Author: Aaron Hufty

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 6:11-18 (day two) 

From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus. vs. 17

Paul’s body literally told a story. Paul’s last defense of his book-long argument is his own willingness to endure the persecution, suffering, and pain associated with an uncompromising commitment to follow Jesus. Brand-marks is a term that is exactly what you think it is. As we mark livestock, it was common to ‘mark’ those in slavery with an identifiable brand on their flesh. Paul reminds the Galatians, and us there is often a physical cost to obedience.

And yet, he is willing to bear it. That testimony is astounding in itself. If Paul is willing to endure, and point to those lasting scars as a testimony to God’s greater truth, there must be something to it. Think back one chapter and frame it this way. Paul’s spirit also bears the brand-marks of Jesus. He has been set free to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The physical marks cannot, themselves, produce that good. It must be Jesus.

What brand-marks have you endured? What have they produced in your spirit?

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 6:1-10 (day two)  

So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. vs. 10

Keeping score can get exhausting. Who said what to whom? When was I last wronged or slighted? Was I treated fairly when…? Paul does not discount that fact that misunderstandings happen. He doesn’t deny that life is hard and so often unfair. He is aware, however, of the grace that he was given through Jesus, and that has changed his perspective on how to treat others. Remember when you were forgiven and you didn’t deserve it? There is such a feeling of relief not having to carry around that burden. That burden which impacts how we speak to, relate to, and treat others. Before that grace what was your reaction to misunderstandings? Harsh, bitter, ugly? Perhaps your defenses were so attuned to protecting yourself from further harm, that you became the one hurting others. Paul isn’t saying that doing good is easy, but it does take the pressure off of trying to remember who to be nice to and who not to. Remember when Jesus was kind to you? Pass it on.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 5:16-26 (day two)  

For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. vs. 17

This duality in our nature is nothing new to Paul. He speaks very directly about this to the believers in Rome (Romans 7:14-20). Knowing that the apostle Paul understood and struggled with this idea of wanting to do one thing, but doing another should help our understanding of the challenge we all face. We are in a spiritual battle. It is a daily conflict to choose the Spirit over the flesh. It is also why we are instructed by Jesus to take up the cross daily. 

Make no mistake complacency in the faith leads to an erosion of our will. We all desire to live by the Spirit, but this desire requires surrender. If the evidence of the Spirit isn’t obvious, take a spiritual inventory and recalibrate. Don’t give up the fight.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 5:1-15 (day two) 

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. vs. 6

Searching for meaning? At some level, conscious or otherwise, all of us are. We have picked apart Paul’s letter to the Galatian church for nearly three months, and have spoken over and over again about the how they let the Law become something greater than Christ. In a beautiful turn in this passage in chapter five, Paul reminds them of what the are called to do: Love and serve. It is also worth noting that this call is from the Law! He later quotes it in vs. 14  For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus calls us to this very statement when cornered by the Pharisees. To love and serve through faith is our new assignment. Not despite the law, not shackled by the law, but informed and set free by Christ’s fulfillment of the law.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:21-31 (day two) 

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. vs 22

Hopefully you are familiar with the story of Abraham and his two sons. If you need a reminder, please read Genesis 21. Abraham was in a tough place. He had heard from the Lord, had been faithful to trust him in the past, and was promised a great legacy. The problem? Time. Abraham could not figure out how all these things could come about. His age was a factor, and his wife’s age was well past child-bearing time. The solution? Bring in a surrogate. This would accomplish the goal of bearing a child, but it wasn’t what God had instructed. It didn’t invalidate the promise, but it did have consequences. Refer back to the beginning of Galatians 4 when Paul reminds them that at the perfect time, Christ came. The same can be said for the birth of Isaac, or whatever God has purposed for your life. The Galatians moved from the truth of the Gospel backwards. They laid claim to the law, or the parts of the law they thought they understood. They, and we, have been called forward. To trust in the promise of God’s perfect timing. Not yet is a perfect answer.

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.