"Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: ... Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law" (Romans 3:24,28). In God's way of salvation, there's no room for boasting from us. Salvation is God's gift. It's given to us "by His grace." …
Continue reading Let us rejoice – Jesus Christ “loved us and gave Himself for us.”
"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14). We are never the same again, once we have come to "the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." We are changed by his love. How are we changed? …
Continue reading Changed by the love of our Lord Jesus Christ
"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" (Galatians 5:6). What is faith, if it doesn't change our way of thinking and our way of living? Is it really faith at all? I'm not suggesting that we'll ever have a complete change in our way if thinking and our way of living, …
Continue reading More faith and more love: this, Lord, is what we pray for.
"When the time had fully come, God sent his Son" (Galatians 4:4). The time of preparation was over. Now, it was the time of fulfilment. No longer was it "the Christ will come." Now, it was "the Christ has come." What a difference there is between the time of preparation and the time of fulfilment. …
Continue reading Stepping out of the shadows, stepping into the light
Isaiah 47:1-49:7; Galatians 5:7-26; Psalm 109:1-20 The God who says, “I am the Lord, and there is no other”, also says, “I will not yield My glory to another” (Isaiah 48:11). The uniqueness of the Lord is directly related to the glory of the Lord. God is unique, the one true God. We are to …
"Christ makes me bold enough to order you to do the right thing. 9 However, I would prefer to make an appeal on the basis of love" (Philemon 8-9). In all that we do, we need love. We learn this love from Jesus "who loved us and gave himself for us" (Galatians 2:20).
Isaiah 33:1-35:10; Galatians 1:1-24; Psalm 107:10-22 Isaiah 35:8 speaks of “the Way of Holiness.” Isaiah 35:9 stresses that “only the redeemed will walk there.” This is also the teaching of Paul in Galatians. We must be redeemed by the Lord if we are to walk in the Way of Holiness. Any attempt yo walk in the Way of …
"I have been crucified with Christ... Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). When our devotion to the Lord is being deepened, we learn to walk with Him on the way of the cross – “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in …
Continue reading When our devotion to the Lord is being deepened
"Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven" (Psalm 32:1). The forgiveness of sins - this is such a great blessing. The forgiveness of sins: it's just the beginning of so much great blessing which will continue throughout our life on earth and for all eternity. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within …
We read about "the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23) - and we're ashamed of ourselves! We fall so far short of what God wants us to be. While we're here on earth, we'll never become, fully, all that God intends to be. We stumble. …
"I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me" (John 17:8). Jesus was sent by God - to speak the Word of the Lord, but he was more than one of many preachers. Jesus is different …
"When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son... God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts" (Galatians 4:4-6). Then and now We begin with then: God sent his Son. We move from then to now: God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. Then, God sent his Son: this is …
Continue reading Then: God sent his Son. Now: God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.
Galatians 6:11-18 "God forbid that I should glory ... " (Galatians 6:14). This is more than "I will never boast ... " Who says, "I will never boast"? Remember Peter. He said this, and, then, he denied the Lord three times. "God forbid ... " is a prayer for God's help. It's not an assertion …
Continue reading “God forbid that I should glory … ” (Galatians 6:14).
Isaiah 36:1-37:38; Galatians 2:1-10; Psalm 107:23-32 “For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this” (Isaiah 37:32). In a time when many people are turning away from the Lord, God is still preserving His own people for Himself. …
Continue reading God keeps us for Himself so that we might be used by Him to bring others to Him.
"God forbid that I should boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14). These words of Paul take us to the heart of the gospel. They remind us of his words in 1 Corinthians 1:23 - "we preach Christ crucified" - and 1 Corinthians 2:2 - "I decided to concentrate …
Praying through God's Word - Judges 14:10-16:3 Lord, we thank You that our lives are not controlled by what we are. They are transformed by who You are. We are sinners. You are the God of grace, Shall our sin triumph over Your grace? - "God forbid!" (Romans 6:1-2). "Sin shall not have dominion over us" (Romans 6:14). Your …
In Exodus 20, we read "the Ten Commandments", and, straightaway, we may be on our guard against legalism. In Exodus 20:5, we read words that make us feel that we, sinners, can't possibly come into the presence of the God of perfect holiness: "I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children …
In Galatians 3:14, we read about "receiving the promise of the Spirit through faith." What does this mean? It may be helpful to think, first, about what it doesn't mean. We must never think of the Holy Spirit as a reward that is given to us because we have faith - the more faith we …
Continue reading The Holy Spirit – God’s Gift, Not His Reward
Micah 5:1-7:20; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10; Proverbs 21:17-26 God wipes out the shadow of our past - He “pardons sin” (Micah 7:18). He shines in the light of His future - “We will be “clothed with our heavenly dwelling” (2 Corinthians 5:4). From this standpoint of privilege, we are called to fulfil our responsibility: to be soldiers of …
Continue reading Out of the shadows of our past, into the light of His future
GALATIANS 1:1-2:10 - ‘A revelation of Jesus Christ’ (1:12) - This is what the Gospel is all about. Christ is the Gospel. Without Him, there is no Gospel. What was Paul’s testimony? What did he preach to others? - God ‘was pleased to reveal His Son in order that I might preach Him…’ (1:15-16). We …
* The love in us comes from the love of God. * The joy in us comes from the joy of God. * The peace in us comes from the peace of God. ... The God of love, the God of joy, the God of peace ... Without God, there can be no love in …
Continue reading “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…” (Galatians 5:22-23).
How are we to get to know Jesus Christ? Are we to look at his moral teaching - and look no further than that? Looking at Jesus' moral teaching will take us so far - but does it really take us to the heart of the good news concerning God's love for us? If we …
"No one can ever buy back another person or pay God a ransom for his life" (Psalm 49:7). What no-one else could ever do for us, God has done for us - "... the Son of Man came ... to give His life as a ransom for many people” (Mark 10:45). "God forbid that I should …
Continue reading What no-one else could ever do for us, God has done for us.
The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice ... Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name" (Psalm 97:1,12). Psalm 97 begins and ends with joy - rejoicing in the Lord. True joy comes to us from the Lord. We think of who God is - the King of love. We …
Continue reading Plenty of reasons for rejoicing in the Lord
Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 2:2; 1 Corinthians 6:19–20; Galatians 6:14 Paul was no silent disciple, no half-hearted follower of Jesus. He was not ashamed of his Lord. He was glad to say, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith" (Romans …
Galatians 3:23-5:6 ‘God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts’(4:6). The Spirit is not a reward we earn by being good people. The Spirit is God’s gift (Titus 3:5). Paul connects the gift of the Spirit with Christ’s death for us and our faith in Christ(3:13-14). We do not come to God …
Continue reading “Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.”
"I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:11-12). "By revelation from Jesus Christ": This was more than Paul's preaching. It was Christ's revelation. What a difference …
Continue reading We listen to Jesus, we learn from Jesus, and we worship Jesus.
Galatians 1:1-12 "The Gospel" came to Paul "by a revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:11-12). This was important for Paul - and it's important for us. Our faith has come to us from above, from God. It doesn't come from ourselves. It is given to us by God. At the heart of our faith is …
Continue reading Our faith has come to us from above, from God.
"God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" was "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:3-4). This post is a continuation of my earlier post, "This is my Son. This is your Saviour." You should, really, read that post before reading …
Continue reading Let us rejoice in Jesus, God’s Son. Let us rejoice in Jesus, our Saviour.
"At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do" (Matthew 11:25-26). "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, …
Continue reading God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This chapter speaks to us with childlike simplicity. It builds on the teaching of the first chapter: God is our Creator. Chapter 1 shows us the bigger picture. Chapter 2 looks, more closely, at the creation of human beings. We were made by God. We were made for God. To say that we were made …
"This is My blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:28). Early on in my Christian life, I read James Denney's book, The Death of Christ. Reading this book gave me a real sense of the importance of the death of Christ. This has stayed with me over the …
‘Let it be to me according to Your Word’ (Luke 1:38). When we ‘walk in the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:16, 22-23), God sees that it is ‘good’ (Micah 6:8). Let us ‘walk in the light’ (1 John 1:7). May the Spirit's ‘living water’ flow in us (John 7:39-39). This is the way of fruitfulness.
"I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received" (Ephesians 4:1). How are we to live a life worthy of our high calling? Let's go back from Ephesians 4:1, back to Ephesians 2:8-10. There, we learn about grace, faith and works - in that order. We begin with grace. We …
Receiving the promise of the Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:14) What does this mean? It may be helpful to think, first, about what it doesn't mean. We must never think of the Holy Spirit as a reward that is given to us because we have faith - the more faith we have, the more the …
Continue reading Receiving the promise of the Spirit through faith
This letter proclaims the Gospel of Christ. It tells us what the Gospel is not: it's "not a human message... given by man." It tells us what the Gospel is: it's a message which has come "through a revelation of Jesus Christ" (chapter 1). We are put right with God through faith This faioth enters …
‘A revelation of Jesus Christ’ (1:12): Christ is our Testimony. Christ is our Message. He is the crucified Christ - ‘I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me’. He is the living Christ - ‘I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but …
Continue reading Journey through the New Testament: Galatians
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23). Love, joy, peace ... - Is this what we find when we look within ourselves? or Do we find something very different? What does Jesus tell us about ourselves? Does he pat us on the back and tell as that, at …
"I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:11-12). We read the words of Paul - and we look beyond him to Jesus …
Continue reading We are sinners. We’re called to be servants. Jesus is our Saviour.
"Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no …
" ... Christ has set us free. Stand firm ... " (Galatians 5:1). Why does Christ set us free? Does he set us free to do whatever we like? No! He sets us free - to be his soldiers and servants. Without Christ as our Saviour, we are defenceless and defeated - when Satan attacks us. …
God loves us. This isn't for some perfect people who've never fallen into sin. There's nobody who's like that. All of us have made a mess of things, but God still says to us, "I love you." He says, "My Son, Jesus, died for you." This is what gives us the strength to choose his …
We preach free grace: salvation is received as a gift from God through Christ, and is not earned as a reward for our good works. The preaching of free grace points us away from ourselves to Jesus Christ, the Saviour of sinners. There is no place for a superficial moralism which says, "I've done more …
"I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11). "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing" (Psalm 23:1). I lack nothing - God has given us a full salvation. It's a salvation that covers our past, our present and our future. -- We begin by emphasizing that God's salvation covers our past. "He makes me lie …
"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). These verses speak to us of our great privilege …
Continue reading Our great privilege and our great responsibility
Two men with the same name - Saul, the first king of Israel, and Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor of Christ and His servants. In both stories, we read of a new man. * In the case of Saul, the first king of Israel, David was the new man. Saul was rejected. He was replaced. …
"Praise the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all his benefits" (Psalm 103:2). When we read these words, we find our thoughts moving beyond the Psalmist to our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. We remember the words of Paul - "The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20), and …
"God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14). "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). This is more than a statement of our intention: …
Isaiah 43:1-44:23; Galatians 3:26-4:20; Psalm 108:1-5 What a majestic description of God we have in Isaiah 44:6 – “This is what the Lord says – Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty; I am the First and I am the Last; apart from Me there is no God.” This is the God to whom we pray, “Be …
Continue reading The Lord is exalted, but He is also the God who draws near to us.
"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17). In today's world, there are plenty of people who speak of freedom in terms of I, me and my. I: I'm free to think what I like and do what I like. Nobody can tell me what I'm to think and how …
How are we live as a “new creation” (Galatians 6:15)? Paul speaks to us about “faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6). What does it mean to have faith? How are we to live a life that is inspired, controlled, motivated and directed by love? Paul speaks about the beginning of the life of faith: …
Genesis 1:1-3‘Genesis’ means ‘beginning’. Its opening verses challenge us to get our priorities right. (a) the priority of God(1) God comes first. Before anyone else is mentioned, He is there. (b) the priority of God’s Word (3) God is the first to speak. Before any human word is spoken, there is the Word of the Lord. (c) the priority …
Continue reading A New Beginning: Some thoughts from the Scriptures
Galatians 1:1-2:10 Lord, we thank you that You have given to us “a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:12). Christ is the Gospel. He is our testimony. He is our message. Help us to keep Him at the very centre of our life. In our ever-changing world, help us to keep on saying, “Jesus Christ …
Galatians 1:1-2:10Lord, we thank you that You have given to us "a revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:12). Christ is the Gospel. He is our testimony. He is our message. Help us to keep Him at the very centre of our life. In our ever-changing world, help us to keep on saying, "Jesus Christ is …
" I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). Many years ago, in the early years of my Christian life, I was …
Continue reading Thinking back … remembering God’s faithful servants … and giving thanks to God
"I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy" (Leviticus 11:45). Where does holiness come from? How are we to become holy? Before we read about God's holiness, we read about his love. God says, "I am holy" - but, first, he says, "I ... …
Continue reading The grace of God reaches us and changes us.
"Who knows, perhaps you (Esther) have come to the kingdom for such a time as this ... If I (Esther) perish, I perish" (Esther 4:14,16). When I read the words, "For such a time as this", I found myself thinking of the words of Galatians 4:4 - "When the time had fully come God sent …
Continue reading Beginning with Esther – and moving on to Jesus
Isaiah 44:24-46:13; Galatians 4:21-5:6; Psalm 108:6-13 “I am the Lord, and there is no other” – This truth is repeated several times over in this part of Isaiah (Isaiah 48:5-6,14,18,21-22; Isaiah 46:9). The contrast, in Isaiah, is between God and the gods. The contrast, in Galatians, is between Christ’s salvation and other ways of salvation (Galatians …
"Jesus' disciples saw him do many miraculous signs beside the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ , the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life" (John 20:30-31). There is such a close connection between the Scriptures …
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