Righteous

We are in the middle of a letter written by Paul to Jesus followers in what was the Roman province of Galatia. Late last week, we read how Paul addressed the issue of hypocrisy. Today, he talks about the heart of the matter when it comes to faith.


Galatians 3
1 Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3 How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? 4 Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? 5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. 6 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.


Righteous. I don’t think Paul had anything against obeying the law. I know Jesus didn’t (check out Matthew 5:17-20). Whenever Jesus discussed an issue of law, he said it was really a matter of the heart (check out Matthew 5:21-48). That’s why I think Paul was so passionate about this issue. He knew, first hand, what could happen if an individual made the focus of their faith a matter of the head (rules and regulations) instead of a matter of the heart (grace and compassion). He knew that the farther you got away from expressing your faith (expressing grace) ... and the more focused you were on maintaining your faith (maintaining a checklist of “do”s and “don’t”s) ... the harder your heart becomes (check out Acts 26:4-11). So did Jesus (check out Mark 3:1-6). Grace, the fact that we can be counted as righteous by God by simply believing in Jesus, was designed to set us free ... not from obeying the law; but from maintaining a checklist. It is freely offered to us so that we can freely express it to others (check out what Paul experienced in the post entitled Reveal). So what are you waiting for?