Galatians 1:6-9
"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed."
In chapter 1 of Galatians, after the preface and introduction, we have the apostle Paul severely reproving the churches in Galatia for their turning away from the faith. He goes on after this to prove his apostleship, which Paul's enemies had brought into question.
To give some background we know from the whole of scripture that Paul and Barnabas had just completed their first missionary journey (Acts 13:2-14:28). They had visited Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, cities in the Roman province of Galatia (present-day Turkey). Upon returning to Antioch, Paul was accused by some Jewish Christians of diluting Christianity to make it more appealing to Gentiles. These Jewish Christians disagreed with Paul's statements that Gentiles did not have to follow many of the religious laws that the Jews had obeyed for centuries. Some of Paul's accusers had even followed him to those Galatian cities and had told the Gentile converts they had to be circumcised and follow all the Jewish laws and customs in order to be saved. According to these men, Gentiles had to first become Jews in order to become Christians.
In response to this threat, Paul wrote this letter to the Galatian churches. In it, he explains that following the Old Testament laws or the Jewish laws will not bring salvation. A person is saved by grace through faith. Paul wrote this letter about A.D. 49, shortly before the meeting of the Jerusalem council.
Those who had confused the Galatian believers and perverted the gospel were zealous Jewish Christians who believed that the Old Testament practices such as circumcision and dietary restrictions were required of all believers. Because these teachers wanted to turn the Gentile Christians into Jews, they were called Judaizers. Some time after the letter to the Galatians was sent, Paul met with the apostles in Jerusalem to discuss this matter further (see Acts 15). The reason Paul's letter was such a stern rebuke to the churches in Galatia is because by adding the law to the gospel message, this group was in effect rejecting Jesus Christ and His free offer of salvation.
There is one Hebrew word that stands out to me this morning and it is the word metastrepho, (met-as-tref'-o); It comes from Greek 3326 (meta) and Greek 4762 (strepho); and it means to turn across, i.e. transmute or (figurative) corrupt :- pervert, turn.
In today's English we may say that people "twist the truth". As most of us have come to experience those who twist the truth are more difficult to spot or expose than those who outright lie. The Judaizers were twisting the truth about Christ. They claimed to follow him, but they denied that Jesus' work on the cross was sufficient for salvation. There will always be people who pervert the Good News. Either they do not understand what the Bible teaches, or they are uncomfortable with the truth as it stands.
I pray that God would help you discern what is of the flesh, what is of the devil, and what is of the truth. The key will always come down to acknowledging the LORD in all your ways that HE (By HIS Spirit) would direct your path.
You can rejoice today knowing that God has given us HIS WORD.
Living by every WORD that precedes out of the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4),
Alan J. Schrader
Galatians 2:17-21
"But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which 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 set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."
In chapter 2 of Galatians we continue learn about Paul's past life and conduct. He goes on to discuss some further instances of what had gone on between him and the other apostles. Paul makes in very clear in this chapter that his revelation and knowledge of the gospel was authentic and witnessed by the other apostles. So despite his adversaries Paul had purposed to fulfill his calling and admonish the church on the great doctrine of justification by faith in Christ, without the works of the law.
Paul teaches in this chapter that the penalty for breaking the law is death. As sinners, we have broken the law. Therefore, we are condemned to death. But Christ paid the penalty of the broken law for us by dying in our place. So when Christ died, we died. He died to the law in the sense that He met all its righteous demands; therefore, in Christ, we too have died to the law.
Does this mean that the believer is at liberty to break the Ten Commandments all he wants? No!!! God forbid!!! What it means is that we must recognize that our justification does not come through tablets of stone but rather God giving us new hearts. The apostle Paul is teaching a vital principle of the Kingdom when he helps us understand that the law on tablets of stone could never produce a holy life. His way of holiness is explained in verse 20.
The believer is identified with Christ in His death. Not only was He crucified on Calvary, I was crucified there as well-in Him. This means the end of me as a sinner in God's sight. It means the end of me as a person seeking to merit or earn salvation by my own efforts. It means the end of me as a child of Adam, as a man under the condemnation of the law. The old, evil "I" has been crucified with Christ. This is true as to my standing before God and it should be true to my behavior as well. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The Savior did not die for me in order that I might go on living my life as I choose. He died for me so that from now on He might be able to live His life in me. The life which I now live in this human body, I live by faith in the Son of God.
Remember, faith means reliance or dependence. The Christian lives by continual dependence on Christ, by yielding to Him, by allowing Christ to live His life in him.
Have you ever turned your life over to the Lord Jesus with the prayer that His life might be manifest in your body? I encourage you to do that today...and every day!
I pray that you would never allow Christ death to be in vain. Do not set aside the grace of God (v. 21).
Walking in His Grace,
Alan
Galatians 3:21-25
"Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor."
In Galatians, chapter 3, the apostle Paul is rebuking the Galatians for their disobedience to the Gospel, and departure from it. He confirms the doctrine of justification by faith, by various arguments. In this chapter Paul also shows the use of the law, the death of it, and will make mention of several privileges which belong to believers in Christ.
What is made very clear in this book is that the law was not designed by God to give us our righteousness or eternal life. Rather, the law showed humanity's need for the promise of life through faith in Jesus Christ, having confined all people under their sin (see Rom. 3:23; 6:23).
Before faith in Christ delivered us, we were imprisoned by sin, beaten down by past mistakes, and choked by desires that we knew were wrong. God knew we were prisoners, but he provided a way of escape?faith in Jesus Christ. Without Christ, everyone is held in sin's grasp, and only those who place their faith in Christ ever get out of it.
Paul gives two different illustrations concerning the function of the law until Christ came. For example the law acted as a jail guard to hold humankind in custody until faith in Christ was revealed. But the law also served as a tutor. The word tutor in Greek is paidagogos: The Greek term means "custodian" or a person who attends a child. In Greek households a faithful servant was given the responsibility of taking care of a boy from childhood to puberty. The servant kept him from both physical and moral evil, and went with him to his amusements and to school. Paul used the word to say that the law functioned as a child-custodian. The law acted as an outward check on desires, thus making the consciousness of sin more acute. And since none of us is able to deal with sin by ourselves, the law guides us to Christ, our only Rescuer and Savior. In other works the law was like a tutor because it both corrected and instructed the Israelites in God's ways until Christ was revealed, and such a tutor was no longer needed (4:1, 2).
We need to ask ourselves the question: Did the law set aside the promises or take their place? Certainly not! The truth is if it were possible to give a law by which sinners could achieve the perfection required by God, then certainly salvation would have been by law-keeping. God would not have sent the Son of God to die for sinners if He could have achieved the same result in some less costly way. But the law had plenty of both time and people to demonstrate that it could not save sinners. In this sense it was "weak through the flesh" (Rom. 8:3). All the law could do was show men their hopelessness and impress on them that salvation could only be by the free grace of God.
I close with the encouraging words that are found at the end of this chapter:
"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 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 neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (vs. 26-29).
Take time to rejoice in the free gift of God.
Walking in Faith,
Alan
Galatians 4:6-7
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
In Chapter 4 of Galatians the apostle Paul continues to exhort the churches in Galatia to guard themselves against the teachings of the Judaizers. He again points out their weakness and folly for being drawn away from the gospel teaching of justification to a bondage that is found in trying to keep all the ceremonial laws. Paul will remind them of the affections they once had and of the character these false teachers by whom they were being perverted. We will also witness in this chapter the history of Isaac and Ishmael, by a comparison taken form which Paul illustrates the difference between freedom and bondage. And in all these exhortations the apostle expresses himself with great tenderness and concern for them.
What stands out to me this morning is that just as "God sent forth His Son" in "the fullness of the time" in world history, so God has sent forth the Spirit of Christ at just the right time for every person who believes in Christ. Believers can now experience and know intimacy with the Father because of the indwelling Spirit (see Rom. 8:1). This indwelling Spirit that has come into our hearts causes us to cry out "Abba, Father!" This is a familiar form of address, combining the Aramaic and Greek words for "father." It was used by Christ in his prayer in Mark 14:36. No slave could address the head of a family in this fashion; it was reserved for members of the family, and expresses love and confidence. In other words the believer is no longer a slave; he is not under the law. Now he is a son of God. Since Christ, as God's Son, is the heir of all God's riches, the Christian is an heir of God through Christ. All that God has is his by faith.
I pray that you would find yourself rejoicing today knowing that you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. I hope you ladies don't get held up by the word "son". If I, as a male, can get over being referred to as part of the Bride of Christ you can do the same. Remember the terms "Bride of Christ" and "you are sons" does not have the gender (male & female) in mind. The apostle Paul had all ready helped us with this one in the last chapter: Galatians 3:28 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Keeping living like an heir of God through Christ and not a slave to the bondage of sin.
Hopeful,
Alan
Galatians 5:24-26
"And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another."
Chapter 5 of Galatians continues the exhortation to be steadfast in the liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and not be brought under the bondage of the ceremonial law, more specifically circumcision. In this chapter Paul will warn against striving with one another and warn them to strive against sin. He also will teach about the struggle between the flesh and the spirit, which is referred to by Paul as the works of the flesh verses the fruit of the spirit. He specifies the works of the flesh, which must be watched against and done away with, and the fruit of the Spirit, which must be brought forth and cherished. The chapter concludes with a caution against pride and envy.
I would like to highlight this morning the last three verses in this chapter. Simply put, Paul is saying that because we're saved, we should live like it! And because the Holy Spirit is the source of our new life, we should keep in step with his leading. The challenge is not letting anything or anyone else determine our values and standards in any area of our life. We need to see that God is interested in every part of our lives, not just the spiritual part. As we live by the power of the Holy Spirit, we need to submit every aspect of our lives to God?emotional, physical, social, intellectual, and vocational. He wants is all!
The scriptures teach us that in order to accept Christ as Savior, we need to turn from our sins and willingly nail our sinful nature to the cross. This doesn't mean, however, that we will never see traces of its evil desires again. As Christians we still have the capacity to sin, but we have been set free from sin's power over us and no longer have to give in to it. We must daily commit our sinful tendencies to God's control, daily crucify them, and moment by moment draw on the Spirit's power to overcome them.
One last comment: everyone needs a certain amount of approval from others. But those who go out of their way to secure honors or to win popularity with a lot of people become conceited and show they are not following the Holy Spirit's leading. Those who look to God for approval won't need to envy others. Because we are God's sons and daughters, we have his Holy Spirit as the loving guarantee of his approval (see yesterday's devotion).
I pray that you would be graced to stay away from the "Let us not" list:
* Become conceited
* Provoking one another
* Envying one another
Brothers & Sisters in the Lord, we are called to walk and live in the Spirit. It is the only way to freedom and liberty. It is God's way for us to experience love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Walking & Talking with HIM,
Alan
Galatians 6:7-10
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."
Chapter 6 of Galatians mainly consists of two parts. In the first part we have the Apostle Paul giving us several plain and practical directions, which instructs the Believer in their duty to one another, and their responsibility to promote the communion of saints in love (Gal_6:1-10). The second part revives the main concept of Paul's letter, which was to admonish the Galatians against the teaching of Judaizers, and to confirm the liberty that the Galatians have in the gospel. Paul will also give an account of his own conduct and sufferings as an example to them, and by which they might judge the difference between him and the false apostles. The apostle will conclude the chapter with mentioning that he has written with his own hands. Most likely this was to add emphasis to his words and to validate that the letter was genuine.
What stands out to me this morning is the principle of sowing and reaping. In Paul's day this principle was known to everyone in this largely agricultural society. He is driving the point that it is a vain attempt to "mock" God and to think that if one sows to his flesh that he can escape the harvest of destruction and judgment that comes upon those who participate in sin (See Galatians 5:19; Hos. 8:7).
Corruption, in Greek, is the word phthora, (fthor-a)'); It is from the Greek 5351 (phtheiro) which means decay, i.e. ruin (spontaneous or inflicted, literal or figurative): It is translated corruption, destroy, and perish. It is also a term used for a field in which the produce is too rotten to harvest (see Heb. 6:8). Some interpret corruption to imply eternal destruction, either through losing salvation or through never having been truly saved at all. Others understand a tragic loss of rewards for the carnal believer (see 1 Cor. 3:12; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 22:12). He who sows to the Spirit will reap everlasting life does not mean that eternal life is earned by works. Rather, Paul is saying that everlasting life is the glorious end of those who follow the guidance of the Spirit (see Rom. 6:22). Jesus said that He came so that we might have eternal life and have it more abundantly (see John 10:10). In this life through the indwelling of the Spirit, Christians are developing a capacity to experience Christ to the fullest in the life to come.
It would certainly be a surprise if you planted apples seeds and a peach tree came up. It's a natural law to reap what we sow. And not only do we reap what we sow; we also reap in greater quantities than what we sowed. It's true in other areas too. If you gossip or slander your friend, you will most likely lose a few friendships. Every action has results! If you plant to please your own desires, you'll reap a crop of sorrow and evil. If you plant to please God, you'll reap joy and everlasting life.
What kind of seeds will you sow today?
I pray that you would sow righteously and reap a wonderful harvest in due season. Continue to stay faithful in the WORD it will always pay off.
Sowing,
Alan
