December 27
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WHO HINDERED YOU FROM OBEYING THE TRUTH?
7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. 10 I have confidence in you in the Lord, that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear the punishment, whoever he is. 11 But as for me, brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been eliminated. 12 I wish that those who are troubling you would even emasculate themselves. -Galatians 5:7-12
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According to a commentary, Paul remembered their good start in the faith, but he also knows that it isn’t enough to start well. They were still in danger of falling from grace. Paul knew that the false teaching came from a person but it didn’t come from Jesus. At the root of it all, the Galatians were leaving Jesus to pursue the false and empty teachings of man, in this case legalism.
“Lightfoot on hindered” is a metaphor derived from military operations. The word signifies ‘to break up a road’… so as to render it impassable, and is therefore the opposite of… ‘to clear a way.’” The Galatians were doing well until someone broke up the road they ran on. Verse 9 is warning is driven home – the corrupting influence of legalism and other doctrines that diminish Jesus are like leaven in a lump of dough. A little bit will soon corrupt the whole lump. In the Jewish way of thinking, leaven almost always stood for evil influence. Paul is saying that the legalistic commitment they have right now may be small, but it is so dangerous that it can corrupt everything. In verse 10, Paul wanting to leave the confrontation on a positive note, Paul expressed his confidence in the Galatians (which was really a confidence in the Lord who is able to keep them). Yet, Paul was equally confident that judgment awaits those who lead them astray and away from Jesus (he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is). Someone might accuse Paul of preaching circumcision because he asked Timothy to be circumcised (Acts 16:1-3).
Finally, Paul wished that those who demanded circumcision among the Gentiles would go all the way themselves, and amputate their genitalia altogether and not merely their foreskins. Paul also wished that these legalists would be cut off from the congregation of the Lord as required by Deuteronomy 23:1: He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the LORD.
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REFLECTION
• What and who hindered you from knowing and obeying the truth?
Tag Archives: Christian devotional
HEIR OF THE FREE WOMAN ILMA’S VLOG
December 25
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HEIR OF THE FREE WOMAN
27 For it is written:
“REJOICE, INFERTILE ONE, YOU WHO DO NOT GIVE BIRTH;
BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR;
FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE ONE ARE MORE NUMEROUS
THAN THOSE OF THE ONE WHO HAS A HUSBAND.”
28 And you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But as at that time the son who was born according to the flesh persecuted the one who was born according to the Spirit, so it is even now. 30 But what does the Scripture say?
“DRIVE OUT THE SLAVE WOMAN AND HER SON,
FOR THE SON OF THE SLAVE WOMAN SHALL NOT BE AN HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN.”
31 So then, brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave woman, but of the free woman. -Galatians 4:27-31
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According to a commentary, Paul wanted it understood that he used pictures from the Old Testament. His reference to Hagar and Ishmael were pictures, meant to illustrate his point. Now he would bring in another picture. In the Bible, a covenant is a “contract” that sets the rules for our relationship with God. Paul brought it right down to the issues confronting the Galatian Christians. The legalists wanted them to relate to God under one set of rules, and Paul wanted them to relate to God under the “rules” presented by the gospel. Since it is all about what we must do for God to be accepted by Him, it doesn’t set us free. It puts us on a perpetual treadmill of having to prove ourselves and earn our way before God. This covenant is associated with Hagar, the “surrogate mother” who gave birth to Ishmael. It is therefore (if used wrongly) a covenant according to the flesh (Galatians 4:23).
It is a valid point that Paul presents in this letter to the Galatians. Those who associate themselves with the slave woman Hagar are not free and those who associate themselves with Sara, are free. What a great analogy by the great apostle Paul! Those who live under the law will always be bound by religion and those who live free lives are under the grace that comes from the freedom that Christ has already given to those who will believe Him.
As believers, we ought to be mindful that we are not following religion but the gospel that Christ has already died for us and the work of the flesh is finished by his sacrifice.
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REFLECTION
• How can we free ourselves from religion and its tendency to enslave us?
UNDER THE LAW OR UNDER GRACE ILMA’S VLOG
December 24
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UNDER THE LAW OR UNDER GRACE
21 Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the Law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and one by the free woman. 23 But the son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. 24 This is speaking allegorically, for these women are two covenants: one coming from Mount Sinai giving birth to children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. 25 Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is enslaved with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. – Galatians 4:21-26
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According to a commentary, Paul writes directly, both to those who promoted legalism and to those who succumbed to legalism. He writes to those who desire to be under the law, living under law keeping as the basis for their relationship with God. There are many advantages to being under the law as your principle of relating to God. First, you always have the outward certainty of a list of rules to keep. Second, you can compliment yourself because you keep the rules better than others do. Finally, you can take the credit for your own salvation, because you earned it by keeping the list of rules. Under the law it is what you do for God that makes you right before Him. Under the grace of God, it is what God has done for us in Jesus Christ that makes us right before Him. Under the law the focus is on my performance. Under the grace of God, the focus is on who Jesus is and what He has done. Under the law we find fig leaves to cover our nakedness. Under the grace of God we receive the covering won through sacrifice that God provides. The legalists who troubled the Galatians protested that they were children of Abraham, and therefore blessed. Paul will admit they are children of Abraham, but they forget that Abraham had two sons. Abraham’s first son was named Ishmael. He was born not from his wife, but from his wife’s servant (the bondwoman), from a misguided surrogate mother scheme to “help God” when Abraham’s wife Sarah couldn’t become pregnant. It often doesn’t look like it, but legalism is living according to the flesh. It denies God’s promise and tries to make your own way to God through the law. This is living like a descendant of Abraham – but it is living like Ishmael. Our inner conflict of following the law and living under God’s grace dates back to Abraham’s time. We need to focus on the sacrifice that Jesus has already made on the cross to free us from the law.
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REFLECTION
• How can we deal with the warfare between the flesh and living under grace?
BRINGING TRUTH TO THE LOST AND BEWITCHED ILMA’S VLOG
December 23
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BRINGING TRUTH TO THE LOST AND BEWITCHED
12 I beg of you, brothers and sisters, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong; 13 but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time; 14 and you did not despise that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition, nor express contempt, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself. 15 Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I testify about you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 16 So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17 They eagerly seek you, not in a commendable way, but they want to shut you out so that you will seek them. 18 But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable way, and not only when I am present with you. 19 My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you— 20 but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone of voice, for I am at a loss about you! – GALATIANS 4:12-20
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In this letter of Paul to the Galatians, he strongly confronts them about the issue of being bewitched by false teachers. According to Wikipedia, the epistle to the Galatians, often shortened to Galatians, is the ninth book of the New Testament. It is a letter from Paul the Apostle to a number of Early Christian communities in Galatia. Paul is principally concerned with the controversy surrounding gentile Christians and the Mosaic Law during the Apostolic Age. Paul argues that the gentile Galatians do not need to adhere to the tenets of the Mosaic Law, by contextualizing the role of the law in light of the revelation of Christ. The Epistle to the Galatians has exerted enormous influence on the history of Christianity, the development of Christian theology, and the study of the Apostle Paul. In these verses, we hear Paul confronting those who have been converted to believe in Jesus that they are no longer slaves of the Mosaic Law because they have now heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, who had already come to free them from the slavery of the law. He reminded them the time that he came to them when he was ill and how they blessed and welcomed him and the gospel he preached to them then. He felt lost that they are being bewitched by the truth that he has already testified to them when he first came to preach the gospel to them and why they would continue to be bewitched. He is confronting them not to go back to listening to the wrong gospel.
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REFLECTION
• Why is it important to pursue purity in adhering to the true gospel only?
BRINGING TRUTH TO THE LOST AND BEWITCHED ILMA’S VLOG
December 23
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BRINGING TRUTH TO THE LOST AND BEWITCHED
12 I beg of you, brothers and sisters, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong; 13 but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time; 14 and you did not despise that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition, nor express contempt, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself. 15 Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I testify about you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 16 So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17 They eagerly seek you, not in a commendable way, but they want to shut you out so that you will seek them. 18 But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable way, and not only when I am present with you. 19 My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you— 20 but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone of voice, for I am at a loss about you! – GALATIANS 4:12-20
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In this letter of Paul to the Galatians, he strongly confronts them about the issue of being bewitched by false teachers. According to Wikipedia, the epistle to the Galatians, often shortened to Galatians, is the ninth book of the New Testament. It is a letter from Paul the Apostle to a number of Early Christian communities in Galatia. Paul is principally concerned with the controversy surrounding gentile Christians and the Mosaic Law during the Apostolic Age. Paul argues that the gentile Galatians do not need to adhere to the tenets of the Mosaic Law, by contextualizing the role of the law in light of the revelation of Christ. The Epistle to the Galatians has exerted enormous influence on the history of Christianity, the development of Christian theology, and the study of the Apostle Paul. In these verses, we hear Paul confronting those who have been converted to believe in Jesus that they are no longer slaves of the Mosaic Law because they have now heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, who had already come to free them from the slavery of the law. He reminded them the time that he came to them when he was ill and how they blessed and welcomed him and the gospel he preached to them then. He felt lost that they are being bewitched by the truth that he has already testified to them when he first came to preach the gospel to them and why they would continue to be bewitched. He is confronting them not to go back to listening to the wrong gospel.
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REFLECTION
• Why is it important to pursue purity in adhering to the true gospel only?
WHY ENSLAVE YOURSELF AGAIN?
December 22
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WHY ENSLAVE YOURSELF AGAIN?
However, at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles, to which you want to be enslaved all over again? 10 You meticulously observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain. – Galatians 4:8-11
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In this letter to the Galatians, Paul challenges them to examine what they were doing. In the earlier part of this letter, he explained the adoption process that took place when Christ sacrificed his life on the cross for all sinners to be free. From being slaves of sin, we are adopted into the kingdom of God and now we are heirs of God.
Paul continues to warn and rebuke them in verse 9 because he has already shared with them the gospel of Jesus’ act of redeeming them from their slavery. Jesus bought us back from the ownership of the world so we could be sons and daughters of God. He confronts their weakness to go back to the old ways of following the world systems.
According to a commentary the bondage is natural when we did not know God and when we served those things that are not gods. Yet now the Galatians have known God and yet placed themselves under bondage. This was what amazed Paul. In turning to legalism, the Galatians were not turning to a new error, but coming back to an old one – the idea of a works relationship with God. Wiersbe comments “One of the tragedies of legalism is that it gives the appearance of spiritual maturity when, in reality, it leads the believer back into a ‘second childhood’ of Christian experience.” Stott paraphrased the thought: “If you were a slave and are now a son, if you did not know God but have now come to know Him and to be known by Him, how can you turn back again to the old slavery? How can you allow yourself to be enslaved by the very elemental spirits from whom Jesus Christ has rescued you?” The false teachers among the Galatians demanded the observance of days and months and seasons and years and other such legalistic matters and acted as if this would lead them into a higher plane of spirituality. Yet all these weak and beggarly elements of legalism did was to bring them into bondage. Paul’s fear was that this attraction to legalism would mean that his work among the Galatians amounted to nothing and would end up being in vain.
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REFLECTION
• What brings back Christians into slavery when they have already been freed?
NO LONGER SLAVES BUT SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD ILMA’S VLOG
December 21
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NO LONGER SLAVES BUT SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD
Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave, although he is owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. 3 So we too, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters. 6 Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. – Galatians 4:1-7
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It is interesting how Paul compares a rich child who is an heir to a slave. Because he is still a child, the rich owner is still under adults who stewards his responsibilities until he is mature enough to do so. Paul compares this situation to our spiritual maturity and our bondage to the world system. When Christ Jesus was sent by the Father, his purpose was to set free those who are living under the world system and bound by Law. Before Christ came, we were slaves of sin but when Jesus came to die on the cross for us, that changed. Since Christ is the Son of God, He also adopted us as His own sons and daughters. When Jesus died and was resurrected from death, we became heirs of God and He gave us the Holy Spirit to live inside us, so we can remember that we are heirs of righteousness and no longer slaves to sin. In other words, we do not intentionally or habitually sin anymore. We become children of God who inherits his righteousness through Jesus Christ.
Sadly, many Christians fail to understand this concept of adoption through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Because all men are sinful by nature, some of those who have already accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior still miss out on their inheritance that God gave us through his Son Jesus. When Christ died on the cross, we were given an announcement of our inheritance to God’s kingdom. Still, many believers fail to receive that gift of salvation because of their love for the world. They continue to think that they are still poor and do not have that inheritance of salvation. So, they still live their lives as slaves to sin and live defeated lives. Because they are still immature to understand the concept of adoption made through Christ’s death on the cross, they miss out comprehending their rights to living holy lives because the Holy Spirit lives in them already.
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REFLECTION
• What would you do if you had an announcement that you inherited something?
CLOTHE YOURSELVES IN CHRIST JESUS ILMA’S VLOG
December 20
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CLOTHE YOURSELVES IN CHRIST JESUS
23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law, being confined for the faith that was destined to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26 For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
– Galatians 3:23-29
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According to a commentary, before we were saved by faith; before we lived our lives by faith, we were kept under guard by the law. Here, Paul uses a different word and a different idea than when he wrote the Scripture has confined all under sin in the previous verse. The idea behind confined is imprisonment; the idea behind under guard is protective custody. There is a sense in which we were imprisoned by our own sin under the law; but there is also another sense in which it guarded us in protective custody.
In verse 24, the commentary says that it protects us by showing us God’s heart and by showing us the best way to live. It protects us by showing what should be approved and disapproved among men. It protects us by providing a foundation for civil law. In these ways and more, we were kept under guard by the law. The whole purpose of the law is to bring us to Jesus. Therefore, if someone doesn’t present the Law in a manner that brings people to faith in Jesus, they aren’t presenting the Law properly. The way Jesus presented the Law was to show people that they could not fulfill it, and needed to look outside of their law-keeping to find a righteousness greater than the Scribe and the Pharisees (Matthew 5:17-48). Using the picture of baptism, Paul illustrates what it means to have faith in Christ Jesus. He doesn’t say we were baptized into water, but baptized into Christ. Just as in water baptism a person is immersed in water, so when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, we are immersed in Jesus.
If we clothe ourselves in Christ Jesus, we will be free and have life. We will all be heirs to God which he promised to all of Abraham’s descendants. When we believe in Jesus, we become one with God as well.
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REFLECTION
• How can we clothe ourselves with Christ?
LIFE PROCEEDS FROM FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST ILMA’S VLOG
December 19
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LIFE PROCEEDS FROM FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST
19 Why the Law then? It was added on account of the violations, having been ordered through angels at the hand of a mediator, until the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made. 20 Now a mediator is not for one party only; but God is only one. 21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? Far from it! For if a law had been given that was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has confined everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. – Galatians 3:19-22
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According to a commentary, part of the reason the law was given was to restrain the transgression of men through clearly revealing God’s holy standard. God had to give us His standard so we would not destroy ourselves before the Messiah came. But the law is also added because of transgressions in another way; the law also excites man’s innate rebellion through revealing a standard, showing us more clearly our need for salvation in Jesus as mentioned in Romans 7:5-8.
James Montgomery Boice called Galatians 3:20 “probably the most obscure verse in Galatians, if not the entire New Testament.” Another commentator said he has read more than 250 different interpretations of it; some other commentator raises the figure to 300. “The general thought seems to be that the promise must be considered superior to the law because the law is two-sided. The law was mediated, and this means that man was a party to it. The promise, on the other hand, is unilateral; man is not a party to it.” The law is not something evil, opposing God’s promise. The problem with the law is found in its inability to give strength to those who desire to keep it. If the law could have given life, then it could have brought righteousness. But the Law of Moses brings no life; it simply states the command, tells us to keep it, and tells us the consequences if we break the command. Luther says “When the Law drives you to the point of despair, let it drive you a little farther, let it drive you straight into the arms of Jesus who says: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’”
Paul reminds the Galatians once again that the promise of God is much higher than the law. He further explains how the law couldn’t bring life for it is only believing in Jesus Christ that we can have life. It is sad to watch many Christians live under law when Jesus Christ died for all of them already. Living under the law only brings death instead of life.
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REFLECTION
• Why can’t some Christians let go of living under the law?
THE RIGHTEOUS ONE LIVES BY FAITH
December 17
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THE RIGHTEOUS ONE LIVES BY FAITH
10 For all who are of works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written: “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THE THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO DO THEM.” 11 Now, that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “THE RIGHTEOUS ONE WILL LIVE BY FAITH.” 12 However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “THE PERSON WHO PERFORMS THEM WILL LIVE BY THEM.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written: “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”— 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. – Galatians 3:10-14
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Psalm 119:1 says, Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD! And Psalm 1:1-2 says, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.
According to a commentary, the word law is used in two senses in the Bible. Sometimes it means “The Law of Moses, with all its commands, which a man must obey to be approved by God.” Sometimes it means “God’s Word” in a very general sense. Many times when the Old Testament speaks of the law, it speaks of it in the general sense of God’s Word to us. When Psalm 119:97 says Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day, the Psalmist meant more than just the Law of Moses; he meant all of God’s Word. There is an inherent, built-in blessing in living the way God says we should live, in fulfilling the “manufacturer’s recommendation.” When Paul said that as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, he didn’t mean that the law was bad or the Word of God is wrong. He simply meant that God never intended the law to be the way we find our approval before Him.
In this letter to the Galatians, Paul points out to them the importance of the cross of Christ in verse 13. Before Jesus died, it was important for the people of God to follow the Law of Moses or they will be cursed. When Jesus died and hang on a tree, He took on that curse so that all God’s people including the Gentiles could join in the blessing of Abraham. After Jesus made that sacrifice for all believers, they are now supposed to live in the faith that will result in their receipt of the Spirit’s blessings.
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REFLECTION
• Why do you think some Christians still live under the law instead of faith after all these years that passed since Jesus died for them on the cross?