Author: Aaron Hufty

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:12-20 (day two) Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. vs. 15

Paul hits a little too close to home for me on this one. Perhaps you can also relate, and if you can’t, learn from my journey. I don’t like to do things halfway. As a result when I go all in, I go ALL in. I can get consumed with whatever need or goal is before me. It is a part of my personality that I have learned to manage for the long run, but that is where it becomes most challenging. If a goal or need takes more than a week, a month, or longer than a year my zeal can start to wane. It’s hard to run that hot for too long. Paul is saying that in the beginning, during his convalescence, the Galatians would have done anything for him, but the next big need, or fad, or teaching  came along and drove them away. If you are like me, you must ask yourself the question: am I doing this because it’s new and exciting, or because it is what is good, true, and beautiful? If we have been called to something, we should see it through to completion, manage our energy, and devote ourselves to what the Lord has for us to learn. Stay the course.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:1-11 (day two) But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,⁵ so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. vs. 4-5

Timing is tricky. If you have spent time in the kitchen, especially baking, you have learned the importance of watching and waiting, and the effects of not watching and waiting. Desserts that don’t cook through can be edible, but perhaps not exactly what we were aiming for. Consequently, leaving something too long in the oven can be disastrous. Trust me on this one.

Maybe you have been frustrated at God’s timing. You know the promises of scripture, and you believe that God is sovereign, but you are struggling to get through the day. Why not now, God? Think of the generations of Jews who asked the same questions. How long, oh Lord, how long? Many of them did not live to see the fulfillment of God’s promise, but it did come. God can see the landscape of humanity with a clear understanding of timing, and he knew exactly the time to send Jesus to walk among us. You can trust that he knows your heart’s cry as well.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 3:15-29 (day two) 

Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. Vs. 24

As a young music student you are taught the ‘rules’ of music theory and composition. Invariably, when a freshman has a few of these under his belt he feels as though he is now an authority. Soon this student will notice in much of the music he is studying rarely conforms to the ‘rules’ or abandons them all together. This creates quite a crisis in the young musician, as he has been drilled to learn what you can and cannot do in music theory. Exasperated, the young student cries foul to his teachers. Either the rules are bogus, or the music he is studying is. The teacher will then explain that you must first learn the structure, the form, where the boundaries are set in order to know what is possible beyond those boundaries.

The law is like that. It is our guide and structure, but it doesn’t create the masterpiece. My analogy is somewhat flawed in that sin is still sin regardless, and musical composition doesn’t lead to salvation, but I hope you will see the parallel. In order to understand the overwhelming mercy God has shown towards us, we must understand our need for it. We must be confronted with our sin. The law does that. Jesus transcends that through the cross.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 3:1-14 (day two)

This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? vs. 3

Paul asks a simple and direct question to the Galatians that can be asked of any of us. When you think about the time when you received the Holy Spirit, when you knew Jesus to be Lord of your life, how did it happen? Was it a day when you didn’t murder someone that you received the Spirit? Maybe it was a time when you didn’t steal, or lie, or covet. It seems foolish to think in those terms: I didn’t murder someone that day, and I felt the presence of the Lord.

We feel the presence of the Lord when we place our trust in him. We know the spirit when our faith is in Jesus alone. Your own personal testimony will bear this truth out, therefore let us make sure that our witness to others is not complicated with anything other than trust and faith in Jesus.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 2:11-21 (day two)  I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” vs. 21

This verse provides a stark contrast to how we live out our faith. There can be no equivocating with regards to the power of the cross. Our identity in Christ is complete, lacking in nothing, with no need for further requirement of qualification. Why then do we always feel the need to add to the cross? Sure, it’s easy to point to other denominations who view grace differently than we do, but strip away the dogma of doctrinal differences and look at our lives. What are the things we needlessly attach to the cross? Righteousness, virtue, piety are all wonderful characteristics of a believer, but they follow the cross. They are not in addition to the cross. It will forever be a mystery to us while we struggle on this mortal coil. We feel we must ‘do’ something for this gift. Our daily reminder is a stark reality. Anything we add to the cross, diminishes the cross. Christ doesn’t need our help, he is our help. He doesn’t need our actions, he acted on our behalf. Christ is our requirement and he, and he alone, is sufficient.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 2:1-10 (day two)

(for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles) vs. 8

This parenthetical statement is tucked in Paul’s clear statement that he had been clearly called to minister to the Gentiles with a clear recognition that Peter had been called to minister to the Jews. Paul will later write about being all things to all people, and the need to recognize your audience and the context in which you are speaking. Thinking globally, there are many different expressions of worship that occur each week. Some may look so completely different from our own expression that it may seem strange at best, and even wrong to some. Paul is very clear on this point. When we bring our own baggage, rules, traditions (however good they may be) and add them to the gospel…we diminish the gospel. Paul knows his audience, and he knows the gospel. Everything else is subordinate, and much is unnecessary. Think about this the next time you are in a conversation about differences in denominational difference,  culture, or tradition. Wrestle over the gospel, not over the guitar.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 1:1-10 (day two) 

only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. Vs. 7b

Do you ever feel like you aren’t qualified to know what is good theology and which is bad? Or maybe you fall into the other extreme that simply accepts whatever you read under the classification of “Christian.” What do we do when we are trapped somewhere in the middle trying to discern what is good, and what is not? This is a question we all need to be asking on a daily basis.

Our source for the gospel is scripture, and our ultimate discernment comes from the Holy Spirit. We know that, and hopefully when we come up against a teaching, good or bad, we will test it against what we already know about scripture. Paul would argue that if you hear something, go to the source. God has also provided teachers, pastors, and other saints in your life that have made the study of scripture a life-long pursuit. Use these resources! There is a billion dollar ‘Christian’ book industry that has the gamut of treasure and trash. As we seek to grow in our knowledge of the Lord, don’t shy from reading and learning, but you must continue to examine these teachings against the unchanging truth of scripture.