Something Spectacular

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

SOMETHING SPECTACULAR

Eph 1:18-19

18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

NIV

Paul continues with his prayer for them and it is full of rich truths. Just what does he mean regarding the eyes of our hearts being enlightened? We think this might be all about faith, having real faith, real hope, which is what he is saying is the reason for having an enlightened heart. So we might know the hope to which we have been called. This word hope has great significance in Greek. It can mean anticipation with pleasure, but it also can mean joyful and confident expectation, and in the sense of this context, of eternal life. Our hope is not like, “I hope I get that new whatever for my birthday”. This hope is not really hoping at all, it is a joyful confidence. We do not have to hope, we can expect it to happen. It is promised by God and he never fails to keep his word. Because we believe in Jesus, God has called us to eternal life with him. He has blessed us with that glorious inheritance. We never have to worry about it, it is a done deal, and our destination is heaven. This is not a see-saw of life, that when we fail him we are out, and when we do good we are back in. We can have confidence that we are going to be in heaven because we believe in Jesus, we are born again. Of course we will never be perfect until we reach heaven in our glorified bodies, but nevertheless, we are still going to heaven. That is our inheritance as children of God. It is not based on how good we are, or how much we do or don’t do. It is not based on anything other than faith in Jesus. That is having the eyes of our hearts enlightened. That is knowing our hope to which he has called us. Jesus told us that he went to prepare a place for us and that he would come back to take us to that place, so we may be where he is, with him. That is not a hope, it is a reality and we should be living in that reality. In addition to all that, if that is not enough, we also have available to us the incomparably great power of God. We have to think that it would be the most awesome life ever, to live, having the power of God in us. We are not sure how that all works, and what exactly that looks like, but it is something spectacular. The whole thing, heaven, and his power is, in fact, something spectacular.

Knowing Him Better

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

KNOWING HIM BETTER

Eph 1:15-18

15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

NIV

As we remember, the reason is the fact they have been included because they believed and having been marked with the Holy Spirit. So Paul gives this prayer for them and as we are included in those who believe, his prayer is also for us. Of course, he could no know about our faith, so some of his words are directed only to those in Ephesus. However, we could take a lesson from him on this point. When we are aware of the faith of others, such as our fellow believers, especially in the local church, but also that would include believers in other parts of the world, we should never stop giving thanks for the, and remembering them in our prayers. This certainly would be far better than any of the back-biting, gossip, and lack of forgiveness which seems to happen far too often in the local church, alone with envy and jealousy. We have to be careful not to allow those attitudes to be a part of our life, but instead, be about giving thanks for the faith of others and praying for them. What Paul is praying for is they will receive the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so they may know God better. This makes it sound as though they have yet to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. However, this also reveals to us that as we have been, we now have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation and we do know God better each and every day. We are continuing to have new revelations from the Spirit regarding who God is and how he interacts with us. Our desire should be to know God better, to not be content with the limited knowledge we currently have. The Spirit is constantly at work within us, revealing more and more all the time for God is infinite and it is said he is beyond understanding. But that is not true as the Spirit of wisdom is within revealing the Father to us so we may know him better. Maybe that better is still limited because of our finite ability to comprehend the infinite. However, because we have the infinite Holy Spirit, who is God dwelling within us, we may know him better, which implies better than we presently do. God is not keeping himself a secret from us, he desires we know him and so he reveals himself to us. This should offer us an insight as to how we should live and glorify Him for the faith of others, as well as how we should worship him. If we truly know him, our worship would surely show it. But, also we would be praying others would know him better as well.

Being Marked

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

BEING MARKED

Eph 1:11-14

11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession — to the praise of his glory.

NIV

Well, here we are at one of the main verses the Calvinist’s use to hold to the idea of predestination that some are chosen and some are not. But that is not what this passage means in any sense. First, we have to contend with the “we”. That does not mean us. In the context of the eleventh verse the “we” does not exist in the Greek, however it does appear in the twelfth verse thus being implied in the eleventh. However the “we” are Paul and Barnabas, not us. We are the “you also were included”. It certainly appears Paul was specifically selected by God when his name was Saul. He was such a hater of Christians, although they were not called Christians at the time. He made every effort to have them arrested. So when God called him and changed his name to Paul, he had a testimony of the power of God in his life. No one could doubt that it was God who changed his heart. However, even the word translated as chosen does not fully express the Greek word which means, cast by lots, to determine by lots, to choose by lot, to assign by a lot. A form of this Greek word is used once in the New Testament as to make Kleeros, a heritage, private possession. Nevertheless, it was Paul and Barnabas who were allotted a heritage or inheritance that was predetermined according to the plan of God, who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. That is to say, God did not predetermine Paul, but he predetermined the inheritance, eternal life through Jesus Christ. The whole reason Paul and Barnabas were allotted this inheritance was for the glory of God. However, Paul was among the first, but not the first, as the Apostles were called directly by Jesus, one by one. Paul was added later due to a revelation of Jesus after his ascension. Yet Paul was called to go to the Gentiles as the Apostles spent most of their efforts exhorting the Jews to believe in Jesus. This has been God’s plan from the beginning when he called Abram, changing his name to Abraham, and gave him the promise that through his seed many nations would be blessed. Now on to the “you also”. We are that “you also” who are included having believed. The reason we are included is not that we were chosen, but because we believed after hearing the word of truth. This bears witness to what God inspired John to write regarding whosoever believes should not perish but gains, or inherits, or having the inheritance of eternal life. This is all in accordance with the will of God and is for his praise and glory. Paul does not say anything about himself being marked with a seal, however, we have to assume he was. However, because we heard the word of truth and believed we have been marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. We have the mark of God upon us. Talk about being a marked man, we are in fact marked people. The Holy Spirit is our guarantee that we will inherit eternal life. We do not know how many more will believe, being God’s possession. But until the full number of people he foreknew would believe, we wait having been guaranteed eternal life, living marked.

Under One Head

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

UNDER ONE HEAD

Eph 1:7-10

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment — to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

NIV

In him, means in Christ as this is a continuation of the preceding verses,

Eph 1:4-7

In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

NIV

So then in Christ, we have redemption through his blood. Jesus spilled his blood for our redemption, paying the price, paying the ransom in full, which is the direct meaning of the Greek word translated redemption. This, of course, carries the meaning that we were captives, we have been kidnapped by Satan, by sin. This also means that we first started out as a child of God, as sons and daughters of God, but were taken captive by sin, and in need of redemption. Jesus paid the ransom in full on that cross, with his blood. The price he paid also gave us the forgiveness of sins, and that is in accordance with the riches of God’s grace, or goodwill or loving-kindness, his act of graciousness. This simply means he did not have to forgive our sins, he is God. He can do whatever he wants to do, as he did in the time of Noah, he destroyed all mankind because of their wickedness. That was not a demonstration of grace, they were not acting in accordance with his grace, as being influenced by his divine nature nor reflecting that nature in their lives. But as we have been redeemed, we also have been done so by the riches of his grace, both as his act of kindness and as his divine influence upon us. It is his grace, his influence that brought about our accepting our redemption. Christ’s blood covers the sins of all mankind, but we have to want to be set free from our captor, Satan. The only way that happens is by the power of the Spirit at work convicting us of our dire situation of captivity in sin and our impending death. God lavished his grace on us with all wisdom and understanding. Now it could be said this means God’s wisdom and his understanding, but it is his grace, his act of kindness that he lavished on us his divine influence giving us wisdom and understanding. This means we know we have been redeemed, we have the wisdom regarding our sin and his grace, and we understand his act of graciousness and what it means for us. This gives us a picture of who God is, of what kind of God he is, of how much he loves us. He also does not keep us in the dark, but he makes known to us what was once a mystery concerning his will. That must mean that once upon a time man was not privy to the will of God, they did not know about his will and his good pleasure which he purposed in Christ. However, now he has revealed his will regarding how he desires to redeem his creation. It has been his plan even before he created all things, including man. We already have seen that he predetermined this to be his way to redeem us. Only now he revealed it what Jesus came to earth as a man to spill his blood for the forgiveness of our sins. This is by the pleasure of God, it gives him great pleasure to set us free from our captor. He did this at the exact time he set forth from before creation. All things are in accordance with his will, his plan, and his pleasure. We think we order our plans, make our plans, plot out our life, however, in all reality, God ordains our footsteps. Life is not about ourselves, it is about God. He reveals his plans to us, so we can live in accordance with his will and his pleasure once we have been set free. Sometimes it seems we forget that we are among all things in heaven and on earth that have been brought under one head, Christ. We are no longer captive to sin, but we are now free to be under one head, Christ.

Living Blessed

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

LIVING BLESSED

Eph 1:3-7

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

NIV

What does it feel like to be blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ? Do we actually live in accordance with that blessing? What is every spiritual blessing? We would have to believe eternal life is a spiritual blessing, but then it is also a physical blessing, as when Jesus was resurrected he walked and talked with people and even told Thomas to touch him. So our eternal life may be spiritual, but it is also physical, as we will walk on streets of Gold, eat of the fruit of trees and live in an abode Jesus is preparing for us. So we are back to all these spiritual blessings in Christ. Our life is indeed blessed just knowing Christ, but do we live like it? Are we living with all the joy, the peace, and the love of Jesus? Does our continence reflect having every spiritual blessing in Christ, or do we walk around reflecting doom and gloom or, for that matter, do we reflect the world? If we are happy and we know it our face will surely show it. If we are blessed in the heavenly realms with every, not some, not just a few, but every spiritual blessing in Christ, and we are, then our life will surely show it. Let us lift up our face, let Jesus shine within us, let us reflect the joy of the Lord. Let us live reflecting all those blessings. Now as for this being chosen in him before the creation of the world, we cannot leave out, to be holy and blameless in his sight. It is not that he chose us and did not choose them. He chose us, mankind, before he created the world, to be holy and blameless in his sight. Because he is God and knows all things and is not limited to time and space, when he chose, decided, predestined, predetermined before he created the world, he knew his first man, Adam would fail to be obedient and yet he still created him to be holy and blameless in his sight. But, God also knew all that man would do, the sin that would prevail in man’s life, and he predetermined the only way for man to be holy and blameless in his sight would be through Jesus Christ. He knew before it all started that the only way we would be adopted as sons would be through Jesus. That was his plan from before the beginning of time as we know it. We can see this plan throughout the Old Testament. We can see Jesus all throughout the Old Testament. God did all this because of his great love for his creation, man, after all, he created man in His own image. We are the image of God. If we want to see God, then we merely have to look in ourselves. This is the will of God, it is his will and for his pleasure, he has blessed us in heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing. This is not about us, it is all about God, about his will, his pleasure and we are the recipients of his will and pleasure. We are blessed beyond what we can even fully comprehend. So let us live as blessed as we are.  

Authority from God

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

AUTHORITY FROM GOD

Eph 1:1-2

1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

NIV

Not much to see here in the beginning salutation of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. However, there is also a lot going on in this salutation. First, we have to notice Paul makes sure he establishes his authority for pastoring these people. That is exactly what he is doing throughout this letter. Paul did not write this letter to address a particular problem that was going on in the local church, but to let them know of the unity of the church as the body of Christ and what a great blessing they have in Christ. He is encouraging them as believers their hope in Christ, the glorious riches they have as an inheritance, and what great power God imparts to those who believe. We will see as we work through this letter that Paul will remind them of their spiritual blessing in Christ and he will exhort them to have a walk worthy of their calling with which they were called.  This is pastoring personified. What Paul makes sure is that his wisdom and pastoral care for them is not of his own making, but by the will of God. We think this is the key to any ministry within the church. Whether we have been called to pastor the church, or sing in the choir, or be a deacon or vacuum the carpet, or lead a small group or teach a Sunday school, each member of the church has been called to be that part of the body of Christ, with Jesus being the head. We all have been called to walk a walk worthy of our calling by God, as a believer and as the part of the body we are to function. Everything is to be done by the will of God and not by the will of man. Paul goes on to make sure they know he knows they are being faithful in Christ Jesus. At least he is encouraging them toward being faithful. We do not know exactly how faithful they were, as we do not know exactly how faithful any member of the church is. We only know about our own faithfulness or lack of it. Yet rather than blast them right out of the gate with condemnation, he encourages them. This again should serve as an example for all who minister the word of God. Words of encouragement serve a far greater purpose then words of condemnation, to assist in the process of transformation in lives. We are all in the process of transformation, always growing more in our faith and our faithfulness, in our trust and obedience to the Lord. This process never ceases and so the task of the shepherd, the pastor, the minister of the word is to assist his flock in that process. However, it is not the pastor’s task alone, for we are all called to encourage one another, to build each other up until we reach the unity in the faith. It is always a good word to pronounce the grace and peace of our Lord upon our brothers and sisters in Christ. Those words always serve as the best greetings ever. Paul speaks those words as one with authority from God.

A New Creation

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

A NEW CREATION

Gal 6:15-18

15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God. 17 Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

NIV

We have included this one verse from our last look into the concluding remarks by Paul because we did not deal with this one point about the new creation. That is that nothing regarding the operation of the flesh counts in the new creation. That is what we do about the law, or our form of the law, our rules, even those who seem to be biblically based, have no bearing on the new creation. What counts is a new creation. We are living in a new creation. This has a twofold meaning. What Paul is making reference to is the new creation of our being. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior, we have put off the old self and clothed ourselves with the new self in Christ. All things have been new. We are a new person, a new creation in Christ. Paul makes this very clear in his letter to the Corinthians.

2 Cor 5:16-18

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

NIV

This says it all. We are no longer the same as we were originally created, or born into the human race as a descendant of Adam, carrying this original sin within us and as a result expressed it through our personal lifestyle of sin, not being concerned about God or his ways. However, after Jesus ascended he sent the Holy Spirit to convict us of our both our original and personal sin. We, having responded to his convicting power, were born again. The old self was put to death, it died on that cross with Jesus. A dead person has no rights, it cannot rule over us, it is dead. However, having been born again, we are a new creation, a new person, actually, an infant who needs to be trained in the ways of the Lord. We learn a new language, we learn how to walk in the Spirit, and we learn how to run the race to the finish line. But there is another new creation, and that is the one God has established for us. We give up our citizenship in this world and become a citizen in this new creation, the Kingdom of God. We do not have dual citizenship, as we died being citizens of the world. How then can we still carry its passport, for the only destination it is valid for is hell? We forfeited our citizenship in the world and voided its passport. We received, in our new birth, new citizenship in the Kingdom of God and a new passport which is valid for one destination, heaven. Everything is new, ourselves and our living quarters. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule. Aha, there is a rule we need to follow. We need to follow the rule of the old self is dead, and the new self is alive in Christ. We are a new creation. Of course, we could also consider that this whole world and heaven will pass away someday and God will create a new earth and new heaven. That could also be seen as a new creation. However, that might well also been seen in a spiritual sense when we become born again, having left the old world and starting a new life in the new creation.

Boasting

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

BOASTING

Gal 6:12-16

12 Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.

NIV

These are the concluding remarks of Paul to these people of Galatia and he makes sure he repeats himself about this circumcision doctrine of those agitators who were confusing the people who accepted Jesus through faith. Again, these Jews wanted the Gentiles to follow Jewish law before becoming a believer in Jesus. How ridiculous to think following any law would make someone a better believer. Paul makes sure the Galatians know even those Jews who say they follow the law, cannot and they break the very law they want to impose on others. This boasting about the flesh does not always have to mean about circumcision in our modern culture for many males are circumcised right after birth. This has been done in our country for years boasted as for health reasons and the males had no choice in the matter as parents made the choice for them. However, both men and women might be guilty of boasting in the flesh today for other reasons. For example, how well we follow the rules we set for ourselves. We might boast in our accomplishments. We might boast in our abilities or our talents. We might boast in our success, our wealth, or our possessions. We might boast in our education, how many degrees or what kind of degree we have. We might even boast, at least to ourselves, that we are more holy then that other believer, or we do not sin like they do. In reality, it is all about impressing others by our appearance. We find all sorts of things we can boast about ourselves and all the while it comes down to being self-centered instead of Christ-centered. Wow, that is an indictment. But it is something we should think about more often. The only one we should ever boast about is Jesus, about the cross and what that means for us. We should boast about Jesus setting us free from the penalty of our sin. We should boast that the world has been crucified in us and us to the world. That means the world is dead to us and we are dead to the world. So then we should not be living as the world lives boasting in itself, but we boast in Jesus.

Own Hands

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

OWN HAND

Gal 6:11

11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!

NIV

Paul is making sure the people of Galatia understand this letter is from him, and not from someone using his name for the spreading of false doctrine. It is not known for sure just as to how much of these concluding thoughts are in his own hand, or if just that one statement. It is also be thought the reason he makes that statement about the large letters is that he has very poor eyesight, which could be his thorn in the flesh, which only implies something of continual trouble as defined in Number 33:55.

Num 33:55-56

55 "'But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.

NIV

So Paul had something, as this poor eyesight as continual and bothersome trouble. Nevertheless, he does not allow that to keep him from doing that which God has called him to do. This should serve to demonstrate to us how we should approach our lives. Do we have some continual bothersome trouble or problem, such as some kind of infirmity or simply the aches and pains of this aging body that we use as an excuse not to continually doing all that God requires of us? When, if ever, did Paul decide to retire from service to the Lord? As far as we know, he continued to earn his own keep being in business with Aquila and Priscilla, who also ministered beside Paul. Surely we know his end as he finally ended up arrested in Rome and came to the end of his life there. But he never gave up working for the kingdom of God, not for one minute did his trouble keep him from going on. What an example for us to use for our life in Christ. Although it might be true as he was under house arrest others ministered to his needs, and kept him company, Paul was always about doing the Lord’s business. We should not be so quick to give up doing what God has called us to do, just because we have a little difficulty either by some infirmity or those symptoms of an aging body. Maybe our energy level has waned some from that of our youth, but that too is no excuse to continue on. Maybe we move a little slower, but still, we should keep moving. When is it alright and sit and do nothing at all, just waiting, as if we are just waiting to be called home. See, what large letters we use with our own hands? Our own hands! Let us labor on, work while it is still day. The night is coming, there will be time enough to rest in the Lord, but for now, we still have the breath of life within these bones and we are to go forth and do what God has instructed us to do. It is still day, let us use our own hands.

Sowing and Reaping

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

SOWING AND REAPING

 Gal 6:6-10

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

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

NIV

Paul has said this in a more direct manner in his letter to the Corinthians. The fact is that those who preach the gospel should make their living from the gospel. It is appropriate for those who serve as ministers should receive proper income to support themselves and not have to live in poverty. Certainly in our modern society, some have abused that concept and taken advantage of believers using them to live in great abundance. But the average pastors of local churches who feed their people on a daily basis the spirit food from the gospel, need to receive their daily food from the people of God. Paul goes on, getting close to his concluding remarks makes sure they understand the difference between how they act determines how they live and what they receive in return. If we live according to our sinful nature we will receive death. IF we live according to the Spirit we will reap eternal life. Again, we should note that living according to the sinful nature is lifestyle or living continuing to sin repeatedly without any regard for God. This type of person refuses the truth of the Gospel altogether. They might even comment they are religious, but they are not believers, followers of Jesus Christ. They simply sin religiously. That is completely different from a true believer in Jesus failing to live a perfect life, and thus yielding to temptation on occasions. They desire not to sin, but rather desire to do that which is right but simply cannot follow through with their desire not to sin. We sow to please the Spirit and we have been assured our destiny is eternal life in heaven with our Lord. So we do not grow weary of doing good or living for the Spirit. If we were to live in comparison to other people, then there are many who live far more abundantly then we do, but there are far more in the world who live with far less than we do. Wealth and poverty are not the measure of life in the Spirit, but rather a measurement of life in the world. Our task is not to seek after or sow for the things of this world but to seek after, to sow for things of the Spirit. This implies as Paul gives this instruction, that we do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. This goes right back to doing no harm to them, to love them as we love ourselves. So those rumors, those words of gossip, which destroy are not doing good to others, and especially are not doing good to the one who speaks them. We must never grow weary of doing good. We must always be aware of the feelings of others, and use words to encourage, to build up, rather than tear down. For surely what we sow we will reap.

Walk Humbly

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

WALK HUMBLY

 Gal 6:1-5

6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load.

NIV

Well, we looked at catching someone in sin and carrying each other's burdens and now we have to deal with thinking we are something when we are not. We know about the truth about not thinking more highly of ourselves then we should.

Rom 12:3

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

NIV

This is all about comparing ourselves to others in regard to thinking we are more spiritual than them or that they have more sin in their lives then we do. If we think we have attained a greater form of righteousness then others, we simply deceive ourselves for we are no better than they are. We all have sin, and we need to test our actions, our own imperfections, or our own service to the Lord. Are we doing exactly what the Lord has called us to do? Are we even hearing his call in order to obey? Are we so wrapped up in ourselves, thinking we are something, which would imply we are doing those things we want to do and thus are not doing that which the Lord wants us to do? We cannot compare ourselves to the service others are doing. We cannot compare ourselves to the lack of service others are not doing. We cannot compare ourselves to the level or kind of sin others commit. This is all about self-examination under the watchful eye of the Lord. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and he speaks into our heart and mind as to how we are to think, act or behave and what part of the Body of Christ we are to function as. Then we are to carry on with that burden he has placed on us. And of course, all this would also require humility. We are to walk humbly before our God and before men.  

Successfully carrying

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

 SUCCESSFULLY CARRYING

Gal 6:1-5

6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load.

NIV

Having dealt with this being caught in sin issue, we now come to the concept of carrying each other’s burdens and in doing so we will fulfill the law of Christ. The idea of a burden as expressed in the Greek is simply a weight or heaviness or it could mean trouble. So then we should carry, lift up with our hands, to put upon oneself our brothers' troubles. Just what does that look like? First of all that would mean we have to share our troubles. That would mean living with transparency, exposed, being open about having some difficulty. It is possible this concept does not stand alone but fits into the context of finding out someone is in sin, which is a burden indeed. Yet, it could be a stand-alone command to live carrying each other’s burdens. Still, we have to come to some understanding of just how does that work in the community of faith, within a local church. Sometimes it seems many of us only see each other once a week on Sunday morning and we smile at each other all the while knowing very little what is going on in each other’s lives. There are some who have their little groups who do have some social interaction. Maybe in those churches that have the small group ministry find that there is a sharing of burdens within those more intimate small group settings. Perhaps that is a way for us to fulfill the law of Christ. But what about all those small churches that do not have that kind of program? Do programs or perhaps the more modern word, church models, really work anyway? It would seem as this letter was originally written to a group of believers that knew nothing of church programs or models, it was meant to be a way of life within the community of faith as a whole. If we are so interested in creating a list of things to do, then this just might be near the top of the list. Maybe this comes under loving our neighbor as ourselves category. However, again if we are to carry each other’s troubles, it does require that we know each other’s troubles. We think therein lies the problem. We all just might be living all closed up inside, having built our great façade for everyone to look at. It appears we might be failing miserably at fulfilling the law of Christ. But how do we overcome this failure? How do we start to carry if we do not know what to carry? Can we trust someone, or anyone, for that matter, not to gossip about our burden if we share? Maybe that is the first issue we need to deal with, trust. We are not meant to stand up in front the whole assembly and share every burden, but we should find at least one confidant who we confide in and trust they will keep and share our burden and we theirs. This always come back to the truth about loving our neighbor as ourselves, and the truth about love.

1 Cor 13:4-7

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts , always hopes, always perseveres.

NIV

If we could fulfill that, then we could fulfill the law of Christ and successfully carry each other’s burdens.

Restoration in Love

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

RESTORATION IN LOVE

Gal 6:1-5

6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load.

NIV

Here is a whole lot of instructions wrapped up in one quick breath. We might have to camp out here for a while. This idea of catching someone in sin is a sort of sticky thing. We wonder just what kind of sin we would be catching someone doing. That might imply they would be sinning right out in the open. About the only sins that we might see openly would be gossip, judging, hatred or unforgiving. Maybe some form of malice or bitterness. Attitudes unbecoming a follower of Jesus could be seen as a sin. But is that what Paul is talking about? What about someone who is being deceived and trying to live by the law or a form of law. We cannot be sure just what sin we would catch someone doing, but the point is that if we hear someone gossip, let’s say, we should go to them, again in private, and inform them they are in sin and try to restore them gently. We cannot come across all righteous and holy with condemnation. Yet how many of us actually go to someone who is doing something wrong, let's say, gossiping? It is so tempting to get caught up in gossip and that is why we are warned to be careful. We could go through all those public type sins and apply the same principle. As much as we like to be rule followers, it seems we ignore this rule of correcting someone who is sinning so they might be restored. That implies they sinning breaks their relationship with God, and in need of restoration. What are some practical ways in which we could be obedient to God in restoring someone caught in a sin, such as gossip or being judgmental? Well, actually when we gossip we are also being judgmental as well as thinking more highly of ourselves then we should. So there is a whole lot to deal with in restoring that person then just telling them to stop it. That might fit into this idea of carrying each other’s burdens and thus fulfilling the law of Christ. Yet that might be a whole different concept as well. So let us deal with that later and just remember we have a Godly, spiritual responsibility to restore whoever is involved in some kind of sin we clearly can see. Again, it is not about being the high and mighty corrector of wrongs, it is about restoration in love.

Then we have to consider the opposite, that we are the ones caught in sin. 

Keeping in Step

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

KEEPING IN STEP

Gal 5:22-26

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, as provoking and envying each other.

NIV

One of the most famous portions of scripture has stepped onto our path. After dealing with the works of the sinful nature and understanding we have this struggle within us in that we desire to walk by the Spirit, to live under the influence of the Spirit and have him manifest his fruit in our lives, but still, the sinful nature wants its way. What we also have to understand is these fruit, or as some would say the fruit, are the Spirits. We cannot manifest these in our flesh. Our flesh is the sinful nature and it cannot produce love nor any of the other traits of the Spirit. He must do the work within us and manifest those qualities. True, we are supposed to turn our back in the old sinful nature and follow or walk or be led by the Spirit. As we seek to follow him, yielding ourselves to his leading, he then begins to produce his fruit in our lives. Our desire is to crucify that sinful nature, put it to death, bury it and hopefully never resurrect it whenever we feel like it. Once that is all we knew, our sinful nature and we lived for our own passions, but that is no longer the case. Our desire is to live by the Spirit now. Our desire is the keep in step with the Spirit. Just as in the military, the commanding officers call out the cadence and all march to his voice, keeping in step with his calling, “your left, your left, your right, left-right, column right march, left flank march, etc. Each call the soldiers move altogether. This is how the Spirit leads us, calling out the cadence for our life. As we follow his voice we move in step with him. The difference between Christians and the soldier is that the Spirit then produces himself within us. His fruit becomes a part of us. It might be easy for us to think we are producing this fruit, that we have the ability to express all those qualities, but then we would be conceited and we might have a tendency to say, “Look at me, how much fruit I have developed” “See how kind I am” “ I really have goodness and I am gentle”. Then we would be that person who provokes others to envy. No, we have to know it is not us, but the Spirit who produces His fruit in us. We simply have to allow him to do his work, yield to him, as we continue to crucify our old sinful nature. That may be easier said than done, but when it raises its ugly head, we say; No get behind me, we will not listen to you, I do not hear you, we are walking with the Spirit. It is the Spirit we are keeping in step with.

Acts and Attitudes

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

ACTS AND ATTITUDES

Gal 5:19-21

19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

NIV

Alright, it is time to deal with these acts of the sinful nature. First, we have to understand this is not an all-inclusive list because, at the end of those which are enumerated, Paul says, “and the like”. This means there are far more than he named specifically. So we have to be careful not to believe as long as we don’t do these listed, we are just fine. There are some, of course, we would never engage in, or at least agree are very sinful. But a few of them listed might not be as easy to forgo as some. Certainly we would make every effort to stay away from sexual immorality and impurity and even debauchery. But we might have some idols we do not think of as idols. Things we work so hard to achieve might just be a kind of idol. However, again we would never think of ever being involved in witchcraft. We don’t even look at our horoscope or glance at any of those phony prophetic magazines in the grocery store line. We stay away from that stuff as far as we can. But hatred can be one of those things we could miss we have if we are not carefully paying attention. Maybe, we do not outright hate someone, but there are people we could simply unlike intensely. That may not happen in our church, but we know a church where it does. (Thanks to Jeff). Discord is directly tied to gossip and we have already dealt with the issue of gossip and know that is easily overlooked as something we should not do, and to stop it before it starts. Jealously is another one of those attitudes we allow to creep in and what we have to remember is that it is in the same list as sexual immorality, which means it is just as nasty because it comes from our sinful nature. Of course, we never allow any fit of rage to overtake us, we are always carefully composed and watch our tongue every moment of the day. We never lose our temper over anything at all, not ever, well, maybe just a bit, but then again that is on the same list with all those others. When it comes to selfish ambition maybe we should define just what that entails. That might just be putting our own interests ahead of those of others. That could get a little dicey to explore fully, but it is from our sinful nature. Dissensions are simply speaking against others causing factions or little groups splintering off from the rest as well as gossip is again at the center of this, which may even include this envy thing. Oh, we would never allow ourselves to be considered drunks, in fact, even drinking is in that list of things not to do, and we would never get together in something anything like an orgy. What we do have to consider is that this list is something which is of the sinful nature which implies being a repeat offender of these acts. This goes back to doing what we do not want to do. This is not a single act or a one time or once in a while failure, an occasional sinful act. These acts of the sinful nature are a lifestyle, a life of repeatedly having these acts or attitudes in our life. This is especially disconcerting when it comes to envy or jealously or selfish ambitions or gossip which enters into discord and dissension and factions. The flesh has strong tendencies and wants what it wants when it wants it. So we have to be very watchful for those acts and attitudes.

Listen to who

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

LISTEN TO WHO

Gal 5:16-18

16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

NIV

It would have been difficult to understand want is said about the two natures being in conflict and the difference between living by the Spirit and being under the law unless we included the two different types of life. We may have to camp out on this section for a couple of days in order to fully deal with the whole issue. Just the idea of living by the Spirit is a difficult concept as when we do, we will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. That does not mean we do not have those desires, but that we will not pursue them in order to gratify them. The Spirit helps us to say no to those desires. But it also seems to say that we would not even have those desires if we lived by the Spirit. The two natures are in conflict, they do not want the same thing. But the confusing thought is when Paul says that we do not do what we want. Here it would seem our overpowering tendency is to fulfill the desires of the sinful nature, but there is a greater power or influence by the Spirit to help us restrain ourselves from doing that which we would want to do as controlled by our sinful nature, thus the conflict. So then when we fail, or fall short and allow that sinful nature to take over, does that mean we are not allowing the Spirit to lead us? It would also seem there is a great distinction between the two natures as we look at the acts of the sinful nature and the fruit of the Spirit. Surely we do not live as those acts of sinful nature describe. We put them in a very sinful category which we would never do. Yet if we examine them, which we might just have to do later, we might find some very subtle sins we overlook. But we will again leave that examination to later. For now, we need to say with the idea of walking by the Spirit or being led by the Spirit. We know the Spirit dwells within us and he desires to influence the way we live, which would include the way we think. Yet there are those times when we think of things that are contrary to the Spirit. Again, we do not think we can avoid those thoughts, but the difference is whether we respond to them and act them out. If we say we do not ever have a sinful thought, we think we would be deceiving ourselves, as that would imply we are perfect, or that we have attained perfection, we also know is extremely doubtful, as we still have thoughts that are in conflict with the Spirit, but we also know we have to rely on the Spirit to lead us away from acting upon those thoughts. He speaks into our hearts and mind and tells us to resist that temptation. It comes down to who do we listen to more.  

Stop it

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

STOP IT

 Gal 5:13-15

13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."   15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

NIV

This is not the first time we have dealt with this issue as we have already been thinking and have written about this concept of loving each other as we love ourselves. In fact, we even titled a recent devotion as “Free to Love”. Our freedom in Christ does not give us the right to commit any sin we would desire, although we do still fall short. However, that is not acceptable, as we should not make excuses for flesh. We should not simply say that “Well, we are human”, although we are, and we will never attain perfection. Yet, we should not make that an excuse to sin. Through the power of the Spirit, we should be able to say no, to those desires. It is a battle that we have to be aware of exists within us. As Paul has said the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, which may be my paraphrase, but that is the idea. However, having dealt with this freedom to love, we should also consider the situation which was going on instead of this loving each other. This biting and devouring each other will destroy the church. Gossip is the biggest destroying of all. How do can we believe it is appropriate to tell rumors about another believer. First of all, when we gossip, we do not even know what we say is the truth. Unless we absolutely know, first hand, witnessing someone doing something which would be wrong, we have no real knowledge of anything. Even then, we have absolutely no right to tell anyone. Our first and foremost responsibility is to go directly to that person and confront them with their behavior and then doing that in love, not in any way being judgmental. If they do not accept what we have to say, then we can take one other person with us and go to them once again. But this must be done in private. It is not about hurting them, but helping them. This gossip and rumor mill is the destroyer of the church. It comes from the pit of hell itself. When we hear gossip from someone, we need to tell them to stop it, they are in the wrong and as they are gossiping about the sin of another, they are, in fact, in sin as they gossip. That also means that we cannot gossip about someone who is gossiping. We cannot allow ourselves to get involved in this behavior, for we are to love others as we love ourselves and why would we ever do anything intentionally to harm ourselves is beyond comprehension. What Paul is saying in plain English is, stop it!  

No Yeast

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

NO YEAST

Gal 5:7-12

7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." 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

This last phrase in this section is pretty harsh words, but we think there is a principle we would be paying closer attention to regarding running the race. We also noticed that Paul using that analogy to its fullest when he questions who cut in on them and kept you from obeying the truth, which is implying winning the race. If we were in a race and nearing the finish line and someone cut in on us, making us stumble and lose out on the prize, it would be a very nasty thing. This is the point Paul is making. We have to be careful not to allow those who would persuade us from the truth. We have to also be careful of those who sound almost right but have perverted the truth just the minutest amount. Their brand of Christianity can be just like that yeast, infecting the whole church. Of course, Paul was referring to those who wanted the Gentiles to be circumcised, to obey the law of the Jews like they did. We do not have that type of situation in our post-modern churches, but we do have those who have added to the truth with their own brand of law they feel we should follow. Teachings like if you are a Christian you would not drink, smoke, dance, or whatever else used to be prevalent in the church for the past years. Some denominations have moved past that, but there are still individuals within churches who would want to persuade us those rules are taught by Jesus. It would seem we have to be diligent, both refusing to hear those who would want us to take another view of the truth and being sure we teach the truth. The problem is there being yeast and their beliefs infect others who may not be as sure of the truth as they should be. Again this makes us think we have even a greater responsibility to teach the truth of the gospel message, which is Jesus Christ crucified. What is the most challenging is keeping the yeast out.

Free to Love

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

FREE TO LOVE

Gal 5:1-6

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

2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

NIV

The Lord keeps driving the point home through these words of Paul. It cannot be both law and freedom. It has to be one or the other. The law burdens people with what they cannot hope to fulfill. The law puts people in the yoke of slavery. This is no different for us. If we think we have to live under the burden of some form of law then Christ has no value to us at all. When we make up rules we think are scripturally based, then we have created our own law which takes away our freedom and puts us back in the yoke of slavery. This whole list thing, the list we have made up of things Christians do not do, is nothing but a yoke of bondage. Certainly we cannot think by not doing certain things it gives us any form of righteousness. Of course, this does not mean we are free to commit any and every sin we can think of, that would be absurd. But what law is Paul talking about in that we are free from? It always seems the Old Testament law is at the core of what we have been set free from. But what is that law? It has to include everything in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. Do we pay any attention to any of them? It would seem we certainly attempt to by reciting the Ten Commandments as principles to live by. If we say we abide by one of them then we are also saying that we are subject to all of the law and if we break just one of them we are guilty of all of the law. It does sound confusing as the Ten Commandments are good. Yet if we were to break any of the other commands of God we would be guilty of breaking the Ten Commandments, because they too are part of the Torah. What hope do we have of being justified by abiding by any rules or regulations, or lists we can check off that we do not do and those we do? It is hopeless. Our only hope is Jesus. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. There it is, faith expressing itself through love. Jesus has told us the two greatest commands.

Mark 12:28-31

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" 29 "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.   30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'   31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." 

NIV

Matt 22:34-40

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'   38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'   40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." 

NIV

Jesus has to be referring to all the law of the Torah, including the Ten Commandments. He is saying these two are the greatest, there is no other law that supersedes these two. Mark does not record what Matthew includes in that Jesus made sure we understand all the law and the words of the Prophets hang in these two commandments. Again there is nothing in the Old Testament that is greater or supersedes these two. We usually do not have much if a problem loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Well at least, for the most part, we fall short of that at times. But the hardest part of these commands is loving our neighbor as ourselves. Who would do harm to themselves? Who would inflict any kind of pain on themselves? And yet we inflict pain on others, especially when we gossip about them, or spread rumors about someone. We inflict pain upon others when we judge them, or attempt to make them feel guilty about doing something we think is wrong, even if there is no scriptural basis for our thinking. We inflict pain on others in so many different ways, and yet we think we are such “Good Christians”. How can that be? If we love them as ourselves then we would do them absolutely no harm whatsoever. This is the only law we need to consider, that which Jesus told us. That is we are free to love.

Sons of Freedom

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

SONS OF FREEDOM

Gal 4:21-31

21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 His son by the slave woman was born in an ordinary way, but his son by the freewoman was born as the result of a promise. 24 These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written:

"Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband."  

28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 At that time the son born in an ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son."   31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the freewoman.

NIV

This is rather a lengthy explanation or example of living under the law and living as free under the promise. The law is ordinary, the promise is supernatural. Paul shows this by the example of Hagar and Sarah, of Ishmael and Isaac. It is interesting how there is the whole religion of Islam which claims to be the sons of Ishmael and they are the true sons of Allah, but their god is not the same as God the Father who promised Abraham to be the father of many nations through his seed, who is Jesus. Isaac was born by means of the promise and we are therefore not like Ishmael or his descendants. We could go into a long discussion about how the god of Islam is not the God of the Bible, but the point is we are sons of the promise, of Isaac and therefore the bloodline of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, whose name was changed by God to Israel, which leads directly to Jesus. What Paul is also saying is that the physical Jerusalem stands as the Jews who are living under the law. It is not that the current Jerusalem belongs to Ishmael or his descendants, although it sort of appears they have overtaken the temple mount, which stands directly over Mount Moriah, which is the place where Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac. However, Jerusalem is still the holy city of the Jews. It was the place Solomon built the temple, but they still live under the law. Jerusalem which is from above is the new city that comes down from heaven. It is the final destination of all who believe by faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The Jerusalem which sits on Mount Moriah was built in an ordinary way, but the new city of Jerusalem coming down from heaven has been built in a supernatural way by Jesus. He has told us that he went to prepare a place for us and that because he has prepared a place for us, the New Jerusalem, he would come back to take us to that place. It is certain any son of Ishmael cannot and will not do that. No, we are to get rid of the slave woman, or the law, and live as sons of the free woman, sons of the promise, and thus we will share in the inheritance with Jesus.

One Truth

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

ONE TRUTH

Gal 4:17-20

17 Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you [from us], so that you may be zealous for them. 18 It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you. 19 My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, 20 how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

NIV

It does seem a little strange how people who accepted the gospel message of salvation as a free gift of God through faith in Jesus allow themselves to become deceived by those silver-tongued people who only want to drag them off to their own form of Christianity. That is what those Jews who came to Galatia after Paul was trying to do. Again, they held to the theological position that in order to be a believer in Jesus, one had to become a Jew first, as Jesus came to the Jews. They were either small-minded or very manipulative to gain disciples for their own personal gain. They wanted to win over the Galatians to their side, but it was for no good. How often we see this same situation in Christianity today. There have been many wolves in sheep’s clothing who came into the community of faith to steal away believers from local churches so to gain followers for themselves for personal gain. But what we need to be just as careful about is that we do not do much of the same thing. Do we try to convince a believer who attends a church to come to ours, just for the sake of numbers? Are churches just a revolving door of believers roaming around from one church to another based either on the number of people in the church, or the style of worship, or the personality of the preacher? What happened to evangelism, of going to those in need of hearing the gospel, as Paul did? Those Jews who came after Paul were not interested in evangelism but in proselytism, or converting the Galatians from their faith to the Jew's faith. That is most likely the greatest form of gaining church members in our churches today. No, we should not be looking to other churches to gain attenders in our church, but we should be looking into the world for sinners who need to be freed from the bondage of sin and its penalty of death. But at the same time, we should be aware of the silver tongues who would decimate our churches. We have to continue to teach the truth of the gospel, the freedom from the penalty of sin, the life of faith in Jesus Christ. When we see our community of faith being deceived by false doctrine, we have to step up and clear the matter up quickly and not allow those false doctrines to gain any foothold, either in our brothers’ life or our own. There is only one truth.

Truth or Tradition

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

TRUTH OF TRADITION

Gal 4:8-16

8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you know God — or rather are known by God — how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.12 I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong. 13 As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. 14 Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. 15 What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

NIV

Living by the principles of anything other than being known by God seems to be a waste of time. What does that mean exactly? What principles are weak and miserable? What principles enslave us? It seems Paul is making some reference to the traditions of men, rather than the truth of God. We know those Jews that came after Paul want the Gentiles to get circumcised. It would appear they also want the Gentiles to become as Jewish as to adopt all the festivals they celebrate as well. This seems to go back to the idea of once being freed from the law, why put ourselves back in bondage to the law. However, there are two laws we should note. The law of sin and death is that which we have been set free from and we are now slaves to the law of Christ. But what is the law of Christ? It is the law of righteousness. This is not, again, some traditions of men, but rather a life of faith in Jesus Christ which leads to righteousness and eternal life. But we have to understand it is not by trying to live a holy and righteousness life by abiding by a set of rules and regulations which is a form of law. It is a relationship of the heart we have with Jesus. What we do is live by faith not by sight, not by what our appearance of righteousness, but by our being in Christ, for he is our righteousness. We cannot attain anything good by trying to be good, trying to live under the principles that are weak and miserable. Trying to live by them steals all our joy. Life becomes a life of duty and toil and despair because we always fail to live up to those principles. We live under a form of self-condemnation because we cannot be perfect enough to satisfy whatever form of the law we established for ourselves. Have we become enemies of the truth for the sake of human traditions? Living for Jesus is living full of joy for we have eternal life, our destiny is heaven, our life is full and complete in Jesus. We live in the grace and peace of our Lord. Sure, in order to belong to an earthly organization, even a church, or denomination, we agree with their particular statement of faith. But that is just what it is, a statement of what they believe about salvation, baptism, God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Justification, sanctification, etc. Those statements do not include a list of don’ts or rules of human traditions to abide by. They are positive statements of faith. We can become so entrenched in living by rules we have absolutely no joy whatsoever, in fact, we live a weak and miserable existence. We have to make a choice to live by the truth or by tradition.

His Heirs

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

HIS HEIRS

Gal 4:1-7

4:1 What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. 4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

NIV

Paul is saying a lot here, but the main point that he is driving home is our being sons of God. Once we were slaves to sin, and then to the law, but now we have the rights of being a son and as a son full access to our inheritance as a rightful heir. There has to be a difference between living under the rule of a stern ruler, even a God who is stern, but because we have the spirit of Jesus in our hearts, our relationship with God is that of one whom we can call “Abba, Father”. “Abba” is Aramaic for father and it is noted in that culture a slave or servant in the household is not permitted to use that title when addressing the master of the house, but only his own children. This gives us the picture that we are no longer in servitude of the law, but have full rights as the sons of God. However wonderful that is, there is also something which strikes a chord in our hearts. The idea of being an heir. We spend much of our thinking time about our relationship with God, and having Jesus in our hearts, and trying to live in a manner that would please God. We make our efforts to live as free from sin, at least those sins we consider as bad sins, which may be different for each believer. But the idea of being an heir. What are we an heir to? We are going to inherit all that belongs to our Father. What belongs to our Father? Everything! The whole universe is his. Heaven is his. Whatever the new earth and the new heaven look like they are also his. The new city of Jerusalem, however that looks, is his and there is where he is going to live forever with all his children who have inherited all that which is his. Of course, he also has everlasting life, and thus we too inherit everlasting life, so we can enjoy all that we have inherited for all eternity. We are going to have a very intimate relationship with our Father as we live in our inheritance, but we do not have to wait, for we already have received our inheritance of eternal life as our right as his son and can call him “Abba, Father”. We already have this intimate relationship with our Father, we can talk to him anytime we want to, and he will listen to us intently. We also can hear his voice anytime we want to, for he is always ready to talk with us. He is never too busy, not too tired to spend time with us. His love for us endures forever. He has an enduring love for his children. He has given us everything that is his. We are his heirs.