Bearing the Marks of Jesus

As the Apostle Paul concludes his impassioned letter to his Galatian friends, he starkly contrasts a life of nominal Christianity with being a new creation because of the work of Jesus Christ. These are very important distinctions; worthy of amplification. Nominal Christianity. A “nominal value” is often a value that exists in name only. For Paul, the READ MORE

“You Who Are Spiritual”

The Book of Galatians finds the Apostle Paul boldly calling out the evils of legalism. Those who would promote such poison are “stupid” (see Galatians 3:1), and will “bear the penalty” (Gal. 5:10) for their perversion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul also makes it plain that avoiding legalism does not give us a READ MORE

Divine Intervention or Man’s Invention

The Apostle Paul can almost see it happening. There, in the soft glow of lanterns and torches, pious men teach in sanctimonious tones to men and women scattered on blankets and rugs, a room full of people eager to ensure that they are okay with God. “What does the law of God tell us?” those READ MORE

Our Remarkable Inheritance

When the Apostle Paul applies his pen to the fourth chapter of his letter to the Galatian Christians, he writes of a most remarkable reality regarding the Christian life. Consider what he says in Galatians 4:4-7: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those READ MORE

Anatomy of a Legalistic Hack

The Apostle Paul is brutal in his assessment of those who believe themselves to be the self-appointed masters of everyone’s spirituality. Remember, my definition of a religious legalist is one who measures everyone’s spiritual success not by the work of Jesus Christ but by his or her own spiritual efforts and expectations. For people like READ MORE

No Other Gospel

About ten years following Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, a man named Paul made his way into the mighty mountains of present-day Turkey, arriving in an important city known as Pisidian Antioch in the Roman province called Galatia. By the time Paul got there he was very sick (see Galatians 4:13), his bodily ailment unknown READ MORE