Open the Bible UK Daily

“Today you will be with me in paradise.”Luke 23:43Can you imagine anything further from the mind of this man? He feels that he is already in hell, and that the worst is still to come. He’s absolutely hopeless and powerless, and in the middle of all his pain and guilt, Jesus says,“Paradise... today!”To paraphrase C. H. Spurgeon, this man had breakfast with the devil, but he met Christ before noon, and then he had supper with the Saviour.The thief probably thought Christ’s kingdom would come sometime in the distant future. He says, “Remember me,” but Jesus is saying to him, “You don’t need to worry about me remembering you, we’re going to be there today—you and me.”For the Christian believer, death does not lead to unconsciousness, or to a long process of preparation. Death is an immediate translation into the joys of life at the right hand of God. To be “away from the body” is to be “at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8).Christian, heaven is much nearer than you think. C. S. Lewis pictures this in a beautiful way in the Chronicles of Narnia books where the children slip into a glorious world that is just on the other side of the wardrobe.Everything that is burdening you and consuming you now is like breath on a window on a cold day. When you’ve been in the presence of Jesus for a thousand years, you’ll be saying, “Why was I so worried about that?”Do you see the hope that is found in the nearness of heaven?

“Today...”Luke 23:43Don’t you just hate waiting for exam results? You take the test, hand in your paper, and then you wait. Imagine living your whole life waiting for the results. Will I make it into heaven, or will I spend eternity in hell?When this man says to Jesus, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom,” Jesus does not say, “Well, we’ll have to wait and see.” He says, “Today you will be with me in paradise!” (23:42-43).If our works were involved in any way in our gaining entrance into heaven, then assurance would be impossible. We could never know if we had done enough. If salvation rested on our works, to any degree, then assurance would be arrogance. It would be like saying, “I’ve already finished doing everything that God requires of me.”The good news is that salvation depends not on your works for Christ, but on Christ’s work for you. Christ’s work is finished. It’s complete. It’s perfect. You can rest your life, death, and eternity on Him with complete confidence.Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (23:43). He’s the Lord of paradise, and He holds its keys. Nothing can trump His promise.Jesus doesn’t want you to spend the rest of your days worrying about the final outcome of your life. You can begin rejoicing now in all that He has in store for you: “We rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:2).Are you waiting on the outcome of your works, or are you resting in the finished work of Jesus (on the cross) for you?

“Today you will be with me in paradise.”Luke 23:43If the thief had lived 30 more years, he would have lived a new and different life, but he didn’t have that opportunity. The fact that he entered paradise anyway shows us where the basis for our salvation lies.Our salvation in Christ involves three gifts: (1) justification—by which our sins are forgiven, (2) sanctification—by which we grow in the likeness of Christ, and (3) glorification—by which we enter into the everlasting joy of heaven.Think about what happened to this man: He was justified and glorified on the same day. He completely bypassed sanctification. He missed out on the entire Christian life—no struggles with temptation or prayer, no baptism or communion or church membership.Here is what that tells us: Entrance into heaven comes through justification, not through sanctification. You do not enter into heaven by your performance in the Christian life. The New Testament repeats this theme again and again:By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9This is the good news—your acceptance with God does not depend on your performance in the Christian life. Where would you be if Jesus said to you, “I will forgive you, but I’ll be watching very carefully to see how you do going forward.” What kind of love is that?What is your response when you read the words in Ephesians 2: “not a result of works”? Can you see that this is the love of God for you?

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”Luke 23:42Here is a man who is full of anger against God, but then something changes in his soul. Let’s consider four things we are told in this story:He begins to fear God.“Do you not fear God?” (23:40), he said to the other criminal.He recognises his sinful condition.Then he confesses his own guilt: “We are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong” (23:41). He gives no excuses.He believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (23:42). This man sees in Jesus the authority of a king. How did he come to this conclusion? The sign above Jesus’ head says, “This is the King of the Jews.” He had also just heard Jesus say, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”He asks Jesus to save him.“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (23:42). You really cannot get a simpler faith than that, and Jesus saves this man on the spot: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”You can pursue spirituality all your life, but you’ll never come to know God apart from Jesus. Without Him, you cannot find forgiveness. Without Him, you cannot enter heaven. The Father has committed all things into the Son’s hands—and that includes salvation.Jesus doesn’t say, “Go on a long search.” He says, “Come to me” (Mat. 11:28), and He will give you rest for your soul. Do you see the love of Christ in this?Are you trying to pursue heaven without Jesus? What would keep you from following in this man’s footsteps today—fear God, recognise your sin, believe in Jesus, ask Him to save you?

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”Luke 23:39-43His life is slipping away. Earth is receding, and eternity is beginning to loom large. It’s right on the horizon. He had not planned on this, and he had not prepared for it either.As a Jew, he’d always believed in God, but it had never made any difference to his life. Now he sees with awesome clarity that before the day is done, he will stand in the presence of the God he is cursing and give an account for his life.As these thoughts run through his mind, he hears the voice of his friend, still cursing and hurling abuse at Jesus, and he says, “Do you not fear God?” Then he says to Jesus, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus says to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (23:40, 42, 43).A man who is right on the brink of eternal destruction is given full access to the joys and privileges of eternal life with Christ. There was hope for this man, and so there is hope for you, and for every person you will ever meet.At what points do you most relate to this man on the cross? What would keep you from doing what this man did?

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”Luke 23:39One of the two criminals who was crucified with Jesus spoke in the last hours of his life. He was completely lost, completely helpless, and he was still angry with God.You can almost feel this man’s hostility toward Christ... “If you’re God, why don’t you do something?” Suffering doesn’t always make people more tender. Sometimes it brings out the worst in us. Pain can even intensify a sinner’s hatred toward God.What do we find on the last day when God’s judgments are poured out? Do we see sinners repenting? No. We find sinners calling out to the rocks, “Fall on us” (Rev. 6:16). “We’d rather die than bow before you!” Sin is a mighty power that grips the human soul, and apart from the grace of God, none of us will ever get free from it.Under the judgment of the law for crimes against society, this man would soon face the judgment of God. Still, he is raging against God. It is the story of his life.But it doesn’t have to be the story of your life. You may hate God today, but God does not hate you. The Saviour loves you, and He is reaching out to you right now. Come to Him in repentance. Bind yourself to Him in faith. Let Him lead you into a new life. God is ready to forgive you.Are you angry with God? Are you relieved to know that this doesn’t have to be the story of your life? Are you ready for that story to change? If it already has, reflect on the change in your attitude toward God.

“Father, forgive them...”Luke 23:34How is it possible for God to forgive the worst sins, and for Him to embrace the worst sinners? That question takes us to the heart of this amazing prayer.Man’s sin reached its full horror and its most awful expression on the cross as we crucified God’s Son. If there was ever a moment in human history when God’s judgment had to fall, this was it. But at the same moment, Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them.” Jesus was isolating Himself under the judgment of God.Jesus knew judgment would come, so He cried out to the Father, “Don’t let it fall on them, let it fall on me, and me alone. Let me be the lightning rod for your judgment. Allow me to be the sacrifice that’s consumed, but don’t let your judgment fall on them.”This is the heart of the gospel. Jesus stands under the judgment of God for sins that have been committed against Him. He asks the Father to divert the punishment away from His enemies, and He absorbs it in Himself. That is how forgiveness is released.When Jesus said, “Father, forgive them,” the word “them” is large enough for you to crawl inside. This prayer, and the sacrifice that provides the answer to it, is sufficient for every person who will come to Him. His prayer covered the sins of those who nailed Him to the cross, and it can cover every sin you have committed.Do you believe that Jesus’ words “Father, forgive them” are big enough for you and your sins?

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”Luke 23:34Had anyone ever prayed for these men? It is possible that not a single prayer had ever been said for even one of these Roman soldiers at any time in their lives. But Christ prayed for them. And Christ prays for you, too, when nobody else will.They needed this prayer because ignorance of the law is no defence against breaking it. If you break the speed limit and get pulled over, telling the police officer, “But I didn’t see the sign,” it does not automatically free you from the penalty of the law.Jesus did not say, “Father, forget it, because they do not know what they are doing,” He said, “Father, forgive them.” He made it clear that they needed to be forgiven, even though they did not know what they were doing.Christ prayed for their forgiveness before they ever had any interest in being forgiven. They felt no need for forgiveness. As a matter of fact, they were not repentant, nor did they have faith. Did you know that Christ’s love is not a response to your turning?These men were on a path to hell, and they were so dead in their sins that they did not even know what they were doing, but Jesus prayed for them. And Jesus prays for us long before we ever pray to Him.Did you know that Jesus prayed for you long before you ever prayed to Him?

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”Luke 23:34We’ve taken a step back to look at what the men who crucified Jesus were actually doing at the cross. Now let’s take a look at what Christ Himself was doing on the cross.Thank God that Jesus does not just look down from the cross and say, “They know not what they do!” Jesus taught: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Mat. 5:44), and that is precisely what He is doing here.Jesus prayed for His enemies; and He did it even as they were inflicting horrible pain on Him. The people who were pouring out cruelty on Him were the very ones who were on His heart, so He prayed for them while they were crucifying Him.Christ had compassion on them because He knew what they were doing. Jesus knew the heaven they were spurning, the eternal hell they were preparing, and who they were defying. He knew the full weight of the sin they were committing, and He had compassion.Christians should be the most compassionate people in the world. If you know the hell sin brings, the heaven it spurns, and the God it defies, you will have compassion for sinners. Knowing what sin is and where it leads will soften your heart, and it will help you to grow in compassion.Will you ask God to soften your heart and help you grow in compassion for sinners?

We impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.1 Corinthians 2:7-8You haven’t really understood sin until you begin to see who it is that you sin against. Sin is much more serious than breaking a moral code. It is an offense, an affront, an insult against God. That’s what makes it so serious.You may never stand up and say, “I defy God,” but every time you curse or lie or swear or break God’s law in any way, that is what you are doing, whether you realise it or not.Think of some sin that is likely to tempt you. If, at that very moment when you are tempted, you could see the full horror of the hell that this sin brings, and the full glory of the heaven that it shuns, and if you could see how this sin spits in the face of God, you would not fall into that sin.So, use this as a defense against sin in your own life. When you are tempted, say to yourself: “This is a sin that shuts people out of heaven and prepares an eternal hell. This is a sin that crucified Christ!” This truth will help you learn to throw off temptation when it comes to you.Identify one sin you are likely to be tempted with today. When this temptation comes, will you tell yourself the truth about sin to defend against it?

“They know not what they do.”Luke 23:34Jesus said these words about the men who were nailing Him to the cross. What was it that they didn’t realise? Well, one thing they could not see is that, by their actions, they were preparing for themselves an eternal hell.Sin brings sorrow in this life and judgment in the life to come. If you knew the sorrow and the judgment a sin would bring, you would not do it. Spurgeon says that hell is “drinking a cup of gall, every drop of which is distilled from your own sin.”God always acts in perfect justice. His justice means that nobody will be judged for a sin that they did not commit. The judgment for each sin will be in proportion to the weight that the sins have, not in your eyes, but in the eyes of God. And every sin will be punished accordingly.This must lead to the conclusion that a person in hell would give anything and everything to have committed just one less sin. What kind of hell is prepared by nailing the flesh of the Son of God to a cross? No wonder Jesus said, “They know not what they do.”Whenever we sin, it’s true… we don’t know the full extent of what we’re doing. Every sin is an act of folly, and if you knew the extent of the folly, you wouldn’t commit the sin.Do you believe that there is a direct link between your sins and your experience of God’s judgment?

“They know not what they do.”Luke 23:34What were these men really doing when they were nailing Jesus to the cross? Well, one thing they were doing was shutting themselves out of heaven. Did you know that it is actually sin that shuts people out of heaven?If you could see the joy that you are spurning when you sin, you would not do it. Pastor C. H. Spurgeon paints a compelling picture:I see a pearly gate, and beyond it is a world of light and joy. A man standing outside, with a hammer and nails. He is nailing bars across the gate to shut himself out.Here are men with a few short years on earth, and then they’ll enter eternity. They are face-to-face with the Son of God, who owns heaven. But instead of pleading for mercy, they are cementing their own fate.Remember, there was also a thief who was crucified with Jesus, but he seized his opportunity by reaching out to Jesus in faith: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (23:42).When you sin, you do not know what you’re doing either. Whether a sin is committed intentionally or unintentionally, whether it is done on the spur of the moment, or it is premeditated and planned, if you really knew the consequences of sin, you’d never do it.Do you believe that your sins have the power to shut you out of heaven?

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.Luke 23:33-34The soldiers took hammers and metal spikes, and they nailed the Son of God to a beam of wood. They lifted Him up on a pole and dropped it into a hole in the ground. Then Jesus spoke for the first time from the cross: “They know not what they do.”The men who nailed Jesus to the cross didn’t think they were doing anything wrong. They didn’t have a bad conscience; they didn’t feel they needed to ask God for forgiveness. These men were right in the middle of committing the most terrible sin in the history of the human race, and Jesus said that they did not know what they were doing. How is that even possible?This tells us something very important—we cannot know what sin is simply from our own feelings about what is right and what is wrong. If you trust your own heart, your own intuition about right and wrong, you will sin and go on sinning, without even knowing it.We need God to tell us what sin is, and the good news is that He does this through His law. That is why we need God’s Word. Even the apostle Paul had to admit: “I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’” (Rom. 7:7).Do you see how it would be possible for you to sin against God without even knowing it?

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.Galatians 1:3-5This is the true gospel—what Jesus did for us on the cross (gave Himself for our sins), and what He does for us now by the Spirit (rescues us from the present evil age). Notice who gets the glory: “Our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever” (Gal. 1:4-5). On that night when Jesus was born, the angels sang, Glory to God in the highest. Why? Because God did for us what we could never do for ourselves or for each other. Jesus bore the curse for us in His death on the cross. He graciously receives us, forgives us, makes us children and heirs of God the Father, and then by His Spirit makes His home with us. He lives His life through us! “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (6:14). There are many Christians who delight in themselves, or in their church. What the world needs today is Christians and churches who delight in the gospel. What is at the center of your interest and affections? Yourself and your experience? The church and her ministry? Christ and His gospel?

Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.Galatians 6:14Throughout history, there have been three versions of Christianity – one that centers on the individual, one that centers on the church, and one that centers on Jesus Christ.The self-centered gospel is about what you can discover. It goes like this, “The truth lies within you.” Many people would rather view Jesus as a teacher who enlightens us than a saviour who delivers us. Paul utterly rejected this gospel. Without Jesus’ death for us and His life in us, we would still be sin’s slave. Our great need is not for enlightenment, but for salvation.The church-centered gospel goes like this, “It’s great that your sins have been forgiven, but what you really need is to learn how to live the Christian life. We have the tools, and we will give them to you if you join us.” You see what has happened—the central focus has moved. The focus is on what these people can do for me by giving me spiritual tools. “Neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” (Gal. 6:15).In the Christ-centered gospel, God did for us what we could never do for ourselves or for each other. “God sent forth his Son, born of woman... to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4-5).When Paul says, “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” his central concern is “Who gets the glory?” If we ask the question Who gets the glory in these three versions of Christianity, the answer is obvious; in the self-centered gospel, you do, in the church-centered gospel, we do, and in the Christ-centered (and true) gospel, Jesus does.As you reflect on your own experience of Christianity, who gets the glory?

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.Galatians 6:7-8The battle with the flesh will continue every day of your Christian life. You will never be done with the flesh until you see Jesus. While you cannot get rid of the flesh, you can weaken its position. Grasping this will really help you make sense of the Christian life.Every time you say “yes” to the flesh—gossip, jealousy, hatred, etc.—you increase its power. Every time you indulge in pornography, get drunk, or lie you increase the power of the flesh. But every time you say “no” to the flesh, you reduce its power and weaken its position.If you have said “yes” to the flesh in some area repeatedly for many years, you will find that it has gained a grip in your life, and it will cause great destruction. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please the flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction.Every time you say “yes” to the Spirit, you drain the power of the flesh. Every act of faith, every act of forgiveness, kindness, service, or compassion deepens the work of the Spirit in your life. Every time you draw near to God in the Word, in worship, and in prayer, the fruit of the Spirit advances in your life. Every difficulty and disappointment that you endure, loving Christ still, will produce good fruit in your life. Holiness is a harvest, and it depends on what you sow.If you’ve allowed some sin to build a stronghold in your life, you need to hear this warning. You need more than a quick “Lord, forgive me.” You need to crucify the flesh, and you need to start sowing to the Spirit, because the longer you leave it, the more difficult it will become.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.Galatians 5:22-23The second mark of a person who is walking by the Spirit is that the fruit of the Spirit is growing in your life. The flesh produces works. The Spirit produces fruit. Fruit grows. It comes from a life within. It is not manufactured.It is the fruit of the Spirit (not of the law). If you were to ask: “How do I get more love, joy, and peace in my life? How do I increase self-control?” The answer isn’t by the law, but by the Spirit.Suppose you had an apple tree in your backyard. But you don’t like apples. You like pears. There are two ways you could get pears. The first is to pull all the apples off the tree, buy some pears, and fix them to the branches with tape. The second is to plant a pear tree in your yard.This illustrates the difference between the law and the Spirit. The law cannot produce fruit. That’s the problem with attempts to live the Christian life that rely heavily on accountability. Accountability may have some value in restraining sin, but it has no power to produce fruit.The accountability approach, apart from the work of the Spirit, will produce “Just tell me what to do” Christians who do not have life in themselves. They are simply trying to imitate the life they see in somebody else, so that they become like plastic flowers.It is the Holy Spirit who will produce good fruit in your life. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me ... he will produce much fruit” (John 15:5).What are some of the fruits you have observed growing in your own life?

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.Galatians 5:24In your ongoing war against sin, Christian, you are to crucify the flesh. What does that mean? Is crucifixion a fast death or a slow death? Crucifixion is a slow death. So, when Paul says we have crucified the flesh, that means it is dying, not that it is dead.Martin Luther said, “Christ’s people nail their flesh to the cross, so that although the flesh be yet alive, it cannot perform that which it would do for as much as it is bound both hand and foot and nailed to the cross.” This is not self-mutilation. We are talking about a policy of zero tolerance. Give it no quarter. You must be merciless to the works of the flesh. Crucify them!Of course, your flesh will not take this lying down. It will be kicking and screaming all the way to the cross, and even when the flesh is on the cross, it will be shouting temptations to you and telling you that it is your master.It is amazing how many Christians deeply believe that they cannot deal with their own flesh. But if you say that you cannot crucify the flesh, you are saying that you do not believe the gospel.If you are a Christian, the Spirit of God lives in you and that means that you have the ability to crucify the flesh. The way you know a true Christian is that he or she is doing this. How do you know that you are walking by the Spirit? You are waging war on the flesh.Where do you need a policy of zero tolerance? Where can you begin crucifying (a slow death) your flesh?

The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.Galatians 5:17The bad news is that the root of sin still lies within us. There is a continuing presence of sin in the life of a Christian believer: “The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit.”The good news is the Spirit also lives within us. There is a continuing presence of the Spirit in the life of a Christian believer: The Spirit desires what is contrary to the sinful nature! This means you are not at the mercy of the flesh. The Spirit of God is active within you.The continuing presence of sin and the continuing presence of the Spirit in the life of a believer guarantee an ongoing conflict that is the normal experience of the Christian life. So, the first sign of a person who is living by the Spirit is that he or she is waging war against the flesh.When someone says to you, “I have these terrible thoughts that come to me, and I hate them.” You can say, “Thank God! Your hatred of sin is sure evidence that the Spirit is at work in your life. Thank God for it!”When have you experienced this inner struggle between your flesh and the Spirit? Did you think something was wrong with you? Can you see now that it is a normal part of the Christian life?

Walk by the Spirit...Galatians 5:16What does it mean to walk by the Spirit? How would you know if you are walking by the Spirit?One mark of the person who walks with the Spirit is that you are waging war against sin. When you become a Christian, you become a new person in Christ, but you still live life in the body. There is a tension. Christ is your liberator, but there is active resistance to Him within you.Perhaps you have heard the story of the new Christian who was baptised. After coming up from the water he was so full of joy that he said to the pastor, “It’s so good to know that I won’t be struggling with temptation anymore!” The pastor said, “For that blessing I would have had to hold you under for longer!”Your struggle against sin goes on throughout the entire Christian life. “The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit,” (5:17). Seeing this in the Bible should help you because it tells you that you are normal. The normal Christian life is one of sustained warfare against the ongoing resistance of our flesh to the rule of Christ.If you give the flesh what it wants, what will it produce? “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these” (5:19-21). It’s a wide variety of sin. What do they all have in common? Self!Are you walking by the Spirit? Are you waging war against your flesh? What is one sin you can fight against today by the power of the Spirit dwelling within you?

For freedom Christ has set us free.Galatians 5:1If it is true that we are forgiven freely by the grace of God through the death of Christ, and our entrance into heaven is already assured, and it does not depend on our works, what motivation is there to live an authentic Christian life?Suppose you are taking a maths class, and on the first day the teacher says, “I have some good news for you. The outcome of your final exam is already secure. Every one of you will pass this class with flying colours. You will all get an A. The A will be my gift to you. It will not depend in any way on your score.” Now, how much work do you think the students will do for this class? Absolutely none. Why? Because there is no incentive!This was the big issue for the false teachers at Galatia. If you teach sins forgiven and heaven secure by grace alone, you are inviting people to indulge the flesh. People will put as much effort into their Christian lives as a student who already knows the outcome of her calculus class.So, the false teachers said, There is only one solution—the law! And this was their message: Christ forgives all your past sins against the law. Now you must go and fulfil the law. So, let’s get started with circumcision! You can see their point. They were convinced that there are only two alternatives—keeping the law or indulging the flesh.Paul’s message is quite different: You are free. Don’t lose your freedom either by returning to the law or by indulging the flesh. What are you to do then? Live by the Spirit (5:25).What is your response to Christian freedom? Are you more sceptical like the false teachers? Are you motivated to live a godly life? Or something else?

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”Galatians 5:14In the book of Galatians, Paul has been telling us that we are no longer under the law. But here he tells us that we have to live a life of love that fulfills the law. That sounds confusing!Our freedom in Christ is the freedom of the Spirit. This is the freedom to live a life of love that fulfills the law— not as a means to acceptance with God, but as a fruit of acceptance with God. If this sounds like a fine distinction to you, then you need to see the difference.Imagine a woman who sets her eye on a man and decides that she wants to have him for her husband, so she seduces him. She gives herself to him in the hope that this will draw him into a lasting relationship.Now consider a second picture. Imagine a woman who meets a man and is captivated by him. Over time, he comes to love her and she comes to love him, and they are married. Then she gives herself to him.There is all the difference in the world between these two pictures. Giving herself to the man in order to make him her husband is a dark kind of manipulation. Giving herself to the man because he is her husband is the natural fruit of the relationship and is a thing of great beauty.Any attempt to use the law to secure a relationship with God is sheer manipulation, and it will not work, for no one manipulates God. Fulfilling the law freely by living a life of love is the natural fruit of a relationship with God. It is a beautiful expression of our freedom in Christ.Do you view your good works as the fruit of your faith or the means to acceptance by God?Really think about your answer. God wants the first and not the second.

You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law.Galatians 5:4There will always be something in your flesh that says, “Just give me the rules. Tell me what I have to do.” It feels safer than the unlimited liability of love. Do you see that in yourself?Can you see how you could lose your freedom in Christ by returning to the law? Can you think of something you do that makes you feel more accepted by God?Salvation by quiet time: I feel more accepted by God because I have said my prayers.Salvation by worship: I feel more accepted by God if I feel moved in worship. If I don’t feel moved, it makes me wonder about my relationship with God.Salvation by service: I feel more accepted by God when I am serving Him. That missions trip really made me feel near to God.You see where this takes you. You lose your freedom and go back into slavery—the slavery of guilt if you didn’t have your quiet time, the slavery of trying to get the feeling in worship, the slavery of endless activity in the hope of pleasing God.If you start to reckon your standing before God from the discipline of your prayers, the experience of your worship, the dedication of your service, or anything else you do as a Christian, you are going back to the slavery of the law and alienating yourself from Christ.Your righteousness, your standing before God, does not rest on your prayers, your worship, your service, or anything that you do for God, but on the righteousness of Christ crucified for you.Preach to yourself and tell your soul, “I am a son (or daughter) of God, not a slave. I will live this day in the freedom of the Spirit.”

Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?Galatians 4:21Why would anyone want to be under the law? Because there is a deep instinct within all of us that wants to limit our liability. That’s why we are sometimes more comfortable with law than we are with love.Think about the relationship you have with the company that issued your credit card. It is certainly not a relationship of love! You pay them what you owe. Sometimes you may get behind in your payments, and you end up owing them more. But even then, there is a limit to your liability. When you get your statement, you know exactly what you have to do. This is the debt you have incurred. This is what you owe. So, you write your check and you are done. A relationship of love is different. There are no defined payments and no limits.When it comes to our relationship with God there is a strong instinct in our fallen nature that would prefer a relationship of law. Just tell me what I have to do. What is it? Confess on Sundays, eat fish on Fridays, have a daily quiet time, join a Bible study, get an accountability partner, say prayers with the family. What else? Fasting? How often and how long? Serving? What and where? Giving? How much? Give me the checklist. That is a relationship of law.Relationships of law have clearly defined limits. Relationships of love have no limits. If God’s Spirit lives in you, you cannot relate to Him on the basis of law, but only on the basis of love. You will find yourself saying, “Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”Have you been trying to relate to God based on a relationship of law rather than love? If so, why do you think He calls you to a relationship of love?

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.Galatians 5:13Can you see how it would be possible for you to lose your freedom by indulging the flesh? There is a sin in your life that you used to battle, but you suffered many defeats, and so now you have declared a truce. You have learned to live with it.You justify this in your mind because, after all, your sins are forgiven by Jesus and your destiny doesn’t depend on your works. But Jesus said, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34). By declaring a truce, you have compromised your freedom in Christ.Hear God’s word to you today: “Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.” You have to break the truce. You have to say to yourself, This is a sin. It is offensive to God and it is destructive to me. I will not allow myself to be drawn back into slavery. I will not indulge the flesh. I will live by the Spirit.When you break your truce with sin, Satan will say to you, “You can’t do that. You’re a slave.” And, by faith, you will say to him: “Yes, I once was a slave, but now by God’s grace I am a son.”

So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.Galatians 4:7This remarkable change has already happened in your life if you are a Christian believer. You were a slave. Now you are a son.The gospel sets you free. God has embraced you, in Christ, who died to redeem you. He has made you a new creation in Christ by the Spirit who lives within you. Grasping the gospel means believing that these things are true for you in Christ.Here is something very strange. There are many people who believe themselves to be Christians, but constantly tell themselves that they are slaves! “I have this sin that I just can’t get over. I was made like this. It’s the way I am.”Now when you think like that or talk like that, you are saying that you are a slave to your sin. When you say, “I am a slave,” you are denying the gospel. You are not living by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you. There’s only one way to live the Christian life and that is by believing the gospel, believing that what God promises in Christ is true for you.Victory over sin begins with believing the gospel. You will be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.Is there a habitual sin in your life that you think you cannot overcome? Will you trust in the promise of Christ today that you are no longer a slave to that sin?

When we were children, [we] were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world... Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.Galatians 4:3, 8A slave has no freedom. He does what he is commanded to do. The tragedy of the slave’s position is that his work never moves him to a better situation. His work cannot bring him freedom.This used to be your position before God. You owed a debt that you could not pay. You had not fulfilled the demands of the law. You could not fulfill the demands of the law.All of this put you in the position of a slave. You could not change your position by your own effort, no matter how hard you tried. The good news is that God has acted to win your freedom.What has He done? Two things.First, God sent His Son into the world. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (4:4-5).Second, God sent His Spirit into our hearts. “Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (4:6).How does it feel to know that you are no longer a slave to sin and to the law, but are free in Christ by faith? Give thanks today for your freedom!

The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.Galatians 2:20Notice how the apostle Paul describes the Christian life. First, it is lived in the body. That means that you will always feel the pull of the flesh. You will always find yourself in conflict. You will find yourself lacking courage, losing heart, and lamenting your inconsistency. You will struggle with sickness, temptation, weakness, and eventually death. We live this life in the body.Second, the Christian life is also lived by faith in the Son of God. We live this life by exercising faith in Christ in relation to every circumstance of life. This means it is active, not passive. Grasping the gospel doesn’t simply mean believing Jesus died and rose again. Grasping the gospel means believing Jesus is with you, that He is at work in you, and that He will sustain you. It means living your life in the body, with all its struggles, by faith in the Son of God.Aren’t you glad that the Spirit of God is with you in everything you face this week? You may be facing challenges that seem beyond you. It’s not enough to say to yourself, “My past is forgiven, so I need to try and do my best this week.”Jesus gives you the Spirit, as freely as He forgives your sins, as you believe the gospel. He says to you: “Your sins are forgiven. Now go face the challenges of this week, knowing that I am with you always.” That is the gospel!Are you more focused on living the Christian life in the body with all of its weaknesses and challenges? Or are you more focused on living by faith (forgetting that you are still in the body)?

Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?Galatians 3:2This is a crucial question: How do you receive the Holy Spirit? How do you receive the new life that comes from above? Not by the law—the law cannot impart life—but by hearing with faith. This is the gospel. Those who believe the gospel receive the Spirit.There is no such thing as a Christian who does not have the Spirit. If you have forgiveness, then you have life. Why? Because both come from being joined to Christ, who died to forgive your sin and rose to give you life.You cannot have half of Christ. You cannot have forgiveness without life or life without forgiveness. Jesus died for you. He was raised to life for you, and the promise of the gospel is that He will forgive your sins and give you His Spirit, as you have faith in Him.“Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Rom. 8:9). If you have not received the Spirit, you are not yet a Christian in terms of the New Testament, so don’t tell yourself that you are.If you want to discern if a person has really grasped the gospel, don’t ask him or her: “Are you a Christian?” To many people, this is the same thing as asking: “Are you a good person?” The majority of the people you talk to will say “yes” and be slightly offended that you should ask.A better question might be: “Have you received the Holy Spirit? Does the Spirit of God live in you?” Some people who think of themselves as a Christian will be completely puzzled by that question. It is because they haven’t really grasped the gospel.How have you received the Holy Spirit?Does the Spirit of God live in you?

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.Galatians 3:23-24When you see the impossibility of the life that God is calling you to live, then you will see your need of a Saviour. The law was put in charge to lead you to Christ. This is true not only on the day you came to faith, but all throughout the Christian life.Some Christians today have fallen into the error of the Galatians. They see their own initial need of Jesus to forgive their sins. But after that, they feel that they are able to live a life that is pleasing to God—perhaps with the help of some forgiveness now and again.Do you think God looks down from heaven and is “wowed” by your Christian life? The best efforts of your Christian life are at best a small beginning. Augustine said, “I do not commend the works of my hands for fear that you will find in them more sins than merits.”The law will do one of two things for you–it will convince you that you are a sinner or make you a Pharisee. It will humble you or make you an unbearable snob. The world often sees Christians as self-righteous snobs, who call others to be as righteous as we think we are.If we think that we are successful in keeping the commandments of God, then we deserve to be dismissed like this. The intent of God’s law is to lead you to Christ, but it led the Galatians away from Him. They started out well, seeing their need of Christ and the forgiveness He brings, but then they felt that they could handle the Christian life on their own. That is not Christianity. Christ is the beginning, the middle, and the end of the Christian life.Are you becoming more humble or a more unbearable snob? More convinced that you are a sinner or more like the Pharisees?

If a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.Galatians 3:21The law cannot give you life. Nothing you do for God can impart life. Your ministry cannot impart life. Your giving cannot impart life. Your spiritual disciplines cannot impart life. God’s law tells you what you have to do, but it cannot give you the power to do it.There is a story about Will Rogers, a famous American variety show performer and actor. During the Second World War, Rogers was invited to give an after-dinner speech to some of the military top brass in Washington. The problem at the time was what to do about the U-boats; submarines that were bringing massive destruction to the shipping industry.“Gentlemen,” he said, “I have a plan to rid the waters of U-boats. If you bring the ocean to the boiling point, the U-boats will be forced to surface, the crews can be captured, and the boats destroyed.” When someone shouted out: “How do you bring the ocean to a boiling point?” Rogers said, “I’m just telling you what you need to do, it’s up to you guys to find a way to do it.”That’s the problem with the law. It tells us what we need to do, but it leaves us desperately trying to figure out a way to do it. If you take seriously what the law calls us to do, you will soon realise that it might as well say, “Go boil the ocean.”p>Are you relying on the law to sustain your Christian life today?

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.Galatians 2:20There are two sides of the gospel—the death of Christ for you, and the life of Christ in you.In the first part of the verse, Paul says, “I have been crucified in Christ.” The Son of God loved you and gave Himself for you. This was a historical event. It happened in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Jesus Christ died for your sins.In the second part of the verse, Paul says, “Christ... lives in me.” The Son of God lives in you by His Holy Spirit. This is a present-day experience. The gospel is about Jesus who died and rose. He died for our sins, and He rose again to bring us new life.The Galatians got into trouble because they believed the gospel, but then when they faced the question of how to live the Christian life, they turned away from Christ and back to the law. Paul described it this way: “If I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor” (2:18).When they believed, they tore down the house of their own righteousness and moved into the house of Christ’s righteousness. So, if they were to rebuild what they had torn down, (that is, move back into the house of their own righteousness), then they would become liable again to keep all the law. They would be placing themselves back under the curse of the law.Some Christians have the idea that it is grace that brings us into the Christian life, but it is works that keep us in. But if we assess our standing before God by the things we do for Him, rather than the things He does for us, then we have abandoned the gospel and gone back to the law. That is not what Christ calls us to do. He calls us to find our rest in Him.Do you feel that your standing before God depends on your prayers, your bible reading, your church attendance, or your giving? If so, ask God to help you find your rest in Him.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.Galatians 2:20The gospel brings you into the power of a new life. Some people have a “spit and polish” view of the gospel: We all have our sins and our failures. None of us is perfect. So, we need a good wash, and that’s what Christ does for us. And when that happens, we scrub up pretty nice.But the Bible makes it clear that we need a lot more than a good wash. We need a complete renovation. The gospel goes far deeper than a quick cleanup on the outside; it is about a complete makeover on the inside.When Christ comes to live in you, your life is like a house that needs everything done to it – new foundation, new plumbing, new wiring, new ductwork, new joists, and new insulation. The gospel is more than forgiveness. It is about Christ restoring your mind and your heart, your spirit and your desires. It is about Christ healing your memories and redirecting your dreams. It is about Christ making you what God intended you to be.Christ is not interested in putting a quick lick of paint on the house of your life. He is the master builder. He is the loving restorer. When He comes to live in you, He undertakes a complete restoration so that He can make His home with you for eternity.How have you seen Jesus change you on the inside? Or are you still holding onto a few religious traditions that make little difference to who you really are?

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more… But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.Philippians 3:4, 7-9The natural man has a problem with the gospel. Grace sounds great, but we prefer works. We want to build our own righteousness so that we can establish our independence from God: What does God want from me? Just tell me what I have to do. Tell me what it will cost me.Believing the gospel goes against all the instincts of our nature. The hardest thing about grace is that we don’t want it. Some of us have spent years trying to pay our dues to God, and hearing that you can’t do it doesn’t sound like good news.That’s where Paul was: “If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more” (3:4). Maybe that is where you are too. You’ve been trying to establish your own right standing with God. But now you see that it is all a house of cards. It is not too late for you. Put your faith in Christ, so that you can have a new righteousness that is from God and by faith.Have you seen your need of God’s grace in Christ? Or are you still trying to pay your own way and earn God’s favour?

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.Galatians 2:15-16One word dominates this passage and it is the word justified. This is a legal word that belongs to the courtroom, where people are pronounced not guilty and cleared of all charges before the law. The opposite of justified is condemned. These two words point us forward to the last day when God, our Creator and Judge, will pronounce His verdict on our lives. That verdict will either be justified or condemned. No one wants to be condemned, so the question is: How can I be justified? Paul gives the answer negatively and positively. Negatively, you cannot be justified by observing the law. “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law” (2:15-16). Positively, we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ. “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ” (2:15-16). We cannot save or justify ourselves by anything we do (or don’t do). Therefore, if we are to be justified, it must be by faith alone in what Christ has done. Paul needed to remind Peter of this, because Peter was in danger of denying this crucial truth by his actions.Can you think of one way you may have denied the gospel of grace by your actions?

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law... that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law... that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.1 Corinthians 9:20-22This is Paul’s principle of world mission. If we aren’t willing to do this, we will limit our ministry to the narrow band of those who share our treasured distinctives.It is easy to see how this can happen in the church today. Every group has its distinctives, and we thank God for them. But it is easy for any church to become more about these distinctives than about the gospel. And when that happens, gradually and often imperceptibly, the church becomes a club for people like us, and we are no longer able to reach the world.Thank God that Paul stood up to Peter when Peter caved in to the pressure group. If Paul had not done that, the gospel would never have reached us today. And if we do not stand up and defend the gospel, it will not reach others. It will remain within a narrow band of people like us. The gospel is worth defending.How could you become “all things to all people” so that you might help bring the gospel to someone who is different from you?

He drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.Galatians 2:12When Gentiles came to faith in Christ, the circumcision party went around the churches saying, “It’s great that you have come to faith in Jesus, but now, you need to adopt the distinctives that have been given to us.” These distinctives included circumcision, dietary laws, Old Testament festivals, etc. This group put pressure on Peter and Paul with very different results.What happened when they turned the heat up on Paul? “Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery—to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you” (2:4-5).What happened when they turned up the heat on Peter? “When they came [Peter] drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party” (2:12).Soon there was a great division, and Paul had to stand up to Peter. “When I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to [Peter] in front of them all, ‘If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force Gentiles to live like Jews?’” (2:14).The circumcision group believed the gospel, but they felt that Christian unity depended on everyone adopting their treasured distinctives. “Anyone is welcome, but you have to become like us.” If they had prevailed, the gospel would have stayed within the bounds of Jewish culture.But Jesus told the disciples that their calling was to reach the world with the gospel. That’s our calling as well. Don’t limit your horizon to a narrow band of people who are like you. Look for ways to reach people who are different from you so that they can hear the gospel message.Think of one person in your life who is very different from you and may not know Jesus. Pray for an opportunity to share the gospel with them today.

Before certain men came from James, [Peter] was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.Galatians 2:12If you read the New Testament carefully, you will discover that there was a great struggle going on about the mission of the church. The apostles in Jerusalem were focused on evangelism among the Jews, and Paul had been commissioned by Christ to go to the Gentiles.The word Gentile means everybody who is not Jewish, so let’s substitute the phrase the whole world for the Gentiles, to understand Paul’s description: “Those men [the other apostles] added nothing to my message. On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the [whole world], just as Peter had been to the Jews... James, Peter, and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognised the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to [the whole world] and they to the Jews” (2:6-7, 9).That was the agreement. They shook hands on it and off they went to pursue their different ministries, and that went fine, until Peter came to Antioch (2:11). Then something went terribly wrong.Peter pulled back from the Gentiles because he was taking the heat from a powerful group of people who wanted to impose the distinctives of their Jewish heritage on other believers, and for this Paul ended up rebuking him.Have you grasped that the gospel is for the world? Or have you been operating as if the Christian life is about gathering a few people like yourself and enjoying fellowship together?

When [Peter] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face… I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel.Galatians 2:11, 14This was a critical moment in the life of the early church. Galatians 2 tells us the story of a clash between two giants of the early church—Peter and Paul.Modern commentators sometimes suggest that Paul and Peter preached a different message. They will say that Peter was more about works, and that Paul was more about grace. They go on to say that these two versions of the gospel go back to the beginning, that they both have their lines of descent in the church, and that evangelicals simply prefer Paul over Peter.This cannot be the case! The gospel did not come through invention from the Apostle Paul, nor through tradition from the church, but by revelation from Jesus Christ. And that is why there can only be one gospel. You could have many inventions by different leaders, and many traditions from different institutions, but you can only have one gospel that comes from Jesus Christ.Galatians 2 tells us about a time when this gospel had to be defended, not because Peter didn’t believe it, but because he acted in a way that was inconsistent with it. The story reminds us that the gospel needs to be defended not only in the world but also in the church.Satan would love nothing better than for the church itself to either misunderstand the message of the gospel or to act in a way inconsistent with it.Has the gospel ever had to be defended in your church? How did the leaders of the church deal with it? How did you deal with it?

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age.Galatians 1:3-4Assuming that it is possible, how do you think a person comes into a living relationship with God? Some people think it all comes down to them—a decision. Others believe it all comes down to the church—following its teachings and rituals. But the Bible tells us something different.You cannot bring yourself into a living relationship with God.A relationship with God doesn’t happen through your experience, your disciplines, your generosity, your integrity, your compassion, or even your prayers. You cannot bring yourself into a living relationship with God.The church cannot bring you into a living relationship with God.The church can teach you the Bible. The church can offer you friendship, support, encouragement, and love. But the church cannot bring you into a living relationship with God. Perhaps you have heard about a person who was raised in the church, believed what he had been taught, was involved in serving, was regular in his giving, and then in his midlife there was a crisis, and he realized that he didn’t know God at all. Don’t let this be you.Only Jesus Christ is able to bring you into a living relationship with God.He gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age. He gave His life for you. He can live His life in you. Right now, He offers Himself to you. This is no human invention. It’s not the spin of a human tradition. It is good news from Jesus Christ about Jesus Christ. It is the grace and mercy of God offered to you today.Why do you think people sometimes look to themselves or to the church to be brought into a living, saving relationship with God?

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.Galatians 1:8The main problem addressed by the gospel is bigger than finding peace, building confidence, overcoming fear, or finding fulfilment.If our biggest problem was internal to us, then it might be possible for us to find an answer that came from a scientist, a psychologist, a theologian, a friend, or a spouse.But the problem addressed by the gospel is that our planet is under the wrath of God. That’s why a message that was invented by a brilliant mind or handed down to us by tradition is of no use to us. It would leave us still under the curse and judgment of God. If Christianity were simply an invention or a tradition, there would be no hope for the human race. We would be cursed.That’s the point of Paul’s strong language: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (1:8-9). Notice that Paul includes himself here. He says, in effect, “Even if I myself changed the message, I would be under a curse.”If our problem is with God, only a gospel that is from God can help us. The reason the gospel is good news is that it is from Jesus Christ. It comes from the highest authority. That is why you can stake your life on it.What would be the result if you (or someone else) changed the gospel message?

I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.Galatians 1:11Today we are going to look at three possibilities—that the gospel came from Paul, from the church, or directly from Jesus Christ.1. The gospel is not an inventionIf Paul had invented the gospel, then his teaching is simply an expression of his own thinking, and we have liberty to disagree with him. But Paul was an enemy of the gospel: “You have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it” (1:13), and since he opposed it, it stands to reason that he did not invent it.2. The gospel is not a traditionIf the gospel is simply the tradition of the church, then the task of each generation would be to adapt the teaching of previous generations to fit the changing needs of the church. But Paul makes it clear: “I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it” (1:12). The gospel did not come to Paul from the church. It is not a tradition to be developed, adapted, or changed.3. The gospel is a revelationIf the gospel did not come from Paul (invention), or from the church (tradition), then where did it come from? “I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:12). The gospel came from the highest authority. Paul’s gospel came to him by revelation directly from Jesus Christ.What difference do you think it makes whether the gospel is an invention, a tradition, or a revelation?

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.Galatians 2:20As Christians, we believe Jesus died for our sins, but sometimes we are not sure He is able to deliver us from this present evil age. We are glad to be forgiven and grateful to know we are bound for heaven, but we feel that we need something more.And so, the search is on to find what that something is. This struggle that we face individually is often reflected in the church. Christian people are looking for something, and so the focus of the church moves away from Christ. The discussion centers around the question: “How do we meet people’s deepest needs?”But the church cannot meet the deepest needs of your life. If you are looking to the church to be your saviour, then you will be disappointed. The church that says, “Look to us to meet the needs of your life” has lost its way. It has fallen into the error of the Galatians.The message of Galatians is about the sufficiency and therefore the centrality of Jesus Christ, not only in the forgiveness of sins and for your eternal destiny, but also for all the challenges of your life now. It is about the Christ who died for us and the Christ who lives in us.If you are going to stake your life on the gospel, you need to have a very high degree of confidence that it is true. This takes us to the main theme of the first chapter of Galatians, that the gospel comes directly from Jesus Christ Himself.Are you looking for something more? Have you been moving away from the gospel?

To the churches of Galatia.Galatians 1:2At the beginning of the book of Galatians there is a summary of the gospel: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (1:3-4). Here we see two dimensions of the gospel: What Jesus did for us on the cross (gave Himself for our sins) and what Jesus does in us by the Spirit (delivers us from the present evil age). These two are inseparably tied together. The gospel is about what Jesus did for us 2,000 years ago on the cross. It is also about what He is doing in us now by His Spirit. The gospel is more than forgiveness and entrance into heaven. It is about the ongoing work of Christ by His Spirit in your life today. In other words, the gospel is as much about your sanctification as it is about your justification. Our difficulty in grasping this is not a new problem. This is the reason why Galatians was written. Believers in Galatia had come to Christ. They found forgiveness of sins and assurance of heaven and within a short time they were asking, “What’s next?” In their minds, the gospel was about the beginning and ending of the Christian life. But it had nothing to say to the middle. So, they were saying, “I know my sins are forgiven. I know that I am going to heaven when I die, but how do I get through next week?” It’s not surprising that some entrepreneurs stepped in and seized the opportunity to offer an answer. They did not exactly say that Paul’s message was false. They said it was inadequate. They didn’t deny the truth of the gospel. They questioned the sufficiency of the gospel.Do you ever wonder about or doubt the sufficiency of the gospel?

“Who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.1 Corinthians 2:16Paul makes a remarkable statement here: “We have the mind of Christ” (2:16). If you are in Christ, you really can understand the Word of God, and that means you have access to the mind of Christ.In Christ, you are wise, but you will still make mistakes. This is important to remember because some Christians draw the wrong conclusion from this teaching. They feel that they have a hotline to heaven and can identify their thoughts with the thoughts of God.Paul says we have the mind of Christ, but the rest of his letter exposes the foolish mistakes of believers who had the mind of Christ.How can you make a mistake if you have the mind of Christ? God does not:Purify us in such a way that we no longer sin, but that we can learn to hate our sin and want to be free from it.Free us in such a way that we no longer struggle, but that we can engage in the struggle.Make us holy in such a way that we are no longer in the world, but that we can shine in the world for His glory.Make us wise in such a way that we will never make mistakes, but that we can see our mistakes, learn from them, and grow through them.God treats us as sons and daughters. He places us in the field of battle. He leaves us in the world. He trusts us with making decisions. Grow through your mistakes.Consider how God is helping you to “be who you are” in each of these four areas: You are clean. You are free. You are holy. You are wise.

‘We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.1 Corinthians 2:12Here is a second thing to know about a life put together with God at the centre: “‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit” (2:9-10).God makes Himself known in two ways. The first is very public. God sent His Son into the world to make the Father known. The second is very private. God sends His Spirit into your heart and begins to open your mind to the truth.How else could you come to know God? Paul says, “Who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person?” Your spirit knows you. God’s Spirit knows God. If God’s Spirit were in you, you would know God.Paul is not saying that we know everything about God. “Who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” A window has opened in which we can begin to think God’s thoughts after Him and put our life together in a way that reflects the thinking of Jesus Christ.How are you going to put your life together? Choose your wisdom carefully.

We impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.1 Corinthians 2:7God’s secret wisdom is a way of putting your life together with God at the center. This is what Jesus did. He did not ask, “What can I get out of this life on earth?” but, “What has the Father called me to do while I am here? How can I be a means of blessing others?”This will lead to a very different way of putting your life together. You will be thinking in the same way as Jesus did. And that is what Paul means when he says, “we have the mind of Christ” (2:16).What does this way of life look like? Here is the first thing to know: “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1:23-24). The wisdom of Christ to put His life together as He did was immensely costly. It led to the cross. It cost Him everything.This cross is the wisdom of God. The cross is God’s way of putting things together. That’s why you cannot just add belief in Jesus to a life that is about getting what you want. The only way to put your life together through the wisdom of God is to give up your own agenda.The way to save your life is to lose it. That is the wisdom of God. The way to put your life together is to come to the cross, and to give that life into the hands of Christ. The cross is God’s way of putting things together.Do you need this prayer? “I cannot put my life together. Here are all the broken pieces. I place myself into Your hands. Please put me together.”

Among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age… But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God.1 Corinthians 2:6-7Paul speaks here of two kinds of wisdom—two ways of putting your life together: the wisdom of this age and God’s secret wisdom. It is important to grasp the difference so that we can choose which one to follow.The wisdom of this age is a way of putting your life together with yourself at the centre. You say, “What do I want to get out of life?” and “What will it take to get it?” Then you put your life together in the pursuit of these goals. Paul tells us three things about the wisdom of this age.It will not bring you to God“The world did not know God through wisdom” (1:21).If you want to know God so He can make your life everything you want it to be, you will never know Him. You may believe in Him and pray to Him, but you will not know Him.It has no room for Jesus Christ“None of the rulers of this age understood [God’s wisdom], for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (2:8).The wisdom of this world has no place for a Jesus who says, “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” It does not gel with a Jesus who says, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me.”It is coming to nothing“The rulers of this age… are doomed to pass away” (2:6).The wisdom of the world promises everything, but it comes to nothing. If you put your life together with yourself at the centre, what will there be to say of your life at the end?In what ways have you observed these characteristics of the wisdom of this age in the world around you?

Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God.1 Corinthians 1:30The fourth dimension of your new identity in Christ is perhaps the most important of all: if you are in Christ, you are wise (though you will still make mistakes). Christ is our wisdom.Here is a simple definition of wisdom: the ability to put things together.In the Old Testament, we read about a man called Bezalel, who made the furniture for the tabernacle. The word used to describe his skill is sometimes translated wisdom (Ex. 31:3-5). It takes great skill to put a piece of furniture together. It takes even greater skill to put a successful life together.Think about police detectives. The first thing they do is to gather evidence. They get fingerprints. They take photographs. They take statements. They build a base of knowledge. There are various pieces that just don’t fit together until the light goes on in the mind of the detective. Through wisdom, the pieces are brought together to solve the case.Wisdom is always based on knowledge. You can’t form the conclusion without the evidence. You can’t have wisdom without knowledge.But knowledge does not always lead to wisdom. Sometimes we have the dots, but we aren’t able to join them to see the full picture. We have information but we do not have understanding. We have knowledge but we do not have wisdom—the ability to put it together.Can you think of examples from your own life where gathering knowledge led to understanding?Can you think of examples where it did not?

But of him you are in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.1 Corinthians 1:30We have seen that in Christ, you are clean (though you still sin) because Christ is your righteousness. You are free (though you still struggle) because Christ is your redemption. You are holy (though you still live in the world) because Christ is your holiness.Because these things are “in Christ,” that means that they are ours by faith. Faith is all about trusting the promise of God that these things are true of us. Those who are in Christ are clean, free, and holy. You can say, “I am in Christ, therefore these things are true of me.” That is faith.The problem is that it is much easier to see your sins than your purity. It is easier to feel your struggle than your freedom. It is easier to lose yourself in the world than to fulfill your calling. That’s why we have to walk by faith and not by sight. If we walk by sight, we will often feel that we are defined by our sins, our struggles, and our insignificance.Maybe that’s where you are. You define yourself by your failures, your missed opportunities, your temptations, your regrets. You are left feeling that you are rotten at the core, and your Christian faith feels like window dressing.The gospel says precisely the opposite! If we walk by faith, we will say, “I am defined by my position in Christ. In Christ I am clean and free and holy, therefore I choose to be who I am.”Feed this truth to yourself. This is the whole grain of the gospel. You have to begin by believing the promises of the gospel.Have you been defining yourself by your failures and regrets? Ask God to help you walk in your true identity in Christ.