Galatians is about the Gospel. That is because Paul was a Gospel preacher. To him, it was always connected to the Gospel first. The Galatians were also about the Gospel, but had gotten off track.
It's not that they were awful people, they had sincere hearts. Paul knew what it was to be sincere. He sincerely persecuted Christians before becoming one. But Paul also had experienced a radical change, and kept the Gospel central, something that even Peter struggled with.
Speaking of Peter, does anyone else find it interesting that after the book of Acts, the main character (outside of Jesus) in the New Testament seems to be Paul? Peter had been with Jesus, denied him but was reinstated, was involved in the conversion of 3,000+ on the day of Pentacost, was given the keys to the kingdom, and then in comes this former Jew, Christian hating convert. Would J.K. Rowling change the main character in the Harry Potter series in mid-stream? God did. I think there is a lesson there, but for another time.
Anyway, the Galatians started to go back to the old ways, relying on works rather than grace. Preaching a message of good works. Problem is, when we make that which is secondary primary, we also make that which is primary secondary. (That is for all the Math wizards out there.) In other words, when we encourage being a good person and doing good works instead of promoting Christ, are we really any different from the local Rotary Club?
Paul takes this pretty seriously. "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!" (Gal. 1:8)
I think our churches would do well to take note.
2 comments:
Good stuff! Sad to sad that some Rotary clubs do more good for the community than churches do. I think that grace has to me more than church membership. Seems that being conformed into the image of Christ should involve a bit of turning the world upside down - even if it is one heart at a time.
Amen! That is why we struggle to make a dent in society when it comes to real conversion. If we really understand the grace of God, no one could stop us.
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