Daily Manna | Rejoice Fellowship | A mission to release people to rejoice in the world.

Message: We have been looking at almost the same short passage of Galatians for four days, but now we have the payoff: The fundamental contribution of Paul to Christian theology, which begins here in Galatians. Although it was the rallying cry of Martin Luther and the Reformation, it is accepted to a great degree by every Christian denomination: “Salvation by faith.” (There are differences in emphasis, however, especially between Protestant and Catholic/Orthodox believers.) We can now identify with reasonable assurance at least one major “false gospel” that Paul so vehemently cursed in Ch. 1 of Galatians: the teachings of a sect called the Judaizers, who believed that all Christians had to become Jews. This involved both physical circumcision (for men) and obedience to the Law of Moses (for all). If we find this strange, we must remember two things about the early church. First, as far as we know, it did not have a written Gospel. The Gospel of Mark, the first one written, was almost surely finished many years after this epistle, and even then, it would be a long and labor-intensive process to have it copied and delivered to the various churches. To the early Christians, “Scripture” was mostly the Jewish Scripture, our Old Testament, together with whatever epistles and scraps of Gospels they could get. (Evidence suggests that there were several early drafts that were later incorporated into our four Gospels.) Jesus and Angel in the Garden of Olives Secondly, Jesus was himself a practicing Jew. He was circumcised and celebrated the festivals, as far as we know, according to the Law. Moreover, since the Law of Moses was (and in some ways continues to be) the actual Law of God, we might infer that Jesus followed it perfectly, and was the only human being ever to do so. (Note that His difficulties with the Pharisees was with their interpretation of the Law, not with the Law per se.) Saying He was justified before God by the Law, however, would be going too far. As the Son of God, He needed no justification; He was guilty in the eyes of men, but innocent in the eyes of the Father, simply by virtue of the identity of His person. Plus, He was free of sin. One of Jesus' most prominent human characteristics was His absolute faith. In fact, the faith of Jesus is arguably a key to our salvation. We have discussed the ambiguity of the concept “faith in Christ” (the pistis Xristou problem) previously, and sooner or later we will have to devote a day to it. But for now, realize that “faith in Christ” might more accurately refer to the faith “of” Christ. All of the Gospels, and especially John, emphasize the importance of His faith by their descriptions of the time spent in Gethsemane preceding the crucifixion. The initial and pre-eminent requirement for salvation is faith. Faith occurs in our spirit. It is a relationship with God of total trust and a desire for obedience. We can be good people, apparently perfect in our conduct, devoting our lives to others in utter humility and total love; but God will still see us as sinners, unless we have faith: 1) faith in Christ, 2) faith like that of Christ, and 3) the faith of Christ Himself which, like His sacrifice and resurrection, has already been given to us.