THE ONLY THING THAT COUNTS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?

Galatians 5:6-7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

What really counts when it comes to gaining salvation?

The Galatian Christians were trying to figure it out.

They thought they knew what mattered most after the Apostle Paul had visited and shared the Gospel with them while helping them establish their churches. Paul had instructed them that all one had to do was believe in Jesus, God’s only Son, to be saved. Nothing more, nothing less.

It was so simple. No works were involved. Just faith that expressed itself in love and gratitude toward Christ, the One who had sacrificed everything so whoever believed in Him could gain everything, namely eternal life.

This was the Christian life, or at least the Galatian believers thought it was. But as we so often, Satan is always inserting himself into any place where the Lord is trying to rescue with the goal of continuing to lead people to destruction.

So what happened in Galatia and the churches there?

A group of Jews called the Judaizers had infiltrated the Christian churches, attempting to convince Christ followers that there was more than just simple belief in Jesus needed to find salvation. These false teachers were trying to get the Galatian Christians to also work to comply with the Law of the old covenant and this included the men being required to be circumcised.

As we have seen all through this letter to the churches in Galatia, Paul railed against this attempt to pervert the Gospel to be something other than what God intended it to be. It was nothing short of sinful and the Apostle wasn’t about to let it happen. In fact, as we see in the earlier part of his letter, Paul makes it clear he planned to return to Galatia to address the issue in person. Until then, he would have to let his written words do the speaking.

As we see in our two verses for today, Paul is making sure the Galatian believers know that circumcision didn’t count. It held no value in the sight of Christ Jesus. In other words, salvation wasn’t dependent on whether someone was circumcised or uncircumcised. Rather, the only thing that counted was maintaining a steadfast belief and trust in Jesus as Savior. Period.

The Christ followers in Galatia had been “running a good race”. They were winning the race because they believed in the One who would help them cross the finish line victorious. The only thing that could get in the way of sure triumph was them allowing someone else to “cut in” to keep them from “obeying the truth”.

Of course, Paul is talking about the Judaizers and his hope was that the Galatians would realize they were being deceived and misled, and then reject the false teaching they were being fed, choosing instead to recommit to the only thing that counted when it came to salvation, Jesus.

Today, the path to salvation is still as fundamental as it was in the days of Paul more than 2,000 years ago. All that is required to be saved is simple faith which expresses itself out of love and leads to a belief in Jesus as Savior.

Opposing this simple path to eternal life is a Satan who is just as interested in waylaying people from the everlasting life that God offers as the God is in saving His people.

Ultimately, a choice needs to be made just like the Galatian Christians had to make and Christian believers need to be just as vigorously vocal as Paul was in speaking out against any adverse influences that infiltrate the church and try and lead people amiss. Working together, we can all stay on course and running the good race until we reach the blessed kingdom of God.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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