Galatians Part I: Chain Breaker

16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”

Galations 2:16

The book of Galatians may very well be one of my favorite books of the bible for the simple reason is (over) emphasizes you cannot be saved by following the rules.

I like rules. I like to follow the rules. Heck, I even create my own rules sometimes. The one thing rules can’t do? Get me into Heaven.

Question, how many times have you had your hair cut? If I were to make an educated guess I’d say since you were a baby, probably before you could even talk or make your own decisions! Now, according the Law of Moses that’s a big no no.

“Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.”

Leviticus 19:27

If we were still bound to the Law of Moses, no one I know would be making it to Heaven, myself included. It just isn’t possible in this day and age. Luckily, we don’t have to follow it anymore!

24 “So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.”

Galatians 3:24-25

Now, I don’t know if you’ve read the book of Galatians, but (spoiler alert) Paul talks about being justified in Christ/faith so many times I lost count.

They say if it’s repeated it must be important, right? Well, Paul certainly made extra sure you heard what he was preaching. Message received good sir.

I think we tend to gravitate towards rules because that’s how our world operates. If you follow the rules you’ll get rewarded. Pretty simple system. Problems arise when we try to implement this ideology onto God. The thing is no matter how many rules you follow, you cannot follow them all. You are not perfect. I am not perfect. No one is perfect except for Jesus.

4 “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”

Galatians 4:4

God sent his Son to save those under the law–aka us–and He did! He saved us so we are no longer bound to the Law, but through faith, by Christ, we will inherit the Kingdom of God. How rocking is that?!

The Law is now Christ, although Christ is no Law. Christ conquered the Law!

4 “You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”

Galatians 5:4

You cannot follow the Law and have faith in Christ, the two are opposites. It’s one or the other. You cannot gain Heaven through the Law, not anymore, so as a friendly word of advice I’d put my faith in Christ because He is the only way to inherit God’s Kingdom. And PS–He loves you now until eternity.

It’s 2017, out with the old and in with the new. If you’ve been trying to gain Heaven by following rules, stop. I was you once. I tried to follow all the rules so that God would approve of me, but even little wrongs I thought weren’t that bad were still a sin in God’s eyes. A sin is a sin, there is no scale.

Let’s make this year about growing our faith in Jesus Christ because He is the way, the only one we truly need.