If you struggle with the idea that you are free even though you’ve put your faith in the Lord Jesus, you are not alone. For some of us, second-hand theology and religious traditions make it seem almost unreal.

I want to encourage you today that you are loved, and you are free.

Religion is pervasive in the world. Think about how many times you’ve heard someone say they do more good than bad, so they hope they will make it to heaven. Think about how people talk about karma, the idea that if someone does good things, good things will happen to them, and if they do bad things, well, payback is coming. That appeals to our temporal idea of earthly justice, but it isn’t the Gospel.

All this begs the question asked in Galatians 3:19: “Why the Law then?”

The Jews had been practicing religious conduct as the means by which they would be made acceptable to and compatible with God. They pursued righteousness through religiously keeping the Law handed down by Moses. But that Law had never replaced the unilateral covenant God promised Abraham He would uphold.

The same is true for us today. No religious practices, no moralistic self-righteousness, can make us acceptable to God. The only way it can happen is by trusting that the promise God made will be fulfilled. Like Abraham, our job is to believe God, as Jesus pointed out in John 6:28–29 “Therefore they said to Him, “What are we to do, so that we may accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” (NASB 2020)

During a legal trial, those testifying about what they saw take an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. They swear by God, saying “so help me God.” (Or at least they used to, I think the oaths may exclude that these days.)

Now in Hebrews 6:17-18 we read, “In the same way God, desiring even more to demonstrate to the heirs of the promise [that’s us] the fact that His purpose is unchangeable, confirmed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to hold firmly to the hope set before us.” (NASB 2020)

Anyone who has ever borrowed money from a bank to buy a house, a car, an education, or for some other large financial need, knows what a contract is. In contracts we write down the terms of our agreement. One party agrees to provide something to the other party. The receiving party agrees to compensate the supplier by paying them not only for the funding, but also for taking the risk that they might never be repaid. If you’ve ever tried to renegotiate such a contract, you know that it is almost impossible. Once the terms have been agreed to and the legal documents signed, it may as well have been chiseled in stone.

That’s the picture Paul gives here when he says no one sets a covenant aside or adds new conditions to it. Covenants are unbreakable agreements, and the ancients generally sealed the most important covenants with blood. To break a covenant was to forfeit life.

The Jewish people read Leviticus just as it at first seems to present itself and in so doing they missed the true Source of Life, which is God Himself. Consequently, they found themselves weighed down beyond their ability as Peter pointed out in Acts 15:10 when he referred to such religious practice as “a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear.”

This lesson is one we can all take to heart. Some have stumbled in this when they have felt Father leading them by His Spirit toward some destination or goal. Rather than allowing Him to be the driving force by which that goal is accomplished, some have felt the need to step in and be the cause themselves.

Causal self-effort is upside down in The Kingdom. According to Philippians 2:13, it is He who is at work in us both to desire and to do godly things and according to Philippians 1:6 He will work His plan to completion in and through us. We need only depend upon Him and allow events to unfold as He directs and presents them.

We see a sign on the road that says, “Speed Limit 55” and we drive 65. The law says we are to signal our lane changes and turns, but often we fail to do that. None of us always exhibits perfect conduct. James says that we all stumble in many ways, and he’s right.

The fact that we who are in Christ still fail to exhibit godly attitudes and actions consistently is a problem we all face.

Receiving the grace of God in vain brings to mind a parable of Jesus from Luke 8. In verse 13 Jesus explains the meaning of the Parable of the Sower as regards the Gospel falling on rocky soil.

These are people who hear the Gospel, think it sounds great, and essentially try it out. They believe with their mind, but not with their heart. They mentally affirm the facts or the doctrine, but their trust is never placed in Christ.

The Gospel says that we could not make ourselves righteous and we cannot keep ourselves righteous. Religion says we can do both if we just try hard enough, shape up, and toe the line.

A wide variety of religious flavors exist, but they all come down to behavioral conduct.

Some focus on emptying yourself.
Some focus on morally exemplary behavior.
Some focus on doing more good than bad.
Some declare there is no God, which is the religion of self.

None of that is Christianity no matter what scripture passages are misused to make it seem so.

What’s coming is highly emotionally charged. Paul is flabbergasted. He’s flummoxed. He’s aghast, amazed, and appalled. Paul is very emotional about what is going on in Galatia. In this emotionally charged state, Paul asks, “who has bewitched you?” The Greek here literally means, “who gave you the evil eye?”

In this segment I’ll tackle Paul's cryptic statement, "if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a wrongdoer." We'll look at this in a couple of translations, one paraphrase version of the Bible, and my own personal notes.

When Peter began to compel the Gentiles in Galatia to live like Jews, observing the rules rites and rituals the Jews had followed for so long, it was a serious distortion. When it involves people whose opinion we value, the temptation to turn to self-effort or rely upon various activities for acceptance can be strong.

Peter could sometimes speak and act out of strong emotion, as evidenced by his rashly cutting off the ear of the high-priest’s servant when the authorities came to arrest Jesus. (See John 18:10) Peter also wanted people to like and accept him. Around the fire while Jesus was being questioned, Peter denied knowing Jesus so that he wouldn’t be rejected by those gathered there.

We find that Paul was respectful in visiting the leaders in Jerusalem. They were likewise respectful toward him and there was unity of faith between them. In this episode I'll discuss leadership in the body of Christ. There is a better way than acting condescending and bossy.

False teachers crept in stealthily to spy on the freedom the Galatians had in Christ. They used what they learned to cause the Galatians to question their beliefs and thus put them into bondage. It is imperative to know the truth that sets people free. The pure Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Continuing our study of the importance of distinguishing between religious rules, rites, and rituals and a relationship with God, Paul now travels to Jerusalem to make sure the other Apostles agree that he is teaching the truth.

When we begin to understand the truth of the pure unadulterated Gospel, many of us have the same concerns. In this episode I'll speak about how we can know this Good News isn't heresy.

In this episode we will briefly discuss the sovereignty of God and take a brief moment to touch on an error that can be very hard to spot. The doctrine called Inclusion.

People’s ears are tickled, and they are pleased when they are told that they are perfectly fine, in need of nothing, and that they know right from wrong and can rely upon themselves for everything they need.

Paul declares that the teaching coming from some in Galatia is contrary to the Gospel. In this episode we dig into that a bit. What makes it contrary?

Of primary importance is that we understand what the true Gospel is. There are many competing messages within and outside the church. How are we to know the pure and true gospel from the distortions, adulterations, and combinations often taught in the name of Jesus Christ?

The pure Gospel must remain undistorted. Paul makes this point very clearly and uses strong language. In this episode we dig into this more deeply.

This begins a study of Galatians. Paul wrote to the churches in this area because they were being led astray by certain teaching that was not the Gospel. As the study progresses, we will see the Lord Jesus Christ as rescuer and Lord. We will discover the simple truth of the Gospel.