131215 Heirs According to the Promise

Galatians 3:23-29  Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. ²⁴ So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, ²⁶ for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

As Paul moves towards an explanation of the Son of God coming into the world we move towards Christmas Sunday. First of all he wants his beloved Galatians to see what the purpose of the law really was. The Galatian Christians are receiving very strong teachings about the need to keep the law of Moses. In our day it is not so much the Old Testament law we are challenged to keep but instead the false teachers are demanding good works in an effort to receive salvation. All the law can do for us is prove that we cannot keep it. Our good works are never good enough because all our righteousness is like filthy rags. The law, or our efforts, teach us that we need a Savior.

The law of Moses was designed by God to serve as a guardian for the people of Israel and hold them in bondage. The law kept them the same as if they were…

Confined by a guardian. Since the law cannot be fully kept and none of us can ever live up to our own standards of goodness it is…

A hard task master. Listen to Paul’s explanation of how he struggled with covetousness under the law. He would not have known that covetousness was wrong without the law. The law itself is not sin. Instead, indwelling sin is with all of us as sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. And that indwelling sin works to keep us in bondage under the law. Listen while I read, Romans 7:8-9, But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. ⁹ I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.

As soon as he became aware of the commandment, “You shall not covet…” He began to experience all kinds of covetousness. The sin of covetousness grew more and more powerful as he tried to live in obedience to the law in the flesh. The law became a cruel taskmaster. Always demanding and never providing the ability to complete the task.

Paul was a Pharisee living according to the strictest rules of the Jewish religion and he failed again and again. The more he struggled the harder life became. He, along with many others, failed to understand that the only proper relationship to God is by faith. Hebrews, chapter 4, tells us that the people of Israel failed to live up to the law because it was not united with faith. Hebrews chapter 11, makes it very clear that the only way to be related to God is by faith. Faith was the relationship at work beginning with Abel and continuing through all those who pleased God up until the time of the writing of Hebrews. Of course, faith continued from that time forward to be the only way we could please God. It was always true!

The law has always been a cruel taskmaster for those who have not come to faith. But for those who have come to faith in all generations the law is…

A loving guide. Listen while I read 1 John 5:3-4 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Let me share with you what I recently read in a sermon by John Piper: ”And the law works that way today, too. If you don't have a heart to trust God and rely on mercy, the law will feel like a burdensome, offensive, deadening job description given by a harsh schoolmaster. But if you do have a heart to trust God and rely on his mercy, then the law will feel like a much-needed and desired prescription from a wise and beloved Physician. What the law is for you depends on what you are toward the Law-giver.”

Faith is given to us by God to enable us to do godly works. Doing good works does not produce faith. We are not made Christian by what we do instead, it is…

 Based on our relationship. Listen to Romans 8:14-17 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

We are not sons and daughters of God because we are Baptist, Methodist, Catholic or any other religion, or denomination. We are children of God because the Spirit of God has caused us to be born again to a living hope. God’s Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ — the church of the Living God.

The bondage of the law, or works based salvation, leads to slavery and fear. Instead of the spirit of slavery we receive the Spirit of adoption as sons. We are able to say, “Abba! Father!” Because we are no longer under the law. The law was our schoolmaster, or guardian, bringing us to realize that we cannot be good enough to please ourselves much less to please God. When Christ came into the world there was a change in everything related to fellowship with God.

And then faith came.
Good works cannot change the heart. This is not just a New Testament idea listen while I read Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Now, what does that have to do with works versus faith? Simply this, works salvation is based on human ability. We are saved by grace through faith and not of works. Works salvation causes a person to live in pride and pride always goes before destruction. I have met many who are very proud of their good works and have no humility at all. Folks that is not what God intended for us. He intends that we live by faith and not by our strength.

Does Paul mean that there was no faith before Christ came? Obviously not! Paul himself recognized the existence of faith throughout Old Testament history. I believe what he intends here is that preaching the law brings very few to faith and preaching the gospel brings many, especially Gentiles, to faith. Good works never brings a person to salvation. When they are done in the flesh they just simply cause pride and haughtiness. As Jesus said, “They already have their reward.” Those “good works” do not count toward salvation but…

Instead, good works grow out of a changed heart. Listen while I read Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

We are to do good works there is no question about that. We have been made over again, or born again, so that we can live out the works that God has planned for us. Without a changed heart — which the law never could produce — none of our good works have any value so far as salvation is concerned. The works that count are…

Caused by the grace of God. Look with me at Ephesians 2:4-9. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

When we come into this world as sons and daughters of Adam and Eve we are dead in sin. Rather than destroy us, and he certainly had the right to, God has made us alive together with Christ. Not only has he made us alive with Christ but he is also raised us up with him and seated us with him in heavenly places. Please note that this is clearly past tense. This passage of Scripture does not say that he will someday raise us up with him and someday seat us with him in the heavenly places. This passage clearly says that he has already raised us up and seated us with him in heavenly places. He has done that so that he can show his immeasurable grace to us throughout eternity. We are not saved by good works. We are saved by God’s grace through faith that he gifts us with. This salvation gives us a new heart and a new mind making us able to do works that are pleasing to God.

This salvation does not wipe out our human past or our human habits. What it does do is enable us to grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord. So that one day when he appears we shall be like him because…

We have put on Christ.

Having put off the old man. We do not simply add Christ to our human nature. We must consciously put off the past. Listen while read Ephesians 4:20-22. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— ²¹ assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

We often fall by the wayside in our struggle to walk with God. We still have all of our past habits and memories. Day after day we struggle with who we were in Adam. We were born self-centered. If you do not believe that watch a new baby until, and if, it gets trained to live in society. No one has to teach a two-year-old to throw tantrums. Many people apparently never are trained to stop throwing tantrums. That is part of the old self, or old man, that we are born with.

The old man, or Adamic nature, apparently lives in our brain and will always be with us so long as we walk on this earth. I know there are people who teach that we lose the desire and sometimes even the ability to sin. That has not been my experience nor do I believe it to have been theirs. We have to be constantly walking in faith towards God and putting aside the past habits that we were born with and others that we have developed on our own.

The country singer Patty Loveless has put out a song that teaches this truth. It is called “Two Coats”.

The words go like this:

Two coats were before me an old and a new I asked my sweet master, “Oh what must I do?” The old coat was ugly so tattered and torn. The other a new one had never been worn.
I'll tell you the best thing I ever did do. I took off the old coat and put on the new.
The first man was earthly and made from the ground we bore all his image the whole world around. The next was my Savior from heaven so fair He brought me this new coat you now see me wear.
I'll tell you the best thing I ever did do. I took off the old coat and put on the new.
Now this coat it suits me and keeps me so warm. It's good in the winter it's good in the storm. My savior has dressed me in a garment so rare He brought me this new coat you now see me wear. Thank you Patty!

We must put off the old man, earthly and made from the ground…

In order to be renewed. Listen to the next two verses Ephesians 4:23-24 Paul says put off your old self and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

When we come to faith in Christ Jesus we put off the old man and put on the new. We do this in order to be renewed in the spirit of our minds and to be able to put on the new self. Now in reality it is Christ that puts off the old and puts on the new for us. We can’t do it in our strength because our strength is flawed by our inherited human nature.

The “new man” is in reality a new nature that is shaped like his. Our life on earth is designed to put off the old and put on the new. We do this in the same way that we put off habits that we recognize as being offensive to others or not healthy for us. In order to end a bad habit it needs to be replaced by a good habit.

I have often told how I finally ended the habit of cigarette smoking. I smoked for about ten years and was pretty well addicted. I tried many times to stop. At that time a pack of cigarettes cost about twenty-five cents so I was not concerned about the money. What I had become concerned about was my Christian testimony. It dawned on me one day that people in the world might not listen to my testimony if I smelled like they did! So I would throw away my cigarettes and a little later pull into a gas station and buy another pack. I prayed and struggled and failed dozens of times. Then one day I saw a pocket Bible in a Christian bookstore. It had a zipper with a cross on the zipper pull. It fit right into my shirt pocket where I always carried my pack of cigarettes. I would find my hand automatically moving towards that pocket while at work and instead of finding cigarettes I found the Bible. So, I would take it out and read for a few minutes. After all, if I found cigarettes I would have stopped was doing and lit up. I simply replaced a bad habit with a good one. I put off the old and put on the new.

As Christians we have the responsibility to show the world our Savior. You may be the only Jesus that someone might see in this world. I do not mean by that that we are anything more than vessels that Jesus resides in.

In the same way that the moon reflects the light of the sun we have the responsibility of…

Reflecting our creator. See what Paul wrote to the Colossians. Colossians 3:9-10 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

If we put off the old self we have put off its practices as well. The one that Paul chooses here is the practice of lying. We know that is not the only practice that we have to put off. Paul wrote to the Corinthians …do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. ^{(1 Co 6:9–11)}

I do not know how many times I read this passage before I saw, and comprehended, the words “And such were some of you.” Before coming to faith in Christ this list of wrongdoing could apply to any one of us. Praise God, even though some of us were such as these, we were washed and made holy justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of our God. We are being renewed in the image of our creator.

Someone said to me this week that a person cannot change completely immediately and he was right. We are changed by the work of God in our life and that is good news. We cannot change ourselves instead we are changed by God’s Spirit. He is the gift given us by Jesus Christ. Furthermore, we know that when he appears we shall be like him. Since that is the case, we have lots of changes to undergo. The greatest Christmas gift was given in Jesus Christ in Bethlehem and by the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem.

When the baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem the angel told the shepherds not to fear because he was bringing good news of great joy. The good news of Jesus Christ should fill our hearts with joy because we have been delivered from bondage and brought into the freedom of the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Before Christ came mankind was in bondage to good works that never produced salvation. When Christ came he opened the door to salvation by grace through faith. I hope you have been set free. If you have not, I hope you will do so immediately because we never know which breath will be our last. Jesus says, “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” I challenge you to come to the Savior today! Let this Christmas have special meaning for you because Christ is born in your heart­!

All scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

131201 The Promise Given to Believers

Galatians 3:15-22, To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. ¹⁶ Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. ¹⁷ This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

¹⁹ Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. ²⁰ Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

²¹ Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. ²² But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Thanksgiving is behind us and Christmas lies ahead! So far as can be determined, Christmas was an unknown concept to Paul and the first century church. So far as we know the first century church did not celebrate the birth of Christ. However, it was very clear that Christ’s birth was important! He had to be born a man in order to become a curse for us so that we might receive the blessing of Abraham — the promised Spirit. Paul’s concern for the Galatian believers caused him to enlarge their understanding of the promise. In a couple of weeks we will look further into what Paul said to the Galatians about the birth of Christ. Right now we need to seek to understand the promises made to Abraham and his offspring and how it affects us.

The promise was made to Abraham hundreds of years before the law was written down. The law condemns a person because it is impossible to perfectly keep it. Twice, on earth, there was a man who was perfect before God — Adam before he sinned and Jesus all his life. Jesus came to remove the condemnation of the law and set us free to serve God by grace through faith. Abraham was chosen by God before there was any written Bible, or law. God, instead of giving a law, gave a promise and,…

The promise was made to Abraham. Let’s look at Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Abram, the son of Terah, was raised in a household that worshiped idols and not the God of heaven. Yet, when God looked on him he saw a man that, according to James, would be his friend and would believe him when he spoke. As result of the faith that Abraham placed in God…

God promised to multiply his descendants. Now, let’s look at Genesis 17:1-6 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, ² that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” ³ Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, ⁴ “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.

Abraham was ninety-nine years old. He had a son named Ishmael who had been born out of a wrong relationship. Ishmael was not the child of promise, instead, he was born of a slave woman and represented the legalism of works. God had a better plan for Abraham and Sarah. God would produce for them a child born of the free woman representing the freedom we have in Christ Jesus.

Abraham was ninety-nine years old and Sarah was ninety years old. The one thing that was certain to Abraham was that he and Sarah were long past childbearing years. God had given them a promise and waited until the promise could not be fulfilled by human will. That promise could only be fulfilled by a miracle of God!

Not only would they have a son but they would have, descended from them, a multitude of nations. Not just the people of many nations but Kings would come out of the promise. Even better than that…

All the families of the earth would be blessed. Look at what Jesus had to say about it in Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

God never intended that there would be only one nation that believed in him. When he said that all the families of the earth would be blessed he was talking about Jesus, of course! Not just Jesus but all of us would be part of that blessing. Without the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ there would be no hope of us doing any lasting good on this earth.

God told Abraham that he would bless all the families of the earth. Jesus told his disciples that the gospel of the kingdom would be preached to all the nations of the world and when that happens the end will come. Rest assured that the end will not come until all people groups everywhere have had the gospel proclaimed to them. Today, there are more than seven thousand people groups that have not been reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They represent more than 40% of the people on earth. Jesus promised that the gospel would be preached everywhere to all people…

Giving us encouragement. Let’s look at what Hebrews 6:17-20 tells us So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. ¹⁹ We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, ²⁰ where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

God’s purpose does not change and we should be encouraged by that! Thousands of years ago he told his friend, Abraham, that all the families of the earth will be blessed through him. As the years rolled by it seemed to be an impossible promise. Only a few families were being blessed. They were primarily the physical descendants of Abraham and, in fact, only a few of them. The law came by Moses as an act of God’s grace to show his people how to live and to convince them that they could only live out the law by the grace of God.

Again, thousands of years went by and Mary was approached by an Angel and told that she, who had never sexually known a man, would bear a son who would save his people from their sins. Once again God intervened in a miraculous way to bring a child into the world to fulfill his purpose. Only this time that child would be his own Son, Jesus, son of Mary and supposed to be the son of Joseph. In reality he was the only Son of God.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Paul told the Galatians that…

The law came after the promise. After the promise more than four hundred years passed and the law came by Moses. However the law…
Could not cancel the promise. Listen while I read from Romans 4:13-15 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

The promise to Abraham and his offspring came through the righteousness of faith. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Folks, the most important thing you can do is believe God. Not believe about him, in reality everyone does that, but believe Him! Paul reminds us that if those who keep the law are the heirs then faith is meaningless. Instead, the law brings wrath and puts us in a position where we are doomed to hell. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus which is received by grace through faith.

The law, or good works, cannot give life…

Instead, the law brings sin to life. Look at what Romans 3:19-20 tells us. Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰ For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Often, when a person is introduced to faith in Jesus Christ he, or she, thinks to themselves, “This is easy.” However, as time goes by, they try to live out the Christian life in their own strength and fail miserably! The harder they work at keeping the rules the harder the rules seem to get.

In Romans chapter 7 Paul talks about how the tenth commandment, “you shall not covet”, made him aware of covetousness. And the harder he worked at being right with God the more he coveted. The law was doing its work in his life! The law was not given to make us right with God. The law was given to show us how wrong we are! The law, or good works, brings sin to life…

And brings us to the end of ourselves. Look at two familiar verses from what is often called, “The Roman Road”, to salvation. Romans 10:9-10 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

In order to achieve salvation a person has to come to the place where they know they have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We have to see all our righteousness is like filthy rags. We need to recognize what the law was designed to teach us — apart from a work of God in our lives — that we have no hope of eternal life. We have to confess that we have failed in the Lordship contest. When we are Lord of our life we are in serious trouble. Instead we have to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. That is the first step in salvation! We do not come to salvation little by little and eventually come to the place where Jesus is Lord. We come to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and salvation by grace through faith all at the same time. We confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead. Then, and only then, are we saved.

The law came to condemn us and…

Christ came to remove the condemnation of the law.

Jesus said that the Father did not send Him into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. The world was condemned already. We were born in trespasses and sins and therefore spiritually dead. Jesus came into the world to remove the condemnation. The law, or good works, could never set us free but…

The law of life frees us. Look at Romans 8:1-2 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

No condemnation! Those are very precious words. Mankind is born condemned and in need of deliverance. We are born subject to the law of sin and death. What can I compare this to? Well, let me try this. The law of sin and death is a primary law in the same sense as the force of gravity which affects all of us in the same way. Actually, I am not so sure about that because as I get older gravity seems to increase. I know, I know, actually I am getting weaker with age. But the law of gravity is a powerful force. A good test that we can simply do is stand on a chair and step off it. What will happen? If you do it right you be standing up when you hit the ground. If you do it wrong you will likely hurt yourself. A stronger illustration would be to go up on top of a house and step off. Almost no matter how you land you will hurt yourself. Or, consider this. The average weight of a Boeing 747 airplane is about 900,000 pounds. The law of gravity says that it will stay on the ground. However, there are other laws to take into consideration. As a group they are called the laws of aerodynamics. The four primary laws concern lift, weight, thrust and drag. In order for a 747 to fly when it is fully loaded the lift has to exceed 900,000 pounds. And the thrust has to be adequate to overcome the drag.

In the same way, if we are to overcome the law of sin and death, we have to come under the law of the Spirit of life. We are set free in Christ Jesus by the law of the Spirit of life that overcomes the law of sin and death. In the same manner, the laws of aerodynamics must overcome the force of gravity in order for an airplane to fly. We receive the law of the Spirit of life…

Through the promised offspring. Jesus himself tells us in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Remember the promise was made to Abraham and to his offspring. Not “offsprings” as though there were many but, a singular offspring! Physically there are multiplied millions of offspring of Abraham. Spiritually there are millions of offspring of Abraham but there is only one that the promise was given to. That one is Jesus Christ! We receive the Spirit of life by God’s grace through faith in Jesus and…

Nothing can take us back to death. Listen while I read Romans 8:32-39  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans Chapter 8 begins with “no condemnation” and ends with “no separation”! We were born under the condemnation of sin. God, in his infinite mercy, determined before we were born that we should have an opportunity to be free of that condemnation. He gave his own Son for us! If he would do that he will also take care of us since he has delivered us from the condemnation of sin.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is found in Christ Jesus. Not death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nothing — nothing at all can separate us.

Do not let yourself be brought back into the bondage of works salvation — legalism. You cannot earn your salvation it is the gift of God, by his grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.

The Galatian believers were being brought into bondage to legalism. Throughout history the church of Jesus Christ has been plagued by legalists. If we are not careful any of us can be brought under the condemnation of the law. We must always remember that without faith it is impossible to please God. If a law had been given that could give life then Jesus died for nothing. When he prayed, “Father, let this cup pass from me!” The Father would have sent legions of Angels to stop what was about to happen, if there was any other way! The Scripture imprisons everything under sin so that the promise of faith could be given to those who believe. Have you placed your faith in Him? If not, today is the day of salvation! Be reconciled to God while there is still an opportunity.

All scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.