Starting from the Bottom?

So 2016 is at an end in less than five hours. What a year it’s been. Like really, I don’t have a clue how else to put it. Starting out, I was so confident that it was going to be a good year, but less than one month in it quickly went south.

Depression hit worse than it had ever been since at least high school as early as the middle of January. February was very dark due to the depression. By the middle of March, my girlfriend dumped me because I was too depressed. April and May were a serious struggle to escape the depression. June was probably the most positive month. July initiated another set of bad luck: I started talking to a girl from a very controlling church who judged me hardcore along with the rest of her church for struggles Jesus was actively taking out of my life. August saw the end of that friendship and depression settle in yet again. By the end of September the depression was stronger than ever before. October saw my ex from the beginning of the year start dating my roommate—they are engaged now too—which meant, for all practical purposes, the end of a friendship (he’d been the first one I called when she broke up with me). November was when things started to improve (see two paragraphs from here), but the depression was always much too close. December saw me move from Bolivar, MO to Springfield, MO, and the stress of the move, with the holiday season and working full time, has been tough.

As for my goals for 2016, given the incredible amount of depression this year and working full-time all year, it was not as productive as I hoped. I did move to Missouri officially, I did find a good job—much better than expected actually—and I did keep up with this blog. However, while I started the year working out, by August I wasn’t working out at all; while I wrote a short story in January, I failed most of the rest of the year. My CD is still not finished. The fourth draft of Stranded has yet to be finished. My Romans 7 paper was organized, but I haven’t written a single word more of it since December of 2014. Oh, and given the break up in March, I not only was kept from pouring into that relationship, but I was estranged from a lot of other relationships.

However, at the same time, 2016 has not been a total waste. Given the fact that I now have a great job, I have also met a lot of awesome people. Between people I serve at work, and people I work with, my days are never exempt from time with people. Immediately before the breakup, I got to fellowship with the leadership of my home church in California at the 2016 Shepherd’s Conference. Of all of 2016, that was one of the three greatest highlights. The next one was in November when I got to celebrate my childhood best friend’s wedding celebration with him as his best man. Along with that, I got to spend a few days with my family (and my cats) that week. The third highlight was Thanksgiving. And sure, it was only one day, but I got to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family for the first time in four years.

While I lost friends, I gained many more, some of whom I never would have met or invested in if my relationship with her hadn’t ended (like a guy I met tonight in Springfield at Starbucks as I wrote this). Also, I’m very excited for my best friend from SBU to return to the states in about a week. Finally, I got a cat today, so that’s fun. (I hope he’s a little more comfortable with the place by the time I get home this evening.)

With a year that has too easily been focused on the negatives, it’s much too easy to say, “There’s nowhere to go but up from here.” However, that thinking is so wrong. While the following verse got me through the depression this year, it is so much more valid than just as a “keep on going” verse: “The righteous one will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4b).

The truth is, I am not righteous because I keep going. I am not righteous by anything in myself. While the popular song, “we started from the bottom but now we’re here,” could be understood as describing where I’m starting in 2017, I cannot allow myself to take that attitude. Since I don’t make myself righteous, God has already set me in the heavens with Himself (cf. Ephesians 2:4-9). This needs to be my attitude going forward. I cannot allow myself to be defeated by regret or by fear. God loves me; God chose me; God is protecting and guiding me. All I must do is follow Him.

So 2017… Here’s my goals: follow Jesus so closely I am covered with Him.

Ultimately if I accomplish that I don’t care if I fail in every other area. But here’s some other things I’d like to accomplish:

·         Love God’s people well

·         Keep up on this blog

·         Finish Stranded—completely done

·         Finish my new CD

·         Finish another book (it’s a secret)

·         Write a short story every quarter (a month is too short)

·         Work out more regularly than I did this year

·         Follow God’s leading regarding the next chapter of my life (to stay in Missouri, or move home, or to take a different, third option)

But that’s where I’m at on the eve of 2017. God is good; He’s led me this far; He will continue to lead. I just need to follow and obey.

Soli Deo Gloria

Loyalty Requires Perseverance – 4:8-20

Since my last Galatians entry, I finished my first full television series. It was originally aired a few years ago, but I started watching it on Netflix, and I had to purchase the full series on DVD in order to finish it because it was pulled off Netflix. While I can’t recommend it as a clean, family friendly show, it definitely is not evil. It is called Chuck, and it is about a guy named Chuck Bartowski who gets a supercomputer full of government secrets downloaded into his brain. As such, agents from two government agencies are sent to keep him safe. The camaraderie and loyalty exemplified, especially from Chuck, throughout the show’s five seasons are my favorite thing about the show. He’s not perfect—nowhere close—and in no way does he claim to have any ties to a certain religion, but for the most part “loyalty,” “faithfulness,” and “perseverance when times get tough” describe him perfectly. This is important, because it ties very closely into what Paul is talking about in this section of his letter to the Galatians.

Galatians 4:8-20 says, “But in the past, when you didn’t know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods.  But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and bankrupt elemental forces? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?  You observe ⌊special⌋ days, months, seasons, and years.  I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted.  I beg you, brothers: Become like me, for I also became like you. You have not wronged me;  you know that previously I preached the gospel to you because of a physical illness.  You did not despise or reject me though my physical condition was a trial for you. On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus ⌊Himself⌋.  What happened to this sense of being blessed you had? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.  Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?  They are enthusiastic about you, but not for any good. Instead, they want to isolate you so you will be enthusiastic about them.  Now it is always good to be enthusiastic about good—and not just when I am with you.  My children, I am again suffering labor pains for you until Christ is formed in you.  I would like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice, because I don’t know what to do about you.”

This section is closely connected to the previous. Especially at the beginning. However, the first word of verse 8 is “but” and that is very important. It draws a contrast between Paul urging the Galatians to realize their new position in Christ away from the elemental things they were enslaved to and his new argument—“you’ve deserted me, the one you trusted so highly when I came to you.” This section, especially verses 12-20, “are the strongest words of personal affection Paul uses in any of his letters.”[1]

He begins similarly to how he was speaking in the previous section. Verses 8-10 say, “But in the past, when you didn’t know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods.  But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and bankrupt elemental forces? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?  You observe ⌊special⌋ days, months, seasons, and years.” He wants to remind them that they were slaves to something before that ultimately had no power over them. Before they knew God, things enslaved them that didn’t have any right to enslave them. He then says that things are different now. He says they know God now and that should keep them from returning to their former slavery, because God really is God and He truly has power. He then explains in what way they’ve decided to return to slavery. The Jewish law is full of special days, months, seasons, and years—Leviticus 23 and 25—that those under the Law were to follow. The Judaizers must have convinced the Galatians of their need to follow these calendar events for salvation, which in turn led them to remove themselves from the grace of the gospel. The very gospel Paul had brought to them.

Paul makes a curious statement in verse 9, that I just can’t gloss over. He says, “since you know God, or rather have become known by God.” There is a theological point to be made here, but I would argue that that is not Paul’s primary point here. The theological point is that we are not the ones who seek to know God; God is the one who actively seeks to know us, and then our seeking Him is our response to His initial seeking. Paul proved this theology through his own story in 1:15-16: “But when God, who from my birth set me apart and called me by His grace, was pleased  to reveal His Son in me, so that I could preach Him among the Gentiles…” However, I don’t believe for a minute that this was Paul’s goal in using that phraseology in this section. Paul is seeking to make a transition from the Galatians’ return to slavery to his love and concern for them. He is essentially saying in this phrase, “Galatians, God got to know you through my coming to you. He used me to get to know you. Don’t turn your back on Him!” This transition is completed in verse 11 when Paul says, “I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted.”

Verses 12-15 describe Paul’s first experience with them. “I beg you, brothers: Become like me, for I also became like you. You have not wronged me;  you know that previously I preached the gospel to you because of a physical illness.  You did not despise or reject me though my physical condition was a trial for you. On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus ⌊Himself⌋.  What happened to this sense of being blessed you had? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.”

This passage doesn’t exactly make a lot of sense. All we know for sure is that Paul is describing his time with the Galatians. It is interesting that verse 13 does not say, “physical illness,” but rather, “in weakness of the flesh.” Many have understood this as being a sickness (as the HCSB translates it), though literally “weakness of the flesh” often refers to temptation to sin. Martin Luther explains a third option, which I think is best, in the following lengthy quote:

When Paul speaks of the infirmity of his flesh he does not mean some physical defect or carnal lust, but the sufferings and afflictions which he endured in his body. What these infirmities were he himself explains in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10: “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” And in the eleventh chapter of the same Epistle the Apostle writes: “In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck,” etc. (2 Cor 11:23-25.) By the infirmity of his flesh Paul meant these afflictions and not some chronic disease. He reminds the Galatians how he was always in peril at the hands of the Jews, Gentiles, and false brethren, how he suffered hunger and want.

Now, the afflictions of the believers always offend people. Paul knew it and therefore has high praise for the Galatians because they over looked his afflictions and received him like an angel. Christ forewarned the faithful against the offense of the Cross, saying: “Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me” (Matt 11:6). Surely it is no easy thing to confess Him Lord of all and Savior of the world who was a reproach of men, and despised of the people, and the laughing stock of the world (Ps 22:7). I say, to value this poor Christ, so spitefully scorned, spit upon, scourged, and crucified, more than the riches of the richest, the strength of the strongest, the wisdom of the wisest, is something. It is worth being called blessed.[2]

They received Paul as Jesus Himself. In a very real sense, Paul is saying also that through their heeding of his message, they literally received Christ by believing in Him. They were not offended by Paul, but rather drawn to the Savior.

Paul explains that they received him so eagerly, without being offended, that he could have asked them for anything and they would have done it. The phrase, “if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me,” has often been understood as contributing to the view that Paul had a physical illness, perhaps an optical illness, and needed their eyes to see better. With the above understanding from Luther, this cannot be the case, and it is enough to say that they trusted Paul so highly that they would have done anything he asked. This is quite a contrast with the next verses.

Verses 16-20 describe Paul’s current experience with them. “Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?  They are enthusiastic about you, but not for any good. Instead, they want to isolate you so you will be enthusiastic about them.  Now it is always good to be enthusiastic about good—and not just when I am with you.  My children, I am again suffering labor pains for you until Christ is formed in you.  I would like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice, because I don’t know what to do about you.”

This is where Paul’s loyalty and perseverance for those he loves comes into play explicitly. The simplest way to understand this section hinges on the word “now” in verse 16. He is anticipating their current response as they are reading the letter. “Are you now upset with me for being honest?” Loyalty and faithfulness to people involves the hard task of telling the truth. There’s no more unloving thing to do than to actively withhold the truth from those who are erring off the path of life. Paul made it clear in 1:6 that the Galatians are standing over the pit of hell in their decision to follow the Judaizers instead of Jesus: “I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called you by the grace of Christ ⌊and are turning⌋ to a different gospel.” Paul has been telling the truth since the start of the letter, and here he asks them to be honest about their feelings: “Are you mad at me for loving you enough to tell you that you are wrong?” He then says, “Look, these Judaizers might try to tell you differently, but your eternal soul is at stake in this! Don’t listen to them!”

Are we truth tellers like Paul, or do we hope someone else is going to do the job God has given to us? I know that for me I am too often guilty of saying, “I’ll raise spiritual issues later,” when I’m not guaranteed a later time at which to raise those issues. The fact that Carrie Fisher died this week is proof that we don’t know how much time we have on this planet. This also again ties back to Chuck. As government agents, their lives were in danger every episode. As such, they had to be ready for the worst; how much more, in real life, must we be ready for the end? If we know the truth, we must spread it to those we know. Especially if we, like Paul are called to active ministry roles in a church, we need to not take the, “I’ll wait for someone more qualified to share the gospel with my peers,” attitude. We must do it ourselves.

Paul is fighting for them, and he compares his anguish for them to the pain of a woman in labor. They were his spiritual children and he wanted to see them grow up into Christ. R. Alan Cole explains,

Paul says he is in labour all over again until Christ be formed in you, or ‘until you take the shape of Christ’ (NEB). No-one doubts his meaning: it is the agony of the pastor, watching for signs of Christian growth in his flock. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 11:28 that this was the heaviest burden which he had to bear. It is therefore inadequate to think of Paul merely as the prince of evangelists; he was also the prince of pastors, and nowhere is this more clearly seen than in passages like this.[3]

Second Corinthians 11:28 would prove that the weakness of the flesh Paul dealt with in front of the Corinthians was the trials of ministry, and the fact that they were turning their backs on him made it even harder. Second Corinthians 11:28 says, “Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my care for all the churches.” This is why he concludes the Galatians section today by saying, “I want to see you. I am at a loss about you.”

Chuck Bartowski from the television show Chuck is loyal to all of his friends throughout that television series. In a similar way, Paul was loyal to his Galatian friends. Are we as loyal to our friends? Do we tell them the truth even at the risk of making them our enemy, like Paul did here? We should. The truth is that Jesus died on the cross to break down all enmity for those who believe in Him. And who knows, even if my sharing the gospel with a coworker makes our friendship totally different, perhaps it will plant the seed that will eventually sprout elsewhere and destroy that enmity that I was worried about. I for one would rather risk enmity than know with certainty that a peer is headed to hell. Paul would agree with me on that. How about you?

Til next time.

Soli Deo Gloria

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[1] John MacArthur, Galatians, 114.

[2] Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians.

[3] R. Alan Cole, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries – Galatians, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Academic, 2008), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 175.

A Christmas Miracle?

So life has changed quite a bit over the past year, though this is not the post to get into all that—wait til Saturday night. One thing I will say right now is that this was the first Christmas I have ever spent away from my family. I was dreading it with everything in me for most of the past month, even though it never really came out vocally. Christmas is my favorite holiday: the lights, the songs, the REASON, my mother’s cookies, giving gifts and seeing their reactions when they open them. For these reasons, especially the last two, I did not want to be alone. How baseless my worries were.

It all started well when I went to a Christmas Eve service in Springfield, MO at a very gospel centered church. One thing the pastor mentioned that stuck with me—that I definitely needed to hear—was that we are too often guilty of focusing on how others can bless us, but we really should think about how we can be a blessing for others. Basically, that is the true story of Christmas (see Philippians 2:5-8). That instantly helped to start pulling my eyes back to where they needed to be in this Christmas season.

After the Christmas Eve service, I drove back home—to my half-moved into/unpacked house—and decided to start a Christmas tradition of my own. This year was the prep for future years, so I wrote down all the verse references I could think of that had anything to do with the coming of Jesus. I came up with a list of about seventeen passages—some long, some a single verse. In the midst of this, I FaceTime’d with my family back in California and talked about Christmassy things. Afterwards, I opened the gifts that they had mailed me, and then I watched It’s A Wonderful Life, which if you have never seen you need to see as soon as possible. (Something I noticed this time around was the fact that the whole story is based around the fact that intercessory prayers are heard and answered, which further convinced me I need to pray more.)

After that, I went to bed and woke up Christmas morning in time to get dressed for work. Looking ahead to Christmas, this was the thing I dreaded the most, even more so than being alone. However, I went to work and prayed on the way that I would have a good attitude and be a hard worker. It was the best work day of my life. Almost every customer that came in thanked me for being there so that they could get their prescription filled despite the fact that it was Christmas. They wanted to be in there just as much as I did—meaning not at all—because who wants to be sick on Christmas and have to go to the hospital? And then, to just add to the goodness of the day, one gentleman who I helped with prescriptions had to get a jumpstart for his car afterwards, and I was the only one in the store with jumper cables. I was yet again reminded that I am right where God wants me to be.

Holding onto this positive attitude is the struggle of my life right now, but God is faithful and I can trust Him. Please pray for me.

Soli Deo Gloria

Hopefully, my next Galatians post will be published tomorrow. God bless!

Reigning, not Ruled – 4:1-7

I remember a book I read as a child by Mark Twain. Sure, it was the condensed version, but it was called The Prince and the Pauper. It is about two children who realize they look almost identical and that they could switch places and learn about life through each others’ eyes. One grew up in riches; the other grew up in poverty. The one who begins to experience life in more poverty than he is used to begins to understand what the poor have to go through daily; the one who moves up the social ladder is scared that he will be found out as a fraud. Paul sort of speaks to this in our passage today. However, he flips it. Believers are all royalty in God’s eyes. We’ve already lived our lives of poverty in sin, and we don’t need to go look back on those things with longing; at the same time, we don’t need to fear being found out as frauds, because we truly are heirs of God and we can know it experientially through the Spirit.

Galatians 4:1-7 says, “Now I say that as long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything.  Instead, he is under guardians and stewards until the time set by his father.  In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elemental forces of the world.  When the time came to completion, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,  to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’  So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

So far in our study of this book, we have seen several things: Paul started by composing a letter to the Galatians in which the introduction holds up Jesus as the answer to our sin problem (1:1-5). From there, he showed shock at their current straying from that foundation (1:6-10). He continues by anticipating the objection, “Who are you to say this?” and answers by telling them, “Jesus revealed this to me” (1:11-24); and then he says, “the Apostles at Jerusalem confirmed my message” (2:1-10). He continues to show that he was not influenced by men in the proclamation of the gospel by explaining his confrontation with Peter, and arguing that the gospel promotes freedom, not rules and regulations (2:11-21). Then he interrogates the Galatians about their straying from the truth (3:1-5). He explains that we need faith, which gives life, and not law, which breeds death (3:6-14). He explains the source of that faith—promised 430 years before the Law to  Abraham—which was Jesus, the seed of Abraham (3:15-18). And finally, lest people accuse Paul of being a blaspheming Jew who’s turned his back on the Law, he explained that the Law does serve a purpose (3:19-29).

And it is there that we pick up today. Galatians 3:24 said, “The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith,” and it is with that metaphor that Paul continues in 4:1-7. He seeks to show that while the Law is holy, and from God, it is not ultimate; it serves a purpose. He seeks to prove that we should not submit ourselves to the law as ultimate if we have been freed from it by Him Who is Ultimate. (Again, Paul is not teaching do-whatever-you-want theology; chapter five, which follows chapter four, is very ethically oriented; but we’ll get there soon.)

Paul starts by relaying the guardian image again. However, this time the focus is on the person under the guardian, not the guardian itself. Verses 1-2 say, “As long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything.  Instead, he is under guardians and stewards until the time set by his father.” This is relatively simple to understand. Until a certain age, a child in ancient Greece had no privileges. He might have been from a rich family, and been the heir of a large inheritance, but he couldn’t take advantage of any of it. There were family slaves that watched, protected, and aided the child until he reached the appropriate age. He was treated as a slave by these slaves, until the time would come when he reached the age where he could inherit his rank of sonship from his father. Basically, the slaves prepared him for this day, treating him like he was a slave until he was old enough/mature enough to become an adult with responsibilities and privileges.

Paul continues by relating this analogy to our spiritual situation. Verses 3-5 say, “We also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elemental forces of the world.  When the time came to completion, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,  to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

He starts by saying we were in slavery. However, it is very key to note that he doesn’t say, “You were enslaved to the Law.” This is important, because the people he is writing to were Gentiles who had never had the Law of Moses. Acts 13-14 describes this missionary journey of Paul to the Gentiles, and it was in a state of checking up on them that this letter was written. Instead of accusing them of being enslaved to the Law, he says, “we were in slavery under the elemental things of the world.” The fact that he includes himself would argue that the law of Moses is part of the elemental things of the world. So what exactly were we enslaved to?

The Greek word translated “elemental things” is somewhat tricky to nail down its precise meaning. And while many scholars have debated, argued, and spilled much ink over the meaning of the phrase “elemental things of the world,” one explanation screams for recognition. “It denotes that whereon the existence of this world rests, that which constitutes man’s being. Paul uses it in a transferred sense for that whereon man’s existence rested before Christ even and precisely in pre-Christian religion, that which is weak and impotent, that which enslaves man instead of freeing him.”[1] The elemental things of this world are whatever building blocks a person has built his identity out of. These things do nothing for us, except beat us up and show us our need of deliverance. For a Jew, it is clear that the Law of Moses functioned in this way. Paul’s point to the Galatians is, “Don’t put yourself back in slavery. You never experienced that kind. Don’t go there now!”

However, some of us reading this are already returning to, or maybe have never even left the elemental things of this world. Perhaps you find your identity in being able to drink more alcohol than the next guy; give it up, because it’s enslaved you. Perhaps you find your identity in a relationship with the opposite gender; you will never find true purpose or meaning there, so don’t let it enslave you more. Perhaps you find your identity in a homosexual relationship; again, it is enslaving, so turn away from it. Perhaps your slavery of choice isn’t so obvious to the world: do you find your identity in being a good person, or in always being happy, or in helping other people? What’s your motivation for these good things? If it is so people will think highly of you, you are in a heap of trouble. Our motivation for goodness should never be our reputation, but rather God’s. The second half of this list of six forms of slavery is the more dangerous side: Jesus said in Matthew 9:12, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do.” Until a person is able to admit their need for a doctor, they will remain sick. Those who are enslaved to active sins—drunkenness, sexual deviance, murder, etc.—are more likely to see their need for help than those enslaved to passive sins—pride, self-idolatry, self-righteousness. Don’t stay in slavery, regardless of which side you fall on.

He continues by explaining how we can be released from slavery: it’s through Jesus, the Son of God. I said in the previous paragraph to turn from your slavery, but I didn’t say where to turn. This is where you need to turn. Do it now! Admit your need for saving, your refusal to remain a slave any longer, and choose to believe that Jesus bore the curse meant for you on the cross and choose to follow Him for the rest of your life.

Paul highlights two aspects of Jesus that are key to understanding our freedom from slavery: Jesus was born of a woman, and He was born under the law. The fact that Jesus was born of a woman means that He was fully human. This means simply that He can relate to us. He understands our fears and our desires. He knows what it is like to be tempted and tried. He even knows what it’s like to live under the Law: He was born under the Law, and the beginning of His life was marked by strict adherence to the Law (see Luke 2 after the Christmas story). In fact, this is what Paul means by the second phrase: born under the Law. However, the key here is how Paul words this section: “God sent His Son.” God didn’t just send Jesus as a man. He sent Jesus as His own personal heir. Jesus is the one who gave the Law, so the Law cannot hold Him down. In fact, He’s above us and able to pull us out from under the Law and set us firmly on grace. He is amazing.

The purpose of Jesus’ coming was so that we would receive adoption as sons. Just as Jesus was God’s heir, so God wants us as His heirs also. Jesus’ death on the cross redeemed us from slaves to all sorts of various things to sons and daughters of God. That is the gospel. Believe it!

Paul concludes this section by explaining what is the significance of us as sons of God. Verses 6-7 say, “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’  So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” Paul says here that the proof of our sonship is the Spirit. And it is very interesting here that Paul doesn’t say, “You cry out, ‘Abba, Father,’” but rather, “the Spirit is crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” The way it is worded, it is clear that the Spirit is actively crying out for God, and when we find ourselves crying out for God it is a sign that we truly do belong to God.

The Spirit’s crying out for God, and especially when the Spirit speaks as much through our mouth in prayers or even cries for help, is proof that we are no longer slaves. In fact, it should be a very strong deterrent from anything in this world that would seek to reenslave us. This is Paul’s point here: “Galatians, you claim to have been redeemed by Christ, so why would you enslave yourselves to a new elemental thing when you have Jesus as your Savior, as the Ultimate Person?” Paul is saying, if you are children of God, redeemed from a childhood of slavery, then don’t return to childhood. You did away with those things. John MacArthur relates how an ancient tradition in Rome at this time was burning one’s toys to show that a person was no longer a child.[2] Galatians 2:18 says, “If I rebuild the system I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker.” Paul doesn’t want this to be the case. He wants them to see that they have been remade anew, and the old no longer exists or exercises any authority, just like the slaves in a Roman household after the child comes to adulthood.

Paul takes a final jab at the Judaizers (those trying to turn the Galatians to Jewish practices for salvation) by saying, “if you’re a son, then you are an heir through God.” The clearest way to understand this would be to see Paul as saying, “you are an heir through the agency of God.”[3] It is not because the Law exercised power that someone becomes an heir of God; it is not because some other enslaving system of the world exercises power that someone becomes an heir of God; it is not even because a person does something that they become an heir of God. Rather, it is simply due to God’s working that anyone becomes an heir of God. God is in control. Nothing else ultimately is. For this reason we can trust God, and we should run to Jesus. He is our hope.

Let’s live as the princes and princesses we are, and never return to the pauper life of sin.

Til next time.

Soli Deo Gloria

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[1] Gerhard Delling, “stoicevw, sustoicevw, stoicei`on, in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 7:685.

[2] John MacArthur, Galatians, 104.

[3] Cf. James A. Brooks and Carlton L. Winberry, Syntax of New Testament Greek, 24-25.

The Death of Christ

"Like a romantic movie that always has a breakup before everything becomes 'happier forever,' Jesus had to die before anyone could ever live happily ever after because of His resurrection."

Preach the Gospel!!!

"There is a dearth of Christian preaching in our country. Now don't get me wrong: there's a lot of 'biblical' preaching in our country. I say 'Biblical' because while it comes from the Bible and seems to accurately interpret the text, it doesn't have anything specifically Christian about it. The Bible points to Jesus. 'But wait,' you may yell, 'there's lots of preaching about Jesus in our country!' And I'll admit that His name gets thrown around in a lot of sermons, but that doesn't mean the sermon is accomplishing the text's primary goal: if a preacher fails to take a text from its original context to the cross, bury it in the grave, and then spring it out victorious in resurrection, proclaiming life because of His life to all who will believe, the sermon, not to mention the preacher, has failed."

Back to the Past

I still remember the first time I was introduced to the Stephen Speilberg classic, Back to the Future. I had been sick to my stomach all day, and I just wanted to watch a movie since I didn’t feel like doing anything else. And as a (let’s just say) thirteen year old who had fallen in love with Star Wars and everything involved therein, that was my natural choice for a movie to watch. I remember my dad trying to change my mind by offering Back to the Future as an alternative. I don’t remember exactly how he described it, though he said something about a young guy and a car, but I remember my response: “Why would I want to watch a movie about a guy who lives life with his back to the future?” So I watched a Star Wars movie that day, and only later ended up watching Back to the Future.

I watched the whole trilogy again this week, and one of the last lines in the movie comes from Doctor Emmett Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd. He says, “Your future hasn’t been written yet. No one’s has. Your future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one.” That line reminded me clearly of my first impression of the movie—relayed above—and challenged me in my day-to-day living. Then, meditating on Leviticus 26:12-13 this morning further engrained it in my head: “I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.  'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect” (emphasis added).

It’s that final, italicized line that I want to focus on. Too often, I find myself—and maybe you do too—living scared of the future, living with my back to the future, staring at the past, saying, “based on that, how can anything ever get any better?” If anything, I have lived much of the last six years of my life—post-salvation—with my shoulders hunched over, as if a ball and chain were attached to my neck. Fortunately, the Gospel is better news than that. The gospel screams that the opening words of verse 12 are true even now for the believer in Jesus: “I will also walk among you and be your God.” If there is anything in this world that brightens your day more than that fact right there, you should repent of your idolatry. And because Jesus walks among His people even today, October 5, 2016, we can walk with heads held high.

In all actuality, it probably is our idols that keep our shoulders hunched over. We look to them for joy and happiness in this world, and when they let us down, we lose our hope and joy and our ability to walk well in this life. The Lord wants us to walk well in this life. He doesn’t want our past to dominate us. He wants us to look to the future with hope. He doesn’t want us to stare at the past with our backs to the future; He wants us to walk into what He has for us tomorrow with our backs to the past. The sins that we have struggled with for x number of years don’t have to bother us again, because, as Doc Brown said, “Your future hasn’t been written yet.”

And lest I upset some people who view life (and God’s sovereignty) as making Doc Brown’s statement a lie, I would clarify that as far as we are concerned our future hasn’t been written yet. God has sovereignly orchestrated all of world history—past, present, and future—for His perfect end, and He knows every detail about your life story—past, present, and future—and mine, but no one on this planet knows anything about their life story except what has already taken place.

For this reason, when we sin, let’s not believe the lies Satan speaks into our ears. The lies that say, “You’ll never be free of this.” Instead, let’s believe the gospel. The Gospel that screams, “Walk upright! Look to Me! I’ve set you free! Don’t return to your old idols!”

So, in closing, I ask: Are you going to live with your back to the future, and obey Satan, or are you going to walk with your face to the future, and trust Jesus? It’s your choice!

Grace and peace

Following still

"I have decided to follow Jesus; no turning back, no turning back."

Refocus -- 9/25/16

My Treasure,

All I need is found in You

Help me to focus on what is true

Consume the self-focus of my heart

And let me serve others for a start

Destroy this loneliness eating me alive

And make me find pleasure and joy because of Your life

I feel so lost--floating out at sea

I feel so alone--confinement solitary

But You are there and You don't lie

So help me to myself to die

And live to You and others too

Let me serve all with a heart that's true

"It is Finished" -- 9/10/2016

My most loving Heavenly Father,

Please grant me this day to see others the way You see them.

Help me to see past the dirt so I can see the precious gem.

You, Lord, sent Your Son for the dirty and broken

And on that fateful day the following words were spoken:

"Father forgive them."

"It is finished."

Those lines there mean that I don't even recognize the depths of my sin.

But Your Spirit uses pain and confusion to draw me to Him.

Please help me fight for unity in these days and weeks

And from seeking Your glorious face to never cease.

Cuz Your glory is the only thing that can overcome angst

And turn bitterness and anger from hate to love and grace.

Another set of words from the cross speak truth

And it helps me in times like this cuz they show the proof:

"My God, My God, why have You forsaken me."

"It is finished."

The proof is that whenever I feel alone

Your Son's been there to, even the sun wasn't shown.

He's gone through everything I go through daily

And for that reason I can trust Him completely

So please help me to meditate on truth

And ignore the lies overwhelming this youth

Please send Jesus quickly, Lord, I want to see You

Thank You again that His words are true:

"It is finished."

"It is finished."

I Once Was Trapped; Now I’m Free – 3:19-29

There’s a joke about kids in a daycare that helps explain the next section of Galatians. It goes like this: A little boy decides he’s had enough of sitting in the classroom, so he sneaks away from the group and eventually finds his way outside. Once outside, he goes up to the window to his class (the window is up but the screen is down) and, spying a little girl coloring at the table next to the window, says in his child voice, “I’m free.” She looks up from her coloring, turns around, and says, “Oh yeah, well I’m four!” (It probably works better vocally.) The point is that the kid didn’t want to be trapped anymore so he found his way out of that situation, and when he went to tell someone about his newfound freedom, they totally misunderstood and didn’t care. Sin entraps, and it uses the Law to do so, but Paul argues in this passage today that that was all part of God’s plan so that freedom in Christ would be rightly appreciated. Paul wants us to be the little boy in the joke and not the little girl.

Galatians 3:19-29 says, “Why then was the law ⌊given⌋? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. ⌊The law⌋ was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator.  Now a mediator is not for just one person, but God is one.  Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly be by the law.  But the Scripture has imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.  Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.  The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith.  But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ ⌊like a garment⌋.  There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.”

So this whole time Paul has been arguing that the promise was given before the Law, and the promise was spoken to Abraham’s singular Seed (Jesus), and that the Law is not greater than the promise, and that the Law does not change how the promise is inherited. So by this point, it seems as though Paul has basically proven the following: “the Law is unnecessary and unimportant.” And in basically proving that, his opponents would jump on him and say, “How can you say that? You’re a Jew. You were raised to love the Law of God as the very Word of God.” So, in the remainder of chapter 3, Paul sets out to answer the questions, “Why was the Law given? And what is its function?” In verses 19-24 he answers the questions, and in 25-29 he explains how life is different for Christians on the other side of the Law.

Paul explains the reason for the Law in verses 19-20 by saying, “It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. ⌊The law⌋ was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator.  Now a mediator is not for just one person, but God is one.” This explains the need for the Law. Cole points out, “The NEB, however, takes a stronger approach by paraphrasing ‘to make wrongdoing a legal offence’, which may well be correct.”[1] That is a paraphrase of the words, “because of transgressions.” Sin can be called sin because the Law that God gave to Moses proves that a failure to live up to its perfection is missing the mark that God set up. That word until is extremely important. The Laaw was never meant to be an end in itself. It was to lead up to a point and then stop. Its purpose was to show things to be sin, both to prove guilt and to prevent further infractions. In the Law, God said, “This is the way: walk in it. Don’t touch that, don’t taste that, don’t do that; if you do, you’re sinning against Me.”

Unfortunately for humanity, no one has ever lived up to all of these laws perfectly. Look at the fifth commandment in Exodus 20:12. “Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” This is no one’s natural inclination. Ask any parent if their child has perfectly treated them with the respect they deserve, and their answer, if honest, will be no. We are all guilty of breaking God’s Law; and even though most of the commands in Leviticus 18 are easy to follow, Leviticus 19 is what follows it, and Exodus 20:14 is also convicting.[2] This is why the Law was only given until the Seed to whom the promises were made arrived. He came, and He died 2,000 years ago. We don’t need to subject ourselves to laws: “do not handle, do not taste, do not touch” (Colossians 2:20-23).

Paul then lays something out about just how inferior the Law is to the gospel. The Law was mediated by angels. Paul says, in effect, “God didn’t even give the Law directly to you, like He gave the promise directly to Abraham. He gave it to angels who passed it on to Moses, who passed it on to you.” This follows strict Jewish orthodoxy; Stephen said the same in Acts 7:53, “You received the law under the direction of angels and yet have not kept it.” And then Paul adds the confession from Deuteronomy 6:4, “God is one,” to show that God is not fighting against Himself in this whole law/promise thing. It’s all part of His perfect plan.

Paul explains this in verses 21-24: “Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly be by the law.  But the Scripture has imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.  Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.  The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith.” Since God is one, the Law cannot possibly be opposed to God’s plan regarding faith in Christ, and thus is also not contrary to God’s promises to Abraham. Abraham’s Seed would inherit exactly what God promised Him.

Paul starts by saying, much like Jesus in John 5:39, that the Law cannot give life. The Law, in effect, proves a state of death. He says that if it was able to give life, righteousness would logically come from the Law, but Paul is adamant that righteousness cannot and will not come from attempting to keep the Law (more on this in future posts). So, it looks as though Paul has again hung himself on a nail that is labeled, “the Law is useless.” But it is not to stay that way.

Paul then says in verse 22 that the Scripture has imprisoned everything under sin’s power. Cole is again helpful here when he explains that the phrase translated “everything” is probably better understood as “all people.”[3] And it’s very interesting that Paul here changes from “Law” to “Scripture.” The Scripture, specifically the portion known as the Law, imprisons all people under sin. It says, “You must die for your sin,” and doesn’t present the alternative (faith in Christ) clearly at all. Christ is certainly there, as Paul has shown throughout chapter 3, but it isn’t clear like it is in the New Testament. The Law doesn’t offer life or righteousness, it imprisons in sin. And if we’re not careful, the whole Bible can do this to us (thus it’s important that Paul says, “the Scripture”).

The Bible is not a list of rules; it is not a playbook for life; it is not a list of prohibitions. The Bible is a love letter from the God of the universe, saying, “This is Who I Am. Get to know Me. Draw near to Me. Believe that I am who I claim to be. This is my Son, in whom I take delight. Put your faith in Him and be reconciled to Me. Apart from that, all your good deeds and rule keeping (even out of this Book) are for naught.”  We must study the Bible to know Jesus, not to try to become better people. If we study the Bible to become more moral, we make our morality an idol, and, since we’re being imprisoned in sin by the Scripture, we will never really become more moral. Trust the Word, read the Word, and study the Word to get to know the WORD—Jesus Christ!

Paul explains that the promise is given to those who believe. The promise comes to those who say, “I’m done working my way deeper and deeper into imprisonment and death.” It’s what every human does before being confronted and converted by the life-giving Gospel. The law imprisoned us until faith came.

Paul then says in verse 24 that the law serves a very useful, and completely necessary role. It acts as our tutor. To understand what Paul means by this, I will quote Plato, who wrote of a dialogue between a man (the first person narrator) and a boy who lived under a tutor.

“Someone controls you?”

“Yes,” he said, “my tutor here.”

“Is he a slave?”

“Why certainly; he belongs to us,” he said.

“What a strange thing,” I exclaimed; “a free man controlled by a slave! But how does this tutor actually exert his control over you?”

“By taking me to school, I suppose,” he replied.

“And your schoolmasters, can it be that they also control you?”

“I should think they do!”

“Then quite a large number of masters and controllers are deliberately set over you by your father.”[4]

God set the law over us as a tutor in order to train us up and prepare us—even to beat us down at times[5]—for faith. God wanted us to come to faith, and He set up the necessary system in order to lead us there. The Law serves as a slave to discipline us and train us and beat us down. God stands as Father saying, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened. Let me love you like a Father is supposed to!”

Verses 25-26 explain, “But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” If we are in Christ, we have left that master of Law, and traded it for sonship to God. We get in Christ by faith. The law prepares us for that, and then its job is done. Paul wants the Galatians, and us today, to move out from under the law into the full blessing of sonship. Paul has now proved that the Law isn’t worthless; we shouldn’t throw it away. But at the same time, we are no longer subject to it, to be enslaved and imprisoned and killed by it. We are sons of God by faith in Christ and by faith alone. If faith got us there, then faith alone will keep us there. Never give up on faith!

Paul explains how life is different for the believer in verses 25-29. “But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ ⌊like a garment⌋.  There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.” There are five things that are different about believers now: we aren’t enslaved, we aren’t alienated, we aren’t naked, we aren’t on different levels than other believers, and we aren’t excluded from the promise.

Like a child in Paul’s culture was under a slave until he was old enough to be entrusted with the responsibilities of being a man, so also we, as children of God, have been freed from the Law. We aren’t slaves to it anymore. We must live in this new way daily!

Instead of being the pupil of a potentially abusive slave, we are the beloved children of God. We don’t have to live in fear of the law tearing us down and telling us we’re worthless. Rather, we can hear our Father say, “I love you. The sacrifice of My Son is proof of that. You are no longer condemned. You are beloved. Look to Me!” Let’s remember our status as sons and daughters of the King every single day!

The Law, since it imprisons in sin, strips us down and shows us that all we have to offer is rags and filth. Because of the promise, we have been clothed in Christ. God doesn’t see our filth and rags; He sees the righteousness of His Son. Don’t live condemned anymore. Live in joyful freedom!

The promise—since the law imprisons all as equals—frees all people again as equals. In Christ we are all united. We can’t say, “because she’s a woman, I’m better than her,” or, “because he’s a Greek (non-Jew) I’m better than him,” or, “because his skin is a different color than mine, I’m better than him.” Christ breaks down all barriers, because as sinners in God’s eyes we were all equal, but He loved all of us enough to free us and remake us equal in that improved status. Don’t ever judge another believer without saying to yourself first, “they’re just as good as me—we’ve both been saved by Christ’s perfect sacrifice.”

If we are Christ’s then we will inherit the promises God gave to Abraham. These promises clearly involve a future life on a new earth on which we rule. (Now when I say rule, I don’t mean like the Mormons mean.) We will serve and worship God forever, having inherited the earth (cf. Matthew 5:5). When life looks bleak, remember that you are an heir of that amazing promise! No matter what comes your way, know that God is preparing a place for you!

So in conclusion, the promise is infinitely better than the Law! However, at the same time, the Law still serves a very important purpose. We must never forget that! Before we preach the cross, we must preach people into prison by letting the Law convince them that their sin has them in its grasp, and that THE ONLY WAY for them to escape sin’s grasp is to place their faith in Christ. In Christ alone is where the five promises of newness of life are found. Who will you speak to (or at least pray for and/or about speaking to) this week?

Til next time. As far as these Galatians posts go, it could be a while before the next one. I’m now attending online classes through Southern Seminary and working full time, so keeping up with a detailed, study-intensive blog like these Galatians ones is a bit difficult. I’m planning my next post for sometime in December. Til then...

Soli Deo Gloria

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[1] R. Alan Cole, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries – Galatians, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Academic, 2008), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 149.

[2] Especially if we compare it to Jesus’ words in Matthew 5.

[3] R. Alan Cole, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries – Galatians, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Academic, 2008), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 151.

[4] Plato, “Pl. Ly. 208c,” Greek Texts and Translations, accessed September 9, 2016, http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname=GreekFeb2011&getid=1&query=Pl.%20Ly.%20208c.  Interesting to note, is a note next to the word “tutor” in the second line is a footnote explaining, “The παιδαγωγός was a trusted slave who was appointed to attend on a boy out of school hours and to have a general control over his conduct and industry.” The Greek word in that quote is the exact Greek word Paul uses in 3:24.

[5] John MacArthur, Galatians, 96. “They were strict disciplinarians, scolding and whipping as they felt it necessary.”

Refocusing Our Attention – 3:15-18

“If the plural of goose is geese, shouldn’t the plural of moose be meese?” goes the popular grammar joke. And I believe it is a very logical question. When I use the word moose you can’t know whether it is being used of just one or of a whole herd. This kind of thing doesn’t just occur in English: the Greek word sperma (sperma) and the Hebrew word urz (zerah) both mean “seed” and can be understood as just one seed or as a whole group of seeds. This becomes very important in the book of Galatians.

Galatians 3:15-18 says, “Brothers, I’m using a human illustration. No one sets aside or makes additions to even a human covenant that has been ratified.  Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say ‘and to seeds,’ as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed, who is Christ.  And I say this: The law, which came 430 years later, does not revoke a covenant that was previously ratified by God and cancel the promise.  For if the inheritance is from the law, it is no longer from the promise; but God granted it to Abraham through the promise.”

So at this point, Paul is deep into his proofs for dropping the law and living solely by grace through faith. And in these verses today, he makes what I consider to be his most compelling argument, even though some commentators hold that it contains “a highly compressed ‘inset’ which somewhat complicates the argument, [and] may be temporarily omitted without weakening it.”[1] I plan to write much more extensively on this passage in the next year, so this post will be shorter than some of the previous, but the main thing we need to know from this passage is that Paul sees Jesus as central to everything and we should too. In fact, he sees Jesus as so central to everything that he sees Jesus being promised as far back as Abraham.

And it’s the concept of promise that he begins with. He draws a parallel to contemporary Greek and/or Jewish life (even American life if you will). Verse 15 says, “Brothers, I’m using a human illustration. No one sets aside or makes additions to even a human covenant that has been ratified.” We believe that covenants/promises/contracts/vows are important to keep (though sadly marriage is a place in which our culture seriously fails in this respect) and that they shouldn’t be entered into lightly, because those in it will be held accountable. Paul leaves his human illustration there, and then starts verse 16—where he spiritualizes it.

He explains, “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.” There are at least four different occasions at which these promises are spoken to Abraham and his seed:

·         “Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘I will give this land to your offspring.’ So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him” (Genesis 12:7).

·         “I will give you and your offspring forever all the land that you see” (Genesis 13:15).

·         “And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession, and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:8).

·         “The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from my native land, who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘I will give this land to your offspring’—He will send His angel before you, and you can take a wife for my son from there” (Genesis 24:7).

However, it’s Genesis 15:18 that fits Paul’s point here the best. “On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘I give this land to your offspring, from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.’” And it is very important that this covenant that the LORD makes with Abraham here was a one-sided covenant. Abraham was asleep throughout it (Genesis 15:12), so God made this promise regardless of anything Abraham would do in the future. It was a sure to happen thing; Abraham and his descendants would not be able to stop it.

But then Paul continues, and points out something very important. Galatians 3:16 continues, “He does not say ‘and to seeds,’ as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed.” Even though it can be used in the singular in a collective sense, Paul here—under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—says that this word was kept singular for a reason. The promise was not made to many people. The promise wasn’t made to the people who followed the law. The promise wasn’t made to the Jews. The promise wasn’t even made to the church. In its truest sense, the promise was made to Abraham and to his singular seed “who is Christ,” as verse 16 concludes.

There is a line of theological understanding that exists today that says that all of God’s promises to Israel still have to be fulfilled literally. There’s another line that says those promises are symbolically fulfilled by the church. Paul argues here, and states it clearly in 2 Corinthians 1:20 that “every one of God’s promises is ‘Yes’ in [Jesus].” Jesus is the one who fulfills all of God’s promises. We don’t have to become Jewish to join this inheritance. We simply must be joined by faith to the One to whom the promises were made and in whom they were fulfilled.

It’s a mistake to say the Jews still have some special place in God’s plan—other than the fact that they, like us, are humans and deserve to hear the good news of the gospel just like everyone, so they can be eternally saved. But it’s also a mistake to say that the church is the greatest thing on the planet either. Jesus deserves the glory—not man, not even an eternally saved, righteous through the blood of Christ group of people. Jesus alone is my focus. Jesus alone was Paul’s focus. Is Jesus alone your focus? If you view anything else more highly than Him, you’re guilty of idolatry; even very good things—the church, the Bible, theology, relationships, marriage, etc.—can become idols if we are not careful. But I’ll step off my soapbox for now.

Paul then writes, “And I say this: The law, which came 430 years later, does not revoke a covenant that was previously ratified by God and cancel the promise.” This shows, to those who were deceiving the Galatians—and to the deceived Galatians themselves—that the law was not the answer. Something that God brought 430 years after He Himself made an unbreakable (remember verse 15?) covenant cannot undo the covenant. Paul will explain next time what the law actually is for.

Verse 18 concludes our passage for today. “For if the inheritance is from the law, it is no longer from the promise; but God granted it to Abraham through the promise.” God fails to keep His promise to Abraham and to his seed—Jesus—if the way to the inheritance is through keeping the law. God can’t fail to keep His promises, because He doesn’t lie (cf. Numbers 23:19). And then, as if saying, “I got you; what you gonna say to that?” Paul says, “But, God granted it to Abraham through the promise.” No law at all. Trust Jesus!

So that’s all I have for today. Jesus is where our focus should be. He’s the Seed that’s been promised since Genesis 3:15. He’s the one who was promised an inheritance as Abraham’s Seed. If we trust in Him, then we are in Him, and thus a recipient of the promises to Abraham and his Seed. But we must never move our focus off the original seed—Jesus. We don’t think about Him enough! Let’s think about Him more this week.

Til next time. And due to preaching on the 7^th, it will probably be close to two weeks before my next Galatians post. Stay tuned for other things though.

Soli Deo Gloria

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[1] R. Alan Cole, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries – Galatians, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Academic, 2008), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 147.