Daily Meditations on the Bible / We stand with Israel
So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
Summary: In this passage Paul outlines the basic challenge that confronts all humanity. Who do we trust? Ourselves or our Lord?
Continue reading “Galatians 2:16b – Innocent Before God”[“We who are Jews by birth] … know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.”
Summary: The Jews that Paul refers to are not a homogeneous group. They are, for the most part, people who have stumbled over the “stumbling stone (Romans 9:32).
Continue reading “Galatians 2:16a – Challenge Course”“You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?”
Summary: Deciphering what Paul is saying to Peter and his companions requires an understanding of past covenants made by God for man.
Continue reading “Galatians 2:14c – The Wrong Club”They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.
Summary: God’s plan for the salvation of the world he created had to be carried out in two parts. The first part involved Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. The second part was telling people about Jesus.
Continue reading “Galatians 2:9b – Divide and Conquer”On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.
Summary: Paul’s assignment from God wasn’t a figment of his imagination. It was real. We know this because the apostles in Jerusalem affirmed Paul’s gospel.
Continue reading “Galatians 2:7 – Validity”As for those who were held in high esteem —whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—
Summary: As Paul recounts his second visit to Jerusalem as a follower of Jesus, he reminds us that God does not show favoritism, and neither should we.
Continue reading “Galatians 2:6a – Pecking Order”We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
Summary: Paul was just as human as you or me. We all feel the pressure when others want us to conform. Like Paul, we all have to choose whether we stand on truth or bend to the will of the people around us.
Continue reading “Galatians 2:5 – Peer Pressure”This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.
Summary: From the beginning, Paul’s letter to the Galatians is confrontational. Paul is deeply concerned about the messages false believers spread among his flock.
Continue reading “Galatians 2:4 – Spy Novel”… For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism,
Summary: Paul’s words in this passage give us pause for thought. If you could take a “before” and “after” picture of yourself before and after meeting Jesus, what would be different?
Continue reading “Galatians 1:13a – Knowing Jesus”I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it;
Summary: Where we get our information matters. If we learn from people who teach opinions instead of fact, we live under the burden of their ignorance. When we see the light of Truth, everything changes.
Continue reading “Galatians 1:12a – When Everything Changes”