WHAT WAS WRONG IN GALATIA? From the letter itself we discover that there seemed to be several groups in the Galatian churches. Each group had a wrong slant on the Gospel (vv. 6-7). This disturbed Paul very much. He stood very strongly for the pure Gospel of the grace of God in Christ. First, there were the legalists and traditionalists. As Jews they said, "We always have to keep the Law. We still do and if anyone wants to join the church, he will have to do it too." Legalism always says, "You have to learn the rules and keep them." It actually means we can bargain with God. "If I do this or that, then God you have to give me eternal life." That is not the message of the gospel. A second group recognized that salvation came through Christ, but also added the need to keep the law. "Saved by grace, yes, but to maintain our spiritual life, we must keep the law." In other words, Christ made the down-payment, but we have to pay the installments on our salvation. Again this makes our ultimate salvation dependent on what we do, rather than on what Christ has done. Another group seems to have taken the opposite view - "We are saved, so we can do what we like." It was similar to the "permissive society" of today. Anything goes as long as no one gets hurt. They disregarded the standards of the Word of God with its strong emphasis on Christian living. Paul said it very plainly in our reading today. He wrote to all three groups, "You have deserted Christ and the gospel. Remember, there is no other gospel. There is only the gospel of God's grace. It is by grace (alone) you have been saved, through faith ... not by works, so that no one can boast." (Eph 2:8-9) Thank God today from the bottom of your heart that you are saved by Christ and by faith in Him alone. Ask Him to help you live today in the true freedom of the Spirit. |
沒有留言:
張貼留言