March 10, 2025: Monday Bible Study on Paul’s letter to the Galatians 5:13-21
May the living Christ, and the Spirit's gift of faith be your strength and your courage on this new day.
Today our lives are full of uncertainty. There are wars, and mass immigrations, investors shake as the market continues to plunge deeper into the territory of losses, and many have growing concern for the strength of their retirement resources, there are many health concerns too, and hosts of other uncertainties in our lives. Today let's try to remember in prayer all who find themselves caught in these times of uncertainty. Please pray for Tricia, Nancy, Pam, Jeff, Kandice, and for me too, as I await another 6 month check for my prostate cancer in about two weeks. Pray that we might all turn to Christ for our strength as we move from day to day. I thank God for all of the prayers which you offer throughout the week. Our prayers are really more important than we often realize as we give thanks for the Love of Christ which sustains us in our lives.
Today we are in chapter 5:13-21 of Paul's letter to the Galatians. Though Paul continues to speak to how we are all to understand Christ, and the amazing power of His presence in our lives, it is evident through Paul's writing that there is great potential for problems in the Galatian churches in the newly gained sense of freedom that Paul speaks of that comes to us all through the sacrifice that Jesus makes on the cross, paying the price for the sin and brokenness of our lives. In the nature of our sin, the very first thing that we come to think in this newly gained freedom is that we are free to do anything which we want to do, and if that is the case, such an approach to this new freedom would be, and is, a massive mistake about what Christ hopes for, and has come for, in our lives. When Melody and I lived in Des Moines, IA for fourteen months, I had the wonderful opportunity to take a group of 7th grade boys and girls to Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota for an eight-day outing, back packing in all of our food and supplies, carrying our canoes when we had to move over a beaver dam barrier or take them across land areas. On that journey we were free to go wherever we wanted as long as our college-aged guide was willing to take us, so we didn't get lost. One of our few obligations in all the freedom of that canoeing journey was that everything we carried into the Boundary Waters area had to be carried out. In other words, in our freedom, we could have chosen to ignore that "what goes in must be carried out" rule for our behavior. We chose to be diligent about our litter and kept areas where we camped clean and tidy. As Christians, we cared about treating the areas we were in with respect, honoring the rules, even though it would have been easier to just leave our trash. After all, who would know? In our eight days out, we almost never saw anyone else, except bears and loons, and massive snapping turtles. In all of this we were free, I mean really free to do whatever we wanted. But based on our faith lives, and guides who loved the Boundary Waters, we were free to treat this area with the greatest respect, appreciating how important it was to express our freedom for the benefit of this irreplaceable national treasure.
According to Paul Christians are truly set free in their lives because of Christ's sacrifice. That means that no longer are we bound to the law by having to keep it all to attain our place in the LORD'S heavenly kingdom. In fact, we are unable to do that! But as children of the Resurrected Christ, in the freedom that Christ brings to us through faith, we are called to "Love God first above all else, and our neighbor as we love ourselves". We are set free in Christ to love God, and to love one another. That freedom would never abuse God's love for us by harming others. We are free to love God's creation, and all of the people who live on this planet with us. And when we don't do so well at this, we have the sacrifice of Christ which calls us to confession for our failure in this great commandment for living our lives, and in His love for us, we can know that we are forgiven and then may set out again to share God's gift of love in more appropriate ways. It is not that we cast aside the 10 commandments, but we hold them close to our hearts and keep them to our very best ability, as thanks to our God who loves us beyond measure. The imagery that Paul uses when he speaks of the actions of the flesh has dual meaning. It is a way for Paul to continue speaking to the issue of circumcision giving a man a superior place in the Christian community, which Paul makes most clear is no longer necessary, and when he speaks of the flesh in another way, it is to clearly state that all who believe in Christ are saved, and all are equal before the LORD, and in the church. Circumcision does not bring some higher status for those who have come through the law, than those whose entrance into the community is by, and through, the love of Christ. In fact, the highest thanks any one can give for Christ's gift of freedom is to love God first, and then to act with that love in all the places of our lives.
God bless you today, with the Love of Christ, Pastor Kim
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