If you are able to attend worship regularly at all, you know
that the message of Galatians is a message of grace. Even though grace is the central theme of
scripture, many still balk at it. Some
(despite Paul’s clear teaching in Romans 6) believe that a consistent message
of grace encourages people to keep sinning.
Others believe that a consistent message of grace misses the real point
of the Christian walk. They prefer that
we just tell them how they ought to live and let them do it. But I think the real reason people reject the
message of grace is because they really don’t want grace. You see, the message of grace is not about us,
it’s about God. The message of grace
says that apart from God’s kindness and mercy, I am nothing and I have
nothing. Receiving the gift of grace
changes everything and we really don’t want everything to change. Instead we desperately cling to the things
that grace strips away from us.
Galatians reminds us that while the gift of grace is free, receiving
the gift means that we die to ourselves and now live completely for God,
relying on him for everything. That is a
hard pill for many to swallow. Our
preference is to retain control of our lives, keeping God in the background for
when we get into a jam. This way when things
don’t work out the way we planned, we can still blame our problems on God. This type of Christianity is a wonderfully
convenient religion that blends nicely with our self-absorbed culture. Especially when we combine it with the
concept that no one is ever allowed to judge anyone else for anything. This allows us to openly live according to
any view of God and ourselves that we like (whether it is consistent with
scripture or not) without fear of question or rebuke. But this is not how a Spirit filled man or
woman lives.
This is why, at the end of the book of Galatians, Paul
issues a stern warning: “Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked.” He wants us to understand that we may be able
to fool ourselves and others with our self-centered religion, but we cannot
fool God. Paul does not give this
warning out of an angry or judgmental spirit.
He gives it out of love…the same love that he calls us to in view of the
grace God has given us. His desire is that we move beyond our love affair with
ourselves and discover the true love of God that produces the Spirit’s fruit in
us. Take the time to prayerfully read
through the entire book one more time before you come to worship on
Sunday. Ask God to reveal to you the
truth about your own heart, and the wonders of his grace.
Blessings,
