Galatians

Galatians 2:1-10

2 Then fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas; and Titus came along, too. I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. While I was there I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing. And they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile.

Even that question came up only because of some so-called Christians there—false ones, really—who were secretly brought in. They sneaked in to spy on us and take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations. But we refused to give in to them for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the gospel message for you.

And the leaders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. (By the way, their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no favorites.) Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews. For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles.

In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews. 10 Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do.

 

A major issue that Paul is addressing int the book of Galatians has to do with our freedom we have in Christ.  There were many false teachers posing as Christians who would follow Paul around seeking to enslave the Galatians Christians to follow their regulations.  They were called Judaizers.  They were wanting the early believers to combine their new faith in Christ with the rules and regulations of Judaism.  Their goal was and is to destroy our freedom in Christ.  How am I free?

1.  I am free from having to follow the law as a means of relationship with God

2.  I am free from all the regulations that the Jews at the time of Jesus had to      follow.

3.  My salvation is based on the relationship I have with God through Christ.  It      is not based on any list of rules.

But I need to always remember that my freedom also means you have the same freedoms.  i must not judge what you consider your freedom.

 

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7 Responses to Galatians

  1. lLiz Phelon says:

    I am a faithful listener (thru the internet) of New Life Live. I would like to sign up to receive your devotional blog daily on my email. Is there any way to do that?
    In Christ’s Unending, Perfect Love, Liz
    God bless you and your family

    • drstoop says:

      We’re working on it. Hopefully it will be available next week. Thanks for listening to NLL and for reading the blog.

    • Bagus says:

      I agree Rob! Many christians do not relaize the full magnitude of the cross. Even knowing it is the key to eternal life, they still diminish it. You are right, that there is NOTHING we can do to change what the cross did. Further, I think that those regulations to prove your faith, are in part a recreation of the law, that we are free of. Galations 5:4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ . Praise GOD for the cross, and for the blood of Christ!

  2. The post is very appealing, you made some valid points and the matter is on point. I have made a decision to add your site to my bookmarks so I can go back to it at another time.

    • Nouhno says:

      Hey Mat…good one…Hey Jim..so glad you “launched” your church…its an awemose thing to know another “first generation grace based church” is being planted somewhere in the world…i believe the message of grace is truly going to “launch” what you are doing…its amazing to know that we preach “Christ and Him crucified” and God does the rest…PRAISE GOD…keep going guys, were praying for you there in Vermont… ;-)

  3. Devang says:

    , Put on the WHOLE armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil . P.S. We laechnud our church this past weekend. The Lord led us to a storefront right in the heart of the city of Burlington as our interim meeting place. We are in an area that desperately needs the life, love, power and presence of Jesus Christ. So now we can dwell among”. I pray that His uncontainable, inexhaustible grace will define us as a community and bring glory to the One who never stops pouring it out.

  4. Beverlee says:

    As a Newbie, I am permanently searching online for articles that can be of assistance to me. Thank you

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