Letters of Paul to the Early Church - Robert H. Mounce

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you Gentiles were in bondage to idols that you thought were gods. But now that you have come to know the true God (or rather, are known by God) why would you ever go back to those weak and inferior principles that controlled the way you lived? Do you want to be their slaves again? Already you are starting to observe certain sacred days, months, seasons, and years! I’m genuinely worried about you. Has all my work with you been for nothing?

      I beg you, dear friends in Christ, follow my example. I became like you Gentiles, living apart from religious law; now I’m asking you to become like me, free from the law’s demands. When I first came to Galatia with the gospel you were very solicitous about my physical problem. It was a severe test for you, but you didn’t react by drawing back or rejecting me. Quite the contrary, you took care of me as though I were an angel sent from God, as though I were Christ Jesus himself. What has happened to that wonderful relationship that brought us such joy? I believe that if it had been possible you would have pried out your own eyes and given them to me! Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

      Those false teachers in your midst are doing their level best to win your favor but what they intend is not good. They want to drive a wedge between us so you will give them your full attention. The old saying, “To do one’s best for a good purpose is worthy of praise,” is obviously true, but that’s not the case here. Dear children, once again I’m suffering the pain of childbirth as I wait for a Christ-like nature to become fully developed in you. I wish I could be there right now so I’d know how to get my point across. I’m not sure exactly how you are reacting.

      Tell me, you who are eager to live under the law, are you aware of what the law actually says? Scripture teaches that Abraham had two sons, one by a servant girl and the other by a freeborn woman. The first was born in the usual way, the second in fulfillment of God’s promise.

      This can be taken as an allegory in which the two women represent two covenants. The first was established on Mount Sinai where the law was given and, like Hagar, bore children who were in bondage to the law. Now Hagar, who represents Mount Sinai in Arabia, corresponds to the present day city of Jerusalem because she is in slavery to the law along with all her children. But the other woman, Sarah, who was born free, represents the heavenly Jerusalem, and she is our true mother. As it is written: “Shout for joy, O barren woman, you without child! Break forth in shouts of joy, you who have never felt the pain of bearing child! For the woman left desolate will have more children than the woman who has a husband.”

      But you, my friends, are the children promised by God, as was Isaac. At that time the son who was born in the usual way persecuted the one who was born by the power of the Spirit. So it is now. But what is it that scripture says? “Get rid of the servant girl and her son for that child is not to share in the inheritance that goes to the son of the free-born woman. So then, dear friends, you and I are not children of Hagar, but children of Sarah, free in Christ, not bound by law.

      Chapter 5

      Christ set us free so we could live totally free from the law! So stand firm in your freedom and don’t let the law burden you again with its heavy yoke.

      Listen carefully! I, Paul, tell you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised it will send the message that Christ alone is not enough. Furthermore, I say to every man, that if you agree to circumcision in order to earn God’s favor you will be obliged to keep the entire law. If you are trying to make yourself right with God by obeying the law you have separated yourselves from Christ; you are no longer trusting God’s gracious gift. But we who live by the Spirit are eagerly waiting to receive by faith the righteousness that God has promised. Once you belong to Christ Jesus it simply doesn’t matter whether you are circumcised or not—the crucial thing is your faith expressing itself in acts of love.

      You were running a good race! Who forced you off course so you no longer obey the truth? It certainly wasn’t God, for he was the one who put you in the race. Your leaving the track will affect others because, as the saying goes, “A pinch of yeast leavens the whole lump!” Yet, our oneness in the Lord makes me confident that you will see the error of this false teaching and that the one who’s responsible for the confusion, whoever he is, will pay the penalty God has in store for him. Dear friends, if I were still preaching circumcision as a requirement for becoming a Christian—and that’s what some say I’m teaching—then why would they be persecuting me? In that case, any mention of the cross would offend no one. I wish that those who are upsetting you with their demand for circumcision would go all the way and castrate themselves!

      Dear friends, you have been called to freedom—to live apart from petty rules. But freedom doesn’t permit you to indulge your sinful appetites but to serve one another in love. The one command, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself,” fulfills every requirement of the Mosaic law. But if you keep on biting at and devouring one another, soon you will have completely destroyed the other.

      Here’s a better way: Let God’s Spirit control the way you live. Then your sinful nature will no longer be able to do whatever it wants. The desires of the sinful nature run counter to the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit run counter to the sinful nature. That these two are diametrically opposed keeps you from doing what you want to do. But if you are lead by the Spirit you no longer have any obligation to the Law of Moses.

      When human nature is in control you can be sure that there will be sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, witchcraft and idolatry. People will quarrel, fight, and be jealous. There will be fits of anger, selfish rivalries, divisions, heresies, envy, drunkenness, and wild parties. Once again I warn you that people who behave like that will not inherit the kingdom of God.

      By way of contrast, when the Spirit is in control there will be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law can’t produce, nor can it prohibit, such virtues. People who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since it was the Spirit who gave us life in the first place, let’s allow that same Spirit to control how we now live. Get over your conceit. Stop provoking others or being envious of one another.

      Chapter 6

      Dear friends, if one of you is caught doing something that is wrong, then you who are led by the Spirit are to gently guide that person back onto the right path. However, be very careful because you may find yourself drawn into the same sin. Help one another through difficult times for that is what it means to fulfill the law of Christ. If you think you’re too important for that, and believe me you’re not, you’re deceiving no one but yourself. Each one of you should check on how well you are carrying out the responsibilities of love. Then you can enjoy the satisfaction of serving others with no need to compare it with what others are doing. Every one of us is to do whatever is ours to do. Those of you who are learning how to live the Christian life are to share with your teachers from your store of material things.

      Don’t be deceived: God will not be mocked. You will inevitably reap exactly what you’ve planted. Plant the seed of selfish desire and you’ll reap the corruption that comes from it. Plant that which pleases the Spirit and from the Spirit you’ll reap eternal life. Don’t grow weary of doing what’s right for if we don’t give up it’s only a matter of time until we’ll reap the harvest. So every time we have the chance, let’s do what is good for everyone, especially for those who belong to the family of faith.

      Notice how large the letters are when I do my own writing.

      People who insist that one must be circumcised are simply trying to gain favorable standing in the Jewish-Christian community. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that salvation is by faith alone. Even those who insist on circumcision don’t keep the law perfectly. They want you to be circumcised so they will have something to brag about. May I never brag about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of the cross, the world has died to me; I have been separated from it by death. Whether or not a person is circumcised is beside the point. The only thing that matters is whether we have become new creations in Christ. May the peace and mercy of God be on all who have chosen to live this way. They are the authentic people of God.

      From now on let no one trouble me with issues like this. The scars on my body prove I belong to Jesus.

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