That's the question Paul has for the Galatians. Do you want to be free, or do you want to be slaves? He is angry with them because he told them the truth, he spoke the Gospel to them, and God set them free, and he thinks that they want to be slaves again.
Perhaps they do not understand, so he tries to find an analogy. He tells them about the two sons of Abraham, the son of Hagar (Ishmael) and the son of Sarah (Isaac). Ishmael was the child of slavery, and Isaac was the child of freedom, the child of promise. Isaac was given by the promise of God, and so even though the children of Israel lived in slavery for awhile, they were destined to be free, to live by faith rather than by the law.
Freedom.
What does it mean?
Freedom is a loaded word in our culture. We are the "land of the free and the home of the brave." Paul wants the Galatians to be free, free in Christ, which is not "freedom to do anything you want", even though he speaks of "freedom from the demands of the law." Freedom in Christ is freedom from: freedom from fear that we are not acceptable to God; freedom from keeping the law in a slavish way. But it is also freedom to: freedom to love our neighbor, freedom to love God, freedom for love, joy, peace, joy and all of the other fruit of the Spirit.
Someone wants the Galatians to be circumcised. Paul thinks that these "Judaizers" think it would be a feather in their cap to claim the Galatians for their cause. But Paul says, if they do this ritual, they will be enslaved again, they will be obligated to keep the whole law, they will no longer be free in Christ.
Do you want to be free?
That's the question Paul has for the Galatians.
It's not about self-improvement, but it's about death and resurrection, about freedom and new creation every day. God is making us a new creation, an focussing on what we do is just muddying the waters.
Do you want to be free? Free to bear one one another's burdens, and carry your own load? Free to let Christ live in you? Free to love your neighbor, and claim living resources that are not your own, but that belong to the crucified one?
Do you want to be free? That's the question that Paul has for the Galatians. I think Paul, and Jesus, are still asking.
Showing posts with label Galatians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Galatians. Show all posts
Friday, August 3, 2012
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Day 63: You Stupid Galatians!
The book of Galatians is short (only 6 chapters) and Paul doesn't have time to be subtle. So, after brief, perfunctory greetings, he gets right to the point:
What the heck is wrong with them?????
Why are they abandoning the gospel he preached to them?
That's what he has been hearing. Since Paul has left the church in Galatia, others have come, and they have been telling the Galatians that trust in Jesus' death and resurrection is not enough to be considered a follower of Jesus. They also need to be circumcized, and keep the law. This Paul emphatically rejects. And he is angry that it is so easy for them to desert the gospel and cling, instead, to the law.
These false teachers are often called "Judaizers." While Paul is careful not to tell the Galatians that the law is bad, he wants them to know that the law does not save them. Paul tells the Galatians that the other apostles agreed with him on this (including Peter, who is called "Cephas" in this letter), and he feels that they were cowardly and hypocritical to cave in when opposition hit.
Paul is not going to do this. He tells the Galatians a little of his own history, about how he, a zealous Pharisee, came to believe in Jesus, and how he came to be an apostle to the Gentiles. He gives a short, passionate synopsis of his theology from Romans: The righteous will live by their faith. And the covenant with Abraham, based on Abraham's trust, takes precedence over the covenant based on the law. In fact, the covenant that is based on the giving of the law actually depends on the covenant God gave with Abraham.
Do you ever wonder: why is Paul so passionate about this? What's the big deal? What is he afraid of? What is the slippery slope here?
Perhaps, as we complete the letter tomorrow, we'll get some ideas.
What the heck is wrong with them?????
Why are they abandoning the gospel he preached to them?
That's what he has been hearing. Since Paul has left the church in Galatia, others have come, and they have been telling the Galatians that trust in Jesus' death and resurrection is not enough to be considered a follower of Jesus. They also need to be circumcized, and keep the law. This Paul emphatically rejects. And he is angry that it is so easy for them to desert the gospel and cling, instead, to the law.
These false teachers are often called "Judaizers." While Paul is careful not to tell the Galatians that the law is bad, he wants them to know that the law does not save them. Paul tells the Galatians that the other apostles agreed with him on this (including Peter, who is called "Cephas" in this letter), and he feels that they were cowardly and hypocritical to cave in when opposition hit.
Paul is not going to do this. He tells the Galatians a little of his own history, about how he, a zealous Pharisee, came to believe in Jesus, and how he came to be an apostle to the Gentiles. He gives a short, passionate synopsis of his theology from Romans: The righteous will live by their faith. And the covenant with Abraham, based on Abraham's trust, takes precedence over the covenant based on the law. In fact, the covenant that is based on the giving of the law actually depends on the covenant God gave with Abraham.
Do you ever wonder: why is Paul so passionate about this? What's the big deal? What is he afraid of? What is the slippery slope here?
Perhaps, as we complete the letter tomorrow, we'll get some ideas.
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