Bible In A Year | Read: Galatians 2
19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:19-21
Overview of Chapter
Paul continues his argument by telling them that the leaders of the church in Jerusalem were fully supportive of his ministry. He had been leading Gentiles to Christ and been welcomed. Specifically, he had arrived in Jerusalem with Titus, who was not a Jew and not circumcised, and he was accepted as a fellow follower of Jesus. Paul even openly criticized Peter for acting like a Jew around Jews and acting like a Gentile around Gentiles. The implication is that Peter recognized his error and corrected it. The difficulty for Jews in accepting Gentiles wasn’t just racism. Jews tried to live according to the Old Testament Law. That means they lived a lifestyle with higher standards than Gentiles. The Jews found many of the behaviors of Gentiles to be disgusting! They couldn’t imagine God could love people like that and give them access to salvation through Jesus.
Are there people you are convinced God could not love or accept? Maybe it’s a group of people who behave in ways you find repulsive. Maybe it’s a particular person who has hurt you in some way. God loves everyone! Can you view the people God loves in the same way he does?
Thoughts on the verses
… it is Christ living in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God. He loved me and gave Himself to save me. Galatians 2:20
People wear gloves before doing many kinds of work, such as digging the soil, hammering the nails, raking the leaves, hoeing in the garden, painting the walls and even carrying heavy furniture. However, we know that without the hands, gloves are powerless and are not able to do anything. Gloves can be very useful because of the hand inside them.
This illustrates that when we have Jesus inside us, we have the power to do great things for His glory. We should acknowledge Jesus in all our achievements and success.
Sometimes we may start thinking that we do some pretty great things. We may brag about how high our grades are or we might tell everybody about how much volunteer work we have done.
The next time you start thinking that you have done something great, remember the gloves. They can do nothing without a hand inside. You and I can do nothing without Christ inside us.
Action Steps
Bible: What is God showing me? What am I going to do about it?
Bless: Serve one person through word, action, or gift today.
Prayer
Dear God, help me to remember that apart from You, I can do nothing. Amen.
Have you ever thought it would be cool to hear some C3 leaders discuss the daily verses, share about their lives and mostly just talk about nonsense? Of course not!…even though nobody has ever thought that we are still doing it. You can follow along with us each morning in a brand new podcast – Parenting Friday & Following Rules.
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