Author: Carolyn

I am a Christian, a sinner saved by God's amazing grace. Much like my life, my blog is a work in progress. The main objective I have for this blog is to "proclaim the praises" of the One who called me out of darkness and into His marvelous light! (1 Peter 2:9)

Verses for the Day: Galatians 4:1-7

Carolyn

Note: To find out about the verses for the day, click here. And to read the other posts in the Galatians series, click here. (They appear in reverse order.)

We’re halfway through Galatians!There are three crucial things in life that are all described in this passage today.

The first is the gospel by which we are saved.

We’ve seen in Galatians that there is one true gospel, the gospel of grace. It is not by the law. It is not of works. It is not according to man. Nothing should be added to it or removed from it. The simple gospel message is what Paul wrote in Galatians 1:4, “who [the Lord Jesus Christ] gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” The gospel is freedom from our sins through faith in Jesus Christ who gave His life for us. It brings deliverance and new life in Him.

A second key thing to understand in life is our identity.

We’ve also looked at this in Galatians already in our last passage. Galatians 3:26: “For you are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ.” When we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, then we are adopted as His child. This is our identity. We are made in His image and now children of God. Knowing our identity will shape what we believe about ourselves and who we let define us (God, not others) and how we live our lives. When we truly understand our identity as a child of God, as an heir, as adopted as His, it changes how we view everything.

A third key thing is knowing that our lives in Christ are lived by the power of the Holy Spirit given to us.

God doesn’t save us by grace and then leave us to just work hard and do our best, returning to law. We don’t have to live this life by our own strength, but in His. We don’t have to strive in our own power; He enables and helps us by His Spirit, given to us. It changes everything. Even if our actions look the same sometimes, the motivations and source of strength are altogether different and frees us to depend on Him and live a Spirit-filled life.

Much more could be said about each of these three things, but I point them out because today’s verses in Galatians 4:1-7 talk about all of these important truths of gospel, identity, and the gift of the Holy Spirit:

Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, 2 but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

We were in bondage, but verses 4-5: “When the fulness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” This is gospel truth — God sending forth His Son to redeem us — and our identity – being adopted as sons.

And as His sons, God has sent forth His Spirit into our hearts crying “Abba, Father!” God’s Spirit in our hearts as His child – what an incredible thought!

We are no longer a slave but a son, and as a son, an heir of God through Christ (verse 7).

Prayer: Praise you Lord Jesus for our redemption, our deliverance, our salvation, our adoption, and the gift of your Spirit in us when we are saved. By your sacrifice and love for us, through your death on the cross and resurrection, we become dead to our sins and alive to Christ, filled with your Spirit, able to live life in your strength, identified as heir and child of God. What wondrous things! Praise you and thank you! Let us remember that we are yours and let these truths seep into the deepest parts of our hearts so that we understand them and grasp more and more the massive truth of how much we are loved by you, how you have created us, saved us, and have plans for our lives. Let these words of truth become living realities in us all so that we grasp the wonder of what you have done for us and how you have made the way for us to be free and know you. In fact, you haven’t just made the way; you are the Way! We give you praise. We love you so. Thank you, Jesus. In your name, Amen.

Is My Heart Really Yours, Lord?

Carolyn

As I was headed to Walmart a week or so ago, I was listening to this song in the car:

Some of the words:

“My heart is Yours, take it all, take it all, my life in Your hands.

I lay down my life, I take up my cross, Jesus,

you are my God, whatever the cost, Jesus.

All to Jesus I surrender, all to you I freely give.

All through Walmart, I hummed the tune still in my heart, said the words over and over, “All to Jesus I surrender, all to you I freely give, I lay down my life…” with thoughts of surrender. My mind was captivated with the song.

Until I arrived at the checkout. There was an abrupt interruption. There were long lines, and I was in a hurry with about 15-20 items. As I stood in line, a man came and just wedged his basket and pushed his body in front of my cart. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve had people ask if they could go in front of me if they only have a few items, but he just decided he was doing it because he only had a couple of things and I had more. (No, it wasn’t an express lane.)

My first reaction (only in my mind thankfully) wasn’t kind. I didn’t want to say, “Oh, sure, that’s fine. Go ahead.” But the moment my heart got ugly, the words of the song flashed back to my mind.

Really? Will you really surrender your whole life to Jesus, give your whole life to Him — oh, of course, except your place in line, right? I was convicted, shamed. I immediately welcomed his place there and struck up a conversation. He seemed needy for conversation, someone to talk to. I found out where he lived and told him about our church plant in that town. As he left, he thanked me for letting him get in line and told me it was nice to talk with someone.

Wasn’t that better than demanding my rights? I could have so easily missed the opportunity by being abrupt in response, ignoring him.

How very quickly my heart can go from willing to follow and love Jesus to getting irritated and wanting my way. It didn’t take long, but I was thankful for the conviction God gave in that moment to recognize it. I’m sure I often miss it. The words were just too fresh on my tongue to miss the inconsistency.

I’ve pondered this encounter a lot the last week. You’ll give up your life, but not your place in line? And if you don’t give up your place in line, are you really giving up your life? Things to keep considering.

Verses for the Day – Galatians 3:23-29

Carolyn

Note: To find out about the verses for the day, click here. And to read the other posts in the Galatians series, click here. (They appear in reverse order.)

I think my daily reading of Galatians has been bogged down through trying to study the heavy verses on law. It surely must be a picture of how the law actually does burden us and weigh us down…

But grace sets us free!

I left off last time looking at what the law is not and what it doesn’t do, saying we’d see then today what the law does do.

This takes us to Galatians 3:23-29:

“But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

These verses tell us what the law does. It was a tutor to bring us to Christ so that we could be justified by faith. Once we have faith, we no longer have need for the tutor. A tutor teaches us something. The law shows us that we are sinners, that we cannot keep the demands of the law perfectly, that we are in need of a Savior. It brings us to Christ, to our Savior, that through faith, we might know Christ and be saved. This is a gift of grace, not by works (law) or anything we have done.

This is how we become a child of God – through faith in Jesus Christ. We are baptized into Christ, we put on Christ. Then, as we have already seen, we are Abraham’s seed, his spiritual descendants. We become heirs according to the promise.

We heard a sermon at church last week on Romans 3:22, that there is no distinction. We are either saved by faith in Christ, or we are not. And here we see that in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek (imagine how that sounded to their ears at that time when there was such a distinction among them!), neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, but we are all one in Christ. Isn’t that a beautiful picture of Christian unity? My Bible notes there are no racial, gender, or social distinctions to keep us from Christ – all can come to Him by faith.

We live in a world that is always making distinctions. What is your level of education? What sport are you involved in? What kind of leadership do you do? Where do you serve? What school do you go to? Are you skinny or fat, short or tall? This may not be intended to classify us, but it’s just natural. We see people who are “different” or don’t seem to fit in. We can find ourselves wondering what is my place? Do I belong? Do I fit? It happens at work and school and in community. We can be striving and working to matter.

But God tells us who we are. We are his! We are made in his image, and in Christ, by faith, we find our true identity as a child of God, a child of the King, and heirs according to the promise. Once an enemy of Christ, now adopted by Him as His own child.

This is the only one thing that matters. Do we know Christ? Do we have that relationship with Him by faith? Are we trusting Him for the forgiveness of our sins? There should be no other distinction. We are one with other believers in Christ. We can be for them, support them, love them.

We also live in a world where so many want to work their way to heaven – if they can only be good enough, if their good deeds can outweigh their bad ones. They live by law. But this is not what the Bible teaches us. The law and works can only show us that we can’t do it. We can’t earn anything from God because our sin is too deep and keeps us separated from Him. The law points us to Jesus. And when we have Him, we have everything. And we want to live for Him. We live lives of joyful obedience and faithfulness to Him because we love Him as He has first loved us.

We are not bound by law, we are free in Christ. We are freed by the gospel Paul has been writing about earlier in Galatians. Live in this freedom!

PRAYER: Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you for the law that leads us to you. How could we ever thank you enough for your sacrifice of your very life for our sins so that we could be saved! And for the many blessings accompany our salvation. Thank you that by faith through grace we can know you, we can be forgiven, we can walk in freedom, we can live an abundant life. Give us great joy as we seek and follow you each day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Verses for the Day – Galatians 3:19-22

Carolyn

Note: To find out about the verses for the day, click here. And to read the other posts in the Galatians series, click here. (They appear in reverse order.)

Summer is officially over for our family. We’ve had the annual back-to-school picnic, the faculty in-service dinner for my husband, I started back to work this week, and my children are headed back to school.

I studied 1 and 2 Thessalonians this summer in a home Bible study with various women, many of whom I had never met, but who heard about the study and joined us. It’s amazing to see how God’s Word draws people together. One evening after the study, I was struck by the reality of what God can do when you are willing just to open the door to your home and invite people in.

After a wonderful summer of a slower pace, fascinating travel, and having time away from work and school, we return to routine and more structure to our days. We welcome this. My Galatians study had been put aside, but now I hope to daily study and complete this goal!

Today I pick back up with Galatians 3:19-22:

What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.

21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Paul has been talking about the law and faith. What is the law? You know, the law given to Moses in the Old Testament? 

We had been looking at what it is not.

The law does not justify (make us right) before God. (3:11). (This happens by faith.)

The works of the law did not give them (or us) the Holy Spirit or accomplish the working of miracles among them (3:2, 5). (Again, this happens by the hearing of faith.)

In fact, the law actually brings a curse (3:10).

The law is not God’s covenant with Abraham and does not annul the covenant. God gave his covenant to Abraham by promise, not law (3:17).

The law is also not contrary to the promises of God (3:21), as we see in today’s text.

The law cannot give life, and righteousness does not come by the law. (3:21).

So let’s see two things, one today and one tomorrow, about what the law is:

  • Why then was the law given? (our question for today)
  • And what does the law do? (our question for tomorrow)

So why then was the law given? The law “was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.” (3:19-20).

Basically, because of the sin of God’s people, the law was given through a mediator (Moses) until the Seed (Jesus) should come. The law then showed them clearly how they were to live – and how they were not able to keep this standard perfectly – and what therefore to do when they sinned. (Remember the sacrifices they made in the Old Testament?)

Ultimately, in this way, the law will then really lead them to God, to their need for a Savior because of their sin. Jesus, the Seed, would come and be the once for all sacrifice for sins (Hebrews 10:1-18). At his coming, the Mosaic law no longer would have the same force. More on this tomorrow.

PRAYER:Heavenly Father, thank you for a new day and a new school year. We look forward with anticipation to what you have for us in the coming year. We rejoice that you are a God who loves us and gave your Son for us so that we might know you. You have purposes and plans for our lives, even this year, even this day. We are not just meaninglessly existing. Let us live to follow you and bring you glory. Teach us this year your ways, that we might walk in your path and rely on your faithfulness. Give us undivided hearts to fear your name. Let us praise you with all of our hearts and glorify your name forever, for great is your love toward us (Psalm 86:11-13). In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Verses for the Day – Galatians 3:15-18

Carolyn

Note: To find out about the verses for the day, click here. And to read the other posts in the Galatians series, click here. (They appear in reverse order.)

To summarize what we have studied so far, we have seen that Paul was writing to the churches of Galatia (1:1-2) to remind them of the gospel and to clarify what the true gospel of grace is (1:3-5). This was because the gospel was being distorted by false teachers who were preaching a different gospel and perverting the gospel of truth (1:6-9), causing the Galatians to turn away from God to a different gospel (1:6) and to be bewitched (3:1).

Paul describes his own conversion (a stunning and clear act of grace!) and call to be an apostle (1:10-24), and then begins to define and defend the gospel truth. Many were wanting to add to the gospel by works of the law (i.e., circumcision), but Paul maintains and declares the gospel of grace: that we are not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ (2:16, 3:11).

In chapter 3, Paul has been describing this justification (being made right with God) by faith. We are saved by faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross, not by the works of the law or the things that we do. Our salvation is a gift of grace.

He begins to clarify for them then what the law is and is not. If the law doesn’t save us, what does it do? What is it? In Galatians 3:10-14, we saw that the law brings a curse, but that Christ redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us.

Today we pick up with Galatians 3:15-18, again seeing what the law is not:

15 Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. 16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. (NKJV)

Paul introduces the word “covenant” here. In Genesis 12:1-3, God called Abraham out of his country and family to go to a land that He would show him. God promised to make Abraham a great nation and bless him, to make his name great, and that he would be a blessing. In the Abrahamic “covenant” God promised to bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who curse him and that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed.

The passage today references back to this covenant with Abraham. The law was given 430 after the covenant, after the Israelites had been freed from slavery in Egypt, to teach them how to live. The law is not the covenant and cannot annul the covenant, which was confirmed by God and which was given to Abraham by promise.

This passage also points out that the promises were made to Abraham and his Seed, who is Christ. All of these promises are ultimately fulfilled in Christ. My Bible notes say, “Christ is the final focus of God’s promises, the ultimate Seed.” And as we have already seen in Galatians 3:7, those of faith are the sons of Abraham, the spiritual descendants.

So the law brings a curse (Gal. 3:10), and it cannot annul the covenant and the promise that was confirmed before by God in Christ (3:17). What then is the purpose of the law? We will see that tomorrow in the coming verses.

PRAYER: Thank you, God, that you are a God who keeps your word and your promises. You made a covenant with Abraham, and you fulfill your promises in Christ. Praise you that we today who are believers by faith in Christ are blessed to be Abraham’s spiritual descendants and heirs of this promise. Thank you also that you are a God who brings freedom. You led the Israelites out of Egypt, out of bondage by a great and mighty hand. In the same way, you lead us out of our sin and bondage into life and freedom in you, through Christ, the ultimate Seed. This is by faith, not by works or law. Help us to live by faith in you. We praise you and bless your great name, In Jesus’ name, Amen.