GALATIANS 1
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. – Galatians 1:3-10
GALATIANS 1 ON FORSAKING THE GRACE YOU RECEIVED
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
Do you not know that the grace you received has tremendous power?
When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he made the devil cower
You are called to live in the grace of Christ who showed his love for you
Why are you forsaking this precious gift that changes and transforms?
Why do you believe lies that cancel out the merits of grace?
Why are you still holding on to your sins and your old life?
Do not abandon the gift of grace; instead, use it to grow your faith
Serve only the giver of the amazing grace that frees you from death.
In this letter of Paul to the Galatian church, he rebukes the believers for believing a different gospel from what they were taught just recently. In verse 6, he reminded them that when they do not guard their minds and heart from lies and false teachings, they are actually forsaking the grace that they have received from Christ. How were they abandoning or taking for granted God’s grace? Paul emphasizes that if they listen and believe wrong teachings and lies that are far from the gospel they heard, they are actually forsaking the gift of grace that Jesus paid a high price for to free them.
How can Christians today learn from this rebuke of Paul to the Galatian church? We may not be aware how we are forsaking the grace that we have received but we can easily take in vain such gifts when we do not truly meditate and follow the word of God. It is in his word that we are protected from lies and false teachings. As a believer of Jesus, we have a big responsibility to grow our faith and to stand on the promises of God. We also are charged to preach the Good News to the ends of the earth. We do not need to be a pastor or a preacher. All believers are commanded to preach the word of God to the ends of the earth. It was harder in the past to do this, but now we have the technology to reach millions of people in just clicks at your fingertips on the keyboard. We can also forget the importance of building each other up in the church and just focus on our own lives, our struggles and our weaknesses. We forsake grace when we think only of ourselves.
REFLECTION
· What other ways can we discredit the value of the gift of grace in our Christian lives?
