Scripture: Galatians 1:1-10
Key Verse: Am I now trying to win the approval of God or of men? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. 1:10
Observation:
Paul begins his letter by reminding the Galatians that he was specifically and personally called by Christ to preach the very Gospel he’d spent most of his adult life trying to squash. He also reminds them that Christ was sent to rescue us from the evil that is ruling the world right now. And in that reminder, is also the reminder that the age in which we are living is temporary. One day, Christ will return and will rule on the earth. The pain and sorrow and evil we see around us every day will be gone. We will be surrounded by His glory and we’ll live in complete safety and security.
He then addresses a big problem in the Galatian church: A group of Christians called “Judaizers” were teaching that there was more to the Gospel than just faith in Christ and the fact that His death and resurrection made them clean before God. The Judaizers, in an attempt to stay under the radar of the more hard-line Jews, were telling these Gentile Christians that in addition to faith in Christ, they also had to obey some of the Jewish laws in order to be saved. Their legalistic approach to salvation was tripping up these new Christians and possibly even causing some of them to decide they didn’t want to be Christians after all. Paul steps in and tells them that what he had told them about Christ dying for their sins was all they needed for salvation, and that anything else was just bad and dishonest teaching. He is so upset about what they had been told that he even goes so far as to wish condemnation on the people who had been preaching this false gospel.
Finally, to make his point even stronger, Paul tells them that he has no interest at all in pleasing people. He only ever wants to please God. He says that if he ever starts looking for the approval of people, he will no longer be serving Christ.
Application:
It’s so easy for us to focus on what other people think of us and sometimes, that makes us more interested in getting their approval than in obeying God. Our friends are right there with us and we see their reactions to the things we say and do immediately. We have instant feedback from them. When we do something they like, we see smiles and hear them say things that make us feel good about ourselves. When we do something they don’t like, we see hurt or anger and often become the subject of their gossip and their Facebook statuses.
On the other hand, we usually don’t get God’s reaction to something we’ve done right away. If we do something wrong, we may or may not feel guilty about it right away. And so often, when we do something right, we don’t immediately, if ever, see a reward from Him for our good decision.
But God is always with us – even when we’re alone. If we’ve really taken that post-salvation step of promising to live our lives for God and not for people, His opinion is the only one that should really matter. Easier said than done, right? The key is to constantly remind ourselves that we are His. He rescued us from death and lives of hopeless meaninglessness. He has given us everything we need to gain His approval. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we are holy and completely sinless in His eyes. When we do mess up, we know that before we even ask, we are already forgiven. Unlike our friends, God never holds a grudge and never tries to get even with us. He loves us unconditionally. And He knows absolutely everything about us, so that His opinion of us is never wrong. Thanks to Christ’s sacrifice, we will always have God’s approval.
Prayer:
Father, please remind me that no matter what the people around me think, You will always love me. Give me the courage to do what You want me to do, especially when it means that my friends will reject me. Change my heart so that their opinion means less and less and I can be free to obey You. Teach me to be content with Your approval instead of the immediate reactions of the people I see every day. Thank You for rescuing me and giving me everything I need to get through whatever this life throws at me. Amen.
Bonus Application:
The reason the Galatians were so accepting of whatever they were told about salvation was because they were not yet mature in their faith. They also didn’t have the benefit of a written New Testament because the Gospels weren’t written until 10-20 years after Paul wrote this letter. But we do and as Christians, it’s our responsibility to study it so that we’ll know when someone is trying to tell us something that just isn’t true. If we don’t know what God’s truth is, it will be so much easier for us to accept Satan’s lies. Are you making time in God's Word a daily priority? If you are, keep it up! If you're not, today is a great day to start!