majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Galatians 5:6,
"In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any
value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through
love."
As Paul brings his thoughts to a close in this letter of correction
for the Galatian churches he speaks to what makes a difference as to
what believers do. To live our lives in a way that is pleasing to God,
Paul says that circumcision, representing the law, makes no
difference. Whether we get circumcised, whether we conform to the law
has no value to us. The only thing that counts is faith expressing
itself through love.
Here is quite a departure from a lot of theology that gets passed
around these days. Faith isn't something that God manipulates in us.
All mankind has the ability to place trust in something. To live a
life pleasing to God requires man to make a choice - a choice he is
capable of making. Therefore he is responsible before God to make that
choice. Those who embrace Jesus Christ in faith will enter into the
resurrection of life. Those who reject trusting in Jesus Christ will
be cast into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. We all have a choice to
make. If God were to choose for us, we would all be saved. "This is
good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to
come to a knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:3-4. We know that some
will not choose Jesus Christ and, so, horrifically, a number of people
will be cast into that lake of fire.
Jesus put it this way to Nicodemus, "Whoever believes in him is not
condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already
because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved
darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who
does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear
that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes
into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done
has been done through God." As I say, we all have a choice to make.
God will not choose for us.
The wonderful news is that as we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we
become indwelt by the Holy Spirit. He takes up residence within us and
begins to bring about changes. One of these changes that Paul speaks
of later in this chapter is love. Faith has its expression in love
because faith brings us close to God and God is love. So Paul tells
these believers that the only thing of value they can do is to find
the expression of faith in a life of love.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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