Not by Might

Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3)

The Galatians Christians had been led astray. 

They had disobeyed the truth of the Gospel.

Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among them as crucified.

But they had foolishly refused Him.

They had forgotten how they were saved.

It was by the grace of God through faith that they received the Spirit of God.

It was not by the works of the law.

The Galatians Christians had begun well.

They  had fully submissiion to the works of the Spirit of God.

But thing had changed.

They wanted to do otherwise.

They wanted to return to the works of the law.

They had suffered so much under the works of the law.

Yet they still chose to go back.

The apostle reasoned with them.

God had given them His Spirit.

God had worked miracles among them.

Did God do it because they obeyed the works of the law?

Or did God do it because they had faith in Him?

Tha apostle Paul brought out Abraham, their ancestor.

Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Therefore only those who believed in God are children of Abraham.

God knows everything.

God knew that Abraham was to become the father of all nations.

God knew that the Gentile believers would be blessed too!

Nothing escapes the attention of God.

He knows everything.

And He bless everyone who believes in Him just as Abraham did.

Salvation is indeed by grace through faith.

No amount of human efforts can save us.

It is the work of the gracious God Who sent His Son to die for us more than 2000 years ago.

All of Grace

But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)

Paul was an apostle. He preached the gospel of God to the Gentiles, to kings, and to the children of Israel.

Paul preached the Word of God. He did not received it from men. It was not passed down to him by and through any human means. It came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul received and learnt it from God.

Paul was once called Saul. He was a Judaizer. He advanced in Judaism. He persecuted the church of God beyond measure and he tried to destroy it. He was a champion of Judaism, very zealous, outshone many of his contemporaries. 

But God had chosen him from the beginning of time. He had called him by His grace. He has chosen to save him and use him. God revealed His Son to him.

Paul's mission was to preach God among the Gentiles. He was to make Him known among us who were not a people and strangers to the Law of God. Thank God for His mercy and grace.

As apostle to the Gentiles, Paul did not confer immediately with his counterparts in Jerusalem. The apostle Paul did not immediately consult the 12 apostles in Jerusalem. Instead, he went to Arabia, and then returned again in Damascus. It was 3 years later that he met up with them in Jerusalem.

Unlike the apostle Paul, we don't receive direct revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ. We learnt it from the Word of God through the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit in us. God had given us other offices. Some of us are preachers, teachers, missionaries, evangelists etc. 

Like the apostle Paul, we are chosen from the beginning of time. God loved us and saved us from the present evil age. God gave us talents. He enabled and empowered us for certain missions. We are special.

We thank God always. We spend more time with Him in humility and submissiveness. God must increase and we must decrease. He must have the supremacy. He must be our Lord at all time.

We do consult our brethren, and ask for their advice and guidance. But our Master and Teacher is God. God will guide us into all truths, and oversee everything we do.

As Christ's disciples, we do not lose hope, knowing that God is with us all the time. 

May God glorify His Name through us with each passing days. Amen.