Tag: Galatians

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:7-10

This morning I was able to finish up Galatians, but this passage within the final verses of this book are so good. This whole set of instructions that Paul gives the Galatians all has to do with the fact that they have been infiltrated by these Judaizers who were constantly trying to get them to focus more on works of the law versus faith in Christ that produces freedom and the spiritual reaping that it has in eternal life.

I really like this whole point that Paul makes in terms of not being deceived and that God is not mocked. He doesn’t say God **will not be** mocked or anything like that. He says God **is not** mocked. There is no challenging the Lord in this aspect of sowing and reaping. Whatever you do here on earth, the intentions of your heart will produce exactly what they sow. If you are looking for comfort, peace, love, satisfaction, earthly wealth, or anything of the like, that is what you will receive…and that will be your reward.

Paul then goes on to describe the fact that one who sows **to** the Spirit will **from** the Spirit, reap eternal life. This is such a key distinction. The Spirit leads, and when we respond in obedience to what the Spirit reveals, then we are aligning ourselves with what God’s intent is for us and what His influence, through us, will be on this world.

Do Not Grow Weary of Doing Good…

Wow, this whole aspect of not growing weary of doing good is a big deal! Where this comes right to mind is on my daughter Bella who is down with her grandmother taking care of her after just having back surgery. Bella is weary and has a lot of other life pressing matters on her mind…but, if she does not give up, she will reap in due season. I love that the Lord put this in my path today. Talking to her last night, this is exactly what she needs to hear!

QUESTION–> When should we do good to others??…ANSWER–> Whenever we have the opportunity to. Especially to those who are brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

Bear one another's burdens,and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

I titled my post this morning starting with the word TODAY because as I was praying before my quiet time, the posture in which I prayed was humbly asking the Lord for the things I need today. All too often I get wrapped in a bigger picture, but when I do that, I have a tendency to take on more self-sufficiency than I should. This year I’ve not spent as much time writing here on the site as I’d like.

My reading was in Galatians 6:1-5. Paul gives us a lot of really great instruction here and I’ve actually had to reference it several times over the last six months. There are three behaviors and two heart conditions Paul gives us as we look at what it means to bear one another’s burdens.

ATTEND to One Another: Paul says, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression.” This is not an overanalyzing of a brother or sister in Christ, nor is it analyzing the speck in another person’s eye when we haven’t taken care of the log in our own. No, it is really about being close relationally with one another so that we can observe the earthly lived life of a follower in Christ…that we might help prepare them see the face of their King on the Day of Judgement

ACT: The second behavior is to actually respond in our relationships with one another. Here Paul is not only saying we should be attentive to one another, but when we see ways we can encourage or exhort one another, we should do it. WARNING: There is, however, a warning. Paul tells us to be careful; that in our plight to restore a brother or sister in Christ, we have to be careful not to become tempted and sin ourselves.

SERVE: Paul then tells us to bear one another’s burdens. Burdens in this sense are considered “an extra heavy load”. Essentially, coming alongside one another to help with the difficulties and problems they’re dealing with.

WITH Humility and Obedience: The last three verses here cover the heart posture that we should have when we have the mindset of coming alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul tells us to not to think too highly of ourselves and if we do, we’re actually deceiving ourselves…when we transparently look at our lives and the work of the Lord in it, we will find is that it isn’t us who does anything it is the Lord through us.

The last piece of this is verse 5 which says, “for each will have to bear his own load”. What this tells me is that we are responsible for ourselves and need to be very careful to look at our own response…this is what we are responsible for before the Lord.

APPLICATION:

We are all very good at analyzing other people and we can easily see the faults in others especially when it comes to what we believe. We are all on our own walks of sanctification. God in his great mercy has given us his Son as the ultimate sacrifice for our sin. It is so important for me to preach the Gospel to myself every morning so that I have a daily reminder of the great sins I have sinned against the Lord and yet have been forgiven of all of it… and now have an eternal hope in glory. When I look at that, it is really hard to see one little thing in anyone else being even a fraction of the horrible ways I have treated my God and Father before he redeemed me.

Galatians 2:3-5 (ESV)
But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.

Today my reading was Galatians 2:1-10 where Paul talks to the Galatian church about his journey to Jerusalem for the goal of affirming his ministry with the Pillars of the church (Peter, James, and John). One of the things that jumped out at me and is consistent with the whole of the letter to the Galatian church, is that the Gospel is foremost and central aspect of the Gospel is Justification by Faith Alone.

The Judaizers felt that the Mosaic instruction of circumcision was still required for salvation but that is a departure from the justification by faith alone concept central to the Gospel. Paul, Peter, James, and John refused this teaching and even Titus who was with Paul and a student of his was uncircumcised and an example of God’s redemption power for the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Anything that substitutes faith alone, through Christ alone, by grace alone, is not the Gospel, but a false-gospel that should be refused.

There is a church ‘Leadership’ learning here that I will talk more about tomorrow as I cover Paul’s rebuking of the Apostle Peter. I want to do more study on this one first so that, as Paul would say, that I am not running or have run too fast before a takeaway here.

APPLICATION

The Gospel is the Power of God. The saving truth of Jesus’ sacrifice covering all sin for the repentant sinner is huge. This does not excuse or endorse sinning…no one can sit at the foot of the cross understanding their depravity, and that the Lord has saved them anyway, and walk away from that realization without a humble and godly fear of living the rest of the life dedicated to honoring and pleasing the Lord Jesus who saved them.

Galatians 1:13-17 (ESV)
For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Today it struck me how Paul’s life and his recounting of what the Lord had done in him, is so much like what the Lord has done in my own life. Don’t get me wrong, I am not comparing my life to the amazing life of the apostle Paul, who saw Jesus, in the flesh, on the road to Damascus. What I am saying, is that the pattern of being set apart, being called on by the Lord to salvation, and then God‘s work on our life is very similar to what the Lord did in the pattern of Paul’s life (Romans 8:29-30).

As I sit here, looking at all of my life in a single picture and thinking about where the Lord has brought me to at this point in time, I can’t help but see how the Lord has worked in my life just as he did in Paul’s. The place that I am in my heart, how I see the Lord, my love for him, and my desire to only serve and please him, has only come through his teaching to me by directly reading his word and applying it to my life… Just like I am doing here today. The Lord has had to get a hold of my life in such a way that I can then be used by him. If you look at the passage above and see how the Lord worked in Paul’s life, it is similar.

So,, to reiterate, I am not comparing myself to Paul… I am only acknowledging that God has set me apart before time (as He says in his word – Psalms 139:16, Jeremiah 1:5, Ephesians 1:4-5, and Romans 9:10-13), He has saved me from death I deserved because of my sin, He has grown me in the knowledge of His word, His son, and Himself, so that I can have my heart, mind, soul, and strength centered on the wisdom and direction of the Holy Spirit to be able to serve him.

APPLICATION

I have come such a small way relative to where I think I should be. I am constantly looking at what else the Lord may teach me while I am in “Arabia“ (Where Paul was for 3 years before starting his ministry in Jerusalem). All this way someone might say I have come…has only shown me how much I need Him. This earthly body and mind is no match for the yuck of the world and the evil one who has run of it; thank the Lord that He not only secured victory on the cross and resurrection, but He has given me the gift of His Holy Spirit and His word (through scripture) to help me navigate this small time that I sojourn as an alien in this land.

Galatians 1:6-9 (ESV)
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

I’ve started Galatians with the amazing young man I am discipling. We finished Roman’s a couple of weeks back and so I’m going to start diving in and giving my thoughts on Galatians as I read through. He and I intend to trade notes and share with one another how the Lord is speaking to us through our quiet times in this book.

Today my focus was Galatians 1:1 – 10. This book starts out a little bit different than most of Paul’s letters. Paul is a lot more impersonal and direct in this opening than his other letters, which include commendations and courtesies. In this case, he is speaking directly at not only the false teachers that had risen up within the Galatian church, but also those in the church body who had started to listen to them. There was a contingent of teachers who just couldn’t wrap their brains around the gift of salvation through Grace alone, by faith alone, through Christ alone. So they interwove into their teaching legalism and salvation by works of merit, rather than by the truth… the gift of Grace.

Paul calls this approach an entirely different gospel. He even goes as far as to say that anyone who comes along, even if it is him or an angel from heaven, and speaks of a gospel other than the gospel he had told them previously, those teachers are destined for destruction.

Just this little part of this passage today, really reinforces in me how important it is to stay true to what God has to say. Even in my sphere of influence right now and things I am having to deal with, I am having to confront people who have twisted God‘s word to say something different… Something that fits this world rather than the truth that is clear through the arc of scripture.

APPLICATION

I need to remember that I can be my own false teacher… I live in this fleshly carcass that even though I am redeemed, I still must crucify my sin every day. The places that the Lord has brought me from, are so easily able to be slipped back into if I am not consistently vigilant and quick to strike down my own internal dialog of false gospel. Lord God, give me the strength, the clarity, and the wisdom of your Holy Spirit as I continue to live a life devoted to You.