Galatians 4:4-5
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Message: Obedience Under the Law
Time: Paul wrote to the churches in Southern Galatia after having a hand in starting them on his first missionary journey. He wrote a few months prior to his attendance at the Jerusalem Council in AD 49. The churches had fallen into error, with Judaizers gaining a presence speaking that adherence to the Mosaic Law was a requirement of the Christian faith. Paul wrote to make sure they were on the path of truth.
What the Lord is Saying:
As I have mentioned, I have been studying Christ Alone or He alone saves and have looked at the Divine Nature of Christ, that Jesus is the God incarnate creator; Jesus having a human nature, is the last Adam according to the principle of our Federal Head and that of being in Christ now, is the True Israel fully obedient to His Calling, the Messiah or God's anointed, rescuing or delivering us from the discord between God and Man, always obeying His Father and never failing, discharging our debt before God and paying the penalty for our sins. This obedience included baptism, resisting the schemes of temptations from Satan, and now obedience under the Law.
Christ's death and Christ's obedience saves us. They go in tandem. All mankind is born under the Law, which means they are obligated to keep the law perfectly in order to enjoy a right standing before God. I think natural man likes to hope that he/she does not have to be perfect, but good enough or at least on the trajectory of obedience to the Law. As this verse states in Galatians, Christ was born under the Law so that He would be submissive to it and therefore redeem His people. While the Law specifies that adherence to it is meant to be complete, mankind has never been obligated to it for the Mosaic covenant was given to His people which meant redemption prefaced the Law. Exodus 20:2 states prior to the giving of the Law that the Lord had already redeemed his people - I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery and now therefore, here is the law to keep it in thankfulness to what God has done.
Leviticus 18:5 says, "So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord." The law promises life to those who keep it and keep it all. God knew it would not be kept perfectly so he provided sacrifices that would be done to atone for sin. But doing sacrifices was a temporary seal or temporary fix as they had to be repeated each year. What Christ did was live a perfect life and then pay the penalty incurred by man not being obedient to the Law. As it is recorded in I Corinthians 1:30 - But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus.
Jesus paid it all,All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Promise: The Law is a guide to Holy Living. In Christ, we are redeemed from the law.
Prayer: Thank you God for your plan and for liberating and redeeming your people so that they would always be in fellowship and relationship with You. In this life, we lose loved ones and we are reminded that our lives on this eaerth are temporary and no matter how much we love theose people, they are for a moment, but You God have made sure that our relationship with You is permanent, by redeeming us and paying the penalty for our sins and living an obedient life on this earth. You have made a way where there seems to be no way. Help me now Holy Spirit to live in a righteous manner. Forgive me of my sins and the constant reminder that I am unworthy and in need of Your Grace. My sin reminds me of this continually. I want to live in a Holy manner in my life. Give me Your strength and endurance to do just that. Give me your wisdom so I now how to conduct myself properly. Keep me humble. Thank you. Thank you.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of May is about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April was about salvation by grace alone; March about the sovereign providence of God; February was about the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January was about the doctrine of God.
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