Trying to outbid Jesus
This week's verses are Galatians 5:1-6 : For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you at all! And I testify again to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace! For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait expectantly for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision carries any weight—the only thing that matters is faith working through love. These verses are part of Paul's response to growing legalism in the church in Galatia. Because the church was still connected to the synagogues at the time, there was a strong push to fit in with the Jewish traditions and to adhere to the purity laws of the Old ...