Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds . . . (James 1:2)

In and of themselves, our hardships are emphatically not joyful. That’s part of what makes them hard. What could it mean, then, in circumstances like these, to “count it all joy”?

When James charges us to “count it all joy,” he does not mean it all — all our pain, all our trials, all our hardship — is joy in and of itself. Pain is pain, not joy. Trials are trying, not sources of pleasure. Rather, what James has for us — and what the gospel of Christ provides — is a lens on life, and a true vantage point on reality, through which even life’s most painful trials have a vital part to play in our joy.

And not just “even,” but “especially.” In God’s strange and wonderful ways of ruling this world, life’s most painful trials serve a special purpose for our good. God often draws his straightest lines from life’s greatest difficulties to our deepest and sweetest joys. And not just in the long run, but even in the midst of trial. When trials assault our surface pleasures, we’re pressed to consider our deepest, fullest, richest treasures — and to tap those roots for sustenance in ways we simply do not when all is well.

Don’t think that James only has little trials in view here. He says “trials of various kinds” because he means the big ones, too. It can be easy to see how God is at work in life’s little inconveniences, but our greatest tragedies press the hardest, darkest questions on our soul.

Has God abandoned me? Is he really in charge and also good? Is he even there?

James will not have us relegate his charge to “count it all joy” simply to the easy stuff. The very issue at stake is the hardest things — the “trials” of tragedy, loss, distress, despondency, and long-term despair.

Verse 2 may be straightforward enough, but our souls need more than just a command to own this and see it come to life in us. Our minds and hearts need reasons, or at least a reason. Which is exactly what James supplies in what immediately follows.

We could rehearse many of the clear biblical reasons why we can “count it all joy” when we encounter various trials. “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). We can write over every trial, “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). And we can say with the apostle, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). Or with Jesus, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:12).

But James has something particular in mind: “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:3).

“Steadfastness” is not a word we use frequently today, and so likely this does not feel especially compelling at first glance. Another word for it would be endurance. Endurance on its own isn’t necessarily desirable (for instance, enduring in error). What makes it compelling is what we endure in. And what James has in view is very clear: faith in Christ. And for Christians, enduring in faith is what life is all about. If we do not endure in faith, we will be on the wrong side of what matters most in the universe: being right with God, and enjoying him forever, in Jesus.

In other words, one of the things God is doing when he tests our faith is he is preserving our faith. When he lovingly brings trials into our lives — and he does so lovingly for all who are in Jesus — he is working for us, and in us, one of the greatest goods imaginable. When he tests us, he is taking action to keep us. And he keeps us not just by protecting our present level of faith, and not just by growing, enriching, developing, and maturing our faith. But in testing our faith, he is keeping it alive.

God’s preserving work in us through our pain and difficulty is essential to what matters most, and James makes that connection explicit: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).

Faith does not flourish when it lies untested. It atrophies when it goes un-exercised. And eventually it dies. So, when God loves us with his saving love, and gives us saving faith, he commits, because he cares for us, to inject our lives with various trials to train, grow, sweeten, strengthen, and mature what matters most in us. Our “various trials” in this life are not superfluous to our enduring in faith. And they are not just threats to losing our faith. They are one of God’s essential means through which he preserves the faith he has given us and keeps us as his own.

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/suffering-that-strengthens-fait

Strange as it may seem, one of the primary purposes of being shaken by suffering is to make our faith more unshakable.

Faith is like muscle tissue: if you stress it to the limit, it gets stronger, not weaker. That’s what James means here. When your faith is threatened and tested and stretched to the breaking point, the result is greater capacity to endure. He calls it steadfastness.

God loves faith so much that he will test it to the breaking point so as to keep it pure and strong.

For example, he did this to Paul according to 2 Corinthians 1:8–9,

We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

The words “but that was to” show that there was a purpose in this extreme suffering: it was in order that — for the purpose that — Paul would not rely on himself and his resources, but on God — specifically the promised grace of God in raising the dead.

God so values our wholehearted faith that he will, graciously, if necessary, take away everything else in the world that we might be tempted to rely on — even life itself. His aim is that we grow deeper and stronger in our confidence that he himself will be all we need.

He wants us to be able to say with the psalmist, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25–26).

https://fighterverses.com/blog-post/how-to-count-it-all-joy-james-12-3/

My first thought upon reading these verses is that steadfastness had better be worth it. Be joyful in the midst of your pain, because it will give way to steadfastness? Really?

In order to understand what James is doing, let’s put three definitions underneath all of this. “Joy” is not glib, naive happiness. The Bible refers to joy as contentment in Christ above all else. “Steadfastness” carries similar connotations. It means to be confidently rooted in Christ; in other words, it means that all of our confidence comes from belonging to him, not depending on our own effort or resources. “Faith” is believing that the promises of God that we cannot yet see or feel as reality will someday come true, because he said so.

Now, we can rephrase what James is telling us, and ask how it is possible to live out these words. He is saying, “Seek to be happy in Christ above anything else, and you will find that, even in trials, He will prove Himself and make His promises real to you again.” By implication, then, it will be worth it. All of it will be worth it.

I have personally wrestled with these things. I was born with a spinal defect called Spina Bifida, which took away my ability to walk a few years ago. Amidst approximately 20 surgeries and daily inconveniences, the question of “Why?” has arisen in my heart more than once. What’s the point, the end of all this? Ultimately, the answer has always come back, “Jesus is the point.” I am constantly reminded of how he has worked, of all the people I would have never met, and opportunities I would have never had if I hadn’t been given a disability. But this is not some inspirational story about a human being. This is a miraculous story about God.

See, the idea that “joy is a choice” is an incomplete truth. I can choose joy in having Spina Bifida, and you can choose joy in your trial, only if God gives our hearts joy. Joy is not simply one in a buffet of virtues, from which we can take at random as we feel the urge. It’s not a light switch we can simply flip on in our minds. This is where faith and steadfastness come in.

If God does the miracle of changing our hearts, and if He gives us the gift of faith, we will have the eyes to see where all of our pain is going. To know that whatever suffering we endure really is working for our good. To see that Jesus shows Himself to us more profoundly in our trials, and that this changes everything. To place our confidence in Him; really believing it doesn’t matter if everything is perfect here, because this world is not our home. Our hope is not in the things of this world. James goes on to write that the one without faith will be “like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.” Only if God causes our hearts to remain steadfast will we be able to rest joyfully even when our world is caving in. Only if He does all of these things in our hearts can we “choose joy” in our suffering.

Conclusion? Oh, suffering saint, you must pray. I must pray. We must pray together for eyes of faith, hearts of steadfastness. We must seek God in our trials, asking Him for the faith to know He is in the fire with us, and the joy to believe that this is enough. In the end, brothers and sisters, we will see our Savior with unveiled faces. We will know, then, that it was worth it. That He is worth it.

https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/james-1-5

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:5

Life is full of pitfalls and snares, and we often make wrong choices, but it is comforting to know that no matter what trials we may be called upon to face, or what foolish choices we have made in the past, we can go to the Lord and ask Him for godly insight and spiritual understanding, and He has promised to give us all that is needed for the task.

In this passage, James, the half-brother of the Lord Jesus, is particularly referencing the wisdom we need when compassed about by the various difficulties we encounter in our everyday lives and the tough choices we are all required to make. James was at enmity with God and scornful towards his older sibling. It must have been shocking for this young man to discover that the brother whom he had treated with such contempt, during his life, was his Lord and his Savior.

This bond-servant of Christ may have lacked wisdom in his earlier days but was ready to admit his folly and willing to share with us how easy it is to gain godly wisdom and spiritual understanding. James began his lesson on wisdom by pointing out that the suffering of this life produces patient endurance, which will furnish us with spiritual maturity

There are times when we do not know what to do or which way to turn, and I am sure that James was shocked and mortified when the resurrected Christ visited his petulant, younger brother. But James was a young man with a teachable spirit, who was quick to embrace the wisdom of faith he lacked, and encourages those of us who are deficient in spiritual insight to ask the Lord for the necessary wisdom we need – and not to doubt that He will provide for us liberally.

God knows that we are weak and frail and He knows that the testing our faith can cause us to complain or murmur or to become unsteady in our Christian walk.. but God provides all the wisdom we need to maintain a steady heart, patient endurance, and an unwavering, un-compromised faith in Him. God delights to give generously to all who ask – but we must be prepared to ask Him, to listen to His voice, and to obey His Word.

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-stability-of-our-times

Have we ever ached for stability as much as we do now — for the semblance of some new normal, for a return, unmasked and un-distanced, to human life?

Many of us alive today have lived through little societal turmoil and upheaval. We have not endured wars on our native soil. Until now, we have not faced anything like a global pandemic months on end, and the uncertainty and chaos it’s brought around the world, even to the seemingly steadiest of societies.

In wisdom and love, Jesus allowed Peter to be sifted (Luke 22:31). So too his church has been sifted in these days. Our plans, our work, our finances, our relationships, our information sources, our preferences — we have seen that many of the structures and seeming givens in our world are not as sure and steady as we assumed. The instability has exposed a softness, fickleness, and frailty in those around us, and in our own selves. Some humble, long-overlooked saints are shining like never before. Other people have been washed away, revealing they had built their lives on sand.

The stability we need most in days like these, however, is not first and foremost our own. We need the fulfillment of the great prophetic promise that our God “will be the stability of your times” (Isaiah 33:6). How does he do that? We look first to a stability outside ourselves. The old word for it is steadfastness, as Paul prays,

May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. (2 Thessalonians 3:5)

In their respective Christian virtue-progressions, Peter, Paul, and James all highlight the need for endurance, or steadfastness (Greek hupomoné) — the ability to bear up under trial. “Make every effort to supplement your . . . self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness” (2 Peter 1:5–6). “Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character” (Romans 5:3–4). “The testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:3–4).

Steadfastness, holding fast, is a critical facet of Christian maturity. We do not become complete or godly without it.

The virtue of steadfastness presupposes such waves, big and small — trials, conflicts, difficulties, pressures that would move the ship, and even send her out to sea, were it not for the steadfast anchor, holding the vessel firmly in place. Peter, Paul, and James mention the waves that threaten to carry us away: “our sufferings” (Romans 5:3), “trials of various kinds” (James 1:2) , “the corruption that is in the world” (2 Peter 1:4). Steadfastness isn’t a virtue that shines in comfort but in conflict — under trial (James 1:12), in persecutions, afflictions, and sufferings (2 Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Timothy 3:10–11).

https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-20/commentary-on-matthew-1510-20-21-28-5

Jesus’ response to her second cry for help includes a reiteration of his mission to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He even likens her status as a Gentile to the status of the small, pet dogs who long to be fed from the table (Matt 15:26).

The woman, however, is not deterred. She claims a place in the household, but it is a not a position of privilege or even the position of an insider. She accepts the status of a family’s dog by claiming that even the dog enjoys crumbs from the table.

Her statement is striking. She places hope in what others have discarded. This Son of David has so much power that there is enough power for the house of Israel and more than enough left over for her. She is not trying to thwart his mission. She just wants a crumb, recognizing that even a crumb is powerful enough to defeat the demon that has possessed her daughter.

Jesus praises her faith. This woman seems to understand what the members of the household of Israel have yet to grasp .Jesus is not just hope for Israel, but hope for the world.

https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/sermon-crumbs-for-dogs-matthew-15

In his commentary on this passage, Matthew Henry said, “She demonstrated spiritual quickness and sagacity” recognizing that which seems to be against us can be used for our benefit. Sagacity is one of those great descriptive words that we don’t use very often in our speech. It comes from the root word sage as in a wise sage or teacher. She sought Jesus- the one with the power and authority to meet her needs. All too often we turn to futile sources to meet our deepest needs. She continued her sagacious pursuit by calling Jesus the “Son of David,” which reveals knowledge of the promises concerning the Jewish messiah. Then, she referred to Jesus as Lord, acknowledging that He was worthy of praise. Don’t miss the lesson that she praised Jesus in the midst of her pain. The psalmist proclaimed that God is enthroned or inhabits the praises of His children.

A second characteristic that contributes to her deliverance is her humility. We should never confuse humility with weakness. This mother is a courageous warrior fighting for her child, but she humbly submits to the Lord of the universe. Pride would have been offended by the dog comment. Pride would have returned insult for insult, and pride would have gone away empty. The Bible says, “God rejects the proud, but He gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).

A third and perhaps the main characteristic contributing to her blessing was tenacity. With the odds stacked against her, she pushes forward. When she got knocked down by circumstances and criticism, she got back up. When others told her to quit because she was wasting Jesus’ time, she continued to ask. Elijah prayed seven times before he saw the first small cloud. Jesus prayed the same prayer three times in the garden of Gethsemane, and this amazing woman asks three times for help. The primary purpose of this story is to inspire us not to give up just because the hill is difficult to climb. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking.

Persevering in Prayer

https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-81-persevering-prayer-luke-181-8

Although even in this lifetime we may not understand the reasons why God delays to answer our cries of agony, we can know for certain that He never delays to answer because He does not care for us or because He is unable to do what we need. He is able to do far more than we can ask or even think, even if it seems impossible to us. Because He is omniscient, God knows even the needs that we do not bring to Him in prayer. Because He is omnipresent, He can deal with your needs in Flagstaff at the same moment that He is dealing with some needy saint in Bangladesh. Because He is omnipotent, He has plenty of power to go around. Meeting your need won’t drain His supply

God doesn’t usually explain in advance why He is delaying the answers to our requests. But we need to cling to the fact that His delays are always for our good, even if we don’t understand the reasons why.

But what does Jesus mean when He says that justice will come speedily? Here we are almost 2,000 years later, and Jesus has not returned to rescue His needy people. We all know stories of faithful saints who have prayed for something all their lives, but their prayers went unanswered. What does speedily mean?

We must understand it from God’s timetable, not ours. With the Lord, a thousand years are like a day or as a watch in the night (2 Pet. 3:8; Psa 90:4). He told Noah that there would be a flood, but 100 years went by without a drop of rain while Noah endured his mocking neighbors. He promised Abraham a son, but he watched Sarah go through menopause and 25 years elapsed before Isaac was born. He promised Joseph in his teenage years through his dreams that his father and brothers would bow down to him, but he spent his twenties in an Egyptian dungeon. He promised to deliver His people from bondage in Egypt, but 400 long years went by before He raised up Moses, and that only after Moses spent 40 years in the desert after his failure. He promised to send His Messiah, but His people had to wait 400 years after the last prophet before, in the fullness of time, God sent His Son (Gal. 4:4). Speedily by God’s calendar is not speedily by ours! One answer to the problem of delayed answers to our prayers is to get a proper view of God.

Sometimes He is waiting, like a patient farmer, until the fruits of godliness, faith, and humility in our hearts is ripe before He grants the answers (Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer [Spire Books], pp. 88-89). Jesus says that when He returns, He will be looking for faith on the earth, but the implication is that it will be a scarce commodity (the Greek expects a negative answer). While the world may scoff because God seemingly neglects His saints, surely we ought to cling to Him in faith!

Don’t Give Up

https://unlockingthebible.org/2020/10/dont-give-up-when-tired-of-battle/

How should you pray when you are worn out, discouraged, and weary of the battle? You could pray, “Lord, give me patience.” That would be good. But a better way to pray is to ask God to increase your love and to renew your confidence in his ultimate triumph.

You can pray about the surface issue, but you will pray better if your prayer touches the root of the problem. Underneath all your struggles with patience and perseverance, you will find a faith that is losing heart and a love that is growing cold.

Maybe you’ve been praying for an unbelieving loved one for years and nothing has happened. You’re getting discouraged. You can say to the Lord, “Help me to persevere in prayer.” But a better way to pray would be to ask God to increase your faith in His ability to change this person and to increase your love for this person with whom you are probably now feeling very impatient.

Maybe you are battling again with the same old sin. You are discouraged by your many failures, and you are tired of the battle. Ask the Lord to increase your faith in His power to overcome this evil in your life. Ask God to help you love Him more than you love the sin that besets you.

God is the One who makes faith and love grow, so ask Him to do it specifically in relation to your battle. God will use the hardest things in your life to make you like Christ.

Jesus endured what he suffered by exercising faith. “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he trusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Pet. 2:23). That’s faith! Jesus was surrounded by darkness, but He put his faith in the ultimate triumph of God!

Jesus also endured through love. How could he stay on that cross? People were shouting for Him to come down. What made Him stay there? “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for His friends” (John 15:13).

Christ persevered through faith and He endured through love. When others see you enduring great trials because your faith is growing and your love is increasing, they will also see a reflection of Jesus Christ in you.

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/persevere-in-prayer

 Continue steadfastly in prayer. Please don’t give up the diligence that you showed during prayer week.  There is so much power to be had in persevering prayer. Don’t forget the “impudent friend” of Luke 11:8 and don’t forget the parable Jesus told to the effect that we “ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1–8). Perseverance is the great test of genuineness in the Christian life. I praise God that some of you have persevered in prayer 60, 70, or 80 years! O, let us be a praying church, and let 1982 be saturated with prayers to the Lord of the harvest. Won’t it be great to say in the end, “I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7)?

 Be watchful in your prayers. This means, be alert! Be mentally awake! Paul probably learned this from the story of what happened in Gethsemane. Jesus asked the disciples to pray, but found them sleeping. So he said to Peter, “Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Mark 14:37–38). We must be on the watch as we pray — on the watch against a wandering mind, against vain repetitions, against trite and meaningless expressions, against limited, selfish desires. And we should also watch for what is good. We should especially be alert to God’s guidance of our prayers in Scripture. It is God who works in us to will our prayers, but we always experience this divine enablement as our own resolve and decision.

 We are to be thankful in all our prayers. The stories I have heard of what God is doing in so many of your lives through renewed prayer are amazing. They have really stirred me up to press on in prayer with thanksgiving. Keep telling me and sharing with others these good things. God will make this a harvest year if we press on in prayer with the joy of thankfulness.

When Should We Stop Praying for Something?

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/when-should-i-stop-praying-for-something

Isn’t it significant (I think it is) that in the Bible we have the statement “You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2), but we don’t have the statement “You pray too much or too long”? We don’t have a statement that says, “You have things I did not want to give you because you kept on asking me when it was time to quit.” We don’t have anything like that.

In fact, all the emphasis in the New Testament is in the other direction. Keep on praying, don’t lose heart (Luke 18:1). Ask, seek, knock (Matthew 7:7). Wake up your friend at midnight if you must (Luke 11:5–13). Go back to the city judge until he gives you justice even though he just wants you off his back (Luke 18:1–8). I mean, those are amazing, horrible pictures of God. And the point is that he loves when we keep on coming and badgering him for something we want very badly according to his revealed will.

Chapter 26 Questions

1. Share a time when you persevered in prayer before it was answered. How did you encourage yourself to continue to pray ?
2. Read Matt 15:21-28. Discuss what this story showed about persevering in prayer.
3. Pages 197-199: “  Our sovereign God has purposed to sometimes require persevering prayer as the means to accomplish His will “. Discuss this statement and the five bullet points why God has chosen to work through persevering prayer .
4. Pages 200-201: Discuss the three truths of when we should persevere in prayer. What insights did you receive  ?
   • When you desire God more than you desire the answer to your prayers.
   • When you are standing on the Word of God
   • When you are willing to wait on God’s timing for the answer.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Philippians-4-6.html

What is the meaning of Philippians 4:6? “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”

If discouragement over the problems addressed in the letter (or anything else) was robbing the Philippians of joy, then Paul gives the solution in Philippians 4:6. There is no need to fret and worry about the way things are. The solution is to give the problems over to the Only One who can actually do something about them. The Philippians are to pray in every situation, bringing their petitions (requests) to God and offering prayers of thanksgiving for what God has already done.

 When we have problems and worries, we often forget to pray about them. Then, when we do pray, we may think that the only help that God can give is to grant the request as we have presented it and change the situation. God may very well do that. He has the power to change any situation, but He will not be limited to that. God does not promise to change every situation to our liking. What He does promise to do is give us peace during any situation. In other words, God may or may not change the circumstance, but He will change our disposition toward it so that it does not cause us inner turmoil.

Practically speaking, Philippians 4:6 gives us a model for the kind of prayer we need to pray when we are anxious or worried. First, we reject worry: do not be anxious about anything. Then, we simply ask God for what we need: in every situation, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God. And we thank Him for all that He has already done: with thanksgiving. Finally, we rest, knowing that He loves us and will work things out for our good and His glory. God’s peace is then ours.

Living By Faith

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-pace-of-faith

When Paul says, “The life I live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me,” he means: “Moment by moment I feel confidence that the love which moved Jesus to the cross for me is also moving him now to work in my circumstances for my good.” That’s why Paul could say, “I have learned in whatever state I am to be content” (Philippians 4:11). He believed in the present power and goodness of God and so he was not in haste: no frenzy, no jitters.

Haste makes waste. Waste of peace. Waste of health. Waste of joy. The Lord is never in haste for he has all things under control. What a steady power should mark his people! We dishonor him by our fretful hurrying. The children of the king do not panic when they lose their keys.

Anxiety Can Be a Spiritual as well as a Mental Health Issue

https://www.christianity.com/wiki/christian-life/how-to-deal-with-anxiety-as-a-christian.html

Anxiety is not that simple because it often misunderstood to be simply that a person is stressing too much. There is a distinct difference between the sin of anxiety and the mental health disorder of anxiety that is characterized by physical changes in the brain. Anxiety is both a mental health issue and a spiritual issue. 

Billy Graham once said: “At its best, anxiety distracts us from our relationship with God and the truth that He is “Lord of heaven and earth” (Matthew 11:25). At its worst, anxiety is a crippling disease, taking over our minds and plunging our thoughts into darkness.”

The Bible goes on to tell us in the book in Philippians chapter 4, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

The first step to becoming free of anxiety is to give your life to Jesus Christ. Once you’ve taken this step, the next is to practice fixing your thoughts on Christ and his promises. (John 14:2-3). In the battlefield of our minds, we are to practice awareness of our thoughts and take them captive. 

Anxiety crops up when we least expect it. It happens when we’ve put too much on our plates. When we pile on the hustle, the busy, the doing, the too much, the too many yeses. Our body doesn’t know any other way but to say no. And our bodies shut down in ways we don’t expect. God didn’t design us to hustle 24-7. He designed us to Be Still and Know. To ‘Be still’ means to rest in God’s presence. This verse wasn’t written in the context of taking a spa day. It was written in the context of war. The meaning of the Psalm means to: stop, cease striving and stop fighting. It means to acknowledge who our God is and be in awe of him. Daily we should learn to be still before our Lord. It keeps the world from spinning off its axis within our minds. That means to become un-busy, to not hustle. We are to prioritize our time with Him and listen to what our bodies need. Rest, exercise, a good bedtime routine, getting eight hours of sleep, and consume healing foods. This is how we war against the battle of anxiety. 

How to Overcome Fear, Anxiety and Worry

https://billygraham.org/story/how-to-overcome-fear-anxiety-and-worry

Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered in anything short of God and His will for us. —Billy Graham. When Billy Graham wrote those words in 1965, no one knew how true they would be 50 years later.

At its best, anxiety distracts us from our relationship with God and the truth that He is “Lord of heaven and earth” (Matthew 11:25). At its worst, anxiety is a crippling disease, taking over our minds and plunging our thoughts into darkness.

But God wants so much more for us than to walk through life full of fear, worry and anxiety.

“Do not be anxious about anything,” the Bible tells us in the book of Philippians, chapter 4, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Our instructions don’t stop there. The chapter goes on to tell believers exactly what we should focus on. And it’s not fear, terrorism, illness, death or evil.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9, ESV, emphasis added).

The first step to an anxiety-free mind is to give your life to Jesus Christ. Once you’ve taken that step, it’s important to fix your thoughts on Jesus and the promise that He is preparing a place for His followers in heaven (John 14:2-3).

Scriptures on Anxiety and Fear

https://billygraham.org/story/bible-verses-on-anxiety-fear/

1. Hebrews 13:6
2. Philippians 4:6-7
3. Psalm 34:4
4. Psalm 42:5
5. Matthew 6:34
6. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
7. Psalm 23:1-6
8. 1 Peter 5:5-7
9. Revelation 21:4

https://bible.org/seriespage/29-how-overcome-worry-matthew-625-34

When believers live only for food, clothes, etc., they debase themselves to being like animals. Life becomes all about serving our physical body. Really that is what most advertising is about: “Eat this!” Wear this! Watch this!” It is all about making the body attractive, pleasant smelling, comfortable, and entertained. Christ later says the pagans worry about these things (v. 32). Their primary concerns are temporal matters—not eternal ones—and they live in a constant rat race to fulfill those desires. However, believers are citizens, not only of this earth, but of heaven. Therefore, we must be primarily concerned about the affairs of heaven, even as we abide on the earth. Christ emphasizes this in Matthew 6:33 when he says seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness.

Focus on the Eternal

To overcome worry, we must focus on eternal matters—like becoming holy, seeing others saved, growing, and building God’s kingdom. Col 3:1-4 says: “Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him.”

Often the way you conquer a passion is by focusing on a greater passion. To focus on earthly matters like riches and basic needs will always breed worry and anxiety. Focusing on eternal matters delivers us from those worries and brings God’s peace.

Worry does not benefit us physically, mentally, or spiritually. Proverbs says anxiety in the heart of a man brings depression (Prov 12:25). Typically, we start to worry about something, and it affects our entire mood (and often that of others). Next, we find ourselves down and discouraged. Worry also negatively affects us spiritually. In Matthew 13:22 (NIV), in the Parable of the Sowers, Christ describes the seed sown upon thorny ground as “the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.” When we are constantly worrying, it hinders our ability to receive God’s Word and apply it to our lives. No doubt, there are many in the church who listen to their favorite pastor’s podcasts every week, read all the new latest Christian books, and yet their labor profits them nothing. Worry stunts their spiritual growth.

Some have counted over 3,000 promises in Scripture, and Matthew 6:33 is one of the greatest. Christ promises the disciples that if they made God’s kingdom and his righteousness their chief priority, all their needs would be met. The word “pursue” is a present imperative meaning that this must be one’s unceasing quest, not an occasional endeavor.5 When God’s kingdom and righteousness are our priority, God meets our needs, which ultimately delivers us from fear and worry.

When we pursue God’s kingdom and his righteousness, God meets our needs, which implies the opposite of this promise is also true. When we don’t pursue his kingdom, but instead neglect God and enjoy the world and sin, we will often lack. As in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, God often allows his wayward children to go away from him, enjoy sin, and reap the consequences of it. He allows them to experience lack until they come to their senses and return home (Luke 15). 

If we pray in every situation, if we bring our petitions (requests) before God in every situation, and if we give thanks in every situation, God will give us his peace. Worry often overwhelms us because we are not people of prayer—people who constantly pray in every situation. We pray only when things are bad and not when they are good. Or we pray when things are good and get mad at God when they are bad. Or we don’t pray at all. This type of person will lack peace. Sometimes we lack peace because we fail to bring our petitions before the Lord. We don’t ask for peace; we don’t ask for reconciliation in a difficult relationship. In addition, we don’t give thanks in all things. Instead we complain, worry, and get angry. We can’t receive God’s promise of peace in those situations.

Chapter 25 Questions

1. Page 187: Describe what it looks like to “ live at God’s pace ? How do we achieve this ”pace“?
2. Page 188: Discuss the difference between godly concern and sinful anxiety ?
3. Discuss the Mathematical formulas:
   • Concern + unbelief = anxiety
   • Concern + faith = biblical virtue
4. Page 189-190: Discuss “the four reasons“ Thrasher discovered that God wanted him to experience His peace.  Share thoughts , experiences.
5. Page 191-193: Discuss insights/thoughts on Thrasher’s sections on how to experience God’s peace .
6. Share scripture  verses, modifications to your life to decrease anxiety, and  experiences in dealing with anxiety in your life.

His father was an unbeliever and George grew up a liar and a thief, by his own testimony. His mother died when he was 14, and he records no impact that this loss had on him except that while she was dying he was roving the streets with his friends “half intoxicated.” He went on living a bawdy life, and then found himself in prison for stealing when he was 16 years old. His father paid to get him out, beat him, and took him to live in another town (Schoenbeck). Mueller used his academic skills to make money by tutoring in Latin, French, and mathematics. Finally his father sent him to the University of Halle to study divinity and prepare for the ministry because that would be a good living. Neither he nor George had any spiritual aspirations.

Then on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of November, 1825, when Mueller was 20 years old, he was invited to a Bible study and, by the grace of God, felt the desire to go. “I have not the least doubt, that on that evening, [God] began a work of grace in me. . . . That evening was the turning point in my life.” 

Mueller became sick (thank God for providential sickness!) and in the summer of 1829 he went for recovery to a town called Teignmouth. There in a little chapel called Ebenezer at least two crucial discoveries were made: the preciousness of reading and meditating on the word of God, and the truth of the doctrines of grace. For ten days Mueller lived with a nameless man who change his life forever: “Through the instrumentality of this brother the Lord bestowed a great blessing upon me, for which I shall have cause to thank Him throughout eternity.”

https://www.azquotes.com/author/10538-George_Muller

“In order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer, is, to continue praying; for the less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray.”

“I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk about, when I lie down and when I rise up. And the answers are always coming.”

“I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man may be nourished…I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it.”

https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.cloversites.com/87/8759bcc4-8a64-4fd5-89a9-80d17e816988/documents/Soul_Nourishment_First.pdf

Soul Nourishment First from The Autobiography of George Muller

 It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, the benefit of which I have not lost for more than fourteen years. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord, but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God—not prayer, but the Word of God. And here again, not the simple reading of the Word of God so that it only passes through my mind just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what I read, pondering over it, and applying it to my heart. To meditate on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed. And that thus, by means of the Word of God, whilst meditating on it, my heart be brought into experimental communion with the Lord. I began therefore to meditate on the New Testament from the beginning early in the morning. The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord’s blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God, searching as it were into every verse to get blessing out of it. When we pray, we speak to God. Now, prayer, in order to be continued for any length of time in any other than a formal manner, requires, generally speaking, a measure of strength or godly desire; and the season, therefore, when this exercise of the soul can be most effectively performed is after the inner man has been nourished by meditation on the Word of God, where we find our Father speaking to us, to encourage us, to comfort us, to instruct us, to humble us, to reprove us. By the blessing of God, I ascribe to this mode the help and strength which I have had from God to pass in peace through deeper trails, in various ways, than I had ever had before. How different, when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what it is when, without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day come upon me!                                           May 9th, 1841

https://www.compellingtruth.org/childlike-faith.html

Childlike faith looks outside itself for salvation. Salvation is a gift; man does not pay for or contribute to his salvation—it is entirely of God (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 8:1; Romans 5:1). Just as a child has to use his father’s money to pay for a Christmas gift he plans to give his father, we depend on God’s provision for everything, even the good works we do in His name (Ephesians 2:10). The world sometimes misunderstands the idea of childlike faith, thinking that Christians are childlike because they believe in myths and fairy tales. But this is not the Bible’s meaning when it compares us to children. Instead, childlike faith is a metaphor for trust, dependence and love, and an encouragement to ask for what we need (Matthew 7:11).

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/what-does-the-verse-faith-comes-from-hearing-mean.html

So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the Word of God (Rom 10:17)

Faith in God means believing in and trusting in the greatest hope—that God became man, lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death for your sins, and rose again to glory so that you could have eternal life by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. 

The ESV Study Bible explains verse 17, “Paul now sums up the argument thus far. One can come to faith only through hearing the gospel, and the specific message that must be heard is the word of Christ, that is, the good news about Jesus Christ as the crucified and risen Savior.”

According to the Lutheran Study Bible English Standard Version (ESV), the meaning of hearing includes, “the act of hearing, the ear, or the message heard. The message is the meaning here.” (Romans 10:17 Commentary p 1930). The ear receives the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, faith begins in the hearer.

The cross of Christ fulfilled God’s plan of salvation for the world. Those who hear this message and receive it come to understand the meaning of faith. They know that faith is a gift from God and that salvation is God’s grace poured into the hearts of the hearer through the power of the Holy Spirit. We can say with certainty, “God gives us faith as a gift, through which Christ’s righteousness is credited to us (Ephesians 2:8-9) and our sins are forgiven (Romans 3:22-24)”

Chapter 11 Questions

1. From pg 84….what does childlike faith look like ?

• What hindered George’s devotion to Scripture in his early years as a Christian ?
• Who do you like to read ?
• What obstacles are in your life that keep you from the Word of God ?

2. Read and discuss Romans 10:17

3. What do the verses on page 87 say to you on how to approach the Word of God.

4. Discuss George Mueller’s “ Soul Nourishment First “ ( in notes and mentioned on pg 86 )

Coming to today’s text we will look at Galatians 3:1-14. Paul could have concluded his letter at the end of chapter 2. He has made his point, that justification is by faith alone. But thinking about the Galatian Christians, his feelings overwhelm him as they did in Gal 1:6, and he begins a whole new section for the next two chapters to buttress his statement of the gospel with theology. We will see the first few of his arguments here.

1. An appeal to their own experience (Gal 3:1-5)
2. The example of Abraham (Gal 3:6-10)
3. Two roads leading to two destinies (Gal 3:11-14)

“O Foolish Galatians! Who has Bewitched You”? (Gal 3:1)

Here is an interesting question. How could the Judaizers ever convince the Galatian Christians that the way of the law was better than the way of grace? Paul asks them “Who bewitched you”, or “Who cast a spell on you”? 

Of course Paul knows who deceived them. It was the Judaizers. However, there is a subtle hint here, that there is more going on. There is a spiritual battle being waged against their souls (1 Peter 5:8) which is being masterminded by Satan. Behind the false teachers, Paul sees the activity of the devil himself, whom Jesus calls a “liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

The reason this was so astonishing to Paul, is that it was “before [their] eyes that Jesus was publicly portrayed as crucified” (Gal 3:1). The word could be translated “placarded”, as in announced in a poster and waved in public. In other words, Paul is saying that “the message of Jesus as Messiah who died on the cross was plastered up in bill-boards before your very eyes” (Cole). Paul had preached about the death of Jesus with crystal clarity. Remember, Paul preached in Galatia exactly the way he did at Corinth, where he said, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). Paul did not allow his preaching to get distracted from the single point of the death of Jesus on the cross. So let us ask ourselves. Is this the focus of the preaching we often hear today? If not, we may possibly be listening to a false gospel.

Why is the gospel of works so enticing? Because it panders to our old nature. It enables us to compare ourselves with others, and to feel proud. It enables us to have a sense of superiority to others. This is why we are always tempted to add to the gospel. But to yield to that temptation is deadly, and our eternal destiny could be at stake.

When Paul says Jesus was publicly portrayed as “crucified”, the word is in the perfect participle. This means it was a once-for-all event, but the benefits of Jesus’ crucifixion are forever valid and fresh. The death of Jesus was completed, and it achieved its purpose perfectly. The gospel is not good advice for men, but good news about Christ. It is not an invitation to do anything, but a declaration about what God has done. It is not a demand but an offer.

This is why Paul is saying that if the Galatians had grasped the gospel of Christ crucified – that everything necessary for our salvation was accomplished by the death of Jesus on the cross, they should have resisted the spell of whoever was bewitching them. They were enticed because they did not carefully think through the implications.

Here is a sobering truth. The gospel needs to be grasped by our minds and not just by our hearts and our emotions. We need to think deeply and process its truth and make it our own. This is how we grow deep spiritual roots. Cole says “theology is nothing more than the ordinary rules of grammar and logic applied to the text of Scripture”. This is the gift that our education gives us as Christians. We can use all our study of language and grammar to help us understand the deep truths of God. Ultimately the only purpose of education is to help us understand God more. Everything else is chaff that will pass away and has no eternal value.

Was All This in Vain? (Gal 3:2-5)

Paul first appeals to the Galatians’ own experience. Usually it is dangerous to depend on our experience, so Paul will not stop here. This is a launching pad for him to buttress all his assertions from Scripture.

He asks them how they initially received the Holy Spirit. Paul is making an implicit assumption here that he states explicitly elsewhere. To have new life in Jesus Christ is to receive the Holy Spirit in our lives (see Rom 8:14). This is a good place for me to point out another false teaching that is prevalent among us today. There are some who teach that after accepting Jesus, we need to live a life of purity and seek after a “second blessing” called the baptism of the Holy Spirit that is evidenced by tongue speaking. Here Paul is clearly stating that our conversion is marked by our reception of the Holy Spirit. I would like you to keep this false teaching of the second blessing in the back of your mind as we go through today’s study, and evaluate it in the light of what the Bible says here.

Paul goes on to say “Did you suffer (or experience) so many things in vain – if indeed it was in vain?” (Gal 3:4). He is basically saying that if they go back to semi-Judaism, all that they experienced will be worthless. I.e. They will not be saved. Another way of looking at it, they “began in the Spirit” (Gal 3:3). That is they were “born again”. They had a new spiritual life. How can they feed that spiritual life by trying to be “perfected in the flesh” (Gal 3:3)? That does not make sense. They need to continue in the same way that they started. They cannot go back to what would only gratify their old natures.

Once Saved, Always Saved?

Clearly, Paul sees the possibility that all that the Galatians experienced could have been “in vain” (Gal 3:4). This is why he also says, “I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.” (Gal 5:3-4). He also says, “I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you: (Gal 4:19). So regarding the maxim: “Once saved always saved”; is it true? By this, if we are asking, “Can a professing Christian fall away”? The Bible’s answer is clear. “Yes”.

The reason this is not necessarily the full story is because God makes certain promises, e.g. John 3:16. All those who believe “will not perish but have eternal life”. Jesus promises that He will not cast away anyone who comes to Him (John 6:37). He promises that “no one can snatch us from His hand” (John 10:28). Everyone who is “justified” will also be “glorified” (Romans 8:30). So those who look at this question from the standpoint of what is called “Reformed Theology”, point out that if God is true to His Word, He is promising to take the responsibility of keeping all those who come to Him in faith and are “justified”. Jesus is the good Shepherd who keeps His sheep (John 10:9).

But if that is true, how can a professing Christian fall away? Here is how we reconcile both these strands of biblical teaching. We have already seen from Galatians, that it is possible to “come to Christ” without putting our entire trust in Him. In today’s society, it is possible to come to Christ for the sake of all the blessings we think we will get if we become Christians. There are people who come to Christ because they think God will become their “bartender” who will give them whatever they want, be it health, wealth or prosperity. There are many reasons people may “accept Christ” but may not really understand the gospel, who do not come solely trusting the finished work of Christ. Sometimes I have heard preachers preach that if we come to Christ, God will take care of our problems, and our lives will become very fulfilled. That is not the gospel. If they give an altar call with such a message, many may come forward without really understanding the true gospel at all. Therefore, there could be many of us who think we are Christians, but in reality have believed a false gospel and are not saved at all. We may then attend Bible studies, go to church regularly, read the Bible and pray, and yet still not be saved. Then when difficulties come, we get disillusioned with God and lose our faith. This is what happened to the seeds that fell on rocky soil and among thorns. Both started to grow, but never bore fruit. Their growth was external without penetrating into their hearts. I.e. they appeared to be saved, but never were and so they fell away. This is why we sometimes see those who appeared to be strong Christians, preachers even, who have walked away from their faith. There is no guarantee that apart from repentance they will be accepted by Jesus on the final judgment.

Then how can we know we are saved? Never 100%. The Bible uses the term “assurance” of salvation. It is not a guarantee, but a gift given to us by the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit testifies with our spirits that we are the children of God” (Rom 8:16). When we are walking with God our assurance is strong. When we stop walking with God, He withdraws our assurance, along with the sense of His Presence, to draw us back to Him. This is God’s gift to His children, to draw them back to Him through this unease that they feel. Those who subscribe to the reformed view will go as far as to say the evidence of true salvation is that a person remains faithful to Christ until death. We may wander, but God will draw us back. Those who fall away and never come back have most likely demonstrated that they were never saved. “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). While we are on earth, we need to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (because eternity is at stake) (Phil 2:12). We need to battle against sin because our passions “wage war against our souls” (1 Peter 2:11) and because Satan seeks to devour us and destroy us like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). Please note, only God knows who really belongs to Him. He sometimes disciplines sinning believers with death, but that does not necessarily mean they were not saved (see 1 Cor 11:30). If you have a loved one who accepted Christ and then walked away, and is now no more, only God knows if that person had really put his or her trust in Jesus. We cannot see the heart. For ourselves however, we are warned to keep watch over our own souls.

So in summary, is “once saved, always saved” true? There are some who would say “no”. Others would say “yes” and “no”. “Yes” is from God’s standpoint. God knows those who are His, and He will preserve them and keep them in His fold (2 Tim 2:19). However in either case, from a human standpoint, the evidence of our salvation is by the fact that we remain in the faith and bear the fruit of the Spirit (Matt 24:13). It is dangerous to just look back to a time in the past when we “accepted Christ”, and be confident we will be saved. Many will say to Him on the last day: “Lord, Lord, did we not do x, y and z” (Matt 7:22), and He will say “Depart from me, I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness” (Matt 7:23). It doesn’t matter what we professed in the past, or even profess now. If there is no evidence of new life in us, we need to heed Christ’s warning. Let us not be lulled into a false sense of security. Regardless of which view we hold, we can only be confident of our salvation to the extent we are walking with God. This sense of assurance sometimes waxes and wanes as we live our lives, and that is God’s way of making us “work out our salvation with fear and trembling”.

However we cannot face sin, trials or truly love if we are stunted by fear, because our motivation for doing such things will be wrong. We won’t seek God for His own sake. If you lack assurance of your salvation, you will question His care for you. So if you are wrestling with doubt, spend time studying the BIble, praising God and filling your mind with Scripture. Does this make you saved? No because these are works (see Eph 2:8-9). But doing this will remind you of the gospel. We need to be constantly reminded of Who God is, and what He has done – that we are saved by grace, not works! Don’t rely on your feelings. Trust His promises.

Abraham Become Righteous By His Faith (Gal 3:6-9)

Paul then points out that Abraham became righteous while he was still a “kind of Gentile”. Let us recall the story. Abraham was an old man. Although he had no children, God promised him a son. One day he took him outside on a clear night’s sky and showed him the stars and said “so shall your descendants be” (Gen 15:5). The bible then records “And he believed the Lord and He counted it to him as righteous (Gen 15:6). Remember what we said about “justification” last week. It is a declaration by God that we are “not guilty” and have a right standing before God. This verse indicates that Abraham was “justified” in this sense at that very moment. This was well before Isaac was born, and definitely well before God instituted circumcision as the sign of His covenant with Israel. Paul is therefore pointing out that Abraham was justified by faith, and not by works.

Paul then takes this a step further. He says that Abraham is the “father of the faithful”. He takes us back to an even earlier promise God made to Abraham. “In you shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gal 3:8, referring Gen 12:3). Paul says this was the gospel that was first preached to Abraham. Everyone who has faith in God are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith (Gal 3:9).

Two Roads, Two Destinies (Gal 3:10-14)

Paul explains this further by providing two alternatives to the Galatians, both from the Old Testament.

1. “The one who does [the deeds of the law] shall live by them” (Gal 3:12 quoting Lev 18:5)
2. “The righteous shall live by faith” (Gal 3:11, quoting Hab 2:4)

These are two completely different paths, but both offer eternal life. Do you remember Jesus’ answer when the rich young man came to Jesus with the question “What must I do to obtain eternal life” (Mark 10:17)? Jesus answered the question. “You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother” (Mark 10:19). God’s promise with regards to keeping the commandments was “do this and you will live” (Luke 10:28). The problem is, that no human being besides Jesus has ever kept all the commandments perfectly. And God’s promise of life through the law has a flip side. “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the Law and do them” (Gal 3:10, quoting Deut 27:26). This means every one who tries to please God by obeying the law is under God’s curse.

Then Paul goes on to say that Jesus took on our curse on Himself. He does this by pointing to the fact that by hanging on the cross Jesus was cursed, according to Deut 21:32 which says “a hanged man is cursed by God”. This was the same curse we are under because we cannot keep the law. Jesus was cursed by God because of our inability to please God. This is why Jesus cried out from the cross “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me” (Mark 15:34)? He Himself bore God’s curse for our sins. This is why we are saved when we put our trust in Jesus. Our sins have been accounted for and we have been set free or “redeemed”.

Paul says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by being a curse for us” (Gal 3:13). Redemption always has the connotation of being “bought with a price”. It is used for slaves who were purchased, or prisoners who were set free. The actual price that obtains redemption is called the ranson. Paul is saying that Jesus purchased our salvation through his death on the cross. Jesus said: “The Son of Man did not come to serve but to be served, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). The apostle Peter says it beautifully: “you were ransomed … not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:19). His blood was “precious”. Our redemption was costly. Yet Jesus did this for us.

Paul also says Jesus became a curse “for us” (Gal 3:13). This has the idea of substitution. Jesus’ gave up his life as a substitute for mine. He died the death we deserved. He took our place and bore our punishment. We deserve God’s curse for our sin and Jesus bore that curse in our place. Therefore, when we put our trust in Him we are no longer under that curse. The penalty of sin has been paid. We are free!

So Paul is challenging the Galatians, just as he is challenging us today. Which road should we take? One, where the price is paid in full, and our freedom from the curse of the law has been secured in Christ? Or do we think we can help God by working for our salvation? If we do, we remain under God’s curse, and are not saved. This was what is at stake for the Galatians, and what is at stake for us, if we do not rely wholly on the cross of Jesus for our salvation.

Application

What the gospel is. The gospel is Christ crucified. It is His finished work on the cross. To preach the gospel is to publicly portray Jesus Christ as crucified. The gospel is not primarily a baby in a manger or the teachings of a wise teacher, or even just the empty tomb. The gospel contains Christ on the cross. Only when Christ is seen “publicly portrayed as crucified (Gal 3:1) is the gospel being preached. This was not just a historic event that happened 2000 years ago. It has relevance today, because Jesus bought our salvation on that cross. He died as our substitute, and faced God’s curse in our stead. We need to be confronted with this crucified Jesus, and we need to come to this crucified Christ for our salvation.

What the gospel offers. The gospel offers great blessing. God’s promise to Abraham was “in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed”. What was this blessing? First it was “justification” (Gal 3:8). Second, it is the gift of the Holy Spirit (Gal 3:5). These two gifts are interdependent. Both come together . Everyone who is justified get the gift of the Holy Spirit. This marks the beginning of new life in Jesus Christ – a life that bears the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). It is a life that lasts forever, where we will spend all our days in the Presence of the One who redeemed us as a people to Himself.

Although the gospel is free for us, it came at a terrible price. Paul says to the Corinthian Christians: “You were bought with a price, therefore glorify God with your bodies” (1 Cor 6:20). Jesus paid the ultimate price to redeem us. The ransom was His very life blood, that He shed for us. Let us not take this lightly, but let us bow down in gratitude and worship before this God who was willing to pay so much to set us free.

What the gospel requires. The gospel offers blessing. What must we do to receive it? Nothing. Just believe that it has already been won for us by Jesus who died on our cross to procure it for us. This is the gospel of both the Old and the New Testaments. It unifies all people of faith in the history of the world. One day we will all celebrate this gospel together with Jesus. A gospel of grace, through and through! What a blessing this is!

Part of the life of the early church was that they participated in a communal meal called an “Agape Feast”, or “Love Feast”. Here the whole congregation came together to share a meal prepared from them pooling whatever resources they had. For some slaves, this may have been the only nice meal they had all week. It was a powerful statement of the togetherness of Christians in a very special way.

This is all very good. However, we must not forget that there were Jews who had very strict food laws and ceremonial laws, and that Gentiles who did not have these constraints. Jews literally believed (and it was true under the Old Covenant) that God only accepted people who identified with the Jewish people and submitted to their laws. A strict Jew was forbidden even to do business with a Gentile. So in Antioch, this posed a problem because the church had both Jews and Gentiles. If the old law was obeyed it would be impossible for Jews and Gentiles to sit together and eat a common meal.

When Peter first visited Antioch, he completely disregarded the old taboos in the glory of the new faith. But later some people came from the Jewish party in Jerusalem in James’ name. It is important that this does not imply that these people shared James’ views, or were actually sent by James. In fact, James says he did not send them. He says, “We have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instruction” (Acts 15:24).

Out of fear of them, Peter withdrew from the common meal. Then other Jews also followed Peter’s example, including even their pastor Barnabas. However, it gets worse. This meal probably ended with the Lord’s supper. If Peter joined the Gentiles during the meal, then surely he also participated in their remembrance of the Lord’s death by celebrating the Lord’s Supper together. So by not joining the Gentiles during the meal, he was also withdrawing from fellowship with them over the Lord’s Supper.

Peter should have known better. He heard directly from Jesus Himself, that the food we eat cannot defile us, because it just goes through our bodies and comes out again later. Jesus taught that true defilement originates in the heart, not in external things (Mark 7:14-23). Then he had another revelation from God regarding this, that prompted him to share the gospel with the Roman Gentile, Cornelius (Act 10:9-29). He later defended his actions with full conviction (Acts 11:1-18). This is why when Peter first went to Antioch he had no qualms eating with the Gentiles. However, because he was “fearing the circumcision party he withdrew and mingled only with the Jews (Gal 2:12).

Considering Barnabas, remember that he was the one who introduced Paul to the apostles in Jerusalem (Acts 9:27), and Barnabas invited Paul to minister in the church at Antioch, which began Paul’s public ministry (Acts 11:25). Yet here, “even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy (Gal 2:13). Most likely for Barnabas it was a matter of love. He did not want to grieve the people who came from Jerusalem. But for Paul that was “peace at any price”. And Paul was not willing to buy peace on those terms.

Paul Confronts Peter and Barnabas (Gal 2:14)

At this point Paul decided to act very firmly and decisively, because he saw that a church ceases to be Christian if it contains class distinctions. If we are all children of God, then we need to be able to fellowship together. Paul considers the situation serious enough that he needed to deal with this in public. Paul was willing to oppose Peter as well as his friend because the truth of the gospel was at stake. Interestingly, Paul calls Peter “Cephas” here (his old name prior to being renamed by Jesus). This is a subtle reminder that Peter was not living in the light of his new life.

Peter may not have realized it, but by withdrawing from the Gentiles, he was implicitly saying that Jews were superior to Gentiles. In some ways the Gentiles lacked something the Jews had. Otherwise why would they separate? Now, if you pressed Peter to this point, he would no doubt have denied it. But Peter’s actions asserted it. Just because Peter did not do it consciously or deliberately, did not make it ok. His actions had serious consequences and he needed to be held accountable for his behavior.

Paul starts off by pointing out the basic inconsistency in Peter’s behavior. First Peter did not follow Jewish ceremonial law and ate with the Gentiles, thus “living like a Gentile”. Then by associating with the circumcision party, he was tacitly agreeing with them that in order to be a true Christian, Gentiles must live like Jews (Gal 2:14). But worse than inconsistency, Paul points out that this is hypocrisy. And Peter’s actions were not just personal, but he was misleading others as well.

In addition to using this incident as a means of showing how important the true gospel is, Paul was also showing through this that he was independent of the other apostles, and also had apostolic authority.

This is probably one of the watershed incidents in the history of the church, that God used to preserve the purity of the gospel to us. Imagine what would have happened if Peter and Barnabas’ actions won out. The church at Antioch would have stopped being a “missionary church”. They would have sent out their “missionaries” from the circumcision party that would have either consumed or divided the early church. But this issue did not become a crisis because of Paul’s swift intervention. We may not be here today, if Paul had not defended the integrity of the gospel so vigorously.

Peter’s Response

How did Peter respond to this confrontation? The Bible does not say. However it has to be that Peter acknowledged his sin and was restored to fellowship. When we read Peter’s two epistles you see that Peter teaches exactly the same gospel of grace in God as Paul does. The word “grace” is found in every chapter of Peter’s letter. Peter also makes it a point to say that he and Paul were in complete agreement (2 Peter 3:15-16). In fact, Peter calls Paul’s letters “Scripture” that “unstable people distort”. This is the highest praise for Paul by the apostle Peter, showing that this incident did not destroy their friendship and unity in Christ, but rather, strengthened it.

Why This Issue Was So Serious: Gal 2:15-21

This section continues with Paul’s confrontation with Peter, and we don’t know exactly when it becomes general teaching from Paul. It contains key words (“sin”, “works”, “justification”, “grace”, “the cross”, “faith”, “union with Christ”) which comprise the heart of the gospel. Here Paul first outlines the gospel, and then spends Galatians chapters 3 and 4, defending it.

Paul gives three arguments explaining why the integrity of the gospel was at stake.

1. The basis of our justification before God
2. Freedom from the law
3. The reason Jesus needed to die.

Justification by Faith (2:15-16)

This is the first appearance of an important word in this letter. “Justification by Faith” was the slogan of the Reformation, and we need to understand what “justification” means. Many of these thoughts have been taken from Theodore Epp’s commentary on Galatians.

Job asked: “How can a person be just before God” (Job 9:2)? God’s answer is “The just shall live by his faith (Hab 2:4). This truth liberated Martin Luther from religious bondage.

Justification is “The act of God, whereby he declares a believing sinner righteous in Jesus Christ”. It is a one-time act, not a process. No one christian is more “justified” than another. God is the one who justifies (Rom 8:33). By obeying the works of the law, no one can be justified. Paul explains later in this letter that the law’s purpose is to reveal sin, not to redeem us from sin.

In justification, God “declares” a person righteous. He does not “make” the person righteous. Of course justification leads to a changed life, which is what James 2 was all about. But justification is an act of God. Before a person was “guilty” before God, but the moment he trusts in Christ he is “not guilty”, and he can never be called “guilty” again!

Justification is more than “forgiveness”. If a person is simply forgiven and let go, he can do wrong again, and become guilty all over again. But once you have been justified by faith, you can never be held guilty before God.

Justification is also more than just “pardon”. A pardoned criminal still has a record. However, in God’s sight God no longer holds our sins on record (see Psa 32:102, Rom 4:1-8).

Finally, God justifies “sinners”, not good people. Paul says that God justifies “the ungodly” (Rom 4:5). The reason most sinners are not justified is only that they will not admit that they are sinners, or come to Christ. It is only such people who can be saved by Jesus.

This is why when Peter separated himself, implicitly implying that Jews were better, he was undermining the truth that all Christians stand equally justified before God due to no merit of their own.

Freedom From the Law (Gal 2:17-18)

The apostle Peter calls the Mosaic law a “a yoke that neither we or our ancestors were able to bear” (Acts 15:10). Here by his actions he was going under that yoke of bondage again.

Paul therefore says, “But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor” (Gal 2:17-18).

This sounds complicated, but he is basically saying: “Peter, you and I did not find salvation through the law. We found it through faith in Christ. But now after being saved you are going back to the law. This means Christ alone did not save you, otherwise you would not have needed to go back to the law. Further, when you preached the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles you told them they were saved by faith and not by keeping the law. Now by going back to legalism, you are building up what you yourself had torn down. So by tearing it down you were also sinning. And this would lead us to conclude that Jesus caused you to sin, making Jesus a ‘servant of sin’”.

Putting it another way, Paul is reminding Peter of his own experience of the grace of God in his life. To now go back to Moses is to deny everything God had done for him.

“Crucified With Christ” (Gal 2:19-20)

For Paul, the “once-for-allness” of his conversion will not allow him to turn back. The law had taken him to the gates of death. He was a condemned criminal without any hope. In turning to Christ the darkness left him symbolized by his regaining his sight, and the light streamed in. So he was happy to let his past reliance on the law die. And he would never go back there.

He then says something very precious in Gal 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”.

This is a powerful statement for the total sufficiency and efficacy of the work of Christ. The cross was for Jesus, a complete break from life. Paul is using this metaphor. In putting his faith in Jesus, he had died to his old way of life by trying to please God by following the law. He is dead to all claims that would commend him by way of the law. There went all his hopes. A lifetime of accumulation of “merit” was wasted. In a sense the old Paul died.

But Paul goes on to say something positive. “I have been crucified … yet I live”. Live in what sense? It is Christ living in him now. Every moment he lives in constant dependence on Him. He looks to Jesus for everything. This is a life that matters, and Paul cannot even consider the thought of going back.

He then says something absolutely mind blowing: He says Jesus “loved me, and gave Himself up for me”. This is so fantastic we fail to really believe it. Jesus’ love is intensely personal. Jesus did not die for the world in general. He looked through the portals of time, and saw you and me, and when He gave up His life, it was for “me”, personally. He set Paul apart before he even was born. He has done the same for us who know Christ. He has loved us even before we existed. Think about it. Put your name alongside the “me” in this verse. “The life I now live … I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me, Peter, and gave Himself up for me, Peter”! Think of the magnitude of that love. Jesus saw you and me, and chose to give up His own life to save us!

Why Did Jesus Have to Die (Gal 2:21)?

Paul gives one final argument in this section. He just asks a simple question, namely this. If it is possible to please God by doing good things and being obedient, then why did Jesus have to die in the first place? This is beautifully captured in the song by the band Mercy Me called “Best News Ever”. Some of the lyrics go like this:

Some say, “He’s keeping score”
So try hard then try a little more
But hold up, if this were true
Explain to me what the cross is for

Think about it. Even before the incarnation, Jesus was the Lord of creation. He ruled the universe, and He chose to step down and be humiliated and mistreated, and cruelly murdered on a shameful cross. Remember in Gethsemane, He cried out to His Father that if it was at all possible that God would remove this “cup” from Him (Mark 14:36)? The Father did not remove that cup. This means the death of Jesus was absolutely necessary for our salvation.

When we think we can earn God’s favor, we are effectively insulting all that Jesus did for us and “nullifying the grace of God” (Gal 2:21). The fact that earning God’s favor is impossible is why Jesus came. He came because we couldn’t help ourselves. He came because we were horribly guilty and there was nothing we could do about it. So He chose to take away our guilt by bearing it on Himself. If we put our trust in Him, God looks at us and declares that we are “Not Guilty”. The transaction is completed. It is done. Nothing can change this. Is this good news or what!

Application

Have I been saved by the grace of God? This is a question we need to ask ourselves. Grace is “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense”. Am I trusting in myself for my salvation? My morality? My good works? My religion? If so, I am not a Christian. A true Christian is one who trusts in Christ alone for salvation. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God – not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph 2:8-9).

Am I trying to mix law and grace? Law means I must do something to earn favor with God. Grace means God has already done everything for me through the finished work of Jesus Christ. Salvation is not by faith plus something. Salvation is by faith alone. While attending church and other religious activities have their place as good expressions of our faith in Jesus, they can never be added on to our faith to secure our eternal salvation. “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (Rom 11:6).

Do I really believe that I have been justified in Christ? It has been said “justified” means “just as if I had never sinned”. This is correct. We have a right standing before God, and God does not hold us guilty for any of our sin. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psa 103:12). We need never fear judgment, because our sins were already judged on the cross. “There is therefore now no condemnation for us in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). Do we really believe this? This is tremendously liberating.

Even Christian leaders can seriously sin. This incident about the apostle Peter shows that even though he was the leader of the Jerusalem Church, he also had feet of clay. This should be an encouragement to us. If Peter could make such a serious mistake and be restored, then there is hope for us. The gospel is tremendously freeing in this way. It frees us from the guilt and burden of sin.

I need to respond well to confrontation. Peter’s humility in response is also good for us to think about. He did not hide behind his reputation or his position in the church. The fact that Paul and Peter had a good relationship with each other after this says something about Peter’s humility. This is also a consequence of the freedom available to us in the gospel. We can allow ourselves to be vulnerable and acknowledge when we do wrong. We are fully “justified” before God, so there is nothing for us to prove. This security frees us to be vulnerable.

My relation with other Christians. Let us now think in terms of Christian fellowship. When we refuse to eat at the Lord’s table with one whom we yet acknowledge to be a fellow Christian, it can only be because we think we have something that the other has not. Whether it be membership of a certain denomination, or the mode of baptism, or apostolic succession or some other theological doctrine. This is what Paul opposed so strongly, because he will point out presently that our standing before God is only by faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross, and on nothing else.

Am I willing to defend the truth at all costs? On the flip side of this, when the fundamental truth of the gospel is being compromised by someone we know, “peace at any cost” is not worth the price. This was Barnabas’ approach. This incident also shows us the power of loving confrontation when a fellow believer is seen to be sinning. A Christian who loves God, will be grateful to receive criticism, because he sees it as God’s way of showing him things in his life that he may be blinded to. The Bible says, “The kisses of an enemy are profuse, but faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Proverbs 27:6). Let us learn to encourage correction from Christians we trust. This is a tremendous tool God uses to help us grow in sanctification.

• Temptations and snares (1 Timothy 6:9, Hebrews 12:4)
• Difficult circumstances (death, divorce, loss of job, sickness, etc) James 5:14;
• Social and economic persecution (James 2:6)
• God’s discipline (Hebrews 12:5-11). Can also be consequences of sin (addiction, jail, etc)
• Due to choices we make in following Jesus (1 Peter 4:12-19, Hebrews 10:32-39, 1 Cor 4:9-13)

Our greatest tragedies press the hardest, darkest questions on our soul. “Has God abandoned me“? “Is he really in charge and also good“? “Is he even there“?

Are there exceptions which do not apply regarding our trials in James 1:2? If so, what are they?

I have often wrestled with whether some of these promises really apply to me since I am sinful.

• But the gospel is all about Jesus being my righteousness. The promises apply to me, because I have been clothed with the righteousness of Jesus
• EXCEPT – and this is a big exception: this is only for true believers! It applies to James “brethren” (vs 2). In that case no promises apply, except the invitation that if we come to Christ He will not cast us away.
• For believers, there are no exceptions at all. There are no qualifying statements about what kind of trials this applies to.
  • Romans 8:28
  • 2 Cor 4:17-18

What does James mean by “Count it all joy”?

• Joy does not come naturally, but we are being encouraged to choose joy.
• Joy is not the same as happiness. It does not depend on our circumstances.
  • Present joy: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you … ” (John 15:11)
  • Future joy: ” … and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).  Jesus endured the cross “for the (future) joy that was set before Him” (Heb 12:2).

This is the sense in which we are to count it all joy. A future joy is promised to us, that is fantastic.

James 1:3-5: Why does James tell us to be joyful in the midst of trials?

• Trials “produce” steadfastness. We can think of our trials as a “steadfastness factory”. The more the trials, the greater the steadfastness.
• Even Jesus “learned” obedience by the things He suffered (Heb 5:8).
• For true believers there is no other possible outcome. This is a cause and effect. See also 2 Cor 4:17-18

It plays a critical role in making us become like Jesus, and ends in His as well as our glory (Rom 8:28, 2 Cor 4:17, Rom 8:18, Matt 5:12, Rom 5:3-11, 1 Peter 1:6-7).

“Faith does not flourish when it lies untested. It atrophies when it goes un-exercised. And eventually it dies. So, when God loves us with his saving love, and gives us saving faith, he commits, because he cares for us, to inject our lives with various trials to train, grow, sweeten, strengthen, and mature what matters most in us. Our “various trials” in this life are not superfluous to our enduring in faith. And they are not just threats to losing our faith. They are one of God’s essential means through which he preserves the faith he has given us and keeps us as his own.” – David Matthis

James 1:3,4 – What does James mean by “steadfastness”?

• It is important to note that this does not mean “perfect, steady faith”. The whole point is that trials are often designed to stretch our faith to its limit. We struggle, we falter, we stumble, our faith sometimes fails.
• Steadfastness means “staying the course. persevering to the end”.
• Through the worst of trials, we cling to God in hope and in faith even if we wander temporarily

What do we learn about God related to our trials and temptations?

• God is in control in the midst of our trials. There are no accidents – Jesus rules the universe: Matt 28:18, Eph 1:22
• He is working out His purposes within us during our trials

Examples

1. Christians during the plague (Ad 265). “Then, a century later came another great plague. Once again the Greco-Roman world trembled as, on all sides, family, friends, and neighbors died horribly. No one knew how to treat the stricken. Nor did most people try. During the first plague, the famous classical physician Galen fled Rome for his country estate where he stayed until the danger subsided. But for those who could not flee, the typical response was to try to avoid any contact with the afflicted, since it was understood that the disease was contagious. Hence, when their first symptom appeared, victims often were thrown into the streets, where the dead and dying lay in piles. … the impact of Christian mercy was so evident that in the fourth century when the emperor Julian attempted to restore paganism, he exhorted the pagan priesthood to compete with the Christian charities. In a letter to the high priest of Galatia, Julian urged the distribution of grain and wine to the poor, noting that “the impious Galileans [Christians], in addition to their own, support ours, [and] it is shameful that our poor should be wanting our aid.” But there was little or no response to Julian’s proposals because there were no doctrines and no traditional practices for the pagan priest to build upon…. Christians believed in life everlasting.“
2. John Paton. Two missionaries landed in 1839, and were killed and eaten by the cannibals soon after they went ashore. Paton goes there. His wife and child die within his first year of being there. He continues there alone under incredible circumstances of constant danger. “A wild chief followed me around for four hours with his loaded musket, and, though often directed towards me, God restrained his hand … Looking up in unceasing prayer to our dear Lord Jesus, I left all in his hands, and felt immortal till my work was done“. “My heart rose up to the Lord Jesus; I saw Him watching all the scene. My peace came back to me like a wave from God. I realized that I was immortal till my Master’s work with me was done. The assurance came to me, as if a voice out of Heaven had spoken, that not a musket would be fired to wound us, not a club prevail to strike us, not a spear leave the hand in which it was held vibrating to be thrown, not an arrow leave the bow, or a killing stone the fingers, without the permission of Jesus Christ, whose is all power in Heaven and on Earth. He rules all Nature, animate and inanimate, and restrains even the Savage of the South Seas.” “My constant custom was, in order to prevent war, to run right in between the contending parties. My faith enabled me to grasp and realize the promise, ‘Lo, I am with you alway.’ In Jesus I felt invulnerable and immortal, so long as I was doing his work“. The entire village came to Christ by the end of his serving there over 45 years

James 1:5-8 – What wisdom is James encouraging us to ask for?

• The wisdom he is referring to in this context, is the wisdom to know this at the deepest levels in our hearts.
• The wisdom to choose to make difficult choices even if it invites trials, in following Jesus.
  • Choosing not to sin when we are tempted
  • Knowing when we are wandering from our faith or hardening our hearts
  • Choosing to repent before God and others, and to make it right with those we wronged.
  • Being a bold witness at work
• Ultimately, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov 9:10). So having the right understanding of God and His purposes is true wisdom.

James 1:6 – How are we to ask God for wisdom?

• Confidence that God will give it to us without doubting
• This kind of wisdom is supernatural. We need to trust that God wants to give it to us.

James 1:2-8 – The long term effect of trials

• Sometimes we have the benefit of hindsight when we see God’s bigger purposes in our past trials.
• These experiences begin to build a reservoir in our hearts and in our minds
• We can recall examples of Scripture (e.g. Joseph, Ruth, Daniel, etc)
• We can recall our own past experiences of God’s faithfulness.
• This enables us to grow in our faith and to grow in steadfastness (“if God was so faithful in my life before, I can trust Him to be with me now, and to use this for my good”).

Questions to Think About

1. What is my response to trials in my life?
2. Do I ask God for His wisdom?
3. How has God sustained or grown me through trials and temptations?

Salvation – being saved – is a free gift from God!  It is not a reward for our good deeds or self-denial. There is absolutely nothing we can do to earn or give God in exchange for our salvation. It is a GIFT we don’t deserve. We are sinners who have been disobedient to God. We don’t deserve anything from Him. Yet God, in His love, has chosen to give it to us. It is called GRACE in the Bible. It is received only through FAITH in the Lord Jesus. There is no other way to get it.

In the Bible, we read:

“It is by GRACE you are saved, through FAITH… not as a result of works.

”This is the simple but wonderful truth of the Gospel!

We rejoice in our salvation. Now, what do we do? How do we live? In the Bible, God says: “I know the plan I have for you.”  Jeremiah 29:11

God has a plan and purpose for our life! Before our salvation, we had our own plans and we were going our own way, living selfishly for ourselves. Now we want to live our new life for Lord Jesus and follow his plan for us. God has lovingly planned a unique life for each of his children. It is not an empty life, it is a fulfilling life, full of good deeds He wants us to do for him. 

What are the good deeds God has for us? Serving God by serving others – like being kind-hearted, loving, and caring, helping people in need, praying for them, telling others about the Lord Jesus and his priceless gift of salvation, etc. The Lord Jesus will lead us along the way and the Holy Spirit will show us how to follow him. All the blessings God has for us will be found only along this path as we follow the Lord. Bible tells us: “God has created us in Christ Jesus to do all the good works which He has already planned for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 

My dear friend, as we rejoice in our salvation, let us eagerly pray and find out all the good deeds God is calling us to do.  And let us do them with joy!

Prayer: “Heavenly Father, please help me not to live a meaningless life only for myself. Help me follow the Lord Jesus and do all the good deeds which You have planned for me to do to serve others and bring You praise and honor.”