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Well, looking back at yesterday's post, I didn't talk much about Galatians 5. Just kinda took that 1st verse and ran with it. I think chapter 6 adds a bit to what I learned yesterday when I talked about how we can have these moments of spirituality and the tendency to let that fire dwindle away. Verse 9 shows that this perhaps isn't a new phenomenon: "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." I think this might be a verse I'll need to focus & meditate on for a while since I'm so prone to fading away. I look forward to transforming my hot & cold ways into a lifestyle of commitment & diligence. I so desperately need God's help not to lose heart - when my efforts are seemingly fruitless, when it seems like I'm the only one trying, when my efforts in ministry don't turn out as I planned. This chapter also says a lot about accountability, something that God has used in my life & has had a tremendous impact on my life. Without it I know I'd be a mess. "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load." (v. 1-5)
The gentle restoration of a brother who struggles with sin is like a refreshing breeze on a warm summer day. It's one of the most beautiful things I've experienced in my life. Sure it hurts sometimes, but the healing it brings and the work it allows God to begin in you is nothing short of amazing. Simply amazing what God can do with damaged goods. I've been so fortunate to have men in my life to keep my accountable for my actions and doing so by the word of God. I can't even put into words how much I love these brothers. Accountability is a key component to consistent righteous living and if you're reading this and don't have an accountability partner, I'd highly recommend it if you like God's blessings. The process of studying the Word together, building each other up, offering honest feedback, confession, prayer & encouragement is great for any believer and draws you closer, not only to your partner, but to God.Please lift up a prayer for the family of Kendra's and my uncle, Nevelle Thompson who passed yesterday after a long fight with cancer. This was a man who the Lord knew and at times like these, that is such a great comfort and testimony for those of us he leaves behind. I thank God for even the little bit of time we had together here on earth & look forward to the great time we'll have in heaven.
Gal 5I talked with my bible study group last night about these 'moments' I have where I truly am focused on God and sincerely desire to follow Him at all costs. I'll generally have this experience sometimes after church or Bible study or even while blogging. These heightened moments of spirituality, I don't think they're disingenuous by any means, but don't seem to last very long. If this were sports, you might say I'm a streaky player who experiences periods of greatness and then again periods of equal and opposite mediocrity. My challenge is: how do I translate these experiences from 'moments' into a lifestyle? I think the problem is my tendency to refocus on my wants & desires and less on God's. Galatians 5:1: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." Christianity offers us a tremendous amount of freedom and thank God it does. This is a challenge, however, because this liberty we have can be dangerous if used incorrectly. What we eat, the clothes we wear, the entertainment we choose - none of these things get us in or out of heaven. That's not to say that these things don't have consequences and, more importantly, may not be what God wants for us. Taking part in any of our various earthly pleasures, whether inherently sinful or not, can be dangerous for this reason and can put us in conflict with the first & second commandments. Hence Paul's warning - do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. His message to the Galatians was not to be entangled with legalism because they had been convinced by a false teaching that circumcision was necessary for salvation and this undermined the grace of God - the only means by which salvation is offered. No matter what our 'yoke of bondage' is, we shouldn't allow ourselves to be so easily drawn back to the things that God has called us from. Easier said than done I suppose. I guess it comes down to relationship. There's nothing wrong with having perfect church attendance, doing community service, giving to the poor or paying tithes unless your motive is wrong. Are we trying to earn heaven points or genuinely offering ourselves as a sacrifice of gratitude to the Saviour? The fallacy of the first act (or one fallacy at least) is the tendency to stray away from it because the focus is you, not God. Honestly, I have a lot of work to do to get to the point where my actions are fully rooted in my love and gratitude for Christ. This takes an intimate relationship with God, and I pray I can get closer to Him daily so my actions will please Him. I'm not sure this blog is making as much sense as I hoped it would, but the whole point is that I want my actions to flow out of a love relationship with God & not a legalistic approach to spirituality.
Well, turns out that my internet wasn't down the other day...the modem just wasn't hooked up. My technical prowess continues to impress. Then yesterday my hard drive on our desktop PC crashed so yesterday morning was spent dealing with that fiasco but thanks be to God we didn't lose any data. There's one thing I've learned from the Bible and applied to my computer skills: Jesus saves and so should I.
Galatians 3 is a great chapter to read concerning the covenant of grace vs. the Law. It can be summed up in verses 13 & 14: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us...He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit."
Basically our righteousness, the thing that will determine our post-earth destination, is no longer based on our adherence to the Law but through our faith in Jesus Christ. I used to have trouble with this on many levels: how can God change His mind like this? How can something He proclaimed and seemed pretty serious about now be null and void? Why would God give us a Law He knew we couldn't keep?
A brief aside: I don't think there's any problem questioning the Bible. I think the more questions we ask the more we'll come to know about God because, since the Bible is true, our questions should lead us to truth. I think we ought to test God at His word. Now I know the Bible says "Do not test the Lord your God" in multiple places (Deuteronomy 6:16, Luke 4:12) but I'm not talking about that kind of testing. In the Deuteronomy verse, it references the Israelites who 'tested' God by not trusting Him to provide for them. In Luke, Jesus was explaining to Satan that He couldn't test God by throwing himself off a mountain and 'testing' God by expecting Him to perform a miracle just for the sake of doing it. The testing I'm talking about is more along the lines of Romans 12:2, where you test the Word by putting your trust in it, forsaking the world to follow God, transforming your mind, taking action on the Word in order to experience the fruit of God's word dwelling in you.
...where was I?....oh, the questions. God did give us a law that we couldn't keep. Being a holy God, He had to demand holiness. If God is to be able to judge us in the end, He must be a perfect and righteous judge or else His judgements would be tainted. Imagine that your on trial for embezzling money and your judge turns out to be Bernie Madoff, who quickly throws you in jail. Doesn't seem very just right? A truly righteous judgement requires a truly righteous judge. If God weren't perfect it would open the room for a lot of questions & debate - is a god who we can debate with worthy of worship? Probably not. The point here is that God, being holy, made a law that required holiness. Paul points out that this Law, tough as it was, pointed out to us our need for a Saviour. It showed us what sin was and just how serious God was about us not doing it. "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor" (v. 24-25).
So God didn't change His mind because although the Law can't save us, it still serves a purpose. This chapter along with Romans 7 & 8 are great for understanding this principle. I could go on and on but probably still couldn't do it justice.
