Gospel Freedom in Galatians
Background: What was the key issue in the early church? Race. Culture. Issues that are still with us today. The church at its inception on Pentecost was essentially 100% Jewish and the Apostles and the church in Jerusalem seemed content to keep it that way. Then God called a Pharisee named Saul to salvation and set him aside as an Apostle to the Gentiles. Over the next 30 years, the church became primarily Gentile with a Jewish minority, and many Jews fought it.
Galatians was Paul's first letter, written at the end of his first missionary journey when Gentiles began to come to Christ in droves. A group, sometimes called Judaizers and sometimes the circumcision party, opposed the inclusion of Gentiles in the church. If they were to be part of the church, they needed to become Jewish - follow the law and Jewish rituals. Paul fought them tooth and nail his entire ministry. The gospel was for the whole world.
Galatians is a powerful argument for a gospel free from the works of the law.
As often as time allows, the reader is encouraged to read the entire book - it will not take more than a few minutes. Each day we will work our way through the book passage by passage.
Today's Reading: Galatians 1-6 Focus Passage - Galatians 4:8-11
But in the past, since you didn’t know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods. 9 But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elements? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? 10 You are observing special days, months, seasons, and years. 11 I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted.
Through the Bible Readings: Ezekiel 21-22, Titus 2, Psalm 119:137–144, Proverbs27:9–11
If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings.
Devotional: Enemy #1
In a recent Sunday Night Bible Study through the Life of Christ, I was amazed at how many times Jesus poured gasoline on the fire in his dealings with the religious leaders. There were many times when he could have been conciliatory and made peace with them, but he confronted them and to be honest, Jesus seemed to be the aggressor in their conflict!
No, this does not excuse us for being rude, for picking fights, or for being surly with one another. What it does tell us is that there is something about that religion, and perhaps religion in general that displays genuine enmity to the way of Christ. Jesus was not gentle with the Pharisees and other religious leaders and in Galatians, Paul is not gentle with the so-called Judaizers, the circumcision party. These were people who had come to Christ but were holding onto Judaism as well. They wanted Gentiles to be forced to observe Jewish law. Christianity had begun as a sect of Judaism and they wanted it to remain that way. Paul said no to that, and he said it forcefully.
In today's passage, he pours a little more gasoline on this fire he has going with the circumcision party. He calls their religion "enslavement" in verse 8 and implies that when they held to it, they did not know God. Though they followed the God of Israel, they did not know him. Now that they have come to Christ and known God fully, why would they turn back to something lesser, something "weak and worthless" - circumcision and the Jewish law?
Why would they be upset about that?
Paul gets more specific in verse 10. It is possible that he is including, in these warnings, those from pagan religions, but in this book, his crosshairs are on Jewish religionists trying to synchronize Jewish law and practice with the Christian faith. He warns about observing special days (Sabbaths, etc) and months, seasons, and years (the Jewish calendar was filled with festivals and observances). These had been part of our "paidogogos" (schoolmaster, guide, etc) to bring us to Christ, but no longer served a purpose now that we have been redeemed and indwelled by the Spirit.
Paul concludes by expressing his fear that his labor among them would turn out to be empty and wasted. To try to combine Jewish law and practices as necessary items of the Christian faith nullifies the heart of the faith - salvation by grace through faith alone. There was nothing wrong with being a Jew, Paul said it was an advantage in Romans 2, but seeking to infuse Jewish religion, ritual, and practice into the faith was to nullify it. In the next few days, we will see Paul double down on these strong words.
There is no place for adding to salvation by grace through faith in Christ.
Father, thank you for your great salvation, earned by Christ's work for us, not by our deeds.
Think and Pray:
We are all religious in one way or another. We go to church, we pray. We sing and take the Lord's Supper. But is your faith in Jesus Christ - a living relationship with the Risen Savior?
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