Seek First – Kingdom Focused Devotionals

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6).

                Again we are reminded that the issue in this letter is not circumcision.  Paul indicates that it means nothing.  The Jew cannot boast of circumcision as a sign of the covenant nor can the Gentile boast of his uncircumcised state.  Both are now irrelevant “in Christ.”

                For Paul all outward observances are unimportant when compared with “faith working through love.”  The phrase “faith working through love” probably refers to the love of Christ which moves our hearts to respond to Him in faith.  The faith through which we are justified is not a barren intellectual assent.  It is a full and complete surrender of oneself to the love of God manifest in the sending of His only begotten Son. 

                There is no verse more powerful or more profound than John 3:16.  Many of us memorized it so early in life that we can recite it without truly thinking about the sacrifice involved in the incarnation.  God “so loved!”  Have you responded to the love of God made manifest in Christ?  If not, why not?

Prayer:  Father, Your love is amazing.  Amen

“For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness” (Gal. 5:5).

                This is one of the most beautiful verses in the Galatian letter and is a profound summary of “justification by faith.”  The use of “we” may be intended to bind the wavering Galatians to himself.  Notice the integral linking of the Spirit, faith, and righteousness. 

                The emphasis in the verse is on the Spirit and faith.  These are the two aspects of Christianity that distinguish it from Jewish legalism.  For the Christian, justification has nothing to do with any fleshly act, including circumcision.  From start to finish, regeneration is a work of the Spirit which can only be apprehended by the response of faith.  We can in no way commend ourselves to God by any work of the law, we can only respond by faith to the provision He has made for our redemption.

                The phrase “hope of righteousness” does not mean that it is something uncertain.  Some commentators suggest that we translate this phrase as “that righteousness which we expect.”  There is nothing uncertain about Christian hope or righteousness.  Christians are made righteous through Christ and thus they have confident hope that they will stand before God in His righteousness.  Why would anyone exchange works and the false hope it gives with faith and the sure hope it provides. 

Prayer:  Father, I thank You that I have a sure hope of righteousness in Christ.  Amen.

“You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (Gal. 5:4).

                This verse reiterates the impact of verses 2 and 3.  The only issue being addressed is the way in which sinful man is to be justified before holy God.  The two options are Christ and the law or grace and works.  If the Galatians are seeking to be justified by the law then they will be estranged or “cut loose” from Christ, the source of grace. 

                Paul wants to confront them with clarity concerning the consequences of choosing redemption through works.  They will have deserted or “fallen from” grace as the means of redemption.  Paul is clearly not speaking of someone being saved by grace and then falling from grace.  The context makes it clear that Paul is concerned that they will fall from grace and choose works as the means of redemption which would sever them from Christ. 

                Paul’s argument may sound repetitious to you as you read Galatians but this repetition serves to remind us of how critical the issue was and is.  World religions offer only two options for redemption—works or grace.  Evangelical Christianity stands apart from all others in this regard. 

Prayer:  Thank You Father that I need not rely on my own goodness to obtain heaven.  Amen.

“And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole law” (Gal. 5:3).

                The word “testify” underlines the gravity and solemnity of the declaration.  This verse has the power of a formal testimony.  If one chooses the route of works salvation through the law, then he/she must submit to all the law.  In other words, they must fully obey every aspect of every law.  It is likely that the Galatians had not thought through the implications of submitting to the law.  They were close to being persuaded that they needed to be circumcised to become heirs to the promise made to Abraham. 

                They are simply wanting to add circumcision to their existing status not be bound by the entire law.  As we have seen before, no one by human flesh can obey all the law all the time.  Thus when one binds himself to the law (works) as the means of salvation he/she is without hope.  Notice again that the issue is not circumcision per se but works as a means of salvation.

                Have you recently celebrated the goodness of God and thanked Him for saving your by grace alone?  Why not do so right now? 

Prayer:  You are altogether good and holy.  Thank You for the gracious gift of Your Son who purchased my redemption.  Amen.

“Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you” (Gal. 5:2).

                This verse is pivotal and therefore we notice that Paul brings to bear the full force of his apostolic authority.  The issue is clearly stated—legalism or grace, circumcision or Christ, everything or nothing.  It is possible that the false teachers are arguing that the Galatians can cling to both.  For Paul, this is impossibility.

                The issue is not circumcision itself.  We know that a circumcised person like Paul can be saved.  The issue is on circumcision as a necessary requirement for salvation as the Judaizers were demanding.  The absolute sufficiency of the work of Christ on the cross is being challenged and thus Paul makes his case in the strongest possible way.  The Galatians have not yet yielded to the arguments of the Judaizers but Paul is fearful that they are leaning in that direction. 

                The issue of works salvation is as prominent today as it was in the first century.  Many people believe that they must do something in their own power to achieve salvation or merit God’s favor.  We are saved by grace alone through faith alone.  In which case Christ is all to us. 

Prayer:  Thank You Father that I can rest in Your grace alone.  Amen.

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1).

                Notice that Paul places the word freedom at the very beginning of the sentence and then repeats it again several words later.  The phrase “it was for freedom that Christ set us free” may sound repetitious but the point is clear.  Simply put—Christ did not set us free to enter again into slavery to the law. 

                Our freedom is not only from the curse of the law (3:13, 24) it is from spiritual impotency from which the law has no power to rescue man (3:21).  Since the demand of the law continues, our spiritual inability to obey it results in death (cf. 2 Cor. 3:6, 7).  The guilt-establishing and deadening power of the law was dealt a death blow by the resurrection of Christ. 

                Nonetheless, men must “keep standing firm” in order that they do not enter again into the yoke of slavery.  Paul issues an appeal for a resolute and steadfast perseverance.  The yoke in mind is the yoke of legalistic prescriptions which no man can obey through the power of the flesh.  The word “again” points out that all men—Jew and Gentile alike—are responsible under the law.  But in Christ all have the possibility of freedom from the law. 

Prayer:  Thank You for setting me free from sin, its demands and penalty.  Amen

“But what does the Scripture say?  ‘Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.’ So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman” (Gal. 4:30-31).

                Paul again appeals to the events of Genesis 21 were Sarah demands that the son of the bondwoman be cast out.  According to Scripture this command was approved by the Lord and thus is valid as an authoritative command of Scripture.  Sarah knows that Ishmael will be a constant threat to the inheritance of her son and thus insists that mother and child be sent away and thus excluded from the inheritance. 

                Paul is clearly suggesting that the Galatians should avoid contact with anyone who would encourage them to return to the slavery of the law.  These persons are threatening their inheritance as Ishmael was threatening the inheritance of Isaac. 

                Verse 31 now brings to a conclusion all that has been said from verses 21 through 30.  Paul now switches to the first person plural which includes all persons who are in Christ.  We must never forget that our status as children depend on God’s good pleasure manifested in His grace and does not depend on human accomplishment.  It is this understanding of grace that will lead to conduct that demonstrates one’s new birth.  Does your life provide any convincing evidence that you share Your Father’s DNA? 

Prayer:  Let me daily live in such a manner that I demonstrate your character produced in me by the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

“But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also” (Gal. 4:29).

                The allegory of Ishmael and Isaac is now expanded to make it even more relevant to the situation in Galatia.  Paul deals not only with the difference in their birth but now he speaks of the way the half-brothers treated one another. 

                Ishmael, the fleshly seed, persecuted Isaac, the spiritual seed.  Genesis 21 indicates that Ishmael regularly mocked the son of Sarah, which ultimately led to his expulsion by Abraham.  The threat, both then and now, was not to Isaac’s life but his freedom and security.  Ishmael would not allow Isaac to enjoy the privileges that were rightfully his by birth.  In like manner, the Judaizers are robbing the Galatians of the rights and privileges of their new birth.

                The Judaizers were not content to be different.  They didn’t want the Galatians to enjoy the freedom of salvation by grace alone.  It is fascinating that those who adopt a legalistic system seem to desire to entrap others in the system which they cannot themselves live up to.  Notice that Paul once again contrasts “flesh” and “Spirit.”  Just as the Spirit brought life to a barren womb (Sarah), He now gives life to men.  Do you have the life of the Spirit?

Prayer.  Father, teach me daily to walk in the Spirit.  Amen

“And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise” (Gal. 4:28).

                In case his readers have missed the subtlety of his argument, he makes his point with absolute clarity.  His readers, who are in danger of falling under the influence of the Judaizers, need to understand that they are children of Abraham in the same manner as Isaac.  In other words, they are children by grace, by the sheer miraculous activity of God. 

                They, like Isaac, owe their very existence to “promise.”  The circumstances of Isaac’s birth—the advanced age of his parents—made it clear that his very existence was called into being by the power of God’s word.  In the same manner these Gentile believers were born through the quickening power of God’s word and the regenerating power of God’s Spirit. 

                Any attempt to bring the Galatians under the law again, would profane the miraculous work of God.  Thus Ishmael and Isaac provide pictures of two opposing attitudes toward the promise of God—human self-vindication and faith. 

                Do you trust in any act of the flesh to save you?  If so, you are following in the lineage of Ishmael and not Isaac and are for that reason, not sons of the promise. 

Prayer:  Thank You Father for saving me by grace alone.  Amen.

“For it is written, ‘Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; for more numerous are the children of the desolate than of the one who has a husband” (Gal. 4:27).

                Paul now quotes Isaiah 54:1 which speaks of Israel’s restoration and multiplication after the time of captivity.  Israel in captivity is pictured as a barren widow.  She is without husband and children.  She is hopeless.  But the prophet declares that she can break forth into joyful shouting for her future is secure.  In the larger context, the prophet declares that her husband is the sovereign God. 

                Paul now applies this prophecy to the relation between the present Jerusalem and the heavenly one.  The heavenly Jerusalem is mother by the grace of God, even as Israel was after the captivity.  Her children are the result, not of works, but of divine miraculous power which grants life.  Paul sees the fulfillment of this promise in the response of Jews and Gentiles alike to the offer of eternal life in Christ alone. 

                The common thread linking all these illustrations is the power of the divine word by which men/women receive life, freedom, and eternal redemption.  This new community is the true seed of Abraham and thus the true Jerusalem.  The church made up of Jew and Gentile is the result of supernatural activity and not the effort of man.  We should never forget the power of the word and the supernatural nature of the church. 

Prayer:  Father, thank you that You are still building Your church.  Amen