Vive Le Difference! - Gospel Freedom in Galatians - October 28 Readings: Galatians 2:6-10

 

 

Gospel Freedom in Galatians  

Background: What was the key issue in the early church? Race. Culture. Issues that are still with us today. The church at its inception on Pentecost was essentially 100% Jewish and the Apostles and the church in Jerusalem seemed content to keep it that way. Then God called a Pharisee named Saul to salvation and set him aside as an Apostle to the Gentiles. Over the next 30 years, the church became primarily Gentile with a Jewish minority, and many Jews fought it. 

Galatians was Paul's first letter, written at the end of his first missionary journey when Gentiles began to come to Christ in droves. A group, sometimes called Judaizers and sometimes the circumcision party, opposed the inclusion of Gentiles in the church. If they were to be part of the church, they needed to become Jewish - follow the law and Jewish rituals. Paul fought them tooth and nail his entire ministry. The gospel was for the whole world. 

Galatians is a powerful argument for a gospel free from the works of the law. 

As often as time allows, the reader is encouraged to read the entire book - it will not take more than a few minutes. Each day we will work our way through the book passage by passage. 

Today's Reading:  Galatians 1-6  Focus Passage -  Galatians 2:6-10  

Now from those recognized as important (what they once were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism)—they added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was for the circumcised, 8 since the one at work in Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in me for the Gentiles. 9 When James, Cephas, and John—those recognized as pillars—acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They asked only that we would remember the poor, which I had made every effort to do.

Through the Bible Readings: Ezekiel 1-2, 2 Thessalonians 3, 1 Timothy 1, Psalm 119:65–72, Proverbs 26:12–14

 

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Devotional: Vive Le Difference!     

No, this time, the difference isn't between men and women, although that difference is an exquisite highlight of God's creation. This time, we are talking about the beauty of God's diversity built into the church of Jesus Christ. This was the key thrust of Paul's ministry. He proclaimed salvation by God's grace apart from the works of the law. From the day he met Jesus on the road to Damascus he knew that he had been called to a ministry that was different from that of the other Apostles. He was the light to the Gentiles, called to spearhead the spread of the gospel outside of its original Jewish environment.

And that really annoyed a lot of the Jews. They wanted everything to stay the same. The church should stay the same - same preaching to the same people with the same culture and the same rules - they wanted everything in the church to stay Jewish. But Paul was called by God to make things different. And that's okay.

In verse 7, Paul says,

On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised...

That's what God intended, from the very beginning. To the ends of the earth. God doesn't want the church to be young or old, he wants it to be young and old. He doesn't want the church to be white or black, but white and black. The church is supposed to be a smorgasbord, a rainbow, a variety of colors and styles and nationalities and languages and...well, and lots of stuff. We are united by one thing only - we have been brought to God by the blood of Christ. We are recipients of grace and have received a salvation we couldn't earn.

The sad fact is that the church has always tried to unite around things other than the gospel, other than Jesus, other than grace. We've united around skin color and culture. We've united around nationality and even where we come from in the United States. We've united around age and socioeconomic status, and whether we are cowboys or bikers or hipsters or whatever other human division we could come up with.

Jesus died for a church with a difference - many differences. White, black and every shade in between. Young and old. Rich and poor. From every race, tribe, and tongue on earth. And we need to join with our Savior in saying, "Vive la difference." 

Father, may I be a man who so loves Jesus that he is the only characteristic I care about in others. Their color or wealth or anything else must pale before their standing in him - it must be Christ, and Christ alone!

Think and Pray:

How much do the things that divide the world matter to you?
Are you motivated by culture and race, age and social standing?
Or are you a man or woman of Christ, and Christ alone?

Prayerfully consider this!