Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, wants to make it perfectly clear that faith is the only way to live. For those who “…rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the […]
Continuing in Galatians we come to Paul’s assertion that, “everyone who has faith is a child of Abraham.” (Galatians 3:7). From the very beginning God’s intention has always been to bless allnations through the family of Abraham (Genesis 12: 3). This promise God made to Abraham is entirely dependent upon the grace of God. Therefore, […]
In the previous blog we began to unravel the divergence between what Paul calls the ‘flesh’ and the ‘Spirit.’ This is one of the great themes of the entire saga of the scriptures and is certainly the major purpose of this letter. Before we go any further, we must first get past the confusion that […]
The letter to the Galatians, Paul gives us a counter-intuitive view of spiritual life and puts a torpedo through the hull of our self-made systems of religious righteousness. Paul launches into the third chapter wanting to remind the Galatians how they first experienced connection with God by rhetorically asking, “Did you receive the Spirit by […]
After introducing his concern for the Galatians in the first half of the first chapter, Paul goes on to demonstrate that the gospel is not only for observers of the Jewish traditions but is for all people. He explains how he tested the gospel he had been preaching against what the other Apostles had been […]
In my middle twenties I led a Bible-study in a prison every Wednesday night. From time to time one of the attendees would complete their sentence and return to their home. More often than not it would only a few short weeks later that they would be back re-attending the Bible-study. Despite being free they […]