“Jan 9, 2024 - Changing Horses Midstream”

Monday, January 08, 2024

Changing Horses Midstream

Reading:  Galatians 3:1-6
    
    Paul now speaks directly to the Galatians and expresses his dismay that they are considering keeping the Law of Moses instead of simply following Jesus.  “O foolish Galatians!  Who has bewitched you?  It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified”(Gal 3:1).  Paul has preached the gospel to them, vividly portraying Jesus’ crucifixion, yet now they are leaving that behind.  His words here focus on the shift they are making from their initial conversion.  “Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish?  Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”(Gal 3:2-3).  They began well—with zeal and passion for Jesus.  Their commitment was to believing in him, not keeping Moses’ law.  They received the Holy Spirit when they began to follow Jesus.  So why change now?  

    It is more intriguing because Paul has made the opposite change.  He has given up his observance of the Law as an effort to save himself by his own righteousness (see Phil 3:9, Rom 10:3, Titus 3:5); the Galatians are now starting what he has ended.  Why?  “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”(Gal 3:3).  Why would they choose their own flesh over God’s Spirit?  The persecutions they have endured are not the result of Moses’ Law (Gal 3:4).  The miracles and spiritual gifts they have observed are not the product of law-keeping (Gal 3:5).  Paul shakes his head in wonder at why they would abandon a better system for an inferior one.

    Application is challenging here for modern Christians.  Certainly Paul’s words forbid us from creating a hybrid system of “Moses + Jesus.”  Yet the greater danger seems to be of changing horses midstream:  beginning our walk in faith but trying to finish it by our own power.   We come to Christ broken and in need, begging for grace.  Yet when we find it, we gradually begin to convince ourselves that we are better than we are.  Our old life gets farther in the background.  We begin to think we can save ourselves or are worthy of salvation—after all, I’m a pretty good guy!  Though we certainly have works to do, we never graduate past walking by faith.  Don’t change horses midstream.

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One Thing to Think About:  Do I have the same humility and desperation I did when I became a Christian?

One Thing to Pray For:   Glory to God for saving me and continuing to work in me
 

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