Author: Scott Lane

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

“I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.”  Paul’s words in our Re:verse captured my attention this week. Did you sense the continued urgency of His message for freedom in Christ expressed through loving obedience?  But in these verses add another emotion- anger. Anger at the one (ones) distracting, disrupting, discouraging these newer believers in their faith (race). His words sound really harsh. What would cause Paul to be this urgent and this angry?  I believe it is love. A Holy regard and affection for the Word of God and the People of God. There is no doubt of Paul’s love for the scriptures and the church (God’s people). Maybe a teachable moment for us as we examine our own faith and hearts. Do we have this kind of protective love for the Word of God and the People of God?  How do we communicate it and live it?  How do we (should we) teach and model that to our children, grandchildren, and others? The stakes are high and the consequences are eternal!! We must love God’s Word and God’s People.

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

But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise.

It’s one of the things I love about the scriptures. Honesty and integrity when telling the narratives of the Bible Heroes.  The good and the bad. The highs and the lows. Abraham (the father of God’s promised nation) acted out of fear and impatience. He didn’t wait and/or completely trust the Lord to fulfill His promise of a son to him (Abraham) and Sarah. So, he finds his own solution to fulfill God’s promise.  Abraham acted in faith- faith in himself and his own efforts. Wasn’t that he forgot the promise. He lacked patience and complete trust. Sounds like… me (us) sometimes. We do well to be reminded and remember God’s promises to us (in the scriptures). We must also trust God to fulfill His promises in His timing and His through His supernatural grace and power. It is difficult and exhausting at times. Paul says “Work out your salvation with fear and rambling”. Requires energy and dedication. Our faith must be focused on Him not in our own abilities.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:12-20 (day five) “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you—”

What is it that you wish for in your relationships? To be liked and loved. To find acceptance and community. To train and equip. To grow and develop. To love and be loved. To have peace. To bring and experience joy. Think about those relationships/those people for a second: children, spouses, friends, family, co-workers, church family.
Paul’s words to the Galatians can be seen as words of caution and wisdom. His goal… more than being loved, liked, included, encouraged… is for Christ to be formed in them as He is being formed in Paul.  It demands that pride, insecurity, and ego be replaced with a stronger desire and determination for the spiritual and eternal work of Christ (through the Holy Spirit) be the highest priority (in them in him). Willing to risk those things? Paul was.

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

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

Paul uses two pictures in verse 5 to describe the work of Christ.  We have been thinking through the first picture at great length and in great detail. Slaves freed from the penalty or curse of the law. Freedom is the biggest theme we find in this letter to the Galatians. Yet, there is another picture that expounds on the work of Christ- adopted sons (children). The good news of gospel is twofold in this passage. We are both redeemed AND also righteous. We are freed AND adopted. No longer slaves AND are now sons.  Jesus removes what we deserve (penalty under the law) and gives us what He deserves (sonship with the Father). That is indeed good news!!

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

“Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions…”  vs. 19  I love it when Paul asks the questions everybody is thinking. He has already answered the “when?” question about the Law.  The Law came after God’s promise. Now Paul turns to “Why?”.  The answer is transgressions or sin. The misconception was that the Law was given to tell of salvation, when in fact, it was given to tell of sin. And not just our perception of sin but our relationship to sin- we are captives and prisoners to sin (vs. 22). The Law tells us that we are all law-breakers and cannot be the solution. The law then also points to the need and provision of Christ (God’s Promise).

“We must never bypass the law and come straight to the gospel. To do so is to contradict the plan of God in biblical history… No man has ever appreciated the gospel until the law has first revealed him to himself. – John Stott

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

“Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

Paul does does something remarkable in verse 3 of our Re:Verse passage.  He changes tenses. He goes from the past tense to the present tense. Yet, the subject stays the same- the work of Christ on the cross that places the Holy Spirit in the heart of believers- the Gospel (Salvation by grace alone through Christ alone). Did you notice the word NOW?

The gospel is salvation from the penalty of sin (past tense). The same gospel is the salvation from the power of sin (present tense). By faith the Spirit entered our lives (past)and in the very same way (faith) the Spirit advances our lives (present).

“Christians think that we are saved by the gospel, but then we grow by applying biblical principles to every area of life. But we are not just saved by the gospel, we grow by applying the gospel to every area of life”.– Dick Kaufmann.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 2:11-21 (day five)  “When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel”

With the presence of the SA Phil at our church, this truth Paul is proclaiming becomes tangible. Every practice or performance, what is the first thing the orchestra does? They tune their instruments. Even the most expensive and well made instruments need to be constantly tuned. Same truth with the human heart. Paul is telling Peter and  others they have gotten literally “offline”. They were not “straight-walking”. They were out of tune with the perfect pitch (truth) of the gospel.

God help us hear the perfect pitch (truth) of the gospel!  Your Holy Spirit. Your Word. Accountability. Wisdom from other believers. Then give us courage to adjust and tune our hearts.

Christian living is therefore a continual realignment process – one of bringing everything in line with the truth of the gospel. – Tim Keller

Come thou fount of every blessing
Tune my heart…

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 2:1-10 (day five)  What do you see and sense first/most in other church members?  What draws you to people in the church. Is it their personality?  Is it their sense of humor?  Is it their likes and dislikes? Is it the presence of Christ? It is something inward our outward about them?

In our Re:Verse text this week, it is worth noting how these believers saw and regarded one another. Paul, Peter, James, and John all sensed and saw the Lord at work in and thru each other. The affection and respect they have for each other is influenced by their “recognition” and regard for the Lord’s presence and activity. Oh to sense and see the Lord’s presence and activity in other believers in the Body of Christ. Makes me want to walk closely with the Lord so that others could see and sense that in me. Makes me want to recognize and affirm the presence of Christ in them.  Only the Holy Spirit can help and guide us in those ways. When we can’t or don’t, does that say more about them, or more about me?  “Lord, help us see your presence in all your saints as we worship, study, serve, and fellowship together”.

We should never leave our church meetings, having spent time surrounded by beloved, distinctive people of faith, without feeling encouraged! – John Piper

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 1:11-24 (day five)  

“For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.”

Does God save “good” people, or does He save “bad” people? The answer according to Paul, is YES!!  Both!!
I like the words of Tim Keller as he expounds on this truth.

The gospel calls us out of religion as much as it calls us out of irreligion. No one is so good they don’t need the grace of the gospel, nor so bad that they cannot receive the grace of the gospel.

There is hope and salvation available for all of us who will repent and believe. That is Amazing Grace!!

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 1:1-10 (day five) “who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us”

Being the Youth Minister at FBCSA for 20 years has provided hundreds of memories and stories. One that is still etched in my mind was from an All-Nighter. Our very first activity was to go to SeaWorld and swim in the wave pool. We hadn’t been there 10 minutes when I heard the lifeguard blow his whistle. Then again. And then another whistle blew.  If I’m being honest, my first thought was these were college kids exerting their authority over younger teenagers- a power trip. What I quickly discovered was one of our middle school boys had swum too close to the “wave making contraption” at the head of the pool and was being sucked under- continually and violently. Before I could verify that in fact the teenager was in trouble, the lifeguard was already in the water rescuing the student. When they pulled him out, I tried to console him and convince myself that in fact it wasn’t that bad. But when I saw the fatigue in his body and desperation on his face (as he lay there) I immediately understood this was a life and death situation. He had been in trouble. Life threatening trouble, and couldn’t get out/free.  He was incapable. He needed rescue.

That’s how Paul is describing the human race “us” (he also includes himself)- incapable, unable, helpless, lost. Not flattering. In fact, kinda offensive. Scripture tells us that we really are that spiritually helpless and far gone. One of my HPU professors always said, “Until you realize how lost you were, you’ll never understand how saved you are”. WE (all) in fact, needed and have been rescued.