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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Thursday, 11 July 2024:
Galatians 3:5-6 — Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
What is the purpose of a law in general? A law, by definition, is a rule of conduct to control behavior which is enforced by a controlling authority with the threat of punishment for disobedience. So, laws control behavior by making people aware of requirements of which they may have been unaware previously and holding them accountable for those standards through risk of penalty. Laws make people do what they wouldn’t naturally do without the external threat. As we observe every day when we drive the highways of America, laws are very limited in their ability to control behavior because if someone feels they can get away with it, they are ultimately going to do what they really want to do, which is why few people actually drive the speed limit. Plus, when someone tells you that you can’t do something, it has a strange way of making you want to do it even more, simply to assert your independence. Laws deal in threats and punishment.
Laws are only relevant where behavior control is needed. You don’t need a law to tell you to do what you want to do. Direction to do what you want to do is an invitation, received with joy. Only God can give you a heart that wants to do His will, and when He transforms your heart, it naturally, without threat, does what that law demanded all along. Requirements become ‘desirements.’ When God gives you a heart to obey Him, He also gives you the power to obey Him (a controlling desire), and when your will (your wants) align with the will of the Creator of all things, you are no longer resisting the Almighty but tapping into His power, making all things possible. Within His dominion (His will, power, and authority) you have dominion and are unstoppable. Outside His dominion, you are ultimately powerless like a fish out of water, struggling in vain to survive.
Abraham’s step into righteousness was when He “believed God” and trusted Him to fulfill His promise which rested upon God’s character rather than Abraham’s efforts. We step into faith when we believe the same God who created us without our merit, will save us without our merit, and will conform us to Christlike character without our merit, and that, while the law is powerless to change our hearts, God can and will give us hearts which no longer need rules to do what God wants because we want only what He wants.
Galatians 3:10 — For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
If you are trusting in your obedience to the law to be saved, you are cursed because you can’t do it. The law can’t change your heart. The law isn’t love. If you trust in the love and grace of God and learn to abide (live in) His love, you are blessed.
Galatians 3:18 — For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
As mentioned above, a promise rests on the faithfulness of the one who gives it, not on the merit of the one who receives it. We are saved by grace (God’s gift of salvation) when we trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation, His faithfulness and not ours. When we live in His love, we are transformed by His love increasingly into people who naturally do His will without need of threat or punishment.
Galatians 3:19, 24-26 — Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made…. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
The law is the word of God, the manifestation of His character and His will. It is not outside of His will. Jesus said He did not come to abolish the law but rather to fulfill it. The law serves as a curb (to keep you on the right track), a mirror (to reveal your sin to you), and a guide (to show you where to go). The law sets boundaries for those who need boundaries. However, the law in itself cannot change a person’s heart. Only Jesus can change a person’s heart. When a person has a heart for Jesus, they no longer need the boundaries of the law because they no longer have a heart for sin. Many obey the law because they are scared not to obey. Many obey the law because they take pride in their self-made righteousness. Many obey the law out of a sense of duty. However, God wants us to love Jesus with all of our hearts so that there is no longer a concern about obeying the law — obedience is the natural product of love. Jesus said that if you obey the Greatest Commandment of Love, the rest of the law will be covered. Likewise, if you disobey the details of the law, you have already disobeyed the law of love. The law cannot save you or change your heart, but if you are disobeying the law you are revealing a problem with your heart that has yet to yield to sanctification. The law does not save, but it still serves as a curb, mirror, and guide where we are not yet perfected in love.
“So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.” The Law reveals your sinfulness and disobedience which should lead you to repentance and to Jesus. The Law does not save you, but the Law is used by the Holy Spirit to convict you in the process of sanctification, growing closer to God in pursuit of oneness.
Galatians 3:21-22 — Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Galatians 3:25 — Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
Once again, when you are motivated by genuine love for Jesus, you no longer need the law to control you because love will compel you to obey from a genuine desire. Love is always more powerful than duty or fear of punishment. Many themes are repeated on purpose.
Galatians 3:25, 26 — For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
A person can never achieve righteousness through their own obedience, nor can the law create unconditional love for God in someone’s heart. All require mercy, grace, and salvation through Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 3:27 — …for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Covered in Christ, you are clothed in His righteousness giving you freedom from condemnation and special access to the Father. You are now free and uniquely empowered to follow God in obedience without fear of rejection from Him or separation from His love.
Galatians 3:28 — 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.
Christians, Ambassadors for Christ, have no business discussing the politics of race, ethnicity, nationality, or any other man-made social stratification which commonly divides society and distracts people from the only topic that truly matters, Jesus. The physical, geographic boundaries that divided population groups and produced different races and cultures and that promoted distrust have no impact on the spiritual world. Today, people seek to find their identity and seek to identify others by their outward attributes — much ungodly pride is involved here. Race, ethnicity, nationality, and gender are not virtues; do not take pride in any of them or show favoritism because of any of them. Man-made stratifications of people do not factor into God’s economy and are almost always used by people for political purposes. There are two classifications of people in the world, followers of Christ and the unsaved. Your mission is to make disciples of all nations and to seek reconciliation between those who are divided from Jesus and each other.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 11 July 2024: Today, consider why you obey God’s commands. Are you obeying out of fear of the consequences of not obeying? Are you obeying out of pride for your own righteousness? Are you obeying to work your way into Heaven? Are you obeying out of a sense of guilt, hoping to make up for past sins? Are you obeying out of a sense of duty, because you know you should? Or, are you obeying out of love, because you have a heart, a passion to please God. When you obey for any reason other than love, you are not really obeying, because the First Commandment and the Greatest Commandment is to have no other God but God and to love Him unconditionally. Pray that God will continue to create in you a pure heart, that you would be wholehearted before Him and obey out of love. None of us love perfectly, but we should strive for ever-increasing Christ-like love, which grows as we grow closer to Him, the Source of Love.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 