Thank you for joining us this week as we will dive into Galatians chapter five. I do have some exciting news to report. Soon devotions reflected upon a Catholic background will be available to add variety to the different theology backgrounds of our various members.
This week we will read as Paul recaps his whole letter to the Church in Galatia and prepares to end his message. I want to remind everyone of our theme of Galatians, Truth. Truth is consistent, without variation, and beyond human control. God is Truth and stands above all creation, and He is perfect; therefore, Truth is Perfect. His Word, the Bible, is our physical embodiment of Truth and thus cannot become outdated. We must not Pervert Truth to support our beliefs but instead conform to God's Truth.
Galatians 5:1-12 "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the Truth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!"
Paul begins with verse 1, stating that Christ has set us free from slavery. The Church in Galatia were not slaves, needing liberation from a master in the traditional sense. Christ came to set us all free from the Old Testament Jewish Law. A law saturated in traditions and temporary sacrifices to cover our sins. Jesus set us free from this law when He became the perfect sacrifice, dying on the cross and making atonement for our sins. The sign that the Jewish used as a seal to this old law was the use of circumcision. The Old Law, if followed, would lead to a perfect life; the problem is that until Jesus came, not a single person had lived by the law without failing the law. The sin we consider insignificant, petty, or small was all it took for us to break the law and be sinful. Good intentions to follow the law but still failing was not enough to save us from the penalty of the law (Romans 7:18). The payment for breaking the law and being sinful was spiritual death and separation from God. Jesus came and paid the legal price for our sins, rescuing us from that death and separation (Colossians 2:14).
Further, in verses 2-6, Paul shows the two distinct paths laid out for the Galatians. Path one follows the Old Testament law, and path two follows Christ. By the Galatians choosing to accept the covenant of circumcision, they are forsaking the covenant of Christ. This does not mean those who have been circumcised cannot be saved. Paul here is talking less about a physical choice or act; he is speaking on matters of the heart. To follow Christ is a decision of the heart. It takes faith to follow Christ (Romans 10:9). The Galatians must choose to follow Christ and His New Covenant of Faith or choose the old covenant of circumcision, which is bound to the law. We cannot live in Faith in Christ and be tied to the old covenant. Christ came to fulfill the old covenant, the old law, and establish a New Covenant with us (Matthew 5:17). Becoming a Christian is separating from the old law and our old lives tied to this world. We become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are unable to choose to live for both the old life and new, the old covenant and New, for Christ and the world (Matthew 6:24). We can either choose to follow the plan and will of God or follow the things of this world. The law was created as a placeholder until Jesus could come to fulfill the law and separate us from this world and Old Testament Law (Romans 10:4).
The rest of this passage is Paul asking the Galatians a series of self-reflecting questions designed to help the Galatians to pinpoint where and who the false teachings are coming from. Paul is encouraging the Church in Galatia to reject these teachings and push them out of the church. Paul warns that the slightest deviation from the Truth will spoil the whole church. It takes just one person to do something wrong or to cause doubt to spoil everything. Perhaps you have seen examples of this in your own life or in the churches you attend. Look at the news; you see Christians on TV supporting beliefs that are contrary to those taught to us in Scripture, and as a result, churches have split over these falsehoods. The world hears these false teachers and begins to believe that Christianity is based upon a deception they have seen taught by someone claiming to be a Christian. Throughout his letter to the Galatians, Paul encourages the Christians in Galatia to look back to the original Gospel and judge everything based on it. We must do this in our own lives as well. Whenever we are confronted with a conflicting idea of what we believe, we must test it against the Scripture. If just one part of what we are being told does not align with the Scripture, then the message is entirely false. The Scripture is Truth, and as a result, everything we hear or are taught must be consistent with the Scripture; otherwise, it is not Truth.
Being a Christian is a challenging thing. Faith is tricky; you believe in a God you cannot physically see and trust that what Jesus did for us through Christ's death and resurrection will preserve us until we die and can receive Salvation. Salvation is entirely out of our control, and we generally do not like having things in our lives that are not within our power to manipulate. When we follow Christ, we tell God "that we cannot save ourselves, that we are sinful, and that we need him to save us." Then we must have Faith that Jesus will save us when we die. This Faith can be complex, particularly when we are new to Christianity. For our Faith to grow stronger requires tending, and we do this by diving into the Scriptures, studying them, praying, and joining in worship and study with fellow believers. We lean on each other, caring for each other, helping each other to grow stronger in our Faith daily (Proverbs 27:17, 1 Corinthians 12:25-26). As a Christian, you are not alone, you are a member of God's family, and we must work together to grow (Ephesians 2:19-22). God knows that following him is no easy task and encourages us to lean on him; He gives us the body of Christ to join with and provides us with the strength to overcome any adversity we face. We must depend on each other and lean on Christ to carry us to the end and receive Salvation.
We will discuss the body of Christ more and how we support each other when we reach Chapter six, so I won't go into any more in this week's lesson. Next time we will talk more about our walks with Christ and what that should look like. Until next time, please feel free to reach out to us here at Triple Hares if you have any questions, need additional clarification, are looking for a Church, need prayer support, or perhaps you have something else. We are here to help the families of all veterans, so please, if you need any support, from Finacial to spiritual, reach out.
Reflection Questions:
Do you have Faith in Christ and Salvation, or do you live your life with backup plans?
When was the last time you studied the Bible?
How often do you pray?
Do you belong to a church?
What three subjects, ideas, or messages that you have heard in the past year that claim to be based on Scripture, have you confirmed them with Scripture?
Do you have Christians in your life to lean on?
What prayer request do you have to help you live a better life in Christ?
What can you be praying for to help someone else around you?
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