More talk with God regarding Galatians

1 The resurrection of Your Son after He gave Himself for our sins is a central fact of the eternal gospel that we have received. This gospel is of such greater worth than the approval of men. Your Son has been revealed to us through the Word. This preaching of Christ, the cross, and the resurrection is the faith, once for all time, given to us.

2 We do not yield even for a moment to those who suggest that we can have justification through the Law. Grace has been given to us. If anyone insists on a different gospel, it is our privilege to oppose such a person to his face. We are not justified by works of the Law, but through faith in Christ Jesus. By works of the Law no one will be justified. We have been crucified with Christ, and live by faith in Christ. If righteousness were through the Law, then Christ died for no purpose.

3 If we move from this truth, we have been bewitched. If we have begun by the Spirit, by hearing with faith, will we be perfected through obedience to the way of the Law? Certainly not. Those who rely on works of the Law are under a curse. The righteous shall live by faith. Christ became a curse for us so that we might receive the promised Spirit by faith. The Law came after the promise to Abraham, and did not annul the Promise. The Age of the Law was temporary until the coming of the One through whom the Promise would be given to us. We are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the Promise. Is that why Abraham is so central in the story of Lazarus and the rich man? Our participation in Paradise is on account of our being found in the covenantal arrangement of the Promise, the Covenant of Grace.

4 We are Your sons. The fullness of time has come. The Age of the Law is over, and we are no longer slaves. We are heirs, and have already received the down-payment of the resurrection in the earnest of Your Spirit. We must be careful concerning any religious authorities who seek to put us under the bondage of some system of law. This is not the way for us to enjoy the freedom of Your promises. We are not children of any Jerusalem below, but of the Jerusalem that is above, and we are free. That free city above is our mother, and not anything here below.

5 Christ has set us free so that we will live in freedom, not so that we would return to the yoke of the Old Testament Law. If we would seek to be justified by the Law, then we are running away from grace. We were called to freedom, in order to freely serve one another in love. We are not led by the Spirit in order to pursue the deeds of the flesh. That is not the life of those who will inherit the kingdom. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These things are not against the Law, but we do not receive them through the Law, but through the Spirit of Resurrection. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. We live by the Spirit, Therefore we should walk by the Spirit.

6 This does not mean that we will never sin. We may sin very badly, and yet be truly Your children. Yet we should not mock You with a fleshly life of sin. We should be sowing the good seed of holy spiritual living as those who know that we will reap from Your Spirit the blessings of eternal life in Your coming kingdom. Grant that we will not grow weary of doing good, for we know that in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. As we have opportunity, we should do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Our boast is not in our flesh, but in the cross of Christ. The only thing that counts for anything is the new creation of true spiritual life now and resurrection glory to come. It is certainly worth suffering now for the future blessings of that glorious life.