Look inside this book.Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]

Tag: Galatians 3
Why Was The Law Given?

Why Was The Law Given?

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Why then, was the law given?   It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

Galatians 3:19

When God began His dealings with humanity in real time, He kept it simple: Live in the garden, stay busy, do not eat of the one tree.  Once Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the one tree, God began to elaborate on His commands.  The epitome of this elaboration, in the moral realm, was the Ten Commandments.  The Ten Commandments took such deep root in the psyche of the Israelites, that when Christ came, they refused Him as the living fulfillment of the Law.  Even some who would profess faith in Christ would attempt, to add adherence to the law, to the Gospel of free grace.  Paul takes the whole of the book of Galatians to correct this thinking.  In our text for today, he tells the Galatians why God had given the Law.  It was because of sins until Christ would come.  The Law of God is the precursor to Christ.  It exists as ‘a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.’  Righteousness is never by the law.  It simply shows us how badly we fail and how much we need Christ.  From our breaking one law at the beginning to our breaking of many commandments later, we have only proven how much we need Christ.  Therefore, we ought to value what the Law does for us in bringing us to Christ without relying on it to deliver more than it is able.  Our hope is in Christ Who is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Our Glorious, Living Christ,
we rejoice in You and in the perfection of Your Life.
We praise You that You have fulfilled the law,
that we could never fulfill.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Equality In Christ

Equality In Christ

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That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel….There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Ephesians 3:6, Galatians 3:28&29

‘Equality’ is a common cry and has been throughout history.  “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’ was the motto of the French Revolution and remains the motto of modern France.  The American Declaration of Independence asserts that ‘all men are created equal.’  Yet for all this desire for equality, we find that there exists very little equality even in works such as Plato’s Republic, and right away through to the historical scenarios we could describe as having occurred throughout the course of human civilization.  Where shall we find true equality?  We find it in Christ.  Our text for today derives from two different passages, both written by Paul the Apostle under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  In these passages, Paul is declaring that in Christ we become genuinely equal.  Both of the passages make reference to the combining of all manner of humanity, both Jew and Gentile into the body of Christ.  In that Body, ‘there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female.’  This is equality only ever imagined under any other scheme.  If there is ever to be any true equality among the vast array of humanity it will be in Christ and Christ alone.  Christ brings equality to places it will never exist apart from Him.  In Christ we are equal. 

Our Glorious Living God,
we rejoice that in Christ, You bring about that which could never be,
in any other way.
We praise You that day-by-day,
You give us the privilege to proclaim this Christ
in Whom we have true equality.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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