Stay On Mission – 30th September 2018

4. Don’t be foolish!
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:19-21
It is clear that Paul is passionate about what he is writing in this letter. He is so passionate because he knows that the message and mission of Jesus are at stake. If the church ‘sets aside the grace of God’ and returns to the law then there will be no message to share with the world.
His passion leads him to make an incredibly direct accusation just a few verses after those included above:
‘You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or be believing what you heard? Galatians 3:1-2
Paul accuses the believers in Galatia of being foolish. The definition of a fool is somebody who knows what they should do but then doesn’t do it. Have you ever found yourself speaking with a family member or close friend who has done something that they know is wrong yet they did it anyway? Did you find yourself wanting to scream something like “What were you thinking?”
If we could hear Paul saying these words aloud I am sure that is how they would be expressed: “YOU FOOLISH GALATIANS!”
They were foolish because they knew what they should be doing – ‘living by the Spirit’ but they were now doing something different ‘trusting their works of the law for salvation’. This ‘foolishness’ was resulting in the transforming power and life of Jesus that was available to them being replaced by them conforming to a host of rituals and human regulations that Jesus came to set them free from.
It is not conforming to rules and regulations that will help us to become like Jesus, is it the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. He is available to us because of two acts of crucifixion that Paul refers to:
‘Before your very eyes Jesus was clearly portrayed as crucified’.
‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me’.
Jesus was crucified for us and if we are to know His presence and power in our lives we must die to self (die to our selfish and earthly desires) and allow His life in us to be the power that enables us to become like Him and be used by Him.
So, let me ask you a question with the same passion that Paul expressed in his accusation against the church in Galatia: ‘Are you being foolish?’
Are you continually dying to self or have you settled at a place where you are now just trying not to do anything wrong and hope that your good works will get you heaven?