What Does The Scripture Say?
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Galatians 4:30 The Context: Paul is concerned about the Galatians who are believing a "different gospel." (1:6) He says: "how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slavs you want to be once more?" (4:9) ... "Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? (4:21... "We are not children of the slave but of the free woman." (4:31) ... "For freedom Christ has set us free, stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." (5:1) Trying to keep the Old Testament Laws in order to gain God's favor never worked for the Jews. It always leaves one feeling "have I done enough?" It is a slave driver that always says there is more that you can do. In the middle of Paul's comments:
God Asks Us: "But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” (4:30)
JNE: This is perhaps the most important and valuable question in the whole Bible. It didn't, and doesn't, really matter what anyone or anything else says. The primary and final authority of what God's Saints believe and live is found in the text of the Bible. The very thing that was leading the Galatians astray was the "different gospel" they were being told. The good works of the Law were meant to lead to the realization that it is impossible for sinners to obey from the heart. Trying to do so was, and is, slavery of the worst kind. Jesus came and kept every law of God perfectly. His heart was, in every moment, in loving submission to the Father. As such He was the perfect sacrifice for sin. And repentantly believing that Jesus took our place, He sets us free from the bondage of trying to obey our way into His heart and LIFE. That is the way it has always been. Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Isaiah, all found their freedom in believing what the Scriptures say, not in trying to do all they could to please God. In trying they all failed, in believing (faith, trust) they found the freedom that is God's gift of Grace. The amazing thing is that being free in Christ gives not only the desire but the ability to do things from the heart that are pleasing to God.
It really is all in the Bible. So, God asks you, "what do the Scriptures say?" Are we reading? Look again at what I say in the heading of this web page:
Galatians 4:30 The Context: Paul is concerned about the Galatians who are believing a "different gospel." (1:6) He says: "how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slavs you want to be once more?" (4:9) ... "Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? (4:21... "We are not children of the slave but of the free woman." (4:31) ... "For freedom Christ has set us free, stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." (5:1) Trying to keep the Old Testament Laws in order to gain God's favor never worked for the Jews. It always leaves one feeling "have I done enough?" It is a slave driver that always says there is more that you can do. In the middle of Paul's comments:
God Asks Us: "But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” (4:30)
JNE: This is perhaps the most important and valuable question in the whole Bible. It didn't, and doesn't, really matter what anyone or anything else says. The primary and final authority of what God's Saints believe and live is found in the text of the Bible. The very thing that was leading the Galatians astray was the "different gospel" they were being told. The good works of the Law were meant to lead to the realization that it is impossible for sinners to obey from the heart. Trying to do so was, and is, slavery of the worst kind. Jesus came and kept every law of God perfectly. His heart was, in every moment, in loving submission to the Father. As such He was the perfect sacrifice for sin. And repentantly believing that Jesus took our place, He sets us free from the bondage of trying to obey our way into His heart and LIFE. That is the way it has always been. Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Isaiah, all found their freedom in believing what the Scriptures say, not in trying to do all they could to please God. In trying they all failed, in believing (faith, trust) they found the freedom that is God's gift of Grace. The amazing thing is that being free in Christ gives not only the desire but the ability to do things from the heart that are pleasing to God.
It really is all in the Bible. So, God asks you, "what do the Scriptures say?" Are we reading? Look again at what I say in the heading of this web page:
Reading and pondering the Bible texts is
FAR MORE IMPORTANT
than reading what I, or anyone else,
write or say about them.