Galatians 5:1-6

 

Rachel Workman: 5 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

² Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. ³ I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. ⁴ For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.

⁵ But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. ⁶ For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.

Today these verses really resonate inside me. My faith is in Christ and through him because of my faith in him I will be made righteous. It's very humbling. This earth belongs to Satan. Honestly, he can have it. My faith is Christ. I am a sinner in need of a savior.

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John Burnett:  5 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.  Trying to justify oneself by following the law will only condemn that person because no one is justified by the law, no one does good, no not one, therefore, anyone trying to do so is a slave to sin.

2 Look! I, Paul, tell you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 And I testify again to every man who has himself circumcised, that he is obligated to keep the whole Law. 4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the Law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.  Verse 4 makes it very clear that you are severed or separated from Christ (for eternity) if you seek your justification by following the law.  Those in Christ are given the hope of Christ's righteousness by the gift of a saving faith and the help of the Holy Spirit.

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Tomorrow’s reading for Galatians 5:7-10

⁷ You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? ⁸ It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. ⁹ This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! ¹⁰ I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.