Week 1: Galatians

Blogging about each book is going to be much harder than I originally thought. I mean pastors devote an entire series of sermons to only a couple of verses or a chapter. I think I could write for a while about all that is packed into the six chapters of Galatians. I will just highlight a few verses that stuck out.

"Obviously I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant." ~1:10

If only I could have the confidence of Paul to say that I am obviously not trying to win the approval of people! My church in Nashville just finished a series on idolatry and approval ranked very high as something I tend to place above God. I center my life around trying not to disappoint others rather than pleasing God. When in all actuality the only approval I need is God's and praise the Lord that in Him I stand complete.

"But we refused to give into them for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the gospel message for you" ~2:5

Paul, Titus, and Barnabus were being forced to follow the Jewish regulations and laws but refused to give into for fear that it would hurt their witness to the Galatians that it is not by law that you are saved but by faith in Christ Jesus. This is the focus of the rest of Galatians. This verse shows how Paul exemplifies Christian witness and perseverance. How different would we act if we knew that our actions were preserving the truth of the gospel message for those we came in contact with?

The next few verses deal with the question that continues to be asked today. This question presents itself in several ways. There are people that believe that by obeying the law and being a good person they have a ticket to heaven while others believe that once they have faith that Christ has indeed died on the cross to save them from their sins that they now have the freedom to sin. There is also the tendency for Christians to feel like they need to earn their salvation and God's love through continuous good works. These verses sum up the answer to the question: "Is salvation through Christ alone , or dos it come through Christ and adherence to the law".

"Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God by obeying the law. " ~2:16

" I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make it right with God, then there was no need for Christ" ~2:21

" Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you head about Christ. How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?" ~3:2-3

"So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the scriptures say "It is through faith that a righteous person has life" ~2:11

"For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command "love your neighbor as yourself" ~5:13

"So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves" ~5:16

To sum up all of these verses I would say that instead of obeying the law and doing good works in order to win God's favor we should want to obey the law and do good out of the love for God. It also says that by having the Holy Spirit inside of us we will be led away from our sinful nature.
We will want to serve others because the Holy spirit is producing His fruits in our lives and leading us in every part of our lives.

"What is more important is faith expressing itself in love" ~5:6

"But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control." ~5:22

"But those who live to please the spirit will harvest everlasting life from the spirit. So lets not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity , we should do good to everyone" ~6:8

That about wraps up Galatians! Now onto the book for week two: 2 Timothy!!

"If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important." ~Galatians 6:3 (This made me laugh and I kinda want to put it on the back of Crosspoint's Serve and then Some T-shirts)

Until Next week,
Kenlyn