Galatians 2: 20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
The first question is where is the Galatian church? It is more than one church. Galatia is a region in modern day Turkey. It was named for the 20,000 Gauls who settled there. Who are the Gauls? They are a Celtic tribe closely related to the Celtic tribes of the British Isles. They originally lived in France, Belgium, western Germany, and northern Italy. The Romans expanded the region from the middle of western Turkey south to where it included Antioch. It was also expanded to the Mediterranean Sea.
Galatians was sent to the all the churches in this region, and was written because at this time the churches contained as many Gentiles as there were Jewish Christians. There was a huge debate on whether Gentile Christians had to obey the old laws of the Torah or not. In question were the laws concerning the circumcision of males. This was an early battle in the church whether Jewish law had to be followed by all Christians.
Peter comes to visit the Antioch church, and ate with Gentile Christians, but the Jewish Christians reminded him that the Gentiles were unclean. Peter buckled under the watchful eye of those Jewish Christians, and no longer mingled with the Gentile Christians. Paul calls out Peter in Acts for this action. Basically, the Jewish Christian thought that societal rules of the Jewish people still remained. But for the Gentile Christians the rules that Jesus said to love God and to love their neighbor was what mattered. It was an argument of doctrine not of love.
In response to this divide that was occurring in the church, Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia to explain what was his understanding of Christ’s message which was that Jesus fulfilled the law with His death and resurrection. He stated that the law served two purposes, one of which was to tell us via the ten commandments what we should not be doing. But it also condemned us. Jesus changed that. Instead, he told us what we should be doing, and it was all about love. This love should be how we live our lives by loving God and by loving our neighbor. The problem was that means a person has to search their soul to determine if their action was love or not. It means you also have to know where your soul stands. We still can sin because our actions are not done in love. Paul has an answer….
In Verse 2:20 Paul gives that answer. When we accept Christ as our savior, we accept that our lives now are living in Him. My life here on this earth is now lived according to those two commandments to Love God completely and to love my neighbor as myself. Christ is telling us also to love ourselves. This was a hard lesson for me to learn, and I am still learning that lesson, but as I learn to love who I am as I grow in the love of those around me. Paul tells us that how we do this is by our faith in Jesus Christ who died for us.
But how does this relate to the times in which we now live?
Church doctrine changes often to follow the new societal rules. Some of these seem to be a way to act in love towards our neighbor, but not necessarily following the love towards God. These rules have popped up and changed over and over since Christ’s church was born. Sometimes those church doctrines do not match what individuals believe when it comes to loving God. It can be messy. I know because the Methodist church is going through a messy divorce between it and its churches. I am a Methodist, and it makes me sad because the reason that they made this decision was in an attempt to match societal rules. It makes me sad because there should not have had to be a doctrine change. The church should have simply been open and loving to everyone. For we all have sinned, and we should allow God to speak to the hearts of each person and whatever sin they are doing. I know through the Holy Spirit I have changed how I have lived my life.
I believe in my heart that no matter how a person lives I am supposed to love them. That covers a myriad of people including those that abuse other people. The judgement of their actions is for God and God alone to make. It is not my right to make judgements. This is not about the laws that they might face for harming others for those laws do issue judgement. It is more about how we condemn people to hell for their actions when we should be praying for them. When the man I called the Babysitter died, I was asked that he probably went to hell. I understood what they meant because the sexual abuse of me was more like torture, and I have carried the scars of that abuse since I was 11 years old. I had forgiven him. I stopped after that question was asked of me. I thought a moment and said, “That is between him and God.” I meant what I said. I was freed by saying it was not my call to make. How we judge others becomes a weight in our soul. God wants to free us from those weights. He will carry those weights for us.
The problem is people are judgmental and often cruel in their judgements, When those judgements are not made in love, then they are not following the commandments of God. Just as those Jewish Christians were judgmental of the Gentile Christians, we need to guard against such judgments of others. Paul has reminded us in this verse that our lives have changed for Christ lives in us, and it is through him and His love that we are freed. There is no mention of judgement of our lives in that statement except before we accepted Christ we were of the flesh and lived in sin. Jesus stepped in and said for us, they repented, and their slate is wiped clean.
When I was thirteen years old, I heard the best sermon of my life. I have heard a lot of sermons over the years but most I do not remember. This one I remembered.
It was in a small mountain church in east Tennessee. He was preaching a revival. Our neighbor Luther Brackins had gathered up a bunch of neighbors to go hear this man preach. We sang a few songs.
Then that preacher stepped out from the pulpit, and he took off his suit jacket. It was black, as was his tie. His shirt was white. He is talking to us as he does this. He continues to talk to us as he rolls his sleeves up. I was mesmerized. He was handsome to be sure but there was something in his voice that got my attention. This is a much shorter version of that sermon. He turned to look at us and said, “I am here to take you to a trial. It is your trial.”
You would have heard a pin drop it was still in that small church. He continued… “God is the judge. I will act as the prosecutor.” He turns and looks out over the congregation, and said, “I am calling the Holy Spirit to the stand”
He asked the Holy Spirit, “Did you try to get John here to come to the Lord?”
“Yes, I sent people to witness to John, but he turned them all away.”
“Was there anything else you did?”
“When he prayed for his mother, I reminded him that she was baptized and would be coming home to heaven.”
“Did he listen?”
“No sir, He didn’t.”
Jesus was called to the stand, and was asked some of the same questions, but he said at the end, “I came to John as he was dying, and spoke to his heart. I let him see all his many sins. John began to cry.”
The preacher asked, “What happened next?”
Jesus said, “He asked for me to forgive him, and I did. His sins were wiped away.”
The Preacher then said to God, “What is your judgement?”
God said, “There is no sin. Jesus paid it all.”
That sermon was the first step towards me finding Christ, and being saved. All the many ways others may judge me, but in the end the only judgement that matters is the one that God will give on my soul. I know without a doubt that Jesus paid it all for me.
Today’s Question:
Do you think your judgements of others are justified and why?
Ever in Christ’s love,
Mary Elizabeth Todd
February 16, 2024 & May 30, 2024
Ruhamah United Methodist Church Bible Verses 