Monday, August 23, 2010
Freedom is not free
Every where you look in our country there are monuments to freedom. Those monuments are usually markers indicating the location of great battles or of great struggles. I grew up in Chattanooga, a place littered with such markers. They are reminders to us that freedom is not free. Often freedom has been born out of great struggle. That’s the thought I have as I dive into the text of Galatians again this week for our series “Finding Freedom in Christ.” Read chapter two of Galatians this week and consider the struggle that Paul faced as he preached the message of freedom in Christ to people who had lived in bondage to the Law. It wasn’t easy. He faced criticism. He faced hypocrisy. He faced attacks… not from outsiders, but from friends and from those within the church. Yet he never wavered. He never stopped preaching his message… the message of freedom in Christ that God had laid upon him to preach. What about us? What will we do with the message?
Monday, August 16, 2010
"Don't Shoot the Messenger!"
That’s what I feel like saying every time I preach from Galatians. We are in week three of our study through this great letter of Paul’s and what a challenge it has been! Written two thousand years ago, it is so fresh and relevant today. Galatians exposes our legalistic tendencies… wanting to make laws where Jesus has not… wanting to earn merit where we have no merit to earn… wanting to achieve salvation… where it is only ours to receive. Even all these years later we find ourselves wrestling with the same struggles that the Galatian Christians did. I hope that our time in this great book has been both challenging and rewarding for you. This week we are going to look to 1:11-24 as Paul reminds us a bit of his story. It’s a story of a former legalist who has also been set free by the gospel of grace and a story in which many of us can relate.
Why is Galatians such a challenging book to preach from? Why is this message of freedom looked upon with skepticism and concern? I can’t tell you how many encouraging comments I’ve received these last two weeks from people who tell me that speaking on this subject is “brave” or “gutsy”! Why is that? Why do we seem afraid of this message of freedom? I think it is because we are genuinely concerned that we might swing to the other end of the pendulum and take the gospel of grace for granted. That was certainly going on in places other than Galatia in the first century. The audience that Jude writes to has been dealing with this opposite concern. There were those who had come in to the churches and were teaching a false “grace” in such a way that it led to licentiousness… and a permissive attitude toward sin. That is not at all what Paul was advocating in Galatians and we would do well to remember this. We cannot, in Paul’s own words, “go on sinning that grace may abound.” (cf. Romans 6) No, if we truly understand the grace of God… if we truly understand the incredible COST of that grace (to God, not us) we would truly appreciate it and certainly would never take it for granted! That would be to cheapen it in a way that would be unthinkable! We would never see God as weak or tolerant of our sin and it would break our hearts to know that we had abused the most precious gift we could receive… his forgiving grace that cost him his Son.
So, as we read through this great book again (let me remind you of your homework to read Galatians this week!!!) … let us remember that while God’s grace is offered freely to us… it is offered at a great personal sacrifice and cost to God. And let us live in such a way as to make that sacrifice worth it for God! Just some more thoughts on Galatians… Please join the discussion on my blog at http://jamescblack.wordpress.com this week by commenting for yourself.
Have a blessed week,
-Jim
Why is Galatians such a challenging book to preach from? Why is this message of freedom looked upon with skepticism and concern? I can’t tell you how many encouraging comments I’ve received these last two weeks from people who tell me that speaking on this subject is “brave” or “gutsy”! Why is that? Why do we seem afraid of this message of freedom? I think it is because we are genuinely concerned that we might swing to the other end of the pendulum and take the gospel of grace for granted. That was certainly going on in places other than Galatia in the first century. The audience that Jude writes to has been dealing with this opposite concern. There were those who had come in to the churches and were teaching a false “grace” in such a way that it led to licentiousness… and a permissive attitude toward sin. That is not at all what Paul was advocating in Galatians and we would do well to remember this. We cannot, in Paul’s own words, “go on sinning that grace may abound.” (cf. Romans 6) No, if we truly understand the grace of God… if we truly understand the incredible COST of that grace (to God, not us) we would truly appreciate it and certainly would never take it for granted! That would be to cheapen it in a way that would be unthinkable! We would never see God as weak or tolerant of our sin and it would break our hearts to know that we had abused the most precious gift we could receive… his forgiving grace that cost him his Son.
So, as we read through this great book again (let me remind you of your homework to read Galatians this week!!!) … let us remember that while God’s grace is offered freely to us… it is offered at a great personal sacrifice and cost to God. And let us live in such a way as to make that sacrifice worth it for God! Just some more thoughts on Galatians… Please join the discussion on my blog at http://jamescblack.wordpress.com this week by commenting for yourself.
Have a blessed week,
-Jim
Thursday, August 12, 2010
What is the "Gospel"?
I'm working through Galatians chapter 1 for my sermon on Sunday... and I've hit a wall already. Paul starts out this letter differently than most. There's no opening. No flowery greeting. No pleasantries to exchange. Paul is mad and that is evident right out of the chute! In verse 6 he says that he is surprised (i.e. astonished, perplexed, aghast) that the Galatian Christians were so quickly abandoning God, deserting the gospel and turning to another gospel, which is really no gospel at all. I get the fact that he is mad. I get the fact that these Christians weren't living up to his expectations for them. I even get the fact that they had turned to a legalistic substitute for spirituality instead of sticking with the new-found freedom that they had been given in Christ. But my question is, if they are guilty of "deserting the gospel"... what does Paul mean?
They aren't "backsliding" as was mentioned in a comment to my previous post. It wasn't as if they had started to drop off in church attendance. In fact, my guess is that they were there every time the doors were open! There's no hint of the sexual immorality that was permitted in the church in Corinth... or in the division or the idolatry that pervaded THAT church. No, there's no hint of those things in Galatia. So, what were they doing that constituted a "desertion of the gospel" and to deserve such a harsh rebuke by Paul? In other words, what does it mean to "desert the gospel"?
To answer that question... we must first ask, "What is the gospel?" And that's what I want to ask you. Thoughts?
They aren't "backsliding" as was mentioned in a comment to my previous post. It wasn't as if they had started to drop off in church attendance. In fact, my guess is that they were there every time the doors were open! There's no hint of the sexual immorality that was permitted in the church in Corinth... or in the division or the idolatry that pervaded THAT church. No, there's no hint of those things in Galatia. So, what were they doing that constituted a "desertion of the gospel" and to deserve such a harsh rebuke by Paul? In other words, what does it mean to "desert the gospel"?
To answer that question... we must first ask, "What is the gospel?" And that's what I want to ask you. Thoughts?
Monday, August 9, 2010
Some Preliminary thoughts on reading through Galatians...
On Sunday I began a new series of lessons entitled “Finding Freedom in Christ” from Paul’s letter to the Galatians. What a challenging series this promises to be! As I am reading it afresh, I continue to be challenged by its message. God has set us free in Christ. He has rescued usfrom bondage to “this present evil age” and calls us to live as free citizens, not as slaves to our
past. I hope everyone will read the Galatian letter again this week and come to worship on Sunday prepared to really dig in to that wonderful message! I mentioned last week that the reading of this book is liable to shake things up for us. It is liable to challenge our beliefs, our traditions and the way in which we practice our faith. I am wondering, where will it challenge you?
The Galatian Christians were being tempted to return to the law, the rituals and practices, the customs and traditions that characterized Old Testament Judaism. Paul writes to remind them that Christ has set them free from all of that. His coming has fulfilled that law, and that they are set free from those things. While there might be much good in “tradition”, it is not to be imposed as “gospel truth” on new converts, Gentiles who are coming to Christ. While I don’t suppose there are many of us today being tempted to go back to the Old Testament system of things, I wonder if we still aren’t tempted to bind “customs” and “traditions” of men on folks in this day
and age? Are there traditions and customs which we practice (and which may be great and good) but aren’t “gospel truth”? Do we do this unintentionally or implicitly in the way we speak or in the way we do church today? This is where the letter of Galatians is so relevant to today! It reminds us that Christ is sufficient for our salvation! We need nothing else.
“If the Son has set us free, then we are free indeed!” (Jn 8:36) There is nothing else!
I hope you’ll join us on this exciting journey through Galatians together!
past. I hope everyone will read the Galatian letter again this week and come to worship on Sunday prepared to really dig in to that wonderful message! I mentioned last week that the reading of this book is liable to shake things up for us. It is liable to challenge our beliefs, our traditions and the way in which we practice our faith. I am wondering, where will it challenge you?
The Galatian Christians were being tempted to return to the law, the rituals and practices, the customs and traditions that characterized Old Testament Judaism. Paul writes to remind them that Christ has set them free from all of that. His coming has fulfilled that law, and that they are set free from those things. While there might be much good in “tradition”, it is not to be imposed as “gospel truth” on new converts, Gentiles who are coming to Christ. While I don’t suppose there are many of us today being tempted to go back to the Old Testament system of things, I wonder if we still aren’t tempted to bind “customs” and “traditions” of men on folks in this day
and age? Are there traditions and customs which we practice (and which may be great and good) but aren’t “gospel truth”? Do we do this unintentionally or implicitly in the way we speak or in the way we do church today? This is where the letter of Galatians is so relevant to today! It reminds us that Christ is sufficient for our salvation! We need nothing else.
“If the Son has set us free, then we are free indeed!” (Jn 8:36) There is nothing else!
I hope you’ll join us on this exciting journey through Galatians together!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Join the Journey... Read thru the New Testament
The Bible is the best-selling book of all time, but when was the last time you sat down to read it straight through? Have you ever read the Bible from cover to cover? What about just the New Testament? This year, the RCA community is endeavoring to read through the entire New Testament from Matthew to Revelation together... won't you join us?
Go to our new blog, http://thentchallenge.blogspot.com and you'll find resources to help us do this together, keeping ourselves accountable and making the journey through Scripture come alive, as we seek not only to read God's Word, but to live it every day. We want to encourage each other and your thoughts may help somebody else understand something a little bit better. We invite you to post your thoughts and comments as we read together. Go to the link "Reading Plan" to download a copy of our schedule. We'll be reading about 3-4 chapters a day... Monday - Friday with breaks during the weekends and week-long holidays (Fall Break & Thanksgiving Break)... you can use those to catch up if you get behind!
We also invite you to subscribe to the blog so that you'll recieve e-mail notifications as new articles are posted. As we go, book introductions will be posted, providing some background information on each of the 27 books of our New Testament. Also, you'll find study guide questions which our Middle & High School students will be discussing in their Bible classes at Riverside. These will also include "journaling thoughts" questions which are intended to help our students apply God's truths to their real world situations.
In addition to our Middle & High School students, we are inviting the entire faculty, staff, Board of Directors and RCA families to join us in this challenge. Won't you read along with us?
Go to our new blog, http://thentchallenge.blogspot.com and you'll find resources to help us do this together, keeping ourselves accountable and making the journey through Scripture come alive, as we seek not only to read God's Word, but to live it every day. We want to encourage each other and your thoughts may help somebody else understand something a little bit better. We invite you to post your thoughts and comments as we read together. Go to the link "Reading Plan" to download a copy of our schedule. We'll be reading about 3-4 chapters a day... Monday - Friday with breaks during the weekends and week-long holidays (Fall Break & Thanksgiving Break)... you can use those to catch up if you get behind!
We also invite you to subscribe to the blog so that you'll recieve e-mail notifications as new articles are posted. As we go, book introductions will be posted, providing some background information on each of the 27 books of our New Testament. Also, you'll find study guide questions which our Middle & High School students will be discussing in their Bible classes at Riverside. These will also include "journaling thoughts" questions which are intended to help our students apply God's truths to their real world situations.
In addition to our Middle & High School students, we are inviting the entire faculty, staff, Board of Directors and RCA families to join us in this challenge. Won't you read along with us?
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