Category: Galatians

Verses for the Day – Galatians 2:17-21

Carolyn

Today we come to a typical question that arises when people consider that we are saved by faith in Christ, not as a result of our works. The question that Paul lists here in verse 17 is similar to other ones that he writes about in Romans (See Romans 3:5-8 or 6:1-2, for example).

The question here is that if we are justified by Christ, made right with God through Him, and yet are sinners, is Christ a minister of sin – and Paul exclaims, No!

17 “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

The law was given not to make us righteous (v.21), for it cannot do so, but to make us aware our sin (as we break the law) and our need for Christ as our Savior from those sins.

But once we receive Christ by faith, see verse 20 – we are crucified with Christ, and it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. The life that we then live is by faith in Jesus who loved us and gave Himself for us. After we have been justified through Christ, made right with Him, through His death and resurrection, we are in Christ, and He is in us. This is the power we are given in Christ to live a life of obedience, not of sin, so sin does not continue to have the same power over us. Christ would never be a minister of sin or promoting sin!

As our pastor pointed out Sunday as we studied Romans 3:5-8, Christianity is the only faith that asks these kinds of questions. Anything else tells you that you have to be good and do good works to earn something – so you would never ask these kinds of questions because you are of course working hard to attain something (you think).

But when faith is given to us as a free gift of God’s grace and mercy, this incredible gospel we are studying about in Galatians, the natural question is, “Wait, but if it’s free, do we just continue to sin and that’s okay?” or ones similar to this.

As we come to understand that God’s gift of salvation frees us to not sin, to serve Him, to love Him, to live in joyful obedience, by the power of Christ in us, we begin to understand the gospel, and it truly causes us to stand in awe of our God. Jesus, who loved us and gave His life for us, then gives us everything we need for godly living – His strength, His power, His Spirit – Praise God!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving us the law to see our need for you. We are powerless and desperate without you. Praise you, Jesus, for your death and resurrection, taking our sins on the cross, that we might be crucified with you and be raised to life in you so that we have power through you over sin in our lives. Please cause us to live in this freedom today that you have accomplished for us. You do it all! Praise you! Free us from sin that entangles us and help us to fix our eyes on you, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), in Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Verses of the Day – Galatians 2:15-16

Carolyn

Today’s passage picks up in Galatians 2:15-16 where Paul was confronting Peter about not being straightforward about the truth of the gospel:

We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. (NKJV)

Here Paul seems to be contrasting the sin of the Jews and Gentiles, but he is not saying that the Jews are without sin. (His words in Romans 3:23 make it clear that “all” have sinned.) Perhaps the Jews had been given the law and tended to live with more moral restraint and discipline, yet still were with sin. The Gentiles did not have the law and lived in more obvious sins of wickedness with less restraint. Perhaps it’s the contrast of a life well-ordered, yet still sinful through pride or hypocrisy, and the life lived with willful abandon and more obvious, outright sin.

My Bible notes say that Paul isn’t saying the Jews are without sin, but he is implying that Jews enjoy spiritual privileges (see Rom. 9:4-5) that should make them more knowledgeable about how to be justified before God.

We then come to this marvelous verse 16 which is a key verse in the book of Galatians. Paul states that justification (being made right with God) comes by faith in Christ, not by works of the law. He actually states it three times over (“a man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ”; “we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law”; “for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified”).

Paul is clearly pointing out that we are not justified by our works, but by faith in Christ. Maybe the works we are depending on today do not include circumcision, but other religious acts or ceremonies (baptism, communion, confirmation, etc.). Perhaps it’s tempting to think our works could earn us something – by being good, doing right, helping others, living a good life of moral restraint and self-discipline in hopes that it will save us or merit us something. No matter how we have lived or what good we have done, we all have sinned, and we all need to be saved from sin and its power.

Our good works cannot save us; only Jesus can. Only His death and resurrection on our behalf and by faith in Him can we be saved from our sins and made righteous before God. This glorious gospel truth will lead us then to do good works, but the motivation is different. We aren’t doing good works to be saved (for we could never do enough to cancel out our sins on our own); we are doing good works out of love for Jesus who has saved us through his death on the cross and out of love for and obedience to Him which brings us great blessing.

PRAYER: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for making a way for us to be made right with God, that we can be justified through you, Lord Jesus, not by anything we do. Thank you for your death on the cross where you bore our sins and the penalty for them so that we don’t have to. We are not saved by religious acts or ceremonies, but by confession of You as Lord, believing in our hearts that God raised You from the dead. Open our ears to hear, our eyes to see, and our hearts to understand that we might then live our days in full faith, believing, following and pursuing You, loving and obeying You, our Savior and King. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Verses for the Day – Galatians 2:11-14

Carolyn

It appears I have taken almost a two week break from my study of Galatians. I have spent time tonight going back through the study so far and reminding myself again of the author (Paul), the recipients (the churches of Galatia), the major theme (the truth of the gospel that Paul will defend and clarify), and the various issues that we’ve been studying. Galatians is rich with theology and doctrine, which is perhaps why I find myself taking it slowly, too slowly, though, if I want to finish the project I began!

By clicking on the “Galatians” tag on any of these Galatians posts, you can see all of the ones in one place related to this series.

I pick up now with Galatians 2:11-14:

11 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?

Did you know that Peter, the disciple of Jesus and leading figure of the Bible, was accused by Paul of hypocrisy?

The passage today tells us that Paul withstood Peter to his face, that Peter was to be blamed, that Peter feared those of the circumcision, that Peter played the hypocrite, carrying others along with him, and that Peter was not straightforward about the truth of the gospel. Wow! And Paul is once again defending the truth of the gospel (as he did in Gal. 2:5).

We always think of Peter as the one who walked on the water, but started to sink, the one who pledged allegiance to Jesus, only to deny him three times, the one full of passion and zeal, but also with flaws. Yet Jesus always related so tenderly to him. Don’t you love that not one of us is perfect? And that the Bible uses its biggest figures to demonstrate that to us:

  • Moses with his fear of speaking and challenges to what God was asking of him;
  • Moses who struck the rock and lost entrance to the Promised Land;
  • David who committed adultery and practically arranged for the death of Uriah, costing him a son;
  • Saul who was chosen to be king, but disobeyed God, keeping the best of the animals he was told to kill, and being removed from leadership.

We could go on and on, and not just with one flaw, but with many. Anything else wouldn’t be the reality we are faced with living in a sinful world with sinful flesh. It’s these failures that show us our need for Jesus, that lead us to the cross, and that in Scripture bring us some of the greatest psalms of repentance. Think of Psalm 51.

What was Peter’s issue here? He had been eating with the Gentiles until along came a group of Jewish people, and then Peter separated himself from these Gentile believers. It was hypocrisy, making these Gentiles feel as though they lacked something necessary for salvation. It was not straightforward about the truth of the gospel. And Paul withstood Peter to his face about this because Paul always defended and explained the gospel, understanding that its truth must be guarded.

We know Peter understood this truth from his interaction with Cornelius in Acts 11. But we don’t always live out what we believe, do we? And it can be subtle (or not), and that is hypocrisy, saying one thing, doing another.

Peter was also afraid of man and their thoughts of him, not fearing God (something I just wrote about last week) and choosing to do what was right out of that awe of God and who He is.  Isn’t it easy to want to live to please man or peers instead of God, such that even the truth of the gospel could be confused?

As you can see, I suppose there are many things we could take from this passage. One might be to pray for our leaders (like Peter) to stand – and for ourselves. One might be to recognize our similar challenges and to examine ourselves for areas where we need to repent. One might be to develop “iron sharpening iron” relationships like we see with Peter and Paul so that we challenge others and they challenge us in our faith.

The one I will leave us with today is the truth of the gospel message that saves us and can sanctify us each day. Jesus died on the cross for our sins that by faith in Him, not by any works we can do, we are justified (we will see that tomorrow in verse 16), made right with God, and forgiven. Simple truth, amazing grace, worth living and defending and telling others about. This gospel not only saves us, but in Christ’s power, we are able to stand each day, walk in the fear of God, and lead lives of joyful obedience. We look to Him in faith.

PRAYER: Thank you, Jesus, for dying for our sins on the cross and bearing our sins that we might be forgiven by faith in You. We would be condemned to death if You had not made a way for us to know You and have fellowship with You. Thank you! Thank you for truth we can know and on which we can stand. Help us not to live lives of hypocrisy, saying one thing but doing another. Give us wisdom to see where we do this, and faith to repent and live consistently with what we believe, fearing You. We love you, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Verses for the Day – Galatians 2:6-10

Carolyn

Picking back up in Galatians, we arrive this morning at Galatians 2:6-10:

Paul has been reporting on where he spent time after his conversion and how he has defended the gospel. Now he writes:
6 “But from those who were of high reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me. 7 But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised 8 (for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles), 9 and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They only asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do. (NAS)

It’s not completely clear who Paul is speaking about in verse 6, but it is those of “high reputation,” or those “who seemed to be something” (NKJV). Most commentaries I read seemed to indicate this is speaking of James, Cephas (Peter), and John, who are again mentioned in verse 9. Back in Galatians 2:2, Paul also wrote about speaking privately to those who were of reputation, and the notes say this was presumably the inner core made up of James, Cephas, and John.

With that understanding, it seems this small section is pointing out that, though there is one gospel about which Paul has been writing, there are different callings, each of importance. Paul is saying those of high reputation, though esteemed, added nothing to him. God has called and equipped Paul, and though his path is different from the others, coming from a radical conversion after persecuting the church, his calling is not insignificant compared to theirs. God does not show personal favoritism, Paul notes.

We see that Peter has been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (Jewish people), and Paul to the uncircumcised (Gentiles), and that God is working effectively in both Peter and Paul. And when James, Cephas (Peter), and John (pillars of the church) recognize the grace given to Paul, they extend to him and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. My NKJV Nelson Study Bible notes, “The right hand of fellowship was a common sign of acceptance and friendship. It indicated full recognition of Paul by the representatives of the Jerusalem church.”

So here we see unity among these leaders who are all witnesses to the true gospel and involved in making disciples and growing the church by the power of the Spirit, but in different ways according to their callings from God.

In our current day, it’s easy to look around and want to compare or be competitive or think someone else’s life or ministry is more valuable or effective or wider reaching, but this passage tells us that God doesn’t show partiality. We should be faithful and obedient to the calling God has given to us, leaving the results in His hands, and not look around at others to validate or add something to us, but look to God who has given us our salvation and calling. And of course, we encourage one another with gospel friendship and are unified around the gospel of Jesus Christ that is directing our lives.

Paul concludes with the mention of remembering the poor, the thing he was eager to do. This was something they were also all united on doing, too, helping the poor in the church, giving from those who had an abundance to those who had a need. This is something our church does with its “Helping Hands” and something we should also consider individually.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, we thank you again for Your Word that is living and active and by which You teach us and lead us, correct us and train us. Please help us to keep our eyes fixed on you, being watchful and prayerful about what it is you have called or are calling us to do, the places you would have us be involved. Show us where you are calling us to give to those in need. Open our eyes to see and our hearts and minds to know and understand where you are leading. Help us to follow you and obey.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Verses for the Day – Galatians 2:1-5

Carolyn

I am being stretched! For those who don’t know, this “verse for the day” project started out as a way to send an email each day to my children to encourage them in their faith. At first, I did random verses, but was convicted to do more of a study to keep the verses in context.

This has required much more from me. I find myself having to work harder and study more to put together a post. I’m trusting that my theologian husband will correct me if I am misunderstanding something! Truly, I am fascinated by God’s Word and what I am reading and pondering.

Today we move into Galatians 2 with the first five verses:

“Then after fourteen years I [Paul] went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. 2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. 4 And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), 5 to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” (NKJV)

Most of the notes I read seem to think that Paul is talking about 14 years after his conversion. He has gone up to Jerusalem by revelation, something that the Lord revealed to him to do, to communicate to them the gospel he has preached among the Gentiles.

In Genesis 17, God established his covenant with Abram. God would multiply Abram exceedingly and make Abram the father of many nations. God made an everlasting covenant with Abram and his descendants. The sign of the covenant was that every male child would be circumcised. This sign of circumcision would continue generation to generation.

At one point, I studied the word “covenant” in the Old Testament. It was an interesting study, and I Iooked back at some of my notes today. The first mention I found of the word “covenant” in the Bible was in Genesis 6:18, followed by Genesis 9:9-17, which describe the Noahic covenant. It was between Noah and his descendants after him. Never again would God flood the earth or cut off all flesh with a flood. The sign of this covenant was a rainbow. God would look on it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh on the earth. Even today, when I see a rainbow, I remember that covenant.

In Genesis 15:18, God made a covenant with Abram to give him and his descendants the land.

You could continue to trace the thread of covenant throughout the Bible. An everlasting covenant sounds like a pretty big deal, doesn’t it?

Now in the New Testament after Jesus’ resurrection with the apostles having been sent out to make disciples of all peoples and nations, there was conflict over this sign of circumcision.

As we’ll see, Peter had been sent to the Jewish people, while Paul was sent to the Gentiles. In Romans 1:16-17, Paul tells us that the gospel of Christ is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. So though the Gentiles/Greeks had not been part of this initial covenant with Abram, they were offered salvation through Christ, and Paul is making the point that they do not need to be circumcised to be saved. For salvation comes by grace through faith in Jesus, not by any works we can do.

Paul points out that Titus had not been circumcised, indicating that the Gentiles did not have to follow Jewish law to become a Christian. Salvation is God’s gift to those who believe in Jesus. False brethren were around, though, who tried to tell them otherwise, who tried to add circumcision as a requirement to the gospel.

In Galatians, Paul is defending the true gospel of God against these false brethren who want to bind the new converts with legalism instead of giving them the freedom and liberty found in Christ.

This issue is mentioned several times in Paul’s letters, and he is very passionate about clarifying the pure and true gospel of Christ – that it comes not as a result of works or of the law, but through Christ, by grace, through faith, as a gift, given by God. Paul is laboring for this gospel, and doesn’t want those labors to be in vain, to be set aside by thinking something else must be done to be saved.

These verses tell us Paul does not submit for a moment to those who would steal their liberty in Christ, so that the truth of the gospel may continue with them.

PRAYER: Lord, these are heavy verses. I don’t know if I’ve understood them all completely correctly, but I do pray that we would know and love and cherish your gospel – the truth that we are sinners, but through Jesus, through your gracious gift, we can be saved. Jesus came to earth as a man, fully God and fully man, lived a perfect life, died on the cross, taking our sin and shame and the punishment we deserved, and rose from the dead validating all that He said and did. We will celebrate Sunday this resurrection after we remember on Good Friday the sacrifice Jesus made and the cost he paid so willingly for us, so that by faith in Jesus, we can be forgiven and walk in new life, in fellowship with God. We rejoice in this gospel, that it comes to us so freely, that we don’t have to earn it, that we don’t have to do something to attain it, we just believe. Thank you, Jesus. May we also defend your gospel, as Paul did, and be willing to share it with others who need to know this truth. Awaken their hearts by the power of your Holy Spirit to know you, too. In Jesus’ name, Amen.