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.

131117 Blessing or Curse?

Galatians 3:10-14 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” ¹² But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” ¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— ¹⁴ so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Paul is deeply concerned for the Galatian Christians. He has discovered that they are being misled away from grace into a “works” salvation. Since he can’t be with them, can’t call them on the phone, can’t “message” them on Facebook or some other social media, he has to write them a letter! This has been a concern of Paul’s for a number of years. He even had to confront the Apostle Peter over his being drawn back into legalism when the Judaizers came to town. Now he wants them to understand that there are only two choices in spiritual life — blessing or curse! If you rely on a works salvation you are under a curse. Christ redeemed us from the curse and set us free so we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

There is something about human nature that causes us to want to rely on our own strengths and abilities. The big problem is that we can never, in our own strength, be able to overcome the sin that we inherited much less the sin we have committed on our own! It’s very easy for a Christian believer to forget that salvation is not earned through our good works.

If we rely on works we are under a curse!

The curse is being cut off from God. Let’s look back at our text, Verse 13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

The agony that Christ experienced on the cross is something very hard for us to understand. Remember, we are born dead in trespasses and sins. Until we come to faith in Christ we are all cut off from God. That is the natural condition of man! The people who are proclaimed here to be relying on the works of the law, and are therefore under the curse are not atheists or even agnostics. They are Jewish “Christian” believers who are fully convinced that you have to obey the law in order to be a real Christian. There are many people today who believe this and show this belief by demanding a “works” salvation.

We need to remember that Jesus himself took our sins in his own body on the cross and in so doing became a curse for us! He took the curse for us because he loves us.

In order for a person to turn away from the gospel of grace to the bad news of “works” he, or she, has to make a decision to do so.

This is a self-reliant, man centered effort. Listen to Verse 5 above. Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith —

"Works of law" are not the "good works" that a Christian does in reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit. They are the self-reliant efforts to demonstrate virtue to man and God. The Judaizers had no problem beginning with faith. The problem they introduced was that in order for your faith to be real it had to be attached to “works of the law” or legalism.

Notice carefully. The curse in verse 10 is not because you fail to do the works of the law. It is because you do them. The advice of the Judaizers to supplement faith with "works of law" has exactly the opposite effect from the one intended—it brings a curse, not a blessing. It was when Peter started keeping the dietary laws that Paul said he was out of sync with the gospel and transgressing the law. The Judaizers had missed the whole point of the law. That the law was designed to bring men to faith. Without a new heart, and the power of God at work in your life, and without faith all efforts at keeping the law would simply be the legalistic striving of the flesh! Having begun in the Spirit they were now trying to go on in the flesh and any effort to keep the law simply…

Leads to spiritual death. Deuteronomy 27:26 ‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

“Law” is not just the law of Moses is every form of legalism, and there are many. Legalism leads to death. This is not Old Testament versus New Testament this concept is included in both parts of the Bible. Moses’ law itself tells us that all who cease to live wholly by faith and apply themselves to keeping the law in their own strength in order to earn God's fullest favor are under the curse of the law. Jesus himself said that the Pharisees don’t do all that is written in the law. While they tithe the herbs in their garden they neglect the weightier matters of justice, mercy and faithfulness. Attempting to live by the law in order to please God is an absolute waste of time! All our righteousness’s are like filthy rags.

The point is this, "good," moral, religious people, who have not been crucified with Christ and do not have his Spirit empowering them with humility and joy and love by faith, often come into the church, claim the teachings, and set out to work for God in the power of the flesh, and are, therefore, under a curse from the law itself. The law serves only to bring us to the end of our human effort and point us to the fact that…

Christ redeemed us from the curse!

We cannot save ourselves by our good works. We cannot pay for our sins because the wages of sin is death! I praise God that…

He took all our sins. This was not just some new idea that Paul came up with. It had been in the mind of God and had been written down for hundreds of years. Let’s look at what Isaiah had to say some seven hundred years before Christ was born! Isaiah 53:4-6 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Jesus paid the price for our sins. There is no hope at all in our trying to bribe God with our good works because they are not based on faith. If we could live a good enough life to pay for our sins then Jesus died for nothing. Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, “Let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.” He was not just talking about the physical pain and anguish of the cross he was talking about bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows. He was talking about being pierced for our transgressions. He was talking about being crushed for our iniquities and having the chastisement that brings us peace laid on himself. In the judgment hall of Pilate and the execution grounds of Calvary the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin on our account in order that we might become the righteousness of God in him. There was no legalism and Jesus life. He perfectly trusted the Father and lived in the power of the Spirit. He fulfilled the law perfectly because he knew that the law taught faith which works through love. Praise God, he did this for us and it was…

Once for all. This was not repeated year after year on the Day of Atonement. Jesus’ sacrifice was once for all. Let’s see what the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write to the Hebrews. Christ came at the end of the age to offer himself as our sacrifice. Listen while read. Hebrews 9:28 Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

The angels had told the apostles that this same Jesus they had seen ascend into heaven would return in the same way that they saw him go into heaven. Folks, we need to live our lives in expectation of the sudden return of the Lord Jesus Christ. I do not know when it will be but I know beyond a doubt that it will be. Jesus became a curse for us and offered one sacrifice for sins forever…

So we could be set free. Look at what John saw while he was a prisoner on the island of Patmos. Revelation 22:1-5 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ³ No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. ⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Some of the things John wrote about his vision in the book of Revelation are hard to understand. But when it comes to, what I consider to be, the most important things there is little room for doubt. Everything taken away from us in the book of Genesis is returned to us in the book of Revelation. And it is returned to us eternally. There will no longer be a curse! We shall see his face and there will be no night for we will no longer need rest! The curse came about because of sin and was lifted because of the sin-bearer entering into the holy place in heaven with his blood sacrifice to cover our sins forever. We are no longer under a curse.

Jesus Christ went to the cross so that we might receive the blessing of Abraham.

That we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. Some people will try to separate the blessing of Abraham which is, simply put, the just shall live by faith and not by human effort, from the promised Holy Spirit. Let’s see what the Bible has to say about that.

The blessing of Abraham. Many years had passed since the flood of Noah’s day and now a family was chosen by God to be the channel of blessing for the whole world. Abraham, or as he was then known Abram, was not selected because he was a godly family he was selected because God selected him and there is no better answer than that. Let’s look at what the Bible tells us in 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 was seventy-five years old when God spoke to him. It must’ve been quite a shock to hear the voice of a God that you had never heard before. He was childless and had no likely hope of having any children. At the time of his calling he lived in what is today Syria. He had moved there with his father, his wife and his nephew several years before. In his farewell address to the people of Israel, Joshua the son of Nun said that Abram and his people had served other gods beyond the river. Yet, for God’s own reasons, he chose this man to become the father of many nations when it was absolutely, humanly, impossible. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah. And when they were both near a hundred years old they gave birth to a son and were instructed to name him “Isaac”. Isaac means laughter because Sarah had laughed when she heard God say that she would bear a child. Forever after they would remember that incident. Every time Sarah looked at her son Isaac she remembered that she had laughed when told that she would have a child in her old age.

Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. That came about because the Holy Spirit had worked in his life. When the blessing of Abraham comes upon someone they come to God through faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. The blessing of Abraham was not just for his physical descendents. It was for all who would come to God by faith. It was always God’s intention of Abraham’s blessings…

Might go to all the world. Some have referred to the book of Isaiah as the Old Testament gospel so let’s look at Isaiah 49:6 he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

This prophecy was not just raising up the tribes of Jacob and bringing back the preserved of Israel but ultimately included being a light for the nations so that the salvation of God can reach to the ends of the earth. If you recall that, at least once, in Jesus’ ministry he entered the temple and cleared out the money changers and livestock peddlers who were cluttering the courtyard that should have been set aside for the Gentiles to come to hear the word of God. Jesus said that his father’s house was to be a house of prayer and they had made it a den of thieves. There were at least three separate courtyards around the temple. There was the courtyard of the men and the courtyard of the women as well as a courtyard for the nations. The Gentile nations were to be brought there and taught the word of God. So far as we know it never happened. The promise to Abraham that all the nations of the world would be blessed in him seemed to be contradicted by everything that had happened in history.

Abraham could not have imagined the vision that John saw. He saw a great multitude of people, so many he could not count them, of every nation and people and language standing before the throne. Indeed, worthy is the Lamb that was slain who ransomed people for God from every nation. Jesus had said that this gospel will be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations and then the end shall come.

The modern missionary movement growing out of the Reformation is the Spirit of God moving to fulfill Jesus’ promise. Perhaps in our lifetime the gospel will be preached to the final last nation and then the end shall come. If we’re alive on the earth at that time our bodies will be transformed and we will rise to meet Jesus in the air. If we have died we will come back with him when he comes. If you need to understand that completely I would say you’re in serious trouble. There are many things that I believe even though I don’t understand them. I can only tell you what the word of God says.

If we rely on works to save us we are under the curse of being separated from God. Such a reliance is man-centered and leads to spiritual death.

Praise God, Jesus redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us. He took our sins in his own body once for all to save us from our sins. He did this so that the blessing of Abraham could come upon us and we might receive the promised Spirit.

That the Spirit may be received by faith. Paul sees the blessing of Abraham summed up in the Holy Spirit. See what he wrote to Corinth. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

The blessing of Abraham is salvation by grace through faith. Every believer from Adam and Eve through Abel to the very last person on earth, in that very last tribe, all have been, or will be, saved the same way. By grace through faith not of ourselves it is the gift of God and not of works so that we can never boast. The Holy Spirit comes to live in the life of every person who’s going to be saved and brought under the blessing of Abraham. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and righteousness and judgment. Then the Holy Spirit moves us beyond ourselves into God’s family. In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. You can’t get in without it! Having been brought into the family we drink of that one Spirit. Praise God for that! We have hope of salvation, now let us go on in growth in grace and the knowledge of the Lord.

If Satan cannot prevent you from coming to Christ in salvation he will do everything possible to prevent spiritual growth in your life. Satan cannot take away your salvation but he can take away the joy of your salvation. The Galatian believers were in danger of losing their joy. Teachers had come to town who wanted to draw them away from the gospel of grace into a “bad news” message of self-centered works. Remember, salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Such salvation always results in a life of obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot earn it through good works nor can we keep it through good works it is all by grace through faith from beginning to end. Have you put your trust in him? If you sense him calling you he will receive you if you will come to him.

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