Galatians 1:3-5 – A Divine Delivery
Have you ever found yourself in a situation that you needed to get out of but you were incapable of getting out of it yourself? To get out of the situation, you needed to be delivered or rescued by someone else. On an October day in 1987, 18-month-old Jessica McClure became a household name when she stepped into an abandoned water well at her aunt’s house in Midland, Texas. She fell 22 feet beneath the surface down a slender well shaft and was trapped in the well for nearly 58 hours as rescue workers struggled to determine how best to get her out. After considering numerous options, the rescue workers finally decided to drill another well shaft next to the well Jessica was trapped in and then dig a tunnel between the two shafts so they could reach her.
Scripture teaches that mankind has a similar problem. We come into the world in a desperate and deadly situation from which we cannot deliver ourselves. We need someone to deliver us. Since the Fall, man has lived under the curse of sin, stuck as it were in the well of sin and evil. Much like Baby Jessica, we are completely incapable of rescuing ourselves. We cannot deliver ourselves from evil. We need to be delivered. And Scripture teaches that it is only God who can rescue us. The way He does that is by sending His one and only Son on a rescue mission. That is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the good news of a divine delivery.
Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia because they were struggling with the truth that delivery can only come through faith in Christ. Paul had taught them that they could not do anything to deliver themselves, yet they were starting to think there was something they had to do, or could do, to aid their rescue. They had to perform certain actions or behave in a certain way if the delivery was going to be successful.
We often act the same way, don’t we? We think that there is certainly something we must “do” or contribute in order for our delivery, our rescue, to be successful. Throughout the letter to the Galatians and throughout Scripture, God tells and shows us that salvation is a divine delivery. In verses 3-5 of chapter one, Paul briefly points out several things about this message of delivery, the message of the gospel, that the Galatians and we would do well to remember. You can see them printed there on page six of the WG. Our rescue, or our delivery is initiated by divine grace, it is accomplished by the divine Son, and it is for the Divine’s glory.
Paul begins with the source of the delivery. Look there at verse three. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace are terms Paul often uses in the greetings of his letters. However, they are more than just the standard salutary greeting common during that time. They have great theological significance. In fact, they summarize Paul's gospel of salvation that he originally delivered to the churches, and it is what he will reemphasize in this letter to the Galatians. Each word has great meaning, and Paul uses each one to convey something about the gospel that he wants his original audience and us to understand. What is it?
First, we must understand that the gospel is a manifestation of God's grace. The source of salvation is grace, God's free favor. This means it is separate from any human merit or works. The gospel is God’s loving kindness to the undeserving. It is completely of God’s own will and kindness that He chooses to rescue sinners. There is no indication of any other motivation or cause for Christ’s mission in the world except the will of God. Salvation or justification is sheer grace. It is a free gift that we do not deserve.
We just read about this a few moments ago in the WSC. We read that justification (our being counted righteous before God) is an act of God’s free grace, where he pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.
This grace of justification is given to us fully and completely when we trust in Christ by faith alone. Our justification can never grow or diminish or be augmented in any way, because it is based on the imputation of Christ’s righteousness which we receive completely and perfectly when we are saved. And Christ’s righteousness is perfect and can never change. We can never add to it. We are justified the moment the righteousness of Christ is transferred to us by faith. That is the grace of justification. Received once and never lost.
That being the case, Paul also issues grace to the believers here as if to say, continued grace to you. How can this be if God’s grace that justifies us does so fully and completely the moment it is imputed to us? Dr. R.C. Sproul answers this questions this way, “The grace of justification is not the only grace that we receive from God. Although our justification can never be increased, our faith certainly can. The strength of our faith is a fragile thing. It is something that must be fed daily by what we call the “means of grace.” Dr. Sproul goes on to say, “Through the study of God's word, prayer, worship, and fellowship, God fortifies our faith and our sanctification. Certainly, sanctification can and must increase as we continue our pilgrimage in faith, but all of God's grace is unmerited by us.” In other words, the means of grace feed our faith, and, in this sense, we continually need the grace of God to help us grow in our walk with Christ. And for this reason, Paul can say , “Grace to you”.
We all need grace. Everyone in here this morning. If you are a believer, you need God’s grace to partake of the means of grace and fight against sin and temptation. You need grace to grow in your faith. If you have never trusted in Christ alone for salvation, you need God’s grace to justify you. To rescue you from darkness.
So, Paul starts with grace. Next, we see the nature of the gospel of salvation, which is peace, or reconciliation. That is, salvation brings peace with God. It takes a sinner who is the enemy of God, as we see in Romans 5, and establishes peace between them. There is no longer hostility between a Christian and God. And Jesus is that peace, sent by the grace of God to save sinners.
What Paul desired was that they would come to know the peace that those who are Christ’s have. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul reminds the Galatians that delivery comes from God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ. It is an act of grace. It is not wages earned, but a free gift bestowed. Paul echos this truth in Romans 4:4-5. He says, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” This is grace. It is not something we earn but which God.
Have you ever received something you didn’t earn? If you have, it may have caused you to feel somewhat uncomfortable or awkward. Why? Because in our flesh we have this innate desire to earn or be deserving of whatever we receive. Now I'm not saying that we should not be generous and give to others even when they haven't earned it or may not even deserve it. But the fact remains that receiving a completely free gift can be unsettling. This certainly seems to be the case when it comes to our justification before God. We have this feeling that we need to do something to earn God's favor or to receive God's gift. But Paul says no, that is not grace. Salvation is completely of God’s grace. It is initiated and in fact completed by the divine Triune God.
Do you have peace with God? Are you resting in the grace of God that has accomplished your delivery from sin and death? If you are a Christian, that delivery has been accomplished through Jesus Christ. Peace with God can only come through Jesus. Rest in the peace that He brings. It is all of grace. If you have never trusted in Christ for your justification, the free gift of God’s grace is offered to you. You do not have to earn it. In fact, you can not earn it. But it is yours if you repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, Paul shows us that our delivery is initiated by divine grace. But what exactly is it that we are delivered from? We’ve mentioned it briefly already. Paul says there in verse four that Jesus gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age. The present evil age refers to this current age in which we live where sin is still present, the curse is still found, and our enemy Satan still walks around like a prowling lion, looking for someone to destroy.
The fact that we must be delivered from this present evil age tells us something about ourselves. First, it tells us who we are. We are helpless and lost. That is what the word deliver implies here in verse 4. This is our condition in our natural, fallen state. Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Because of the Fall, and the curse of sin, we come into the world in darkness. We come into the world as enemies of God. That is why we need to be rescued. People don't need to be rescued unless they are in a lost state in a helpless condition.
If I can continue the illustration I used earlier, it is as if we are a young child stuck in a dark well. We have no way to rescue ourselves, we cannot do anything to get out. We are helpless. This is our condition spiritually. There is no amount of good works or good behavior we can engage in to deliver ourselves from the present evil age.
So how are we rescued? Paul tells us there. We are delivered by Jesus Christ. Outside of Christ, people belong to an order, an evil age, that is defined and determined by sin, corruption, curse, and death. Only in Christ are they rescued from sin and darkness. Notice, then, that through believing in Christ we are delivered from under the dominion of Satan, sin, and death and are transferred into the Kingdom of light.
What we need most is rescuing and Jesus is the rescuer. Nothing in who we are or what we do saves us. We are delivered by the divine Son.
But how did Jesus rescue us? That is the next thing Paul reveals in this verse. It says there He gave himself for our sins. Jesus made a sacrifice which was substitutionary in nature. The word “for” means on behalf of or in place of. Christ’s death was not just a general sacrifice, but a substitutionary one. He did not merely buy us a “second chance", giving us another opportunity to get life right and stay right with God. He did all we needed to do but could not do. Jesus did all we should have done, in our place, so when he becomes our Savior, we are absolutely free from penalty or condemnation. We see this truth reiterated in Scripture in places like Matt. 20:28 (gave His life as a ransom); Eph. 5:25 (as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her); Tit. 2:14 (who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness).
I know there are some in here who are teachers or have been teachers in the past. I taught high school for a little bit many years ago. If you've ever had to teach school, then it is likely that at some point you needed to have a substitute come in and teach your class. It is a great thing to have a substitute to take your place when you have to be absent. But I remember how much work was required to get ready for the substitute. You still had to get all the work ready in advance for the substitute to use. Wouldn't it be nice if the substitute could do everything for you, so you didn't have to do anything yourself? What a relief that would be!
It is like that with Jesus. He is our substitute. We are not able to do the work and so he comes and does the work in our place, and it is counted to us. On a lesser level it would be like having a substitute teacher come in to teach your class for the year, but you still get all the benefits – the income, the state health insurance, the retirement, etc. Jesus is our substitute, and he rescues us from the present evil age by delivering us from our sins. Our sins are taken away and his righteousness is given to us. This is what Jesus did, rescued us by becoming our substitute before God.
As Christians, we can often feel like the darkness of the world, of this present evil age has overcome us, or it is going to overcome us. Friends, if you are in Christ, you have been delivered from this present evil age. You have been delivered from your sins. If you have trusted in Christ alone then He says to you, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” If you have never trusted in Christ, then the reality is you are trapped in darkness. You are a slave to sin. But there is hope for your delivery, the divine Savior can rescue you from the darkness and deliver you from your sins.
This is the gospel, it is what Jesus does, the divine Son delivers God’s people. We did not ask for rescue, but God in His grace planned what we didn't realize we needed, and Christ by his grace came to achieve the rescue we could never have achieved ourselves.
And that leads us to our third and final point. The divine delivery by the divine Son is why the only one who gets “glory forever” is holy Divine. Believers’ redemption is for the glory of God. WSC question and answer 1 tells us that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. God is glorified when His people are rescued from darkness and brought into his marvelous light. God is glorified when the divine Son rescues those who are lost. Since this is absolutely not our doing but is completely by the free grace of God.
God the Father sent God the Son to deliver a lost and trapped people, a helpless people. Since our delivery is all of God, then of course God alone deserves and gets all the glory. You see, if we contributed to our rescue… if we had rescued ourselves… or if God had seen something deserving of rescue, or useful for his plan, in us... or even if we had simply called out for rescue based on our own reasoning and understanding… then we could pat ourselves on the back for the part we played in saving ourselves. But the biblical gospel - the gospel that Paul taught and delivered to the Galatians - is clear that salvation, from first to last, it's God's doing. It is His calling; His plan; His action; his word.
When baby Jessica was rescued from the well, the resuce workers who saved her were heralded as heroes. And so it is with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. They are the rescuers, they alone delivered us. It is the triune God alone who deserves all the glory, for all time.”
Tim Keller writes, “This is the humbling truth that lies at the heart of Christianity. We love to be our own saviors. Our hearts love to manufacture glory for themselves. So, we find messages of self-salvation extremely attractive, whether they are religious (keep these rules and you earn eternal blessing) or secular (grab hold of these things and you will experience blessing now).”
That is what was happening to the churches in Galatia. But it is not something reserved just for the early Church. This is the struggle of Christians today.
But, you see, the gospel comes and turns those messages of self-salvation upside down. It says: Mankind is incapable of rescuing itself. Much like baby Jessica, there is nothing we can do to justify and save ourselves. And like her, we need someone outside of ourselves to deliver us. Paul tells us that someone is God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. God accepted the work of Christ on our behalf by raising Him “from the dead” and by giving us the grace and peace that Christ earned for us.
Do these words of the apostle at the beginning of this letter cause you to stop and think? They should. We should check our hearts to see if there may be anything in us that wants to try and add to our justification. The words are easy to say; but in our fallen world, it can be very hard to do. That is – it is hard for us to be persuaded in our hearts, that by grace alone, we have remission of sins and peace with God. And it in no way can be added to by our own works and efforts.
The gospel Paul reminds us of in this opening of the letter to the Galatians says you are in such a hopeless position that you need a rescue, a delivery that has nothing to do with you at all. And then it says: God through Jesus provides a rescue, a delivery which gives you far more than any false salvation your heart may love to chase. Jesus willingly gave Himself as a sacrifice. He died to take the punishment we deserve for our sin. If we trust in Him, He will rescue us from sin and the evil in the world around us, so that we’re ruled by God and not by sin and evil anymore. That’s grace – God giving us an amazing gift we don’t deserve and putting us at peace with Him.
Paul reminds us in the gospel that our situation without Christ is hopeless and deadly, but through a relationship with Jesus, we are brought higher than we can imagine and the glory for that, rightly, all goes to the Divine, “our God and father … forever and ever.” Paul tells us of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a divine delivery.
Let’s pray.
Scripture teaches that mankind has a similar problem. We come into the world in a desperate and deadly situation from which we cannot deliver ourselves. We need someone to deliver us. Since the Fall, man has lived under the curse of sin, stuck as it were in the well of sin and evil. Much like Baby Jessica, we are completely incapable of rescuing ourselves. We cannot deliver ourselves from evil. We need to be delivered. And Scripture teaches that it is only God who can rescue us. The way He does that is by sending His one and only Son on a rescue mission. That is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the good news of a divine delivery.
Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia because they were struggling with the truth that delivery can only come through faith in Christ. Paul had taught them that they could not do anything to deliver themselves, yet they were starting to think there was something they had to do, or could do, to aid their rescue. They had to perform certain actions or behave in a certain way if the delivery was going to be successful.
We often act the same way, don’t we? We think that there is certainly something we must “do” or contribute in order for our delivery, our rescue, to be successful. Throughout the letter to the Galatians and throughout Scripture, God tells and shows us that salvation is a divine delivery. In verses 3-5 of chapter one, Paul briefly points out several things about this message of delivery, the message of the gospel, that the Galatians and we would do well to remember. You can see them printed there on page six of the WG. Our rescue, or our delivery is initiated by divine grace, it is accomplished by the divine Son, and it is for the Divine’s glory.
Paul begins with the source of the delivery. Look there at verse three. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace are terms Paul often uses in the greetings of his letters. However, they are more than just the standard salutary greeting common during that time. They have great theological significance. In fact, they summarize Paul's gospel of salvation that he originally delivered to the churches, and it is what he will reemphasize in this letter to the Galatians. Each word has great meaning, and Paul uses each one to convey something about the gospel that he wants his original audience and us to understand. What is it?
First, we must understand that the gospel is a manifestation of God's grace. The source of salvation is grace, God's free favor. This means it is separate from any human merit or works. The gospel is God’s loving kindness to the undeserving. It is completely of God’s own will and kindness that He chooses to rescue sinners. There is no indication of any other motivation or cause for Christ’s mission in the world except the will of God. Salvation or justification is sheer grace. It is a free gift that we do not deserve.
We just read about this a few moments ago in the WSC. We read that justification (our being counted righteous before God) is an act of God’s free grace, where he pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.
This grace of justification is given to us fully and completely when we trust in Christ by faith alone. Our justification can never grow or diminish or be augmented in any way, because it is based on the imputation of Christ’s righteousness which we receive completely and perfectly when we are saved. And Christ’s righteousness is perfect and can never change. We can never add to it. We are justified the moment the righteousness of Christ is transferred to us by faith. That is the grace of justification. Received once and never lost.
That being the case, Paul also issues grace to the believers here as if to say, continued grace to you. How can this be if God’s grace that justifies us does so fully and completely the moment it is imputed to us? Dr. R.C. Sproul answers this questions this way, “The grace of justification is not the only grace that we receive from God. Although our justification can never be increased, our faith certainly can. The strength of our faith is a fragile thing. It is something that must be fed daily by what we call the “means of grace.” Dr. Sproul goes on to say, “Through the study of God's word, prayer, worship, and fellowship, God fortifies our faith and our sanctification. Certainly, sanctification can and must increase as we continue our pilgrimage in faith, but all of God's grace is unmerited by us.” In other words, the means of grace feed our faith, and, in this sense, we continually need the grace of God to help us grow in our walk with Christ. And for this reason, Paul can say , “Grace to you”.
We all need grace. Everyone in here this morning. If you are a believer, you need God’s grace to partake of the means of grace and fight against sin and temptation. You need grace to grow in your faith. If you have never trusted in Christ alone for salvation, you need God’s grace to justify you. To rescue you from darkness.
So, Paul starts with grace. Next, we see the nature of the gospel of salvation, which is peace, or reconciliation. That is, salvation brings peace with God. It takes a sinner who is the enemy of God, as we see in Romans 5, and establishes peace between them. There is no longer hostility between a Christian and God. And Jesus is that peace, sent by the grace of God to save sinners.
What Paul desired was that they would come to know the peace that those who are Christ’s have. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul reminds the Galatians that delivery comes from God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ. It is an act of grace. It is not wages earned, but a free gift bestowed. Paul echos this truth in Romans 4:4-5. He says, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” This is grace. It is not something we earn but which God.
Have you ever received something you didn’t earn? If you have, it may have caused you to feel somewhat uncomfortable or awkward. Why? Because in our flesh we have this innate desire to earn or be deserving of whatever we receive. Now I'm not saying that we should not be generous and give to others even when they haven't earned it or may not even deserve it. But the fact remains that receiving a completely free gift can be unsettling. This certainly seems to be the case when it comes to our justification before God. We have this feeling that we need to do something to earn God's favor or to receive God's gift. But Paul says no, that is not grace. Salvation is completely of God’s grace. It is initiated and in fact completed by the divine Triune God.
Do you have peace with God? Are you resting in the grace of God that has accomplished your delivery from sin and death? If you are a Christian, that delivery has been accomplished through Jesus Christ. Peace with God can only come through Jesus. Rest in the peace that He brings. It is all of grace. If you have never trusted in Christ for your justification, the free gift of God’s grace is offered to you. You do not have to earn it. In fact, you can not earn it. But it is yours if you repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, Paul shows us that our delivery is initiated by divine grace. But what exactly is it that we are delivered from? We’ve mentioned it briefly already. Paul says there in verse four that Jesus gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age. The present evil age refers to this current age in which we live where sin is still present, the curse is still found, and our enemy Satan still walks around like a prowling lion, looking for someone to destroy.
The fact that we must be delivered from this present evil age tells us something about ourselves. First, it tells us who we are. We are helpless and lost. That is what the word deliver implies here in verse 4. This is our condition in our natural, fallen state. Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Because of the Fall, and the curse of sin, we come into the world in darkness. We come into the world as enemies of God. That is why we need to be rescued. People don't need to be rescued unless they are in a lost state in a helpless condition.
If I can continue the illustration I used earlier, it is as if we are a young child stuck in a dark well. We have no way to rescue ourselves, we cannot do anything to get out. We are helpless. This is our condition spiritually. There is no amount of good works or good behavior we can engage in to deliver ourselves from the present evil age.
So how are we rescued? Paul tells us there. We are delivered by Jesus Christ. Outside of Christ, people belong to an order, an evil age, that is defined and determined by sin, corruption, curse, and death. Only in Christ are they rescued from sin and darkness. Notice, then, that through believing in Christ we are delivered from under the dominion of Satan, sin, and death and are transferred into the Kingdom of light.
What we need most is rescuing and Jesus is the rescuer. Nothing in who we are or what we do saves us. We are delivered by the divine Son.
But how did Jesus rescue us? That is the next thing Paul reveals in this verse. It says there He gave himself for our sins. Jesus made a sacrifice which was substitutionary in nature. The word “for” means on behalf of or in place of. Christ’s death was not just a general sacrifice, but a substitutionary one. He did not merely buy us a “second chance", giving us another opportunity to get life right and stay right with God. He did all we needed to do but could not do. Jesus did all we should have done, in our place, so when he becomes our Savior, we are absolutely free from penalty or condemnation. We see this truth reiterated in Scripture in places like Matt. 20:28 (gave His life as a ransom); Eph. 5:25 (as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her); Tit. 2:14 (who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness).
I know there are some in here who are teachers or have been teachers in the past. I taught high school for a little bit many years ago. If you've ever had to teach school, then it is likely that at some point you needed to have a substitute come in and teach your class. It is a great thing to have a substitute to take your place when you have to be absent. But I remember how much work was required to get ready for the substitute. You still had to get all the work ready in advance for the substitute to use. Wouldn't it be nice if the substitute could do everything for you, so you didn't have to do anything yourself? What a relief that would be!
It is like that with Jesus. He is our substitute. We are not able to do the work and so he comes and does the work in our place, and it is counted to us. On a lesser level it would be like having a substitute teacher come in to teach your class for the year, but you still get all the benefits – the income, the state health insurance, the retirement, etc. Jesus is our substitute, and he rescues us from the present evil age by delivering us from our sins. Our sins are taken away and his righteousness is given to us. This is what Jesus did, rescued us by becoming our substitute before God.
As Christians, we can often feel like the darkness of the world, of this present evil age has overcome us, or it is going to overcome us. Friends, if you are in Christ, you have been delivered from this present evil age. You have been delivered from your sins. If you have trusted in Christ alone then He says to you, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” If you have never trusted in Christ, then the reality is you are trapped in darkness. You are a slave to sin. But there is hope for your delivery, the divine Savior can rescue you from the darkness and deliver you from your sins.
This is the gospel, it is what Jesus does, the divine Son delivers God’s people. We did not ask for rescue, but God in His grace planned what we didn't realize we needed, and Christ by his grace came to achieve the rescue we could never have achieved ourselves.
And that leads us to our third and final point. The divine delivery by the divine Son is why the only one who gets “glory forever” is holy Divine. Believers’ redemption is for the glory of God. WSC question and answer 1 tells us that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. God is glorified when His people are rescued from darkness and brought into his marvelous light. God is glorified when the divine Son rescues those who are lost. Since this is absolutely not our doing but is completely by the free grace of God.
God the Father sent God the Son to deliver a lost and trapped people, a helpless people. Since our delivery is all of God, then of course God alone deserves and gets all the glory. You see, if we contributed to our rescue… if we had rescued ourselves… or if God had seen something deserving of rescue, or useful for his plan, in us... or even if we had simply called out for rescue based on our own reasoning and understanding… then we could pat ourselves on the back for the part we played in saving ourselves. But the biblical gospel - the gospel that Paul taught and delivered to the Galatians - is clear that salvation, from first to last, it's God's doing. It is His calling; His plan; His action; his word.
When baby Jessica was rescued from the well, the resuce workers who saved her were heralded as heroes. And so it is with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. They are the rescuers, they alone delivered us. It is the triune God alone who deserves all the glory, for all time.”
Tim Keller writes, “This is the humbling truth that lies at the heart of Christianity. We love to be our own saviors. Our hearts love to manufacture glory for themselves. So, we find messages of self-salvation extremely attractive, whether they are religious (keep these rules and you earn eternal blessing) or secular (grab hold of these things and you will experience blessing now).”
That is what was happening to the churches in Galatia. But it is not something reserved just for the early Church. This is the struggle of Christians today.
But, you see, the gospel comes and turns those messages of self-salvation upside down. It says: Mankind is incapable of rescuing itself. Much like baby Jessica, there is nothing we can do to justify and save ourselves. And like her, we need someone outside of ourselves to deliver us. Paul tells us that someone is God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. God accepted the work of Christ on our behalf by raising Him “from the dead” and by giving us the grace and peace that Christ earned for us.
Do these words of the apostle at the beginning of this letter cause you to stop and think? They should. We should check our hearts to see if there may be anything in us that wants to try and add to our justification. The words are easy to say; but in our fallen world, it can be very hard to do. That is – it is hard for us to be persuaded in our hearts, that by grace alone, we have remission of sins and peace with God. And it in no way can be added to by our own works and efforts.
The gospel Paul reminds us of in this opening of the letter to the Galatians says you are in such a hopeless position that you need a rescue, a delivery that has nothing to do with you at all. And then it says: God through Jesus provides a rescue, a delivery which gives you far more than any false salvation your heart may love to chase. Jesus willingly gave Himself as a sacrifice. He died to take the punishment we deserve for our sin. If we trust in Him, He will rescue us from sin and the evil in the world around us, so that we’re ruled by God and not by sin and evil anymore. That’s grace – God giving us an amazing gift we don’t deserve and putting us at peace with Him.
Paul reminds us in the gospel that our situation without Christ is hopeless and deadly, but through a relationship with Jesus, we are brought higher than we can imagine and the glory for that, rightly, all goes to the Divine, “our God and father … forever and ever.” Paul tells us of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a divine delivery.
Let’s pray.
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