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Paul was called of God to minister to the Gentiles. In doing so he ran into problems with some Jewish Christians called Judaizers who felt that in order for a non-Jew to be saved they had to follow many of the Jewish ceremonial practices in addition to their faith in Jesus Christ.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul addressed this concern. His message to them is applicable to many Christians today who are under the belief that in order to be saved you have to accept Jesus Christ in addition to something else.
Paul addressed this issue, beginning in the 3rd Chapter, of his letter to the Galatians; "You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you.
Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing - if it really was for nothing? Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
Consider Abraham: "He believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you.". So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith."
All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." (Galatians 3:1-5)
When these Galatians accepted Jesus Christ by faith they received the Spirit of God by faith not because they observed part of the law. Quite the contrary. Abraham is called the "Father Of Faith" and as believers they are called his children. God said "All Nations" meaning all people, would be blessed like Abraham by their faith in Jesus Christ. He underlines this by saying that no one is justified before God by the law rather they are made righteous, by living in and for Jesus Christ, by faith and faith is ALWAYS active.
Joshua said yes to God, and He chose him to lead His people into the promised land.
David said yes
to God and became King of Israel.
Mary said yes
to God and gave Jesus Christ a human nature so He could atone for our
sins.
Search the Scriptures and you
will find many others who said yes to God and were blessed for it.
In order to say yes to God we must be obedient to His will so that He can work through us.
Jesus said to God the Father, "Not My will but Thine will be done." We must do the same.
Saying yes to God is the beginning of wisdom.
What we do for God
will count for eternity
with Him in Heaven.
I will be reading and commenting on one of Paul's letters to Timothy but before I begin, let us turn to God in Prayer:
"Our Heavenly Father we thank you so much for Your Word because it is in Your Word that we have the assurance of our Salvation. Bless this morning's message to that one who is earnestly seeking your Son Jesus Christ and it is in His name that I pray, amen."
Paul wrote two thirds of the New Testament Letters and two of those letters were written to his young pastor friend,Timothy. We have all heard stories coming from those two letters and one of them had to do with Timothy's health. I will not be reading that one this morning but I mention it only to bring up the fact that Timothy had all the appearances of having what we know today as "Pastor Burn Out" which is caused by the fickle members of the Church.
Let us look at 2nd Timothy Chapter 2 where Paul is giving Pastor Timothy some much needed advice. Paul is talking about what it is like to be a believer in Jesus Christ and the trials that Paul personally had to endure. In verses 11 through 16 he offers this advice;"Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him we will also live withHim, if we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us, if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself. Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words, it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly."
Paul is reminding Timothy that by virtue offer living "in Christ" (a favorite reference of Paul), we have died tossing and are now living a spiritual life. Some might say when a person is living in Christ that they are dead to the world but alive to God. Paul continues to give examples of how close our Lord will stay with us if we would just continue to live the Christ led life.
Paul tells Timothy how destructive it is to quarrel about words. People still do that in the Church today and Paul's assessment of it is still relevant. He said it is of NO VALUE to debate about words. With that said, did you ever hear of an argument where one person agreed that the other person 100 per cent? Of course you didn't and Paul's advice in presenting oneself as a worker who does not need to be ashamed means that instead of arguing about words that a person ought to put those words into action and become more productive.
Paul's
advice about "godless chatter" is still true for today. His point was
well taken. Those who gossip about everything under the sun may come to
a place where there is no turning back.