Tag: Glations 3:13

TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Have you ever felt like being a good person just isn’t enough? Or maybe you thought that following Jesus meant adding a whole list of rules to your life? You’re not alone

The early church in Galatia faced a challenge. Some believers with Jewish backgrounds, known as Judaizers, were telling new Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians that believing in Jesus wasn’t enough. They insisted that these new believers also needed to follow Jewish customs like circumcision and dietary laws. It was like saying, “Yes, follow Jesus, but also…”.

This “Jesus plus something else” mentality still exists today. Maybe it’s the idea that you have to give a certain amount of money, dress a certain way, or follow specific rules to be truly accepted by God. But the Apostle Paul, who wrote the letter to the Galatians, strongly disagreed with this.

He starts his letter with a bit of a strong statement, calling the Galatians “Oh foolish Galatians!”. He reminds them that they initially received the Holy Spirit not by doing good works or following the law, but by “hearing with faith”. He asks, “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”.

Paul uses the example of Abraham from the Old Testament to illustrate his point. In Genesis 12:1-4, God tells Abram (later Abraham) to leave his home and go to a land God would show him. Abram obeyed, not knowing exactly where he was going. And what was Abraham’s key to being right with God? “Abram believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”. Paul reiterates this in Galatians 3:6: “just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.'” Like Abraham, we who came after Jesus are also saved by faith in God. Faith is what God requires for salvation.

The Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in our faith journey. As Paul writes in Ephesians 1:13: “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel, and believed in him, were sealed with the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”. The Spirit is promised to all who have faith. This same Spirit empowers believers today to serve and live for God.

The message in Galatians shows us a fundamental truth: the law cannot bring salvation; the law can only bring a curse. Paul quotes Deuteronomy when he says, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them”. James 2:10 further clarifies this: “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”. Since no one can perfectly follow all the laws, relying on them leads to a curse.

But there’s good news! Jesus broke the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Paul writes in Galatians 3:13: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.'”. Jesus, who was without sin, took our punishment so that we could be made right with God.

We all need to live by faith in all aspects of life. Just as salvation comes through faith in Jesus, so does our growth and service to God. It’s not about earning God’s favor through our efforts, but about trusting in what Jesus has already done for us. Are you living a life according to faith? It’s a question worth asking yourself today.