Bible Reading Reflection from Galatians 1-6

 [Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (DG) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

𝔾𝔸𝕃𝔸𝕋𝕀𝔸ℕ𝕊 𝟙:𝟚𝟜

"And they were glorifying God because of me."

𝙸𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙶𝚘𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚎— 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚢, 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚢𝚕𝚎, 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚛? 𝙾𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚍 or 𝚊𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚘𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚖𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜, 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚢?

𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙶𝚘𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚘𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 the 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚂𝚊𝚞𝚕 𝚝𝚘 the 𝙰𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝙿𝚊𝚞𝚕.

𝙿𝚊𝚞𝚕 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝. 𝙷𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝙶𝚘𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚘𝚊𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜.

𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝙶𝚘𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 must 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎!

 

𝔾𝔸𝕃𝔸𝕋𝕀𝔸ℕ𝕊 𝟚:𝟙𝟘

“Only they asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do.”

"To remember the poor"

There are some people richer than us, and some poorer than us. We can always practice generosity, especially with those who are less privileged than us.

Helping the poor is not a gospel. Even if you give up everything and lay down your life for the poor or anyone, it will not save them or even yourself. Only the Gospel saves. So, we must realize the uniqueness and quintessential of the Gospel. The poor, the rich, all, need the Gospel to be saved. And the poor also need physical food and material goods for their earthly survival, which the rich are having in abundance!

Maybe a good exercise to think through how many people in our circle are poorer than you and me, struggling for a living!

 

𝔾𝔸𝕃𝔸𝕋𝕀𝔸ℕ𝕊 𝟛:𝟠

"And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the 𝕘𝕠𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕝 beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.’"

God's plan of salvation has been from a long time ago. It was before my birth. It was before Jesus's birth. It was before the calling of Israel. It was proclaimed to Abraham. It was before the birth of anyone. It was before the foundation of the world!

Therefore, Gospel had never changed, has never changed, and will never change.

To hold firm to the old gospel. To continue to believe in the gospel. To proclaim the same gospel. To delight, cherish, and glory in the same gospel is my goal, resolution, and life!

 

𝔾𝔸𝕃𝔸𝕋𝕀𝔸ℕ𝕊 𝟜:𝟜

"But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law"

Why did Jesus come to earth 2000 years ago? Why not come earlier or later than that? Well, this verse reveals that He came at the perfect time.

Surely, God is neither in hurry nor slow in action. He is completely in control. He doesn't forget. Nor is He impatient!

This is the God who watches over me, my life, my future, and my career!

 

𝔾𝔸𝕃𝔸𝕋𝕀𝔸ℕ𝕊 𝟝:𝟙𝟛

"For you were called to freedom, brothers; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."

Truly free people are Christians. The rest of humanity are the slaves of sin, under the yoke of Satan. Hey, btw, we are also under the yoke of Jesus, remember Matthew 11:28-30? We are also the slaves of Jesus.

It's just a change of Master, a change of allegiance.

While anything we do on earth as non-Christians heaps upon one another for judgment, as Christian we are free from judgment. We are already free from the judgment to come. Jesus Christ has taken that judgment for us. However, we shouldn't take this freedom from judgment as a license or as an opportunity to do as we like, rather, we must make use of it to serve one another.

As Christians, we can do what we can't do as non-Christians:

▪️We are able to do things that please God.

▪️We are guilt-free and our work will be rewarded.

▪️We are ultimately working for the Lord, and therefore doesn't matter much whether humans appreciate it or not!

▪️We are working with the love of Christ to endure all situations.

▪️We are heaping treasures for eternity.

▪️We are helping family members who will be with us for eternity.

See! How we ought to be rich in good works because of this freedom we have by changing our allegiance to Christ from Satan. Praise be to God!

 

𝔾𝔸𝕃𝔸𝕋𝕀𝔸ℕ𝕊 𝟞:𝟙

"Brothers, even if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, each of you looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted."

Confronting a sinning brother is a must. It's hard, it's difficult, because we don't want to be hated, but true love cares for holiness.

We don't want to be a hypocrite either because we, ourselves, could be in a sin worse than what we see of others. But if we hesitate to confront others, and if others hesitate to confront us, will there be any growth within us individually and as a church?

However, we confront with gentleness. Loving the brother. Longing for his repentance.

At the same time, knowing our own weaknesses: with compassion, humility, and holiness. As a pastor, I have to confront people in that way. And there are some every now and then.