Cutting in
Galatians 5:7-15 · Vern Peterman · Sep 30, 2007
Galatians (2007), No. 23
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/492604039455

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

We're going to be moving into this passage, stepping most of the time just one verse at a time. Paul's kind of hitting several different ideas and subjects quickly here, so we can just hit it one verse at a time and do well with it. We want to first take an overview look.

What's Paul saying here? What's Paul pondering? Now, looking at that, he is substantially addressing matters that affect the whole church body there, an entire church. He's going to be moving quickly into kind of a different approach. But initially, this is largely the whole church body occasionally touching on himself and the legalists and one particular one who seems to be kind of the head of the pack. And so that's sort of a summary of how he's going to approach here. He is going to be in this setting a stage for turning a corner while we're covering a number of verses today.

Next week, we'll cover just one. And it's a particularly important one that we'll be settling in on. And then, excuse me, he'll be addressing in that one verse the individual believer's spiritual life. And so we'll be setting the stage for that here this morning.

We're going to be seeing that there are one another's. One another's here in this passage. There are two of them here. There's also, later on in chapter five, another one another. So you have to handle that. One of the things we're going to find out verse 15 this one is a kind of a one that has a negative Aspect to it if you bite and devour one another take care that you're not consumed by one another Okay, so there's a warning involved and thirdly and this is going to be in a later passage not today But let us not become boastful challenging one another envying one another okay, so the one another's get to be a big topic here in view of that We have, would you believe it, a supplement. I know we rarely do that, but there's a supplement on the right as you exit this room, and it's a two and a half page. We'll go light. Two and a half page supplement of one another's, the one another's of the New Testament.

So feel free to take advantage of that. Now, one of the other things we're going to see in this passage are some warnings. And let me tell you, warnings are a good thing. Warnings are a really good thing. Believe me, you want warnings when it's time for one, okay? And that's exactly what this passage is like as well, okay? Yeah, this is one of those yee-haw warnings. Okay. We'll start as we spoke about, one verse at a time.

In verse 7, you were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This, you were running well, the starting phrase here. is a phrase that Paul draws from the athletic enthusiasm. Now athletics was taken, well we take it pretty seriously here in this area too, but athletics was taken very seriously in the area that Paul was writing to and in fact throughout much of the Roman Empire. Athletics was extremely important. Matter of fact one of the authors of The Roman era said that, of the people of Rome, there's two things they like to do. They like to eat and they like to watch chariot races. Running is another one of those things. Very much a favorite.

Eat, drink, breathe. The thing is, of course, they didn't have football. They didn't have football, especially no instant replays. The one thing they did have, they had running that included football-like behavior. Yeah, and we'll talk about that here in a minute.

The reader's involvement and enthusiasm for running and getting involved in athletic activity was one that not only Paul, but really many of the authors of the New Testament took advantage of because they could use figures of speech from athletics and communicate a great deal. Alright, so here they are.

Paul was saying that the believers in Galatia who are now about two years old in the Lord. So that's the perspective to get. About two years old in the Lord, max. So they're, how do you say it, spiritual toddlers at most. Spiritual toddlers. They had started off well. Well, that's what you'd expect. They'd been given the gospel of salvation. by Paul and Barnabas during what we call Paul's first missionary journey, recorded in Acts 13 and 14.

They were given good solid spiritual food. Now don't mistake me on that. When I mean that, I'm not talking about giving steak to babies. What I mean by that is good food to grow on is substantial food, wholesome food. Great food. So spiritual growth certainly involves milk and meat. But what I mean is this is good, wholesome, healthy food. Food that is exactly what they needed. That's what Paul and Barnabas had started them off on. When I say good solid food, I'm not talking about food that's not age appropriate.

Now this running well, Paul compared this good start that they had Certainly they had come to put their trust in Christ. Certainly they had come to know some basic things that Paul and Barnabas had laid out for them. It even says in chapter 14 of Acts that they went around, kind of did a return loop, and appointed elders in each of the cities. So they got things off to a good start.

This running well wasn't because, okay, now you guys are really giving it your best effort. Now you're giving it the old college try. No, it's not that. It was faith in God's provision at every step. That's running well. It says you are depending upon God's provision at every step. What happened? Okay?

Now, remember just a couple chapters back, Galatians 3.3? having begun by the Spirit. See, they did begin by the Spirit's ministry. The Holy Spirit indwelt each of them. The Holy Spirit had convicted and drawn each of them to belief in Him, to faith in Christ.

He asks in Galatians 3.3, are you not being perfected by the flesh, that is, by the law, up until this time, even though they were young, they were growing, weren't they? Good, healthy growth in the Lord by the Holy Spirit's ministry.

Now, who hindered you? One of the things that Paul was talking about here in a running competition, now in our, you know, modern athletic events, we have various judges and we'll watch carefully and oh, you tripped this guy and it was allowed. How about that? It was allowed in the events to go in and trip people and step on them and cut in front of them, bump them off the track. So it was a rough time, okay, because they mixed their football and their track.

And so they would actually have this tough time. So he used the term here, who hindered you? It wasn't sort of, you know, somebody came in and, you know, said something nasty. It was somebody just went wham and gave you the shoulder, okay? Sort of roller derby type thing. This cause stumbles and falls, and so he uses that word picture. Who came in and bumped you off? Who came in and bumped you off the track? Who hindered you from what? From obeying the truth. Now, here's something to think about.

We usually think of obeying, and a lot of times we kind of tend to, at least initially, think of it in terms of the outside thing that we do. This word that's translated obeyed doesn't mean just the outside obedience. Paul and Barnabas had given these people gracious truth. Truth not just for the outside, but truth for the inside. The word translated obeying means to rely inwardly and therefore to act outwardly. Got that? Rely inwardly and therefore to act outwardly. With that in mind, so I give the picture of the hammock here. You're resting in the truths, right?

Paul was asking them who had cut in on them, who had bumped them off the track so that they no longer relied inwardly on the truths, the gracious truths of Christ that they'd been taught by Paul and Barnabas. Who bumped you off the track so that you stop having inward reliance on the truths that have been laid out? That's the question he's asking. Hey, who did that? Who bumped you off?

Verses 8 and 9, he goes this way. This persuasion did not come from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens a whole lump of dough. Let's take a look at that one verse at a time. That first part there, this persuasion. What's the persuasion? Trying to be acceptable to God on the basis of the principle of law. I want to be acceptable to God, so I'm going to try really hard. I'm going to give it my best efforts. That's the persuasion.

It didn't come from God. Now a lot of folks are going to be shocked with that. That's going to be shocking news. The persuasion that you have a bunch of rules and you try really hard to live by those rules does not come from God. Got that? The persuasion that you have a list of rules to live by and that you try really hard to live by those rules does not come from God. That is not what God has in mind.

Are you shocked yet? Everybody's still in their pews. What's the matter? Okay, let's try again. Paul goes on here to give an idea. What's the impact of this? A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. At first you might say, well, what does that have to do with it?

This verse seems to have been a proverb in New Testament times. As a matter of fact, it uses the exact same thing in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, a different part of the Roman Empire. Levin oftentimes had a negative connotation in scripture, and I would say most of the time. When you look up its use, it has a negative connotation. It implies moral and spiritual corruption. So, why would he talk about this? Paul said here that the teaching that one has to live by the law or in fact any principle of law. Here's the rule, follow it. Here's the rules, follow them. Ends up impacting everything in a bad way. You put a little bit of yeast in everything.

That can really get carried away. I heard about these one set of folks, they made quite a batch of dough and then they put it in their oven. in a bunch of pans and then went off for several hours. That got interesting when they came home. Their kitchen was suddenly full of dough. That's what he's pointing to here. This stuff takes over. This doesn't just kind of sit in one little spot and lay there. This takes over. Everything gets impacted. Everything will be impacted in a way. Nothing in the believers lives. Nothing in the believers churches. would escape the deadly corruption of legalism. Everything in the churches and their lives would be impacted by the deadly corruption of legalism.

Now, verse 10. Here, Paul sees the believers and he loves these people. These people are dear to their heart. By the way, Acts 13 and 14 record Paul went in at the risk of his life. At one point he was even stoned and they left him for dead. So these are people he had laid his life on the line for.

These people, he sees them on a different path than those who have brought in the false teaching. False teaching was going to head people in one path But these believers, he says, I'm confident the Lord's going to take you in a different path. He's confident because these believers have a position in Christ, because they have the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and because they have the appeal of Paul's letter, scripture truth, that they will respond to it and head in a different way. They will see what law is. He's also confident that the ringleader, you see that? The ringleader of these legalists, he doesn't name them.

Matter of fact, he even says whoever he is, will bear the consequences of the false teaching, whatever God determines that to be. But the other thing is, anyone who chooses this law system to live according to the law of Moses, or in fact, any other law system, and teaches others to do the same, has a ministry of death and condemnation. That's what he wrote to the Church of Corinth. A ministry of death and condemnation. In the end, that's got to hurt. In the end, that's got to be a big load on whoever that falls upon.

Now, verse 11. But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. What's he saying there? I think here's what he's looking at. The false teachers A reading from what Paul has written here apparently said that Paul supported circumcision. Paul taught it in order to gain support for their teachings. So they had this sort of speaking out of both sides of their mouth. They would say, Paul's a bad guy, but he taught it. So it was contradictory.

Nonetheless, Paul certainly did teach it before he was saved and actively pursued those who taught otherwise. But he was an unsaved Pharisee at that time. And now that he was saved, he didn't teach it. But even if he did, why were these people persecuting him? They were contradictory. They were not being consistent.

But then the last part of that, then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. If Paul said at any time after he was saved, you still have to be circumcised and you still have to go through everything that the law of Moses requires. If Paul said that, then the need for Christ has been put out of the way.

Either we're going to be saved by following laws or we're going to be saved entirely by grace through faith. It's one or the other. It's this or that. If circumcision counts, if that's the case that Paul had actually taught that, then no need for Christ.

There is a way of salvation. I can follow the law. He said, nah, it doesn't count. It doesn't work. Either you can follow the law and get righteousness that way, in which case Christ died for nothing. But that's a big if. A really big if. In fact, circumcision doesn't save.

Faith in Christ's death on the cross is our only way of salvation. We've laid out before the simple gospel. Christ died for your sins. He was buried. He rose again. The simple gospel. You either believe that, and it's entirely by God's grace. Everything at God's expense. You got the big if. It's too big an if. Paul continued to preach Christ crucified on the cross. And what's interesting is he writes about it here. The cross, he writes elsewhere, crucified.

Those, by the way, were severe swear words in the culture. It would be like using four-letter words in our own culture. Those were swear words. And he said, I preach Christ and Christ, and it would be expletive in the culture. He says, I'll lay it right out. Christ died for your sins on a cross. Yeah, shocking stuff. That was a stumbling block to the Jews. especially the Jewish legalists. Now, verse 12.

This is a little embarrassing. You might think, Paul could have gone all day without saying that, right? What's this verse about? Do we have to study it? Yeah, we do. These words certainly might be shocking at first. You might think, what is he doing saying that?

First of all, the word for troubling was not some sort of minor disturbance, like you're a little bit bothered by it. The word for troubling is the kind that got you arrested. So it's basically those who are coming in and disturbing you with criminal intent. How about that? Those who are disturbing you with criminal intent. So the troubling was not small, it was major.

It was the kind of thing that got you hauled in front of a judge. It was the kind of thing that they got you whipped and put in jail. That kind of thing. It implied a riotous, massive upheaval. So it is not a small disturbance that these guys are coming in with, who are saying, you got to follow the law. The word for mutilate here, that King James has cut off, had a strong cultural connection.

And we need to take a look at that. I think it'll help. Maybe turn our skin a few shades less red. OK, here we go. The Jews certainly had this ritual of male circumcision in the Law of Moses. I said last week when we made a policy decision, I will not give pictures and diagrams of circumcision on the screen here.

But it was the Judaizers, the legalists, who were trying to force this upon the Gentiles. You guys have to do it. Circumcision was done eighth day among all the Jews. Eighth day after birth, right? But among these, the Gentiles are going to say, okay, we've got to do it. You guys are adults. So all you non-Jewish males, you Gentile males, would have to be circumcised. In the area around Galatia and even other areas around the Roman Empire, there was a pagan initiation rite.

The priests would have this kind of wild music that they would play and they would get into this frenzy And at the height of the frenzy, they would pull out a knife and emasculate themselves. No Novocaine. They would castrate themselves. And that was kind of the closest equivalent in those days to being a transsexual. And then they would dress as females and grow their hair long and put on female perfume and everything quite female. Why? neuterized priests of the Mother Earth goddess.

So this, I believe, is what Paul was talking about. And everybody found it disgusting. As a matter of fact, up until just about the time this letter was written, Roman citizens were forbidden to do this because it was considered disgusting. And you probably find it disgusting too. So Paul was saying, and this is kind of what he was getting across, that the claims and demands of these Judaizers, these legalists, weren't from God at all, just like these practices of these priests. They were offensive and bizarre, and as spiritually useless as the practices of these pagan priests of Cybele, the ones who would castrate themselves and then go transvestite. is they're just as disgusting and about the same spiritually.

How about that? It's still pretty extreme, but it begins to make sense I think. It would be better, Paul said, far better for the proponents of legalism to be forward and honest about who they really are and what they propose. Under the guise of being godly, They are denying the full effectiveness of Christ's death on the cross.

Romans 7.6, you have died to the law.

Galatians 2.19-21, you have died to the law.

Ephesians 2.15-16, Christ put the law out of commission in order to form the church. In order to reinstitute law, you have to deny Christ's death on the cross and the purpose of it. What the legalists are claiming is not at all pleasing to God. It is open mockery, thumbing the nose at God's grace. That's what he's saying. It's disgusting, is what he says. Just like these guys who cut themselves off. Now, verses 13 and 14 here. Alright. Got the call?

Paul again returned to this believer's call theme. And in fact, he's done it now a few times in Galatians. Right back in chapter 1, verse 6, I'm amazed that he was so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ. God called you by the grace of Christ.

Okay? In chapter 5, verse 8, this persuasion did not come from him who calls you. Now notice the first one, called, past tense, this one is continuing to call you. And now this one, it's not talking about past tense or present, but it's what were you called to.

You were called to freedom. He returned to the believer's call and so he makes in Galatians these three points. That call came and now comes from God. God is the one who does the calling. It's where did the call come from? From God himself. What does God have in mind? Okay? What does God have in mind? Two, it's by the grace of Christ.

He says you get grace, you get law, you pick one, you don't take both. If you pick law, you cross grace off the list. In fact, he even says the law isn't by faith. The law is not a faith. Thirdly, it's a call to 100% spiritual freedom. So it's not a question of was it a call or is it now a call, but what's it a call to? Spiritual freedom, not under law. That's what he's clear about.

The next part there, we have in the middle of verse 13, an opportunity for the flesh. In this verse, Paul speaks of this opportunity for the flesh. Now, what is he talking about there? Paul uses this word flesh in several ways. Sometimes he's talking about this thing, just this physical body, and that's all it means. In this particular instance here, in this chapter and into the first part of chapter 6, This word, the flesh, will mean this.

The sin nature as it is expressed through our mortal bodies. The sin nature as it's expressed through our mortal bodies. That's what this word flesh is conveying here. Don't make this an opportunity for the sin nature to express itself through your bodies. That's what he's saying. You have freedom. Wow, I'm free. but don't let that be the sin nature's opportunity. Freedom, but don't let it be the sin nature's opportunity. So now we've got a little bit of a quandary to sort out here.

Doesn't it seem to a lot of folks that, all right, either I've got some laws to kind of keep me under control, but if I'm completely without laws, I'll be out of control, right? I mean, doesn't it seem like that's the choices you have? So maybe grace is you just have fewer laws, or the punishment doesn't hurt as much. Is that the way it works? Grace is where the law doesn't have as big a teeth, or maybe you don't have quite as many of them.

No. Does he have any other options? Paul has spent a lot of ink telling us we're not under the law. He's spent several chapters, matter of fact. Doesn't that raise the concern that if we don't have some kind of law that we'll just be out of control? Does that worry you? Do you lay awake at night? Does it concern you? I think my brother used to pick it as warts or something. Does it make you nervous not to have law there? Does that bother you? Aren't you afraid that people will just go start raving nuts? What is he saying here? Paul is introducing here and will explain further that God has provided an intense for us to live by a third means altogether.

Neither law or lawlessness. A third means altogether. Wow. Okay. This third means is not a matter of grabbing some part of the rope of law and lawlessness. It's not a part of that tug-of-war game at all. It's not a matter of grabbing a part of or either end of that rope. But, this is an alternative now, through love serve one another.

We call to freedom, not law. Our calling to freedom isn't an open door to rampant expression of the flesh. What is it? Our calling from God, remember it's from Him, by the grace of Christ, is an open door to freedom. And how does that get expressed? Not by an opportunity for the sin nature to express itself in this thing, in this body.

It's an opportunity to continually serve one another. By the way, that word for serve is a word elsewhere translated slave. Yeah. Be servants, continually serving one another. Paul is going to explain that further in Galatians, the first few verses of chapter 6. We'll get there. Verse 14.

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. One thing to make clear here, you got one word. What is that word? The word is love. That's the word he's talking about. The rest of the words wrap around it. That word is love.

He's not urging people, now if you go around and fulfill the law of Moses, then you'll be loving. No. He's not really even concerned that we fulfill the law of Moses. He's saying that that was the intent of a good deal of this law, but the fact is, you'll be satisfying that and on beyond it. But there's something else.

The law could never empower what it called people to do. It demanded a behavior But it says it's yours to do. Yours to accomplish. Yours to pull it off. This unconditional love that comes from God. The law says you do it. Grace is different. Grace provides. Now, here's verse 15. Here's the warning part. Remember, this is the yee-haw. If you bite and devour one another, take care that you're not consumed by one another.

In Paul's day, in the day in which he was writing, many of the larger towns and cities had some kind of amphitheater, maybe even a coliseum in the greater places. And in these places, they'd actually have animal fights, or they would have gladiators out there battling, and they had trap doors to surprise the gladiators with wild animals that they'd let loose. And so that may be what he's picturing here. He says, you guys are going at it.

This is a gladiator battle. This is one wild animal versus another. Apparently, the tensions over this, are you going to be under the law of Moses? No, I'm not, was getting vicious. It was getting downright vicious. Notice the contrast between verses 13 and verse 15.

For you are called to freedom, brethren, only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." Ah, but here's the other one another. But if you bite and devour one another, that sounds like it's the opposite of serving one another. If you bite and devour one another, take care that you're not consumed by one another.

Neither law Remember, He's been telling us for several chapters, law isn't the answer. Law is not what God had in mind. Nor lawlessness, this wild animal behavior, neither of those were what God had in mind. God did not have in mind that they say, well, let's just chew each other up. You see, there are going to be one another's. People will in some way or another relate to people, won't they?

So it's a question of how is it described? Is it a through love serving one another? Or is it a bite and devour one another? Now, if we have a potluck, what you'd really like to see is have us biting and devouring the food, not each other, right? Okay. So it's really the question he puts a great contrast here. Are you going to, through love, serve one another? Or will you be consuming each other?

So, question here. If law isn't what God had in mind for you, and neither was lawlessness, what was God thinking? What do you have in mind here? He spent four chapters plus, easily here, telling us that we're not under law. He told us previously, he says, the law was a tutor, a slave tutor, to bring us to Christ. You're no longer under a tutor. You've died to the law. He's told them a great many ways they're no longer under law.

He's begun to tell us here, and by the way, he's only started, he's going to tell us more, that lawlessness isn't what God had in mind either. That's not what God's thinking. So, how is he going to have the believer, you and me, live 100% free from the law and not be lawless either? How's he going to pull that off? What did God have in mind?

Galatians 5.13, remember that?

Through love serve one another. Paul wrote that the believers were through love to serve one another. The Greek was translated, serve is an imperative. You must be serving one another. And by the way, if we add to that, do not is also an imperative. Don't turn your freedom into an opportunity. There's another imperative. So how does God expect that imperative to happen? How does he expect that to be lived out in our lives without law, to mandate and require the behavior. You will through love serve one another. And to measure its compliance. How do we get away without having law?

How does that happen? Should we perhaps have the elders act as referees? Will that do it? Is that what he has in mind? Well, maybe not. Remember last week we talked about I see Roger shaking his head. I'm going to hear about it this next elders meeting. Okay. Motive means an opportunity revisited. That sounds like something out of one of these CSI shows I know, but actually, no, it's not. Here's what we talked about.

Last Sunday we said that the motive for the believer to live the Christian life is grace. The motive is grace. How does grace motivate? About 45 times in the New Testament, it talks about being thankful. We are motivated to live out what the Lord has said, not because we're dreadful, but because we're thankful. Not because we're full of dread, but because we're full of thanks for what the Lord has done. Forgive one another in order to be forgiven?

No. Ephesians 4.32, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Done deal. Grace motivation. You've already been forgiven. Grace motivation. We said that the means for living is God's enabling, God's empowering, His energizing.

We gave the example of Ephesians 3.16, but there are a number of passages we could draw upon.

Ephesians 3.20 and 21.

Colossians 1.29, where we could go on. The Lord's intent is that He empower us.

That is the means. So we've got the motive, grace. The means, God's empowering and energizing and enabling. Entirely His. What we said because of all that is who God is, what He has done in the past, what He is doing now, what He will do in the future, causes us to have this amazing opportunity in front of us. Motive means opportunity. All by means of His grace and power.

The Lord does not intend for us to try really hard or even a little bit to be a good Christian. It's not our job. It's His. It's not our job, it's His. I do not recommend trying to be a good Christian. I don't recommend it. Honest. It is God's intent that He empower, that He enable, that He energize what goes on in this church body and in every one of our lives. That's what God has in mind. Something else.

Is it enough power? I mean, am I going to get out there and go... Am I going to run out of gas in the middle of this thing? Here's the amount of power. Ephesians 1. This is not in your handout, so you can take a look at it. Right in the middle of this sandwich here, verse 19. He prays that they would understand what is the surpassing greatness. That's overthrown. This isn't just hitting it out of the ballpark. This is hitting it and it goes past the space station in orbit. This is way, way past the top greatness of His power toward. That word literally means into.

The power into you. Now, what's the magnitude of the power that goes into you through which Christ lives His life out in and through you. These are in accordance with, measured by, the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. So when you're having a tough time at work, when you're having a tough time at school, when the person in front of you and behind you, they're both driving like maniacs. You have the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ available to you right then.

Got that? Is it enough? Is it adequate? Will I be adequate for what's out there? God's power, that it is His very intent to pour into your lives for the situations that you and I get into, and wonder how we're going to get out of. Those situations, you have the resurrection power of Jesus Christ being poured into you at every single moment. No shortage. No empty gas tank. No sputter sputter. No time to call the tow truck.

You have the resurrection power of Jesus Christ available to you every single second. All the time. That's what Paul prayed these believers would see And that's what we can pray for one another to see. When the going gets tough, great! Fantastic! That's exactly when the resurrection power will be shown to be perfectly adequate. Exactly the right amount. And by the way, way over the top.

Motive means an opportunity. They're not intended to be just hypothetical. Oh, this is just a nice thing, but do we got to really live life? No. These aren't hypothetical, just some sort of possibility intended to make our lives inexplicable. Inexplicably different. What's different about that person? Why does that person have hope when things are just hopeless? You may recall, this is getting to be the better part of a year ago now, but how who was in the hospital with leukemia, and one of the staffers at the hospital, you know, how are you doing? Figuring that Hal would be under this massive stress from the leukemia analysis.

The Lord's got me here. He's doing what he wants to do. It just doesn't get any better than this. Boy, tell me that blew some circuits. Practically, I'd have to take some leave to recuperate from a statement like that. To make our lives inexplicable, Marriages that are inexplicable. Workers that are inexplicable. Homes that are inexplicable.

That's what he has in mind. Radically different. God intends not this, that you bite and devour one another. Yeah, that's lawlessness. But this, through love serve one another. Inexplicable. Why are these people getting together and there's nothing else to draw them together other than that they love the Lord? Why are they standing up and worshiping somebody that nobody can see? We've got to be inexplicable.

That's exactly what God had in mind. God did not have in mind that we have a checklist. Well, I'm doing all the things I'm supposed to do. I've got my checklist. God does not have in mind that we look at God as some sort of a cynical judge who's going to say, what can I get you for? That's not what God has in mind. God is not a matter of, I've got to push the right buttons and flip the right switches and look at the dial just right, and then God will do what I want.

No, that's not it either. A friend of mine put it this way. He says, sometimes people have the idea that they want to find out what it is they have to do to get God off their back so they can get on with life. That's not it either. It isn't a matter of finding your way through this hopeless maze and finally ending up with, aha, now I've found out the answer. No, that's not at all. It's not a matter of following all 613 laws or even 10 or any other number.

It's a matter of recognizing that for the joy set before him, he endured the cross for you and me and even those out there who don't believe it. It's a matter of recognizing that we've been identified with him, made one with him, brought together with him in his death, in his burial, his resurrection, his ascension, his seating, to behold him. to behold Him and draw upon Him. It's relationship, isn't it? It's not figuring out the maze. It's not the to-do list. It's not, oh no, I've got to stand before some divine judge and boy is he mad. It's relationship.

It's beholding the Lord of glory who awesomely, amazingly, would die on the cross because he said, I just love to look forward to fellowship with you. And that's how the energizing comes about. That's how the relationship is lived out. That's how his resurrection life gets poured into us. Not by the right switches. Not because we wandered around the maze. Or not because God intends it.

Oh, there's that group over there and they walk with the Lord. The rest of us are lost. Relationship. Fellowship with Him. That's what He has in mind. Let's pray. Lord, thank You that as we behold You, as we look upon You, as we walk with You, that we can look upon you to pull it off, all these things here in life that are beyond our own resources by your intent, but you provided for them also by your intent. Thank you for your love, your marvelous grace. In Jesus' name, amen.