Galatians 3-6
O foolish Galatians!
Galatians 3:1a
Discounting geography, might this epithet from Paul apply to you? Are you striving to make yourself righteous by following a set of rules? Having glimpsed the grace of God in Christ, are you now trying to earn His approval? Having started with the Spirit, are you now trying to go it alone?
I, for one, have fallen into this trap multiple times. I say I believe in Jesus. I say I appreciate His Cross. I say I acknowledge His Resurrection. Yet I often persist in trying to clean myself up on my own. I effectively tell God, “Thanks for the help. Now I’ve got this!” O foolish Galatian!
Paul goes on to explain that our righteousness comes only through faith in Christ, not from outward conformity to the Law. Any attempt to establish our own righteousness under the Law is not only futile but counterproductive, even deadly, as it undermines grace and cuts us off from Christ. (Gal. 5:4) It reveals that we are really trusting in ourselves and not in Christ at all.
Does that mean, then, that — not being “under the Law” — we should go ahead and engage in all sorts of illicit behavior? Am I free to cheat on my wife? May I steal? Lie? Murder? It should be abundantly obvious that the answer to all of that is, “No!” (Gal. 5:13-15) We must not indulge the flesh. We must instead walk by the Spirit.
So examine yourself. Are you trying to make it on your own? Or do you have a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ? Are you operating in your own strength, trusting in your “flesh”? Or are you walking by the Spirit? Look at yourself in the light of Galatians 5:19-26? What kind of fruit do you see? Even if you might look good on the outside, what’s going on inside?
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