Hi First Presbyterian Church,
It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! Thanks to everyone who submitted some very great and thought-provoking questions for our summer sermon series: “Why does the Bible say that?” Our series is all set, and here is what it looks like:
June 29 - What does Christian community look like, and how can this fit in our time/place/culture?
July 6 - What about speaking in tongues?
July 13 - How do we apply the teachings of Jesus to our life today?
July 20 - What’s with all the animal sacrificing in the Old Testament?
July 27 - What’s with all the violence in the conquest of Canaan, and why were Jesus’ disciples carrying swords?
August 3 - How do I cultivate gratitude, if I inherited my sinfulness from my predecessors (original sin)?
August 10 - What should we believe about human sexuality? (Part 1)
August 17 - What should we believe about human sexuality? (Part 2)
Erin and I are looking forward to answer these questions this summer!
We just started reading Paul’s letter to the Galatians in our one-year Bible reading journey. This is one of my absolute favorite books of the New Testament. Here’s the gist of Paul’s message in this letter.
Paul probably wrote his letter to the Galatians in 51 AD, while he was in Corinth. The church in Galatia was majority Gentile, and the reason he wrote this letter was to address some confusion within the Galatian church. Paul had founded the church in Galatia around 49 AD, when he had visited the area and the first people converted to Christianity. During the time after Paul left, another group of people with strong ties to Judaism (sometimes referred to as the “Judaizers”) had come to Galatia and were refuting Paul’s message. The Judaizers were trying to convince the Galatians that in order to follow Jesus (who himself was Jewish), they also had to follow the Jewish laws and customs. This is why Paul talks so much about circumcision in this letter, because part of what the Judaizers were teaching the Galatians was that their men must become circumcised to follow Jesus (since that was a requirement of Judaism). Paul says that the Judaizers were presenting a “different Gospel” and were “perverting the Gospel of Christ” (1:6-7). The Gospel of Christ is founded on the principle of justification by faith; in other words, we are declared innocent of sin before God by trusting in Jesus for salvation (who died for our sin), not by earning our salvation through good works. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus made it so that we can now freely pursue a life of loving submission to God without fear of punishment or condemnation because of sin (5:1). The evidence or proof that we have truly been set free and are living in loving submission to God is the Holy Spirit working through us. When we invite the Holy Spirit into our lives to lead and guide us every moment of every day, the proof of the Holy Spirit working in us is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (5:22-23). We are not saved by these good works; on the contrary, these good works are the proof that we are already saved.
As you read through Galatians, I encourage you to pay attention to Paul’s exhortations to “live by the Spirit” and “be led by the Spirit.” God doesn’t want to simply change our behavior. God wants to change our hearts and give us a new identity. God wants us to become like Jesus not in a legalistic adherence to certain rules, but in a loving relationship of seeking to know and follow Jesus. My prayer for you today is that you will allow Christ to capture your hearts and fill you with a greater love for God. That is the essence of the Gospel.
Peace,
Aaron