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. (Galatians 3:3-6)
In Galatians chapter 3, the apostle Paul takes time to reflect on the faith-journey of Abraham. Abraham is a profound example of a man who lived as the recipient of God's grace. It was God who sought out Abraham and sent him away from his homeland. It was God who blessed Abraham with wealth. It was God who promised Abraham and Sarah a miracle: a son in their old age.
What did Abraham have to do? Galatians 3:6 gives a succinct, profound insight: Abraham believed God. This man Abraham, who lived and died long before the advent of Mosaic law, lived by faith. We are called to do the same. However, in order to exercise our faith, we need to hear what God has said (see Romans 10:17).
God spoke to Abraham way back then. God still speaks today: through His word; through the preaching of faithful ministers; and through the Spirit that God has given to work in, with, and through us.
Are you hearing Him?
Showing posts with label Galatians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Galatians. Show all posts
Friday, October 11, 2013
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Lovers' Lane.
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25)
Pastor Sam shared with us that his sermon series on Galatians will be in tandem with Bronx Bethany's current care group cycle. Between now and Ash Wednesday our care groups are engaging in study of the fruit of the Spirit, and the verses Galatians 5:22-23 are central to the study.
Our pastor shared that, as we go through this season, we will learn "what it will look like when the fruit of the Spirit is present, pre-eminent, and partnering with us."
Let us consider these questions for today:
Lord, give us grace to daily experience Your presence, pre-eminence, and partnership. Cause us to look, live, and love like You.
Pastor Sam shared with us that his sermon series on Galatians will be in tandem with Bronx Bethany's current care group cycle. Between now and Ash Wednesday our care groups are engaging in study of the fruit of the Spirit, and the verses Galatians 5:22-23 are central to the study.
Our pastor shared that, as we go through this season, we will learn "what it will look like when the fruit of the Spirit is present, pre-eminent, and partnering with us."
Let us consider these questions for today:
- Is the fruit of the Spirit, as detailed in Galatians 5:22-23, present in my life? Or, is my life still marked by the works of the flesh shown in Galatians 5:19-21?
- Is the love of God pre-eminent in my life? Do people, when they interact with me, experience that love? (Galatians 5:13-14)
- Do I partner, enthusiastically and exclusively, with the Holy Spirit? Does my life and lifestyle demonstrate a desire to please God, or myself? (Galatians 5:16-18)
Lord, give us grace to daily experience Your presence, pre-eminence, and partnership. Cause us to look, live, and love like You.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Who's In Charge Here?
"God's Spirit in us will move us to do what God wants us to do." (Pastor Sam, referencing Ezekiel 36)
From time to time, candidates running for office will stop to visit Bronx Bethany during a service. I recall an occasion during which a candidate's staff members walked into Bronx Bethany shortly after the start of The Key, which is our Saturday night service.
The staff members walked in and looked around. I noticed them through my peripheral vision, but stayed where I was and continued worshiping the Lord as the band was playing. Eventually, one of them walked up to me with a perplexed look on his face. He said, "Excuse me. Who's in charge here?" I pointed to the stage and said, "Do you see the young man there, playing the piano? He's the pastor over tonight's service."
Looking back now, I realize that my answer was incomplete. Why? Because even though our pastors oversee various aspects of ministry, they in turn are charged and led by the Holy Spirit of God. (It is a good thing to be a member of a church where the pastors are joyfully, obediently under the charge of the Holy Spirit.)
Paul was a man who, from the start of his ministry, followed the leading of the Holy Spirit. "Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; instead I received it by a revelation of Jesus Christ... When the One who set me apart from birth and called me by His grace was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I could preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from any human being... I was personally unknown to the churches... They were only hearing, 'The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news of the faith he once tried to destroy.' So they glorified God because of me." (see Galatians 1:11-24 for full text)
In the Church of the Nazarene, there is a small book simply referred to as "The Manual." Like most manuals, it contains policies and procedures. It is intended to help the denomination function to the best of its ability. We Nazarenes are not alone in this venture: many denominations have published guidelines for its pastors, congregants, or both, in an attempt to outline practical helps as we live in our communities of faith. But here is the problem: when a manual becomes the go-to source for all things at the expense of the word of God and the grace of the Holy Spirit who drew us into the faith, then we set ourselves up for all sorts of problems. The early church in Galatia experienced this phenomenon first-hand, and their situation got so out-of-hand that Paul had to write a letter of rebuke and correction.
And, if anyone was qualified to write the letter to the Galatians, Paul was. He knew that legalism, even through the lens of religious duty, would never produce life in the Spirit. He knew that God was glorified not through the proclamation of regulations, but by the proclamation of God's gospel. He knew whose opinion mattered the most. "Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ!" (Galatians 1:10)
Today let's take a look at our lives, and ask ourselves one question:
Who's in charge here?
From time to time, candidates running for office will stop to visit Bronx Bethany during a service. I recall an occasion during which a candidate's staff members walked into Bronx Bethany shortly after the start of The Key, which is our Saturday night service.
The staff members walked in and looked around. I noticed them through my peripheral vision, but stayed where I was and continued worshiping the Lord as the band was playing. Eventually, one of them walked up to me with a perplexed look on his face. He said, "Excuse me. Who's in charge here?" I pointed to the stage and said, "Do you see the young man there, playing the piano? He's the pastor over tonight's service."
Looking back now, I realize that my answer was incomplete. Why? Because even though our pastors oversee various aspects of ministry, they in turn are charged and led by the Holy Spirit of God. (It is a good thing to be a member of a church where the pastors are joyfully, obediently under the charge of the Holy Spirit.)
Paul was a man who, from the start of his ministry, followed the leading of the Holy Spirit. "Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; instead I received it by a revelation of Jesus Christ... When the One who set me apart from birth and called me by His grace was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I could preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from any human being... I was personally unknown to the churches... They were only hearing, 'The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news of the faith he once tried to destroy.' So they glorified God because of me." (see Galatians 1:11-24 for full text)
In the Church of the Nazarene, there is a small book simply referred to as "The Manual." Like most manuals, it contains policies and procedures. It is intended to help the denomination function to the best of its ability. We Nazarenes are not alone in this venture: many denominations have published guidelines for its pastors, congregants, or both, in an attempt to outline practical helps as we live in our communities of faith. But here is the problem: when a manual becomes the go-to source for all things at the expense of the word of God and the grace of the Holy Spirit who drew us into the faith, then we set ourselves up for all sorts of problems. The early church in Galatia experienced this phenomenon first-hand, and their situation got so out-of-hand that Paul had to write a letter of rebuke and correction.
And, if anyone was qualified to write the letter to the Galatians, Paul was. He knew that legalism, even through the lens of religious duty, would never produce life in the Spirit. He knew that God was glorified not through the proclamation of regulations, but by the proclamation of God's gospel. He knew whose opinion mattered the most. "Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ!" (Galatians 1:10)
Who's in charge here?
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Do Not Mix.
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting the One who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-- which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God's curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God's curse! (Galatians 1:6-9)
During Sunday's sermon Pastor Sam shared that it is a very serious thing when someone is preaching bad news instead of good news. The church in Galatia, in a short period of time, wandered away from the good news preached by Paul and attempted to adopt a "mixture" of things that don't mix: the sinful works of the flesh, a legalism demonstrated by observation of ancient Jewish law, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Where is our salvation? Certainly not in our sinful nature, and not in our embrace of legalism. It is God who saves. The Spirit of God touches our hearts and opens our minds to the Truth, and we accept the new covenant which was effected by the body and blood of Christ. We can say as Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside God's grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!" (Galatians 2:20-21)
Are there areas in our lives where we have opted to "set aside God's grace", thinking that the Lord will excuse our indulgence of the sinful nature? Are we thinking that engagement in legalistic actions will somehow offset our failure to obey God's word? Or, are we solely grounded in the gospel of Christ, knowing that any other "gospel" is perversion?
"I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you; I will take the initiative and you will obey My statutes and carefully observe my regulations." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
During Sunday's sermon Pastor Sam shared that it is a very serious thing when someone is preaching bad news instead of good news. The church in Galatia, in a short period of time, wandered away from the good news preached by Paul and attempted to adopt a "mixture" of things that don't mix: the sinful works of the flesh, a legalism demonstrated by observation of ancient Jewish law, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Where is our salvation? Certainly not in our sinful nature, and not in our embrace of legalism. It is God who saves. The Spirit of God touches our hearts and opens our minds to the Truth, and we accept the new covenant which was effected by the body and blood of Christ. We can say as Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside God's grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!" (Galatians 2:20-21)
Are there areas in our lives where we have opted to "set aside God's grace", thinking that the Lord will excuse our indulgence of the sinful nature? Are we thinking that engagement in legalistic actions will somehow offset our failure to obey God's word? Or, are we solely grounded in the gospel of Christ, knowing that any other "gospel" is perversion?
"I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you; I will take the initiative and you will obey My statutes and carefully observe my regulations." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
Monday, October 7, 2013
The Walk-Through.
Yesterday, Pastor Sam began a new series that will walk us through the book of Galatians. As has been the case in his past few sermons, our pastor asked us to take the time to read Galatians in its entirety.
Will you read (or re-read) it today?
If you do not have a Bible of your own, you can read and/or listen to the Bible online. Biblegateway.com has dozens of Bible versions available, including several languages, free of cost. If you read without stopping, the six chapters of Galatians can easily be read within the space of an hour. For fast readers, the book can be read in as little as fifteen to twenty minutes.
Lord God, Creator of time, I am happy to spend some of Your time in Your word.
Will you read (or re-read) it today?
If you do not have a Bible of your own, you can read and/or listen to the Bible online. Biblegateway.com has dozens of Bible versions available, including several languages, free of cost. If you read without stopping, the six chapters of Galatians can easily be read within the space of an hour. For fast readers, the book can be read in as little as fifteen to twenty minutes.
Lord God, Creator of time, I am happy to spend some of Your time in Your word.