Walking the Tight-Rope on Your Own?

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
Galatians 3 (click the link)


KEY PASSAGE:
Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. (Galatians 3:7, NIV)


REFLECTIONS:
On Sunday, January 22, Pastor Greg preached his final message about the Sermon on the Mount. As part of that sermon, he recounted the famous story about the tight-rope walker Charles Blondin. 

As the story goes, Blondin set up a rope across Niagara Falls and walked across several times. So confident did he become that he made the journey backwards as well as forwards, and performed various tricks on the way, like sitting on a small stool and eating a meal. But the most famous trick was when he asked for a volunteer to be carried over on his back. In one of the most mind-boggling acts of trust ever placed by one human being in another, a brave (or perhaps foolish) man stepped forward, and was carried over on Blondin's shoulders.

But let's just suppose that halfway across, the man said to Blondin: "Hey, great job so far, but I don't really trust you anymore. I think I can handle the rest of the way myself. Let me down and I'll walk from here without you."

How arrogant and foolish would this man have been?! Surely, Blondin, the man's family and friends, and the watching crowds would have thought him to be out of his mind. How did he suppose he would get across by himself?

That's the exact reaction Paul has on hearing that his beloved Galatians are thinking of getting circumcised and embracing adherence to the Law of Moses. Incredulous, he asks "Who has cast a spell on them? Are you they out of their minds?" Twice he calls them "foolish" or "mindless" or "witless." They seem to have lost the power to think straight.

Having begun the Christian life in the power of the Spirit, do they think they can continue in the flesh? Having begun with faith, do they think they can continue with works of the Jewish law, the Torah?

To understand why this is so obviously nonsense to Paul, we have to understand what is at stake here. Paul is concerned above all about who the Galatians thought themselves to be. Were they part of the Messiah-family, the people who belonged to the new age which God had begun with the death and resurrection of Jesus? Or were they trying to become part of the Jewish faith, joining—by circumcision—the people of God defined by ethnic origin?

Paul passionately reminds the Galatians that his message had been one of faith in the crucified Christ. Being that God had poured his Spirit into their lives through faith in Jesus, how could they ever think that by adherence to a religious "duty" they could be made right with God? He reminds them that through their faith in Jesus, they were already the true children of Israel.

God's Spirit was powerfully active wherever the good news of Jesus was announced. It was because the Spirit was at work in Paul's preaching that the Galatians came to believe in the first place, just as Paul says in 1Thessalonians 1:5. Through the empowerment of the Spirit, the "word of God" is powerfully active when preached (Romans 1:16 and 1 Thessalonians 2:13). Paul can even claim that it is only through the Spirit that a person can make even the most basic confession of Christian faith, that "Jesus is Lord" (1 Corinthians 12:3). Putting these all together, the point that Paul is making is that when the word of God is preached, the Spirit of God works in people's hearts to bring them to faith.

Paul essentially says: "Hey, if you get circumcised you are saying that it isn't the Spirit that matters but the flesh. You are climbing off the back of the One who is carrying you to safety, and insisting on doing things the way that you know will ultimately lead to disaster. You are forgetting how this whole thing started, and thinking that you can reinvent the rules halfway across. You are ignoring the fact that all you presently enjoy—the life in the Spirit and the miraculous deeds of God—happen because of the Spirit and because of your trust in God's grace."

The Galatians didn't become Christians through the keeping of the Jewish law, which deals with the things of the flesh. And they don't continue as Christians by observing the Jewish law. Being a child of Abraham—a follower of the living God—starts and continues as a matter of faith. The Jewish law has nothing to say to it.

…………

How susceptible am I to the mindset of the Galatians! In my mind I know and believe that Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for my sins. I believe that through his death and resurrection I have been, not only restored to a right relationship with God, but blessed with a life that can truly be described as abundant. In my mind, I know that the Spirit of God dwells within me and is the Source of spiritual power and Guide for righteous living.

However, without even thinking I often fall into the mindset of living the Christian life in my own strength and wisdom and power. I still find myself falling into a life of almost rote spiritual activity and lifeless, mindless "obedience" to the teachings of Scripture. So deeply ingrained is this in me that, I find myself trudging through life thinking that everything's "all good" between me and God if I check off all the little boxes on my list of spiritual practices—having a quiet time, confessing my sins, praying for others, etc. And, if I fail to check something off the list, I can easily get bogged down with guilt.

Similar to the Galatians, I find myself putting way too much onus upon my abilities to "perform" the Christian life.

………

I need this sharp reminder that I have become a "child of Abraham" through faith and faith alone. Tonight I reread Genesis 15 and the story of God making a covenant with Abraham, promising him a great family, and the land as its inheritance. It's a strange and mysterious story of God's interaction with the forefather of our faith. The critical move in this covenant story is that, when God made the first promise, Abraham believed it.

Abraham's faith didn't earn his membership in God's covenant; God initiated a promise and Abraham believed it. Abraham's faith was like the badge that showed he was now in covenant with God. Abraham's faith became the sign of covenant membership, the sign of being part of God's family.

Genesis 12, the opening of Abraham's story, promises that God will bless all the nations of the world through him. When we put these two stories and these two promises of God together, what do we have? In a short, tight-packed form, we have Paul's whole argument—when people believe the gospel of Jesus, they are already Abraham's true children. There is no need to "do" anything.

Faith is not a temporary badge, to be exchanged for something else later on. Faith is the sign of membership in God's family from one side of the river all the way to the other. By putting my faith in my ability to perform religious duties, I'm courting disaster—something akin to climbing off the back of the master tight-rope walker.


PRAYER:
Oh God, thank you for your amazing grace, the grace that led you to make a promise to Abraham long ago. Enlighten our eyes so that we might be a people who believe and trust in your faithfulness to your promises. Our flesh has such an influence over us, often leading us to performance-driven activities, things we have to do that or to feel in a right relationship with you. Turn our eyes to Jesus and Jesus alone. Strengthen us to remain continuously look to him with eyes of faith, constantly trusting him to work in and through us to bring our salvation to maturity.


WHO AM I?
My name is Tres Sansom and my wife and I have recently lost our minds in another area of life—our eating habits. We decided to go tree hugger and embrace a diet made up almost exclusively of fruits and vegetables. As someone who grew up on a diet of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and gravy, this has been an interesting journey. However, I have found the last few months of eating this way to be a delightful experience. I heartily encourage you to embrace the "whole foods, plant-based" diet.