“Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” Galatians 3:3
Does this sound like a silly question? Well, It Is! Yet, it hits a remarkably familiar chord in the hearts of Christians who really desire that intimate walk with the Lord, and it can be confusing at times. Many times, we feel we have to live up to certain standards of expectations imposed by other Christians, or even our own perceptions of what we think Christianity is all about.
Paul’s question above was to address the fact that the churches in Galatia began adopting certain teachings of the Judaizers who told them that Jesus was only part of the package, that in order to really be saved you had to accept Jesus as Messiah and also keep the law, the feasts and traditions of the elders. In other words, salvation was back on their shoulders and requirements were still in force if they really wanted to go to heaven.
I’ll spare you the doctrinal matters by stating the obvious. If you’re born again, you are already pleasing to God! You have already been accepted by God because of what Jesus did for you. He paid for your sins IN FULL! There is nothing more we can do to enhance His work!
On the other hand, if you’re not born again, you don’t want to please God and you could care less about God and religious laws and requirements. Having begun in the Spirit, let’s stay there, and leave the law for religious people who want to make believe they’re superior to the rest of us!
Paul asked, “Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”
The reason we do good things as Christians is not so we can be more acceptable to God. We do good things now because WE HAVE ALREADY BEEN ACCEPTED by God and empowered by Him to let our light so shine before men so they’ll see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven!
Let’s walk in the liberty of the New Testament, in the Grace and Truth that liberates us! That’s where the joy is! You’ll fall in love with Him all over again!
With Love,
Pastor Tom