Faith working through love: Spiritual Life

Sunday we will return to the letter to the Galatian churches. Paul writes to them because members of the community were arguing that now that they are believers, they must adhere to Jewish law. They weren’t arguing against salvation by faith, but against faith alone. 

Paul begins by defending his Apostleship and his teaching. Then, in Galatians 2:15-21, he presents two aspects of the gospel: a person is justified by faith, not the law; life as a believer unites us to Christ, not the law. The section we move to begins his development of these two thoughts.

Paul asks a summary question: “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (3:3) He actually answers this question in Philippians 1:6, where he writes, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Here is a summary of the gospel of grace: Grace gets us in; grace keeps us in; grace finishes the work. 

Authentic Christianity is lived by faith in the finished work of Christ; looking to the Holy Spirit to finish the work he began. So join us Sunday and let’s consider what it means to live in the grace of God.