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“You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!” (Galatians 5:7–12)

Although it was a lifetime ago, the year I graduated from Seminary, I still remember watching the 1984 Olympics. One of the most infamous events was the women’s 3000 meter race, when Zola Budd collided with Mary Decker, knocking the favorite out of the race. Decker went down hard and was sobbing on the infield, unable to continue.

We will all get knocked down at times. The question is, “How will we deal with it.” I saw a video earlier this week of a 200 meter race for young girls. One young lady stepped out of her shoe at the start of the race. She went back, put on her shoe, and then continued. She ended up winning the race! She kept her eye on the goal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmPhmU3xiWw

Errors and false doctrines will be all around us, trying to trip us and distract us from the truth that we are saved as a gift of God by believing that Jesus has paid for our sins.  Paul compares those false teachings to yeast, reminding us it only takes a little to work its way into the entire loaf. Paul has some harsh words for those who introduce the yeast of false teachings into the body of Christ. In this chapter he has been addressing those who insist on circumcision, and he says they should take it even further and emasculate themselves! He also says they will pay a penalty for their false teachings.

It is important for the followers of Jesus to know what they believe and why. That is why we always go back to the question, “What does the Bible say?” Our church body has a heritage of encouraging all believers to dig into the Word for themselves. Don’t rely on others to tell you what is in there. Let the Word speak directly to you. It is good to study and discuss the Word with others, but be sure you are getting into it individually.

Lord, keep us steadfast in Thy Word;
Curb those who fain by craft and sword
Would wrest the Kingdom from Thy Son
And set at naught all He hath done.

Lord Jesus Christ, Thy pow’r make known,
For Thou art Lord of lords alone;
Defend Thy Christendom that we
May evermore sing praise to Thee.

O Comforter of priceless worth,
Send peace and unity on earth.
Support us in our final strife
And lead us out of death to life.

(The Lutheran Hymnal #261)

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (Galatians 5:1–6)

As long as there have been followers of Jesus, there have been those who get the message mixed up. That’s because the followers of Jesus are still sinners and make mistakes. It continues to this day. Well meaning folks think they need to add something to “just believing” in order to be truly “saved.”  That is probably the most common false teaching that continues to show up in Christian circles.

It is easy to understand why this happens. It sounds too easy. “You mean all I have to do in order to be forgiven is believe that this guy who died over 2000 years ago paid for my sins? Don’t I have to do something, too?”

This is the issue Paul is addressing among the believers in Galatia. While it sounds like he is condemning circumcision, that is not actually the case. What he is condemning is circumcision as a requirement for salvation!  The people were being told by well-intentioned but erroneous teachers that they had to do “their part” by becoming Jewish before becoming Christians, so an extra requirement (LAW) was being placed upon them.

That is not what God’s plan is all about. God is operating with grace. He gives us what we need. He paid the price. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)  “Yeah, but … don’t I still have to do my part?”  Nope. Grace alone. Your debt, your obligation was completely paid off with the life and death of Jesus.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9)

Your faith grabs onto what Jesus did and receives all the blessings and benefits He merited for you.

“For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” (Romans 3:28)

The burden is not on you. It was on Jesus. He has set you free. He declares you “not guilty” because of your trust in Him. Should you strive to live according to the Law? Certainly, but not in order to save yourself. Rather it is the best way to thank God for all He has done for you through Jesus. “Faith expressing itself through love.”  Let’s all try to do that today.

“Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong. As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you. My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!” (Galatians 4:8–20)

People are zealous about things they believe in and to which they are deeply committed. With the leaked documents about the apparent impending overturn of Roe v. Wade we have seen people passionate on both sides of the issue. Zealous pro-life groups are cautiously celebrating, zealous pro-abortion groups are protesting. I find it interesting that when someone vandalizes an abortion facility, which is totally wrong and should be condemned, there is widespread news coverage. However, when zealous pro-abortion protesters use Molotov cocktails and deface pro-life facilities and churches as part of their protests, the news coverage is brief and limited.

Being zealous is not bad. Being zealous for the wrong thing is. That is what the apostle is speaking to in this part of Galatians. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good. There will be disagreements about which purpose is good, because we live in a world where sin is working against us doing what God would have us do.

When Paul speaks here of those trying to alienate the Galatians from him and his teaching, he is most likely referring to the Judaizers. Those were Jewish people who wanted to follow Jesus but insisted that anyone who did so had to become Jewish and remain faithful to Jewish laws and traditions. They were zealous about that. The problem was that they were trying to add requirements to salvation that Jesus never put there. They maintained you had to believe in Jesus AND be a good Jew if you wanted to be saved.

This is why Paul was perplexed. He shared the message entrusted to him, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. Jesus did everything necessary to pay for sin and accomplish our redemption. It is all His doing. We simply receive the benefit of what Jesus did when we put our faith in Him. Our response is to try and live according to His will, but that “new life” we live is not the cause of our salvation. Jesus is.

We should be zealous about sharing that Good News with our neighbors and loving others as God has loved us.

“What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” (Galatians 4:1–7)

Have you ever had something happen in your life where everything just seemed to fall into place?  Maybe you were trying to buy a house, and one thing after another happened to make it all go smoothly. Or you were contemplating a new job, and suddenly one door after another opened for you. Some people attribute such things to the planets aligning. You and I know better, because we know the one in control. When He determines the time is right, he shows us that.

Paul speaks of that in today’s reading. “When the time had fully come” is another way of the time was just right. God in His infinite wisdom determined that the time of the Roman empire, when Caesar Augustus was emperor, was the time for Jesus to be born as one of us. He was “born under the law” so that He could live the life of perfection we have not and can not live. His death redeemed us, bought us back from death and sin, making us sons who are heirs to everything God has promised: forgiveness, salvation, and life everlasting.

That is good news for today and everyday.

“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:26–29)

I know the trend and expectation in our world today is to use inclusive language. We see it reaching ludicrous extremes. It started with not saying “all men” because that sounded like it was leaving out women. “All people” was considered more appropriate. Now the extreme expectation is that when a child is born, you shouldn’t say “It’s a girl!” or “It’s a boy!” You should not identify it as male or female so that the child can decide its own gender.

Over the years people have leveled charges of misogyny against the Apostle Paul because of the way his repeated use of masculine pronouns in his writings. Let think about that in terms of this passage. Paul writes, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” He does this intentionally, because in that society, only male children were the rightful heirs. Females children were not legitimate heirs. But Paul is making the point that anyone who believes in Jesus is a true spiritual descendant of Abraham and therefore “heirs according to the promise.”

Instead of being exclusionary, he is being purposely inclusionary by saying “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” No one is left out. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  There is to be no distinction, no rankings or classifications. By virtue of your baptism and your faith that the Holy Spirit has worked in you, you have been clothed with Christ. He covers you. You belong to him. So you are heirs of the promise made to Abraham, that through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. (Genesis 18:18)

That blessing came in the form of the promised Messiah, born of a virgin, in Bethlehem. Angels announced his birth joyfully: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10–11)  He would live the life of perfection God requires of us. He did that in our place. He would take the punishment our sins deserve, doing that in our place as well. He would then conquer death and the grave for you to have a guaranteed place in heaven. It matters not you gender, race, age, education, nationality or any other descriptor we have here on earth. He did this for the world. Including you.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Thanks be to God.

“Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one. Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.” (Galatians 3:15–25)

What is the purpose of the Law? Paul asked that question here. People often get confused about that. Yesterday’s reading and devotion addressed the problem of thinking that God’s Law is simply a checklist of behavior in order to curry God’s favor. Other Christians think the Law no longer has any purpose in our lives. They don’t want to mention it or bring it up. They simply want to focus on Jesus and the Gospel.

Paul tells us here that Law and Gospel go together. They are not the same thing, and they have different purposes or functions, but they are both part of how God has revealed Himself to us. We should be careful not to confuse the two, and we need to understand that both are necessary.

I tried to explain this in simple terms when I taught catechism class. Both the Law and Gospel have an SOS. The Law Shows Our Sin. The Gospel Shows Our Savior. Both messages come from God. Both are needed in our spiritual formation. And this is not just prior to coming to faith, but throughout our lives. The Law always shows us our sins and why we need a Savior. It accuses us to lead us to repent. The Gospel tells us who that Savior is. Jesus lived, suffered, died and rose again so that we could have the forgiveness and life God wants us to have. His payment for our sin is what saves us.

Verse 24 of this passage says “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.” Faith in Jesus is what claims the righteousness He provides and ensures our salvation. But I want to point out that phrase “the law was put in charge.”  That expression is a translation of the Greek word paidagogos, from which we get the English word “pedagogue.” It referred to a personal slave-attendant who accompanied a freeborn boy wherever he went and exercised a certain amount of discipline over him on behalf of the boy’s parents. His function was to be a caretaker and babysitter and guardian for the boy until he reached adulthood. That is why the ESV renders this phrase “the law was our guardian until Christ came.” The Law prepares us for the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus.

Verse 25 tells us “Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.” Some take this to mean the Law is no longer needed. A better understanding is that we see the Law in a different way after we come to faith, just as an adult sees a former babysitter in a different light than when he or she was a child. While the Law will still point out our sin, we know of the pardon and peace we have for Jesus’ sake. We now understand that while the Law is not what saves us, it does show us how to live a life that is God pleasing. That is what we should strive to do in response to knowing what Jesus has already done for us.

“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” 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.” (Galatians 3:1–14)

Paul is giving the Galatians some necessary chastisement. They were making one of the most common mistakes followers of Jesus can make. They were starting to believe that they could take some of the credit for their forgiveness and salvation, when the truth of the matter is that our salvation from sin and death was, is and always will be GOD’S DOING.

Paul very bluntly asks them a key question:  Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

Paul doesn’t try to drive home his point with his own reasoning or power of persuasion. He instead turns to what should be the final word in all matters of faith. Scripture. He quotes the Old Testament six times here to answer the question he put before them.

V.6 Genesis 15:6  It was Abraham’s faith, not his works, that was credited to him as righteousness.

V.8 Genesis 12:3, 18:18, 22:18 Abraham’s faith in God would bring God’s blessings to all nations.

V.10 Deuteronomy 27:26 The law brings condemnation because we cannot and do not keep it perfectly.

V.11 Habakkuk 2:4 God’s declares us righteous, and truly sees us that way, because we believe in Him.

V.12 Leviticus 18:5 God knew that men would try to achieve their own righteousness. He also knew they would fall short of His requirements.

V.13 Deuteronomy 21:23 Our shortcomings and failed efforts put us under a curse. Jesus took that curse on Himself in our place at the cross.

By citing theses passages, Paul establishes that he is not introducing anything new. This was God’s plan all along, announced right after the fall into sin. He would rescue us. He would save 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.

“If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!””  (Galatians 2:17–21)

Did Christ die in vain?  Most certainly not!  His death was necessary as the only acceptable payment for the sins of mankind. Sometimes we live and act as though His death were unimportant, but in this passage Paul is addressing what is at the very core of our faith: sin and grace. We are sinners who need help. God provided the help we need. If we could save ourselves, why would Jesus have come down here and died?

The grace of God is the free gift of forgiveness that He has provided for sinful man through Jesus Christ. Ever since the Fall into sin, man is not able to live righteously before God.  But some people continue to stubbornly maintain that we can indeed make ourselves righteous before God, in spite of God’s Word telling us just the opposite. Through sin, man has become totally depraved, unable to do anything to please God. We are under sin, dead, under judgment, under Satan’s control. We are helpless and lost. That is why God sent His Son.  His grace provides the remedy for sin.  Jesus Christ delivers us from the consequences of sin, removes the guilt and condemnation, gives us life.  It was absolutely necessary.  If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.  Man cannot be made righteous through his own obedience, so the death of Jesus was needed to redeem us.

The issue Paul was addressing here was whether a believer in Christ will live by the Law or the Gospel. Is the Christian faith a set of rules that must be observed in order for a person to be saved, or is trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins alone necessary for salvation? Paul made it clear that rules never saved anyone. Jesus did. Only trust in Jesus, His cross and resurrection, has power to save.

A lesson from this passage (and the one in yesterday’s devotion) is the way in which Paul confronts Peter’s sin. He does not run down Peter but speaks to the issue. He was condemning the sin. Peter was still his brother in the faith, even when he was wrong.  And that is a strong lesson Christians today. There is no room in a Christian congregation for character assassination, no matter how strongly you may feel about an issue.  Paul knew that Peter loved the Lord. His Christian faith was not in question. But his actions were harming the cause of Christ, so he needed to be corrected. We would do well to remember this when we disagree. Disagree with your brother or sister if you must, but never forget that he or she is your brother or sister in Christ. We share the same Lord, who died to forgive us. We live together in the forgiveness of sins. All of us need the forgiveness that comes only from the crucified body and shed blood of our Savior. And that is what will hold us together in spite of our differences: the knowledge of our forgiveness through Him who gave Himself for us.

“When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2:11–16)

How do you react when someone tries to correct you? It probably depends on the situation. If you are learning something new and trust the person speaking to you, most likely you will readily listen and take the correction to heart. However, if you are confident in what you are doing and someone calls you out on it, you might get defensive and try to justify what you are doing.

Would it make any difference if the person offering correction was doing so on the basis of God’s Word? I’d like to think it would in my life, but I also know how pigheaded I can be sometimes.

Paul mentions a time he had to call out Peter. Peter ate with the Gentile Christians as long as the Jewish Christians were not around, but would not do so when the Jewish Christians came for fear they would not approve of it. Some of them thought Gentiles should “become Jews” before becoming Christian by being circumcised. They were putting a legalistic requirement on being a follower of Jesus, one He never imposed. That is why Paul called Peter out.

He did so on the basis of the message they both heard and knew and believed and proclaimed:  …a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

 Peter’s behavior would send the message that the Gentile believers were not truly or fully Christian, which was not the case. All it takes is faith in Jesus. Our deeds, our efforts, our actions do not contribute to our salvation. Jesus did everything necessary for us to be saved. He lived perfectly. He died in our place as our substitute. He conquered the grave for us. And He gives that freely to anyone who believes He is who He says He is. Peter’s actions were implying otherwise, so Paul tries to correct him.

Of course, once we are saved, we strive to live our lives according to God’s will, what He has revealed to us in His Word. This is a response to knowing we are already saved, not the cause of our forgiveness. That is an important distinction to maintain, which Peter failed to do here.

Lord, help me to be open and receptive to the correction your Word gives me in my life. Thank you for the assurance that I am forgiven and redeemed for Jesus’ sake.