R Y A N S T R A T T O N

Never Forget

Galatians 3:1-5 You irrational Galatians! Who put a spell on you? Jesus Christ was put on display as crucified before your eyes! ²I just want to know this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the Law or by believing what you heard? ³Are you so irrational? After you started with the Spirit, are you now finishing up with your own human effort? ⁴Did you experience so much for nothing? I wonder if it really was for nothing. ⁵So does the one providing you with the Spirit and working miracles among you do this by you doing the works of the Law or by you believing what you heard?

So here we are beginning the third chapter in the letter to the Galatians. This short letter is written to a church of believers who have drifted away from the grace of God and have tried to earn it or just add things and rituals to their faith. Paul writes this letter to admonish them and to remind them of the simple message of the gospel: Jesus Christ brings freedom not bondage!

We do not like to be told we are off base or that we are off track; but I wonder what would happen if we placed ourselves into this passage today. I invite you to read it again, this time putting your personal name in the blanks and see what the Spirit inside you might say or be doing.

You irrational ________! Who put a spell on ________? Jesus Christ was put on display as crucified before ________’s eyes! ²I just want to know this from ________: Did _________ receive the Spirit by doing the works of the Law or by believing what _________ heard? ³ Is _______ so irrational? After _________ started with the Spirit, is _________ now finishing up with your own human effort? ⁴Did _________ experience so much for nothing? I wonder if it really was for nothing. ⁵So does the one providing __________ with the Spirit and working miracles among you do this by you doing the works of the Law or by you believing what you heard?

As I was typing this, I placed my name in the blanks. Ouch! These are words I really don’t want to hear; but at the same time, they are words you and I need to hear.

We are often irrational (some translations say “foolish”) because we do not collect enough information before we make a judgment about another person. Typically this is because the other person or group says something or does something we just don’t like.

When we first believe, we knew the incredible presence of Jesus Christ and how his sacrifice has changed everything for us. We can now go to God personally. We can work in the Spirit. We can have the wisdom from heaven. We can do and receive so much. But, we forget this as we go on in our day to day lives. Instead of talking with God, we listen to negative people and news. Instead of praying or reading the Bible, we find others to talk through events, emotions, etc and we’ll read fiction books or anything else that is not the Bible.

There is so much potential in the world but we, like the Galatians, can go back to relying only on human effort. How can we do this? We do this by solely looking at our available resources and can forget that God promises to provide. We will talk bad about an idea before we try to understand what it is or how it will benefit the organization. To rely on human effort means that we forget that God is right here with us and will work and walk with us through everything in life.

This really is kind of a harsh passage; but one that we cannot overlook or assume it is really just meant for another people in another time and another place. I pray that reading the words from Paul in this letter can remind us of the greatness of God’s never-ending love for us. I pray you and I can live in the grace He provides. I pray the spark we experienced when we first believed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ never dies down and we remain (or become) passionate for God because He is passionate for us.

Living free in Christ means that we are free to be loving, Spirit-filled people who do the work of God unashamedly and will reach out to all people with love and grace. This love and grace we give comes from God because “He first loved us.”

#LiveFreeInChrist

(Ephesians 4 is a great chapter as well, to help us remember this message.)

Identity

Galatians 2:19-21 ¹⁹I died to the Law through the Law, so that I could live for God. ²⁰I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God’s Son, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹I don’t ignore the grace of God, because if we become righteous through the Law, then Christ died for no purpose.

We often go through life, through our day, it seems we get more preoccupied with what we are able to accomplish than our reason for doing what we do. Our to-do lists fill out day with stuff to do that we can easily forget who we are. We can also be so adamant about following rules that we forget to be in relationship with other people. This means that we identify ourselves with what we are able to accomplish rather than who we really are.

If I were to ask you who you are, how would you answer? Would your first response be to say what you do for a living? If you are a Christian would you say you are a Christian ____(profession) ? The challenge everyday is to remember not only the reason we do what we do, but who we really are. Our real identity is not in what we do. Our identity is found in Jesus Christ.

We can also begin to remember our past and what we have done. Then we may say that I am a “thief, liar, cheater, loser, hypocrite, uneducated, etc.” These are not who we are. If we identify with how we used to live, then we can keep ourselves down and allow our past to control and define us rather than the One who lives in us.

Now we get to today’s text. This has been an important passage (more specifically Galatians 2:20) in my life and reminding me who I am and who/what I live for.

Paul is teaching that he died to the Law. What does this mean? The Law (found in the first five books of the Bible) is basically a “check-off list” (to put it into today’s terms) that people followed so they can prove and show they want to be forgiven or have God bless and not curse them. Living with an attitude to try and make God do things because we do certain things can create a superstitious thinking. We can also become “slaves” to the Law and allow our actions to be so routine that we can forget the real meaning behind them.

Though Paul remained Jewish, he did not let the Law define how he would connect to God. We shouldn’t either. He then says that he has been “crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” He knew that he was being transformed into the image of Christ more and more each day. It was made clear that Christ’s dreams were Paul’s dreams. Christ’s thoughts were Paul’s thoughts. Christ’s motivations were Paul’s motivations. So did Paul lose his individual identity? Absolutely not! He became more and more human as God intended from the beginning. Now Paul is free from the Law and is free to live as Christ did (and does in us when we allow him in).

Living with this kind of faith can help us love people more, reach out to those hurting or in need (physical and spiritual need), telling people about the Kingdom of God around us. This is incredible freedom because we are not bound to what people think about us and we do not let material items or “check-off” lists define us.

You can have this incredible gift of freedom too! As we continue in the book of Galatians we will continue to unpack the idea of freedom in Christ.

Tomorrow we begin Galatians 3.

#LiveFreeInChrist

Faith Is All It Takes

Galatians 2:15-18 ¹⁵We are born Jews—we’re not Gentile sinners. ¹⁶However, we know that a person isn’t made righteous by the works of the Law but rather through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. We ourselves believed in Christ Jesus so that we could be made righteous by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the Law—because no one will be made righteous by the works of the Law.¹⁷But if it is discovered that we ourselves are sinners while we are trying to be made righteous in Christ, then is Christ a servant of sin? Absolutely not! ¹⁸If I rebuild the very things that I tore down, I show that I myself am breaking the Law.

In this passage today, Paul is still confronting Peter in his hypocrisy because Peter stopped eating with Gentile (non-Jewish) people when people from the Apostle James (Jews) came to meet with him.

This is a passage we all should remember. Maybe this could help remind us of the joy that Christ gives. Here is the basic message of the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ: we are saved and made righteous by faith not by our good works. In other words, it is not something we do that makes us earn grace. This is something that God freely gives. The only part of this done by us is believe it. That’s it.

How does this sit with you? How do you like to receive a gift “just because?” This is how God is. We tend to think that we need to prove ourselves and the gifts are the reward. God does not work this way. We need to stop trying to make ourselves look good and realize God is not concerned with what we do, but what is in our hearts (our motivations).

So what is “righteousness?” According to Webster dictionary it is “acting in accord with divine or moral law : free from guilt or sin, morally right or justifiable.” Do you feel this way everyday? I don’t. There are times where I do not feel I deserve to be in God’s presence as well as there are times I do not feel I am good enough to do what I am doing. Both of these are lies that stop people from doing what God calls them to live.

We do not have to have everything perfect, because God has made us righteous because of Jesus Christ. We all, like Paul, have a sullied past; but God sees us like he sees Christ. You and I are made holy and righteous because of Christ.

Now, it is possible to have this knowledge and our lives are not changed. We can tell is we are allowing Christ to work within us to transform our lives when we exhibit more and more the fruits of the Spirit Galatians 5:22-23. Going back to living for ourselves and not allowing Christ to reside in our hearts rebuilding a wall that we need to tear down. This means we lose time for God to make transformations in our hearts.

We do not need to “earn” God’s favor or grace, we simply accept it. Then we should allow this grace to live in us to make us more and more like Jesus Christ.

These are all things I am continually striving for with God’s help.

#LiveFreeInChrist

Controversy & Confrontation

Galatians 2:11-14 ¹¹But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was wrong. ¹²He had been eating with the Gentiles before certain people came from James. But when they came, he began to back out and separate himself, because he was afraid of the people who promoted circumcision. ¹³And the rest of the Jews also joined him in this hypocrisy so that even Barnabas got carried away with them in their hypocrisy. ¹⁴But when I saw that they weren’t acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, though you’re a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you require the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Paul is on the road teaching, preaching and making disciples for Jesus Christ. He teaches the message of grace and the truth about Jesus Christ. One day he notices Peter, Cephas, eating with Gentiles (non-Christians) until people from James, an apostle, showed up. That’s when Peter removed himself, out of fear, and did not associate with the Gentiles again until after the people from James left. Peter was so influential that the other people with him joined in and began to separate themselves from the Gentile believers.

Paul sees this and has the same options we have today. He could either do everything in his power to discredit and shame Peter without talking face to face with him and then have people make up their mind about Peter over this one incident and go around saying what a horrible person he is; or he could go and talk with Peter and remind him the truth of the gospel: that everyone is invited and welcome.

We see this kind of example played out in our world today. When someone is in the wrong, what do we do? Social media has made it an easy escape to avoid talking with the person face to face. If Paul were alive today, would he have posted on Facebook or Twitter what Peter did wrong and why he was wrong? No, he would still go face to face and talk with him.

There is so much hatred in our world today. Imagine what it would be like if we watched what we said online and stopped showing the evil side of people. Sometimes it is really one incident that people are prone to make a decision about a person without ever getting to know the person.

What do we do when a person is in the wrong? Jesus taught that we should go to the person and talk with them first. This is the most loving thing to do since it is far better to praise in public and reprimand in private. Then if they do not change, Paul says to take them to the church. This does not mean the meeting is set to be negative. This is meant to built the believer up so they understand what happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Also, this will help the other people in the group understand the situation and their lives can be changed too.

Some people still may not get it. Paul says to let them go, in order for them to know what it’s like to be away from the fellowship and be deserted so they will return and be transformed. During this time of separation, we should be the ones to pray for the person/people because Jesus taught us that we should pray for our enemies.

The way Paul handled it must have worked because we have the evidence from Peter’s letters and the early church leadership. How will you and I respond when (not if) someone or some group goes against what we believe?

#LiveFreeInChrist

Mission & Vision

Galatians 2:6-10 ⁶The influential leaders didn’t add anything to what I was preaching—and whatever they were makes no difference to me, because God doesn’t show favoritism. ⁷But on the contrary, they saw that I had been given the responsibility to preach the gospel to the people who aren’t circumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. ⁸The one who empowered Peter to become an apostle to the circumcised empowered me also to be one to the Gentiles.⁹James, Cephas, and John, who are considered to be key leaders, shook hands with me and Barnabas as equals when they recognized the grace that was given to me. So it was agreed that we would go to the Gentiles, while they continue to go to the people who were circumcised. ¹⁰They asked only that we would remember the poor, which was certainly something I was willing to do.

Paul is making a case for why and how he is an apostle for Jesus Christ. How would you imagine Paul to be sounding? I still imagine him to be hurt and dumbfounded because the people he worked tirelessly for began to drift away from the faith they found and find new teachings to drift to.

This is one of the reasons I love the book of Galatians. Paul is showing the people of Galatia (and us) that when we truly live for Jesus Christ, we are free! We can live in freedom because we are not tied to the law, but bound to a relationship with the one who created us.

In the passage we’re looking at today, a couple things stand out to me. First the apostles saw in Paul the heart for preaching and reaching to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people). The original apostles could have easily said, “No. You weren’t with Jesus when he walked this earth, so you have no right to be preaching his message to the Gentiles.” But they didn’t. They recognized that God was working in Paul and they gave them their blessing and accepted Paul as their own.

There are people we encounter who are working hard for the name of Jesus Christ. We should pray the same message is being taught about Christ and it is not diminished; and we should also see how God is working within the lives of the people we encounter.

Not everyone learns the same way and not everyone will require the same amount of time. In short, there is no set formula to reach people for Christ except “preaching Christ and him crucified.” So because someone may have different methods and strategies, or even going for a new group of people, does not mean they are wrong. God’s Spirit may very well be directing that person in that mission. Our hearts can be open to see Jesus within the workers and we can offer our prayers, support, blessing, etc.

The second thing that stand out to me is the last verse for today, “They asked only that we would remember the poor, which was certainly something I was willing to do.”

The apostles asked Paul to remember the poor. We have so many missions and outreach projects for people in poverty, and we need to continue these because these programs do incredible work for the livelihood of these precious children of God. We also need to remember another kind of poor: being poor in spirit.

This may not seem to make sense to some people, but we need to be in mission and ministry to those who have less than us and those who have more than we do. People in poverty can have an awesome Godly Spirit and demeanor. People who have wealth can have lives and thoughts so far from God.

It is important to remember that all people, in all stations of life, need to hear the message of Jesus Christ. The mission work will look different; but Jesus said to go into all the world. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is mentioned a few times and referenced here in verse 6 “God doesn’t show favoritism.”

The Spirit of God works in many ways and seeks out all people.

#LiveFreeInChrist

Unified Message

Galatians 2:2-5 ²I went there because of a revelation, and I laid out the gospel that I preach to the Gentiles for them. But I did it privately with the influential leaders to make sure that I wouldn’t be working or that I hadn’t worked for nothing. ³However, not even Titus, who was with me and who was a Greek, was required to be circumcised. ⁴But false brothers and sisters, who were brought in secretly, slipped in to spy on our freedom, which we have in Christ Jesus, and to make us slaves. ⁵We didn’t give in and submit to them for a single moment, so that the truth of the gospel would continue to be with you.

After Paul had spent his time re-learning the Scriptures and preaching across the land, he went back to Peter, James and the other apostles to meet with them to make sure the same message was being preached.

One of the things I enjoy about Bible Study is knowing each time we come to a particular passage we see something new. Likewise, when we discuss these passages with other people we can learn their viewpoint as well. There is value in studying on our own and learning from other people as well.

Since Paul was a representative of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people), he made sure the same gospel was being preached by the original apostles to the Jews. I can imagine that Paul was affirmed when he found out he was preaching the same message as Peter, James, John and the others.

This should still be true for us today. We can study on our own, and we can learn all of these wonderful theological concepts about the scriptures. We can even preach and teach these to other people. But, we should not just rely on what we have learned on our own for the simple reason that we need to be able to back up what we teach when someone comes along and attempts to distort the message into something you and I did not intend.

This is why it is important to have a group of people (whom we agree with and those we do not agree with) to discuss what we have learned. Doing this will help us think things through, and give even more strength to the message when we can say that God is working through these people who are giving the same message.

There will be times when people will come along and try to make you and I change our minds and get us to believe something completely different. It is easy to conform to what the culture around us says and try to place these same viewpoints and opinions in the mind and heart of God. But God asks us to trust in His Son, Jesus Christ, and the true message of good news for all people: grace is available to all, we just need to accept this grace to allow it to transform us.

Many people to do not want to hear they are wrong, but we should be careful not to dilute the incredible, awesome power and truth of Jesus Christ. It is in Christ that we are free, not by following rules other people want to place on us to “prove” how much of a Christian and follower of Christ we are. Christ breaks us free and allows us to not be slaves to sin, but rather loving children who do what God asks.

Paul knew the people who were with Jesus while he was still on this earth. My guess is he had great respect for them because they had that opportunity. We all need people in our lives who will hold us accountable and to keep us on the right track. We all need “spiritual parents” who will walk with us as we do the work that God calls us to do. The work Jesus Christ is with us in. The work the Holy Spirit gives us strength, wisdom and all we need to do the work.

#LiveFreeInChrist

It Takes Time

Galatians 2:1 “Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem again with Barnabas, and I took Titus along also.”

Today I feel we should pause at this verse. There is something about this verse I believe speaks to our lives today and how we want things to happen quickly.

Here’s the basic timeline Paul has laid out from the end of chapter 1 to this verse today beginning chapter 2:

After Jesus revealed himself to Paul on the road to Damascus (and after the scales had been removed from his eyes), Paul went to Damascus and stayed there for three years. After this he went to Jerusalem for instruction with Peter for 15 days. Then he traveled to the churches of Syria and Cilicia, though they did not know him personally except by his former reputation. Now we get to today’s verse, “Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem again with Barnabas, and I took Titus along also.”

Do you notice it? There is a span of at least 17 years described here of Paul’s life where he is learning, praying, discerning, teaching before he was really known and accepted as an apostle. It is easy for us to read this, and his story in the book of Acts, and not pay much attention to the amount of time and transformation took place in Paul’s life.

Remember Paul had all the education and credentials from his training in Judaism, but God wanted another form of training. God did not want Paul just to jump and, he gave Paul the gift of time in order to learn more about grace and about Jesus Christ.

In our instant gratification culture we live in today, how many of us like to wait for our goals? I don’t. I would rather my goals would be completed right away so I can move on to the next one. My guess is that you are like that too. But, what if we viewed the time it takes for the goals and dreams to be accomplished as a “gift?” Something else to think about, what if we looked at the time it took for us to realize our dream would not be accomplished as a “gift?”

Each day we have is a gift from God. When it takes awhile for a dream, goal, vision, etc. to be accomplished in our lives, God is giving us the chance to be different. God is allowing us time to be transformed into the creation he created us to be. God is working in our hearts so that we are stronger and have better character in the end. God is allowing us the time to appreciate what we have and what we are able to do. To focus on this goal so we can see the value in it.

Instead of multitasking or seeking immediate gratification, I invite you to see what you are doing and the time it is taking as a gift from God. Who knows what you’ll be able to do when it is all said and done; but you’ll have embraced the time to get it done right.

Paul would probably not have been so grace-filled, he may not have trusted the Lord like he did, he may not have been able to handle the prison time and the beatings he took if he did not take the time for God to change him and teach him.

Will you take this time this year?

#LiveFreeInChrist

A Holy Calling

Today we are at a point in the letter to the Galatians, Paul could be at a loss for words. Instead of keeping silent, Paul begins to prove why the message he gave to the Galatians is the right message and why/how he is commissioned to carry out this work.

Today we pick up Paul’s letter in Galatians 1:13-24.

¹³You heard about my previous life in Judaism, how severely I harassed God’s church and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my peers, because I was much more militant about the traditions of my ancestors.¹⁵But God had set me apart from birth and called me through his grace. He was pleased ¹⁶to reveal his Son to me, so that I might preach about him to the Gentiles. I didn’t immediately consult with any human being. ¹⁷I didn’t go up to Jerusalem to see the men who were apostles before me either, but I went away into Arabia and I returned again to Damascus. ¹⁸Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹But I didn’t see any other of the apostles except James the brother of the Lord. ²⁰Before God, I’m not lying about the things that I’m writing to you! ²¹Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, ²²but I wasn’t known personally by the Christian churches in Judea. ²³They only heard a report about me: “The man who used to harass us now preaches the faith that he once tried to destroy.”²⁴So they were glorifying God because of me.

Before we continue, I have a question for us to answer. How do you respond to those people who try to discredit you? If we are honest, we would say that we get flustered and angry. Then we go about trying to prove the people wrong; or worse, try and get revenge on them to discredit them. We see this all the time, especially when people are going for some kind of position no matter the level.

We would try to denounce our former way of life to show that is not us anymore and that we have changed. Paul seems to embrace is former life (murdering Christians, imprisoning Christians, being arrogant in his knowledge) and says, in essence, “this is who I used to be and I cannot change that.” He seems to have a common thread throughout his letters to demonstrate a “new creation” and that it is Christ who makes us “new.”

We need to remember that our past does not define us. It does show us, and others, who we were before our conversion to Christ (or even at points after our conversion – we are human after all). We can show people this is how we used to live and then compare it to how our lives are now. Christ has redeemed us from our sins and our past and we are made new in his image.

Then, Paul goes on to say something interesting in verses 15 & 16. Read the verses again. But God had set me apart from birth and called me through his grace. He was pleased ¹⁶to reveal his Son to me, so that I might preach about him to the Gentiles.

I LOVE how that sentence starts, “BUT God…” We can have the most rocky and unholy past, BUT GOD comes in to change us! How cool is that? This is what our testimonies should be about. “Yes I did…(fill in the blank). BUT GOD came in and changed everything!”

Paul continues to say something amazing that we know in our heads but sometimes have a hard time allowing this truth to sink into our hearts. God had set me apart from birth and called me…

Paul’s life was able to be transformed and God was able to use his past to be a preacher to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people). It always amazes me how God works.

Paul was set apart from birth. You were set apart from birth. Do you think you don’t have the credentials, the experience? What do you “think” you’re lacking to live the life you know God wants you to live? God has called you and somehow provides to make his calling be fruitful. The best part is that we do not need a lot of material items, because God calls us to be his witness (be his preacher) to those around us first (like our family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc). Then we go to the outer parts of the circle. That’s what Paul did.

His past reputation followed him where ever he went. Whenever Paul went to a place that did not know him, only heard of him, it was his former (violent) way of life the people knew. And that was okay because God was getting all the glory. Paul was able to say, “This is who I used to be, BUT GOD…”

What a testimony! We are now FREE from our past. We are now FREE to live into the life God has called us to live. The life set apart for us from our birth.

Tomorrow, we begin chapter 2.

#LiveFreeInChrist

People Pleasing?

Galatians 1:10-12: ¹⁰Am I trying to win over human beings or God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I wouldn’t be Christ’s slave.¹¹Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that the gospel I preached isn’t human in origin. ¹²I didn’t receive it or learn it from a human. It came through a revelation from Jesus Christ.

Who is easier to please: people or God? This is a good question for us to think about because it shows us our view of God and if we place people above God.

Why do you do the things you do? Remember yesterday, we talked about another group of people going behind Paul to add restrictions and new rules to the newly formed Christians. I imagine they would also tell the people that Paul was only traveling around for fame and money and not really believing in the gospel or caring about the people. So at the beginning of this letter, Paul has to set the record straight.

If you were Paul, what would you do? How would you feel? Since we are human, it is possible our reaction would be anger and become very defensive and revengeful. We could also just slip away and not say anything. Which reaction would you have?

Tomorrow we’ll look at Paul’s defense of his motives and what’s really in his heart. Today I invite us to think about what is more important: to please people or to please God? And who are you more likely to listen to?

We all want to be loved and noticed by other people. Some so that they would have prestige and fame. Some so they would have friends. Some even want to know their lives matter to others.

The entire letter to the Galatians reinforces the idea that we are free in Christ. We do not have to focus our lives on how others view us. We are children of the promise. We are set free, and free people demonstrate love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. People pleasing means we may have to compromise on these qualities, these “fruits of the Spirit.” But God pleasing means that we will live a life that points people to God, even if it cuts to the other person’s soul because they know something is off.

This should also help us think about what we say and what message we are giving. People pleasing will mostly tell people what they want to hear, making it more palatable and non-offensive. If, however, we are speaking the gospel truth (out of true love) then God will speak through us and say what the person(s) need to hear to guide them to a life with God as a focus and central point.

We all have our personal preferences; but we should be careful when we place these preferences in the gospel message of Jesus Christ. Just because we like something doesn’t mean it’s true. Also, just because we know something doesn’t mean we have to tell every person to show them how they are wrong (which really comes off to them that I am right, and then they can get defensive). Instead we speak the truth God reveals and then allow God to work in the life of the person (maybe through you).

So, who is more important to please: God or people? I believe God is easier to “please” because we know where he stands. People change and flow with opinions, circumstances, and knowledge. God never changes. His character is unchanging.

Today, I invite you and I to thoughtfully and prayerfully consider who we are more likely to try to make happy: God or people (even if the person is us). Then ask how we can shift toward and attitude and a lifestyle of pleasing God instead.

#LiveFreeInChrist

Gospel & Grace

I think it is amazing how Paul begins his letters to his people and churches with greetings of grace and peace and ends the same way. Then we enter into the meat of the letter which explains more of the teachings he gave and also of chastisement because the people were not living up to the expectations of the Gospel (mainly living out of love for God and each other). Paul also wanted to offer encouragement (even if brash) to keep the Christians on the path of Christ and to live by the true Gospel and not add anything or diminish any part of it. This is why I am reading the book of Galatians this month. I also invite you to join me to read it with me.

Galatians 1:

⁶I’m amazed that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ to follow another gospel. ⁷It’s not really another gospel, but certain people are confusing you and they want to change the gospel of Christ.⁸However, even if we ourselves or a heavenly angel should ever preach anything different from what we preached to you, they should be under a curse. ⁹I’m repeating what we’ve said before: if anyone preaches something different from what you received, they should be under a curse!

When Paul was preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Galatia he was inviting them to live a life of freedom from the rules and regulations the religious people imposed on many of the people. Paul was preaching God’s grace and how if we live in this grace we are free from “forced” religious rules and now we give our lives to Christ voluntarily and out of love. We are not forced to live by the religious rules to “prove” how much faith we have; we live by grace which allows us to cheerfully give to God what is God’s (worship, finances, time, relationships). We live by the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

There are people who, even today, will try to add to the message of Christ. This is why we should pray, study the Bible, worship in groups so we have other people to hold us accountable and to remind us how we should live. In Paul’s time, there was a group of people known as the Judaizers who went around telling the new Christians they had to basically become a Jew first before becoming a Christian. This meant that circumcision was required, and if this act was not done then they were not true Christians. Just adding rules to keep people from really understanding grace.

We still do this today. Many of us would like to have a “check-off list” of things we need to do in order to live the Christian life. But that kind of life requires human effort and takes God out of the equation. When we live a life like this, we are in essence saying, “God, look what I’m doing for you. Now that I have fulfilled these requirements, you must accept me.” Grace does not work this way. Grace looks upon the heart.

If the motive we have in our hearts is love for God and love for people, then when we do the things on a list, we are actually doing them out of love. This is what I believe God looks at first. Not at what we do; but why we do what we do. A person can have the appearance of a Christian and their heart does not reflect it. Their actions toward others will prove this (quick tempered, impatient, unjust, prejudice).

Perverting the message of Jesus today can also look like this: we make Jesus into our image saying he only likes who we like and he hates who we hate. The message of the gospel is that Jesus meets us where we are but does not leave us as we are. We are new creations; transformed into the image of Christ.

I love this quote from John Wesley, “I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist in either Europe of America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.”

As we begin this new year, I invite you (and I) to daily look at how we live our lives. Do we do things for God or do w e do things out of love for God? Be careful that we do not add or diminish the true message of the Gospel to fit out needs or desires. Live the message of grace and allow God’s love to shine through each one of us.

Challenge:

Write down things you believe to be true of Christians. Put a check mark to see which one(s) you live by. If there are any left unchecked, pray to ask God to give you the power to have those qualities in your life (i.e. the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5). Ask for forgiveness and allow God to change you so that no more excuses have to be made (i.e. “this is just how I am.”).

God’s grace is pursing you. This is the message of the gospel.

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