2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
God leads me to look at what GA 3 has to say about the promise of the Spirit. Of all the three personalities of the Godhead, the Spirit is the most difficult for the new Christian to understand. One way of putting it is that the Spirit is God’s mouthpiece on earth. It is the Spirit which allows us to understand the messages God has for us in the Scriptures and Who gives us the direction to pray (have two-way communication with God where He is allowed to speak first). It is the Spirit Who convicts us when we do something or have thoughts that don’t please God. He is our “early warning system” that allows us to know that it’s time to consult the Scriptures or listen to God speak to us, so we can correct the situation. It is also the Spirit Who encourages us when we feel ill or discouraged, reminding us that the Father and Son are there to love us. It is through the Spirit that God grants us the “peace that goes beyond human understanding” when we have thought or done something that is line with God’s agenda for us. [See PHIL 4: 7]. RO 8: 26-27 gives us further insight in to the Spirit. “In the same way the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit Himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express. And God, Who sees into our hearts, knows what the thought of the Spirit is; because the Spirit pleads with God on behalf of His people and in accordance with His will.”
Now let’s look at what GA 3 says about the promise of the Spirit. GA 3: 14, “Christ did this [was hanged on a tree] in order that the blessing which God promised to Abraham might be given to the Gentiles by means of Christ Jesus, so that through faith we might receive the Spirit promised by God.” Remember Paul’s words in RO 1: 16, “I have complete confidence in the Gospel; it is God’s power to save all who believe, first the Jews and also the Gentiles.” Christ is our Savior, so our faith in Him which followed our repentance is how we are saved. The profound love and faithfulness of God is shown in JN 14: 16-17 & JN 15: 26, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, Who will stay with you forever. He is the Spirit, Who reveals the truth about God. The world cannot receive Him, because it cannot see Him or know Him. But you know Him, because He remains with you and is in you…The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you.”
The promise that God gave to Abraham no longer depends on the Law, but on the Spirit instead. That can be explained by the fact that the Abrahamic covenant has three components: a people, land for them occupy, and a King. The first two have been fulfilled; the last one, a King, has yet to be fulfilled but will be. In Christ’s first advent, the King promise could have bee completely fulfilled, but too many of God’s people rejected Him. The time wasn’t right. Enough had come to faith to allow the Body of Christ to multiply (referring to the early church), but as MT 24: 36 tells us, God alone, not even the Son, knows the day and hour when heaven and earth will pass away and His Kingdom will be established. One thing we can be sure of is that God never lies. That is how we can be sure there will be a second advent-something the Spirit teaches us to believe.
GA 3: 21, “Does this mean that the Law is against God’s promises? No, not at all! For if mankind had received a law that could bring life, then everyone could be put right with God by obeying it.” We already know from GN 15: 6 that justification (being put right with God) is only obtained by faith, not from the Law. This is the explanation for why salvation is not obtained by works, only through faith. Oh, how I wish traditional Jewish people and those of certain Christian denominations could understand this! As far as the Law is concerned, GA 3: 24 helps us to better understand the reason why the Covenant of Grace is such an improvement over the Covenant of the Law. “And so the Law was in charge of us until Christ came, in order that we might then be put right with God through faith.” The promise of the Spirit is clarified in GA 3: 29, “If you belong to Christ, then you are the descendants of Abraham and you will receive what God has promised.” If you are of Gentile origin, you are not genetically linked to Abraham as Jews are, but with faith in Christ all of us, Jew and Gentile, are linked to Abraham in a way that transcends the grave and is eternal. This is by the Spirit. The use of the word, “descendants,” in GA 3: 29 refers to this spiritual link and reminds us that the promise of salvation, sanctification, and glorification is being kept for us just as it was for Abraham. That, Dear Ones, is one more way God shows His love for us!
PRAYER: O Lord, Whenever we cannot use our five senses to perceive the reality of something, we are sorely challenged unless we have faith. It is the Spirit Who nourishes our faith, the faith You gave us. The messages You give us in the Scriptures cited today is one that allows us to understand what a great blessing You give us in the indwelling and the promise of the Spirit. Your command to Christ, and His willingness to obey it in sending us the Spirit came out of Your love for us. It is Your concern that we will have the continuing means to: 1) accept Your invitation to faith; 2) join You in Your work; 3) know You by experiencing You through obedience; 4) understand Your word so that we can reach toward Your perspective; and 5) be open to the blessings of justification, sanctification, and eventual glorification. With the indwelling of the Spirit, we never have to face the challenges to our faith that come out of spiritual warfare, our own need to make improvements in our lives, illness, difficult families or circumstances, or any other kind of suffering alone. We have a Counselor to guide us, and a Source of encouragement when we are in despair. The Spirit is not available to us through the Law and never has been. He is a gift of Your grace. These are sufficient reasons why You deserve nothing less that what we offer You today in humility: our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, praise, and utmost thanksgiving. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will take a look at the important contrasts we see in GA 3. I hope by now that you agree with me just how rich and important this wonderful chapter of the book of Galatians really is. I see it as an important part of the Bible, God’s love letter to His children. How can we possibly miss the profound love that our Father has for us? The manifestations of that love are all around us. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn