Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: Galatians 1 and Psalm 132

The letter to the Galatians is one of the oldest New Testament Books. Paul had visited the region of Galatia on his first missionary journey in about 46-48AD (see Acts 13-14) and probably wrote this follow-up letter during the period immediately after that, in around 50AD (see Acts 14:27-28). He wrote it to be circulated among the fledgling Christian churches in places like Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.

In this letter he aimed to refute the incorrect teaching of certain Jewish Christians who had visited Galatia and had confused the young believers there by teaching that faith in Jesus was not enough to save a person. They maintained that faith in Jesus needed to be complemented by obedience to the Law of Moses (including circumcision for males) if one was to be saved from sin and brought to eternal life. They also seem to have alleged that the only reason Paul had not taught this to the Galatians was because he wanted to win their approval and acceptance by ‘watering down’ the Gospel.

Paul, however, saw clearly that this false and legalistic teaching would rob Christians of the freedom Jesus had died to give us, and so he wrote in no uncertain terms:

⁶ I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – ⁷ which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ … ¹⁰ Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

For the sake of this brief devotion let’s simply reflect on v.10.

Everyone seeking to share the Good News of Jesus with others will occasionally be tempted to present it in such a way as not to offend people. In Paul’s day, the temptation was to bow to the pressure of the Jewish Christians who wanted to maintain full obedience to the Law of Moses, even for Gentile believers. In our day, we are more likely to face intense pressure to align ourselves to the morally corrupt culture of the day and to present a Gospel that either redefines sin or completely excludes repentance from sin.

Whatever form the temptation takes, Christians in all ages need to clearly recognise the trap of trying to be popular with people rather than with our Lord Jesus; because this pursuit of human popularity will always come at the expense of being faithful to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Pleasing Jesus Christ in all things should be our overriding pursuit! Only then will we be truly faithful to the Gospel and to the LORD.

Life application: Test your heart today and recommit to the top priority of pleasing Jesus in all things, and especially in your presentation of the Gospel to others.