Jumping into the book of Galatians has been really exciting. The more we can reflect on the wonder of the gospel the better off we will be. Galatians is a book of grace. A grace that is truly free. We learn over and over that if we try to mix grace and works we no longer have any grace. We often are good at pointing out works based religious systems, yet at times fail to see how we can fall back into a “works” mentality in our day to day lives in Christ. This is exactly what Paul is dealing with in the churches of Galatia. Those that "preached Christ", yet wanted to add a little more to it. The false teachers would say, “We preach Christ” yet they emphasized circumcision, obedience to the law, and observance of the feasts. The problem was that they didn't preach Christ, but preached works.
One thing I love about the intro to the letter is how Paul emphasizes the foundation of the grace of God in Jesus alone. In verse 4 he says, “who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” Did you catch that? Jesus gave Himself up for us! This is the message of the Gospel! It is finished, paid for –done. I need not nor I cannot add to His perfect work on the cross. It is completely by grace through faith. This is where it really hits me. If we can just see how our sin put Christ on the cross we are closer to realizing the futility of adding anything to grace. Isaiah 64:6 tells us all our righteousness deeds are as filthy rags. There is nothing we can bring to somehow complete our justification or somehow aid our sanctification along. It is truly all by grace through faith. By grace alone, let's walk in this freedom. Have a great Wednesday!
