Tag: Galatians

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Bible Study Freedom

Freedom: To Speak with Love

In Sunday School last week, the question came up of how to correct or confront someone in the wrong. I was reminded of this verse later on in Galatians.

Galatians 6:1 New International Version (NIV)

6 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.

this could be a friend, a church member, a child, or a family member. Everyone has sinned. There is one way we can help other people to get right. The Bible instructs us to speak in love.

Christians will often think we are right and what we have to say is truthful, we are more than ready to give others a piece of our mind. I mean, how can they stand against the truth? But you’ve probably also learned that just speaking your mind does not encourage others to change, especially if it is spoken in a tone of defensiveness, harshness, and just downright meanness.

How do you successfully correct another by speaking in love? Paul set a great example in Galatians 2:11-21. Paul tells of a time hen he confronted the apostle Peter. Who was one of the most prominent and respected leaders in the Jerusalem Church, Paul confronting him is shows his allegiance to the gospel of Jesus Christ over trying to make people happy.

While Peter was in a city called Antioch he freely ate and fellow-shipped with non-Jewish Christians. However, once some Jewish Christians joined Peter in Antioch, Peter started to distance himself from the non-Jewish Christians, the Gentiles. He was afraid of what his Jewish-Christian counterparts would think of him associating with others outside of his culture. Why was this wrong? Because Peter was falling away from the truth of the gospel that grants fellowship to all those who place their faith in Christ. Peter was wrong, and Paul was not afraid to confront him on the matter. But it’s how Paul confronts Peter that we can learn a great deal from.

Paul shows Peter the errors in his actions by reminding Peter that both Jew and Gentile are saved by grace through faith. This point was the core fact that Paul wanted to get across to Peter. By falling into the thought that one needed to follow Jewish custom and culture to be saved, Peter was forfeiting the grace of Christ.

Paul was not saying, “na na na na na, I’m right and your wrong.” Which is what we want to do so m any times. He was trying to get Peter back in line with the truth of the gospel. The truth Paul was saying is the gospel of Jesus Christ, that we don’t need to earn our salvation. The love is allowing that truth to be your motive. We need to want to see our sisters not give up sin in their lives and remember the grace of God.

Paul tells us some of what he said to Peter. It reads:

Galatians 2:19-21 New International Version (NIV)

19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 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. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

Paul reminds Peter of Christ and his Gospel. This should be on our hearts whenever we are in a situation where we are correcting someone about sin. Remember, they have sin and you have sin. Don’t forget the grace of God and don’t forget to love one other.

So whenever we see a sister doing this, like Paul saw Peter, we correct them, not by pointing out their weakness, but by exalting the power of Christ. It’s not just reminding them of the wrong they are now doing, but reminding them of who they are in Christ and all their potential in Him.

So instead of saying, “You are so lazy and complacent, and you will not amount to anything because you just keep making the same mistakes over and over again without learning from them,” we say, “God has given you some awesome gifts, I would love to help you serve God with them. You are free to choose better use of your time. Call me if you need help.”

Instead of saying, “You keep complaining about everything in the church, yet you keep doing the same things over and over, it will never change,” we say, “God loves you so much, He has blessed you with a mind for awesome ideas, You do not need to compromise your ideas, share them with others. God can work miracles if you are willing to trust him.”

Now I know sometimes we just want to have a “Come to Jesus” meeting, but pointing out someone’s weakness is never going to change them. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. It’s not about them agreeing with us; it’s about them agreeing with God. And I’m not saying you just throw a whole bunch of Bible verses at them. Your heart needs to be pure in the matter because people can tell if you just want to be right or if you really want to help them.

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Bible Study Freedom

Freedom: Comparison Leads to Discontent

We are still in Galatians and have started chapter two. Being free from comparison and jealousy is not only a wonderful benefit for a christian, but it is also key in living free. Comparisons are some of the nastiest arrows Satan can throw at us. When we start comparing ourselves to others, our church to other churches or our ministry to other ministries, it only creates seeds of discontentment.

Ponder your specific call on your life. This is unique to you. Others may be similar, but none is exactly like yours. When you start looking at everyone else and comparing yourself to them, you see the differences as faults. God gave you a job if you are watching everyone else, who is focusing on your job.

In Galatians chapter two, Paul continues to defend the gospel to the Galatians. Paul also defends his call to preach that gospel. Paul is reassuring the Galatians that the gospel he shared with them is true, and that this new gospel they have been presented by others is false.

Galatians 2:6-9 which says:

Galatians 2:6-9 New International Version (NIV)

6 As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. 7 On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. 8 For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. 9 James, Cephas[c and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.

Paul stats that the gospel he is preaching is the same gospel preached by those who were apostles before him. He’s letting them know he didn’t just make this up. The only difference between Paul and the apostles in Jerusalem is who they are sharing the gospel with. Peter was called to share the gospel to his fellow Jewish people while Paul was called to share the gospel with Gentiles, those who were not Jews. What I love about this is that they were OK with that. Neither Paul nor Peter tried to tell the other how to answer God’s call to preach. Paul could have easily thought, “Well, I’m Jewish so I should preach to the Jews like Peter is,” but he didn’t because he understood that although their calls were similar, there were still differences in how they were to accomplish their purposes.

Our struggle with comparison doesn’t only lie in what we are called to do, but also how we are called to do it. The temptation arises to look at someone doing what we want to do and think we are supposed to get there the same way they did. But what this thinking does is prevent us from freely walking in our calling the specific way God has called us.

It is okay to look at what others have done for ideas or suggestions. But what God has called you to do is for you. You have your own path. Don’t think that their yellow brick road is the route for you just because it worked for them. There is a certain peace and satisfaction that comes from doing what God specifically called you to do, and you can’t do that if you’re doing what someone else has been called to do.

So how can we practically stop comparing ourselves to others? Here are three ways:

  1. Seek God. He is the One who has prepared the purpose for your life. To complete your purpose in life you need to seek Him.
  2. Resist Comparison. Fight the temptation to constantly look at others and what they are doing, especially the thought that if they are doing it different then you are doing it wrong. No ma’am.
  3. Keep going. Once you are clear on what you are to do, keep putting one foot in front of the other, and keep doing it over and over again.
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Bible Study Freedom

Freedom: From your Past

Welcome to our Bible study series on the book of Galatians to discover how the gospel of Jesus grants us freedom. Today we will see how we can experience freedom from our past. Freedom from past hurts, mistakes, and guilt. Recently, I wrote a Bible study that is all about just that called “Battle Scars to Beauty Marks.”

I want to ask you a quick question. Have you ever sinned? Well of course you have. We all have sinned. It says so right there in the Bible.

Romans 3:23 New International Version (NIV)

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Satan’s favorite way to attack Christians is to remind them that they have a past. A wretched, sin-filled, fleshy part of themselves. Don’t give in to the lies that Satan tells you, that righteous looking looking lady at church that seems to have it all together, she has a past too.

You have one argument and its over. That is who I was, but God has forgiven me. Who I was does not make me who I am. God defines me. (drop the mic)

Paul’s past was pretty sinful. He did some pretty awful things to Christians before he met Jesus. When he is attacked by things from his past, he meets them head on and shows us how we can do the same. His response shows us how we can live free from our pasts, no matter how dark they may be, and freely move forward towards everything God has for us.

Galatians 1:13-24 New International Version (NIV)

13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.

21 Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they praised God because of me.

Paul who was one of the most amazing missionaries and had a pretty nasty reputation to overcome. Before he accepted Christ into his life, he was a Jewish leader didn’t believe in Jesus Christ and didn’t hesitate to hunt down and punish Christians. On the road to hunt down and kill Christians everything changed. Jesus appeared before him and showing Himself to Paul. That was it Saul was change to Paul, and a new life in Christ began. Paul turned his life around just like we did when we where saved. And just like us there were people being used by Satan to bring up the past and discredit us.

Think about it. This way could God really use someone like Paul? Can God really use someone with a past like mine or yours?

Paul talks about his past but he doesn’t dwell on it. Look at Verse 15 “But when God.” That is it. Period. Full Stop. “But When God.” His past was dark, sinful, and awful, but it didn’t end there. Verse 15 is the point when God stepped in his life and turned his past completely around. Your past does not have the chance to destroy your life when you have a verse 15 that says, “But when God.” Because if Paul was not disqualified because of his past, then neither were the Galatians, and so neither are we. But in verse 15 we see the gospel. We see that because of the saving work of Jesus Christ, our past cannot hold us slaves to the past.

Do you remember your But When God Moment?

Paul addresses his past to the Galatians. He does not try to sugar coat what happened or act like it didn’t happen at all, and we can’t either. We can’t get to verse 15 if we don’t realize the need for it in verses 13 and 14.

If you pretend your past did not happen, if you walk around acting like you’ve always been saved, if you deny what’s been done to you or by you, you are cheapening God’s grace. You are watering down God stepping in and turning that thing around or turning you around. But God will allow your past to become the testimony that propels you to a better future.

Some of us need to honestly face our pasts. We need to cry about it. We need to allow ourselves to process the pain and hurt, to open ourselves up to God’s freedom and healing. If we don’t come to terms with our pasts, we can never really come to terms with our future. If we want the truth to set us free, we have to be honest with ourselves about the good and the bad.

Paul knew his past was dark, but he also knew that God was greater than his past. We usually get this wrong on either two extremes. On one side, we act like we’re perfect, and we just ignore our past like it doesn’t affect us at all. On the other side, we admit that we have this dark past, but forget God has and can redeem us from it; we then become overwhelmed with condemnation and shame. But we need to come to terms with both our past and God’s mercy and grace that is greater. We will never be free from a past that we do not believe God can redeem. 

Many were saved because Paul was freed from his past. Do you understand that Christ wants you free so He can use you to free others? As women of God, we must face our past, face our fear, face our insecurities so they do not enslave us, and even more so we are empowered to set others free. But we will never find freedom from our past if we act like it never happened. Hear me when I say this, sister: God wants you free more than you do. So maybe tonight you need to go to your prayer corner, or closet, or car, and tell God how you really feel. Ask Him the hard questions and say the hard things. He can take it. And then allow God to cover you in His truth, because the truth will set you free. And the truth is that you are not your past; you are God’s daughter.

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Bible Study Freedom

Freedom: You are not Who Others say You are.

I will tell you up front, that I am strange, weird, geeky and nerdy. I am perfectly fine with that now. I say now because for many years my self-worth and esteem was tied to the fact that I didn’t fit in. Other peoples opinions of me were big parts of my decision-making process. Today we are going to discuss finding freedom from the opinions of others. We want to say it doesn’t matter, but be honest. We do care. That’s okay we are human. God wants us to connect with other people, so we do care what others think of us. However, the problem occurs when the opinion of others becomes more valuable to us than the opinion of God. It’s then that we give up the freedom of knowing we are secure in God. We become slaves to the opinions of others.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul addresses this same concern. In the last study, Freedom: This is my Life?, we learned that false leaders came to the Christians in Galatia and started sharing lies. Instead of preaching salvation by grace through faith, they were convincing the Galatians that this was not enough to be saved, and that the Galatians would also need to take on their Jewish customs.

Why would the Galatians believe these teachings? For one, these false leaders not only attacked the gospel Paul preached, they also attacked Paul himself. By discrediting Paul and his authority to preach the gospel. They successfully convinced the Galatians to turn from the true gospel.

They brought up Paul’s sinful past. Don’t you hate when people do that? So in the first part of Galatians chapter one, Paul defends the gospel. He reiterates the true gospel that he left them with that says they are saved by grace through faith. But in verses 11-24 Paul starts to defend himself.

You may think Paul is boasting here. Look closely, Paul is boasting of Christ not himself. In Galatians 1:10-13 he says:

Galatians 1:10-13 New International Version (NIV)

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

11 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.

13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.

Look at what he says again: “If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” We are either servants of Christ or slaves to the opinions of others. The gospel message he received was not from man, but from Jesus Christ Himself. Paul did not hear a sermon, nor did he receive a gospel track. He got this message straight from God, not man. And because Paul is more concerned with the opinion of God than the opinion of man, he is not fazed by the false teaches trying to ruin his reputation.

Who are you trying to please?

If you’re at work and you’re bitter that your boss doesn’t give you enough credit or pat you on the back enough, who are you trying to please? If you feel you need to constantly defend yourself to other people, who are you trying to please? If you get discouraged because you don’t have as many social media likes, or comments or hearts as someone else, who are you trying to please? There is a difference between serving others because that’s what God called you to do, and working for their approval. Which one are you doing? Your answer to that question is the difference between living free in Christ and living as a slave to the opinions of others.

The opinion of these false teachers did not get Paul off focus. We cannot forget that our purpose and value come from God, not what others think of us. Paul did not need to answer these false teachers when he was called by God. In the same way, we do not need to worry about the opinion of others when it concerns doing what God has called us to do.

This is not saying do what you want and forget about everyone else. Do what God tells you and the people that are trying to tear you down, don’t have an leg to stand on. You are doing, what God has told you to do. I do believe God places those things in our lives to help guide us in our purpose. But when we start listening to others and valuing their option over God’s, that is when we become slaves to the opinions of others.We desperately need this lesson in our lives now more than ever. We live in such a time of comparison and people pleasing, so much so that we have made the thoughts of others an idol. The purpose God has called you to might be challenged like Paul’s, but when you know Who calls you, you have the freedom to boldly and unapologetically be the woman that God is calling you to be.

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Bible Study Freedom Uncategorized

Freedom: This is My Life?

A few months ago, I had cleaned the house, done all the laundry and worked hard all day. My son Jack came home from school, Daniel came home from work, and we ate supper and had a normal evening. I woke up at 3 am unable to sleep. I got up wandered through the house and saw a pile or laundry, dishes to be cleaned and messes all over the house. I was so beat that I went out onto the porch with our dog, Harley. I stood outside and just said, “Really God! This is my life?” This was so not the place I expected to be at 43. As I sat there just wallowing in my own self-pity and felling stuck in my life. God said, “Yes it is, I am getting you ready so prepare yourself.” Have you ever felt trapped or stuck in life? Have you ever felt held back and restrained from experiencing the freedom in Christ we read about in the Bible?

If you felt like I did there is something you need to know; the freedom to love, and hope, and dream, and have joy, and peace, and satisfaction is not a fairy tale. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the key our true freedom. This does not mean that you can go out and act like you don’t have good sense and expect no precautions. That’s not freedom. That’s actually just being a slave to our desires and our wretched fleshy selves. The freedom that I want us to experience and grow in is the ability to enjoy God in the purposeful life that He has planned for us. While searching for this Freedom God lead me to Galatians.

Galatians 5:13-14

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The freedom we are all desperately chasing after is here and is already ours. Jesus has already done the works of setting us free. Now it’s up to us to align ourselves with His truth and boldly claim the freedom. The book of Galatians outlines why true freedom is found in Jesus Christ, and how we can experience that freedom today.

At the first of Galatians we learn that Paul is writing this book, and we learn the context and what things were happening that led Paul to write this letter.

After Paul says hello he quickly gets straight to business. Starting with verse 6 we read:

Galatians 1:6-7

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.

Has anyone ever called you or caught you out somewhere, and they kinda rushed through the hellos to get to something they needed to tell you about. I can see Paul doing this here. He’s, “Hey guys this is Paul, How are ya’ll doing? Are you crazy! Ya’ll are acting like you don’t have any sense.”

He was a little nicer than that, but you understand. Paul takes no time getting to the message he needs to get to the Galatians. This message is very important, not just for them, but for all of us.

So where did the Galatians go wrong? What needed to be corrected? We clearly read they “are turning to a different gospel.” This is serious matter worthy of Paul’s angry and passion. Paul preached to these people, and they believed and were saved. However, some other people came along preaching false religion. Paul preached that we are saved not by works, but by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We are saved by grace through faith.

These men had convinced the Galatians that in order to be saved they needed to follow Jewish customs and traditions, including being circumcised We know the Galatians were already accepted by God.

One of the biggest lies that keep us shackled down and restrained it is the thought that you must earn your salvation, that you have to earn God’s love, or that you have to be a cookie cutter christian instead of the woman God made you to be. This is why I was so upset with “My Life”. In my mind I should be living a life like everyone around me. But I’m not. That is not the Story God needs me to tell.

This is one of the major reasons why Paul starts this letter off with the declaration that he is called my God and not man. Because striving to meet the standard of men will enslave you to people pleasing, insecurity, pride, and more. But when we realize we are already accepted and called by God, we are not enslaved by these things. And we then realize we are already free in Christ.

Paul does not need to ascribe to any man-made tradition to be saved and called by God; neither do the Galatians, and neither do we. You do not have to be rich. You do not have to be perfect.

The sad thing is that there are a lot of people preaching this same false gospel today that the Galatians were tempted to believe, leading people to believe they must act a certain way or do certain things in order to really be saved. But this is no gospel at all. This is not the true gospel of Jesus Christ that offers salvation to all.

So the question I want to ask you today is this: have we forgotten the gospel? Have we forgotten that we are saved by grace through faith alone? Because if we have, we have forfeited the freedom Christ offers. But I refuse to believe that the daughters of God will live as slaves.