2 minute read.
Daily Reading: Isaiah 15:1-18:7 ESV, Galatians 1:1-24 ESV, Psalm 58:1-11 ESV, Proverbs 23:12 ESV
Daily Verse: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—” (Galatians 1:6 ESV)
METATITHEMI (3346): “To place among, put in another place” (meta, implying “change,” and tithemi, “to put”). “To change oneself,” signifies, in the middle voice, and is so used in Gal. 1:6 (I marvel that) ye are…removed”; the present tense suggests that the defection of the Galatians from the truth was not yet complete and would continue unless they changed their views. The middle voice indicates that they themselves were responsible for their decision, rather than the Judaizers who had influenced them.”[i]
Put in another place.
Paul’s heartache comes from the Galatian’s desertion of their faith. Turning from the Gospel, the Galatians place their faith in the law, embracing legalism over God, putting their trust in a different gospel.
Becoming legalistic caused the Galatians to turn their back on God, rejecting His grace for merit. Recently having accepted the Gospel of Jesus, the Galatians quickly make a U-turn by embracing the law. Paul knows he still has a chance to steer them back to the straight and narrow.
Embrace grace.
Before you judge the Galatians, realize that we do the same thing. In the blink of an eye, we turn our backs on God, placing our faith in humans. When we look to a different gospel, we will find disappointment.
One of the things you will notice when you read through the stories in the Bible, God used fallible people. Abraham lied, Noah drank too much, Moses murdered an Egyptian, David committed adultery with Bathsheba, and Paul killed Christians. If salvation came from the law, none of us would qualify.
Accepting God’s gift of grace doesn’t require a perfect record. Instead, we acknowledge that we have things in our past that need forgiveness. God grants us do-overs when we submit our lives to Him and then try to go and sin no more.
No one gains entrance into heaven because they lived a perfect life. Our golden ticket comes through Jesus. Trusting what Christ did for us means acknowledging we needed saving.
Place your faith in Jesus. Accept that you need a Savior who offers His love and mercy at no cost.
[i] Strong, J., & Strong, J. (2010). The New Strong’s expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible. Greek Dictionary of the New Testament (p.163) Thomas Nelson
