DAY 4 - GALATIANS

March 2, 2023

Galatians 1:11-12 (NLT)

Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.

Thought:

According to this text, Paul’s Gospel was revealed to him by Jesus Christ. At this point in the letter, Paul begins to use the first person. He is presenting his own testimony of how he encountered the grace of God. Paul is making the point that his message and ministry were divinely given by Jesus. God called Paul to know him AND called him to preach among the Gentiles the same grace he had experienced. God chose Paul not only to save him but also to use him to win others.

Application:

1. What is your authority for the message you proclaim? Think about it this way: do you get more of your message from personal prayer and time in the Word of God OR from people?

2. God chose you and called you! What has God called you to do?

DAY 3 - GALATIANS

March 1, 2023

Galatians 1:9-10 (NLT)

“Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.”

Thought:

The Apostle Paul’s opponents argued that he was making religion far too easy and was doing so to ingratiate himself with others. In fact, that accusation was the reverse of the truth. After all, if religion consists in fulfilling a set of rules and regulations, it is, at least theoretically, possible to satisfy its demands; but Paul is holding up the cross and saying: ‘God loved you like that.’ Religion becomes a matter not of satisfying the claims of law but of trying to meet the obligation of love. We can (in theory) satisfy the claims of law but we can never satisfy the claims of love. Imagine this; if we gave those we deeply loved the sun, the moon, and the stars, we still would be left feeling that we wished we could give them more. But all that Paul’s Jewish opponents could see was that he had declared that circumcision was no longer necessary and the law no longer relevant. Paul denied that he was trying to ingratiate himself with others. It was not other people he was serving; it was God. It made no difference to him what people said or thought about him; his master was God.

Questions:

1. How can the desire to please men hurt your walk with Christ?

2. What does faithfulness to the Word of God look like for you?

DAY 2 - GALATIANS

February 28, 2023

Galatians 1:6-8 (NLT)

I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you.

Thought:

The Apostle Paul was shocked that the Galatians were turning from the true gospel to another message so soon after experiencing the blessing of salvation. Soon we will read that in Galatians 5:4 Paul says, “You are fallen from [out of] grace” (NKJV). This did not imply they had lost their salvation, but rather that they had moved themselves out of the sphere of grace into the sphere of the Law. Grace means I depend on God to meet my needs; through the Law I try to handle matters by myself, in my own strength.

The apostle speaks forcefully in condemning any other gospel, regardless of who the preacher might be—even an angel! Keep in mind that there are many “gospels” (messages of good news), but only one Gospel of the grace of God as Paul preached it. Abraham believed “the gospel”, the “good news” that through his seed all the nations would be blessed. In every age, men have been saved by believing whatever promise God revealed to them. Noah believed God’s Word about a flood and the ark; Abraham believed God’s Word about his promised seed; today we believe God’s Word about His Son’s death and resurrection. Since the advent of Jesus and the revelation of justification by faith through the Apostle Paul, there is no other Gospel.

Questions:

1. We cannot mix grace and works; how does one exclude the other?

2. Why is grace important, not just for salvation, but in all aspects of your life?