Galatians 3:1-7
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.
The law can not save us because nobody has ever been able to or will ever be able to keep it, except Jesus. But we are such do-it-yourselfers. And we like to be able to look at others to score ourselves against. I know I'm more of a concrete/objective kind of person. Give me a sport with a clear way to keep score over those with subjective scoring like figure skating or gymnastics. The Jewish believers weren't any different. They watched people to see if they kept the law to know how "good" they were. But that wasn't what the law was for. The gentile believers didn't have the external signs of following of the law. They just believed.
I can sort of understand how the Jews felt. It's sometimes hard for people who have been "churchified" their whole lives to accept new believers because they don't always conform to the "culture" of those who have "been good" all along. Faith is internal and not as easy to measure when you're wanting to size yourself up compared to another. But it's not our place to measure anyway. All who believe are children of Abraham and heirs of the promise. Our actions are not the way we attain newness of life. They are our response to what is within as a result of our faith in Christ Jesus.
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