Big Daddy Love

As a precocious, bright and self-reliant 4-year-old, my daughter often found the confines of our home overwhelming.  She just knew there was more to life than our simple rules and routines.  She  wanted to see the world.  As such, one day she ran away from home.  She didn’t get far; really just down the street.  I remember watching her through the window as she defiantly set out on her journey of no return with her little backpack filled with meager but necessary supplies: her doll, her juice cup and a small morsel to eat.  (Note: we lived on a secluded street in a safe neighborhood with little traffic so I wasn’t fearful for her safety. And though I didn’t let her see me, I followed her and never allowed her out of my sight).

She made it to the end of the street before she sat down on the corner and had a hard cry.  I think the realization of her impulsive decision and the prospect of her utter aloneness in a vast world had caught up to her.  Something in me resisted swooping in to  rescue her too soon.  My heart broke as I watched her wrestle with her anger and defiance regarding the rules; this is what sent her fleeing in the first place, and the enormity of her decision to leave. It wasn’t long before she decided to turn back for home and it was then that I emerged from where I was watching over her. When she saw me, she ran into my arms in tears.  I held her for a long time and assured her of my love. As we slowly walked home together, she said, “Daddy, I’m sorry I ran away. Do you still love me?”

During her flight from me, neither her defiance, rebellion, nor departure ever changed my love and concern for her.  Her behavior didn’t affect my heart toward her.  My love for and commitment to her never changed. Our relationship as parent and child was still in tact, perhaps even strengthened by her decision to run away.  I would follow her!  I would never let her go.

Such was God’s heart toward Israel when they abandoned him.  He compared himself to a father who loves and provides for his child. “When Israel was a child, I loved him as a son and I called my son out of Egypt…. It was I who taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand… I led Israel along with my ropes of kindness and love. I lifted the yoke from his neck and I myself stooped to feed him,” (Hosea 11:1-4). Despite God’s fatherly care for his people, “they rebelled… no matter how much He called out to them,” by running off to follow the ways of the world (v 1-2). They forgot that God had provided for and protected them. “But Israel doesn’t know or even care that it was I who took care of him,” (v 3).  Though they left him and would suffer the consequences of their decisions, God’s Father heart was filled with an unceasing love.  Though he was angry with them,  his judgment would not completely destroy them. “No I will not punish you as much as my burning anger tells me to. I will not completely destroy Israel,” (v 9).  God knew that when the people finally grew sick of their independence and entanglement with evil, and when they clearly understood through experience just how futile and destructive it was to forsake Him,  they would remember God’s care and return to him again. “For someday the people will follow the LORD. I will roar like a lion, and my people will return from the west. Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt. Flying like doves, they will return from Assyria. And I will bring them home again,” says the LORD,” (v 10-11).

When we have run away from God and the pain and consequences of our decisions have caught up to us, we may wonder how God could still love us.  But God asks, “Oh, how can I give you up…? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you…? My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows… For I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you and I will not come to destroy,” (v 8-9). St. Paul describes God’s unshakeable love this way: “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 8:38-39 NLT).

Mercy from God

“We do not ask because we deserve help, but because you are so merciful,” (Daniel 9:18).

Daniel was pleading to God on behalf of himself and his people.  Though he was not responsible for the downfall of Judah, nevertheless as a member of God’s people, he identified himself with the sinfulness of the nation. He was an innocent bystander in the destruction of his land, yet he suffered with them through his forced captivity in Babylon.  But Daniel’s innocence didn’t keep him from praying and fasting and pleading to God for release. Neither did he blame God for their predicament. Instead, Daniel cried out to God on behalf of his people. He acted as an intercessor, or go-between, as he approached God to seek reconciliation.

Notice Daniel’s honesty as he confesses to God regarding the sins of his people. He says:

• “We have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations,” (v 5).
• “We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets,” (v 6).
• We have been “disloyal” to you (v 7).
• “We have not obeyed the LORD our God, for we have not followed the laws he gave us,” (v 10).
• “All Israel has disobeyed your law and turned away, refusing to listen to your voice,” (v 11).
• “We have refused to seek mercy from the LORD our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth,” (v13).
• “We have sinned and are full of wickedness,” (v 15).

God had clearly revealed his will for his people and had told them what would happen if they abandoned him. Everything that occurred in the destruction of Jerusalem and the people’s exile was in keeping with what God had said through the Law of Moses and later through the prophets.  His judgment of Israel was not arbitrary but totally just (Daniel 9: 14) . He had warned and pleaded and sought to turn his people away from their sin and destructive tendencies through the prophets. But the people continually refused to believe his word and his message.  Daniel recognized this as he confessed: “You have done exactly what you warned you would do against us and our rulers… the troubles you predicted have taken place,” (Daniel 9: 12-13).

So what was the solution?  Daniel made no excuses but instead sought God’s mercy. He knew that God is a God who helps the needy. God’s heart is for those who are miserable, rejected and broken because of other’s actions or because of their own sin. Daniel declared, “But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him,” (Daniel 9:9).  Daniel boldly asked God to intervene and to bring about restoration, “Not because we deserve help, but because you are so merciful,” (Daniel 9: 18).  The people were not entitled to anything from God, but Daniel knew God’s heart and his character. He knew that God responds to broken hearts, real confession, and honest cries for mercy. He knew that only God could save them.

God has not changed. God is still just and God is still merciful. He has clearly revealed himself through the bible and has explicitly explained what happens to those who reject him. It’s important that we recognize that refusing to obey God’s will always has severe consequences. So often when we are confronted with our sinful behavior, we foolishly defend or rationalize our actions. Instead, we need to be honest about our lives and openly deal with God regarding our sin and hypocrisy. We need to acknowledge that only God can save and heal us. We need to turn away from our independence and self-reliance because only God can give us hope and the help we need. When we admit our powerlessness and turn to God with a humble and repentant heart, we too can be assured of his mercy. He delights in restoration and  desires to draw  us back into his arms.

 

 

 

Is Anything Too Hard for God?

The Lord asked Jeremiah, “Is there anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27). It’s a profound question. It’s a question that is designed to evoke what one really believes about God. The obvious answer is, “No. Nothing is too hard for you God.”  Any reasonable person who believes in the Lord and has read the scriptures would have to come to this conclusion.  However, for a person who is hurting and struggling under the pain of life and/or the mistakes of their past, or for a person who can’t possibly see how things can change for the better, the question may be difficult to answer.

When God asked this question, he did so in the face of the destruction that was emerging upon Jerusalem. The place was about to be overrun by the Babylonians.  The siege engines were already against the walls. Downfall was imminent. The sins of the people had finally caught up to them. Their wanton rejection of God, who repeatedly had called them to change their minds and turn their lives back to him, had finally run its course. The inevitable destruction that God warned them would come had come.

In the midst of this impending doom, God began to speak words of hope to the people.  It began with God instructing Jeremiah to buy a piece of land from his cousin. Even though the Babylonians were about to overthrow everything, God used Jeremiah’s actions to show there was still hope. God was saying through Jeremiah that even though immediate loss was coming, restoration was on the horizon. Though the people would be sent into exile, they would one day return to their homeland and to normalcy. Jeremiah’s action was an investment in a future that God said would come. “Fields will again be bought and sold in this land about which you now say, ‘It has been ravaged by the Babylonians, a land where people and animals have all disappeared.’ Yes fields will once again be bought and sold…in the land of Benjamin and here in Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the hill country…For someday I will restore prosperity to them. I, the Lord, have spoken,” (Jeremiah 32:43-44).

The impending exile was not intended by God to forever destroy the people. It was not the malicious act of a vindictive deity. It was designed for one purpose: to totally and thoroughly turn the people back to their God. God wanted his people to accept responsibility for their failures and bad choices. The exile would cause them to become thoroughly honest about themselves and to stop hiding from the truth of their unfaithfulness. When they finally got real with God and honestly sorrowed for their sins, his restoration would come. When they realized and admitted their need for God’s healing power, they would have it. “I will surely bring my people back from all the countries where I will scatter them in my fury. I will bring them back to this very city and let them live in peace and safety. They will be my people, and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart and mind to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants,” (Jeremiah 32:37-39).

Though the people faced judgment, judgment was not the last word.  It never is.  Hope is. The pain, the discipline, the destruction were merely tools designed to open hearts and pull them away from self-sufficiency. That’s what these things are always designed to do. They open the way for the inrushing of grace and the healing of the merciful and forgiving God.

Know this: no matter what you face today, God is for you and not against you. No matter how difficult your impending future looks, God is greater and has seen beyond the immediate. He’s already there waiting for you. He can and will see you through it, because nothing is too hard for the Lord.

“Wise up!”

As life presses in and difficult situations arise, how do you navigate the challenge of making sound decisions?  The person whose mind is set on the world’s ways cannot see the wisdom of God’s ways.  Do you look to God for wisdom or do you rely on the tactics and strategies you’ve learned from the world?  The world’s ways are different from God’s ways.  In fact, they are often called “rebellion” by God.  But to the person focused on the world, rebellion is not rebellion, but simply common sense. The bible insists upon a life guided by God’s revelation as the only truly wise life. Are you learning God’s wisdom or do you still rely upon the world’s common sense?

In Isaiah 30, we see these differences magnified.  The people of Israel are at a time of crisis in their national life.  The mighty Assyrian army is threatening to invade. Disaster seems imminent. So what do the Jewish people do?  Instead of turning to their true King, the Holy One of Israel, who has promised to protect and keep them, they make a political alliance with Egypt.  God is not pleased by this faithless rebellion. He says, “Ah stubborn children, who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for my direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!” (Isaiah 30:1-2).  Not only do they neglect to seek God, but also they run in the opposite direction.  They are looking for the world’s security. They are seeking an old way of protection.  Ultimately, they are seeking to save themselves and the Lord makes clear that what is sought outside of him, though seemingly wise in the world’s sight and simply ‘common sense’, actually becomes their source of defeat and degradation.

How often have I seen this kind of dynamic operating in my life?  When a time of crisis comes, I run about seeking ways to fix the crisis.  I wrack my brains trying to figure out how to make it go away. Too often, I follow the way the world resolves things —  for instance, by looking out for number one rather than living openly and generously; or by believing that the end justifies the means, or that preserving an image is more important than walking with integrity.   I sometimes seek comfort from old habits, behaviors and addictions.  Sadly I have spent far more time than I care to admit seeking out the world’s ways and my ways of fixing my life.  God lovingly, but bluntly names this, “Rebellion.”  He tells me to, “Wise up!”

God counsels His people in a completely different and counter-intuitive way.  He advises us to come back to him and trust in his kindness and strength.  “In returning (repentance) and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength,” (Isaiah 30:15). God calls us to come back to him.  He calls us back to the cross. He calls us to turn away from our sinful independence and to rest in his care.  He advises us not to speed up busily trying to fix things, but instead to be intentional in seeking his counsel.  When we diligently seek him, he promises that we will always find him. This is what it means to trust.  It means to place ourselves in his strong and faithful care, expecting his answers and then obediently following his direction despite how it looks or seems to the world around us.

Are you learning God’s wisdom or do you still rely upon the world’s common sense? Are you learning to, “Wise up?”

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

“Stupid is as stupid does,” so said Forrest Gump.  Forrest had a low IQ and was constantly asked by people if he was stupid. His answer to them, given him by his Momma, was always the same and incredibly wise. “Stupid is as stupid does.” In other words, foolishness isn’t so much a matter of IQ points but of actions carried out in life.

God, through the prophet Isaiah said a similar thing to the people of Judah. “ Heaven and earth, listen! This is what the Lord says: ‘I raised my children and helped them grow up, but they have turned against me. A bull knows its master, and a donkey knows where its owner feeds it. But Israel does not know me.  My people do not understand.’ Oh, what a sinful nation! Their guilt is like a heavy weight that they must carry. They are evil, destructive children. They left the Lord and insulted the Holy One of Israel. They turned away and treated him like a stranger,” (Isaiah 1:2-4 ERV).  Though God had raised Israel as his own children, they were clueless as to who he really was. He said, in effect, “They’re dumber than donkeys!”  Or, “Stupid is as stupid does.”  And their actions proved this time and time again.

As a people, the Israelites had grown hard and callous to God. Their worship was corrupt. Their attitude toward God was flippant.  They became like the pagan nations around them by worshiping whatever “gods” promised blessings without disturbing their selfishness.  They were unjust – mistreating the poor and the helpless.  And when things got bad, when their sin was catching up to them, they would go back to God with religion but without any real repentance.  They would carry out God’s prescribed remedy for sin through the sacrifices, but they did so without any intention of changing their ways.  It was formulaic religion.  “If we do x, God must do y.”  The Lord was not impressed.

He said, ““Why this frenzy of sacrifices?” God’s asking. “Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of burnt sacrifices, rams and plump grain-fed calves? Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats? When you come before me, whoever gave you the idea of acting like this, Running here and there, doing this and that—  all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship?“Quit your worship charades.  I can’t stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings— meetings, meetings, meetings—I can’t stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them!  You’ve worn me out! I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer-performance, I’ll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I’ll not be listening,   (Isaiah 1: 11-15 Msg). These strong words from God reveal his aversion to synthetic, plastic religion.

God wanted the people’s lives to reflect who He is.  God wanted their actions to follow their words.  Biblical belief is always more than just what we confess with our mouths. It’s what we live out on a daily basis.  So God said to his people, ” Go home and wash up.  Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless,” (Isiaiah 1: 16-17 Msg).

God gave them a promise of forgiveness and restoration but a real change in their hearts was the prerequisite. He said,  “Come. Sit down. Let’s argue this out.”  This is God’s Message: “If your sins are blood-red, they’ll be snow-white.  If they’re red like crimson, they’ll be like wool. If you’ll willingly obey, you’ll feast like kings. But if you’re willful and stubborn, you’ll die like dogs.” That’s right. God says so,” (Isaiah 1: 18-20 Msg).  It’s not that they would be saved by their good works. Salvation is always by grace. However, when grace has really been received, it causes us to change.  As we read in Titus, “Grace can save everyone. It teaches us not to live against God and not to do the bad things the world wants to do. It teaches us to live on earth now in a wise and right way—a way that shows true devotion to God,” (Titus 2:11b-12 ERV).

If “stupid is as stupid does,” so also, wisdom is as wisdom does. It is wise to align with God’s ways. It is wise to cry out for God’s mercy when you have fallen short. It is wise to run fast and hard from sin when God reveals it in your life.  And the promise for those who do is always the same: forgiveness and restoration.

No one left behind

Have you ever been to a party, concert, speaker, conference or other event and thought of other people you wished were with you right then? It gnaws at you for a bit. “Shoot, I wish she was hear to hear this!” or, “Oh my goodness, he would absolutely love this.”   Then when you reconnect with these loved ones you get so excited about what they missed and you download the whole event with them.  Knowing full well that the magic is over and they are simply being polite allowing you to gush on and on.  I always wish I had a “restart” button and could go back in time and invite these friends to join me.

In this last chapter of 1 Thessalonians, Paul continues sharing with this church what Christ’s return is going to be like.  He has already explained that those who have already died will rise up first and then the rest of us will join them in the clouds to meet Jesus himself.  It will be a huge reunion.  A big party.  An incredible event.

Then he explains that this is not a date to put on the calendar.  No one knows the hour.  Unlike that event you meant to invite your friend to, we don’t know when this big fiesta is going to happen.  Over the years many leaders have tried to predict the date.  The date they predict comes and goes and we’re all still here standing around. I always wonder why they ignore this passage.  No one knows when Jesus will return.  But we do know that this party is coming.  And we won’t get a chance to return and tell our friends about it.  We must go ahead and invite them now.

Many of us have friends and family that simply won’t hear our pleas to receive Christ.  It can be discouraging.  May I encourage you?  My brother was raised in a Christian home and received Christ at an early age.  As he grew up; though, he moved away from the faith of his childhood.  He lived out Solomon’s mantra in Ecclesiastes, “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die.”  He partied hard.  We all prayed for him.  He was respectful of the rest of the family but not budging on the choices he had made.  In his early thirties, something changed.  God’s Spirit moved him and while flipping TV channels one night he heard a famous evangelist teaching and he gave life to the Lord.  His was a radical conversion; he quit alcohol, women and with a few weeks found a church home.

Another man I know didn’t even grow up in the faith.  He had one year of Catholic high school.  He was wild as a teenager, full of rebellion and running as hard as he could away from pain.  His mother received Christ and began praying for her son.  She gathered other women in her Bible study to begin praying for her son.  A few years later, her son had a radical encounter with Jesus Christ in the middle of a Grateful Dead show in Washington, DC.  He did a 180 and today is preaching, teaching and leading others to changed lives.  You may already know my husband, Chris. He is living proof that no one is too far away from the Father’s love to come home to His arms.

While I”m all for sharing the message of faith in our words (my husband does this a LOT), I think our lives and actions speak even louder.  These may not seem convincing, may even seem passive.  But others are watching.  They pay more attention than you think.  Throughout Thessalonians, Paul paints a picture of what a life radically changed by God’s Spirit looks like.  If you don’t think you can live this way, just ask Him to fill you with His love.  The more you receive his love, the less room you have for the other stuff that gets in the way.  The other stuff is what convinces our family and friends that our faith is useless.  Many years ago I heard a great reminder from the music group DC Talk:

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today…is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is simply what an unbelieving world finds unbelievable.

So invite friends and families…strangers too, to this incredible celebration that is coming.  Invite them through your quiet, committed prayers for them and your own converted lifestyle.

The Two Most Important Words

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…” Ephesians 2:4-5

“But God!”

No two words ever spoken or written convey greater significance than these.

But God… despite us. But God… because of us. But God… on behalf of us. But God… for the love of us.

We could not free our selves from our willful self-destruction, but God chose to save us.

We had run so far away from him, but God outran us and rescued us.

We spit in his face and had an affair with his arch enemy, but God loved us and pursued us anyway.

We deserved annihilation for our rebellion, but God chose mercy and forgiveness instead.

We had no hope of life, but God chose to give us life in Christ.

There’s no way around it. Those two words, “But God,” are pivotal words. Game-changers. Words that signal a new beginning. Epic words that bring hope into the most despicable and dark places. They point to the heart and character of the One who loves us. We may be at our worst, but God is always at his best. No matter how negligent, apathetic or evil we are, God does not treat us as we deserve.

The next time you fail or are under an assault of condemnation remember those words… But God.  But God rescued me in Christ. But God loves me anyway. But God has chosen me to be his own. But God has given me a new life. But God has made me clean through the Son he loves. But God will never leave me nor forsake me.

 

How to live the Christian life

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

Why is it that it is so hard for people to wrap their heads around biblical grace?  It seems that, when it comes to grace, we  often fall into one of two errors.  On the one hand, some conclude that grace is permission to do what ever I want — whether sinful or not.  The reasoning seems to go something to the effect of: Now that I am no longer under the law, I am free (this is actually a true statement as far as it goes).  However, these folks then extend the definition of freedom to mean casting off all restraint.  This kind of view of grace leads to a form of licentiousness that gratifies the desires of the flesh (5:16).  But Paul tells us this is not God’s intention for grace.  He warns, “Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh,” (5:13). Remember the flesh is synonymous with the sinful nature which still operates in the believer through the body and the senses.  Jesus did not endure the agony of  the cross to set you free from the penalty of sin in order to help you sin freely! That’s just preposterous.

The second mistake made with grace is to subtly (or overtly) flee from it.  This usually happens to the person who genuinely desires to follow God and wants to honor him with a holy lifestyle. For this person, the reality of the flesh within at war against the Spirit leads to a kind of religious straitjacket.  A way of seeking to assure, through outward moral and religious behavior, that we do not offend against God. And so this person does and does not do certain things in an effort to be holy and good.  This is just a form of religious flesh that turns away from freedom and finds new laws to govern them.

So what is the remedy? What does biblical grace look like? How do you keep from licentiousness on the one hand and law on the other?  The answer is to, “live by the Spirit,” (5:25) to “walk by the Spirit,” (5:16) and to be, “led by the Spirit'” (5:18).  In other words we have to learn to live our lives cooperating with the Holy Spirit who lives in us by virtue of our faith in Jesus Christ.  The Gospel is not simply that you believe in Christ and get to go to heaven when you die.  (As though it were something external to us). The Gospel is that you believe in Christ and he comes to live in you by the Holy Spirit (and you get to go to heaven when you die). The Gospel is that Christ takes up residence in your spirit to live the Christian life through you.  He teaches you how to love God and your neighbor [For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” (5:14)]. The good news is that, “Christ is being formed in you!” (4:19).  His Spirit teaches you how to say no to your flesh — both the licentious kind (see the list of flesh works, verses 19-21) and also the law-based and religious-kind (verse 2-6). As we read in the book of Titus, “ For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,” (Titus 2:11-12).

What is required to live life by the Spirit?  Simply put: Trust.  We learn to trust the Holy Spirit who is living in us.  We learn to listen to his voice. We allow him to use the Scriptures to train us up in godliness — convicting us when we sin and cleansing us anew through the blood of Christ as we confess and repent. We learn to allow him to grow the characteristics of Christ in our lives — and what are these characteristics?  They are the fruit of the Spirit (verse 22-24). We learn that freedom is not freedom from restraint nor is it an external system of moral and religious checks and balances, but instead is an increasing freedom to love and trust God in all of our life.

 

Leapfrogging Moses

“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. 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. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.” (Galatians 3:16-18)

Long ago, God made a promise to Abraham and Abraham received that promise by faith (taking God at his word and believing what He said). The biblical term for a promise from God is covenant (this kind of promise is an unbreakable agreement based upon the character of God).  God promised or covenanted LIFE.  Life in its fullness; life in union with God; life that could never be stolen or lost; everlasting life in fellowship with God.  When God made this promise he made it not only with Abraham, but also with Abraham’s OFFSPRING (the original word is actually SEED and it is singular).  Notice it doesn’t say offsprings/seeds (plural).  Who is Abraham’s offspring/seed?  Paul tells us it is Jesus.  Had it said, “offsprings/seeds” then God’s covenant would have included all of Abraham’s lineage (the patriarchs, Moses, the prophets, etc.) and finally Christ. But God didn’t say that, He said the promise was made to Abraham and his offspring/seed who is Jesus.

What’s Paul’s point? When you jump from Abraham to Christ, you are jumping a couple of thousand years. In so doing, you leapfrog right over Moses.  He is passed over entirely. The one through whom the law was given is not mentioned at all when it comes to the promise.  Paul is telling us that God’s promise of LIFE came to Abraham and found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.  Moses has nothing to do with it … he is skipped entirely.

What does this mean? It means there’s no place for the law when it comes to receiving the inheritance from God. It’s either grace or law — they are mutually exclusive.  To have God’s life, you cannot achieve it by virtue of your behavior.  You receive God’s life or you don’t.  You accept it freely as a gift or you reject it… And there are two ways to reject it.  One is to disbelieve it entirely — thinking it is unreal or made up or impossible (that it doesn’t exist). The other is to try to earn it through being “good” and avoiding being “bad.”  That’s right, attempting to earn God’s promise of life is actually a form of unbelief.  Putting yourself under the law as a way to be right before God will never work (because no one can keep the law in its totality).. So why not simply receive the life of God.  Receive the promise of LIFE. And where you’ve been trying to earn his favor through your actions, repent — turn away — and return to his grace and mercy.  Remember, all who call upon the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved.

Beware of a Mixed Gospel

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.” (Galatians 1:6-7)

Paul’s letter to the Galatians was written to show that the believer in Christ is no longer under the Mosaic law as a means of obtaining right standing before God, but is instead saved by grace alone through faith. Paul writes in chapter 5, “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free. Therefore stand firm,” (5:1). Christ’s death on the cross purchases freedom for the Christian; freedom from the law’s demands and it’s curse, freedom from the wrath of God, freedom from the fear of death, freedom from the tyranny of sin and the domination of the self-life, freedom from the world,  freedom to approach God, freedom to be indwelt and guided by the Holy Spirit in the new birth, freedom to love God and serve Him with a glad and willing heart as the Holy Spirit grows Christ’s character in us.  All of this freedom comes not from the efforts of the believer, but through the cross of Christ.  Any “version” of Christianity that is not cross-focused is not Christ’s Christianity.  Jesus was not merely our guide or example. He came to be our Savior. And he saved us through his death.

Following his establishment of the church in Galatia, certain “Judaizers” came around and began to teach the Galatians that salvation was actually by works (what you do). It wasn’t that these teachers were denying that Jesus had died upon the cross; however, they added to (or perverted) the gospel by saying that justification also required circumcision and keeping the law. These false teachers confused the people by denying Paul’s apostleship; saying that the reason Paul didn’t teach them these “doctrines” was that he was a false apostle who had obtained his teachings from other people. Paul flatly denied their accusations declaring that he was a true apostle, “not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father,” (1:). He also said that he received the gospel that he preached, not from other people, “but through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1:12).

Paul gives the sternest of warnings both to the Christian who would turn away from Christ by adopting “works” as a means of righteousness and also to the those who would change the gospel: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” (1:6-8)