Ahoy and welcome to August and another week here at the contrary disciple. Thank you for the feedback this past week and please keep it rolling so we can continue to refine this tool.
Today we continue in our study of Paul's Letters with Galatians Chapter 3. Paul comes out of the gates swinging with this one calling the people, 'crazy galatians' (which holds potential as a band name). Continuing with the theme explored last week, Paul is determined for the people to grasp that their actions are not what have / will save them but God's grace. We will plot a course along Paul's logic train as he tackles the issue of salvation from several angles to underline his central point: As 'good' as we may be, we will always come up short of perfect, and that works only because Christ closes that gap for us.
“Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it?”
How responsible are we for our own 'spiritual growth'? I'll tell you that my answer has been that it is almost fully on me. That I am not doing better because I am not working hard enough. But the point Paul is making and that I still struggle with today is that it isn't us. It's all God. This is something I can conceptualize but wrestle with fully accepting. I can only begin to grasp it when I finally look at it as an enormous gift, and one that I can never earn. Like someone giving me a heart transplant. I can try to live a good life but I can never repay that person.
Because what can I give God? I can praise and love him, and I can try to live to grow more like His Son. But I can't ever close the gap, I can't ever repay him. Which is so contrary to life these days. And if you are like me you don't like to feel indebted, much less indebted with the impossibility of repayment. But the moral of the story is: We can never do enough, so we need to cast that thinking off. Following rules on rules and spending every waking moment trying still isn't going to get me there. Accepting my helplessness is both the beginning and the continuation of my faith. Relationship with Christ is what saves me. I still struggle with that. I think Paul would be justified in giving me the moniker of 'crazy galatian' in this instance as well.
Paul drives his point home with this:
“And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: “Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law.”
The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way.”
Every detail?! No matter how 'good' I am on a given day I never will be able to execute every detail. When compared with this 'every detail' standard, my efforts on a daily basis lose any of the weight I had previously assigned them. However, when you really process it, it's a relief! God isn't coming to us saying, "Your salvation and my love are dependent on your ability to perfectly follow this exhaustive series of rules." Instead he says, "Don't worry about you, I can fix anything, just receive this gift because I have already saved you, and I love you regardless. Enter into a relationship with me." Thankfully I am not dependent on me to make myself right with God. I am grateful someone far greater will intercede. While we may never achieve perfection, we can still receive salvation.
I always appreciate your comments and any suggestions. For the next phase of the website I endeavor to upload our previous studies from the past year. Follow us on Twitter: @TCD_actual. I'll keep you posted and wish you another great week!
-the contrary disciple