In Galatians 3:1, the apostle Paul passionately addresses a crucial issue that resonates even in modern times – the danger of slipping back into legalistic practices despite having received salvation through grace. Paul’s words echo through the ages, reminding us that our faith is founded not on our works or religious rituals, but solely on the finished work of Christ on the cross.
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?”
Galatians 3:1
Paul’s astonishment and admonition stem from the Galatians’ inclination to add human effort to the equation of salvation. This timeless warning holds relevance today as well. Many still encounter the misconception that faith alone is insufficient for salvation. Many preach and teach that along with faith, additional actions like baptism or specific acts of repentance are necessary to be saved.
However, Paul’s message remains resolute: salvation comes exclusively through faith in Christ’s sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection. This message liberates us from the bondage of legalism, traditionalism, and religious performances.
Today, we, like the Galatians, are reminded to resist any teaching that veers from the central tenet of salvation by grace through faith. Let us stand firm in the truth that Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient, eliminating the need for additional human efforts. As Paul later reiterates in Galatians 5:1, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”
May we, as believers, treasure and proclaim the freedom of grace and the sufficiency of Christ’s finished work, resisting any doctrine that attempts to diminish the power of His atonement.
BELOVED…
SALVATION IS BY BELIEVING BY FAITH ALONE THAT WE ARE SINNERS WITHOUT HOPE AND INCAPABLE OF DOING ANYTHING TO SAVE OURSELVES. SO GOD SENT HIS ONLY SON JESUS CHRIST TO DIE/SHED HIS BLOOD FOR OUR SINS, WAS BURIED AND ROSE FROM THE DEAD 3 DAYS LATER. NOTHING ELSE. THE MOMENT WE BELIEVE BY FAITH ALONE IT IS GOD WHO COMES INTO OUR LIVES, GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT INDWELLS US AND SEALS US, AND BAPTIZES US INTO THE BODY OF CHRIST, MAKING US A NEW CREATION, AND ONLY THEN ARE WE CAPABLE OF CHANGE, AND EVEN THEN IT ISN’T ANYTHING WE DO, BUT GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT EMPOWERS US TO CHANGE. WE CAN DO NOTHING WITHOUT GOD NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE REPENT OR HOW MANY TIMES WE ARE DUNKED IN WATER! ONLY THE GOSPEL HAS THE POWER UNTO SALVATION.
‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.’
Romans 1:16
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100% Unashamed of the gospel of grace.
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