Stay On Course
Richard Peifer
pastor of MBF
This was a special sermon to me. Why? It concluded the 3 day conference that took place at their local church. A good hundred people were able to meet up and come together in one accord. Folks from Germany, Canada and the good old USA. But regardless of where our earthly geography was, we all ‘lived’ in the same place–seated in the heavenlies with Jesus Christ, Himself. I’ll save that for another post at another time.
This sermon, the message really gave me food for thought. We’re still in Galatians, and Paul is adamantly telling the Galatians to NOT let ANYONE put them back under the LEAST bit of the Law. Paul fusses at the Judaizers about thinking they were making themselves justified by keeping the Law. As if they really were. He has let them know that by trying to be justified by the Law, they have alienated themselves from Christ. How’d you like that to be applied to you? Nothing that I’d care to think about, thank you just the same. Paul seemed furious! Let’s go further than circumcision, he declares–let the Judaizers become emasculate themselves.
I noticed, after hearing the sermon, that when Paul starts talking to the Galatians, he reminds me again that the ONLY thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love. Apparently they were fussing with each other–understandable since the Judaizers were coming in and getting them all riled up. We can be circumcised or not circumcised–I suspect there was both in the Galatian Church, but it doesn’t matter. Bottom line is to love our neighbor. The teenage girl that is slam full of tattoos should not frown on the never-cut-my-hair teenage girl. Also vice versa. Once we come into the body of Christ by faith, we should not use our freedom to indulge the flesh, but rather to serve one another. If we keep judging one another, we’re going to wind up destroying ourselves.
We’re free in Christ folks, plain and simple. If we have come to Christ by faith. If we have put our trust in His word, in His work, then we are His. If we are His, stop fussing with each other. God has called us to love one another, not become their judge, juror and executor.
sundaygotomeeting 