Seeking the Life in Christ

Monday, November 11, 2024

Freedom in Christ

Meditations for Seeking the Life in Christ

Galatians

November 11, 2024

Freedom in Christ

“For freedom Christ has set us free”

Galatians 5:1a (NRSV)

Read: Galatians 5: 1-6

“Plant your feet firmly therefore within the freedom that Christ has won for us, and do not let yourselves be caught again in the shackles of slavery” (Galatians 5:1 PHILLIPS).

I believe the greatest gift we can give God is to accept our acceptance. God wants us to wrap our arms around ourselves and love ourselves as He loves us. When I truly embrace myself as the beloved child of God everything changes, I “become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This is the truth that Jesus said would set me free, and Jesus gave his life for me so that I can live in his freedom. (John 8:32; Galatians 5:1)

Living in the freedom of Christ allows me to love and accept myself as I am, where I am. Living in the freedom of Christ allows me to be pleased with myself just as I am, because God my Father is pleased with me. This freedom in Christ is not a license to keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace. (Romans 6:1) This freedom in Christ is a license to love myself because Christ loves me, and he died for me while I was still a sinner. When I love and embrace myself, the one that Christ gave himself for, I become fertile ground for the Holy Spirit to form Christ in me. The more I join the Trinity in loving myself, the more Christ will become visible in my mortal flesh. This is the freedom for which Christ has set me free.

My Takeaway: This freedom in Christ empowers us to do and say what Jesus would do or say, because Christ lives in us. (Philippians 4:13; Colossians 3:11b) We can stand up and go forth as the beloved of God, empowered to stand firm in the freedom Christ has won for us. Remember, “Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us” (Colossians 3:11b).

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life. The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Friday, November 8, 2024

Children of The Promise

Meditations for Seeking the Life in Christ

Galatians

November 8, 2024

Children of The Promise

And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac.

Galatians 4:28

Read: Galatians 4: 21-31

In today’s passage, Paul jumped back into the deep end of the theological pool to press on with his argument. I suspect his argument here was more for the Judaizers than the Gentiles because his argument is somewhat convoluted and depends on a thorough knowledge of the story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar to grasp Paul’s point.

In its simplest form, the argument of the Judaizers was that the people of God had their origin in Abraham and are subject to the Law of Moses. Therefore, if a Gentile wanted to accept Jesus as the Messiah and become a part of the people of God, he must first be circumcised and then submit to the Law of Moses. Paul countered this argument by pointing out that the origin of God’s people came through the promise of God to Abraham and Sarah. The child Isaac was born through Abraham and Sarah’s faith in God’s promise; the child Ishmael was born out of Abraham, Sarah’s and Hagar’s wisdom and strength, or as Paul liked to call it, their flesh. For Paul, keeping the Law of Moses was a work of the flesh; to become the people of God is an act of faith, believing God’s promise that Jesus is His Messiah.

This passage may seem archaic and obsolete for Christians today, until you ask them if they believe they will go to heaven when they die. The most common response is, “I hope so.” When pressed further, the typical Christian will say they hope they are good enough. “Good enough’ is reliance on performance, on keeping the law. I have encountered many Christians through the years who believed God was angry with them or that they were not good enough for God, and therefore, they interpreted the bad things in their life as God’s punishment.

My Takeaway: I believe God’s heart aches over the difficulty we have in simply believing His promises. Somehow, we need to own those powerful words of Brennan Manning: “God loves us unconditionally, just as we are; not as we should be. Because no one is as they should be.”

(All is Grace, Brennan Manning)

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

Thursday, November 7, 2024

Until Christ Is Formed in You

Meditations for Seeking the Life in Christ

Galatians

November 7, 2024

Until Christ Is Formed in You

My little children, for whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,

Galatians 4:19 (NRSV)

Read: Galatians 4: 12-20

In this passage, Paul took a break from his detailed theological argument about the life in grace to remember his personal relationship with the Galatian congregations. In Chapter 5, Paul beautifully summarized his life with the Galatians when he first brought them the Good News of Jesus: “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6 NIV). We do not know whether Paul had been suffering from wounds of persecution or a serious illness. We do know that the Galatians received him warmly and showered him with loving hospitality. The power of the Holy Spirit was evident in Paul’s preaching and ministry, and new churches were established throughout the region. It was Paul’s hope that the remembrance of God working so powerfully among them would inspire them to return to the foundation of grace that enabled their freedom in Christ to flourish.

Paul closes this passage with what I believe is one of the most compelling revelations of the life in Christ: “My little children, for whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,” (Galatians 4:19 NRSV Emphasis mine). This phrase makes it abundantly clear that God is at work within us, transforming us to become like Christ.

I hope this powerful affirmation by Paul elicits two responses in you.

First, with a huge sigh of humility, do you lift your eyes to heaven in awe of your Abba’s remarkably high expectations for you?

Secondly, with another huge sigh of humility, do you lower your eyes and marvel at how much more God must do before Christ is fully formed in you?

My Takeaway: Did you notice that Paul compared his personal ordeal on behalf of the Galatians, as like the pain of childbirth, because God was working through Paul to form Christ in them? Do you see it? God uses the followers of Christ to help other believers grow and mature in Christ. As I write these meditations each day, it is my sincere hope and prayer that God uses them to form Christ in you. You too are an instrument of God’s grace for forming Christ in His children. For whom can you say, “I am in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you?”

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Now That God Knows You

Meditations for Seeking the Life in Christ

Galatians

November 6, 2024

Now That God Knows You

So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?

Galatians 4:9

Read: Galatians 4: 8-11

In this brief passage, Paul identifies two important principles of the life in Christ that we can use as barometers of our growth in Christ. The first is our awareness of how the performance-based-acceptance culture of our society can easily erode the freedom we have in Christ. Our culture likes to have checklists where we can mark off our progress as we complete various tasks. In a similar way, many people seek to have a measurement system for their life as a Christian. They have a checklist to mark off their tithe and attendance at church and their daily devotional exercises. Of course, tithing, church attendance and devotional activities are important in the life of a Christian, but they are never an end in themselves. We do these things to help us know Christ who loved us and gave himself for us, not to earn his favor or assure our right-standing with God.

The second principle is hugely important even though Paul made it as a parenthetical statement: “So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you)” (Galatians 4:9a). Paul does not mean that God simply knows about us, or even thoroughly knows everything about us, although of course He does. Paul means that God knows us within a covenant relationship. God knows me because He created me in His image. He has always known me, even from my mother’s womb. However, ever since I made my personal confession of faith in Christ Jesus, God knows me as His beloved child, with whom He is delighted and upon whom His favor rests. Because I am known by God, like the Apostle Paul, “I want to know Christ” and “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Philippians 3: 10,12).

My Takeaway: Paul is modeling the life in Christ. I noted on Monday that our salvation is only made possible by the faithfulness of Jesus. (Galatians 3: 23-29)

Our right-standing with God is initiated and maintained, moment by moment, by the faithfulness of Jesus. Therefore, my ambition is to be a fully devoted follower of the man of great faith, Christ Jesus. Paul charts the same course in today’s passage. Paul wanted to know God because God first knew Paul. That is my story also. I want to tightly grasp Jesus the Messiah who first took hold of me!

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

God Has Made You His Heir

Meditations for Seeking the Life in Christ

Galatians

November 5, 2024

God Has Made You His Heir

And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”

Galatians 4:6

Read: Galatians 4: 1-7

I want to jump ahead for just a minute. At the end of Chapter Six, Paul makes clear that the ultimate purpose of God working through Jesus is to create the ‘new people of God.’ (Galatians 6:15) We become the new people of God when we are transformed to become like Jesus. I mention this because in the opening passage of Chapter Four, Paul reveals what I believe is the key to understanding how the transformation to the new people of God comes about.

In verse 7, Paul shifts from speaking in general terms, second person plural ‘we’, to speaking in specific terms, second person singular ‘you’. Paul moves from talking about ‘we’ and ‘us’ to talking about YOU. You are God’s child. You are God’s heir. I believe this is the key: your personal ownership of your new identity in Christ.

Many Christians believe the most beautiful passage of scripture is, “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). However, that passage is just beautiful prose until you take personal ownership of the subject phrase ‘everyone who believes,’ and you affirm, I believe.

My Takeaway: Sometimes people tend to focus on the whole people of God, because they cannot imagine God caring for them as an individual. These people struggle with applying the promises of God to their personal life. However, God saves us one at a time, so that together, we can become the new people of God.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

Monday, November 4, 2024

The Faithfulness of Jesus

Meditations for Seeking the Life in Christ

Galatians

November 4, 2024

The Faithfulness of Jesus

And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

Galatians 3:29

Read: Galatians 3: 23-29

In this passage Paul speaks of before and after: “Before the way of faith in Christ, and “now that the way of faith has come” (Galatians 3: 23, 25). However, there is a bit of nuance in the Greek that makes this passage difficult to translate. I believe N. T. Wright comes closest to Paul’s intent when he renders these verses as,

“Before this faithfulness arrived”

and

“now that faithfulness has come.”

“The way of faith” can imply that it is our personal way of faith that means “we no longer need the law as our guardian” (v.25). However, in this passage, Paul is celebrating the faithfulness of Jesus, not our way of faith. Our salvation is only made possible by the faithfulness of Jesus. Our right-standing with God is initiated and maintained, moment by moment, by the faithfulness of Jesus. It will never be my ambition to be a man of great faith. I will always strive to be a fully devoted follower of the man of great faith, Christ Jesus. It is not my great faith I am interested in because I am possessed by the great faithfulness of Jesus and his passion for me. I love the way Paul puts this thought in Philippians 3:12 (NASB) “. . . but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”

One of the fruits of my faith in the faithfulness of Jesus is revealed at the end of this chapter. Paul writes that when “you belong to Christ there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). This is not possible when you live by the law. This is reality when you live by faith in Christ.

My Takeaway: I am convinced that if Paul were writing this letter to the churches in our era, he would write, there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male, female, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Protestant, or Catholic. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

God wants unity in Christ more than He wants denominations.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

Friday, November 1, 2024

Heirs of Father Abraham

Meditations for Seeking the Life in Christ

Galatians

November 1, 2024

Heirs of Father Abraham

But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:22

Galatians 3: 15-22

If we had been sitting in one of the Galatian churches when Paul’s letter was read, we, like our Galatian Gentile brothers and sisters, would probably be looking at one another and saying, “What in the world is Paul talking about?” Paul was using the heritage of Israel against the Judaizers, and we need to unpack that history a bit to catch Paul’s point. And what a point it is!

This episode in the life of the Galatian church is an example of how the Old Testament is only fully understood in the light of Jesus the Messiah. In Galatians 3:6-9, Paul interpreted Genesis 12 and 15 to reveal that from the very beginning of God’s covenant with Abraham, God intended to have one worldwide family, bound to Him eternally by faith. To be an heir of God’s covenant with Abraham, a person did not have to be born of particular parents, or in the nation of Israel; a person is reconciled to God by faith. Paul is saying that Abraham is the trunk of God’s family tree, and we who believe in Christ Jesus have been grafted into the family tree of God (Romans 11:17). Don’t pass over this too quickly. Take time to drink in what Paul is affirming here. Father Abraham is our father too. This means that King David was not just a Jewish King. He was our King. King David is in our family tree because we have been reconciled to God by faith, and we are a part of the people of God. Our family tree reaches all the way back to God making covenant with Abraham, “For Abraham is the father of all who believe” (Romans 4:16).

Paul also affirms that while the law of God cannot save us, its purpose is instrumental in our salvation. Sin matters and has huge consequences. Whenever we sin, we are investing our life, our time and our resources in something other than the Kingdom of God. The law reveals our sin so that we, the prisoners of sin, can receive God’s promise of freedom by believing in Jesus Christ.

My Takeaway: In a typical Sunday morning worship service, Christians affirm their faith in God by saying the Apostles’ Creed, which includes the affirmation that Jesus “will come to judge the living and the dead.” If you believe this, Paul’s affirmation about our being heirs of God’s covenant with Father Abraham is very Good News indeed!

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

Monday, November 11, 2024

Freedom in Christ

Friday, November 8, 2024

Children of The Promise

Thursday, November 7, 2024

Until Christ Is Formed in You

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Now That God Knows You

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

God Has Made You His Heir

Monday, November 4, 2024

The Faithfulness of Jesus

Friday, November 1, 2024

Heirs of Father Abraham

Seeking the Life in Christ

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