Key Verse: Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart”.

Freedom and unfreedom ultimately betray themselves by their fruit. If, in the name of freedom, we “indulge the sinful nature” (5:13), the product will eventually manifest itself: “sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealously, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissections, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like” (5:19-21). On the other hand, if we “love our neighbours as ourselves” (5:14), we’ll see, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (5:22,23).

The “law” will condemn us for “indulging the sinful nature”, but there is no law that can condemn us as we “love our neighbour”. Freedom means no laws. The only context where no laws apply is that in which we seek the highest good for God, neighbour, and self — this is love.

Loving is hard work. It has very little to do with how we feel. It has everything to do with what we choose. Love, on the bottom line, is a decision. That’s why Jesus said we’re to “love our enemies”. This is not an impossible demand. It would be impossible if He said we’re to “like” our enemies. “Like is a feeling; love is a choice.

So choosing to do what’s right and good, day in and day out, can be exhausting. Or we see so few results from our good choices that we “lose heart”.

Paul says, “Be patient. Don’t lose heart.” There’s coming a day when “we shall reap”. If not here, in space and time, we’ll reap there — in the kingdom of Heaven. God is no man’s debtor.

Keep at it!

Key Verse: Galatians 5:6 “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.”

Free means free — without qualifications. That’s why Paul says, in this discussion of freedom (vv.1-18), that “indulging the sinful nature” (v.13) is an option available to the truly liberated. But there is a strong caution here. And it relates to the “libertines” (Gnostics) I mentioned in the introduction.

The Gnostics separated the world of matter from the world of spirit. They believed that all things material (including flesh and blood) were evil. This is why they had an erroneous view of Jesus — “how can Jesus, the Son of God (perfect in everything) take on flesh which is imperfect and unholy?” they asked, in effect. Therefore, Jesus must have been an illusion in terms of His humanity: “He could not have been born of a woman”. So they spiritualized Jesus and “dehumanized” Him. He became a kind of “super-angel” but not “God in flesh”.

This had a profound impact on their morality. Because their bodies (and all matter) were evil, all that could be expected of their flesh was evil. Thus, they  indulged their fleshly appetites with impurity while, at the same time, “soaring to the heavenliness” in their spirituality. Inwardly they were “angels”, outwardly they were “devils”; all because they saw themselves as “free” in Christ Jesus.

So here you had the antithesis of legalism. Paul took issue with it as much as he did with his Judaizing “brethren”. The issue of freedom, as Paul presents it, is not how much we get out of it, but how much we give because of it. We’re not only to “serve on another in love” (v.13) because of it, but we’re also to understand that “the only thing that counts in faith expressing itself through love” (v.6).

Key Verse: Galatians 4:9 “But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?”

Paul’s discussion about the role of law and faith, as they relate to righteousness, continues. He reminds his readers that the promise God made to Abraham preceded the law given to Moses by 430 years (v.17). God, “in His grace”, gave a promise to Abraham (v.18), and it takes priority over any subsequent introduction or qualification of law. The law was introduced purely because those who were inheritors of the promise were so sinful (v.19). it established the standard — a standard which was unreachable, even if it did (in human terms) reflect the awesome status and expected behaviour of those who were heirs of the covenant.

However, the law also introduced despair — for none could measure up. It showed us our moral bankruptcy and eroded hope.  But therein lay its genius. In exposing our spiritual poverty, there law “led us to Christ that we might be justified by  faith” (v.24). In Christ, we who believe are seen as sons of God rather than slaves of law. There is no discriminatory factors — Jew, Greek, slave, free, male, female are all meaningless distinctions; we have become “heirs” of God.

Jesus the Son, “born of a woman, born under law” (v.4), came to “redeem those under law”, in order that all who believe in Him might “receive the full rights of sons” (v.5). We are now sons and heirs and out relationship with God the Father is so personal and intimate that we can call Him “Abba” (Hebrew for “Daddy”).

So it’s not a case of performance of law determining our relationship with and knowledge of God. Rather, it’s a case of God’s grace, God’s initiative and God’s knowledge of us. There is liberation in the knowledge that we are “”known by God”.

Key Verse: Galatians 3:6 “Consider Abraham: ‘He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.'” (NIV)

The key verse occurs in a context that stretches from chapter three, verse one to chapter four, verse seven. The discussion is about the role of law and faith as they relate to righteousness. And remember, Paul’s readers are Gentiles.

As I said in the introduction, there were two competing faction in the Galatian churches, both undermining Paul’s work: the legalists (Judaizers) and the libertines (Gnostics). Most of Paul’s counterattack, however, is against the legalists.

He comes on strong, wondering how the Galatian Christians could have been “bewitched” (v.1) by the legalists. They were actually beginning to believe they had to be circumcised and obey they ceremonial law in order to be accepted by God. Paul asks them a fundamental question: “Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? . . . After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (v.2,3). He then goes back beyond the lawgiver (Moses) to Abraham,  “the man of faith”. The point he makes is clear and powerful, “those who believe are children of Abraham” (v.7); and this does include the Gentiles because God’s promise to Abraham was, “All nations will be blessed through you” (v.8).

He calls the law “a curse”. Not because it’s bad, but because it’s good — so good, in fact, that no one can measure up, and all are thereby “cursed”, not blessed, by its uprightness.

The only way to righteousness is if someone takes the curse of the law upon Himself in our place. That has happened, in Christ (v.13,14). So we put our faith in Him, and the cure becomes a blessing. More than blessed, we are redeemed by belief in Christ. We believe, and the righteousness demanded by the law ours — all because of faith in Jesus.

Key Verse: Galatians 2:10 “They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.”

The first ten verses of this chapter ideal with Paul’s acceptance as an apostle by the leadership in Jerusalem. The discussion actually begins in chapter one, verse 11. In verses 15 and 16, he speaks of his conversion and then, three years later, going upon to Jerusalem “to get acquainted with Peter” (b.18). The “fourteen years later” of 2:1 probably refers to fourteen years after that visit to Peter. He went up to Jerusalem again to “set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles” (v.2)

Paul’s ministry was under scrutiny for a few reasons. One was that the idea of preaching the gospel of the Jewish Messiah to Gentiles seemed irrelevant and out of context. Another reason was related to become a Christian he first of all had to become a Jew (and be circumcised).  These “Judaizers” were also adamant about kosher law and other rituals and ceremonial concerns which Paul appeared to be flouting. The Jerusalem leadership therefore wanted to carefully check Paul’s credentials. And he passed the test.

The three key leaders, “James, Peter, and John”, gave Paul and Barnabas “the right hand of fellowship” and “agreed that [they] should go to the Gentiles” (v.9). But they had one key concern. It was not a doctrinal concern but social: “they asked that we should continue to remember the poor.” When you get right down to it, concern for the needs of the poor is the foundational material of a balanced ministry. Ivory towers, philosophizing, and preaching to the converted all are neutralized by a prior concern for the poor. Preach to the poor, love the poor, meet their needs. Do this, and the Gospel will come alive and achieve balance.

Key Verse: Galatians 1:11 “But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.”

The new Archbishop of Canterbury is a remarkably refreshing man who believes in “the physical resurrection of Christ” and calls the 1990’s the “decade of evangelism”. I called his office just after his election to see if I could arrange an interview and was told, “The Bishop has decided he will give no interviews to the media until after he actually becomes Archbishop. People were treating him as if he were already in office, and that would have been discomforting to the present Archbishop.” It seemed this new man was highly regarded.

If the Apostle Paul were alive today, he’d probably wrestle a bit with envy. Rather than bask in high regard, he was constantly under attack from would-be apostles and false teachers. His credibility was forever being questioned and he was forced to defend himself and his ministry again and again.

So, as he begins the letter to the Galatians, he’s at it again: “Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead),…” He’s stressing the exclusive nature of his calling as contrasted to other teachers who were “perverting the gospel of Christ” (v.8). These men were obviously making headway with the Galatians (v.6, 7a), so much so that Paul its prepared to consign them to eternal damnation (v.9).

He sees in these false teachers a false gospel that is merely a man-made fabrication. And he’s angry that they are having such success with his congregations. So Paul speaks out forcefully. He reminds them that the gospel he preached to them was not the product of fabrication but of revelation. It is superior to anything else, and its source is none other than Jesus Christ Himself (v.12). The revealed Word of God must always take priority over the constructed word of man.

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 13:8 “For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.”

The key verse occurs in the context of a challenge from Paul to the Corinthians that they “examine” themselves to see if they are “in the faith” (v.5). They are to “test” and see if “Christ Jesus is in” them. He then expresses the hope that they will discover that Paul himself has not failed the test (v.6). Next, he prays that they and he (implied) “will not do anything wrong” (v.7) Then comes the key verse.

I don’t know if Paul was being philosophical here, but there is no question that what he says about the “truth” is profoundly true. On one hand he is saying that he (and hopefully all the Corinthian Christians) are compelled to do what is right. On the other hand, he is saying that “Truth” ultimately wins every battle. Because two of the many attributes of God are truth and justice, we can be sure there is coming a day in the history of man when every lie will be exposed. On that Day of the Lord only Truth will be spoken. And that truth will liberate every victim of injustice and vindicate the righteous.

The reason Paul couldn’t “do anything against the truth” was that he was living with eternity in view. He knew that he was, as all people are, immortal. He would have to stand before his Maker one day and give account. Her would have to answer the question, “what have you done with the Christ?”

Any untruth now will be revealed on that day. Any rejection of Christ now will mean rejection for us then. We are living in a closed system. A system that will utterly destroy wickedness one day.

That’s why Jesus came to this planet. In light of that awful day when Truth will judge all men, Jesus died to provide atonement for all those who will receive it. These “blood-washed ones” will be declared righteous as the Truth is revealed. that’s why we must only act “for the truth” now. It’s a matter of life and death.

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul continues reviewing his credentials. “I must go on boasting” says the NIV (v.1). “There is not a lot to be gained by this”, Paul says, “but now I’ll take about some of the spiritual credentials I have in terms of visions and revelations.” Then, for no apparent reason (perhaps modesty?) he switches into the third person to tell of an experience he had — “in the body or out of the body I do not know” — where he was “caught up to the third heaven” (v.2). He goes on to identify this “third heaven” with “paradise” (v.4).k There, he “heard inexpressible things, things that a man is not permitted to tell” (v.4). You can be sure this experience was enough to make anyone, regardless of any developed humility, think he was rather special. That is why Paul goes on to say, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassing great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me” (v.7). He does not say what the “thorn” was, but it was enough of an aggravation that he prayed three times for healing, with no success.

You would expect a man who has had such a remarkable spiritual experience to be specially favoured when it came to prayer. You would think he had the kind of faith that would make any affliction flee. But he didn’t. And that’s the point.

Paul is boasting of his weakness. He is just like you and me. We all share a desire to be independent, physically and spiritually. But God makes sure His children stay children. Growing children, yes, but children none-the-less. We are dependent.

Dependent on His grace. Dependent on His will. Dependent on His love. When you get right down to it, that takes the pressure off. The sufficiency  is not ours. It’s His.

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 11:29 “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?””

Paul continues his boasting in verse 16-33. In so doing, he is reminding the Corinthians of his credentials (as compared to false teachers who are undermining Paul’s credibility).  What does he boast about? He is a Jew (v.22). He is “more” than “a servant of Christ” in that he has “worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again” (v.23). He has received thirty-nine lashes five times. Three times he has been beaten with rods, once he has been stoned, three times he has been shipwrecked and treaded water for a night and a day in the shark-infested Mediterranean Ocean (vv.24, 25).  In fact, his life has been one constant danger (v.26) at worst, and a colossal inconvenience (v.27) at best. Then, on top of it all, he has lived with “the pressure of [his] concern for all the churches” (v.19).

It is in this context that Paul says, “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?” In other words, “there is nothing you have experienced that I don’t know something about. I have been there. I have suffered I have been angry at injustice and the object of injustice. I understand.”

This is a bit of a twist on boasting. Usually we hear boasts about successes. Here we read boasts of failures, hardships, and deprivations. Paul has paid the price. And who is going to object to that king of boasting?

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 10:17 (NIV) “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Generally speaking, most of us disapprove of boasting. We don’t like boasters because they seem either bent on putting us down by exalting themselves or, on the other hand, too hungry for our approval. In both cases it’s a pain. doubly obnoxious is the person who boasts about his spirituality — he’s not only better than you on the human plane, but he’s also achieved superior approval on the heavenly plane. Such arrogance!

Paul talks about boasting in verses 12-18. The context: boasting about ministry. He refers to those who “measure themselves by themselves” and “compare themselves with themselves: (v.12) and declares he won’t even “dare to classify or compare ourselves with these who commend themselves.” It’s not that Paul is opposed to a proper boast once in a while (see 11:16) — it’s just that he refuses to boast apart from track record. For example, he says  he “will not boast beyond proper limits”, that is, he won’t say, “I’ve done a great work for God” in a general way. Rather, he will say, “I have done a great work for God among the Corinthians”. Or, as he says in verse 13, he “will confine [his] boasting to the field God has assigned to [him]”, and here is where track record comes in — “a field that reaches even to you”. In other words, he will boast to those who know his record, and those who know his record know that his bottom-line boast is “in the Lord”.

Something just as obnoxious as unsupported boasting is false humility. Why? Because we know intuitively that a self-detracting response to commendation is just a call for more commendation. What you want to hear when you commend someone is, “Yes, thank you. I’m pleased myself”, or something along that line.

And when it comes to God’s work, how about saying, “Praise the Lord! He has done great things!” And then thank God for including you in the process.

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 9:6 “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”

Before he became president of the USA. Woodrow Wilson was president of Princeton University. I read recently of an occasion when he spoke to a group of parents.

“I get many letters form you parents about your children. You want to know why we people up here in Princeton can’t make more out of them and do more for them. Let me tell you the reason we can’t. It may shock you just a Little, but I am not trying to be rude. the reason is that they are your sons, reared in your homes, blood of your blood, bone of your bone. They have absorbed the ideals of your homes. You have formed and fashioned them. They are your sons. In those malleable, moldable years of their lives you have forever left your imprint upon them.”

The Bible says, “train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Doing this isn’t easy, nor does it happen by itself. It takes commitment, sacrifice, and a lot of love. Lay the love on thick, and your children will draw on its depth for the rest of their lives. Love thinly, on the other hand, and they will have shallow reserves for the rest of their lives. It’s all a case of how you sow.

The same principle holds true in every area of life. If you want a lot of tomatoes you plant a lot of tomatoes. If you want God’s best for your life, you give your best for all of your life. You commit, you pay the price, you follow through. After all, the stakes are high. We are living for eternity — and we’re going to walk into a Kingdom someday. There we will become “the planting of the Lord”. How fruitful will that tree be? You can be sure it will bear just as much fruit as we’ve planted while we lived our moment in space and time. Now is the time to be generous. In everything.

Key Verse: Corinthians 8:12 “For if there is a first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.”

I think most of us have heard or read about ministries that “never ask for money”. Usually this observation is made with a muted condemnation of any ministry that does ask for money. The implied message is: if God approves of a ministry, He’ll supply the need without fundraising. That sounds impressive. But for most ministries, God expects us to labour in fundraising. Paul is a case in point.

Chapter 8 is all about fundraising. As you read it carefully, you see Paul doing his utmost to stimulate generosity in the Corinthian church. He refers to the Macedonian churches who gave generously in spite of their “extreme poverty” (v.2). He talks of their eagerness to participate in “the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints” (v.4 NIV). He then urges the Corinthians to do the same (v.6) and commends them for their excellence “in everything” (v.7a) — (Paul seems to have forgotten, for the moment, their lack of excellence in morality). He follows this with a comment that their generosity will be a “test” of “the sincerity of [their] love” (v.8) — and says he’ll “compare it with the earnestness of others” (how would you respond to this kind of pressure from your pastor?).

The urgency of Paul’s appeal reflects a great concern on his part for the ongoing health of the financially poorer congregations. In a sense, you might say Paul’s intensity reflects his sense of “ownership” — he’s committed, and appeals not for himself, but for “the saint”. Maybe this is exactly the kind of pressure we should invite rather than resist. It’s a challenge to our will.

That’s why we need a “willing mind”, one that is committed first to the kingdom of Heaven. A mind that will choose to give “according to what one has”.