July 17, 2024

Today's Reading: Galatians 5:1-26

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 1:1-20; Galatians 5:1-26

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Well? What’s next? That was the question in the churches of Galatia when Paul continued on his second missionary journey. They had come to faith in Christ when they heard the gospel that Paul proclaimed, but shortly after Paul left, other teachers arrived, suggesting that Paul had only given them the basics of the faith…now it was time to make their commitment to Jesus a little more serious. That’s how they get you. I’ve heard it called the “Jesus plus” problem. When Christianity tries to add something to Jesus, you wind up losing Jesus and putting your faith in whatever that other thing is (your works, your effort, your emotions). Paul heard about the Judaizers who were drafting right behind him and poisoning the well. It’s no wonder that Galatians is among Paul’s most emotionally charged letters! The whole book could be summed up in his questions, “Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:2-3). You didn’t save yourself! What makes you think you’re going to keep yourself saved?! Of course, Paul isn’t anti-good works. But good works belong in the proper place, in freedom. The Christian church in America is often tempted to ask, “What’s next?” We foolishly think that we could ever graduate from the simple truth of the Gospel: Jesus loves you; He died for you; He lives for you. Paul sets us free in his letter to the Galatians– not free to live however we want– but free from the burden of keeping God’s law! What do we do with freedom like that? Paul says it like this: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) So your life as a Christian is less and less about you and more and more about Christ. As John the Baptist put it, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) And as Christ increases in us, the fruit of the Spirit buds, blossoms, and blesses our neighbor. Go forth in freedom, for Christ is alive in you! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

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