Today’s passage: Galatians 5:7-15
Helpful thoughts:
- Because Paul saw fruit (It looked like everything was going well), he was confident that the people in the church would reject the false teaching. And, his confidence was in the Lord, because God was the one who calls.
- Again, just like yesterday we need to look at Romans 8:29-30.
- If the people there had truly accepted God’s grace through faith in Christ, they would assuredly persevere in the faith because whom God calls, He justifies, and whom He justifies, He glorifies.
- There is a penalty to be paid for false teaching. God doesn’t mess around with the misuse of Scripture and He doesn’t turn a blind eye to those who seek to lead His sheep astray.
- The pagan worship the Gentile Galatians were familiar with included castration for the priests. Paul is now equating circumcision for salvation with a pagan practice. Both the idea of castration and the comparison with paganism would have been direct rebukes to the Judaizers…Paul wasn’t messing around either.
- We have been freed to love. Freedom from our condemnation under the law does not give us a license to sin. It allows us to love and serve freely, not under obligation.
Questions to consider:
- How does this passage help us to think about the idea of being saved because we prayed a prayer but then not loving and living for Christ? Can a person say they are a Christian, never act like one, and be sure of Heaven?
- If a person says they “Got saved” but doesn’t follow Christ, is it more loving to simply hope they go to Heaven or to present them with the Gospel and plead with them to repent like Paul is doing in this letter?
- What would it look like to be lovingly assertive (Ephesians 4:15)? How can passivity be selfish and hateful (1 Corinthians 5:1-5)? Which method will bless the hearer if they listen? Which method will hurt them?