“Jan 11, 2024 - In Christ Alone”

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

In Christ Alone

Reading:  Galatians 3:15-20
    
    Paul describes how all Christians can inherit the blessing of Abraham “in Christ Jesus”(Gal 3:14).  He starts with a simple principle:  “To give a human example, brothers:  even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified”(Gal 3:15).  We cannot simply change the terms of a contract or covenant.  This applies in spiritual matters as well.  “Now the promises were made to Abraham and his offspring.  It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ”(Gal 3:16).  The original terms of the Abrahamic covenant involved an offspring (as in, “in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed”, Gen 22;18).  Paul asserts this offspring is Christ, not just the Jewish nation. 

     So if God made promises to Abraham regarding the Christ, he cannot just change them to include the law (Gal 3:17).  Thus one does not have to keep the Law of Moses to receive the promise God made to Abraham.  “For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise”(Gal 3:18).  Paul hints here at the idea that keeping a law means we earn God’s favor—as opposed to a promise enacted on grace.  His point in all of this is to teach us that Christians receive the blessing of Abraham in Christ alone—not in attaching ourselves to the Jewish nation or by keeping the Law of Moses.  It is one of the reasons that his focus in this section is so frequently on the phrase “in Christ”(3:14, 26, 27, 28, 29).

     While we may not struggle with the same questions regarding keeping the Mosaic Law, we certainly need to remember that our only hope for salvation and blessing rests not in our doing, but in our association with Jesus.  My hope for tomorrow is not in my own physical strength or mental acumen or wealth or friends.  It is in Christ alone.

-----------
One Thing to Think About:  Why do we struggle with thinking we can stand on our own and hope in ourselves?

One Thing to Pray For:   A deeper and stronger hope in Jesus
 

Share