Skip to main content

Daily Devotion: Galatians 3:21-22

Galatians 3:21-22     "Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. (22)  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe."

"... if there had been a law given which could have given life..." In my own terminology, that is a mighty big "if". IF righteousness could be obtained by our obedience,THEN the law of God would be the way. We saw in Romans, "... the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." (Romans 7:12) So we can come to the understanding that the problem was not with the law; rather, the problem was in us.

The law is holy. In my old nature, I was unholy (unrighteous). I could not change that. But the Scripture, and our own experience of life, concluded we were under the bondage of sin. We needed deliverance and we could not free ourselves. Wherefore Christ was promised through the lineage of Abraham. We will see in the next chapter that in the fullness of time, Christ was made of a woman and made under the law to redeem us who were under condemnation.

Paul is laying out this great contrast to show our inability, but Christ's ability. The law could have been the way, but we were the weakness. Jesus declared that He truly is THE WAY! He was promised and we have received.  Trust the grace of God which the Holy Spirit speaks to us through the work of Christ Jesus.  

Popular posts from this blog

Daily Devotion: Psalm 88:1-4

Psalm 88:1-4  A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. "O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:  (2)  Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;  (3)  For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.  (4)  I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength" I've said this before and I will say it again (and probably more times before we get to the end of the Psalms) - I love the Psalms because I can surely identify with them. Most Psalms start in a low place and as the writer expresses his thoughts, the Lord begins to lift him up out of that dry place.  Though this entire Psalm is a fervent cry unto the Lord, the Psalmist tells us specifically in three verses that he cried daily unto the Lord. Just a few Psalms ago, we were reminded that God always hears our prayers. ...

Daily Devotion (Video): I Will Fear No Evil - Psalm 23:4

Daily Devotion: Knowing God By Bearing Fruit

Some will notice the title is not “Bearing fruit because we know God,” so to avoid getting sidetracked with that, we can start with the fact that we won’t bear any godly fruit unless our heart has been changed and the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Also, to avoid confusion, I’ll be using the terms “bearing fruit,” “good works” and “service” interchangeably.  I took this article’s title from Part 7, of John Piper’s “Look at the Book” session on Colossians 1:9-12. I greatly encourage you to view that short video to get his excellent exposition on this subject.  When I saw the title of the video earlier this year, I got kind of excited because that’s the direction my thinking has gone in the past several years. My thinking was founded Biblically with verses on good works like Matthew 5:16 – “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father, who is in heaven.” But I couldn’t expand it to expla...