Bible Commentary & Daily Devotional

 Galatians 5 - Stay Free Who is the Author of Creation?  Jesus Christ.  And the Author of Salvation?  Jesus Christ.  God creates.  That marvelous scenery around you, the trees, branches, and leaves, God made it and sustains it.  And God provides eternal life.  That’s the Christian belief, our faith. The modern man gets pretty full of himself, and rightfully so in a way.  That is, we seem to have all we need.  We think ourselves wiser than the ancients (we are not).  The modern man, like the man of every age, has worldly standards that we assert against others.          We saw this in spades during the pandemic.  And we'll see it again.   In the name of safety, we’ve seen authorities all over the world eliminate freedom of movement, thought, bodily autonomy, conscience, belief, religion, and speech.  It is astonishing how quickly one group with authority persecutes those who do not follow their safety laws.  New worldly standards.  Like a cult leader, they demanded blind consent

 Galatians 4:21-31 - Sarah’s Kids We are Sarah’s kids, children of the freewomen.  This passage says that, just like Isaac, Sarah is our mother.  God promises, and He fulfills His promises.  Human attempts to bring about God’s promises fail, but God is trustworthy.  He is a Promisekeeper. This is an interesting passage in that I wrestle with how it impacts my thinking and actions.  I believe it to be true, yet I’m constantly reminded that I’m a sinner despite my desire to be the man God wants me to be.  This passage tells us that we are no longer slaves to the law given to Moses on Mount Sinai (4:24).  That’s good, nay, great.  Now, we are free men and women.  Free to obey the law that sets us free, the law of Jesus Christ, the way of the heavenly Jerusalem.           I know that God is Good.  He says this in Psalm 65:3, “Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all.”  God forgives all of your sins.  Trust God.           There very much is someone, like the Ishmael -

 Galatians 4:1-19 - Leaving Home Some of us fly the coop earlier than others.  I left home at 14 to play competitive hockey.  I never lived at home again.  I now think that was unwise, but it is what it is and I’m thankful for how my parents loved me and supported me.  My hockey career let me travel a good deal and baked in a lot of my perspective on the world.  We traveled to Russia, Finland, and all over Canada and the US.  And I was honored to represent my country and play against the Swedes, Russians, and Americans.  I’m surprised at how often I think back to those teammates from the 1980s and early '90s and the nonsense trouble we got into and the funny stories and the fights.  And how, by the grace of God alone, I survived it.           But I missed years of my mom and dad’s company.  And I missed a lot of my mom’s cooking - the best in the world - and that I regret.  I missed years of helping to work on the farm and to grow up with my brothers and the kids in our small tow

 Galatians 3 - Good Deeds Why we do things matters.  That is, what motivates us is known by God and is essential to our ability to do God’s will.  What motivates you?  An obligation to be seen to do right?  Money?  Service to a bossman or to rules and laws?  Service to God to look right or earn good standing with God?  Service to God through thankfulness for what Jesus did for us on the Cross?  I think this passage tells us that we have to hold tight to our faith and freedom in Jesus Christ. The Christian way, very much like the Abrahamic way, is to get right with God, first and foremost - and then to do right by God.  The Mosaic way, very much like the Mohammedan way, is to do, act, and look right, to get right with God.  Does it even matter?  Yes, very much. Each of us will stand before God one day and we will be judged for the good and evil we have done in this earthly body (2 Cor. 5:9-10).  But everything is futile if you don’t know God and if you don’t have a new spiritual l

 Galatians 3 - Strange Spells The question is, ‘What are we depending on to make us right with God?’  And another, ‘to have a genuine relationship with the Creator, with Holy Spirit, do we rely on our own effort to obey the law or do we receive the Holy Spirit and life because, like Abraham, we trust in the message of Jesus Christ?’  I know you know the answer, but I think it is good for us to constantly review our core beliefs. Paul is hammering home the point that no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.  No one. Check yourself.  See what you really believe.  Lord God, we know we can’t save ourselves.  We need rescue.  We trust in God’s plan of Salvation, His rescue on the cross.  We believe in what Jesus did for us. But how do we live our beliefs out daily?  How do we keep from a legalistic mindset?  How do we ensure we are no longer under a spell, a curse?   Only by faith in Christ and living in the Power of the Spirit of Christ. We see some interesting

 Galatians 2:11-21 - Building Up What Jesus Tore Down Notre Dame Cathedral (shortly before it was burned) It seems easy to forget what God did for us.  Paul was shocked at how soon the Galatians turned away from the truth of faith and freedom in Jesus Christ (1:6).  Yet God’s Grace should be at the forefront of the Christian’s mind.  Daily.  Jesus died on the Cross.  He did this to make us right with our Heavenly Father.  We know this of course.  It even seems trite - no need to keep preaching it?           But is it?  It seems we, like the mighty Peter, have a tendency to forget that we are now under a new law, a perfect law that sets us free.  Speak out.  Speak out against rulers of this world who scheme to concentrate their power and build up what Jesus tore down.  Be bold in Christ. Are our churches, the culture of modern Christians, characterized by people afraid of what other people think of them?  You see that in this passage, Peter was afraid of criticism.  A culture of fea

  Galatians 2:1 - A Good Start If you are a brand new Christian (or if you’ve been a Christian for decades) we see the example in this passage, the daily need to get and stay in fellowship with Christ.  We do that by starting the day in Scripture.  Make the Bible and the Holy Spirit speaking to you through the Bible your primary source. We have the freedom to follow God with our whole hearts.  We see here the church fathers through Paul’s message to the Galatians showing that legalism and the law of the Jews had forever been replaced by the new covenant of Jesus Christ.  The Jewish regulations, including circumcision, animal sacrifice, food laws, etc. were all fulfilled and ended at the cross of Christ.             False Christians will try to enslave and force us to follow Jewish regulations and other man-made piety rules.  The law of Christ, the new covenant, is different.  It means we are free to obey God and serve people in love.  The early leaders of the Church, James, Peter,