I love Paul’s letter to the Galatians in the Bible. It is tense and emotional! While reading and studying it, I can really feel how Paul is fighting for the Church in Galatia to stay close to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and not listen to false teachings. In the first two chapters of the letter, we learn about the situation in Galatia. Paul established their church and corresponded with them through letters and messengers. But suddenly, the Christians there were confused.
What happened? False teachers visited the Galatians and probably told them that just believing in Jesus death and resurrection isn’t enough to get saved. They almost convinced the Galatians to get circumcised in order to receive God’s grace.
Before we read Pauls’ response to this incident, let’s look at what even David in the Old Testament realized:
Don’t take me to court and judge me, because in your eyes no living person does what it right. Psalm 143:2
This verse states clearly that no human being can stand before God. Even though the Galatians would circumcise themselves, they couldn’t get saved. Even if they obeyed every command, one would always find some attitude or deed here and there that isn’t aligned with the law. Now the Galatians are trapped. What should they do to get saved? Paul offers them a solution.
Let’s look at the key verse in this letter when it comes to justification:
We know that no one is made right with God by obeying the law. It is by believing in Jesus Christ. So we too have to put our faith in Christ Jesus. That is so we can be made right with God by believing in Christ, not by obeying the law. No one can be made right with God by obeying the law. Galatians 2:16
What a long verse, I know! But it’s amazing. Paul fights against this false doctrine and explains again to the Galatians what it takes to get saved. The apostle couldn’t be clearer here. It is by faith that we Christians are saved. Not by our works and not by obeying the law! Only through Gods’ grace can we can stand pure before him.
But now we have a problem. There is still something we MUST do in order to get saved. We HAVE TO believe. Which is again a deed.
To tackle this problem, let’s look at what Paul writes in Philippians 3:9:
I want to be joined to him. For me, being right with God does not come from the law. It comes because I believe in Christ. It comes from God. It is received by faith.
Here is the thing: Believing is accepting and receiving. You don’t have to make an effort or try really hard to believe. It is a sit back position that adopts the new reality. Accept that Jesus has done everything for you. Accept that there is nothing more that you can do to get “really” saved. It has all been done at the cross.
So faith comes from hearing the message. And the message that is heard is the word of Christ. Romans 10:17
Believing is to look at the cross to see what Jesus Christ our savior has done and accepting that reality. It just requires an open ear from you to listen to the message that brings freedom. I think so many times there is this feeling, this little voice inside us whispering, “It is not enough, you need to do more…” Stop, it’s a lie. God’s grace is enough.
That’s the point the Galatians needed to be reminded of. Those sneaky false prophets tried to convince them otherwise. But Paul poured his whole heart in this letter to tell them: Come back to this place of hearing the gospel and believing that Christ has done it all on the cross!
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