5 5 03

10:50a

Galatians 5:1-15

In these verses, Paul is talking about having received freedom through the death of Jesus. He talks about how the circumcision binds one to the law (v 2&3). I believe that this is because in that society, circumcision was not a common practice. The Jews practiced circumcision (I don�t actually know exactly why, but I�ll dive into that sooner or later) as a sign that they were God�s children. Other peoples did not. Paul�s reference to circumcision obligating a man to follow the law did not mean that Jesus� sacrifice/gift was useless for that man. In my understanding, the Jews were saying that any man who wasn�t circumcised couldn�t be a follower of God.

The comparison I come up with to today�s Christianity: those who state that unless someone speaks in Tongues, they can not be a real Christian. I have already discussed this issue in the other diary�s entries. Regardless, the point that Paul is making here is that if we rely on only one aspect of God, we are negating all other aspects � if we say that we are Christian because we are circumcised, we have eliminated the need for Jesus� sacrifice/gift and have burdened ourselves with a Law/legalism which we are unable to meet.

What does that mean? It means that we are not capable of following the Law to the letter, thus it is insufficient to save us. It does not mean that the Law is faulty or that the Law has been done away with. It means only that because we are human and incapable, alone, of living perfectly within the Law that by the Law alone we can not be saved.

Jesus� sacrifice/gift did not eliminate the Law. Instead, it wrote the Law in our hearts. And, because of said sacrifice/gift, the entire Law can be summed up in just five words. �Love God, and everyone else.�

Matthew 22:37-40
• 37 �Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
• 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
• 39 And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.
• 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.�

Has the Law been done away with? No. Only the penalty has been done away with. Because of Jesus� gift to us through His death, we are no longer under the penalty of the Law, which is death. Because Jesus lived under the Law completely and without sin as a man alone can not be, and because He was killed as the final sin offering, we are free.

Is it good to follow the Law to the best of your ability? Yes. Because, when you follow the Law, it works. The blessings which come from obeying the Law are poured down over us.

God did not abolish the Law upon Jesus� death. The Law itself was not �nailed to the cross� as many people say. The penalty of the Law was fulfilled.

Matthew 5:17&18
• 17 �Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
• 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished.�

Legalism doesn�t work because it removes Jesus from the picture and therefore renounces the sacrifice He made/the gift He gave us. But ignorance of the Law, refusal to adhere to the Law, is not part of the sacrifice/gift.

Galatians 5:16-26

In this passage, Paul is talking about what it is to have the Law written on your heart and in your mind. It is life by the Spirit. He says that when you live by the Spirit, you can�t live by the sinful nature and vice versa (v 16&17). In verse 18 he states that if one lives by the Spirit, they aren�t under law. I believe, again, this is referring to the penalty rather than the Law.

My dad came up with an analogy for this at services:

If you have a flock of sheep (followers of Jesus) standing around the shepherd (Jesus), as long as they remain close to the shepherd, there isn�t much chance they�ll fall off a cliff or be set upon by wolves or in any other way be damaged.

Imagine that image. Jesus is the center and you�re a sheep at His feet, following Him wherever He goes. You walk behind Him or at His side or a couple paces before Him, always keeping Him in sight. You don�t scamper off to graze on the green grass by sticking your head through the fence. When you stick close to Jesus, you don�t get your head stuck in the fence. You don�t fall into the water, get your wool soaked and then sink to the bottom of the pond. You don�t get your leg caught in a gopher hole, break it and whimper helplessly.

When you remain close to Jesus, the Law (the fence) is unnecessary because you�re with the true Law (Jesus); because you walk only where He walks and you eat only what He gives you and you sleep only where He makes your bed. When you�re walking at His side, there is no danger to fear, there are no wolves that can get you, AND, there are no boundaries.

If Jesus can walk on water (Matt 14:22-27) we can too (Matt 14:28&29). If we remain close to our shepherd, there is nothing to fear, AND we will be following the Law by default.

Food for thought, no?