Galatians 5:2-6 says,...
Today's verses are Galatians 5:2-6, which read,
v.2 - Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.
Paul has just got done saying that we are of the free woman, of Sarah, of the covenant that Christ settled on the cross and it is sufficient and not deficient. Paul is not against the act of circumcision but he is against the thought that the circumcision made you right with God. Nothing makes you right with God other than the belief in the faith of who Jesus Christ is as Savior of your life. If you put your faith in something else (circumcision in this case) then Christ's death and resurrection have been set lower than what you have elevated.
It is like giving an apology and then you say the word "but." "I'm sorry, but..." When you say "but" you just erased all that you apologized about before the word. What comes next after the "but" is declared by you as more important that what was before the word "but."
v.3 - And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.
Again Paul is not against the act of circumcision but against the idea that circumcision makes you right with God. If someone was to think that it does then you have to adopt the whole system of the Law. If you believe that this act outside of Christ's perfect atoning sacrifice makes you right with God then you also need to keep all the laws of the Law perfectly to be perfectly right with God. You can not "cherry-pick" here, you need to be "all in" with that system.
v.4 - You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Jesus' grace offered to us does not work alongside of a system where I am working or doing something in addition to His sacrifice to be right with God. It is like putting Jesus on as a patch to your life or just adding a little Jesus into your life from yesterday's sermon.
You are not living under the grace of God. You are living your life no different than you were before you heard about Christ. Everyone is trying to gain the acceptance of someone, even gang members do this. You have to do something to get it. Jesus is so different that He did something for you to be able to receive the acceptance of grace. It is so different and opposite of the world's system that it is like oil and water. If I live that way, trying to earn my salvation, then I am severed and fallen from understanding the grace of God.
v.5, 6 - For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.
Paul brings them back to right thinking and living. The key words are the little words before the big words.
For we "through" the Spirit, "by" faith, are waiting "for" the hope of righteousness. For "in" Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, "but" faith working "through" love.
Those little words show that it is through the Spirit and in Christ Jesus that we have the ability by faith and only but faith to see acceptance of a righteousness that comes from God and to God and it is given through love. Paul says that nothing we do or not do makes us right with God but rather what God has done through love so that we can live a life of love for Him.
If we accept another way, then we erase what God has done for us. You may know that He died on the cross for your sins and for eternal life but it means nothing because you are living as if you didn't need it.
How do we live our lives? Have we put anything above the grace of God offered through Jesus on the cross? Are we saying the word "but" with our lives as we continue to seek acceptance through some outside activities that validate us rather than lift up Christ? Am I living my life "out" of the love of God or am I living my life trying to "get" the love of God by my efforts?
"Lord, I still fall into trying to 'get' Your love that You have already given. I still think at times through my actions that 'God might love me more' when You have already loved me fully through Your begotten Son, Jesus Christ. May I rest again in knowing and living my life in reflection of that love. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.2 - Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.
Paul has just got done saying that we are of the free woman, of Sarah, of the covenant that Christ settled on the cross and it is sufficient and not deficient. Paul is not against the act of circumcision but he is against the thought that the circumcision made you right with God. Nothing makes you right with God other than the belief in the faith of who Jesus Christ is as Savior of your life. If you put your faith in something else (circumcision in this case) then Christ's death and resurrection have been set lower than what you have elevated.
It is like giving an apology and then you say the word "but." "I'm sorry, but..." When you say "but" you just erased all that you apologized about before the word. What comes next after the "but" is declared by you as more important that what was before the word "but."
v.3 - And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.
Again Paul is not against the act of circumcision but against the idea that circumcision makes you right with God. If someone was to think that it does then you have to adopt the whole system of the Law. If you believe that this act outside of Christ's perfect atoning sacrifice makes you right with God then you also need to keep all the laws of the Law perfectly to be perfectly right with God. You can not "cherry-pick" here, you need to be "all in" with that system.
v.4 - You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Jesus' grace offered to us does not work alongside of a system where I am working or doing something in addition to His sacrifice to be right with God. It is like putting Jesus on as a patch to your life or just adding a little Jesus into your life from yesterday's sermon.
You are not living under the grace of God. You are living your life no different than you were before you heard about Christ. Everyone is trying to gain the acceptance of someone, even gang members do this. You have to do something to get it. Jesus is so different that He did something for you to be able to receive the acceptance of grace. It is so different and opposite of the world's system that it is like oil and water. If I live that way, trying to earn my salvation, then I am severed and fallen from understanding the grace of God.
v.5, 6 - For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.
Paul brings them back to right thinking and living. The key words are the little words before the big words.
For we "through" the Spirit, "by" faith, are waiting "for" the hope of righteousness. For "in" Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, "but" faith working "through" love.
Those little words show that it is through the Spirit and in Christ Jesus that we have the ability by faith and only but faith to see acceptance of a righteousness that comes from God and to God and it is given through love. Paul says that nothing we do or not do makes us right with God but rather what God has done through love so that we can live a life of love for Him.
If we accept another way, then we erase what God has done for us. You may know that He died on the cross for your sins and for eternal life but it means nothing because you are living as if you didn't need it.
How do we live our lives? Have we put anything above the grace of God offered through Jesus on the cross? Are we saying the word "but" with our lives as we continue to seek acceptance through some outside activities that validate us rather than lift up Christ? Am I living my life "out" of the love of God or am I living my life trying to "get" the love of God by my efforts?
"Lord, I still fall into trying to 'get' Your love that You have already given. I still think at times through my actions that 'God might love me more' when You have already loved me fully through Your begotten Son, Jesus Christ. May I rest again in knowing and living my life in reflection of that love. Amen."
Pastor Adam
Comments
Post a Comment