourselves right with God by keeping the law, we end up being cut off from Christ. In other words, we negate His saving work on our behalf and replace it with our own powerless attempt to save ourselves through some form of rule-keeping.

Yet, as Paul has made clear, our righteousness comes through faith, not works. Once again, Paul states plainly, "For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait expectantly for the hope of righteousness" (Galatians 5:5 NLT). We already have what is often referred to as "positional" righteousness. Because of Christ's death, we have been covered in His blood and are viewed as righteous in God's eyes; He sees us through the righteousness of Christ. But we are also in the process of being transformed into the likeness of Christ, through the presence of the indwelling Spirit and the power of the Word of God. We are becoming righteous in practice. But this is a process that takes place over time, and is still the work of God. Paul puts it this way: "We wait expectantly for the hope of [future] righteousness."

One day, we will be like Christ. It won't happen in this lifetime, but, instead, it will be when Christ calls us home or returns for His Church. That is our hope. And it is based on the work of the Spirit and available only through faith. Like our salvation and sanctification, this future glorification is the work of God and available only through the means of faith in Christ’s all-sufficient sacrifice on our behalf. Paul expounded on this future glorification in his letter to the church in Rome.

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. – Romans 8:16-18 ESV

Paul discussed this same amazing promise of future glorification with the believers in Corinth.

…our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.

But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?” – 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 NLT

The apostle John believed in the promise of our future glorification and encouraged his fellow believers to live their lives in this world by focusing on the hope of their future transformation into the likeness of Christ.

Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. – 1 John 3:2-3 NLT

As John points out, the promise of our future glorification does not give us an excuse to live our lives as we see fit. He and Paul are not suggesting that we abandon all effort in this life, but that we reject the idea of earning favor with God. In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul wrote, "work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear" (Philippians 2:12 NLT). In writing to the believers in Corinth, Paul stated, "I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me" (Philippians 3:12 NLT). Then he makes his famous declaration: "I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us" (Philippians 3:14 NLT).

Paul tirelessly pursued practical righteousness in this life, but he knew that full righteousness would only come about when his time on earth was done. His ultimate righteousness, like his salvation, was the work of God made possible through the death of Christ.

So what's the point of all this? For Paul, it was that we might understand our freedom in Christ. Not only are we free from having to earn God's favor through the law, but we are also free to love one another. The greatest expression of our newfound freedom in Christ is found in our love for those around us. There is no more competition or comparison, and no need to measure ourselves against one another or attempt to outdo one another for God's love and attention. This is not a contest. We are not siblings vying for the favor and attention of our parents.

Rather than serving ourselves by attempting to elevate our standing in God’s eyes, we are free to serve one another. During Jesus’ earthly ministry, His disciples seemed to be constantly obsessed with who was the greatest. They vied for positions of prominence in Jesus' coming kingdom. Believing that He had come to establish an earthly kingdom, they expressed their desire to occupy places of prominence and power. They jockeyed for position and attempted to gain Jesus’ favor, all without realizing that He had come to die so that they might live.

The same thing can happen with us as believers today. But Paul tells us, "use your freedom to serve one another in love" (Galatians 5:13b NLT). We are free to love, not compete. We are free to serve, not be served. We are free to put others first and ourselves last because our place in God's Kingdom has been secured by Christ. We don't have to do anything to fight for or earn our rights. We don’t have to secure our place in His kingdom through self-effort. We are free to spend our time loving others. If someone else gets the credit, no problem. If no one notices our efforts, it doesn't matter. We aren't trying to earn favor with God anyway. We're free!

Father, this is such a hard concept to get our heads around. We live in a society that is steeped in the ideas of effort and earning. We have grown up with phrases like, "No pain, no gain." We have been told "there's no free lunch," "the early bird gets the worm," and "to the victor go the spoils." We struggle with the idea that our salvation and even our sanctification are totally the work of Christ and have nothing to do with us. Help us to fully understand and appreciate the joy that comes with knowing that we are free from having to earn favor with You. No more performance-based motivation. No more competing with one another. No more jockeying for position. We are loved by You because of Christ. And we are free to love others as we have been loved — selflessly and sacrificially. Amen.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Children of Promise

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,

“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
    break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
    than those of the one who has a husband.”

28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. – Galatians 4:21-31 ESV

The Old Testament and the New Testament represent two covenants made by God with His people. Paul uses the two wives of Abraham and their two sons to serve as illustrations of the differences between these two covenants. Hagar was actually the handmaiden to Sarah, Abraham's wife. When years passed, and Sarah still found herself barren and unable to bear a son for Abraham, she came up with the bright idea to give her handmaiden to Abraham so that he might have a son through her. This was her attempt to help God out, and Abraham willingly and eagerly agreed to the plan.

The result? Abraham produced a son with Hagar, whose name was Ishmael. Paul makes it clear that "the son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God's promise" (Galatians 4:23 NLT). God had promised to make Abraham fruitful and provide him with more descendants than he could possibly count.

“I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” – Genesis 12:2-3 ESV

“I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.” – Genesis 17:5-7 ESV

But at the point when Sarah came up with her plan to use Hagar as a surrogate, she and Abraham still had no son. The promise of God had not yet been fulfilled, which prompted her to come up with an alternative plan. When God's promise appeared to have bogged down, Abraham and Sarah decided to step in and fulfill the promise of God on their time frame. Ishmael was the child born by human effort.

But God did not need any help when it came to fulfilling His promise. He simply had a different timeline. He refused to accept Ishmael as the substitute, despite the pleadings of Abraham. This was not the first time that Abraham had tried to convince God to accept a different plan for fulfilling the promise. Long before Ishmael was born, Abraham had begged God to allow his manservant to serve as his heir.

“O LORD God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” – Genesis 15:2-3 ESV

But that was not God’s plan, and He informed Abraham that His promise would be fulfilled in His way.

“This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. – Genesis 15:4-6 ESV

It’s interesting to note that the very next chapter of Genesis contains the story of Sarah’s plan to use Hagar as a means to an end, and Abraham agreed to it. Despite his professed belief in God’s promise, he bought into his wife’s Plan B and produced a son without God’s approval and, therefore, outside of God’s will. Yet, chapter 17 contains God’s covenant commitment to fulfill the promise He made to Abraham.

“As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” – Genesis 17:15-16 ESV

In the course of time, God gave Abraham a son through Sarah, even though she was quite old and barren. God fulfilled His promise in His time and on His terms. Isaac would become the child of the promise. He would be the means by which God fulfilled the covenant commitment He had made to Abraham.

Paul uses these two women to illustrate the differences between the two covenants. Hagar would come to represent the law by illustrating life lived by human effort. Her son was the result of human effort and planning, but he was not the fulfillment of God's promise. His birth could not substitute for God's promise.

As Ishmael and Isaac grew older, Ishmael would persecute Isaac out of jealousy. He knew that he was not the heir, even though he was the firstborn. Ishmael could not understand why he was not accepted as the rightful heir to Abraham’s inheritance. After all, he was Abraham’s flesh and blood just as Isaac was.

But Paul uses Ishmael’s predicament to illustrate the actions of the Jews in his day. He states that those who live according to the law were still persecuting the rightful heirs of God. The believers to whom Paul was writing were "children of the promise just like Isaac" (Galatians 4:28 NLT). They were children of God born by the power of the Spirit of God. But those trapped under the law were persecuting them, attempting to force them to earn their rightful place in God's family through human effort. Paul reminds them, "dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman" (Galatians 4:31 NLT). We are free. We are heirs. We are beneficiaries of the promise of God as a result of the efforts of God alone.

Like Isaac, who was born by the miracle and power of God, we have been born again by the grace and mercy of God made possible by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. None of it was due to our effort. We did not earn it or deserve it. This was a persistent and consistent message in virtually all of Paul’s letters.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. – Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT

…he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life. – Titus 3:5-7 NLT

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. – 2 Timothy 1:9 NLT

God alone saves. We can't save ourselves, and we can't sanctify ourselves. Human effort plays no part in God's redemptive plan for man. It is His promise, and it will be fulfilled according to His terms and through His power alone.

Father, thank You for this reminder that my effort is unnecessary. I don't have to try to earn Your favor through my own energy. But so often I try to come up with ways to help You out. I try to step in and do what I seem to think You are incapable of doing. But Your promise doesn't need my help. It is all based on You and You alone. My position as Your child has nothing to do with my worth or my works. It is all Your doing. Amen.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Merit Versus Mercy

1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

12 Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. 13 You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, 14 and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. 15 What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. 18 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, 19 my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! 20 I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. – Galatians 4:1-20 ESV

What would possess anyone who had been set free from slavery to voluntarily subject themselves to it again? That is Paul's question in this section of his letter. He reminds the believers in Galatia that at one time they had been slaves to the basic principles of this world. In other words, they had been subject to the sad state of affairs made possible by the sin of Adam and Eve. As a result of the fall of the first couple, the Galatians had been like every other human being who has ever lived. They had been under the constant influence and control of Satan, their own sinful flesh, and the world. At one time, they had been slaves to their so-called gods, false and non-existent deities. Theirs had been a pointless and hopeless existence attempting to search for salvation by turning to false gods that could only offer false hope. But Paul reminds them that "in the fullness of time" – at just the right time – God sent his Son to buy them freedom.

Jesus Christ had bought them out of slavery and set them free. As a result, they were no longer slaves, but God's own children who had been adopted into His family. They knew the one true God, and He knew them. But now, as a result of the influence of those who were promoting a false gospel, the Galatian believers were allowing themselves to be deceived and enslaved by the false hope of legalism. Jewish converts to Christianity were attempting to convince the new converts in Galatia that they must keep the law and adhere to the rituals and requirements of Judaism. Paul claimed that this added requirement to faith alone in Christ alone was needlessly enslaving the Galatian believers to a works-based form of righteousness. He accused them of "trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years" (Galatians 4:10 NLT). 

The false teachers were trying to convince the Gentile converts in Galatia that they were not fully saved unless they became circumcised and began to keep all the Jewish rituals, feasts, and festivals. That is what Paul meant when he referred to the observing of days, months, seasons, and years. These outsiders were claiming that the salvation Paul offered was incomplete and insufficient. But this teaching ran counter to the gospel message that Jesus proclaimed and Paul had shared with the Galatians. The Jesus-plus-legalism crowd was casting doubt on the all-sufficient work of Christ on the cross. For Paul, this false teaching was a form of legalism, and it was deadly. He would not tolerate it or allow it to take root among the churches in Galatia.

Paul pleaded with them to live in freedom, not slavery. He begged them to not return to the same kind of enslavement from which Christ had set them free. Paul's greatest desire was that the nature of Christ would be fully formed in their lives. But he knew that a return to those basic principles of the world would hinder their spiritual growth.

Even as believers, we are all still under the influence of Satan, our sinful flesh, and the world. We still fall prey to the temptation to try and earn favor with God through self-effort. The enemy would love nothing more than to enslave us again to a life of works and pride-based effort. He wants us to see God as a task-master who demands what we can't deliver. He desires for us to live in fear of God, as slaves who must obey His exacting and impossible-to-keep standards. Satan doesn't want us to see ourselves as God's children, but as His powerless pawns, condemned to try to keep Him pleased to escape His punishment and earn His favor.

But Paul won't stand for this false and deadly line of reasoning. While he was unable to personally visit them, he did the next best thing – he wrote to them and pleaded with them to reject the lies of the enemy. He spoke truth to them and exposed those who would do harm to them. Unless they learned to embrace their freedom in Christ, they would never truly grow in their relationship with Him. Those who see themselves as slaves will tend to live and act as slaves. But those who truly understand that they have been freed from the basic principles of this world will enjoy all that freedom brings. They will relish their status as children of God, taking full advantage of His indwelling Spirit and allowing Him to do in them what they could never have done on their own.

Father, we live in a fallen world and we are surrounded by the basic principles of this world. Ever since the fall, mankind has been in a hopeless quest to rectify their relationship with You. They have been searching for You and trying to figure out to fix all that is wrong with them and the broken world in which they live. But You have provided the solution through Your own Son's death. You have set us free from having to search for a solution or from having to earn back Your favor. But it is so easy to fall back into that old mindset. We convince ourselves that nothing is free and that we must do something to earn Your love. But it's all a lie. Keep us focused on the truth and aware of the fact that we are truly free in Christ. Amen. 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Gracious Gift of Faith

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. – Galatians 3:23-29 ESV

There is an interesting thing going on in these verses. Paul is discussing faith and juxtaposing it against any kind of merit-based salvation. He contrasts the faith that is required to believe in Jesus and accept Him as your Savior with the false gospel of a works-based faith being taught by the Judaizers. But if we're not careful, we could easily turn faith itself into a kind of works that is based on our own human effort. We could easily make salvation all about our faith and wrongfully conclude that it is still about us having to do something to merit salvation. That wrong assumption can lead to some false and very faulty outcomes. 

If salvation is dependent upon the degree of our faith, it could result in a dangerous atmosphere of comparison and competition among believers. It is a natural human tendency to compare oneself with others. But when applied to salvation, this can produce a false sense of pride or an unhelpful attitude of unworthiness. When faith becomes the object rather than a means of salvation, we miss the point of God’s grace and mercy.  Comparing the amount or degree of our faith with other Christians is counterproductive and takes the focus off Christ’s fully sufficient sacrifice on our behalf.

Paul wrote, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT). This applies to our faith as well. Faith is not a self-produced commodity that we bring to the table. We don’t manufacture it and can’t make more of it. Yet, we wrestle with the size of our faith and wonder if it is large enough, strong enough, or sincere enough. But in verse 23, Paul states, “Now before faith came we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed."

Is Paul talking about the revealing of their faith? He tells them that they were being held prisoner under the law "until the coming faith would be revealed." Is Paul saying that they were prisoners until they could muster enough faith to believe? Had the ball been in their court all along, and they just didn't have enough faith?

More and more New Testament scholars have come to the conclusion that the faith Paul is talking about is the faith of Christ, not faith in Christ. When Paul says, "Now before faith came," he is speaking of the faith of Christ, or better yet, the faithfulness of Christ. It was Christ's faithfulness to God and His faith in God that qualified Him to be our sinless substitute on the cross. He was completely faithful to the law, and He never wavered in faith or doubted the plan of God for His life. He was obedient to the point of death. His faith in God was so great that He willingly gave His life, knowing that God would raise Him up three days later. It is the faith and faithfulness of Christ that set us free, not our own limited faith.

Look closely at verse 24: "Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ..." Our subjection to the law was in place until Christ came. He is the one who set us free. It is belief or faith in His faithfulness that is the point here. In verse 25, Paul says, "But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian." Now that Jesus has come and lived a perfect life of faith, faithfully keeping the law of God and obediently following the will of God, He has satisfied the just penalty that God had imposed on mankind.

Jesus has provided a way for us to be made right with God. We can be declared righteous, not based on anything we have done on our own, but simply by having faith in the faithfulness of Christ. We must believe that what He has done has been effective and requires nothing more from us. In verse 26, Paul writes, "For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith." While our faith certainly plays a role, it is the object of our faith that must be the focus. It is the faithfulness of Christ that gives our faith its power. Paul seems to be saying that if the Galatian believers put their faith in the wrong thing – like circumcision – it will be ineffective.

What gives our faith its saving power is the faith of Christ, exhibited in His death on the cross. It is not the size, but the object of my faith that matters.

It is not the size, but the object of our faith that matters.

Prior to Christ's coming, a Jew could put as much faith as he wanted in the hope that obedience to the law could save him, but it would never happen. The Pharisees had faith in the law. They had faith in their own ability to keep the law, but their faith was misplaced. They were making it all about them when Jesus told them that it had to be all about Him.

Our faith must rest in the faith and faithfulness of Christ. It is our belief in what He has done that saves us, not the size or sufficiency of our faith. Yet, this seems to fly in the face of a statement that Jesus made to His disciples after they were unable to cast out a demon from a young boy. The disappointed and disillusioned disciples, asked, “Why could we not cast it out?” (Matthew 17:19 ESV), and Jesus replied, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20 ESV). 

Is Jesus emphasizing their lack of faith? Is His point that their faith was too small? Matthew uses the Greek word apistia to describe the disciples' faith. The letter “a” at the beginning of the word can be translated as “no.” The disciples had no faith or, to put it another way, they were wanting in faith. Earlier, Jesus had sent out His disciples with the following order: “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons” (Matthew 10:8 ESV). But when faced with the challenge of casting out the demon from the possessed boy, they failed. It had nothing to do with the size or quantity of their faith; it was all about their failure to recognize their need for the power that was only available from Jesus. 

“The disciples were treating the gift of healing that Jesus had given them as a magical ability that worked regardless of their faith in Him. Now they learned that their power depended on proper response to revelation, namely, dependent confidence in Jesus to work through them to heal. Continual dependence on Jesus rather than simply belief in who He is constitutes strong faith.” – Thomas L. Constable, Notes on Matthew

Faith is not about self-effort, and saving faith is never self-produced. Human faith is a powerless faith. It cannot save because it is contaminated by a fallen, sin-prone nature. Jesus Himself stated, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44 ESV). Philippians 1:29 reveals that the ability to believe in Jesus has to be granted by God. It is a gracious gift bestowed on sinful men by a merciful, loving God. 

It was He who accomplished that which sets us free from the law. In verse 27, Paul tells us that we have been clothed in Christ. We now wear His righteousness, not our own. It is that fact on which we place our faith. I stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and do not have to depend on my feeble attempts to manufacture righteousness. Apart from Christ, all my best efforts are as filthy rags in God's eyes (Isaiah 64:6). But thankfully, I don't have to place faith in my efforts, but in the faithfulness of Christ alone. And even my faith is a gift from God, producing in me a capacity to see and hear the truth of the gospel and accept the gracious offer of new life through His Son.

Father, never let me mistakenly make all this about my faith. It is not the degree of my faith that counts, but the object of that faith. Don't let me try and take credit for anything I do because it is all about what Christ has done for me. It is because He was faithful that I can even have faith. He has provided me an object in which to place my faith that can actually deliver the newness of life He made possible. Thank You Father for the gracious gift of faith. Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling – by faith. Amen.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Law and the Promise

15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. – Galatians 3:15-22 ESV

From the very beginning, God intended for man to be made right with Him through a single individual who would somehow satisfy His just and holy demands. God had made a promise to Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him. He had promised Abraham that his "seed" (singular), referring to a single individual, would be the source of this blessing. From the family tree of Abraham would come the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who would bless the nations with His provision of salvation through faith in His sacrificial death on the cross.

Paul makes it clear that this promise of the coming Messiah was given 430 years before the law was given at Mount Sinai, and the law did not replace the promise.

The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise. – Galatians 3:17 NLT

In other words, if God suddenly replaced the promise with a requirement to keep the law, He would be changing the rules in mid-stream. Rather than the promise or covenant that was unilateral and unconditional, God would be substituting it with the law, placing impossible conditions on our ultimate salvation. But the covenant God made with Abraham did not include conditions. It was not dependent upon Abraham's actions or behavior, but was purely based on the faithfulness of God.

So then why did God bother to give Moses and the people of Israel the law? Paul answers that question, making it clear that the law was never intended to save mankind. Paul explains its purpose when he writes, "It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins" (Galatians 3:19 NLT). He clarifies this thought in his letter to the Romans. "…it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, ‘You must not covet.’ But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of coveting desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power" (Romans 7:7-8 NLT).

The law was given to reveal what God's holy and righteous requirements were. The law put in writing what God's expectations of man were, and, by disclosing those expectations, it also revealed man's limitations. The law showed mankind just how impossible it was to live up to God's holy and exacting standards. When men tried to obey the law, it actually resulted in more sin, rather than less. Knowledge of God's righteous requirements exposed man’s inherent desire to live in disobedience to them. Our own sinful natures rebelled against God's law.

Basically, the law was intended to show us our desperate need for a Savior. Trying to obey the law showed men that they were incapable of saving themselves. They couldn't live up to God's standard, so God provided another way. He sent His own Son to live as a man and do what no other man had ever done: keep the law to perfection. Jesus became the fulfillment of the law. He was completely obedient to the law, resulting in a sinless life unworthy of condemnation. He kept the law and lived up to  God’s exacting standard. He fulfilled the requirement and, therefore, satisfied the just and righteous demands of God.

This leads Paul to ask, "Is there a conflict, then, between God's law and God's promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God's promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ" (Galatians 3:21-22 NLT). Paul always takes it back to this one thought and undeniable truth: Man can't save himself. He is incapable of living the kind of life God requires; he needs a Savior.

The law shows us our desperate need for a Savior.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty of our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. – Romans 3:23-25 NLT

God gave the promise before He gave the law, and God fulfilled the promise because His Son fulfilled the law. We have nothing to add except our faith.

Father, I have no problem admitting or acknowledging my sinfulness. It is painfully clear to me. You have shown me my sin, but You have also revealed to me the solution., and it has nothing to do with my effort to stop sinning. It is solely based on the sacrificial death of Your Son in my place. You promised to bless all mankind and You have. You have provided a way to be made right with You and it has nothing to do with my ability to earn or deserve Your favor. It is all because of what Jesus Christ has done on my behalf. Thank You! Amen.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Righteous Shall Live By Faith

1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. – Galatians 3:1-14 ESV

This was obviously a massive issue for Paul, as he continues to discuss it well into the body of his letter. He is going out of his way to let the Gentiles know that there is nothing more that they need other than their faith in Christ. These men, who had shown up declaring that the salvation of the Galatian believers was incomplete because they had failed to convert to Judaism, were, in Paul's eyes, false brothers. If what they taught is what they really believed, they weren't true believers at all, because their gospel was false.

They somehow believed that their "Jewishness" put them ahead of the curve. After all, they thought, Jesus had been a Jew who had kept the law and obeyed all the ceremonial requirements, and so had His disciples. So if someone wanted to be one of His followers, they concluded, he had to become a Jew. In their minds, the Jews were the chosen people of God.

But Paul puts that logic to rest. First, because that is not what Jesus taught.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16 ESV

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” – John 5:24 ESV

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.” – John 6:27 ESV

Secondly, the good news had always been based on faith, not works. Long before the law had been given, God declared Abraham righteous because of his faith, not because of his obedience or adherence to any laws or requirements. In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes, "Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God's way. For the Scriptures tell us, ‘Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith’ (Romans 4:1-3 NLT).

Paul used the patriarch of the Hebrew people as an example of faith. He wasn’t chosen by God because he was Jewish. He wasn’t seen as righteous by God because he kept the law. After all, the law didn’t even exist yet. He wasn’t even deemed righteous by God because he had been circumcised. Paul goes on to elaborate on this vital distinction.

Was he counted righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised! Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous – even before he was circumcised. – Romans 4:10-11 NLT).

Lawkeeping has a particular attraction to us as human beings. It appeals to our pride and sense of self-accomplishment. From the time we are children, we are trained to aspire to get the gold star on our homework or the A+ on our paper. We are driven to make it onto the winning team. We become obsessed with achievement and recognition for our efforts. This attitude infiltrates and permeates every facet of our lives, even the spiritual dimension.

We look for ways to measure up and can actually end up competing with others to see who is the most spiritual. We use criteria such as quiet time, prayer, service, giving, Bible study attendance, and biblical knowledge to achieve some degree of righteousness and demonstrate our spiritual depth. But Paul warned the Galatian believers, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life” (Galatians 3:11 NLT).

Studying the Bible, prayer, service, and giving are all evidence of a life of faith, not the means to get there. These things don’t make us right in God’s eyes, because we can’t earn His favor or acceptance through our own efforts. As believers, we do these things because of our faith in His Son and our acceptance of His gift of salvation made possible through His death on the cross. We read the Bible to get to know God and His Son better. We pray so that we might share with and hear from Him. We serve because His Son served us and left us an example to follow. We give because God has so graciously provided for us, and we have been called to share with others out of that abundance.

It is so easy to let an attitude of earning based on effort creep into our spiritual lives. Paul is warning us to be wary of works, not to avoid them altogether. His message is that faith leads to righteousness, and any works we perform are a byproduct of that reality. Belief in Jesus Christ as your Savior is the only requirement God has placed on us. Our obedience to His laws or commands is based on an attitude of gratitude, not earning or merit. We have nothing to prove to God. We have nothing we need to do to make God love us any more than He already does. We don't have anything we need to do to keep God pleased with us. He loved us even when we were still trapped in our own sinfulness and sent His Son to die for us. God didn't save us because we deserved it, and it takes genuine faith to believe that.

The Galatians didn’t need circumcision to complete their salvation. What they needed was continued faith in the grace and goodness of God. He wasn’t done yet. Paul knew that the Galatians had not yet arrived. Their salvation had been accomplished but their sanctification was a work in process. God, through the indwelling presence and power of His Spirit, was molding each of His children into the likeness of His Son; a process that the apostle John said will one day be made complete when Jesus returns.

Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. – 1 John 3:2-3 NLT

Father, salvation by faith alone is so counter-intuitive. It goes against our human reasoning. It makes no sense. Nobody gets something for nothing. Everything in life has to be earned. But You have made salvation a gift. You gave us Your Son in spite of us, not because of us. You gave us what we could never have earned or ever deserved. And it takes faith to believe that. Help us to continue to replace faith in ourselves with faith in Your Son. Amen.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Nothing More, Nothing Less

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. – Galatians 2:11-21 ESV

To some, this whole confrontation between Paul and the Judaizers may appear overblown. Paul may come across as petty and too harsh in his opinions. After all, how can he be so sure that he's right and everyone else is wrong? Aren't they welcome to their own opinions? Can't there be more than one way for people to be made right with God? According to Paul, no. And he has already made it perfectly clear why he could be so adamant in his opinion, because it was not his opinion; it was the word of God given to him by Jesus Christ Himself. For Paul, this was serious stuff. It wasn't just a matter of a difference of opinion; it was a case of truth versus falsehood and the word of God versus the lies of the enemy. Paul was so firm on this point that he was willing to confront one of the recognized leaders of the early church, the former disciple of Jesus, Peter.

On a visit to the region of Galatia, Peter had sat down and eaten a meal with Paul and some of the Gentile Christians, even though the men in this group were uncircumcised and not converts to Judaism. But later, when some Jewish friends of James, another former disciple of Jesus, came to Antioch, Peter snubbed the Gentile Christians, refusing to associate with them. It seems that Peter did not want to offend his Jewish comrades. Evidently, these men were not willing to associate with the Gentile believers because they were uncircumcised and, therefore, unclean.

Peter's actions appalled Paul, and despite Peter's rock star status in the early church, Paul confronted him. As far as Paul was concerned, Peter’s actions gave credence to the message of the Judaizers and led others to believe that faith in Christ was not enough. But Paul made his position on the matter clear: "Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law" (Galatians 2:17 NLT). Case closed. Because otherwise, if these Gentile believers had come to salvation through faith in Christ alone, and then discovered that they were actually sinners because they had refused to keep the law, then the message Jesus had given Paul would have been the impetus or cause of their sin.

As far as Paul was concerned, that was ridiculous and impossible. Jesus never taught that salvation was some combination of faith in Him PLUS adherence to the Jewish law. The law was never meant to save anyone. It simply revealed the full extent of man's sinfulness. The law was intended to stand as a standard of God's righteous expectations. It was the measuring stick by which He judged the righteousness of men, and no one measured up. No one kept the law in its entirety. The law exposed man's sinfulness and revealed just how far he fell short of God's righteous standard. Paul wrote, "For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me" (Galatians 2:19 NLT).

But Jesus came to fulfill the law. He took on human flesh, lived as a man, and kept the law of God to perfection. He did what no other man could have ever done. He satisfied the righteous standard of God, which is what made Him the perfect sinless sacrifice, worthy to offer His life as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29 ESV). He willingly laid down his sinless life as payment for mankind’s sins. And when He died, those sins were crucified with Him.

Our old selves, our sinful selves, were put to death, and by dying with Christ, we were freed from having to keep the law as a means of maintaining a right standing with God.. In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes, "You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ" (Romans 7:4 NLT). As a result, we no longer have to try to keep all the requirements of the law to be made right with God. Salvation is not about self-effort; it is about faith in Christ alone. To try to add to this message or require anything more for salvation to be available is to treat the grace of God as meaningless and the death of Christ as insufficient.

For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. – Galatians 2:21 NLT

But He did die because He had to. It was a necessity.

There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. – Acts 4:12 NLT

As Augustus Toplady wrote in his well-known hymn, Rock of Ages, there is nothing we can bring to God that will make ourselves acceptable in His sight. We must simply cling to the cross of Christ and rest in His saving grace.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.  – Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me, Augustus Toplady, 1740-1778

Father, man is always trying to figure out a way to play a more significant role in his own salvation. We so desperately want to earn or deserve Your grace. We want a set of rules to keep or standards to live up to. But we can't even keep the rules we make, let alone the righteous standard You demand. And yet, You offer us a restored relationship with You through Jesus Christ, completely apart from our own self-effort. But we can’t seem to stop adding things to the equation. Help us grasp the unbelievable nature of what Christ made possible through His death. He is the key to our salvation, nothing more, nothing less. There's nothing more that needs to be done. Amen.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Christ Alone

1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. – Galatians 2:1-10 ESV

Paul had a message, given to him from Jesus Christ Himself, and he was to share that message with Gentiles, introducing them to the availability of forgiveness of sins and a restored relationship with God Himself through faith in Jesus Christ. No longer would they have to worship their countless idols made of wood and stone, in the hopes of appeasing them somehow with acts of service or gifts of grain, wine, animal, or even human sacrifice. Gone were the fears of never knowing if you were worshiping the right god in the right way or doing enough to earn favor. Paul had come to Galatia with a message about Jesus Christ, the God who had taken on human flesh and lived a completely sinless life so that the judgment of God against the sins of man might be satisfied. He had taken man's place as a substitute or stand-in, bearing the penalty due for our rebellion against God: death. And then He rose again, showing God's power and victory over death. Paul came preaching a message that offered men a way to be made right with God by simply believing in Jesus as their Savior and accepting His gift of salvation by an act of simple faith. No works were necessary, no sacrifices needed. What Jesus had done was all that had to be done. Later in his letter to the Romans, Paul would clearly state the requirement for salvation: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9 NLT). That was it. No more. No less.

But from the early days of his ministry to the Gentiles, Paul had been hounded by the Judaizers, a zealous group of Jews who were demanding that all Gentiles who wanted to become Christ-followers must become converts to Judaism first. Paul refers to these individuals as "false brothers with false pretenses who slipped in unnoticed to spy on our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaved" (Galatians 1:4 NET). In chapter one, Paul assures his readers that he had received his message directly from Jesus Himself. In chapter two, he says that his message is backed by the leaders of the church in Jerusalem, including James, Peter, and John. He makes it clear that he hadn't received his message from them, but was fully supported by them. They recognized that God had given Paul the responsibility of preaching to the Gentiles, and his message was not to include circumcision, law-keeping, or any form of conversion to Judaism.

Paul says the Judaizers or false brothers "wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations" (Galatians 2:4b NLT). But Paul refused. He would not compromise on the message Jesus had given him. Instead, he fought to preserve and protect the truth of the gospel as given to him by the risen Lord. In these early days of the Church, there were going to be countless attacks from without, but also very subtle attacks from within. The problem was that the message of faith alone in Christ alone was almost too good to be true. It eliminated all need for self-effort and any form of earning. Rule keeping was no longer the measuring rod for determining righteousness. Compliance with a set of arbitrary demands or laws was not necessary. And while comparing your good deeds to someone else's might make you feel better, it could not make you right with God.

Jesus had ushered in a new standard, a new way. Jesus Himself had said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me" (John 14:6 NLT). Paul was going to guard that message with a vengeance. And we need to do the same today. Because the gospel is still under attack, in subtle, yet sinister ways. We are still prone to add self-effort to the mix. We want to include man-made rules and requirements. We prefer some kind of measuring device that allows us to compare our righteousness with others. But any attempts to add anything to the gospel message should be rejected. Any requirement other than faith should be exposed for what it is: a lie and a false gospel. Jesus + nothing = everything.

Man has always been obsessed with the idea that there is something he must do to earn favor with God. We are wired to believe that we must work our way into God’s good graces, but the beauty of the gospel is that everything has been done for us. There is nothing for us to add to the equation. It is Jesus plus nothing so that no one can boast or brag. Salvation is the work of God, from beginning to end. As the great old hymn, Rock of Ages, says…

Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling.

Father, don't let us buy into the lie that faith alone is not enough. Don't allow us to unwittingly add to the gospel by requiring any kind of man-made standard that requires men to measure up to our demands. Help us keep the message simple and pure. Give us the same kind of zeal Paul had to protect the integrity of the gospel from the lies of the enemy. Amen.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Most Unlikely of Choices

11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me. – Galatians 1:11-24 NLT

Paul will spend a great deal of time in this letter defending his apostleship so that he might validate his message of justification by faith alone in Christ alone. Some were questioning his right to claim apostleship and were attempting to undermine his credibility. But Paul had no doubts about his calling or the commission he had received directly from the lips of Christ. So he provided his readers with a brief history of his salvation story. Likely, they were already familiar with the story, but perhaps this rendition provided them with some extra details. He began by clarifying that the message he preached had not been given to him by any man. Paul had not learned it from any human teacher, and he had not been led to faith by any particular individual. In fact, he had been personally witnessed to by Jesus Himself. On that fateful day on the road leading to Damascus, Paul had an intimate encounter with Jesus, the resurrected Christ. He had been struck blind by the very one he had been on a rampage to discredit and whose disciples he had been out to destroy.

The truly amazing thing about Paul’s testimony was the radical nature of his transformation. One day, he had been on his way to the city of Damascus to arrest any Christians he found there, and then just days after his conversion, he was proclaiming Christ in the synagogues of the region.

And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. – Acts 9:19-22 ESV

Even the Jews who heard him preach in the synagogues of Damascus were shocked at the undeniable transformation that had taken place. Paul, the persecutor, had become a proclaimer of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The self-appointed exterminator of Christianity had become its divinely commissioned defender and proponent. There was nothing that could explain this radical change in his life other than the power of God.

Up until that point, Paul had not met a single apostle of Jesus and had received no instruction of any kind. He had simply had a divine encounter with Jesus, and then he spent three years in Arabia. We’re not told exactly where Paul went or what he did while he was there, but it is likely that Paul, a student of the Old Testament Scriptures, spent his time reviewing all that he knew in light of what he had just experienced. His understanding of the Word of God was to be radically changed by the new revelation he had received from Jesus. It could be that Jesus did for Paul what He had done for the two disciples along the road to Emmaus when He appeared to them immediately after His resurrection.

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. – Luke 24:27 ESV

And after Jesus had left them standing by the roadside, they said to one another,

“Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” – Luke 24:32 ESV

Whatever happened during those three years in Arabia, Paul was to return a dramatically changed man. He went immediately to Jerusalem, where he met with Peter and James, but he did not go to seek their approval or to get their permission. He was virtually unknown to the believers in Jerusalem, but his conversion had become the talk of the town.

“He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” – Galatians 1:23 ESV

Paul was a changed man. He not only had a new calling, but he also enjoyed a radically new nature. His heart had been transformed. His passions and pursuits had been redeemed by God. Paul confessed that God, “who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me” (Galatians 1:15-16 ESV). Paul knew that his conversion was God’s handiwork from beginning to end. His change of heart could not have been explained any other way, and because his salvation was the work of God, what he preached was the word of God concerning salvation through His Son.

It would seem that Paul’s greatest defense of his gospel message was his gospel transformation. The dramatic and virtually overnight change in the trajectory of his life was the greatest testimony to the validity of his message.

Far too often, what Christians proclaim about the gospel is not present in their own lives. They tell others of its transformational power, and yet their lives reveal little of that power at work. They talk of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the risen Lord, but their knowledge of Him has grown little since the day they first met Him. They can easily recall the day they came to faith in Christ, but they have a difficult time providing examples of how they are living by faith on a day-by-day basis.

Paul’s strongest proof of his message's authenticity was his personal story of life change. The gospel was believable because his life made it visible. The transformative work of God in his life was the greatest proof of the gospel’s power and veracity. When Paul showed up in Jerusalem, he was relatively unknown to any of the believers there, including the apostles. But everyone had heard the details of his conversion story.

“The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy!” – Galatians 1:23 NLT

This former Pharisee, who had worked directly for the high priest and the Sanhedrin of the Jews, had undergone an inexplicable change of heart. Now, rather than persecuting and arresting Christians, Paul was one of them. And the three years he had spent in Arabia had brought the Christians in Jerusalem a much-welcomed respite from the arrests and threats to their safety. It’s doubtful that the Jewish religious leaders gave up their attacks on the fledgling churches in Judea, but their greatest proponent had dramatically changed the religious landscape by changing teams. Paul was now a follower of Christ, and he states that the Christians in Jerusalem “glorified God because of me” (Galatians 1:24 ESV).

Father, it is amazing to think that You had Paul in mind before he was even born. You had a job for him to do long before he even existed. Your plan of salvation is comprehensive and complete. There are no diversions or detours. You are never caught off guard or surprised. You knew Paul was going to persecute the Church. But You also knew what he was going to accomplish for Your Kingdom, because that had been Your plan from eternity past. Your choosing of men is never without reason and our salvation is never without purpose. You have a job for each of us to do. We have been called and commissioned to serve You. Help us see our divine job description and take it seriously, just as Paul did. Amen.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Contrary Gospel

1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. – Galatians 1:1-10 ESV

After a brief yet heartfelt greeting, Paul cuts to the chase. He is writing to new believers living throughout the region called Galatia (now modern Turkey), and he wants to warn them about a problem he sees going on among them. He pulls no punches, but is extremely blunt with his assessment of the situation.

I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. – Galatians 1:6 NLT

Paul is completely baffled by the reports he has heard coming out of Galatia. Of the 13 letters Paul wrote that became part of the canon of Scripture, this is believed to be the first one. It was likely written sometime around 49 A.D. Since the time of Jesus' resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Gospel had spread throughout the known world and made its way to Galatia, where Gentiles were coming to faith in Christ. But as the gospel spread, so did a lot of false teaching.

There were no New Testament Scriptures at this time. The gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John had not yet been written. There were few, if any, elders or leaders for these new congregations of believers springing up all over the place. There was little in the way of an established doctrine for the growing Church. Much of what Paul and others wrote in these letters became what we now have as the New Testament. Their writings, penned under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, became the foundation of the doctrine to which we still adhere today. They were addressing issues and problems that were emerging as the gospel spread and the Church grew in numbers. Immediately after Pentecost, most of the early converts to Christianity were Jews, but that had begun to change as the good news of Jesus was carried around the world.

Increasingly, more and more Gentiles, or non-Jews, were coming to faith. Because Jesus and His disciples had been Jews, there was a strong tie to Judaism in those early days. Many of the Jewish converts were of the opinion that belief in Christ was simply an extension or add-on to their Jewish faith or heritage. This led them to propagate the idea that becoming a Christ-follower also required that you become a Jew and submit to all the Jewish laws and traditions. In time, a group that held an extreme form of this view rose up, which came to be known as the Judaizers. They were having a strong influence in places like Galatia, telling Gentile converts that their faith in Christ was incomplete or inadequate. They were teaching that faith in Christ alone was not enough; more was required of them. They must also become converts to Judaism, all males must go through the ritual of circumcision, and they must keep the Law and adhere to all Jewish traditions and customs. As you can imagine, this caused a great deal of confusion among these new believers.

It also caused a great deal of anger in Paul. This became one of the major themes in his letters, as he warned his readers, "You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News, but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ" (Galatians 1:6-7 NLT). Paul made it clear that what these believers were hearing was not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was some kind of an aberration. It was a "different way," but not the one true way. It was a false gospel, but not the true gospel concerning faith in Christ alone.

Paul gives his feelings about this pseudo gospel and those who were promoting it:

Let God's curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who practices a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. – Galatians 1:8 NLT

Paul was anything but tolerant and inclusive. He was not a proponent of the popular heresy that all religions lead to God. Nor was he politically correct or willing to accommodate all views. As far as he was concerned, there was one gospel, and it did not include conversion to Judaism or adherence to the Law. The gospel Paul preached required faith in Christ alone and nothing more. It was faith-based, not works-based, and it afforded no place for earning or merit. What made the good news good news was that it was a free gift, unhampered by human effort or achievement.

Gone were the days when sacrifice and law-keeping were the required means of pursuing a right relationship with God. No amount of either one had ever truly made anyone right with God. But with His death on the cross, Jesus had satisfied the just demands of God once and for all. He had paid the price for our sins with His own life. No more lambs needed to be sacrificed. No more hopeless attempts at perfect adherence to the Law were necessary. Salvation had been provided by Christ and was not dependent on the efforts of man anymore.

So Paul boldly and aggressively deals with this issue right up front, and he was anything but subtle.

I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. – Galatians 1:10 NLT

Paul was a servant of Jesus Christ. He answered to Him and Him alone. He cared more about what God thought about him than what men did. This was not a popularity contest for Paul. He had been commissioned by Jesus Himself to take the good news of salvation in Christ alone through faith alone to a lost and dying world. He would not tolerate the teaching or preaching of any other gospel. He would not put up with those who attempted to redefine the gospel as Jesus plus anything.

Father, it is so easy to try to add to the gospel. We so want to put our twist on it. and end up adding rules and requirements that are unnecessary and only muddy the water. We crave achievement and recognition for our efforts. We have been brainwashed to believe that we have to DO something to earn Your forgiveness and favor. But salvation is a gift. It was made possible by what Your Son did on the cross and has nothing to do with human effort or earning. As we read through the letter of Galatians, help us see where we may be trying to add to the gospel even today. Open our eyes and help us give up all attempts at self-righteousness and once again place our faith in the righteousness of Christ alone. Amen.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.