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

Family

Galatians 3:25-29 ²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian.²⁶You are all God’s children through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹Now if you belong to Christ, then indeed you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.

Here is one of the things I love about the letter to the Galatians. In Christ everyone is equal. What an amazing thought. Those who do not have are equal with those who do have because of Christ. Those who are uneducated are equal with those who are educated because of Christ. Those who are ___(fill in the blank are equal with those who are (fill in the blank) because of Christ.

When we are baptized into the faith, we have been clothed with Christ. What does this mean to be clothed in Christ? Colossians chapter 3 gives a good definition of this. “¹²Therefore, as God’s choice, holy and loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. ¹³Be tolerant with each other and, if someone has a complaint against anyone, forgive each other. As the Lord forgave you, so also forgive each other.” And because we have been clothed in Christ, we are reminded we are children of God along with the people we may not like or agree with.

Another thing that I find amazing, again, is that when we are baptized into the faith, we join all of the other believers through history, even down to Abraham and Noah! We are part of a huge family of God. We do not always get along with our own family members but we can still love them and do what we are able to to guide them in their life and faith.

Let’s see this verse again (which also appears in Colossians 3): There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female; Aggie or Longhorn; black or white; purple or gold; American or (other country), for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

God’s family is bigger than we sometimes want to think about. But we are free to live as a family, especially as a family of God.

#LiveFreeInChrist

Released by Faith

Galatians 3:19-24 ¹⁹So why was the Law given? It was added because of offenses, until the descendant would come to whom the promise had been made. It was put in place through angels by the hand of a mediator. ²⁰Now the mediator does not take one side; but God is one. ²¹So, is the Law against the promises of God? Absolutely not! If a Law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would in fact have come from the Law. ²²But scripture locked up all things under sin, so that the promise based on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ might be given to those who have faith. ²³Before faith came, we were guarded under the Law, locked up until faith that was coming would be revealed, ²⁴so that the Law became our custodian until Christ so that we might be made righteous by faith.

Without rules and law, would we know what is right or wrong? The book of Judges says over and over that everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Does having law keep us down and keep us from receiving God? No, in fact it point us to a life of faith and freedom.

Paul can be confusing in his writing. The Apostle Peter even says that Paul is hard to understand. But I think Paul is saying something awesome here. The Law was there to cover up (forgive) offenses against God and people. This meant a series of required sacrifices. I don’t know if we can fathom how many animals were killed and sacrificed as a way to receive forgiveness from God. Can you imagine if we had to still do that today?

So were the sacrifices enough to receive forgiveness of God? No. What was there, with the sacrifice offerings, was the faith of the people that God would forgive them. We can look at this as a precursor to Jesus Christ.

Today we do not need to offer any animal or grain sacrifices because Christ was the final sacrifice that we can look back upon in faith. So it is really by faith that we are free and it is by faith we can trust Jesus with our whole being. The Law was not meant to give live, but to show us we cannot live by our own righteousness, we need someone who can make us clean and holy. That person is Jesus Christ who fulfilled the Law by removing our requirements to earn God’s forgiveness and favor and instead we receive it by faith.

The people in the book of Judges did what was right in their own eyes. We have the faith to be able to see life as God sees and gives us freedom to voluntarily (not out of obligation) to live as Jesus lived.

#LiveFreeInChrist

Promise of Inheritance

Galatians 3:15-18 ¹⁵Brothers and sisters, I’ll use an example from human experience. No one ignores or makes additions to a validated will. ¹⁶The promises were made to Abraham and to his descendant. It doesn’t say, “and to the descendants,” as if referring to many rather than just one. It says, “and to your descendant,” who is Christ. ¹⁷I’m saying this: the Law, which came four hundred thirty years later, doesn’t invalidate the agreement that was previously validated by God so that it cancels the promise. ¹⁸If the inheritance were based upon the Law, it would no longer be from the promise. But God has given it graciously to Abraham through a promise.

When I read these words from Galatians, I am reminded that the Bible can really be summed up this way: Jesus Christ. As we read the scripture, we can see precursors and forerunners to Christ. God’s promises are never invalid or void. Jesus came so that each and every promise of God would be fulfilled in Him.

This is also one of those passages we have to be careful and not take out of context of the letter or of the Bible. I encourage you to read the entire book of Galatians today (it’s only six chapters) and see what God may be speaking to you through this short book and how the gospel of Jesus Christ is spoken of throughout: we have freedom in Christ!

I am also reminded, again, that we who are in the faith are considered part of the family of Abraham, which shows that the presence of God and the character of God is unchanging. What God says He’ll do, He does. What God promises to His people, He fulfills. Maybe not in the time we want, but God does come through on His promises.

The inheritance spoken of is of more value than money or property. It is God Himself. Think about that. We are heirs to receive the incredible presence of God in our everyday lives and even into eternity. Salvation is not for a distant time, it is now.

God has promised to give people, by faith, the inheritance promised Abraham. Will you accept this precious gift? God’s promises never expire or become invalid or void. We can live freely in Christ because of His gift.

#LiveFreeInChrist

Live Different

Galatians 3:10-14 ¹⁰All those who rely on the works of the Law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone is cursed who does not keep on doing all the things that have been written in the Law scroll. ¹¹But since no one is made righteous by the Law as far as God is concerned, it is clear that the righteous one will live on the basis of faith. ¹²The Law isn’t based on faith; rather, the one doing these things will live by them. ¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us—because it is written, Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed. ¹⁴He redeemed us so that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, and that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

How do you like the idea of living under a curse? I don’t. We can, if we’re not careful, focus on the first part of this passage and negate the second part.

I have read this passage many times and have thought, “how can someone be under a curse if they follow the Law?” One day it made sense to me. When we watch people in movies or on TV who have had a curse placed on them, they are not able to control what they are doing. This is a similar kind of thing that happens to people when I read this passage.

If our lives are lived in a way in which we are trying to please everyone (especially God), then we begin doing routines, superstitious that if we don’t we will have something bad happen to us. Following the Law to the letter is like us trying to earn God’s favor, and we forget God’s grace is absolutely free…to us.

Our challenge is to not let our lives revolve around rituals and acts to win approval, because we are already approved by God through Jesus Christ. Have you accepted this? We “receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” So it is through faith that we are accepted by God. It is through faith that we are free from “having” to do certain rituals. It is through faith that we accept God and “receive the promise of the Spirit.”

Faith means that we believe without seeing and without trying to earn God’s favor and love. Many of us, though, still try to complete our daily check-list of items and still do not accept God’s great gift. We are still unchanged and calloused. But Christ comes in the picture and we have the opportunity to see what God has done for us. God’s grace is absolutely free, to us; but it cost God greatly.

Jesus Christ was nailed and hung to a cross. The Law says that anyone hung to a tree (in other words poles from wood), they become a curse. Jesus paid the price of every sacrifice in the Hebrew Law so that would would not have to. He was able to do this because he lived the perfect life and willingly became a curse so that we would not have to give anymore payment for our sins, our transgressions. All we have to do is have faith it is completed.

Do you believe this? Has Jesus Christ changed your life? If so, then don’t worry about trying to earn his love and acceptance. Just allow his life to live through you. We can stay “cursed” if we do not demonstrate the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) in our lives. We won’t live completely joyful, peaceful, grace filled, etc lives if the message of Jesus Christ does not change us.

This is how we are free from the curse. We don’t need to worry about how other looks upon us. We know that God loves and even likes us (with faith) and that we are free to be loving, patient, generous, graceful, kind, good, gentle….

#LiveFreeInChrist

Joined Together

Galatians 3:6-9 ⁶Understand that in the same way that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, ⁷those who believe are the children of Abraham. ⁸But when it saw ahead of time that God would make the Gentiles righteous on the basis of faith, scripture preached the gospel in advance to Abraham: All the Gentiles will be blessed in you. ⁹Therefore, those who believe are blessed together with Abraham who believed.

We are all in search of belonging. Many people look to find fulfillment in passing fads. Others with people who really don’t care about them or make them feel worthless. Still others search for meaning and escape through different methods.

Where do you find your meaning and place of belonging? There have been times where I was searching for where I belonged and I made my identity wrapped up in my job. This is dangerous too, because we are always more than what we do. We are made in the image of God. This is where identity begins.

Look at the people who are surrounded by a community who supports, encourages and builds up. Who is actually more fulfilled? The person who attempts to find themselves in what they do, substances, people who make them feel no value? Or is it the person who is surrounded by a support structure to guide and encourage them through life’s journey?

The answer may seem obvious. (I hope.) This is what we find when we join in the Christian faith. Yes there are people who have been the wrong image and have done acts in the name of God that actually destroyed countless lives; but there are so many others who have professed faith in Christ that are good models and encouragers to help us live the life God calls us to live.

Think about this for a minute. When we profess faith in Christ, we actually are connected with people in the faith as far back as Abraham and Noah. This means that we can read their stories and we are reading about our family. We can see how they failed and how they succeeded. Yet through their failures, God was always with them. This gives me great joy because God is with me, and God is with you, especially when we fail and fall short of the glory of God.

We are children of God and this makes us part of the “blessings” that God promised Abraham. All it takes is childlike faith and trusting in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (we’ll see this tomorrow).

Believing in Christ does bring incredible blessings; but be careful how blessings are thought of. We can lose everything in our life, yet still be the most blessed people because we have Jesus Christ with us and the power of the Holy Spirit within us.

Are you searching for belonging? Faith ties us together with the people of faith before us. Follow their life and notice how God still worked through their life. He is working in your life too!

Praise be to God for this awesome community we belong to. We are free to know that we do not have to live this life alone.

#LiveFreeInChrist

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

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