A Life Worthy

The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

Frankly, I don’t know how those non-believer types do it.

I mean, to wake up every morning and move through the day, not knowing that you are forever, that you are loved by the Lord of Everything, that you are forgiven for being…you.

I’m telling you, I can’t make it three steps without throwing myself headlong onto the throne of grace.

We live by faith, Beloved.   And Faith is another word for Trust.  We trust that, whatever comes, we are safe because Christ loved us and gave himself for us.

Whatever comes

Even if it’s Wednesday

You are safe.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

I have been crucified with Christ… (Galatians 2:20).

But…I haven’t.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not second-guessing Paul here, and I’m certainly not questioning Scripture.  I get (sorta) the idea that Jesus went to the cross on my behalf, so that it is as though I were in fact crucified.  The Father looks at me and sees my record clean and my debt paid, because of Christ.

But 

I did not bear the scorn

or the lash

or the thorns

or the nails

or the shame

or the tomb.

Those were his, and his alone.

Though it should have happened to me, it happened for me.

I am left with so much that I don’t deserve

and

so little that I do.

And that, I suppose, is grace.

Happy Monday, Beloved.

If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker (Galatians 2:18)

I gotta admit, this verse puzzles me.  On the one hand, it seems clear enough.  If I offer to replace the broken window, it’s pretty compelling evidence that I broke it. If I fix the side mirror on your car, it kinda proves that I’m the one who sideswiped you.   If I say, “I’m sorry,” it shows that I did something wrong.

Anyway, the point is on the other hand. Christ does not fit this pattern.  He did not destroy.  He was not a lawbreaker.  In fact, he rebuilt that which he did not destroy.  He rebuilt what I destroyed.  

He rebuilt what I destroyed.

So, I’m not exactly sure what Paul is getting at.  He seems to place this verse here as proof for his previous statement, that Christ does not promote sin, but I’m having trouble seeing the connection.  I’m left with the thought that my pathetic attempts to fix my relationship with God under my own strength are simply more proof that Pride is still very much at work in me.

But seriously…what do I know?  If you’ve got a better handle on this verse, please oh please chime in.

Happy Thursday, Beloved.

We who are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners” know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:15-16).

The Jews, of all people, should have known better.

For hundreds of years, the Jews had gone the “Earn your way to Heaven” route.  The pattern they had grown up with–sin, feel guilty, sacrifice, feel better, work hard, fail, sin–it didn’t work, and the Jews who had come to Christ knew it didn’t work.  If it had, they wouldn’t have needed Christ.  And yet here they were, trying to stuff the endless grace of the Father into a musty sack of old traditions.

Why would they do that?

I dunno, Beloved.  Why do we?

Happy Tuesday, Beloved.

Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10).

I like to be liked.

Is that so very bad?  

I had a friend once upon a time who seemed to delight in being obnoxious for Christ.

Seriously

He approached every nonbeliever as an enemy combatant.  When he witnessed, it was less like teaching than taunting:

Do you follow Jesus?

No?  Why not?

Don’t you realize that if you die without Christ, you’re going to hell?

What do you mean, you’ll think about it?  You could die tonight!

As I write this, I can hear the edge in his voice.  Still makes me twitch.

Beloved, you are an ambassador, and ambassadors tend to accomplish more if people like them.  So, yeah, it’s good to be liked.

But

Being liked is not your goal.  It’s more of a byproduct of being a Godly person.  If at any point along the journey you have to pick between pleasing people and pleasing God, (and you will), well…

Exactly

Be winsome, Beloved, but not wimpy.  Stand firm for him.

Happy Friday.