Do not finish in your own strength

Read: Galatians 3:1-5

I guess you would be pretty surprised if your pastor called you a fool. How would you like it if he called you bewitched? Such language is not guaranteed to fill the pews on a Sunday morning! But believe it or not, this is the language Paul used in a letter to the Christians in Galatia.  Why, we ask ourselves, was Paul so upset with the Galatians?

The Galatians had heard the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. They believed that Jesus had gone to the cross to take their punishment so that they could be converted and adopted as children of God. Further, they had been given the Holy Spirit, the very presence of God within them. All of this had been received by faith not obedience to the law, yet now they were “trying to attain [their] goal by human effort”.

Paul’s frustration is birthed in the fact that what the Galatians had begun on the basis of faith, they were now trying to continue in their own strength. They were now following a Christ-plus gospel: Christ plus circumcision; Christ plus dietary laws; Christ plus observance of Jewish festivals. Since when - is the unspoken question - was your standing before God in Christ alone not sufficient? And how can you trust a religious system to stimulate spiritual growth whilst ignoring the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit?

Fact is we all do it. I hope you do not believe that a daily quiet-time will change your standing with God. Whether you have a quiet-time or not, you stand forgiven and adopted as a child of God. And sometimes, people get the message that one needs to be a sort of Bible scholar or intelligent person to know God. Baloney! You can know God because He is in you. Further, speaking in tongues does not make you more acceptable to God nor does being able to sing or having warm, fuzzy experiences or praying twice a day or tithing or reading your Bible or helping the poor or ...  anything that is on the basis of human effort.

Now, do not misunderstand me. There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these things. Actually, we would not be Christ-like if we did not do the kind of things that Jesus did. But what is your motivation for following spiritual disciplines? They will not change your standing before God. And do not rely on a program of activities and rules to live a life pleasing to God whilst excluding the Spirit. The Spirit will guide you into habits, disciplines and activities, but He will give you the insight needed to make them productive and the power necessary to follow them.

There is no need to make fools of ourselves! Let us build on the basis of faith, actively seeking the Spirit’s help and rejecting any system that excludes Him.

Cheers for now - Ian