Ian’s lets listen to Jesus

Be still and know that i am God – the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus is here with you (yes in Ephesians 1:3 Paul refers to the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus”. I take that to mean in His humanity He saw God as His God and Father).

“The key word is not just to know that I am with you – but that you know Me and even more important that I know you. From your conception I have known you – from a young age you have known and accepted that I am real – but there came a time when your eyes were truly opened and in a full flush of wonder you came into a different dimension of ‘knowledge’ – a dimension where you met Me in a new way – From that moment on I knew you too in a new way, because I started a relationship with you – where you could meet and speak to me. Now as time is passing I am drawing you deeper and deeper into knowing Me. My word speaks of Jesus as a ‘Mystery’ and though that Mystery is revealed under the New Covenant – while it is revealed there are yet such riches in that Mystery that there is a deeper and more intimate knowledge revealed of Me as you walk with Me, hence Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:17 – and the aim is twofold – to give you hope – and to open your eyes to the power that is available to you to live the life – the new life of freedom I have given you. So my continual invitation to you is to keep close to Me and to walk step by step in the way and power of the Spirit”.

Today I was reading in Acts again (Ch 21), describing Paul’s arrested in Jerusalem. John Stott makes the point that from that time onward Paul was never free again. Yet, as I considered this, it came to me that despite his physical bondage and captivity he was still, perhaps the person with the greatest freedom. He understood fully what it meant to be set free from the bondage of the law, yet he used the law to open a way to preach the gospel, without falling into bondage again. So it is important that we understand that the freedom that the gospel brings is a spiritual and mental freedom and not a physical freedom. There are many people who are in bondage to sickness, pain, captivity, disability, poverty etc yet have a sense of the complete freedom which comes with a true understanding of the gospel. Take Joni Ericksen-Tada as an example.

If we look again at Galatians 5, there is a clear choice set before the readers: either to live by gratifying the sinful nature v 16 and performing the acts of that nature or by being led by the Spirit. This is clearly describing before and after our conversion. At first glance we easily pat ourselves on the back as we read the list of the acts of the sinful nature, because they seem so obvious and awful and we would never act like that, yet in vs 17 Paul reveals the real state of affairs in every Christian’s life (including Paul’s, that’s why he could speak from experience). We each have two natures, although the sinful nature has been suppressed and we have been set free from its cloying hold, it still remains a factor in every Christian’s life. Thus Paul can say our two natures are “in conflict with one another” and he says these ominous words in that vs “so you do not do what you want“. Wow! So we may not be involved in debauchery, drunken orgies and the like, but there are many acts of this sinful nature which still can trouble you without you realizing it, just to mention two: Idolatry, worshiping anything other than God, for instance yourself, your family, whatever. He demands our whole heart, mind, body, strength etc. Then there is the sin of ‘muttering’, which made God so angry on a number of occasions in the OT. It is so easy to join in the general chorus of complaint against everything that is going wrong in our country. Oh yes, are these things worse than what the Israelites experienced 3 days into the desert with no sign of water or food? Or when plagues broke out among them in the desert? When we complain we are implying God does not know what He is doing, or that He is powerless to change things. How does that affect our testimony in general conversation when we go along with all the negative comment? There are many more but the important point I want to make is that though we are free we need to be careful to maintain and grow in that freedom.

So the battle for freedom from the bondage to sin and ourselves is ongoing. What are we to do about it? Try harder? That puts us back into bondage to the law again. No – the answer is to remind ourselves of the central gospel message in his book in ch 2:20,21. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The life that I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me”. And to repent and start afresh in faith and trust of His power and to live in step and in the power of the Spirit. That is true freedom.

Grace – the word grace fills my mind as I become quiet, waiting for My Lord to speak to me – He is giving me a picture of grace which appears almost like a cloud or a liquid which is being poured over me – the word in Ephesians 1 comes to mind “grace lavished on me” vs 8.

“Every aspect of your life is governed by My grace – it is so much more than what many understand by the simple explanation of ‘receiving what you don’t deserve’ – it describes My whole attitude towards you from the moment your life was conceived – it describes My whole plan for your life – every detail, every moment (was) is covered by My grace it is not only My attitude – it is the very power I release constantly for you to live your life – like I want you to – it embodies My love which is the attitude I have towards you and your life which causes Me to cover you with My grace. And while I encourage you to live one day at a time – as you look forward into the future – there should be one word that covers all that your life is still to bring – My grace – so be still – relax – give over and take comfort – My Grace covers you all the time – do not fret about anything”.

Last time we started talking about “freedom”, true freedom. May I ask you to stop now and examine the deepest thoughts of your heart and answer these two questions for yourself. What do I understand about true biblical freedom? Am I living in this freedom? Put aside the temptation to draw the narrative you tell yourself and start from the bottom asking the Lord to search you and show….. Psalm 139:23,24.

The key vs in Galatians is 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” It describes the moment that every Christian is set free and can from then on live in complete freedom. We have spoken about freedom from what? Bondage to the law, the flesh, the world and the devil. OK so we know that intellectually, but are you experiencing it in your everyday life. The point of Galatians is exactly, that although we have all, as Christians been set free, our tendency is to be drawn back into some sort of bondage again. In the first 4 chapters he is speaking about bondage to the law. But when he comes to ch 5 where he cries out “it is for freedom that Christ has set you free”, he brings the other end of the swing of the pendulum and that is the danger of seeing freedom as an excuse to fall back into licentiousness and the influences of the world and the flesh and the Devil from which you have also been set free but which are still lurking around the corner waiting to draw you back into bondage again.

Hence his grave warning in vs 15 if you keep on biting and devouring one another you will be destroyed by each other. And to counter all this is to remind each one of us that the entire law, to which we as Christians subscribe, is summed up in a single command “to love your neighbour as yourself”. So how do you live like that? He introduces his ‘solution’ in vs 16 “So I say, live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature”.

So do you as a Christian really believe that you never live to gratify the desires of the sinful nature? That is a myth. So this magnetic attraction to move back under the law or feel free to gratify your own desires is one of the greatest challenges that each one of us faces. Consider this carefully and next time we will look a bit more at the instruction Paul gives here at the end of the letter to help us live according to the Spirit. And the key to all this, of course, lies in the words at the beginning of this blog: His grace covers all.

Today two words are going through my mind: “Power” and “Freedom”. And a question I have been pondering. “Can my service or anyone’s service for the Lord become so onerous that it in itself becomes a bondage?” I have seen ministers who have felt so overloaded and burdened that they become depressed and even leave the ministry.

I hear the Lord, “True freedom comes in living out the full potential you have in being Ian – the Ian that I have sculpted, prepared and loved you to become – as as you grow in that you will experience true freedom. Everyone is born into a slavery to the flesh, the world and the Devil – each one is born unable to help yourself – as you grow up you are being moulded by these forces – although in the background I have always been working – Jesus’ life and death has made it possible for you to be set free from those forces – to serve Me – NOTE: Matthew 11:28/30. Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest (freedom). Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light”. The burden of the world and sin is heavy and exhausting – depressing – you are set free – rather to serve Me with joy – ultimately your service will only be a burden if your attitude is wrong, if you lose sight of My love and My invitation, if you lose touch with the power of the Spirit. My yoke will never be a burden if you keep in step with My Spirit and walk by Him”.

This morning I was reading in Acts 20, how Paul had gathered a number of disciples around him and was delegating more and more tasks to them. So one observation I would like to make is that some ministers don’t understand and apply Ephesians 4:11,12 where the role of the pastor, teacher is to “prepare the people for the works of the ministry”, and end up trying to do everything themselves, for various reasons but often because they don’t trust others to do things correctly. We are all called to be ministers for God towards each other. If this is understood, ministry becomes a real joy.

So this morning on my early walk I saw a sad sight. A discarded mask, lying wet and muddy half under a bush. A feeling of melancholia swept over me as I thought “this is our world today. Everyone covered by masks and here is one discarded and useless just like the Lord has discarded the world”. I quickly realized that thinking was way off course. God hasn’t discarded the world He made. What He has done is put the world under a curse. But His purpose is NOT to throw the world and its people away, rather He has done it for a specific purpose: that many will repent and turn to Him as He prepares His bride. And the mask? Why, that represents the mask that every non-Christian hides away behind. That is the mask that God tears away when we realize that Jesus has set us free. That once we have been crucified with Him and you start living your new life in Him, you will never need again if you appropriate the freedom that God has given you completely.

That is the mask each one of us must determinedly toss away like the discarded one I saw today. The message of Galatians is much about those who, having had their masks removed, find them and put them on again. Hence Paul’s cry in Galatians 5:1 “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm and don’t let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Don’t go and find your discarded mask and try to put it on again).

So at the beginning of the week, go out and live and experience God’s freedom and if you still have a mask, dispose of it as completely as you can in Christ. I must confess it is so easy to slip back into bondage again so I am going to talk more about Galatians 5 next time. Bless you all in His name.

As the words of the song “Not my will” are being threshed out in my mind I hear the Lord “I have a special message for you on this, your birthday – it is not a new message – it comes from the ‘Ancient of Days’ and is as old as I am. Look up at the mountain.” I look up and see a vast light shining on top of a tall mountain. “That represents my presence to you – Moses met with me on a mountain, Jesus had a special meeting on a mountain – Psalm 121 says ‘I will lift up my eyes to the mountain from whence comes my help – my help comes from the One who made heaven and earth’, so this is the message for you today – I am still with you – I am still pouring My love out on you – if I gave My Son on the cross for you, how much more will I give you all that you need – and mostly you need Me – you need My love. So this year you will continue to experience My grace – lavished on you, poured out without measure – and as you walk in step with the Spirit – will be helped to make the moment by moment decisions of ‘not my will but yours be done’. The big decision has been made but the moment by moment decisions can only be made as you come to them – that is how you grow in faith – making the decision, often difficult, which you believe by faith, is My will is instead of yours. So go out today and every day in My strength, grace and love which I will continually lavish on you”.

Just a short message today, but one that spoke powerfully to me. In Gal 4:17 Paul writes that “those people”, ie the false teachers, “are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may become zealous for them”. They wanted the glory, they had no desire to give God the glory for the salvation of the people of Galatia.

*** The whole fight, there in Galatia and the whole fight over the understanding of the gospel which is raging in the world on all fronts today, is not about the truth, it is about “my will against God’s will”. It is about me being right and getting the praise for it, which I can measure in the number of people who laud me and follow me. Don’t underestimate this battle. So for me as a teacher of the word, I have to be doubly careful that I submit to God’s word and His will which is revealed in it, remembering especially James 3:1-6. And for you folk it is your duty and responsibility to yourselves and to the church to make sure you are submitting your will to His and to listen to what He is saying to you, through His word and the teachers you listen to.

I am devastated at what I see happening around me in “Christian circles” as God’s word is being taken apart and submitted to the people by teachers who want to benefit from different “interpretations”. What they are actually doing is trying to make a name for themselves, like at the Tower of Babel. Following their own will rather than God’s will. That is why I chose to study Galatians and will tackle this again as I start to preach through it next month. Have a blessed day and thanks to all those who have wished me well on his special day

This is a week in which I feel I can start with excited expectation, – not because I have anything (except my birthday) planned – but because I walk with the Lord – that makes anything possible. As I remind myself to “be still and know the Lord”, He takes me back to Psalm 46 where that quote comes from. The whole theme of that Psalm is a picture of a turbulent world and a God acting in that world like a river of peace – a God not phased by the uproar of nations – a God not phased by corruption, plundering, Covid etc and in the midst of all these we can be still and know this God, who is our fortress, whose river makes glad the city of the Lord. In one way God has plucked us out (yes the Hebrew for salvation has this meaning) of this maelstrom of a world which is rushing along like a torrent, unchecked in a huge canyon – He has already plucked me out, He is plucking each one of His children out – but in another sense we need to remind ourselves that He is our fortress where we must constantly run for protection from the evil of this world – Praise you Lord you are my impenetrable fortress.

On reflecting on the words of Paul in our book Galatians, I am drawn again to the word “promise” which plays such an important part in his argument. He repeats it 9 times in ch 3 and 4. As fallible humans we may see this word perhaps slightly differently to what its biblical meaning is. When you and I may make a promise it would be like “I am coming past your place next week and I will pop in to see you”. Actually it may even be qualified with “I hope to pop in to see you”. The completion of the promise is dependent on many factors, not the least that one may change one’s mind. Because of this unpredictability of the outcome of our promises, we have taken ways of trying to ensure that an important promise will be fulfilled. Hence the practice of signing contracts so that the promise may be verified. In cases where the promises are reneged on there are courts of law which will adjudicate. All because the certainty and value of the promises are subject to so many variables in a world dominated by evil.

Now God made a singularly important promise to Abraham in Genesis 12;2-3, which makes up the central theme of the whole of God’s story, as told in the bible. This promise of bringing a blessing to the world, labouring under a universal curse, was based entirely on His character. Later to confirm it He made a contract with His people in the form of a covenant agreement which was instigated entirely from His side. All the people had to do was accept the conditions of the covenant and obey them to benefit from them. Something they proved unable to do in the years that followed, but this did not affect God’s promise at all.

On the contrary when God saw that the people could not obey, He put into action the ultimate fulfilment of the promise by sending His Son, Jesus, who through His death, put into effect that promise. In 1 Corinthians 1:20 Paul underlines this “for no matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ”. Every promise that God has made is fulfilled in and through Jesus. That is how certain the outcome is. We simply need to stand back and look at the cross and its historic reality to know that whatever God has promised will be fulfilled.

Why am I making such a fuss about this? Because for us to benefit from this Promise we need to accept it by faith, before it becomes real to us cf Gal 3:14,24. And here is the crunch. Where does faith come from? Romans 10:17 faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ”. So as you read and ponder these things which are the message of God’s word, may this discussion strike virulence into your faith as you accept and believe the promises as laid out in that word. Because the opposite of faith is the often held misconception that you can somehow do something to facilitate your salvation, (obey the law) it is extremely important that we understand and apply this teaching to experience the freedom that we are going to talk about next time.

So when we say we have a hope it is based not on the vagaries of some human promise but THE promise and more from our God, based on His unchangeable nature and we can be absolutely sure that that hope which arises from it, will be fulfilled.

May you bathe in the certainty of His Promise based on His almighty power and love.

I have been singing “Praise God who came to the earth, whose love is like a mighty flood”.I have a picture in my mind of a flood, water pouring down everywhere – covering everything – out of control. what is a flood? I ask myself. A flood is where something is given in superabundance – in water it covers everything, apparently out of control.

“My love is like a flood, only in that it covers everything in superabundance – washing away all evil and opposition.” I see the world in the time of Noah – water covering the world in judgement. “Yes My love includes judgement – my love covers everything, but it is only apparent to those who have a spiritual perception – even in the evil of the world I am there controlling it – for the purposes of My love. So receive My love and perceive it everywhere around you in what you can see – But remember it is not only for you, it is for you to pass it on and share it – My community should show each other love so that they are bound together -inseparably – setting aside and forgiving all differences – everyone in My kingdom has a different personality – so these differences have to be overcome through the power of My Spirit – in the full expression of My love.”

In Galatians 3:19 Paul asks a vital question “what then is the purpose of the law”? He feels it is necessary to set the record straight, because up to now he has been making a strong case that we are under God’s promise and not the law and the reader may be asking himself this very question, if the law is ineffectual or even harmful what then could the purpose be in God giving the law which dominates the Old Testament? So in 3:19 – 25 Paul seeks to answer this question. This is a vital part in understanding Paul’s argument in Galatians and the rest of ch 3 and ch 4 go to illustrations which are intended to enable the person who is steeped in the Old Testament to understand what he has said in these few vv. So why don’t you read these vv and ponder over them, asking Jesus to help you understand them completely.

So here are a few comments to help you think. The words of John Stott are helpful: “The function of the law was not to bestow salvation, however, but to convince men of their need of it. Satan would have us prove ourselves holy by the law, which God gave to prove us sinners”.

In short we would not know what sin is if it wasn’t for the law (Romans 8:7). So once the law was given we were held prisoners by it, locked up until faith should be revealed. Gal 3:23.

What does that actually mean practically? When we are under the law we are constantly being made aware of the need to obey it perfectly. So for instance, as Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount: If you so much as look with lust at someone you have already committed adultery, if you say something bad about someone, you have actually committed murder etc. so in vs 24 Paul says the law was put in charge of everyone like a school-master to lead us to the realization of the need for believing in the promise given to Abraham and put in effect through Jesus’ death on the cross, so that when we believe we are no longer slaves but heirs to Him and His inheritance, like true sons and daughters.

So from a practical point whenever we go back to trying to please God by obeying the law we are putting ourselves back into prison. The Christian now sees each law as a promise, so when the law says “Thou shalt not commit murder” the promise says “Though will no longer commit murder”. Paul is going to emphasize the real freedom that comes with the gospel later, but this is the basis of it. The end of the letter gives much more practical advice as to how we should live this freedom, but now we need to realize the reality and the mechanism of it.

So what is Jesus saying to you? What is your relationship with the law?

I see a light on the horizon – it is the first sign of the sun rising – soon the bright burnished ball of light will appear above the horizon. “This is a new day a new week – reflect on My gift to you – the gift of My Son on the cross – the gift of His death for you, the gift of the Holy Spirit – these are all pure gifts – let me cleanse you of all your prejudices – all those things in your life that are clouding your view of my gift – it is pure and yes – remember it is a gift, which means all you need to do is receive it and even as you receive it – remember that If I have given My Son on the cross for you – how much more will I give you all things (Romans 8:32) – so start this week with this assurance of My love and care for you, receive My gift so that you can continue to make your contribution to My kingdom’s work.”

As Paul continues in Galatians chapter 3 and 4 to show how important it is that we realize that salvation is free, he focusses quite a bit on the “promise” which God gave to Abraham (Genesis 12:2,3). This promise which is described elsewhere as the “gospel declared beforehand” needs to be understood in its context to really appreciate its importance in opening up the understanding of the whole rest of God’s story in the bible.

To grasp the context we need to go back to Genesis 3:14 to the end of that chapter and read the deadly words which God spoke out over His creation in the form of a curse. The ultimate proof and consequence of Adam’s sin amounted to the introduction of the death sentence for mankind (Gen 3:22, 24), amongst all the other dreadful things. These are more fully described in Deuteronomy ch 28. It is worth reading this chapter, because many of us are somewhat surprised, at the awful things that are happening in our country and the world at the moment. Many think these curses as described in Deut 28 are specifically reserved for the Israelites or are limited to the Old Testament times. However, if you look at the book of Revelation and read the graphic descriptions God gave John on Patmos about the end times, one will realize that they are a feature of the whole of the time of tribulation which started at Jesus’ crucifixion and which are a feature of our lives today. Many Christians have tried to comfort themselves by suggesting that these judgements of God will only occur during a short 7 year period before Jesus returns. The bible doesn’t support that view at all. Remember Jesus’ oft repeated words “In Me you will have peace but in he world you will have tribulation”

The only way to avoid the curse of God, according to Deuteronomy Ch 28, 30, is obey the Lord Jehovah fully and completely. So here is where the promise of blessing for the world through Abraham comes in. The blessing, cancelling the curse comes as a result of the promise to Abraham, which is to be put into effect through his “seed” Gal 3:15 (Gen 12:7). It is done by Jesus taking the full judgement of God contained in the curse upon Himself on our behalf (Gal 3:10ff). He was able to obey the law completely and nevertheless still was put to death so that we could escape that capital punishment which actually looks forward to the eternal separation which will come to anyone who does not embrace Jesus’ work by faith.

We need to stand back and contemplate the enormity of this revelation, to see how puny anyone’s efforts are to break the curse personally in comparison to to the power of Jesus’ death. And what is more amazing is that it comes as a result of a promise and only needs to be received by faith. It is an insult to God and to Jesus that we can think His death was insufficient and needs our contribution. I dare say we don’t think of it that way, but that is what it amounts to.

Of course we should not lose sight of the fact that we receive the blessing of God in the heavenly realm (the realm of the spiritual) and are still living physically in a world under God’s curse (Ephesians1:3).

At this time may I say as a comfort to us, it is important to realize that God is still in control of the world and all the happenings, his curse is not out if His control (cf Revelation ch 12).

This all fills me with an enormous sense of thanksgiving and praise. How do you view the death of Jesus as the fulfilment of the promise of God 6000 years before, as it affects you personally?

The words of the song “Not my will but yours be done”, are flowing through my mind. I see a picture of Jesus in the Garden, drops of blood mingling with sweat – that’s what the battle He was fighting looked like, as He came into submission for the most important mission in His life. So the Lord says “In the same way you are battling every day to take up your cross and put your will to death so you can follow My will. Built into you is your desire to do your own will and it constantly comes to the surface. So daily be conscious of this battle – but fight it in My strength – confess when you fail and follow the way of My Spirit – because I don’t want you to be in bondage to your will and the law – I have set you free from that – if I have given you your freedom you shall be free indeed – so live in that freedom, live the life of the Spirit who wants to guide you and empower you every moment of the day.”

Now last time we were looking at the important, basic, central, theological statement of the letter to the Galatians, that “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in Me. The life that I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”. Now Paul comes to the the reason he is writing the letter. The application of this statement in the light of the behaviour of the Galatians. I have found in the past these verses so important in convicting us and helping us direct our lives into living in the way of the Spirit continually.

Notice the important bridging verse 2:21, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing“. So what was the quest of the Galatians? It was to do something to gain extra righteousness in God’s eyes. To be seen by God (and other Christians) as being specially worthy of salvation. Now notice it is not necessarily the specific acts of he law that are the problem. It is the motivation behind doing those acts. “To gain a righteousness…” In their case they were seeking to be obedient to specific parts of the law (in this case circumcision, but later in 4:10 they were observing special days, months and seasons). In our case it can be any act which is designed in our minds to “gain righteousness”. Think what these could be and we will talk more specifically next time.

So understand this, we have been declared completely righteous when we are crucified with Christ. We are completely acceptable to Him. Our sins are washed away by His blood. Nothing we can do can improve on that. If we imagine, even subconsciously that we can make ourselves more acceptable by doing anything, however laudable, we are insulting Christ because we are saying in effect He died for nothing.

So this is what leads Paul to call out “you foolish Galatians!” They had understood the whole process of salvation. They had understood that Christ had been crucified for their sins. They had understood that they received God’s Spirit because of faith and now they were reverting back to trying to gain a righteousness by doing the law.

Now let me come to the application of this principle for us today, which is so appropriate. We are not under the same influence of the law as those Jews were, yet we have a cultural way of understanding Christianity which in many ways is influenced by the understanding of the law of our ancestors. So any act which we may do because we are moved to do it because we think we will be better Christians, with the motive of being more acceptable to God is foolishness, because it denies the work of Christ.

Turn that around to the positive. Once we are saved, our life is transformed and we are henceforth living by the Spirit in a dynamic relationship with God through Jesus. Yes we will often fail or even grow cold, but when we realize that, we turn to Him for forgiveness and our relationship is restored. So the daily practice of our relationship starts with our personal time with the Lord and our life flows from that. .As we shall see later in the letter this is hugely freeing, once you realize it. Unfortunately many find their relationship drifting into a legalistic process of doing certain things which they believe set them right again with God and they lose the joy of that personal relationship which has been won for us by Christ.

The letter will continue to unbundle this principle for us. For me it is a challenge to remind myself to live by the gospel and to teach it continually, so that I am not found among the “foolish”.

As I listen to the song “100 Billion times” God speaks to me. “In the vapour of my breath a hundred billion galaxies are born – think of that power, huge stars, many times the size of the sun, galaxies of them – awesome unimaginable furnaces – that reflect and show My power – the vapour of My breath can produce anything – that power is at work in the world today and the full aim and purpose of that power is focused on preparing a people for Myself – a Bride – a Bride to bring Me glory – a Bride which will give Me joy and each person is important in that Bride, each of you who will be there will know the joy I am experiencing at the culmination of My plan – look around you – the whole earth is is under My power, yes it is not always so evident because of sin and the ‘curse’ – but that power is at work all the time – in the Covid epidemic, in the looting masses – that power is at work to achieve My purpose – it is at work in you in every part of your being, so go into the week with the words ringing in your ears – “if God is for you who can be against you?” And rejoice in them.”

Thankyou for your accurate and intimate comments on Galatians 2:20,21 . Let us look at this passage together again because it is so important not only to know and understand it but to actually live through it by grace. It is surely the beginning of center point of this letter, which actually carries on and includes Ch 3:1-5. So in vs 19 Paul says “through the law I died to the law that I may live (for God).” In vs 20 he uses the “death” terminology again. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me”. So what is he saying? What about him has died and how does that affect his life and ours? Remember death denotes a total separation. He says he has died to the law. What does he mean and what is the deeper meaning which is the beginning of the secret of this passage?

The law represented God’s standard which, according to Deuteronomy if obeyed completely it would be the source of life.

Dt 30:15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.
Dt 30:16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live.

But our lack of ability to keep this law perfectly represents the deep problem we each of us has. It is the problem of placing ourselves first in our thoughts and lives. Truly the word sin has i in the middle. Because we are each born with the default desire to love ourselves and to live for ourselves it is impossible to obey God’s law completely from our hearts starting with the basic one “I command you to love the Lord”. Later in the letter Paul will expand on this concept that the law, paradoxically leads him to realize his need for salvation, his need to break the bonds of the law, as it were.

For this to happen he needs to be crucified. What is to be killed? Well this very “self” which is the center point of sin. It is only as that part of ourselves is put to death that we can come alive to accept the power of God to lead us in the Spirit-filled life. The new life is a life of faith, he says. A life of living by trusting Jesus, through His Spirit to lead us and empower us to live it.

This verb crucified is in the aorist tense, an action done once for always. So he is saying he has been crucified once and for all so that his whole life is new. From now on Jesus will be at the center if his life and all his life will be focused on following and pleasing Jesus. His life has taken on a new direction. Interestingly Jesus builds on that concept in Mark 8:34 ff. “If anyone would come after me , he must deny himself (Daily and continually) and take up his cross and follow me”. So while we have been totally set free once and for all, we need to learn to apply that freedom to our daily lives continually.

Then Paul comes to the application of this theological discussion which is summarized in 2:21 – 3:6, which is the very purpose of his writing this letter. So lets look at that next time, to see how these vv fit together and most of all whether we are really applying them to our lives.

So the challenge to me is to keep remembering that I have been crucified with Christ. He is the One who has set me free so I need to embrace that in my mind and actions every day as I live it by His grace.

Today I decided to just sit and enjoy the presence of the Lord – without my usual introductory chatter. As I sit, I sense one word pervading the room – “Peace”……. “My peace – I have invited you to lay down your burdens at My feet and promised you Peace – that is what the whole concept of the Sabbath was intended to picture and represent – the world is fretting because of its disturbed relationship with me – so through My Covenant, I come bringing peace – peace with Me – so that you can have a relationship with Me – peace in your heart because you can entrust yourself completely to Me. And peace with everyone around you and your environment. That is what true Christianity looks like – ‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me, the life that I live in the body , I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me!.’

“This is the secret that Galatians explains – the secret of the new life in the Spirit – yet so many people find it so hard to give up the idea that they control their lives and their destinies – true peace lies in understanding this life in the Spirit and living it. Know therefore that this is what the Sabbath was looking forward to – you are now in the eternal Sabbath”.

So before we look at the rest of ch 2 in Galatians, let us look at the 3 topics I suggested you should meditate on last time. Remember we are examining these in the context of this letter.

1. Why did Paul give so much space to his testimony about the authority he had? Firstly we must remember that Paul was not part of the original ‘band’ of disciples who became apostles, as he explains in this letter. So he was being regarded with some suspicion by the other apostles, and we see some of that interaction in Acts 15. This letter was probably written early in his ministry after his first missionary journey. Secondly he had some very serious words to say to the Galatians who had been influenced by other teachers, called Judaizers, who were trying to bring the law back into the gospel. Paul therefore had to show clearly where his authority came from so they would listen and accept what he was saying. The important application for us is that this passage lays down the authority which the whole of the scripture has for us, as coming from God through His inspiration. It says Yes you may believe, yes you must believe, yes it is imperative that you believe and trust the Word.

Remember the question Satan asked in Genesis which led to Adam’s downfall? “Did God really say?” So today we are experiencing an unprecedented attack on Christianity from within as well as without and much of that is aimed at twisting and casting doubt on the truth and purity of God’s Word and the gospel as the center point of it. We need to go back and look at how serious Paul was about proving that the gospel he was preaching was the true gospel from God. And that is why I am so serious that each one of us that reads this blog believes and lives the true gospel.

2. Why is it so attractive to people to believe they can benefit by adding to the gospel? Well I think this is a very important issue because it goes to the very basis of our sinful DNA. It is hard for us, and let me say the more successful you have been in life the harder it is to accept that one can do nothing to add to Jesus’ work of salvation and that we must just accept it and receive it and give Him the glory. We want some of the glory. We like to flatter ourselves that we have a useful contribution to give. We are uncomfortable to receive unconditionally and therefore our default thinking is that what I do shows me to be a better Christian, more acceptable to God and who knows, maybe get ahead of some others in the queue. Last year Emily had a wound on her ankle that would not heal. I was referred to a nurse who specializes in wound care and after an initial consultation, which she charged me only for the materials she used, she then went ahead and treated Emily for three or four months completely free. I really needed this but it was hard for me to accept this absolute generosity, I so badly wanted to do something in return, but I realized it was from God, so was able to ultimately worship and thank Him for what this angel He had sent was doing and give Him the glory, while being extremely grateful to her as well.

3. Why the fuss? It is worth the fuss because every teaching which pollutes the gospel is an insult to God, who gave His only Son to die on the cross so that no one may perish but everyone who believes may have eternal life. He went to the most extreme lengths to win our salvation, if we dilute that in any way we are actually saying “what you did was not good enough, I want to add to that”. Western middle-class Christianity is pervaded with this attitude and it has taken a huge amount of power out of the ordinary person’s life as they struggle to live their Christian lives in the flesh, rather than the Spirit.

Now back to Galatians ch 2. This discussion on the relationship of the law to the gospel provides the background to Paul’s setting out of the true gospel which he summarized in vv 17-21. These few verses, true to Paul uses a bit of convoluted language, but the message is actually quite simple. As a clue the first part resonates Romans 6:1 ff. So why don’t you read these verses carefully and see if you can pick up the main points Paul is making. Lets try and stick to this passage and while we may go elsewhere to help us understand, let us try and simply explain what he is saying here.

For me today, God seemed to be saying, ‘do you truly understand vs 20 and are you consciously living it out in your life today?’