In this section (Galations 3:15-29), Paul highlights how the promise given to Abraham is not superseded by the giving of the Law to Moses. Instead, the inheritance promised to Abraham supersedes the Law in the sense that, while the Law cannot give us life, the promise by faith in Christ does give life to all who believe. No-one can achieve righteousness through the Law, rather the Law helps to expose our sin and to bring us to see our total moral failure so that we no longer trust ourselves but Christ as our only hope for righteousness. This is appalling […]

Last week we heard that it is those of faith who are sons of Abraham, and these are blessed and justified along with Abraham by faith. This week we hear Paul present the ‘other side’ of the coin – if it is by faith we are blessed, to rely on works of the law only serves to place us under a curse. In fact, Paul tells us no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘the righteous shall live by faith.’ Addressing the Galatians, Paul is still responding to his earlier question – a question still relevant for […]

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This week in Galatians 2:11-21 we hear of a time when Paul confronted Peter for being ‘out of step with the truth of the gospel’. What may have seemed to be a simple case of changing one’s behaviour to suit different company, was in fact a matter of utmost significance. Paul saw Peter’s conduct for what it was – a distortion of the gospel of grace and a return to the law for justification. There was no way Paul could just stand by and watch Peter contradict the gospel and lead others astray. All of us long to be accepted […]

Thank God for choosing a rugged man like Paul who would not move for a moment away from the gospel that he had been commissioned by God to proclaim. Meeting the other apostles after years of independent ministry only confirmed that his gospel was no different than theirs – they were on the same page but simply entrusted with different spheres of ministry. There is only one apostolic gospel for the whole world. To be sure of this will keep us free from being intimidated by the many alternative gospels that seek to avoid our total need for a total […]

This week in Galatians 1:11-24 we hear how Paul’s apostleship and the gospel he proclaims are not some man-made fairytale or fiction, but come from God himself. They therefore carry all the weight and authority of the Lord. To reject this gospel of grace from God, or to distort it in any way, is not simply a matter of choice, it is a matter of life and death. This is not one way among many, but the only way to life and true freedom. The glorious good news of this gospel of Christ, is that it is the power of […]

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” How would life be if all we did began with the grace and peace of God? How would life be if forgiveness flowed freely in all our relationships? What freedom we would have! And what trouble we would avoid! Such freedom and grace are ours to be enjoyed through faith in the gospel of Christ. As we commence this series through Galatians entitled ‘True Gospel : True Freedom’, we hear of Paul’s astonishment and anguish towards the Galatians who knew this grace and enjoyed this freedom, […]

It’s easy to be happy with short term success but it’s the big picture that counts. When Daniel is shown the content and meaning of his king’s dream, he is deeply thankful, but not just because he can now save his own neck. The dream assures him that God will bring Babylon to and end, and all other players on the world scene too. God’s kingdom, the one promised to David, will fill the earth. All other kingdoms are going to crumble when Christ appears. This puts them in proper perspective. Clearly, serving Christ as King is what will last. […]

Jesus announced that all authority was given to him, in heaven and earth. How does this translate into daily experience when the world around seems to pull all the strings and take all the credit for our way of life? Has Christianity been upstaged? Shall we mount a campaign against our culture? Rather, Daniel shows that God still reigns when an alien power is in control. He believes, and lives to see God exercising his power. He also shows us how to respond to Christ’s reign of grace and not merely react to our culture.

This week, in the last message of our ‘Abide In Me’ series we will hear of the great goal of all creation and the culmination of all history – when ‘the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people.’ ‘Heaven’ has little to do with clouds and harps and angels, and much more to do with the dwelling place of God and his people. And it is not merely ‘heaven’ which is our hope and goal, but the new heaven and the new earth, where we will abide with Christ […]