Agents of Restoration

Galatians 6:1-6

He was my friend—a volunteer youth leader, a Sunday school teacher, a husband and a father. He was also cheating on his wife. I don’t believe he intended to have an affair at first, but unresolved issues in his marriage led him to turn to another woman. What started as an emotional affair became a physical one that ultimately led him to leave his wife and children behind.

In the aftermath, I tried several times to reach out to my friend about the situation, pleading with him to remember his vows before God and to try and save his marriage. He chose to ignore me, shut me out, and let me know that my opinion wasn’t wanted or needed. In the weeks that followed, I spent many counseling sessions with his wife and children and my anger and frustration with him began to grow and consume me. I wanted to see him hurt the way he had hurt those he had walked away from. Thankfully, I was convicted by the Holy Spirit of my sinful attitude and I started to pray for God’s will for my brother, not my own; in so doing I was able to forgive him.

The first verse of Galatians 6:1-6 tells us, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” The words “caught in any transgression” describe a situation similar to an animal that slowly enters a trap only to realize too late that they have been caught… my friend, who likely hadn’t planned to have an affair, found himself trapped in adultery nonetheless. The scripture tells us that if we see a brother or sister trapped in sin we are to help “restore” them. The word translated as restore is the Greek word Kataritzo, which means to ‘put in order’ and so to ‘restore to its former condition’. In medical terminology, it describes setting a fractured or dislocated bone. If you’ve ever had a broken bone set or a dislocated shoulder put back in place you know how painful “restoration” can be, but without it, healing can’t begin. Paul also warns that in the painful, messy business of restoration, our emotions and passions can get the better of us and can even lead us to sin if we’re not careful. As messy and challenging as the ministry of restoration and reconciliation can be, it is one of the most important things Jesus calls us to do. He tells us in John 13:35, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” We are God’s chosen agents of restoration; may we carry out that calling in love.

In Christ’s Love,

Mike

The Fruit of Freedom

Don’t rely on the works of the law and put yourself under a curse.

Don’t act like a slave when you are an heir.

Don’t live like a child born of flesh, when you are a child of promise, born of the Spirit.

You are free. Free to love and serve your brothers and sisters. Free to walk by the Spirit who leads you.

Don’t live like the Jews, Paul has said.

But also, don’t live like the Greeks.

The Greeks believed pleasure was to be sought after. Hedonism was the highest good. Do what makes you happy!

Where Judaism of Paul’s day was overly concerned with circumcising the flesh, Greek culture was predominantly preoccupied with satisfying the flesh. In Galatians 6:19-20, Paul lists some works of the flesh; sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing and anything similar.

Legalism and licentiousness.

There is danger at either extreme.

You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ and have fallen from grace. You who are practicing works of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God.

BUT.  (There is a better way.)

As you walk by the Spirit, neither under the law nor carrying out the desires of your flesh but living in the freedom Christ has secured for you, there will be fruit.

It’s the fruit that is produced by the Spirit as we abide in Christ, our lives lovingly pruned by the Father.

Love.

Joy.

Peace.

Patience.

Kindness.

Goodness.  

Faithfulness.

Gentleness.

Self-control.

Such desirable fruit, indeed.

Jesus said, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourself to be my disciples.”

Bridge Family, I pray we keep in step with the Spirit. Christ has set us free from being law keepers or law breakers and the Father has sealed us with his Spirit to guide us. We have been given everything we need to live lives that yield a harvest. May we be a fruity bunch, in all the best ways!

Natalie

Love Others As You Love Yourself

Galatians 5:13-18

Author: Paul

To the Church in Galatia

“You have been given freedom: not freedom to do wrong, but freedom to love and serve each other. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: Love others as you love yourself.”

In the past, I struggled with the instruction to love others as you love yourself, because I wasn’t sure I even loved me. How can I love, if I am not sure what love is? Natural self-preservation could be a form of self-love, the will to survive, meeting all your Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. When your will to care for yourself is purely instinctual, can you call that loving yourself?

What is love? There are thousands upon thousands of poems, songs, books and movies about love. Most art in paintings and photographs depict some version, some interpretation of what love is or isn’t. There are books about the language of love and astrological star love signs. So if we aren’t sure what love is, or how to love, or even if we are loved; if we aren’t sure if we love ourselves, where do we go to find out?  

In the Hebrew and Greek language there are 4 words to describe love. Eros (romantic love), Storge (family love), Philia (deep friendship love) and Agape (Perfect love from God). Eros, Storge pronounced Stor-jay and Philia are straight forward. Agape, the perfect unconditional love from God teaches us and shows us what love is and how to do as Paul instructs in Galatians 5. Live in the freedom to love and serve each other.

Guilt, shame and false teaching lead me on a path of destruction. Looking back on it all and trying to write about my self-deprecating, self-hate seems ridiculous, cruel and unimaginable to me now and yet it was the underlying thought running through my head for so many years. “No one loves you; you are unlovable, you are nothing. You are a sinner. You’ll never be good, women can’t be good, you have no value. You are just to be seen, not heard.”

“And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” Psalm 50:15 and God did! He heard me cry out in my guilt, shame and grief and he led me to His word. He led me to repentance and freedom in the name of Jesus who died so that I may live!

Guilt can be used by Satan. “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death.” In Genesis, guilt entered when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge. They hid from God. God out of love called to them, searched for them and then clothed them in animal skin. To provide them with animal skin, blood was shed. “Under law almost everything is purified with blood. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Hebrews 9:22 “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Repentance leads to Restoration. “Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5  “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:17 “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!” Romans 8:1

Oh, what freedom I was given when God showed me His agape love! I am special to God, so special He clothed me!

Paul tells us to walk by and obey only the Holy Spirit’s instructions. How do we walk by the spirit? “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Walk in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Ephesians 4 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16

May God continue to show Agape love to us so that we can love one another as we love ourselves, the way God loves us. So that we can be free of what binds us and rejoice in all that is good! Praise God! 

-Nikki

Him Who Calls You

Galatians 5:7-12

In this paragraph, though Paul is speaking directly to the people of the church, he has some words for these False Teachers in Galatia.

* They are hindering the church from obeying the truth (5:7).

* They are troubling (5:10) and unsettling (5:12) the church.

* They are persecuting Paul (5:11).

* Paul's confidence is that they will bear the penalty (5:10).

* Paul's wish for them is that they would not stop at circumcision, and that they would CUT. THE. WHOLE. THING. OFF (5:12).

Whoa.

And Paul wants to point out that the church is being persuaded by these teachers, and not being persuaded by God Himself. He says in 5:8...

"This persuasion is not from him who calls you."

Note how Paul frames this. He doesn't simply say "This persuasion is not from God."

There's something about God, and what God has done for these Galatians, to which Paul wants to draw their attention.

He is the One "who calls you."

And Paul has used this verbiage in the letter already.

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel" (1:6).

God has *called* these Galatians.

Called them in grace and kindness.

Called them to freedom (5:13).

Called them "out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).

Like Lazarus, called them out of the tomb, and to walk out, from death into life.

They were slaves, but God called them into freedom. 

They were in darkness, but God called them into light. 

They were dead, but God called them into life.

With this focus on calling, Paul is wanting to underline something. For both the Galatians, and us today.

That in our salvation, God is the One who does everything.

He is the Actor.

     We are the spectators. 

He is the Giver. 

     We are the recipients.

He does everything.

     We do nothing, but believe.

In what ways can God change us when we understand this? When we fully get our minds around this?

We will stop trusting in our own efforts to save ourselves, and earn righteousness from Him.

We will rest in the finished work of Jesus.

And we will rest in the One who has called us.

---

Remember how Paul described his own conversion, back in chapter 1?

"But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and *who called me by his grace*, was pleased to reveal his Son to me..." (1:15-16, emphasis mine).

Called by His grace.

Set apart before you were born.

Pleased to reveal the Son to you.

Believer in Jesus, rest in the freedom of this today.

- Joe

Fallen From Grace

Galatians 5:1-6

When I type “fall from grace” in my search bar, I see it’s often paired with the phrase “means I can lose my salvation”.  Is it possible to fall from grace? And if so, what could one do that would be so terrible that it would result in a fall from grace? In our culture, when we talk about someone falling from grace, it’s because they have done something reprehensible that’s led to a loss of position, respect, or popularity. It seems logical then, that a fall from grace in the Bible would be caused by some grievous sin. But the terrible sin that would lead to this fall, isn’t unrighteousness as much as it is self-righteousness (which is also quite unrighteous, if you think about it.)

In Galatians 5:1, Paul proclaims triumphantly, “For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.” We are free at last! After centuries of unsuccessfully kind-of-trying to obey all of the law, Christ has set his people free by imputing to them (and us!) his perfect record of obedience. Now we are sons and daughters! You know what circumcision accomplishes? Nothing! You know what uncircumcision accomplishes? It’s not a trick question- also nothing! Only Jesus is able to accomplish anything of saving merit, which he has done. Paul told the Galatians then, and it applies to us now, “If you are trying to be justified by the law, you are alienated from Christ. You’ve fallen from grace.” Have you ever met someone who said “If there’s a God, he could never forgive me because I’ve done so much wrong”? Have you ever met someone who said “If there’s a God, he could never forgive me because I’ve done so much right?” We would think that’s weird. Doing the right things is supposed to earn us favor, not alienate us from the One we are striving to please. But Paul says, that’s just what it does. We fall from grace anytime we think we need more (or less) than the grace that’s already been given to us.

We now live in a time-in-between: declared righteous, but not yet fully so, we eagerly wait with hope for that day. Until then, what matters, is faith working through love. In the next two months as we finish Galatians, we will see what freedom in Christ looks like and how faith working through love should be demonstrated both internally and in community.

Before we get there, let’s ask some hard questions. Have you fallen from grace? Do you find in yourself a tendency to believe the Father is pleased with you because of all you have done in his name? Or are you able to rest in the finished work of Christ, knowing you are just as loved on your bad days as you are on your good? Do you need to repent for trying to earn a love that’s already been lavished on you? If so, may today be the day you are restored to grace.

I pray that we will ever be growing in both the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our only Righteousness.

Natalie

Don't You Listen to the Law?

Galatians 4:21-31

"Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. So shall your offspring be."

God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 15 had now been in the rearview mirror for some time. And yet Abram and Sarai still had no son.

No offspring.

No heir.

Promise (seemingly) unfulfilled.

So Sarai and Abram together did something very human (yet still sinful).

They stopped trusting God.

And they took matters into their own hands.

They resolved to have a child - not through God's divine, miraculous work - but through their own human effort.

So Sarai gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, to her husband Abram. And with Abram, Hagar conceived a son - Ishmael.

Fast forward through the years.

God, of course, keeps His promise.

God does what He said He would do.

Even in old age, Sarah bears a son - the son of promise - Isaac.

Ishmael and Isaac.

One born of a slave.

One born of a free woman.

Two sons born to Abraham.

But two very different ways of getting there.

In a way, Ishmael was a representation of what human effort can do. And Isaac - a representation of promise - that which only God can do.

-—

As the apostle Paul looked at his Bible - the Old Testament Law, specifically here, the books of Moses - he saw in this Genesis account a perfect illustration for what was happening with his brothers and sisters in Galatia.

In a similar way to Abraham, the Galatians were wanting to relate to God based on their effort.

Their works.

Their law keeping.

Rather than resting as sons and daughters, they were trying to work for a Master. 

Rather than living in the joy and freedom of sonship, these Galatians were relating to God in a way that leads only to slavery. Just as Ishmael was a son of Abraham through a slave.

It brings to mind another story of two sons in Luke 15.

Upon seeing the kindness of the Father toward the younger brother, what was the retort of the older brother?

"Look, these many years I have served you, and never disobeyed your command."

Obedience.

Serving.

Human effort.

Law-keeping.

Slavery.

And we do the same. We relate to God based on how "good" or "bad" we've been.

How much (or little) I've read my Bible and prayed. 

How much I've shared the gospel.

How much I've given to the poor.

How well I've loved my spouse and children. 

All of these disciplines have great value, no doubt.

But our position as sons and daughters of God is not based on them one bit!

---

In what way will you live your life today?

Will you relate to God based on your own effort and works? The bad you haven't done, or the good you have done?

Or will rest in the One "who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20)?

And that your position as a son or daughter is based completely on Him?

Will you experience the joy and freedom found in this rest?

"Now to the one who works,

His wages are not counted as a gift

But as his due.

And to the one who DOES NOT work

But believes in him who justifies the ungodly,

His faith is counted as righteousness."

(Romans 4:4-5, emphasis mine)

Joe

An Appeal to Return

Galatians 4:8-20

Galatia was a Roman province where Paul founded churches in the Southern cities. The inhabitants were known as Galatians, whose ancestors were Celtic and migrated from what is now France. Before their Christian conversion, they were idol worshipers of non-existent pagan gods typically

In Galatians 4:8-20, Paul tries to counter the undermining by the Judaizers who had success getting people within the churches to fall back into the bondage of Judaism law (performance-based following Mosaic laws or Jesus Plus) and not faith alone, in Christ alone. And this backward step also excluded people, which contradicts the Gospel message Paul preached.

In verses 10-11, Paul notes the "weak and worthless elemental things…You observe days and months and seasons and years." He warns against legalistically observing the Jewish calendar as if the rituals and observances would curry favor with God or be required for salvation. It may have also been a warning about falling back into paganism idol worship of their past with non-existent, non-spiritual gods grounded in the naturalism of the world.

Paul then changes direction and discusses his illnesses and that the Galatians received him despite his infirmities and did not hinder his message about Jesus Christ nor their acceptance. He noted the blessings or happiness they enjoyed with Paul, and yet, some turned on him, lost their prior goodwill with him, and treated him as an enemy just because he was "telling you the truth." [v.16]

The Truth.

Paul used the same Greek word for 'truth' John used in his gospel, writing in his gospel that Jesus Christ is the source of Truth and that Jesus emphatically stated he was the Truth. Truth means real, factual, and genuine and correlates to a reality outside ourselves—a reality that leads to the source of all Truth in the incarnation of God — Jesus Christ.

C. S. Lewis, in works such as his novel, Till We Have Faces and essays about Middle Age poets, followed Paul's arguments that we are to work vertically upwards to God, who revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. Central to Lewis's point and Paul's warning to the Galatians is our forgetting, ignoring, or diminishing the vertical aspect of spiritual life - the direction in life that can only encounter our Savior and the Truth of life. Instead one could be beholden to living a solely horizontal life grounded in materialism, the paganism and false gods of old, or the laws and ways of Jesus Plus that Paul admonished. And not grace alone, and faith alone solely in Jesus Christ, which leads to one's life being redeemed and reset.

Though perplexed, Paul used the affectionate phrase 'little children' in verse 19. He likened himself to a mother in labor because he suffered on the Galatians' behalf, wanting to rescue them from their backsliding and false doctrine and transform them into Christ. Paul sought to bring the Galatians back to the likeness of Christ, the goal of salvation and a sanctified life—a life Paul amplified we should all pursue.

-Dan Nickel

Oh, How Rich We Are

Galatians 4:1-7

“God sent him [Jesus] to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law so that He could adopt us as his very own children.” Galatians 4:5 (NLT)

What a beautiful picture it is to think of ourselves as adopted children of God. When God sent Jesus to die for us on the cross, he gave us the best, most undeserved gift we will ever receive. This act in itself is the most incredible thing anyone has or will ever do for us, yet God didn’t stop there. He chose to go a step further and adopt us into his family as His very own children, promising to love us unconditionally and never leave us. That’s how much God loves us. We were once slaves, bound to the law, constantly feeling unfulfilled and unworthy. But through Jesus, God turned that around, showing us the infinite amount of love and freedom we get to experience as His children. Because of Jesus, we have an eternal inheritance and get to experience God’s presence and promises for the rest of eternity. In a world that often chases after material wealth, this is what true wealth looks like. No matter how much money, things, or experiences we have in this life, because of Jesus, all of us are rich! <3

Dear God, thank you for being a God who goes the extra mile, who never stops showing us how much you love us. Help us to see ourselves as you see us – as your beloved children and help us to never lose sight of the great inheritance we have in you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Carmen K

Nothing separates us from each other when we have Christ in our lives.

Galatians 3:23-29

“We are no longer Jews or Greeks or slaves or free men or even merely men or women, but we are all the same-we are Christians: we are one in Christ Jesus.”

Nothing divides us from each other when we accept Jesus into our lives. Paul makes this clear and it is a theme throughout all of Galatians, that the only way is Christ and Christ alone. Nothing separates us from each other when we have Christ in our lives, we are equally yoked with Christ.

Through Christ and our adoption into the Kingdom, we have all of God’s promises as we are also true descendants of Abraham. In Genesis 12:1-3, God tells Abraham he will bless him and make him a great nation and we are that nation through Christ, the covenant.

What other promises is Paul speaking about that belong to us?

Matthew 11- Our burdens are lifted at Calvary.

John 10- Abundant life to those who follow Jesus. God will hold us securely “No one will snatch them out of my hand”.

John 4- Eternal life for those who trust Him.

Acts 1- Power from on high.

John 14- Jesus will return for us and from then on, we will be with Him always.

Hebrews 1- All of God’s promises find fulfillment in Jesus “the radiance of God’s glory.”

2 Corinthians 1- No matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ.”

All of the above is set aside for us when we join the covenant and follow Jesus.

All united in love!  

~Nikki

The Man of His Word

Galatians 3:15-22

As a young boy, I was taught by my dad not to say “I promise” or “I swear.” Instead, he instructed me to concentrate on being a man of my word so that when someone heard me say I was going to do something then they could believe it would most likely be so. Oh, how many times since I was that young boy learning those lessons have I struggled or even failed to hold true to my word! Still yet, I seek to be a man of integrity that people can trust for my “yes” to be “yes” and my “no” to be “no”. And I’ve found I’m better suited for such things when my concentration is on THE man of His Word. Christ Jesus is the Word of God personified. On His word everyone can fully rely because He is the only One that has kept His word perfectly every time.

In our text this week, Paul writes using a human example to show the instability of man-made promises. Paul is reminding humans of our inability to keep the law which creates instability for any covenant we base on our own efforts to keep. But God is faithful and will keep all of His promises. Paul reminds us of the stability of a covenant made by God because it is based on His ability to keep the promise He has given. God is the provider for the way of Salvation that we need. Our part is to believe in Him to do it. Those who believe in Jesus as the Christ are assured of God’s blessing because He always keeps His promises. He has revealed Himself as both fully human and fully God. And at each twist and turn Jesus has fulfilled every part of God’s Law as fully human and proves Himself to be a man of His Word as fully God.

May our hearts be emboldened by the covenant God has graciously given to those who trust in His Word and Way for eternal salvation. May we walk in the promise of His blessing as we live by His Spirit. Let us be quick to turn from any religious idols or man-made appeals before God. Instead, let us concentrate fully on the only One who is able to keep His Word fully – Jesus Christ. He will do it!

Grateful & Hopeful in Christ,

Jon

Paid

Galatians 3:10-14

My first job right out of high school was as a bagger at Schnucks. Every so often someone would come through the check-out lane only to discover that they didn’t have enough money to pay for their groceries. These situations were always awkward and tense, the customer was embarrassed, the people in line behind them were frustrated, and it often made extra work for the employees. I always felt so bad for those people. More than once since then, I have been the one standing in a checkout lane coming up short—usually when I’ve forgotten that I already spent the money that I thought I had. It’s one of the worst feelings in the world sensing the eyes of the people around you as you’re caught off guard, scrambling to figure out how this happened and what you’re going to do about it.

Checkers would often say that they wished that they could just let the people who were struggling financially go through, but of course, they can’t because then their till would have a deficit. The debt has to be paid, with no exceptions. However, there are times when the person behind you, in an act of unsolicited kindness, steps in and covers your debt. It becomes hard to contain the gratitude felt for this act of grace. I have also found that when someone does this for me, I want to pass it on to the next person when I get the opportunity.

In this week’s Scripture passage, Paul makes it clear that if you’re going to try to justify yourself before God by following the Law then you have to follow ALL of the Law. God’s word teaches that the price of our sin is death, and the only way to get out from under that debt is to be sinless, i.e. following all of the Mosaic laws and commandments. Unfortunately, our sinful nature always gets in the way of obeying the Law of Moses. Simply put, on our own we can’t pay what we owe. Fortunately for us, there is someone who can, and did, cover our debt on a cross. How foolish it would be if someone found themselves in a checkout lane unable to pay for their groceries but stood there frantically trying to find a means to pay with empty pockets or a maxed-out credit card. It would be especially foolish if they continued to do so after someone offered to pay what they owed. Friends, our debt has been paid.  Let’s try to live with the joy of that knowledge and accept God’s free gift of grace.

In Christ’s Service,

Mike Solomon

Tell Me Your Church is Studying Galations...

Tell me your church is studying Galatians without telling me your church is studying Galatians…

A hot topic of conversation at our dinner table lately has been circumcision. With a house full of girls, you can imagine there are a number of questions. Notably, they are wondering, WHY DO WE KEEP TALKING ABOUT THIS AT CHURCH?! It’s a fair question, and it’s possible the Apostle Paul was wondering the same thing when he wrote his letter to the Galatians. These Gentile believers had clearly heard of the death and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, trusted in Christ, and as a seal of their salvation they each received the promised Holy Spirit. They had even seen miracles worked in their midst. So why were they advocating for circumcision?

Paul tells them forthrightly they are being foolish. His frustration is evident. Is God’s grace sufficient or is it not? C’mon now! After beginning by the Spirit are you really going to try to finish by the works of the law?!

In our cultural context, all this talk of circumcision seems really odd. Less strange though, when we consider all the ways we, having begun by God’s Spirit, are still trying to please God by keeping “the law.”

“I’m not a good Christian because I …”

-Don’t pray as often as I should.

-Get really angry with my kids.

-Worry about pleasing people more than God.

-Can’t stop this sinful behavior.

-Don’t love my neighbor.

Fill in the blank. What causes you to hide from God (and others) in shame? What’s the thing that leads you to think “If I could only fix this, God would be happy with me?”

After calling them foolish (twice!) Paul gives the Galatians a plot twist. Remember Father Abraham? He “believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness”. Four hundred and thirty years before the law was given, God made a covenant with Abraham. You know what part he played in that covenant? A very little one! God was the covenant maker and the covenant keeper. Abraham slept through the whole bloody thing! All Abraham did was believe and even then, it was not his faith that saved him, but his God who saved him and accounted his faith to him as righteousness.

Brothers and sisters, if we have faith, we are Abraham’s spiritual seed. The same God who promised Abraham “All nations will be blessed through you”, has kept his promise and blessed us by sending his Son into the world, not to condemn it, but to save it. To save us!

Like the Galatians, we aren’t saved by doing all the right things, and avoiding the wrong ones. We are saved by grace, through faith, and are indwelled by the Spirit of Jesus who guides us into all truth and gives us the will and ability to crucify the desires of the flesh.

We don’t do the right things to please God. We do the right things because, in Christ, God is already pleased with us. Beloved, his disposition toward you never changes because it isn’t rooted in what you’ve done, but what he has done.

It’s all grace!

Natalie

No Longer I Who Live, but Christ Who Lives in Me

Galatians 2: 17-21

Have you ever thought of God as a big, scary man in the sky who tells you how to live? This is the view I had of God for a long, long time. I thought, “Why even try to live for God when I know I’m not going to get it right. He expects too much.” I thought I would never be good enough in God’s eyes.

All of this changed the moment I began to understand God’s grace. We are saved through our faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross and not by whether we do enough good things for God or perfectly follow his rules. Good works come as a result of our faith in Jesus, but they do not save us. I had it so twisted in thinking that my “rightness with God” had anything to do with me. It wasn’t about me. It was about Jesus all along.

Believing we can earn salvation through good works and following rules is undermining what Jesus did for us on the cross, saying it is not good enough. Jesus said, “It is finished,” so that’s it. It’s finished. We don’t have to do anything else other than trust in those words.

Of course, we still sin after we accept Christ. It is human nature to sin, and we will never be able to live perfect, sinless lives. It would be unrealistic to expect ourselves to get it right all the time. God certainly doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He knows we are going to mess up and that’s exactly why His grace exists. Because of this grace and our faith, God doesn’t hold our sin against us. We are free.

When we accept Christ as our savior, our old selves die. He transforms us from the inside out, performing a literal miracle within us and giving us new life. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives within us. We get to experience life in a whole new way, knowing who we are and what we were made for.

If we could become right with God through our own efforts, there would be no point to God’s grace and Jesus would have died for nothing. It’s important to note that Jesus didn’t want to die on the cross. He literally asked God to spare Him, but God said no, and He did it anyway because it was the only way. The reality is that we can’t do it on our own. We can’t save ourselves. If we could, Jesus wouldn’t have had to die.

Christ not only died for the salvation of the world, but He also died for YOU. We hear this so much in church that it’s easy to forget the weight of what it means.

This is a big deal!! Claim it for yourself and remind yourself of it every day. This isn’t something that changes day to day based on how much time we’ve spent with God or how many good deeds we’ve done. It is already done. It is God’s grace alone and our faith in Jesus that saves us. All we have to do is believe it and receive it.

Carmen K

A Liberating Rebuke

“But when I saw they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel…”

Galatians 2:11

In Galatians 2:11, Peter ate with the Gentiles when he arrived in Antioch. Still, over time, Peter gradually withdrew from that crowd, fearing his behavior would be reported to the legalist faction of Christians in Jerusalem, who believed in a Jesus-plus form of Christianity. Peter wanted to be popular.  Even worse was the way Peter withdrew; the Greek language in this text implied that it was gradual and deceptive.  Sneaky. Peter had lived like the Gentiles, modeling Christian love and freedom between Jews and Gentiles, but his refusal to do so now implied that Jewish laws and works were necessary for holiness. However, what was even worse was his discriminatory behavior. He knew God recognized no difference in nationalities, but he was implying to the Gentiles the Jewish ways were the right ways, the only way. So Paul rebuked Peter publicly to his face, calling him a hypocrite not aligned with the gospel truth.

While at the bookstore last weekend, I flipped through the pages of an actor's autobiography where he talked about his anger issues and his search through the religions — all New Age, mystic or Eastern religions — for answers, and he was still searching. All his sought-out religions were performance-based, good works scorekeeping variety and created within oneself, an inside out approach, and one will find God and peace. The truth of the gospel Paul confronted Peter with is the opposite. God came down, revealed in the flesh in Jesus Christ to pursue and seek us, and said, "Give me your burdens. Do not burden yourself, and you will find God and peace.”  The truth of the gospel is life-changing.  It is not do all these good works (or in Galatians the Jewish laws Peter went back to modeling), and then Christ will save you.  Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, and this personal transformation leads to good works through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

C. S. Lewis teaches this gospel truth in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Eustace, a young man immersed in the ways of the secular world, stumbles on a dragon's lair, sees the riches in the bags of gold, grabs the gold (representing the material world), and changes into a dragon.  Eustace thought it was neat for a time but eventually tried to change back to a human by tearing off the skin repeatedly himself, but to no avail.  Only when Aslan, the lion as the analogy of Jesus Christ, appears and engages Eustace deeply does Eustace transform back into a person and a better version of himself. I urge you to read and share the Narnia tales with your kids and grandkids.  This story is an imaginative telling of one of the absolute truths of the gospel —  it’s not through our works and effort that we are saved, but in Christ alone.

Verses 15 and 16 in Galatians 2 record Paul's rebuke of Peter about the absolute and unchanging truth of the gospel of grace through justification—declaring a person righteous through Jesus Christ. Three times, Paul declares that a person is saved only through faith in Jesus Christ and not through works. In a week when we celebrate freedom living in this country, this truth of the gospel should be liberating to us all.

-Dan Nickel

Culture Clash

Jesus is the Torah Laws fulfilled- Salvation cannot be earned by good works alone. There is no “Gospel plus” that equals salvation.

Galatians 2: 1-10

Sometime between 48 and 56 A.D. and some 23 years after Jesus’ death on the cross, Paul wrote this letter to ethnically mixed churches in Galatia. In this chapter of Galatians, there is a clash of cultures all coming together in the name of Jesus.

At this time, there are now just as many non-Jews as there are Jewish people all of whom are believing and following Jesus. This is great news for God’s blessings are for all people, yet some believe that to be a true Christian one must obey Jewish customs and laws of the Torah.

Paul is preaching to the Gentiles, and he also brings with him Barnabas and Titus, and they meet with the church leaders. Titus is a Gentile, and Gentiles do not practice Torah laws, such as being circumcised. Paul mentions the only reason Titus’ situation is brought up was to try and tie them up in rules to see what freedom they enjoyed in Christ Jesus and if they were obeying Torah Laws. Galatians 2:4. Paul states that the only reason he mentions this at all is to remove any confusion that salvation can be earned by being circumcised and by obeying Jewish laws.

Paul is saying it is the Gospel alone and nothing else, that can give salvation. Salvation cannot be earned by good works alone. There is no “Gospel plus” that equals salvation. Matthew 7:21-22 speaks to this, as Jesus says “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? ‘Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”  

Jesus is the only way to salvation. How does one have a relationship with Jesus? Romans 10:9-10 says “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Romans 10:12 says “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile-the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blessed all who call on him, for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

What do we believe in our culture today, that is an add-on to gain salvation? The “Gospel plus” idea that is imprisoning us in our faith? Paul writes in verse 10 a suggestion that we must always remember to help the poor and he says he was “eager for that.”  

May we walk with Christ in freedom and joy! May we not get bogged down with the “plus” ideas so much that it keeps us from sharing the love of Christ to the poor in spirit and helping those in need.

If you would like to take a deeper dive into the history of Galatians; the Torah and the arguments between the Jewish Messianic Movement and non-Jewish Christians, I recommend the BibleProject’s summary, https://youtu.be/vmx4UjRFp0M?si=VeN-80v5a7VfASud.  

Love~ Nikki

Before I Was Born

"Why should we listen to what Paul has to say?? He wasn't even part of the twelve that were sent out by Jesus of Nazareth!"

The shouts from the leaders of the church in Galatia would have sounded something like this.

So in his letter, Paul is going to begin telling a story. He will chronicle his years after his conversion, detailing his very limited interaction with the apostles, even getting into all the places he'd been, and the durations of time.

And all of this will prove that Paul did not receive the gospel secondhand, from Jesus's apostles. Rather, Paul himself IS an apostle, with both authority and direct revelation from Jesus Himself.

And along the way on this story, Paul is going to do something that is very classic Paul. He is going to interrupt his story to tell us about the gospel. He just can't help doing it! 

It's not a long interruption. We might call it a "gospel nugget." We see it in verses 15 and 16. 

     "...he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me..."

We are probably familiar with the account of Paul's conversion. We read it in Acts chapter 9, and then again in chapters 22 and 26 from Paul's telling himself.

The early church had perhaps no greater enemy than Paul. He was "persecuting the church of God violently and trying to destroy it." (Gal. 1:13)

And at the moment of conversion, Paul was on his way to the city of Damascus, where he hoped to find more followers of Jesus that he could persecute, throw in jail, and maybe even oversee the stonings of the leaders.

But then Jesus stepped in. He stopped Paul on his journey, blinded him with His glory, and commissioned him to go preach the good news of what He had done. 

In Acts, we read Paul's conversion from his own point of view. But in the letter to the Galatians - in this gospel nugget of chapter 1 - we in a sense read of Paul's conversion from God's point of view.

He is the Main Character.

He is the One who sets apart.

He is the One who calls.

He is the One who reveals.

1. God set apart Paul before he was born.

Think of it. From man's limited perspective, we see an enemy and violent persecutor of God's church. But all the while, God is in control. God has known Paul for decades, since he was in his mom's tummy. Actually, He's known him since eternity past.

And He has set Paul apart and chosen him. Not only to know Him, but also preach His gospel and build His church. 

2. God called Paul by His grace.

For Paul, it HAD to be the undeserved kindness of God! Yes, Paul was "advancing in Judaism" and "extremely zealous" for the father's traditions. But we know that earns nothing before a holy God.

On the flip side - again, Paul was a violent persecutor. He had fallen woefully short of God's holy standard to love his neighbor as himself.

Just like us all, Paul could only come to God based on grace.

3. God was pleased to reveal Jesus to Paul.

We should always pay close attention when the Bible clues us in to the very heart of God. What pleases him, what brings Him joy. 

And Paul says that God was "pleased" - He was happy, maybe even excited? - to reveal Jesus to Paul. 

From a human perspective, we could envision it like God "woke up" that morning thinking, "Today is the day! Today is the day I get to reveal Jesus to Paul, and turn his world upside down!"

What does this mean for us?

Believer in Jesus, these same truths that Paul says of his own conversion are true for you and your own conversion. 

     God set you apart before you were born.

     God called you by his grace.

     God was pleased to reveal Jesus to you. 

From beginning to end, God has been and will be the Main Character. He has done everything so that you could come to know Him.

May God fill our hearts with thankfulness and worship to Him!

-Joe Groppel

Dear Church

Galatians 1:6-10

During last Sunday’s sermon, we were asked to write a personal letter to someone using the words “grace” and “peace”.  On the rare occasion that I write a letter by hand, I will begin with “Dear” followed by the name of the intended recipient.  It’s easy for many to look past that “Dear” but to me it means a lot in expressing how deep my affection is for the one I’m writing to.

In our text this week, Paul expresses a very serious concern he has for the churches in Galatia – that they would not desert God and the grace by which He has called them in Christ by turning to a false gospel being preached to them about self-righteous works.  He goes so far as to say that anyone who preaches a distorted version of the gospel to the church should be damned to hell. 

Paul loves the Galatian churches and wants them to experience peace through the good news of God’s plan to fulfill the messianic covenant with mankind through Jesus as the one true Hero. Paul does not hope for any to be damned by believing or preaching a false gospel, rather he writes with a deep love for the Galatian people because they are dear to him and he knows even more so that they are dear to God.  Any distorted version of the gospel that adds a salvific condition on top of Jesus as the one true Hero clouds the Son and leads the church astray. 

Jesus has lived the perfect life that God requires, took the curse of our sin on Himself by dying on the cross once for all, rose from death to life, ascended to the position of honor and authority at the right hand of God, and sent His Spirit to seal our eternal union and empower us to live as followers of Christ.  This is the greatest thing that has ever happened in all of human history for our good and to the praise of our Heroic God! 

Droves of people are still prone to be led astray by visions and teachings that err from the gospel preached by Paul and the other Apostles.  May it not be so with His church today.  Instead, let us be amazed by the Heroic work of Jesus Christ that reclassifies us from DAMNED to DEAR in Christ.  May we be a people that share this amazing hope of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  Let us do so faithfully as we are led by His Spirit to those He makes dear to us because of how dear they are to their Heavenly Father.

Grateful & Hopeful in Christ,

Jon

Reading the Envelope

Is there anything more exciting than receiving a letter in the mail? After rifling through a stack of bills and credit card offers, imagine you found a handwritten letter. What would you do first? Most of us wouldn’t tear open the envelope and begin reading mid- sentence, mid-letter. We’d first read the envelope to see whom the letter was addressed to and who sent it. When we begin studying a book of the Bible, we also need to “read the envelope”. We need to find out who wrote it, who they wrote it to, and why they felt compelled to do so. For the next few months we will be studying the epistle, or letter to the Galatians. Let’s check out the envelope together.

“Paul, an apostle—not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me:

To the churches of Galatia. Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”(Galatians 1:1-5)

The New Testament epistles begin in a similar format, common to letters written at the time. Unlike modern letters that are addressed to the recipient, in Greco-Roman times a letter began with the name of the sender, and was followed by a description of the recipient, and then a prayer or blessing.

So, who wrote the letter?

If you said Paul, great job! As you continue to read the envelope some additional questions may come to mind. Who was Paul? What authority did he have to write this letter? Why did he clarify that Jesus Christ made him an apostle? Was his authority being called into question, and if so, by whom? Learning the answers to these questions can give us greater context into what we are about to read.

To whom did Paul write the letter?

You’ve got it! He wrote it to the churches of Galatia. Now this is a bit different than Paul’s other letters who are typically addressed to a singular church or to “brothers and sisters”. This should cause us to wonder “What were multiple churches in the region of Galatia struggling with that led Paul to write them a letter?” And that will help us to finish reading the envelope as we ask, “Why did Paul write the letter to the churches in Galatia?”

The churches in Galatia were being infiltrated by teachers presenting a false gospel: Jesus + circumcision (or works of the law) = salvation. Paul wants the believers to understand there is no addition in this equation. Nothing is needed to complete their salvation, indeed nothing apart from Jesus alone offers them salvation.

As we read through this remarkable letter, Paul will explain what it meant for the Galatians to be free from the burden of the law, how to use that freedom for good, and how to walk by the Spirit. We will also explore what those very same things mean for us today in our context. Join us!

Natalie

Trick Question

After conferring with their team, the teens raced to write their answers on the white board. “What are two things you can do to earn God’s grace?” Repent? Believe? It was a trick question. Eddie fooled them! There isn’t one thing we can do to earn God’s grace.

Grace, by nature, is unmerited. In worship we sing “I didn’t earn it. I don’t deserve it. Still you give yourself away.” In the Bible we read “For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.” This is a fundamental truth of orthodox Christian faith. How then, do we reconcile this with the teaching of Jesus recorded in Matthew 25:31-46?

When he returns in glory, surrounded by heaven’s host and seated on his throne, Jesus says he will come to judge humanity. With the nations gathered before him, he will separate his sheep from the goats.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Those who inherit eternal life, the righteous ones, have something in common. They acted. Changed by grace, they extended mercy to the needy, the stranger, the imprisoned. Having received grace they could not earn they willingly gave it to others who could neither earn nor repay it.

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” (James 2:14-19)

We are saved by grace, yes, but grace does not ever leave us unchanged. We repent, we believe, and we act because we have received God’s grace. It’s all grace! I pray you have been transformed by his grace and when you stand before Jesus he will see the evidence of it in your life.

Let’s be a church that shows our faith by our deeds. May we go, extending grace, living open handed, with hearts full of love for both our neighbor and the nations, until that great and awesome day.

Find us to be your faithful sheep, Lord.

Natalie

Talents a Reflection

"What would you do with $13,316,953? What would you do with it if it was handed to you by Jesus Himself?"

Matthew 25:14-30 is written by Matthew, a tax collector, who gets to witness Jesus speak about the Kingdom of Heaven and describe it in a topic Matthew knew well - finance. Who better to write about this parable than one who understands money and investments? We get a glimpse of what restoration is like, the final Metanarrative of Scripture in this parable.  

Jesus is sitting on the slopes of the Mount of Olives after visiting the Temple grounds and telling the disciples that “one day the buildings will be knocked down with not one stone left on top of another.” Mat. 24:2. Jesus had just told the disciples the Temple will fall to the ground, that the end of the world is coming, and that He, too, is leaving them for a while. Speaking of what is yet to come in Mat. 25, Jesus gives the disciples an illustration of hope about what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.

How amazing is our King, that He doesn’t leave the disciples in the dark? (He doesn’t leave us in the dark either!) Jesus tells the disciples that the Temple will fall and in Mat. 24, Jesus warns in detail what they can look out for and what to do while He is away, but Jesus doesn’t stop there in the desolation and storm. He, who is living hope, gives hope by describing the Kingdom of Heaven!

Jesus tells the story of a man traveling out of the country, leaving with his servant's talents for them to invest while he is gone, according to their abilities. A talent is a measurement of weight equal to 75 pounds. Depending on the Bible translation, the description may be of gold or a monetary sum. The first servant was entrusted with 5 talents of gold. I’m no tax collector, and while I do math daily, it is not my favorite subject. Looking at the numbers, 5 talents of gold at 75 pounds each would equal about 375 pounds. Today 375 pounds of gold is worth $13,316,953.  He gives 2 talents of gold to the next servant so about 150 pounds of gold, worth today around $5,326,781. To the last servant, he entrusts 1 talent of gold, 75 pounds at a value of $2,663,391 in today's currency exchange.  After handing out the loans, the man leaves for his trip.

The first servant receiving his responsibility gets to work immediately buying, selling, and raising his amount to $26,633,906.  The second does the same and to his ability raises his original amount to $10,653,563. The last servant dug a hole and buried his $2,663,391, not raising his amount as the first two servants had done.

The man comes home from his trip and, pleased with the first two servants and the profit they raised, gives them even more than they raised. The man also puts them in charge of many things. The servant who buried his loan, not wanting to give up his profit, had his gold given to the servant who raised the most and was thrown into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

It seems the first two servants were excited to get to work, they trusted the man and wanted to do good for him while he was away. The third servant didn’t seem to have the same relationship. He didn’t view the man the way the other two did. The third servant viewed him as a hard man and was afraid he would be robbed of his earnings.  The third servant did not share in the joy of the work as the first two did. Why do you think that is?

What would you do with $13,316,953? What would you do with it if it was handed to you by Jesus Himself? Would you know what Jesus would want you to do with it? Do you have a relationship with Jesus that would cause you to hide what you are given out of fear and greed, thinking it will be taken from you, or would you feel encouraged to use what Jesus gives you? What has Jesus entrusted you with now, while you await His return? As I read over this chapter, I found myself humming the song “This Little Light of Mine”. I wondered, what am I hiding under a bushel that God has gifted me with to grow? What am I being lazy with? What am I letting Satan blow out or extinguish, that God is encouraging me to shine?  My prayer for us is for God’s will to be the same on Earth as it is in Heaven, and that we will continue to be good and faithful servants with all that God has entrusted us with from now until the time of Jesus' return. 

~Nikki Fiedler