Are you experiencing and enjoying the genuine gospel (good news)?
Paul warns the Galations that they’ve ‘turned away’ from the true gospel. He writes that they’ve actually perverted it. Scary stuff!
What was at the heart of their departure? In short, believers were abandoning grace and exchanging it for human achievement through obedience to the Law.
Paul reminded the Gentile and Jewish converts that to be justified before God was impossible through mere human obedience. He asserts that if it was possible to obey ‘enough’ to merit God’s favor, Christ death was in vain.
The gospel is only good news when we understand what bad shape we were in outside of God’s extended grace through His Son. He has condemned all of humanity as guilty and unable to ‘fix’ their woes through levels of morality. Grace is offered through Jesus Christ for ALL that embrace this reality and trust in Him alone. Jesus plus nothing = everything. He resists those that rely on the strength of their flesh.
To attempt to climb our way back to God, or even keep ourselves in good standing with God by human effort leads us back to death and the prison from which we started. The Christian life begins, continues and end through faith in Christ alone, by the means of His grace alone. No works, no boasting.
Through the Law, I am dead to the Law the Apostle tells us. Think about that for a minute. The Law is like a brilliant trial lawyer who’s never come close to losing a case. The Law quickly and easily defeats us, all have sinned, broken the commandments and are left for the obvious verdict.
The commandments brought the knowledge of sin and with it, death. Our death. We not only were killed ‘by’ the Law, we now are dead “to” it – through Christ’s atonement, we’ve been brought back to life. This new life is not like the old. It’s not a laundry list of do’s and don’ts, but a new life of faith in the Son, resting in His completed and perfect Righteousness.
Scriptures calls this the “new and better way”, the new covenant, sealed with the blood of Christ, offered without merit of our own and attained through faith in the sufficient Son of God – Jesus Christ!
This is the gospel! Paul says we died with Him, and now live with Him. We’ve escaped condemnation through the Law – those the Son sets free, are free indeed!
The life we now live in the flesh, we live by faith Paul says, faith in the Son who love us and gave Himself up for us! Galations 2:20
Do not frustrate the grace of God by leaning on your flesh. It will take you back to prison and lead to death. This was the warning 2000 years ago, and should echo in our hearts and church gatherings. Focus on Christ first, not human effort. Oh how easy it is to console ourselves by our efforts and motivations, as if they make us acceptable before the Creator God. Flee this ‘other gospel!’
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, let’s rest in His finished work and let no man or demon of hell sway us from greatest news on earth – The Gospel!
Bruce