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But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?
Galatians 4:9 (NIV)

One of the cornerstones of Jesus’ Message is that salvation is by grace through faith. Grace is unearned and unmerited favor. It’s not something one works for, achieves by effort, or earns by good behavior. It is through faith because the saving grace is activated by simply believing that Jesus is God’s Son who died for sin and rose from the dead.

I have observed along my spiritual journey that this rather simple concept is one of the hardest things for human beings to truly accept.

In today’s chapter, Paul continues to argue against the Judaisers who had convinced many believers in Galatia that they must keep all of the rituals and rules of the Law of Moses to know Christ. Paul argues that the rituals and rules, whether pagan or Jewish, are a type of slavery that never ever leads to spiritual freedom and salvation.

There is something in human beings that likes rules, rituals, and regulations. We like merit badges, certificates of membership, and achievement awards. There are lifelong church members I know who still believe that when they die God will have all of their works weighed on His divine scales. They believe that if the good outweighs they’ll get their ticket through the pearly gates.

When Jesus talked about the Day of Judgement He spoke of there being one decisive criterion. There are those human beings He knows, and those to whom He will say “I never knew you.” What is really fascinating is that Jesus described some of those He never knew as individuals who did all the religious rituals and righteous rule-keeping.

As I read through the chapter multiple times this morning I felt Paul’s frustration. Many of the Galatian believers had experienced the spiritual freedom of Jesus’ grace through faith. To go back to religious rule-keeping is like willingly taking on the shackles of a human meritocracy that never ever leads to spiritual freedom and the saving knowledge of Christ. Paul came out of that very human system, and he knows where it leads. I can feel the passion of his pleas to the Galatian believers not to fall into the merit trap.

Yesterday I was asked about my daily ritual of this chapter-a-day meditation, blog post, and podcast. I have been doing it for a long time. Is it not a religious ritual? Yes. However, the discipline of meditating on a chapter, writing my thoughts, and publishing them is rooted in a desire to channel the love, grace, and spiritual freedom I have experienced in my relationship with Jesus into my ongoing spiritual health. Believe me, I have not earned anything by doing so. By the world’s blogging standards, the humble number of subscribers and followers I have after doing it for so many years is a complete and utter failure. Yet, I’ve never done it to earn anything. I’ve done it to daily give something. The love of Jesus that I have freely received and experienced compels me to keep doing so, And, wouldn’t you know it? I find that I am spiritually filled in the process of doing so.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

“…[God] saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit….”
Titus 3:5 (NIV)

There is a fascinating and utterly critical matter lying beneath the structure of Paul’s letter to Titus in today’s chapter. It is essential to understanding God’s Message.

Our chapter begins with Paul instructing Titus to remind the followers of Jesus to be obedient and to do good:

Be subject to rulers
Be subject to authority
Be ready to do whatever is good
Slander no one
Be peaceable
Be considerate
Always be gentle

Here is a do-gooders laundry list. “Surely this is what God expects,” I can hear a heart whisper, “There’s no way. I’ve done too many awful things. I’m such a wretch. There’s no use trying. I could never be what God wants me to be.”

But we can’t stop with the list. The very next thing Paul does is remind Titus of what both of them were, in the past tense:

Foolish
Disobedient
Deceived
Enslaved to passions
Enslave to pleasures
Malicious
Envious
Hated by others
Hating others back

What a contrasting list. Here is a description most of us can identify with. We know the struggle against our own selves, our selfishness, foolishness, and out of control appetites. We know the shame of our own failures.

So, how do we get to the former list when our lives are described by the latter? Eugene Peterson translates Paul’s next words to Titus this way:

But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life!

Here is the crux of Jesus’ teaching, and what I believe is the most amazing piece of it. Gods acceptance isn’t the result of being a do-gooder and earning some kind of spiritual merit badge. We are accepted by God amidst of our ever present laundry list of failures simply by His mercy. We don’t become do gooders to earn God’s mercy. God’s mercy is poured out over us, because of what Jesus did on the cross and because of the empty tomb, so that our lives might be transformed. The transformation is not our doing; It’s God’s work in and through us after simply accepting this amazing, gracious gift.

Today, I’m reminded that goodness is not a prerequisite of God saving me, but the result of God saving me. If I miss this truth, than I miss the entirety of Jesus’ teaching.

featured image via www.radiate.li