Galatians 2:20-21 Notes
The truth is worth being spoken and confronting a wrong situation. The woman with an issue of blood. (Luke 8:43-48) She was unclean and wasn’t allowed near the temple and no one could touch her. People thought that sickness was the result of sin in that person’s life. So was kind of a pariah, socially and religiously isolated. Jesus restores her by not only legitimizing her and what she does by touching his robe: she is physically healed and it is her faith that heals her – she is not an example of someone in perpetual sin, but an example of faith. He restores her into the community, saving her from humiliation and gives her personhood in one moment, by pointing her out. He wanted her to be restored completely, and to do it in the most humanizing and gentle way possible. This is the core of the gospel and who Jesus is. He is someone who will restore us in every way possible. God’s restoration – restoring us to our previous condition we had in the Garden of Eden. Jesus is personal with each of us, acknowledging us as a person. He loves us each individually. Be still and know that I am God. We don’t do spiritual disciplines and striving, to arrive at greater sanctification. We don’t sanctify ourselves. That is what God does in us. Our business is simply to look to Him. Just like the serpent Moses made in the wilderness and lifted up, to be healed, the people simply had to look to it. They didn’t have to do anything. Jesus mentions this in John 3 when He says that just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, He will be lifted up and will draw all men to Himself. Galatians 3:1-3 Notes After salvation, we don’t continue by works but just as we were saved by faith, we continue to walk out our salvation by faith as well. The disciples were told to wait in Jerusalem for the Spirit after Jesus Ascended and the Spirit came and gave people utterance in tongues. Paul asks did the Spirit come from practicing the law? No, it was a free gift by God because of your faith in Christ. Can you come to maturity in your faith without the Spirit? Why would you go back to the law, which didn’t give you the Spirit in the first place? For Paul, he’s had a radical encounter with Christ and there is no going back for him. It’s the tendency of people to forget what it was like in our flesh, in our old ways, and we easily forget the good of what God gave us when we reach hard times. But Paul has been so radically transformed that he’s able to remind them when they go astray. The Spirit is what does this in our lives and changes us – we just have to allow Him to do it. We have to make ourselves available to Him. Yet we aren’t passive – we must actively allow Him into our lives, spending time. It’s a relationship that we’re building. Our desire should drive our spending time with God. If you’re feeling obligated, ask God to change your heart. God doesn’t want us to spend time with Him because we “are supposed to.” He wants us to want it and to want to be with Him. It’s possible that we don’t have the desire, if we’re feeling a sense of obligation or feeling afraid to spend time with God – fear is one of those things that keeps us trapped in slavery. We could have fear that God will condemn us. Whatever it is that is in your way, just have an honest conversation with God about it – can you help me find the time? Can you help me feel differently? Ask God how He wants to spend time with you today.
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June 2022
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