It's Day 34 and we're in Galatians 5.
Where God Spoke to Me:
- Verse 16 - Living by the Spirit means that we're working against pursuing the lusts of our sinful nature.
Help:
- Verse 1 - This is not physical slavery, but the spiritual slavery of going back to the bondage of a rule-based religion.
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Verses 2-3 - The need to be circumcised was a big issue for the
teachers who were leading the Galatian church astray. Paul is noting
that if you feel like you have to be circumcised to be right, then you
can't really just stop there - you need to go on and fulfill the whole
Mosaic Law.
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Verse 4 - "fallen away from grace" - This idea of "falling from grace"
has to be understood in the context of what's being said here. The
obvious point that Paul is making here is that they are falling from the
idea of being saved by grace and falling back down toward the
ineffective idea of being saved by trying to keep the Mosaic Law. Some
people say, "You can lose your salvation because the Bible says you can
fall from grace." You have to read it in context, though, and the
subject here is not salvation but wrong teaching.
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Verse 9 - Paul is saying that it only takes a few people within a
church teaching things that are questionable to get the whole church
messed up.
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Verse 12 - Paul is using a little exaggeration here to make his point.
He's saying if these teachers think circumcision is so essential then
maybe they should go all the way and emasculate themselves.
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Verses 13-14 - Rather than living under the tyranny of a rule-based
religion (by trying to keep the Mosaic Law), we are called to be free.
We each follow the Holy Spirit's guidance. That freedom, though, is not
an open door to freely sinning, but rather to serving God and each
other.
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Verse 24 - This is an important idea: when we are saved, our old,
sinful nature is crucified with Christ. We are a new creation, fully
capable of living victoriously for Christ.
If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.
If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.
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