November 14 - Galatians 3:24-6:18, Acts 15:1-21

Good morning everyone,

Today we continue our reading in Galatians, Paul is totally pouring himself out to these people. I can feel his frustration in some of the words that he writes, his desperate desire for them to to make good choices in Christ. In 3:24 he tells them that, “yeah, the law was our guardian until Christ came, now that faith is here we are no longer under the law.” Meaning, the law taught them, and us, a need for salvation. God’s grace gives us that salvation. Thank you Jesus! Right? But don’t get me wrong, it’s not like we can toss the Old Testament out the window. No …. we need it to show us God’s character, His will for humanity, His moral laws and guidelines for living. Make sense?

There are so many great reminders in this letter. In chapter 5, Paul warns them that those who continue to follow the acts of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God. That we should live by the Spirit, bearing love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. People who love Jesus, who are really, really in love with Jesus, all those fine qualities just ooze from them. I love being around those kinds of people. Oh sure, we all have our moments, but people who let the love of Christ rule their lives are who we want to surround ourselves with, it helps us to be a better person.

One thing I particularly liked this morning was in chapter six where we are reminded that Christians should never think they are totally independent and don’t need help from others. In Hebrews we’re instructed, “not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” We need to be available to help those in need help and be willing to accept help when we ourselves are in a dire situation. We also sometimes need to lovingly correct or encourage a brother or sister in Christ, when we see they are traveling a crooked path. By the same token, we ourselves need checks and balances in how we are living our lives and should be willing to listen when a fellow believer points out we are acting contrary to God’s Word. The world will not do that for us, they are happy to see us stumble and join in the debauchery of their lives while the enemy sits back and smiles in delight. 

So what it boils down to is this, Christians associate with and are committed to each other because they love Christ and His people, their desire to be with other believers shows they are in the family of believers. Like any other family, we are not perfect, we will have our differences, disagreeing from time to time but you don’t, we don’t, get to just walk away. We need to work it out, stay committed to meeting with our family of believers because the committing of ourselves to regularly assembling with other believers is evidence of true love for Christ and His people. Amen?

Have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all ….