Galatians 5:7-15

Galatians is the Magna Carta of Christian liberty. It’s a powerful little book. We’re studying it this year at Church of the Open Door. In Chapters 5 and 6 Paul applies the messages of justification and sanctification by faith.

 In the first section of the epistle proper, 1:11-2:21, Paul defended his apostleship. In 3:1-4:31 the Apostle clarifies the implications of justification and sanctification by faith and why it’s true. His final section demonstrates how this grace works in life. Grace works through liberty. Christ set us free to demonstrate His righteousness in ways that transcend any enslaving set of rules or moral codes (5:1-12). This liberty isn’t so that we can indulge the self-centered desires of our flesh as we did before we trusted in Christ. Using our freedom in that way will cause us to lose our inheritance in the coming kingdom (5:13-21). We’ve been set free to walk in the Spirit (5:16-18) so that we can display Christ’s righteousness through the fruit of the Spirit (5:22-25). But even this transformation isn’t about us; it’s about Christ and others. What we’ve really been set free to do is to love and serve others (6:1-10).

The big picture of Paul’s glorious presentation of Christian liberty contrasts two systems of righteousness: works-righteousness, which always enslaves and grace-righteousness, which always liberates. It also forces us to see that true liberty is always about Christ and others. And it all begins with standing firm in grace because we understand what is at stake:

Here’s the link to the sermon, study notes, and discussion notes from my exposition of  Galatians 5:7-15:

Use Your Freedom!

Zachy’s Request

EdUnderwood.com

Galatians 5:1-6

Galatians is the Magna Carta of Christian liberty. It’s a powerful little book. We’re studying it this year at Church of the Open Door. In Chapters 5 and 6 Paul applies the messages of justification and sanctification by faith.

 In the first section of the epistle proper, 1:11-2:21, Paul defended his apostleship. In 3:1-4:31 the Apostle clarifies the implications of justification and sanctification by faith and why it’s true. His final section demonstrates how this grace works in life. Grace works through liberty. Christ set us free to demonstrate His righteousness in ways that transcend any enslaving set of rules or moral codes (5:1-12). This liberty isn’t so that we can indulge the self-centered desires of our flesh as we did before we trusted in Christ. Using our freedom in that way will cause us to lose our inheritance in the coming kingdom (5:13-21). We’ve been set free to walk in the Spirit (5:16-18) so that we can display Christ’s righteousness through the fruit of the Spirit (5:22-25). But even this transformation isn’t about us; it’s about Christ and others. What we’ve really been set free to do is to love and serve others (6:1-10).

The big picture of Paul’s glorious presentation of Christian liberty contrasts two systems of righteousness: works-righteousness, which always enslaves and grace-righteousness, which always liberates. It also forces us to see that true liberty is always about Christ and others. And it all begins with  standing firm in grace because we understand what is at stake:

Here’s the link to the sermon, study notes, and discussion notes from my exposition of  Galatians 5:1-6:

Stand Firm In Freedom!

Zachy’s Request

EdUnderwood.com

On January 1 I turned 3 blogs into 1.

Jesus Movement Blog and the Tipping Points Blog navigated to this Ed Underwood website.

It was a big project for me because I’m not that techy (thanks John Saddington and Stephen Bateman)!

It was like saying goodbye old friends. The Jesus Movement Blog was created to support the rollout of my book on the Jesus Movement, Reborn to Be Wild. It connected me to a lot of cool Jesus Movement people and I hope they’ve followed me to edunderwood.com. The Tipping Points was created to catalog the weekly devotionals I send out to our church–Church of the Open Door.

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I’ve been putting this off for too long.

Three Blogs, Three Communities, Three Related Topics

edunderwood.com: The most comprehensive website–“a conversation about radical hope and radical Christianity with shepherd and author, Ed Underwood.” I started this blog way before I knew what I was doing and by the time my friend John Saddington looked at it, it was almost unresurrectable. So, we decided to start another blog in support of my second book, Reborn to Be Wild.

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It doesn’t add up.

The God of the Universe sent His only Son to die for me so that He could give me His life, care for me, teach me, and encourage me to follow Him.

It just doesn’t add up.

I’m a failing failure.

I was a totally hopeless failure when it came to holiness before I met Jesus.

And even with all the growth and healing Jesus has brought into my life, I continue to fail Him.

Just last week I told Him I felt like my life was a hopeless, sinful, joke. I told Him it was a mistake to ever give me eternal life. I told Him I didn’t think I could go on and that He should find some other follower to represent Him.

I mean, really, how does He tolerate someone who’s been a Christian so long and still has these nights of deep depression, these bouts with anger and doubt, these envious-of-other-Christians’-better-deal-in-life pity parties, and this less-than-I-really-want-to-be-for-you life?

Guess I’ll just have to give up and receive His love, and risk it that He’s telling the truth when He says that I’m His special concern.

Despite all my sinfulness and the messiness of my stumbling steps of following Him, I don’t have anyone else to go to.

He has the words of eternal life.

I’m just going to go ahead and keep risking everything on Jesus.

…in the name of Christ.”

That’s what Anne Rice said and did recently.

The wildly popular author who embraced Christianity just a decade ago backed up servers all over the world as bloggers told her and their dozen readers what they thought about that.

I checked out her words, not the words of others.

After reading her explanation, I’d have to say, “Me too, Anne. Except that I did that years ago.”

In her own words: My faith in Christ is central to my life. But following Christ is infinitely more important than following his followers.

If you take the time to read what she actually said and you’re a devoted follower of Christ, you’ll see that she’s not giving up on Jesus. She’s tired of the opinionated, I’m against everything, shame-messaged, cloistered in the white suburbs, take me back to the fifties Leave it To Beaver-but let me keep my money and comfort version of so-called evangelical Christianity that wore me out a long time ago.

I’m too old, too tired, and too sick to keep doing stuff that doesn’t matter. I’m through with the  silliness, the meanness, the fear, and the pettiness of the religious wardens.

She’ll never read this blog. But if she did, I’d say, ”I get it Anne. Me too.”