A report card on Cuddling

Galatians 4:17-20

Did you look forward to getting your report card?  Report cards were a record of growth; it had a starting point and brought you up to date on your progress.  In the last few weeks Jan, my brother and his son and I helped our niece and nephew paint the inside of their house.  In the hall, leading to the pantry they had names and dates and lines showing the growth of each child.  It was a report card of their physical growth.  What is being discussed in these verses is not the physical but the spiritual growth.

The apostle begins in this way; “They make much of you, but for no good purpose.  They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.”  (Galatians 4:17)  Who are  “they” that the apostle is referring to?  Ephesians 6:11-12, gives us a clear picture of where the battle is taking place; it is against the schemes of the devil, it is not against your mother or dad, your husband or wife, or the guy that lives next door; the battle is against the cosmic powers and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, and one of their favorite tools is religion.

Way too often, we forget what a new Christian is: are they any different than an embryo?   How is an embryo formed, does it not begin with an egg and a sperm joining together and a life is formed?  You might say that grace is the egg and your faith is the sperm and out of that forms the new you, a baby in Christ Jesus.  When you and I were born physically we were pampered to this degree, someone recognized that we needed care; both food for the physical, and we needed to be cuddled, and talked to and taught, so that we would begin our growth.  Too often the church has no program for the spiritual baby, in fact they are either thrown into a class that is talking a language that they do not understand, and these cosmic powers and spiritual forces love that; it is called a GROWTH STOPPER.

Is anyone recording the growth of the new creation in Christ?  How will the new baby in Christ, understand their degree of spiritual growth?  Who is telling them of this new battle they have entered into?  Is it not true, that the first attack comes as “Did God really say?” and it is centered on how could a Christian have those thoughts or actions.  No one has taught them how the evil one uses the world and the flesh, and how he uses the past, where they learned to suck life out of one another, in order to get their needs met.  He also attacks their person, and he will use some truth in his attempts to guide them into a lie. 

It is clear that God has given us the ability to renew our minds in Romans 12:2 and in Ephesians 4:22-24; if our minds are not renewed, then we cannot hope to have growth, and that life will not be changed, and Christ will not be formed in them.  The Scripture is clear on this point; the Christian life is not about improving self, it is about dying to self, and becoming obedient to the Father. To have a Christian army that is effective in 2010, it will require the leadership of the Church to invest in cuddling, yes, they must be cuddled and encouraged, even given their own growth mark on the wall. 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

I was enslaved to many little gods

 

Galatians 4:8-9

Before I had any relationship with God the Father, I was enslaved to many little gods.  Now if you would have ask me if I was enslaved to anything, I would have thought you were in need of help.  But from a small boy, I was under the control of others, my nature was to be seen as the star, the good guy, the hard worker, the hero, but down deep in my soul, I longed for others to think of me better than I knew to be true.  I was just a little guy who had big ears and a flattop hair cut that had no interest in school or learning.  It was Jr. high when I was introduced to a new god; he was the god of cool.  My desire was to be with the cool guys, and who were the cool guys? The cool guys were the ones who had bad reputations and it was years later that I understood many of them were anything but cool.  It was later that I found another god; football players, they were special and people went to see them perform and people knew their names and girls wanted to date them, and they had great influence on my actions and thought life.

I was also captive by pride, insecurity, fear, and still the need to be seen as someone of value.  When I married, she had to be good looking and smart, and yet I was so insecure I could not believe anyone who got to know me, could really love someone like me.  After going to work for 3M, I found another god, it was success, and yet often fear and insecurity would steal any joy of being a top performer.  If they knew how dumb I was they would surely replace me with any one of the guys who came looking for a job.

It was not fun being controlled by these gods, they ask much of me, but left me with the need to have someone who knew me, and would still love me, but who would do that?  I found the answer to that question in five men who met on Wednesdays to talk about the one who had set them free from many of the gods who controlled me.  I had heard it all in Church and yet these men were living it out in their business life, and for six months met with them and wanted what they had, but did not want to give up my gods.  Why?  I do not know, unless it was that they had been with me so long.

When I ask Christ into my heart, He removed some things, like fear of loosing my job, and the need to go out drinking with the guys instead of going home to my wife.  But the enemy of my soul knew me well and set up other little gods to take me captive, like being a leader with the youth instead of sitting under a teacher who would teach me how to trust and apply the truths in the Scriptures.  This once more lead to pride and arrogance and once more fear and insecurity came back into my life, but this time God sent men who taught me that fear is the opposite of faith, and that confession brings about forgiveness. 

I have come a long way on this road and have no desire to be enslaved to the elementary principles of this world, but every once in a while I start believing I can, and I am reminded; "I can’t and He never said I could, He can and He promised He would."  That is why I often need to read Galatians 4:8-9, Jesus knows all about me, and He still loves me.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Heir to what?

 

Galatians 4:1-7

When the word heir comes into your mind, where do your thoughts go to, a person you know or a person whom you have read about, like a Rockefeller or Bill Gate’s children?  My father and his father before him were men of meager means, and the word heir was not a word that was kicked around at our home.  Looking back, I must say that dad left his children great wealth, in the areas of values, and a work ethic but not in legal tender. 

Children of a person with great wealth by the standards of this world, may or may not know what portion of the estate is coming to them, but in most of the United States the law is clear that an adopted child must be included as an equal in the inheritance.  To be a child of great wealth and at a very young age to be stolen from your family and to grow into adulthood not knowing whom you are, or what wealth you are entitled to, would be a sad story.

That is the story of the normal church member, who by faith has placed their eternal hope in Jesus Christ, but lives with no understanding of the value of their inheritance.  It is a fact; all who are in Christ are heirs, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”  The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”  (Romans 8:14-17) I wonder if that “provided we suffer with him” clause is what keeps many from claiming this inheritance that is theirs?

The apostle Paul is telling us we were taken captive by sin and we were under the law until grace came and in Colossians 2:6 we are instructed to walk in or live out our life in the same way as we received Christ Jesus, and that was by faith.  We are not to be enslaved by the world’s principles but to understand the truth in Galatians 4:4-7, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”  So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice my blog; http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/

Are you Abraham's Offspring?

Galatians 3:29

“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”   This requires us to go back to Genesis 12:1-3, and look, first at The Land Promise: "A land that I will show you."

 Next, The National Promise: "A great nation.” Then, third, The Spiritual Promise: "All the families of the earth shall be blessed."  It is that third promise that is the seed of Christ.  Do you see yourself as an offspring of Abraham, an heir according to the promise?

There is much written about encounters that Jesus had with the Jews on the subject of Abraham, and it is in Abraham that they have identity as the people of God.  So when Jesus told them “If you were Abraham’s children you would be doing what Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.  This is not what Abraham did.  You are doing what your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality.  We have one Father – even God.”  (John 8:39-41)  Remember they are not Gentile dogs, no they are Abraham’s children, and that is their distinctiveness and Jesus challenged that identity.  If you keep reading you will see that Jesus tells them they are of their father the devil and that Abraham saw his day and rejoiced.

If you see yourself as a child of Abraham, you are in good company, but does that make it true?  When the crowds came to John the Baptist and he was talking to the Jews whose identity was in being the sons of Abraham, this is what he said; “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.  And do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children of Abraham.” (Luke 3:7-8)

What would John say to us today, where is your identity, is it in your job, your church, your family, or is it resting in the hands of the Father, is it resting on the saving power of the blood of Jesus Christ, and on Him only? “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:29)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

I no longer need a Guardian

Galatians 3:24-28

Now that “faith” has come we no longer need a guardian, and the Scripture is very clear that the “law” was that guardian.  When we hear the term guardian, our thoughts go to a child or someone who does not have the ability to care for themselves, and their guardian is a defender, protector, or keeper till they are of age or able to manage their affairs.   So faith has taken the place of the law, verse 25 is very clear on this and verses 26-28 say that it is the object of our faith that is important, and we all by faith, put on Christ.  In Christ we lost our identity, verse 28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  Yet, have we lost our identity, most of us who claim the name of Christ hold to some identity other than Christ; identity such as Baptist, Catholic, Bible Church, and the list goes on an on.  But it is not in agreement with Scripture, you are in Christ, “you put on Christ and unless we remove or ignore verse 28, you are not many but one in Christ.

I grew-up Baptist, in fact if you had ask me from the age of four on what I was, it was Baptist.  At the age of 12 years, I became an official Baptist, by walking an aisle in a Baptist church, but being a certified Baptist had no effect on my heart.  It was at the age of 27 years of age that I, by faith, entered into Christ and He entered into me, and I was no longer a Baptist who was destined for hell, but I was now a new creation in Christ.  I must tell you that I had no understanding of all that God did for me in that Hotel room that night but this I’ve learned, He took away my identity; “Bob the Baptist,” and I entered into a relationship with God the Father, by simple faith in what Jesus Christ had done to set me free from sin, and the Holy Spirit came as my Helper.  When The Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Truth comes; He will guide you into all the truth, not Baptist truth, nor Catholic truth, nor any other of man’s names that were set-up to divide us.

Bob the Baptist, at the age of 27, had no understanding of Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  He also did not know that God’s divine power had already (without any act or effort on Bob’s part) given him everything he needed for life and godliness.  It may amaze you about who you are and what you have been given, when you by faith enter into Christ.  2 Peter 1:3-4 will give you a great understanding of this truth. 

I’ve read that most of us are not ambassadors for Christ, but is that true?  What is an ambassador; ambassadors have no authority of their own, they are to speak and act on behalf of their King, President or government.  Their job is to negotiate and try to persuade people to accept their ruler’s agenda.  I do believe in 2 Corinthians chapter five that Paul was referring to himself and Timothy as effective ambassadors, but verses 17-20 of that chapter states; “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” 

Therefore, all who are new creations in Christ are called to be His ambassadors, but are you effective ambassadors?  Many are ambassadors of the Baptist or Catholic or Bible Church, plus many others, and that gives you an identity that is not in keeping with Galatians 3:28.  Ask this question, is my identity in my church, or is it in Christ?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Blind Faith

Galatians 3:24-26

If you have blind faith, is that a good thing?  The dictionary in my Mac Book gives this definition of faith: complete trust or confidence in someone or something.  I can live with that definition, but I believe Hebrews 11:1 is a much better definition:  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  I’m sure we have a clear understanding of the word “blind” is it not the opposite of sight.  Is that the kind of faith Galatians or the Bible is referring to, unable to see, sightless faith? 

We will return to the question of “blind faith” but first let us understand this matter of the “Law.”  It was rules on how to live life on God’s condition.  It did not declare that by keeping them you would enter into a fellowship with God, but that they would keep you out of God’s judgment.  But Christ came that we might be justified by faith.  If I used the word justified in a sentence it might go like this; “I was justified in loving my brother”.  My dictionary used this definition: Theology, declared or made righteous in the sight of God.

So Christ came to make all mankind righteous in the sight of God.  It requires little faith to believe that Jesus came to this earth, history has given a clear record of His life, in fact no other person in history has had the effect of this one man; Jesus.  So it requires only the ability to read or to understand the many writings in order to believe He lived and that His life had tremendous effect on the history of the world.  So that is not faith; that is history.

 Faith is believing that Jesus is the Son of God and that He was put into a virgin named Mary by the Holy Spirit and was born as a baby, lived among men for 33 years, never sinned, was pure and holy as a man, and never did one act in His on power, but totally depended on His Father.  He was crucified and buried and on the third day arose in victory over death and He is the only way to God the Father.

Blind faith might be putting your faith in someone who says he has seen a 900-foot Jesus, and he was the only one who saw it or that there is 79 virgins waiting for you in heaven if you do some act, like the Muslin religion teaches.  But in the case of the risen Christ, for 3 ½ years He proclaimed He was God in the flesh.  After He came out of the tomb the eleven disciples saw Him, they ate with Him.  This is the account from 1 Corinthians 15:3-6, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.  Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.”

By faith I agree with the Scriptures and this testimony of the apostle Paul, that I was born into sin, that I was a sinner who needed a Savior and Jesus Christ died for my sin, and gave me the faith to believe that His blood shed for my sins made me in right standing with His Father.  I acted on the small faith that God had given me, and one night many years ago at the age of 27 in a motel in Victoria, Texas I enter into Christ and Christ entered into me.  Romans 10:9-10 is what I did, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

If you do not have faith to believe Romans 10:9-10, ask God to give you the faith and He will.  The apostle John states, “for everyone born of God overcomes the world.  This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4)  Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Preachers Filters

 

Galatians 3:19-29

I’ve been teaching an adult class at church for many years, and one of the challenges is not to use religious words.  Often, the one sitting in class will close the door of their mind to how the lesson applies to living the Christ life and engage in religious talk; talk that will not have application after they leave the class.  It sounds almost like an oxymoron, to teach the Bible, and keep from using religious words that sound good in class, but are left in class because they are words to be used in church, to explain the teaching of the Bible. My friend Carroll Ray Jr. called it a preacher filter.  As a teacher, my goal is application; the student must learn how they can apply the lesson, at home, at work, or with friends and family.

If you were Abraham or one of his offspring, you were under a promise from God, and yet we have examples like Esau, who put little or no faith in the promise, and also the sons of Jacob, who began living under a standard of their on making.  The law was given 430 years after the promise, and God has not changed, the promise is still in effect, but the people of the promise are living as if they were not people of promise, in fact they are living as slaves in Egypt.  God sends Moses to lead them out of slavery, both physical and mental slavery, by giving them the law.  The law was not given to the other nations it was given to the Jews!  The law was not given to make them good people, but to show them the need for a Savior, we find this truth in Roman 3:20,”For the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

I grew-up under the Law of Sam Rice, Sam’s law was for our family, it did not apply to the neighbors, in fact, Sam’s law may have been helpful to the neighbors, but they were not part of the Rice family.  Sam made all of his children this promise, break my laws and you will be punished and if you keep them we will live in harmony, but Sam never tried to apply those laws outside of his family.  That is precisely what God the Father has done with the Children of Israel in regard to the law.  The law could not give them life, but it pointed to the need of being Children of Promise, children who need a redeemer, it brought them back to the promised “offspring” of Abraham.

It is very important to read Galatians 3:23-29, “Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.  So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.  Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.  You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor females, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

These Galatians were trying to add law plus grace, and if we are not very careful, we also will submit to rules and acts of religion, and not live by faith.  Jesus had this to say, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. (John 16:7) 

From The Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Covenants

Galatians 3:15-18

We all have entered into covenants and in my case and in yours, they started at a very young age.  My first one, that I remember, was playing hide-an-seek with my brother Freddie and my sister Doris, and I promised not to open my eyes until I counted to ten.  I also recall Tommy Black and I making forts in the farmer’s maze field and promising each other that we would not attack their position till they had finished making the fort, yes, those were covenants.   That brings us to verse fifteen, “To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified.”  In our legal system a covenant is; a contract drawn up by deed and it is binding unless the parties agree to amend it. 

In the same way that we learned to enter into covenants at such an early age, we also learned the art of cheating, or being a covenant breaker at an early age; often we opened our eyes before the count had reached ten, or I got mad because my brother and sister went outside of the perimeters that were pre-set in our covenant, and I would go to the Judge (Mother) and make them abide by the contract drawn up in our living room.

The subtitle in my Bible is, “The Law and the Promise” and verse sixteen gives a very clear understanding of who is part of the covenant that this Scripture is referring to.  “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring.  It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one. “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.  It is so amazing to look back on your life at the many covenants you and I have entered and also, to our shame, the many that we have broken, but the good news is that God is a covenant God, and He is not like us, He keeps his covenants.  Picking up the story of this covenant between God and Abraham and his seed, or (offspring) in verses 17-18, “This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annual a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void.  For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.”

What a God!  I am so thankful our God is a “Covenant God”, that He does not change, and I am reminded that all who have entered into Christ by faith, have entered into a “New Covenant.”  Matthew 26:27-28, gives us clear understanding of this “New Covenant”, “And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”  Look with me at Hebrews 9:14-15, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works, to serve the living God.  Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”  The blood of Christ has set us free!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Or you Righteous?

Galatians 3:10-14

The Bible proclaims, to be righteous you must live by faith; the understanding of “righteous” is very important.  Hebrews 11:1 gives us a clear understanding of faith.  What is meant by “righteous”?  In Matthew 5:6, Jesus gives this insight, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.”  Jesus also warned us to not do righteous acts so that we would get the praise of men, Matthew 6:1. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”   

Jesus tells us if we want to be blessed, we will get very serious about seeking out righteousness, and we will not do it to look good or earn points with others, but if we first seek His kingdom and His righteousness, then all these things will be added to us.  But we still have not answered the question of what is righteous or righteousness?  In searching for the meaning, I went back to the book of beginnings, Genesis 15:6, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”  Now that help, to some degree, because Abram was a man like me in that he was human, but unlike me he had never read the Bible and when God spoke to him he had to believe that their was a Creator and that He had spoke to him and them he opted to obey that voice and that is what God calls faith.  But more than that God credited it to Abram as righteousness.

My search took me to Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit or our God.”  Once more we have questions, is being justified and being righteous the same thing?  As my search was intensifying, it took me to 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, and the first part of Scripture tell us that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, and then it spells our with much clarity what is meant by unrighteous.  Verse eleven gives us this information; “And such were some of you.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”  It is getting somewhat clearer for me, and I hope for you because of the faith that God has given to me to believe in Him, we’ve been blessed and made righteous, or just, in His sight. 

I came full circle back to Galatians 3:24-25, “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”  In fact it states in Romans 3:20, that no matter how well you or I perform, we will not meet God’s standard, and that the laws were put there to make us conscious of sin and the need of grace.  The bottom line is faith in Christ Jesus has put us in right standing with God.  He sees you and I as righteous or just in His sight, because of that relationship, not based on performance.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Taken Captive & Sold into Slavery

What if you were taken captive as a very small child, and sold into slavery?  Not only were you stolen from your family, but also you were the only child, and you were heir to vast riches and resources.  The problem is, you did not recall the life before slavery, so you lived your entire life as a slave, though you had the wealth and resources to buy your freedom.  What if someone told you that because they loved you, they wanted to give you a new life and they had the ability and the resources to do so, a life of abundance, but   did not believe it was true, so you never ask for the gift they promised?  That is what Jesus told us in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  If you watched the news or read a paper of late, it is clear that people are still being taken captive by “the thief,” sin is everywhere, in Government, in Education, in the home, in the work place, and in the church; yes the enemy of our souls is busy stealing, killing, and destroying!

Many have been taken captive, and many who name the name of Christ do not believe or even know what was promised to Abraham, and even more, cannot believe that Jesus came that they may have life and have it abundantly.   What about you?   In 2 Peter 1:3-4, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

We are living in the end times, if you read today’s news you will see that the thief has been very busy, fear is everywhere and many Christians are forgetting that this is not home, we are just passing through.  But in this I trust, Jesus Christ came to give me life, and in Him I can have life abundantly.  I have become a partaker of His divine nature; I have escaped the corruption that is in the world.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Value of a Promise

Galatians 3:6-9

I was blessed as a young Christian to have a mentor; Ken Ryan was a tall man, not only in his physical appearance, but in how he lived his life, in the work place and at home.  When reading Psalms 1, Ken comes into my thoughts, as that type of man being referred to in verse 1-3.  If you asked me to describe Ken Ryan, it would be easy, by the grace given him, he has lived out what God calls all men to do, “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God.” (Micah 6:8)  So what does a man like Ken Ryan have to do with the Scripture listed above?  Ken often required me to put to memory verses of Scripture and then when I was recited them, I knew what was coming next, Ken was not interested in my ability to memorizes, he was looking for how that Scripture would be applied to my life.  So he would ask, do you believe what you just quoted and my reply was, “Ken you know I do” and he would say, only if you applied it to your life, that’s believing.

Verse six and seven state; “just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” Knowing then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.”  Now, that is some great news, that we who have placed our faith in what Jesus did, the shedding of His blood to cover sin, and to put us in right standing with His Father, are sons of Abraham.  In fact we have been given the same blessing as Abraham, “So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” (Galatians 3:9) Ken was 100% correct, a promise is of no value unless the person to whom it was promised receives it and applies it to their life.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Paul's method of Influencing people

Galatians 3:1-9

Have you ever read the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”?  The apostle Paul never read that book, and if he did, then in the first verse of chapter three, he was either trying to make the Galatians mad or he was hoping to get their attention, and it is clear he was hoping to awaken them to a spiritual problem that was taking place in the church.  As I’ve stated in my earlier writing on Galatians, false teachers had slipped into the churches of Galatia and were teaching a Christ plus gospel. 

So Paul begins his address to them in this manner, “O foolish Galatians!  Who has bewitched you?”  I know of no one who enjoys being told they are foolish or have been taken in by someone, if fact most of us will not receive a message like that from anyone but a friend, and sometime not even a friend.  It make you wonder, if the guy who was to read this to the churches of Galatia was thinking, this might be the day to let my young assistant read.   I also wonder, why, the Holy Spirit, who put this into the heart of the apostle Paul, is not having preachers all over the globe, stand and proclaim ,“O foolish Americans and all other nations!  Who has bewitched you?”  It may be that too many of our pastors and teachers have read the book on “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and that message is just too harsh?

But the message God gave to Paul is still the message, “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish?  Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?  (Galatians 3:2-3)  Our flesh is not going down without a fight, it does not like any authority over it, and Galatians 5:16-17 makes this very clear; “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”  If you are not sure at this point about what “flesh” is, open your Bible to Galatians 5:19-21 and we see what also takes place when a person walks by the Spirit in verses 22-24.

Oh foolish Church!  Have we been taken captive by the false teaching of this world?  I personally believe I have often been taken captive by the foolish concept of this world.  I also believe our churches are full of people who are full of self and have bought into the churches false gospel of Christ Plus!  It is a wise person who listens, and takes action on the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “’This people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”  (Mark 7:6)  And the apostle Paul had this to say on the subject in Titus 1:16, “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works.  They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.”  One thing is for sure, Paul never tries to impress man, and he did not read or apply Dale Carnegie’s book, but he was a faithful proclaimer of the Truth.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice my blog; http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/

Crucified = Dying

Galatians 2:17-21

In these Scriptures, the apostle is addressing the concept of dying and being crucified to the churches at Galatia.  He is not talking about physical death as stated in Hebrews 9:27, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.”  No, the apostle is talking about a death to “Self” to your desires, to running your life as you please, to doing it your way, to being the king of your kingdom.  Often, I find such clarity in other books of the Bible and 2 Corinthians 5:15 is one of them; “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” 

How often have we used examples to make a point, and they sound good on the surface, but they project a false concept.  One such teaching, that I have heard in Baptist churches, is the “White dog and the Black dog” and it goes this way, “ You have two dogs living inside of you and one is good and the other is bad and the one you feed is going to win.  I understand what the teacher is attempting to teach, but it has one thing wrong, it is not true.  Galatians 2:20, states the following; “I have been crucified with Christ. (He did not say I am going to be crucified) It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  Folks, something died when you entered into Christ, and I believe Scripture is clear it was the old you, many call it your “sin nature” and it died the day you entered into Christ. Romans 6:6, “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”

Your flesh did not die, it is the battleground, it has been programmed from birth on how to get it’s needs met.  My friend Bill Gillham made this statement in “Life Time Guarantee”; “Have you ever seen a baby that had a wet diaper and thought, ‘mom needs her sleep so I will wait until she wakes up’.  Wrong, it is not going to happen, that baby is only thinking of number one, and that is our problem with the flesh.  We are told often in Scripture that we must subdue our fleshly lusts, Romans 13:14 gives this insight; “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Note the NIV uses “sinful nature” but the word is translated flesh)  Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”  The war that is going on is with our flesh, 1Peter 2:11, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against you soul.”

It we still had the “old self” living in us and we had the Spirit of Christ living in us we would have a Civil war going on in our spirit.  In Colossians the third chapter, we are told in verse one that we have been raised with Christ, and to seek the things above.   In verse two we are commanded to set out minds on things above and not on things on the earth.  But verse three tells us why;” For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

From verse five on, we are being instructed on the battle plan against our flesh.  If you were crucified with Christ, then the old man, the one who answered only to Satan, died.   Scripture is clear that darkness and light cannot be in the same place, where there is light, darkness is removed, that’s what happened when you were crucified with Christ, the control of sin was removed and the goal is to renew your mind on the ways of God, so that the flesh does not render you ineffective.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

It may not be Biblical, but it is sure Baptist

Galatians 2:15-16

I was Baptist before I was born, my dad was a deacon and mom was in the WMU and anything else that was offered.  If my math is correct, I was in a Baptist church at least 108 days, before I was born.  Often, mother would tell us children that being a Baptist would not get you to heaven, that at some point in our life we would be convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit and at that point we must, by faith, trust in Jesus as our Savior.  I grew up in small Baptist churches and most Sundays the message was on how to be saved, though most of the people there were professing Christians.  It is also a fact that when an evangelist came to preach some of those regular folks got saved for the fourth or fifth time.  Now that was confusing to a young boy who by the age of six understood right from wrong, and believed mother and daddy when they said, “Once Saved always Saved”.  Why put your trust in a God who is not big enough to keep you.

As I got older and had joined the Baptist church but was void of any relationship with Jesus, I began to understand that Baptists were not the only ones who were trying to get to heaven, there were Methodist, Presbyterians, and Catholics, just to name the short list.  One of the young men I worked with enjoyed telling me this little riddle; “It may not be biblical, but it is sure Baptist” and I understand how he could have come up with that notion.  I’ve heard people say I have always been saved, I grew up in a Baptist church, and it makes you wonder, if they had grown up in a barn, would they be a tractor?  I also hear a few say; “I’m Baptist right or wrong.  By this point, if you are one of those Baptist, “Who has always been saved” I hope you stick with me for a while longer.  You see the early church was dealing with some of the same problems.

The main reason the apostle Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia was to defend the doctrine of justification by faith, and warning them not to return to Judaism.  On the other side of the coin were the false teachers, who were saying; the observance of the ceremonial laws was an essential part of salvation.  They were teaching, “Faith – Plus” and listen to what Paul is telling us, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”

Is the apostle Paul saying, “One door and only One” and it isn’t a Baptist door, that door is faith plus nothing, not even one little act, of some man made rule.  The sad news is, many who are Baptist will bust hell wide open because they try to earn justification by their works, or they put faith in what some one said and not in seeking a relationship with Jesus Christ by grace through faith.  In Paul’s letter to the churches in Ephesus he wrote the following, “For it is by grace you have been save, through faith  - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Confronted by Your Actions

Galatians 2:11-14

Can you identify with the Scripture reference above?  Have you ever confronted or been confronted by your actions, or someone else’s actions with a group of people whom are not the ones you or they normally associated with?  If so then you will be able to understand how unconformable Peter must have been when Paul calls him on the carpet.

Picking up the story in verse 11, “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.”  This was not small talk this was altercation; Paul is the outsider and was talking about the heavy of the Church.  Paul is saying you are off base and he is saying you’re a hypocrite and your example is not in step with the truth of the gospel, to none other than the man, Peter.  Paul’s confrontation is clear in verse 12, “For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.”  How easy it is to let fear separate us from being the person of God and this is none other than the apostle Peter who spoke to the people of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and three thousand were added to the church.  This is Peter who stood before the council of priests and Sadducees and proclaimed in Acts 4:12, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  It is sometime later that the apostles are arrested and the angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and after looking for them everywhere, it was reported that they were teaching in the temple.  They were told the high priest wanted to see them and this was his message; do not teach any longer in the name of Jesus Christ.  How did Peter respond, “We must obey God rather than men.  The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.”  (Acts 5:29-30) This same Peter is fearful of some brother’s who came from James.

Satan knows you and I well, and he will always use the “fear of men” as a trump card as he did with Peter.  We are told in Proverbs 29:25, “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Super Stars

Galatians 2:6-10

Has it always been this way?  Yes, for as long as I have memory, we have had our super stars, as a kid they were; General Stonewall Jackson, and Robert E. Lee, two men any boy in the South would put high on his list of “Super Stars” but the list was much longer, Robin Hood, Roy Rogers, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Jim Brown, Willie Mays, and Elvis Presley.  That is the short list of my many “Super Stars” or hero’s and what do they all have in common?  They all were gifted with special abilities and talents from our Creator.

Today we have all kinds of “Super Stars” in fact, we give them names like “Pro Bowlers, Movie Stars, Dancing with the Stars, NBA national Champs, Super Bowl, American Idol and the list keeps going and going.  And what is the common thread we find in all of these people, they have been given some special gift from Creator God, and have used it to earn a spot in the lime light of our world.  In no way am I saying that is a bad thing, in fact it has been going on for a long time, King David had his groupies whom sang, “Saul has killed his thousands, but David has killed his ten’s of thousands.”  So what does that have to do with Galatians 2:6-10?

In Galatians 2:6-10 we come in contact with two of the “Super Stars” of the New Testament; Paul and Peter, both men were apostles and God used both of these men’s talents and abilities, their personality under the control of the Holy Spirit to give us much of the New Testament.  One was highly educated and a gifted orator and the other was a fisherman with just the basic education.  Both men had a skill and they used to earn a living, Peter was a fisherman and Paul was a tent maker.  It is believed that Paul's parents were people of influence and perhaps even moderate wealth, where as Peter ran a fishing business in Bethsaida.  It would be fair to say that if not for Jesus Christ these two men would not have anything in common.

Peter was with Christ for 3 ½ years and was a leader of this new band of disciples who went by the name Christian, and Paul was known as the one who approved of Stephens death and was going all over looking for Christians he could put in prison or even kill.  Not only were they very different in their upbringing and social status, there was a factor of distrust on Peter part, could he really trust this man who had once set out to destroy anyone who claimed the name of Jesus Christ. 

Now look at Paul in the light of this information; beginning with Galatians 2:6-8, “As for those who seemed to be important – whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance – those men added nothing to my message.  On the contrary, they saw that I had been given the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been given the task of preaching the gospel to the Jews.  For God who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles.”  It seems to me that these great men who were used of God, were very much like you and me.  There were a lot of strong emotions going on at this meeting, and yet because they were being lead by the Spirit of God, each of them put aside fear and feeling and sought the will of God.

This was the climax of that meeting; James, Peter and John extended the right hand of fellowship to Paul and Barnabas and acknowledged the grace that was given to Paul.  The only thing they ask of him was to remember the poor, and Paul was eager to do that.  My reason for writing this is often we set these men up as more than men, but both had clay feet and yet through Christ they were more than conquerors.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice