Day 329 (Galatians 4-6) - Year 4
07:30 Share

Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. If you're doing our New Testament plan, today we finished our sixth book. And if you're doing the whole Bible, we finished our 45th book.

This book in particular is the first of Paul's letters. When we're talking about the books of the Bible that are letters, we call them epistles because that's the Greek word for letters. When we left off yesterday, Paul was telling us that we are heirs according to the promise God made to the offspring of Abraham, which includes everyone who has been adopted into God's family, regardless of race, gender, or status.

Today, he opens by telling us that as sons of God, we are fellow heirs with Christ, and as co-heirs, we inherit everything. That is bonkers. But even better than that, we inherit the Spirit of the Son, or the Spirit of Jesus, which is just another way of saying God the Spirit or the Holy Spirit. He goes by lots of different names in Scripture, but you probably have one way of addressing him that you're most comfortable or familiar with.

The presence of the Spirit in us is what enables us to call God our Father. Those without the Spirit do not have God as their Father. Paul says that when we have that status as a child of God and dwelled by God, it's ridiculous to go back to being a slave.

And that's what happens when we try to rely on the law. It enslaves. He implores them not to turn back to their old ways. But remember, these are Gentiles he's writing to. Their past doesn't include the law, but it does include other things that enslave them. Specifically, Paul points out that they worship things that aren't God. For many of them, this was the sun, moon, stars, and planets, and a culture of astrology. That's how they sought guidance and insight into their lives.

So when Paul makes a reference to the days, months, seasons, and years in 410, some people think he's referring to taking counsel from astrology. One reason for this is that he refers to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world. This phrase is also translated as elemental things and elemental spirits elsewhere in scripture, which seems to indicate there's some sort of demonic spirit involved, which is not uncommon when it comes to seeking ungodly counsel.

Other scholars think this part about days, months, seasons, and years is referring to keeping the Jewish holidays and festivals, things that aren't even part of their cultural heritage since they aren't ethnic Jews. But to be clear, even if this is what Paul is referring to, he isn't saying it's wrong to celebrate events, even if you're a Gentile. He's saying God doesn't require it of them. They aren't under the law. If Paul had forbidden this, he'd be a hypocrite. He'd just be flipping the law on them. To require something and to forbid something are both law.

So Paul isn't talking out of both sides of his mouth here. He's telling them that they're free. He makes this clear a little later in 5.6 when he says, In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. Paul goes on to say that when he first preached to them, it was because of a bodily ailment. We don't know what this means, but I have a theory. In 4.15, he says they felt so blessed by him that they would have gouged their eyes out and given them to him.

In 611, he says he's writing to them with large letters. I don't think he means long letters, because this letter isn't really that long compared to some of his others. I think he's probably talking about using big font, because maybe he's losing his eyesight.

I wonder if that might be a permanent side effect of his blinding vision of Christ. In 617, he says, I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. Maybe he's talking about the scars from his beating, but maybe it's his eyes. A constant reminder for as long as he lives that he encountered Jesus and his whole life changed. I think it's possible this could be the thorn in the flesh Paul refers to later in 2 Corinthians.

It's just a theory, but if it's accurate, we know Paul would say failing vision is worth spiritual sight a million times over. In chapter 5, Paul tells them that if they rely on works to earn anything, they've missed the gospel and they've missed Christ. In verse 4, he uses some really intense language. He says, you are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law.

Paul isn't talking about a person losing their salvation. He's saying they clearly didn't grasp the gospel from the start if they thought it had anything to do with their own goodness. Leaning on our own so-called goodness is a completely separate idea from what it means to trust in Christ. Those two things aren't even connected. At the end of that verse, he says, First, let's remember that grace means unmerited favor. It's when we get what we don't deserve.

Often, when I hear the phrase fall from grace, it's used as a not-so-subtle way to say someone has fallen into sin. But Paul's use of it here is more like falling into self-righteousness, which, to be fair, is sin, but you get the point. Paul's version of a fall from grace is when we make an effort to earn what has been freely given. He goes on to say that our freedom doesn't terminate on us. Freedom isn't an open pass to live for ourselves and sin all we want.

Freedom is an opportunity to magnify God's character and model his love to the world around us. Because here's the thing. The only way we get this freedom to begin with is because the Holy Spirit of God lives in us. And there's only one thing the Holy Spirit of God wants to do. Magnify God. And that's what the Spirit does in us and through us by producing his fruit in us.

In keeping with all this love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, Paul opens chapter 6 with a few of the ways those things are demonstrated. For instance, if another Christian is ensnared in their own sin patterns and can't seem to get free, lean in with gentleness and help him. And don't become arrogant about the fact that you're the one helping, because this could be you next week.

He tells them to share with those who teach them, to not grow weary of doing good, and to especially aim to do good to other believers. By the end of his letter, he's gotten all his harsh words and warnings out, and now he's reminding them of what it looks like to be a family. He ends by calling them brothers.

Today my guide shot was in 522-23, the fruit of the Spirit. When God planted us like trees in His garden, the Spirit started working in us, producing Spirit fruit in us. The word fruit in 522 is singular. It's the fruit of the Spirit, not the fruits. One fruit with nine characteristics, like if you came up with nine descriptions for an apple. And when these things begin to show up in us, that's His signature.

The fruit may grow slower than we want it to, but if we look back over the years, we can probably see how he has increased his fruit in us and diminished the fruit of the flesh Paul talks about in verses 19-21. Since those two are opposed to each other, they can't both grow simultaneously. One will crowd out the other.

I bet if I sat down and talked with every one of you, you could tell me about a way you've seen His fruit in your life, even in the short time since we started TBR. I bet you can see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control on the increase somewhere in your life. If so, thank Him for that today. That's His doing. He gets the glory and you get the joy, because He's where the joy is.

Okay, Bible readers, it's time for our weekly check-in. How's it going? If your first thought was, I'm behind, then I'm here to tell you politely that you're wrong. You're right on time. You spent time getting to know God today. There's no wrong place to be in that journey. And because He knew exactly where you'd be today and He has such great attention to detail, I bet He taught you something you needed to know about Him exactly today. ♪