Wow! Paul is certainly not pulling any punches here! He is very passionate!
In previous chapters his passion was more focused at those who were leading the Galatians astray but now he is directing his passion in their direction: "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?" I don't know about you, but being called "foolish" and "bewitched" would be very startling, shocking and scary! This is a wake-up call to the Galatians.
Clearly Paul is very upset because this is their very lives that are at stake, their eternal destination. As a parent, he loves his children and doesn't want to see them die, be harmed or be eternally separated from them.
Sometimes people think that pastors, parents and certainly God should not ever get angry. This is simply not true! Jesus, who is God, at times clearly got angry at both the religious leaders who opposed him (Pharasees - Mark 3:5) and even his disciples to a lesser degree (Mark 16:14). Clearly our human anger is of no value in producing righteousness (James 1:20) but we are in that same context told to be slow to anger, not never angry (v. 19). Clearly as people we tend to have a bigger problem with wrong anger - anger born out of our embarrassment, pride, frustrations or tiredness. But there is in fact a time when righteous anger does exist and needs to be expressed as we see here in the letter to the Galatians. Sometimes we need a wake up call!
Another thing that strikes me in this chapter is Paul's description of the relationship between the law and faith in Jesus Christ. He describes the law as a necessary pre-cursor or guardian put in place before we come to faith in Jesus. In Romans, Paul says similarly that the law is important in that it 1) makes us aware of what sin is (Rom 3:20) 2) makes us aware of our absolute need of God's gift of forgiveness (Rom 5:20). Many times we think that we are OK. It is like the story of the emperor's new clothes which are actually no clothes at all. The emperor is deceived. The child who says that the king is naked is like the law - making us aware of our true condition. So the law is important, but it isn't the end goal. The end goal is faith in Christ Jesus which provides us a new life, freedom, forgiveness and a relationship with God that will last forever.
Thank you Father for in your wisdom giving us the law to make us aware of our desperate situation! And thank you Father even more that you provide a way for us in Christ Jesus to be saved from our sin, death and separation from you!
Finally, one of the radically equalizing statements of Scripture: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (v 28) which reveals God's view and his heart toward us as his children. There is not one who is better than another, there are no favorites, there are none who are the "lesser" or "unloved" or "not pretty"; none who are the greater or lesser, none who are more or less valuable - but all are one in Christ. That is clearly an ideal that many strive toward but clearly outside of Jesus, attaining the truth of God's view is almost impossible. God views us this way and we should have that view toward others. Unfortunately in our sinful, fallen world, people tend to focus on and fear the differences (race, power/money, gender). The great news is that in Jesus Christ, we are all one and all equal heirs with equal value and importance in God's sight. May we view one another and treat one another this way always!
Lord Jesus, help us to first see how much you love us! And then help us to show your love to all those around us, without regard to race, wealth, gender or other things that separate us from one another.
In previous chapters his passion was more focused at those who were leading the Galatians astray but now he is directing his passion in their direction: "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?" I don't know about you, but being called "foolish" and "bewitched" would be very startling, shocking and scary! This is a wake-up call to the Galatians.
Clearly Paul is very upset because this is their very lives that are at stake, their eternal destination. As a parent, he loves his children and doesn't want to see them die, be harmed or be eternally separated from them.
Sometimes people think that pastors, parents and certainly God should not ever get angry. This is simply not true! Jesus, who is God, at times clearly got angry at both the religious leaders who opposed him (Pharasees - Mark 3:5) and even his disciples to a lesser degree (Mark 16:14). Clearly our human anger is of no value in producing righteousness (James 1:20) but we are in that same context told to be slow to anger, not never angry (v. 19). Clearly as people we tend to have a bigger problem with wrong anger - anger born out of our embarrassment, pride, frustrations or tiredness. But there is in fact a time when righteous anger does exist and needs to be expressed as we see here in the letter to the Galatians. Sometimes we need a wake up call!
Another thing that strikes me in this chapter is Paul's description of the relationship between the law and faith in Jesus Christ. He describes the law as a necessary pre-cursor or guardian put in place before we come to faith in Jesus. In Romans, Paul says similarly that the law is important in that it 1) makes us aware of what sin is (Rom 3:20) 2) makes us aware of our absolute need of God's gift of forgiveness (Rom 5:20). Many times we think that we are OK. It is like the story of the emperor's new clothes which are actually no clothes at all. The emperor is deceived. The child who says that the king is naked is like the law - making us aware of our true condition. So the law is important, but it isn't the end goal. The end goal is faith in Christ Jesus which provides us a new life, freedom, forgiveness and a relationship with God that will last forever.
Thank you Father for in your wisdom giving us the law to make us aware of our desperate situation! And thank you Father even more that you provide a way for us in Christ Jesus to be saved from our sin, death and separation from you!
Finally, one of the radically equalizing statements of Scripture: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (v 28) which reveals God's view and his heart toward us as his children. There is not one who is better than another, there are no favorites, there are none who are the "lesser" or "unloved" or "not pretty"; none who are the greater or lesser, none who are more or less valuable - but all are one in Christ. That is clearly an ideal that many strive toward but clearly outside of Jesus, attaining the truth of God's view is almost impossible. God views us this way and we should have that view toward others. Unfortunately in our sinful, fallen world, people tend to focus on and fear the differences (race, power/money, gender). The great news is that in Jesus Christ, we are all one and all equal heirs with equal value and importance in God's sight. May we view one another and treat one another this way always!
Lord Jesus, help us to first see how much you love us! And then help us to show your love to all those around us, without regard to race, wealth, gender or other things that separate us from one another.
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