Paul closes his letter to the Galatian churches by urging them to sow a life that matters. He gives us all an important principle: we reap what we sow. Every choice we make plants a seed. Galatians 6: 7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those …
Paul wanted the Galatian churches to know that through the mercy and grace of Jesus, we have freedom with a purpose. Paul had risked his life to preach the Gospel and plant these churches, and now false teachers were leading them astray. These people wanted the Gentiles in these churches to follow the Jewish laws …
We are adopted and accepted as children of God through the power of the Trinity. God had given the law many years before Jesus was born. This law wasn’t God’s final revelation, but it was preparation for the revelation and redemption of Christ. All the law could do was reveal our desperate need for restoration. …
We are God’s children through faith, a wonderful blessing that Paul discusses in Galatians Chapter 3. He opens the chapter by taking his readers back to Abraham. Long before laws, rituals, or religious performance, Abraham was declared righteous because he trusted God. God’s promise rested on faith, not on human achievement. This truth cuts across …
Living by faith is part of a believer’s faith journey, though it is not easy and marks a major transformation in a person’s life. Identity is one of the deepest questions every person faces: Who am I? Many people answer that question by looking to accomplishments, reputation, status, success, failure, or others’ approval. Paul once …
Paul clearly states in the first chapter of Galatians that there is no other Gospel. He does this with authority and urgency. He reminds believers that Jesus Christ commissioned him. His message wasn’t created by people, shaped by culture, or passed down by tradition. It came directly from God. Paul then speaks words of grace …
Freedom in Christ is the reason Paul wrote the book of Galatians, because the people in the churches of Galatia were going backward in their faith.Galatians 5:1So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.[1] Scholars have called the …
The apostles understood that through Jesus’ work on the cross and His resurrection, they were now saved by grace through faith. These were new times for the Jews, especially for the Pharisees, who focused on the law. Thus, the reason they were debating was whether Gentiles must first become Jews to be saved. Peter had …
During the debate over the need for circumcision for Gentile believers, James began searching the Scriptures for answers. “James was a brother to Jesus (Matt. 13:55; Gal. 1:19) and the writer of the Epistle of James.[1] During Jesus’ lifetime, we don’t think he believed that his half-brother was the Messiah (John 7:5). He seems to …
In the dispute over circumcision, Peter, Barnabas, and Paul began by remembering what God has done. Acts 10 tells the story of Peter meeting and preaching to Cornelius, a Roman centurion. The Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles just as He had on the disciples earlier. When Peter returned to Jerusalem after this incident, hardliners …