Galatians 4: Children of the promise

Galatians 4

We must remember the context of the previous parts of Paul's letter to the Galatians. He is writing them, strongly exhorting them, because they have fallen away from the grace of God and have been trusting in their good works and the law. Paul is reminding them of the power of the Holy Spirit that lives in them and of Jesus Christ who has set them free from bondage to the law and from their sin. 

In chapter four, we find that the Galatians are being wooed and flattered by false teachers, and must be being swayed by them. Paul attacks this attempt to tempt the Galatians toward this false teaching. He appears to become frustrated with the Galatians however and even tells them he just doesn't know what to do with them anymore. They have freedom in Christ; they no longer have to live as slaves, yet are zealously living for the law. 

Vs 28-31 NKJV

"28 Now we brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the scripture say? 'Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.' 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free." 

NLT "28 And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. 29 But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born of human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born of the power of the Spirit. 30 But what do the scriptures say about that? 'Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman's son.' 31 So, dear brothers and sisters, we are children of the free woman."

There is so much rich truth in these verses. First, there is a promise. This promise refers back to the beginning of chapter 4, where Paul reminds the Galatians, and us, who we are in Christ. The Galatians, just like Christians, are children of God, those who believe in His Son Jesus, and are heirs to the inheritance of eternal life with Him. The Galatians, and those of us who are Christians, have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus and have been adopted as sons and daughters into His family. The Galatians, like us,  have His Holy Spirit living inside of us and God is our Father. We cry out to Him and he hears us. Because of all of this, both the Galatians and present day Christians are no longer slaves, but are free. And so verse 28 is Paul's reminder that we are not slave children, but we are children of promise. This teaches us that God is faithful. God gave Abraham a promise that His children would be more numerous  than the stars in the sky...and here thousands of years after Abraham's life, Paul reminds the Galatians of this promise and that they too are heirs of this promise. They are children of Abraham and therefore their very life in Christ is proof of God's faithfulness and they are living testimonies that He has fulfilled this promise to Abraham. And the even more amazing thing is that we are too! Even now, more than 2000 years after Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians, our very lives in Christ are a living testimony to God's faithfulness! 

If only the Galatians had just clung to that promise and walked in the freedom they had been given in a Christ Jesus. But they did not. And sadly, most often, we as Christians, do not either. 

Paul addresses this very same issue with the church in Ephesus, in Ephesians 4:21-24, 

"But you have not so learned in Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." 

For most of my Christian life, I carried around the 'old woman' of my past, like these verses in Ephesians talk about. Instead of walking in the freedom that I had in Christ, living as a child of promise, heir of Abraham and Sarah...I lived a persecuted life of slavery and bondage, simply because God's grace was not enough for me. I just could not let go of all that I thought made who I was. I just could not let go of my past. I would not take my eyes off myself and put them completely on Jesus. I desperately wanted to be free, to live joyfully, and to believe in God's faithfulness. But I would not let go of the past because I feared the future being totally in God's hands...

So, like Hagar, I envied women who had had that peace, joy, and freedom I so desperately wanted but seemed always just out of my reach. I lived as Ishmael and persecuted others. My heart grew bitter and hard, even though I knew Jesus. I was a 20th century Galatian. 

Then, a dear friend sat me down and spoke to me the very things Paul speaks to the Galatians through his letter. 

Vs 12: "Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you..." NKJV

"I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you -free from tho laws." NLT

Paul is reminding the Galatians that they were NEVER under the law. They never lived in the shadow of the law, as he had as a Jew. They were born into the faith simply under God's grace. They were born into the faith free and they have willfully placed themselves under the law. 

Just as this sounds ridiculous to me, it was just a ridiculous to Paul and we can hear that frustration  in his words. 

  In Galatians 4:30, Paul teaches the Galatians the instruction for Abraham was to cast out the slave woman, Hagar, and her slave son, Ishmael. This seems harsh, because Ishmael was in fact Abraham's son. But Ishmael was never intended by God. We was born out of Abraham and Sarah's attempt to make God's perfect plan happen in their own time. So, God being all-knowing, understands far better than Abraham ever could the danger of having Hagar and Ishmael continue to be in Abraham's life and so he says to cast them out. 

We must do the same thing to anything in our life that is not in the will of God. Anything we have done in our own strength. Anything we have made happen in our own will. Anything in our life that is a result of our own fleshly desires. All of it must be cast out. Just as Ephesians 4:teaches us, we must "be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." 

After I finally let the 'old woman' die and put on the 'new woman' really for the first time, my life changed drastically. All that I had desired for so long, I finally had found. The joy, the peace, and the freedom were finally mine. 

This is the promise that we have here in Galatians. Paul is desperate for his beloved brothers and sisters of the church. He sees their wayward way and desperately desires to help them find their way back. 

I am so thankful for my friend, who was a female version of Paul in my life. She brought me back and righted my path again. Today, I will write her and thank her for being wiling to be used by God to teach me His way. Her investment in me has allowed me to live in a new way I never thought was going to be possible for me. I will also share with her how the Lord continue to use the things she taught me to continue the work He started in me

"Dame agua..." (Give me water)

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy[c] angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ " Matthew 25:31-40

Yesterday afternoon we visited the local hospital with our kids and our four IGNITE interns serving here in Guatemala. It had been three weeks since our last visit and we all were looking forward to seeing the patients again. Our purpose with this visit was to be available to help serve dinner and to be of assistance to the hospital staff.

This hospital is supported and funded solely by volunteers and donations. Doctors and dentists from around the United States and Canada donate their time and resources to come to Antigua and meet the needs of the patients who live in the hospital and also of the community. Throughout the year, many different volunteer groups come and serve the patients and give assistance to the hospital staff. There are many humanitarian groups as well as some ministries in the area that have partnered with the hospital. We almost always see other volunteers in the hospital when we are there. The hospital staff give the volunteers the freedom to choose where they would like to serve. The first time we visited the hospital and were given a tour of the entire facility, we were told that the older women were rarely visited and the older men were visited even less. Most groups come and serve in the children's wing.

We've now served in almost all of the wings. In each area, there are certain patients that have touched our hearts and we have begun to build relationships with not only the patients but the staff as well.

When we arrived yesterday, we spoke with the staff and decided we would visit with the 'ancianos' or the elderly men. There about 40 men in this wing of the hospital. The men are rarely visited by the volunteers that come to the hospital. When we arrived at the door, one of the men who is always so welcoming when we arrive, quickly got the attention of the hospital staff to open the doors and allow us to enter. This man's normal routine is to bring at least one or two of us chairs right away so that we can sit down. He also usually offers us a glass of water. When none of us take a drink, he always shrugs his shoulders and drinks it himself. Today was no different. He welcomed us and brought me a chair right away, later on the big mug of water was passed around until he finally drank it all himself.

For the first hour or so we just visited with the men. In their wing of the hospital, there is a square corridor with doors leading to the rooms on one side and a large courtyard with a fountain in the middle on the other side.This is typical Antigua style architecture. Many of these men have some sort of mental incapacitation. Several are blind or partially blind. Most of them cannot walk. Many cannot speak. The more we are there, the more we learn about each one and the more we begin to discover their personalties. And the more we build relationships with them.

We began 'dando la vuelta' or giving wheelchair rides around the corridor and courtyard to various patients. For some of us, these visits are not comfortable or easy. For others, they are almost more comfortable than in other areas of ministry here. And so, each visit we learn a little more about ourselves and are stretched a little more by God in different ways. I watched one of our interns, one who has struggled in this setting, begin giving a man a ride in his wheelchair. Even though I knew this was uncomfortable for the intern, I could see that he recognized this was the Lord giving him an opportunity to serve and to be stretched.

I watched another intern walk immediately to one of the men who he had previously made friends with on a different visit. Our son was quickly joined by a couple of men who he had befriended. Our other two interns also found a few of their friends. Last month when we had visited, many of the patients who have family had been away visiting with them for the holidays. Yesterday, most of the patients had returned and so we met some of the men for the first time. One man of these men was younger than the others and carried a bag and a small rubber ball with him in his wheelchair. Matt had been walking with this man and eventually the man dropped the ball onto the ground and motioned to it with his hand and also began kicking out his feet. Matt caught on and put the ball near the man's feet and the man gave a good kick and hit the ball spot on. And so began the game for the next half hour or so. Matt called me over to cheer on the man. I was amazed at his accuracy. His legs were atrophied and too weak to support him, yet he could repeatedly kick the ball with great accuracy. He began to kick it through the legs of the chair that had been set out earlier by our greeter. So each time the ball made it through the legs, I would say "GOOOOLLL!" in typical Latin American style and he would give me an incredibly wide smile and a fist bump!

It was almost time for the food to arrive and I had been talking with one man. He was able to communicate very well, but very slowly. He was very friendly. After some time talking with him, he asked me in his raspy voice to please get him a glass of water.

"Dame agua, por favor. Dame agua."
As I looked at him over his shoulder, I heard Jesus..."Give him Me..."

"I was thirsty and you gave Me drink;" Mathew 25:30

I realized in that moment God was allowing me to be His very hands and feet...to serve this man and to serve HIM, the King of the universe in that moment. My breath caught in my chest and I paused a moment before going to get him water. As I held the cup to his mouth and gave him water, I prayed for him and talked with him about the Living Water that Jesus offers him. 

After some time visiting with the patients it was time to begin gathering them at the table for dinner. As the food trays were passed out, one man with a super sweet countenance went to the cupboard and began setting out the cups. I walked over and began to help him and as I set them out on the tray, he gently moved them into the correct order. He was very systematic in the placement of the cups. He told me 'gracias' numerous times. He also filled every one of the cups with coffee and passed them out to every patient  there. The hospital staff instructed us who could feed themselves and who would need help and so we began to serve those who needed help. As the food began to get passed out, the group grew lively. They were obviously hungry and thirsty. The arrival of the food brought great excitement to the whole group! As I fed one man, he told me 'gracias' over and over again. He ate every last bite of food that I served him. He was blind. He could not see me or the food he was eating, but his enjoyment and gratitude were obvious.

I watched as the others served in a way that was way out of their comfort zone. But they served with joy, with patience, and with the love of Jesus.

After finishing with dinner, we went to visit the children's wing. We only had a few minutes to spend, but we were able to visit with every child in one room of the wing. We each have special friends in this room and it is always a joy to see them, touch their hands, sing to them, caress their foreheads.

As we walked home, I could not stop thinking about how good our God is. I cannot understand the life these precious people live, but one thing I do. I believe in God, and I believe his Sovereignty, and I believe that none of this is out of his sight. I believe that He is still on the throne. I believe that he will continue to guide us and lead us as we press on to take every opportunity we can to serve Him there and share HIs word ad His love with the patients and the staff.

Galatians 3: Redeemed and Freed by the Seed, not by a deed

Galatians 3

"O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth,fn before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among youfn as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—" Galatians 3:1-5

In the first five verses, Paul gives a pretty harsh rebuke to the Galatians. Harsh, but spot on. Paul continues his teaching from chapter 2 here as he enters into some strong fellowship with the Galatians. They've shrunk back. They've begun sliding downward. They have taken their eyes off of Christ, stopped believing in Him, and instead began trusting in their works. Whatever situation they have gotten themselves into,  Paul finds it so disturbing that he calls them 'fools' twice in these five verses alone. 

We can learn so much from these verses alone about guarding our hearts against the temptation to trust in ourselves or in our works. These verses teach us where our sanctification comes from- the Holy Spirit that lives inside us. We are also reminded to be on guard against the temptation to walk in the flesh, and not in the Spirit, which yields nothing but death and bondage. 

"just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God isevident, for “the just shall live by faith.” Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.” Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it." verses 6-15

When we read verses 6-15 we are reminded of exactly how we receive salvation and what salvation beings us. Paul reminds us of Abraham's belief in God and that for his faith he was credited with righteousness. Abraham was not found righteous by God by his works, but by his faith. We too receive the same blessing as Abraham when we believe in God. God himself preached the gospel to Abraham through his promise of blessing the nations through the seed of Abraham. We too then who have put our faith in Christ receive God's same blessing. 

However those who put their faith in the law to save them only bring upon themselves a curse, and therefore deny themselves the very blessing God wants so desperately to give them. 

Vs 11: 'the just shall live by faith.' 

When we live by faith, and in the Spirit, we realize that we begin to automatically walk in obedience to the law simply because we are abiding in Him. When we believe in Christ, we believe in the work of the cross and we believe that the curse that we deserve, Christ took upon himself. In doing so, he redeemed us and we receive the same blessing and righteousness and promise of the Spirit that Abraham received. 

I must remember where my identity is. I am nothing. I have nothing to offer. Anything I can offer is of myself and therefore has not eternal value. It is in Christ where I find redemption from this and freedom from the curse of the law. 

In vs 15 Paul reminds them that he speaks to them in common language- so what he is saying is not confusing to them and so they might be able to understand. 

God promised Abraham that Christ would come through him and would be the Savior to all mankind. Christ demolished the law 430 years after it had been instituted. 

So what are we to do with the law? Do we ignore it? Is it against what Jesus says? Neither.

Before Christ, we were imprisoned under the law by our sin, since the law was impossible to uphold. After Christ, we receive the promise by faith that the law was meant to bring us to the point of recognition of our hopelessness to ever achieve the law...and in that, to the realization that only through Christ can we truly be free. 

We are all sons and daughters who believe in Jesus and have put our faith in Him. There are none excluded from the freedom Christ offers. 

I spent way too long living under the imprisonment of the law, even after coming to Christ. Paul gives us a picture of the depths of God's love for us here in this chapter. We have all found ourselves in the same spot as these Galatians, having backslider into an area we had once found freedom from. We have all found ourselves fools  like these Galatians. Praise God that he has chosen to use the weak and foolish things of this world, like me, to be part of his great plan. 

Today, I will meditate on the work the Lord has done in my life. I will write down a list of things that I am thankful for and the ways the Lord has freed me from and specifically the things I am now free from because of his grace. I will also ask The Lord to continue to open my eyes to the ways I am living by the law and counting to shrink back. 

Galatians 2: Dying to be free

Galatians 2

Right away, we see here the reminder that God's timing is perfect...in the previous chapter we saw Paul's conversion and course of being discipled by Peter and others. He then goes out among the nations sharing the gospel. Fourteen years later, we find him returning to Jerusalem but this time his encounter with Peter is much different. Paul finds that false teachings have made their way into the church at Galatia. The debate about circumcision has surfaced and caused division and deceived some. Even Peter it appears has been deceived. It seems that Peter has strayed from the very gospel that he had one time instructed Paul in. Peter seems to have fallen into the role of a hypocrite, enjoying fellowship with the Gentiles at times, but when in the presence of the Jews, Peter forgets about the Gentiles. 

Peter had sent out Paul to share the gospel with the Gentiles, the uncircumcised. Peter stayed to minister to the Jews, the circumcised. Now we find him fallen under the law and out of the very grace that saved him in the first place. 

Imagine being Paul and finding out that the one who discipled you, the one The Lord himself called the Rock, has fallen back under the law and now his life looks like that of a hypocrite. 

Paul writes with passion in the last half of this chapter about the importance of our faith in Christ, not in man. He reminds us that God is not a respect or of persons and neither should we be. 

Acts 15:8 "So God who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us and am no distinction between us and them, Purifying their hearts by faith."

Those Paul encounters who seem to have it all together often have nothing to offer us, because they talk one way and live another. Paul does not back down, even with Peter.

This division is caused because they have fallen back into believing in the security of works...particularly the work of circumcision. But Paul reminds us here and references that God does not work through circumcision of the flesh, but through circumcision of the heart. 

Paul find the church of Galatia with a major heart issue. He exhorts them to stand firm in the faith into which they were born, the gospel of grace of Jesus Christ. He reminded them that they are justified not by works but by faith in Christ. 

And then Paul share with them what is the key for me- what keeps me grounded in my faith and reminds me to continue to examine my heart before The Lord.

Verses 18-21

"For if I build again those things which I destroyed I make myself transgressor. For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life 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 comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."

Here is the thing that I must remember daily: when I choose flesh and law, I negate what Christ has done for me on the cross. I set aside His grace and choose my own will.  I choose sin over obedience. I must purpose in my heart to choose to ask God to perform heart surgery daily.

God's plan is perfect for me. I know nothing in comparison to His infinite wisdom. Life is full of people who seem to have it all together, both in the world and in the church. The truth is, even those of us in Christ don't have it all together.The more we grow closer to Christ, the more aware we become of our weaknesses in light of His glory.

Our lives should glorify Christ and should demonstrate his redemptive work in us. When the world or even the church look at us they should see Christ living in us and not ourselves at all, as vs 20 says. I don't want to be a hypocrite, as Peter is found to be here in chapter 2.

I am so thankful for the way God has redeemed me and restored my life. I am so thankful for the way he has taught me the truth of the verses and now. I am able to see the times when I revert back to the law and begin to fade away from His way. While I still fall into this temptation at times,  I am so thankful to know the truth and recognize my error more quickly than before. 

Today, my prayer is that my daily life demonstrate the righteousness that comes through the grace God has given me. I pray that my choice be one of death to myself and therefore one of life for Christ.   I know this is a lesson I still need to learn, because the temptation is still great to follow man, to try and please man ...instead of standing firm in Christ and Is grace poured out for me. I will memorize Galatians 2:21 this week to remember to stand firm in God's grace and the consequence of not doing so.

Galatians 1

I've been studying through Galatians with our female interns. We study one chapter a week. We meet and are responsible to bring to our meeting an Inductive Bible study on the verses the Lord used to speak to our hearts and to teach us more about Him. 

One of the most wonderful blessings about the life we live is being able to study God's word with young adults. I love getting out the Word and digging into into, searching for the meat- those special treasures God reveals to us when we seek  to know Him more through HIs word. I love seeking His heart on specific ways He would have me apply His word to my life. 

Here is my IBS from chapter 1. Might you be blessed and encouraged as you read what the Lord has taught me. And might you be encouraged to seek out what special treasure the Lord would have for you in Galatians 1. 

Overview: the Galatians started out in their Christianity with a strong faith, but he we find that they have veered away from that same faith. The Galatians have now out their faith in their own works and this has Paul outraged. Here in his letter to them, he attacks their gospel of works and defends the gospel of faith. Paul lays it out straight to the Galatians: blessing from God comes from faith, not the law. The law declares me guilty and imprisons them; faith sets men free to enjoy liberty in Christ. Liberty, though, is not a license. Freedom in Christ means freedom to produce the fruits of righteousness through a Spirit-led lifestyle. 

Galatians 1

Overview: the Galatians started out in their Christianity with a strong faith, but he we find that they have veered away from that same faith. The Galatians have now out their faith in their own works and this has Paul outraged. Here in his letter to them, he attacks their gospel of works and defends the gospel of faith. Paul lays it out straight to the Galatians: blessing from God comes from faith, not the law. The law declares me guilty and imprisons them; faith sets men free to enjoy liberty in Christ. Liberty, though, is not a license. Freedom in Christ means freedom to produce the fruits of righteousness through a Spirit-led lifestyle. 

Chapter 1

Vs 1-2: "Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren who are with me, to the churches go Galatia:

Right away Paul gives his God-given credentials- he is an apostle appointed not by men or raised up through men- so by nothing he could have done himself- but through Jesus Christ himself, who was raised from the dead and through God himself, who raised Jesus from the dead.  There's power in the calling on Paul's life. He knows it, never denies it, nor takes credit for it. 

Vs 3: “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Paul greets the church of Galatia with his greeting of grace and peace from God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Then in vs 4 he again testifies to God's power reminding the church that Christ died for the sins of the world - their own sins...

why did Christ do this? 

That he might deliver us from this present evil age. That is Christ's will for each of us. That we might be delivered from the evil that imprisons us. 

The glory for this always goes to God!

Paul lays all of this out to set the stage for what he really wants to address with the church of Galatia. 

Vs 6: "I marvel at you who are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel." 

Paul goes on exhorting the Galatians not to be persuaded any anyone who preaches a gospel different than the one they were born into. He also teaches them that those who twist the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ will be accursed. He warns them against following such false teachers. Two times Paul warns the Galatians of the consequence of teaching or following this false gospel. (Eternally condemned).

Then in vs 10 Paul gets to the heart of the issue plaguing the Galatians- 

"For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still please men, I would not be a bond servant of Christ." 

The age old question...Whom shall we serve?

Joshua 24:15 "and if it seems evil to you to serve The Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served...But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." 

What is our motive when we serve? When we serve, who are we seeking to please in our hearts? Men or the Lord? 

Paul states his credentials to the Galatians, reminding them that he was a Jew of all Jews, high up in the ladder of success in the Jewish world. He was well educated in the law of his forefathers. He knew it all, yet through all that he had been taught- he never met Jesus. In all the time Paul spent studying God's very own word, he never found the truth. Why? 

Because he was only searching for what he needed to do to maintain the law. As a faithful Jew, Paul believed that his salvation was based on his ability to keep the law. Paul had never understood that salvation comes through Jesus Christ alone. As a Jew, Paul zealously persecuted the Christian church.   

Paul spent most of his life up until this point serving the gods of his forefathers. But as vs 15 says, "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles..."

Paul comes to the Galatians not as a Jew, but as a believer in Jesus Christ who has been released from the imprisonment of the law. When he first met the Galatians, he shared the truth that had changed his life with them and they too, found freedom in Christ. 

Paul needed no other confirmation after he found freedom in Christ...he walked in the truth that God himself had revealed to him. Paul did not seek the approval of other men as he began his relationship with Jesus. Paul did not seek power of position. he simply sought Jesus. his goal was to know Christ more. When Paul finally began his public ministry, he was known as the one who had once so zealously persecuted the church...and was now defending the faith. Because of his former life and because of his radical transformation...God was glorified in his life. 

We serve a gracious, loving , and merciful God who takes our past, our sin, our rebellion and turns it into something beautiful when we surrender us hearts to him. When our purpose is to know him more and bring glory to His name, he can and will restore all our brokenness. We need nothing other than to know Him and His word. We must continually examine our hearts, go before the Lord in repentance, and ask the Holy Spirit to teach us and fill us by His Spirit and with His Spirit. 

We must guard our hearts against the temptation to serve man, but make our focus in everything we do and say to serve the Lord. As happened with the Galatians, false teachers and teachings will arise, so we must always test what we hear and even our own hearts with the Word of God. We must be on guard and be on our knees so that we might be able to to and approve the will of God as 2 Timothy 3:17 exhorts us. 

When I am diligent in going before The Lord and examining my heart, He is always faithful to show me where I am not serving him wholeheartedly. When I am serving the desire of my flesh, I am serving other gods, not God, my Father. When the attitude of my heart is to please one of my leaders, and not so much service out of love for Jesus, I am serving men, not God. When I serve my husband or my children out of necessity or obligation and not because I simply love Jesus or love them...I am choosing evil and not the Lord. All of these things put me right back into the prison the Lord has graciously rescued me from. I cannot experience the awesome freedom I have in Christ to produce fruits of righteousness if I enslave myself again and again by succumbing to the temptation Paul speaks of in Galatians chapter 1 of living by the law. 

Today I will choose to serve Jesus, not man, not my flesh...simply Jesus. Each time I am tempted to serve men, I will remember Galatians 1:10: "for do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bond servant of Christ."   

Today my prayer will be that I might be found to a bond servant of Jesus Christ. That everything I do and say today might bring glory to Him.