Galatians 3 Recap

"Deep inside me there's this burning that just won't let me go.
You are my fire, You are my righteousness, You are my rock and roll.
I wish I could fit you down inside my chest, God,
I wish that I could swallow you whole.
I'd wrap you up in a blanket of my skin and you could call my body home."
-John Mark McMillan, "I Am a Temple"

Picture it:

Paul has just traveled through Galatia on his first missionary journey and had won people over to Christ and started a new church there. The Galatians were on fire for Christ and they got it; they understood it. But not too long after he left, some people began to teach that faith alone wasn’t enough to be saved. They believed that there had to be more to becoming a Christian than simply believing in Jesus; that just seemed too easy. These false teachers got to work at every church in Galatia, trying to get people to believe their skewed and twisted message of salvation. Paul hat to set them straight.

Gal. 3:1-3
“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?”

Paul is frustrated because the Galatians got it, they understood their salvation, they saw the picture of Christ on the cross that Paul had painted for them. But now, they had began to believe that in order to attain spiritual perfection, they had to follow all these laws. It's hard for us to understand Old Testament laws that were written 3,000 years ago. They were extensive and demanding and honestly, would be impossible for us to stick to. Because of Adam and Eve's choice to sin, to defy God, we are now inherently sinful and bad; sinning is in our nature.

So why did God require these laws in the first place? What was He thinking? Well, the reality is, the Law prepared the way for the coming of Jesus. The law was put forth so that we could recognize the truth - that we're messed up by our sins. God loves us so much that He clearly communicated to us what pleases Him and what doesn't please Him.

Paul is urging the Galatians, and us, to remember that salvation is a gift; all we have to do is accept it. Paul is saying, "Look. It's easy. All you have to do is accept it; Believe that Jesus did all the work for you and that you are immediately free. Free to be changed inside, free to live a new kind of life, and free to be welcomed into Heaven by God Himself."

So often we focus on our failures. But as it says in ch.3 v.27, "For all of you who were baptized in Christ have put on Christ." We put on Christ like new clothes. We wear Him. When God looks at us, He doesn't see us. He sees Christ. We are hidden in Him; we are completely covered by Him. In Christ, God doesn't look down on us with dissapointment, He always looks down on us and smiles. This fact doesn't give us a free ticket to sin. On the contrary, it gives us an opportunity to live a life worthy of the Gospel of Christ. It gives us an opportunity to not obey just because we feel forced to, but because we genuinely want to love and please our great God.

You are going to mess up; you're human. But when you do, don't give up. Don't stop trying. Don't just throw your hands up in the air. Recognize that Christ's sacrifice and grace has covered you and keep going. Keep pursuing after the Kingdom.

Run your race,
Bre