Friday February 20, 2015

Read Galatians 4:8-31

Can you picture Paul sitting at his desk writing to the Galatians? I picture him frantically writing away with tears pouring down his cheeks, perhaps dripping onto the parchment he’s writing on.

Why was Paul so grieved? Because the Galatians were turning back to weak and miserable principles, observing special days, months and seasons and years. They were taking up the Law, believing that keeping the law could save them. They were effectively rejecting Christ who died for them and rose to eternal life for their salvation. As Paul writes, he pours out his heart and I suspect tears of grief as well.

As he writes, Paul recounts some of history he had with the Galatians. Paul came to Galatia because of an illness. His eyes were causing him grief. Yet the Galatians received him with joy and did not scorn or reject him. They tenderly cared for him and received the gospel of grace from him. But soon after that certain men from the Judaizers came among them and sought to turn them back to Law keeping as a means of salvation. The church was deceived and many people started journeying down the wrong road. Unfortunately they were zealous about this new path. Paul warns them that it’s ok to be zealous but only if you are zealous about the right things.

Paul then uses an analogy from the Old Testament to back up his point. He reminds the readers of Hagar and Sarah. Hagar was Abraham’s Egyptian maid servant and bore him a son, namely Ishmael. Ishmael was not the son of God’s promise but was conceived after Sarah schemed to provide Abraham an heir. Sarah was Abraham’s wife and bore him a son, Isaac, who is the son of the promise. There was no human intervention as both Abraham and Sarah were far beyond the age of child bearing. The two women, Paul says, represent two covenants and the point is forcefully driven home at the end of the chapter.

 31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

Paul writes to the Galatians in tears because they have begun with the covenant of freedom in Christ Jesus and have willingly, even zealously moved back to slavery. They have effectively annulled the death and resurrection of Christ, seeking to prove their worth or earn their salvation from God.

Our job as a church is not to move people backwards to useless and miserable principles but to grow them in grace. Our job is grow people in their faith in Jesus and to let that faith bear much fruit through the work of the Spirit in their lives. Anything else is tragic and needs to have a tear shed about it.

Prayer:

Use the day’s reading notes and Bible passage to pray meaningfully:

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

· Pray that your church’s giving would be above and beyond what’s needed to meet the costs of running a church. Pray that there would be enough to start reaching out to the poor and needy.

· Pray that God’s grace would fill each believer’s heart and that they would ooze grace in their own lives as well.

 Discussion & Reflection

1. Have you experienced people or churches moving backwards away from grace? Share what happened.

2. What is a godly reaction to this kind of move?

3. If your church were to move backwards away from grace, what could your cell do?

4. Many people opt to leave a church when it goes backwards. What’s wrong with this approach?