Focus on Jesus

DEVOTION
GALATIONS
FOCUS ON JESUS
Gal 5:10-12
10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. 11 Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
NIV
Some pretty tough words regarding someone who teaches a false doctrine. Strong words against teaching anything else except Jesus Christ Crucified. Two warnings are here for me. The first, of course, is never accept any teaching that is other than Jesus Christ Crucified and the other is never teach anything else. Now I certainly have taught Christian behavior but not as a condition of salvation. I do think that has been what was going on within the Galation community. I also have to be willing to listen and to heed teachings regarding Christian behavior as a response of my love for God. Because I love him I should desire to please him and live in a manner that befits the name Christian. I do believe there is a danger in looking toward those manners more than the cross. Have I ever gotten catch up with that thinking? Maybe when I was younger and new in my walk with the Lord I might have paid more attention to them because of my ignorance of the truth. Maybe I do think it was right to focus on my behavior even now, but not as any condition of righteousness, or of my behavior having any value for holiness. It still comes does down to the cross. The only action that matters is that of God. He makes me righteous, he makes me holy. I fail so much, so often at coming close to anything which resembles righteous and holy. There can be no other condition imposed on me or anyone else other than accepting the provision of God through the cross of Calvary. I should never lose focus of that and filter all teachings through it and teach all things through it. It is so easy to become distracted from that fact and become so focused on behavior that if I am not careful my behavior becomes the focus of my life. Then when I fail, I could become discouraged over my walk with the Lord. Disheartened and depressed over not being able to be perfect or refusing to accept imperfection and lying to myself about my sinless condition all could be negated by simply remember the cross. I will fail but Christ did not. I will not accept or teach anything else but that fact. My focus is on Jesus.