Grace & Law (3)

 continued from previous post....

So the agents of the evil wizard from Middle Earth have showed up in Galatia and they are saying, “Oh, Paul was here? Well, you know that Paul, he didn’t tell you everything you needed to know. He didn’t tell you that in addition to believing in Jesus that you also need to keep the Law, you need to keep special rules and regulations, you need to do certain things to make sure that God will accept you. It isn’t all about Jesus and it isn’t all about the Holy Spirit, oh no, there are other things you need to do – so let us help you out.”

            And all of a sudden, what had been a joyous Christian experience, pristine in its understanding of Jesus and God the Father, what had once been like a pure mountain stream from which anyone could drink, now was like a river flowing beside a paper mill, filled with pollutants, a river in which no life could live and no life could drink from.

            Of course, one of the insidious elements of bait & switch Christianity is that it appeals to us. The idea that there is something we can do appeals to us. The idea that we have a certain way of doing things that others don’t have appeals to us. The idea that our brand of Christianity is just a little bit better than someone else’s, that we have our own special tee shirt to wear, our own bumper sticker, that does have its appeal to our egos and sense of self.

            When Paul hears about this bait & switch he writes the letter we call Galatians, which might be said to be the Magna Charta of Grace. And look at the language he uses in our text, the language of witchcraft – “who has bewitched you?” he asks. Who has cast a spell on you? Who has robbed you of your joy in Jesus? Who has added something to your lives other than Jesus? Who has changed your focus? Do you really think that having entered into a life in the Holy Spirit that you can now improve on that life, improve on the DNA of God, by your own efforts?

            Do you think these are strong words? In 1:8-9 he writes that whoever these people are, they should be accused. And in 5:12 he suggests that these false teachers who are imposing legalism on the Galatians make an anatomical modification to their bodies. This is serious business, this business of bait & switch Christianity. Now remember, we aren’t talking about people teaching other people to commit what we think of as egregious sins (though legalism will lead to egregious sins – they just happen to often be well hidden) we are talking about people teaching other people to keep an external law to regulate behavior, and we all think behavior is important.

            The difference is that there is a behavior that is the fruit of a relationship with Jesus and with others; and then there is a behavior which is the result of an attempt to keep an external law by my own efforts – and the latter will always result in one thing, failure and sin. The imposition of an external law, whether it is the Law of Moses or the law of Bob Withers or the law of the First Church of the self-righteous, will always result in sin.

            Now if you’re not familiar with the story of Galatians, for every Biblical book is a story, I want to encourage you to dive into the book. Read it in 2 or 3 translations to stimulate your heart and mind, get the full context of this morning’s passage, a passage which I’m simply highlighting this morning for this morning my purpose is simply to put this truth in front of us – the truth that we are a people called to grace and not to law, that we are a people who are to share grace with others and not law, that the basis of our relationship with Christ AND with each other is grace, grace, always grace…and never law.

to be continued...