April 15, 2013
Paul talks about faith, the law, grace, and blessings. Abraham had faith, and God blessed him for it. Galatians 3:11 - "Those who are right with God will live by trusting him." (Paul was quoting Habakkuk 2:4) That sounds like such a simple statement, but there is a whole lot of depth to it. IF—you are right with God, THEN—you will live by trusting Him. The reverse is true as well. IF—you live by trusting God, THEN—you will be right with Him.
Live → by → trusting. That means you aren't in charge and revenge or vengeance is not yours to handle. It means you have to let go of ALL, and you have made the decision to let God—a total surrender of your will to His. It is an understanding of the
God
Paul talks about faith, the law, grace, and blessings. Abraham had faith, and God blessed him for it. Galatians 3:11 - "Those who are right with God will live by trusting him." (Paul was quoting Habakkuk 2:4) That sounds like such a simple statement, but there is a whole lot of depth to it. IF—you are right with God, THEN—you will live by trusting Him. The reverse is true as well. IF—you live by trusting God, THEN—you will be right with Him.
Live → by → trusting. That means you aren't in charge and revenge or vengeance is not yours to handle. It means you have to let go of ALL, and you have made the decision to let God—a total surrender of your will to His. It is an understanding of the
God
↓
Man
relationship. The law is important. It can't save you, but it does show you if there is anything in your life that is not consistent with how God wants us to live. We cannot ignore God's warnings if we want to continue living right by trusting Him.
You can be a good moral upright person and follow Commandments 5–10 and still be lost and out of fellowship with God. A New Testament example of this is the rich young ruler. (Matthew 19:16–24) The first four Commandments are the key. They require total surrender. And if those four are followed, you don't even need to know 5–10, because they won't (and can't) be a problem. When the vertical commandments (1–4 and I call them vertical because they deal with our relationship to God) are followed, the horizontal commandments (5–10 and what I call the horizontal because they deal with our relationship to fellow man) will naturally be followed.
You can be a good moral upright person and follow Commandments 5–10 and still be lost and out of fellowship with God. A New Testament example of this is the rich young ruler. (Matthew 19:16–24) The first four Commandments are the key. They require total surrender. And if those four are followed, you don't even need to know 5–10, because they won't (and can't) be a problem. When the vertical commandments (1–4 and I call them vertical because they deal with our relationship to God) are followed, the horizontal commandments (5–10 and what I call the horizontal because they deal with our relationship to fellow man) will naturally be followed.
God made a promise to Abraham and He kept that promise. God never goes back on His word. His promises are always fulfilled.
Next Entry: Galatians 4:8–31
Next Entry: Galatians 4:8–31
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