I used to sit back and ask myself like why can’t I do this and why don’t I have that and think that the next person has is so easy.. I had to realize a few things. 1. Things come easy to nonbelievers because God is not going to test them, he already knows they don’t believe. 2. Some people are willing to do things to get things that I am not willing to do. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil… So it may take you a while to get what you want or where you need to go and you will have a feel test from the lord on the way but you will get there without selling you soul or your mind… Amen! This was a good read
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 NLT
love this verse.
love this! “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.”
Galatians 2:20-21 NLT
16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. – Galatians 2:16
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20
We all sin and fall short of the glory of the Lord. Yet, He died and saved us if we believe and repent. No one but God is perfect, so we will sin. We just have to live life as God-like as possible. Thank you, Lord, for saving me!
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
and what profit do we get if we pray to him
-job 21:15
One hard question I asked myself today that I will continually ask: do I pray for things in return or rewards, do I pray for profit or do I pray to talk with my loving father
I am thankful for the son who gave me a way to come home. For we can do nothing through the law to be set right. It is through faith in him the perfect lamb.
The devotional in the SRT Bible is excellent today. Page 1976; Freedom from the Law.
“Here in Galatians, Paul is really fired up about protecting “the truth of the gospel” (a phrase he uses repeatedly) and he’s fed up with those preaching a different gospel.” SRT Devotional page 1976
We need to be more like Paul! Especially in today’s climate of everything goes.
20I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
16nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
This is the verse I claimed when I accepted Jesus. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
I didn’t mean to post yet.
We cannot earn salvation in any way. None of us can do enough or be enough to be good enough to deserve it- it is purely an act of faith by the grace of God. However, once we come to faith, out of our love for the Lord and gratitude for what He’s done and doing in our lives, we will strive to obey, grow in our faith, emulate Him, step out in faith…. Faith without works is dead. He will use us in spite of who us. He stretches us and grows us as we act in faith.
Thank you, Lord. May our lives bring glory to you.
James spoke of faith without works being dead. Now Paul is emphasizing salvation is of faith not works. They seem in opposition, but in truth, they are very complimentary.
11But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned.
This stood out to me today, reading about Paul’s audacity in confronting what he knew to be sinful. How often do we face to face confront people who are distorting the gospel, adding to it or taking from it? Probably not nearly enough
So my notes about Psalm 19 we all about the law and its benefits. Then I read Galatians 2 and was struck by verse 19, “I died to the law – I stopped trying to keep all its requirements- so that I might live for God.” The contradiction! I know Paul is meaning that we can’t live by the law alone and try to prove our worth to God, but it just jumped out to me since I was so high on the law from Psalms and then it was like, slow down Sister, this is really about God!
Most of the time we get so stuck on what we need to do as members of our community we forget about our duty as Christians. The world has normalized many things, and it is up to us to remember that the word holds us to a different standard. A higher standard. We must keep each other accountable and work towards Christ together!
I was also reading Job 20 and the first part of verse 22 stood out especially to me: “in the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress.” This hit me really hard….how often do I feel that what I’m doing is sufficient? How often do I feel sufficient on my own, with Christ as the side note? It is clear that in Job 20 we cannot do anything sufficient apart from God. Reminds me of Philippians 4:13 AMP: I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.]
Shyla, thanks for sharing! I struggle with trying to be sufficient too. And you are right that Christ gives us our strength and ability to be sufficient. Great insight!
Does anyone else get sad reading Job 20 and hearing about what happens to the wicked and those who don’t know God? Surely I’m not the only one who has a loved one who doesn’t know the Lord.
That’s a good way to read it and be motivated to pray for the lost! When I read about the wicked I confess I was thinking of people like sex traffickers, and it’s hard to desire mercy for people like that… But this reminds me and challenges me that we should desire mercy for ALL people, because by knowing God they become better people :) and it keeps hate from our hearts
Cat, you made me chuckle. You ladies are awesome! Paul is merely distinguishing between those who follow the Jewish laws and those who don’t. He’s using the symbolism of circumcision to separate Jews from Gentiles since that was a big cultural thing. I don’t think they actually looked.
This is silly, but…. How would one know if one were hanging out with circumcised or uncircumcised folks? Would that have been obvious in another way and they’re just using that to say Jew/Gentile, or what? It’s not quite the first distinguishing characteristic I’d use to describe someone.
What I found intriguing reading this is how much they talk about children making up for the parents iniquity. If the wicked persons children will have to make up for their sin, how much more I should be considering my future children in the way I conduct myself. If I live right, the burden on my children would be lessened? First time here, having fun delving deep into the word.
I think, as a mother of five, that we can give our children a Godly heritage, or not.
You can’t give someone something you do not yourself possess, and the degree to which we’re able to spiritually overcome the flesh, the world, and the devil through the power of Christ’s life in us matters greatly to our families.
6 As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. – I’m not competing against anyone and their acceptance doesn’t elevate my worth.
Living in faith…this had been such a abstract idea to grasp for me for so long. After returning to the church after 15 years and seeing the many ways God has always been there even when I had rejected him has made me realize that it was FAITH in Him that I needed to have. Everyday I feel like I understand just that tiny bit more and leap further into my faith in God. Praise Him!!
Every word is God-breathed: a short phrase in Gal 2:6. Something I’m currently struggling with as I have been “missed,” deemed unimportant. But. “God does not show favoritism.” We live in such a Christian celebrity society. I feel a pull to “be” someone. May I be more desirous of Gal 2:19-20 to live for God. “Well done, not well said.” C.Caine
Hi Bev, you’re right, we love to put others on a pedastool and say just how “awesome” they are and how hard they work. In fact, we should seek to be more like those who are humble like mother Teresa or Corrie ten Boom, people who loved jesus so much they literally gave their lives for Him. I’m totally with you though, I want to “be” someone in the church, but my true wish is that when I get to see Jesus one day He’ll say “well done good and faithful servant”, now that would be awesome!! Bless you :-)
I agree. That really stuck with me. We can’t follow God’s law perfectly. “for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ would have died for nothing.”
I’ve been reading this plan so far and truly love it. Actually remembering what I’m reading! In church we are in Genesis and my knowledge is humbling to myself. Finally found a plan that brings me closer to our Father. Loving Galatians!!!
Also Peter regularly ate with the gentiles but then stopped out of fear of those in the circumcision party. He turned back on all he knew out of FEAR. BUT before I throw the first stone.. Have I not done this before? Acted against what I knew was right out of FEAR? Oh goodness have I ever… Peter’s flesh was still at work in him, as it is in me at times..
I’m just now jumping on this plan today and I’m so excited! My life has been very difficult lately but it was all a part of God’s great plan in my life! Through reading God’s word daily this past week I have developed a relationship with Him that hasn’t been very present in my life. God used my pain to bring me closer to Him. In catching up on this plan I’ve read 20 chapters of my bible today and I’m the happiest I’ve been in months. I’ve found deep joy in God my savior and I can’t wait to continue discovering more about Him!
I agree with the posts here about the false doctrine of karma that it seems like Job’s friends are assuming in their dialogue with him. But today I was just wondering what place and what lesson this has in the Bible. Why is all of the banter included? Is it just a lesson that I should never assume I know how God works? It seems like if that’s true, I should never show up to give counsel to friends in distress; but I know that The Gospel fosters community. I know I should want to speak the truth to those who need it. Anybody have any light to shed on any of that?
Most people in deep sadness just want a hug and to feel like someone is there, I think. I don’t think they’re expecting us to have the answers. Even Job mentions how he wishes they would just be supportive instead of trying to analyze everything.
I agree! Job is very convicting to me
In that regard. As a previous comment mentioned, I wonder if Job’s friends are trying to justify what happened to Job because they need assurance that the same won’t happen to them. I know I have done that! When something bad happens, I try to talk it about and justify it, mainly as a way to convince myself not to worry about bad things. I need to work on just being there and comforting people, rather than trying to explain everything.
So often I think that I began in faith but now have to continue in my own power. But Galatians 2:20 says that “the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me”. Faith has to be a central theme. In my own power I will likely fail. Have to continue in faith … even as I must begin in faith.
I am blown away by Paul in Galatians. We know from Paul’s life how zealous he was in Judaism. He was brought up under Gamaliel educated according to the strict view of their patriarchal law (Acts 22:3; 5:34).. And Gamaliel was a Pharisee and RESPECTED by all people. So think about this, Paul understood God by works and the law all his life until his conversion. He knew nothing of the True Gospel he was going to be preaching. Yet we see between chapters 1 and 2 of Galatians that right after his conversion he didn’t go straight to the apostles! In fact he went away for 3 years (not clear on what he did during that time?!?) THEN after 3 years, went to Jerusalem but only stayed 15 days. Then chapter 2 says after 14 years he went back. 2 visits to Jerusalem over 14ish years shows he wasn’t sitting at the feet of the disciples of Jesus to learn the Gospel he was about to preach. This truly does confirm what he said: “now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not based on human thought. For I did not receive it from a human source and I WAS NOT TAUGHT IT, But it came by a revelation from Christ” (1:11-12) // how AWESOME is this? The Spirit is our teacher & He gives us all the revelation we need! Not that we can’t gain knowledge from others of course. But I just found this fascinating.
Yea it’s really been a back and forth conversation between Job and his friends and each using their own knowledge of what they believe to be God’s immense power and reasoning but who can really say why God does things. No one. His friends should console him though and not speak when they don’t really know either.
I agree with you Jennifer. Zophar says “I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to reply.”… Seems to me an arrogant thought process & should have stopped at “I hear a rebuke that dishonors me”… not continue on! Convicted how many times we feel compelled to beat a point to death instead of just walking away…
Something I struggle with Moni. Letting God work through my actions, not my words. I’m often told that I need to get the last word. My desire is to stand and represent God in those times and not my own ego.
Still reflecting on the profound message in this verse. I read the readings a few hours ago, and keep coming back to this: 2:21 “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” So deep..and so true. Keep our hearts, minds, and spirits focused on the grace of God, and all else will fall in order.
This passage convicted me this morning: “The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.”
I was raised in the church and have seen so many close friends fall away because of hypocrisy and being “burned” by the church. Being called to a higher standard is difficult at times, but this passage motivates me to distance myself from “religion” and pray for those who have been led astray.
Amazing how even back in Job’s time people believed in the false idea of “karma.” A lot of us don’t get what “we deserve.” Some of that we should be thankful for since in our wickedness, we really deserve hell, despite what we may think we’re owed as a “good person” because as many Bible writers reiterate, none of us are good. So all blessings are given to wicked people, really.
I love the cross reference with the NT today. Paul says, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Neither Job, nor the murderers in prison, nor the stock brokers on Wall Street, nor the missionaries, nor you or I can gain righteousness on our own no matter how many rules we may follow. We all need Christ. And Christ has come and given us all grace so freely!
Lauren, this can be so frustrating. However, remember the promise of eternal life, and the peace that comes from walking in the will of God. This is our hope! My study Bible says it this way “the final settlement of justice will come, not in this life, but in the next. What is important is how a person views God in prosperity or in poverty, not the prosperity or poverty itself.” Don’t be discouraged, keep persevering and spreading the good news, for the eternal rewards a great! :)
I work at a high end drug and alcohol rehab, and I feel like it has given me a good perspective on this point. I may have to struggle for what I have (my husband and I have been blessed greatly, but it definitely has not all just fallen into out lap!), but I have Christ, and after watching so many extremely wealthy and “successful” people come through our facility searching for healing and hope, I feel so completely grateful that I have an anchor to hold on to. That is worth more than any amount of success and or riches, or an “easy” life.
I feel that this question is answered in the next day’s readings in Job 24. It really blew me away.
V22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;
though they become established, they have no assurance of life.
23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,
but his eyes are on their ways.
24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;
they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
they are cut off like heads of grain.
Agreed, and bothered by this seeming injustice — until I remember & recall
Psalm 73:16-20
16 When I pondered to understand this,
It was troublesome in my sight
17 Until I came into the sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their end.
18 Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.
The wicked need Jesus. We need Jesus. “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each to our own way… ”
Praise God we have heard His voice, repented and are following Him.
A huge call to pray for our unsaved family and friends. Eternity awaits us all.
He’s refuting their prosperity doctrine; the idea that God deals with us not according to our own righteousness but on Christ’s. In the end what matters is did you put your faith in Christ. I thought it was really interesting to see that Job used the prosperity to refute this prosperity doctrine of Jobs friends. How often do I remember to look to the world around me and realize how God works? He has common grace to all men and he has saving, unique grace for his children. He works according to his good will, not my behavior. And if my father sees that it’s best to wound me like a surgeon then I trust that He will guide me through and heal me.
So was Zophar saying Job was wicked b/c his children died and he lost all his possessions? That’s pretty cold for a friend. Maybe I’m reading this wrong but it sounds like all Job’s friends want is the lowdown on what wicked deed he did to deserve this. At first I thought Job was just whining (he is whining, but there’s more to it), but now I think he’s trying to prove his innocence. He’s impatient for God to show his cold-hearted friends that he’s the victim here. And, I could be wrong. That’s just what I got out of today.
That’s exactly what I get out of it too. Instead of truly letting Job let out his suffering and use his friends as sources of comfort, since his real issue is with God, not them, his friends are convinced they have all the answers about God. Basically, they want Job to shut up and admit that they know so much more than him. Job is using them as a catalyst to defend his innocence and try to understand why he’s in so much suffering before God, but they’re not giving him that space.
I think you hit the nail on the head, Shannon. Seems like for a lot of us, in our darkest moments, that’s when the people around us have the least constructive things to say. :(
As I was reading today I realized that Job’s friends could very well be trying to comfort themselves instead of Job. They believe they are godly men, and yet here is their friend who they also thought God favored and yet he was stuck down by God on a scale they never thought possible for someone who was considered godly. How terrifying that must have been for them to see! If Job hadn’t done something to cause his situation, did that mean that none of them were safe from the same things?
There is some thought out there among some Christians that the bad things that happen in a person’s life are directly related to the sins they have committed. That way of thinking is not that different from what Job’s friends are arguing… But the truth is that we live in a fallen world and that bad things can happen to anyone. Fortunately, we do not need to go through it alone because God is so much bigger than any problem we face! :)
Yes! I felt this too Shannon! Seems like they just keep repeating how wicked people are punished so they’re waiting for Job to admit his sin. How frustrating for Job. It also really convicts ME to beware of the mindset that people “deserve what they get.” It is embarrassing to even admit that I have thought that but I absolutely have. It’s a good thing I don’t get what I deserve bc of course I don’t deserve anything except for the penalty of my sins!
I feel sort of lost in Job. I understand the situation but I don’t understand the going back and forth with his friends. Anyone have any comments on how to explain? I want to reread the Job today once I get my bearings!
It’s sort of like a conversation, only one person monopolizes it for awhile & then the other. Job’s friend offers “comfort” (rebuke) & then Job answers (justifies himself). It can be confusing, but if you follow who is speaking, it makes mores sense.
What KSjoyseaker said is a good observation. I’d say the two most important take aways are 1. So many people think they know how God works (like the friends and even Job try to make sense of everything) but only God can speak for Himself and 2. Is my favorite lesson from early on in chapter two, sometimes the best thing to do for a friend having a hard time is sit and mourn with them quietly.
It’s also worth remembering that this was probably not happening all on the same day, but over weeks or even months. The style of conversation is similar to Jewish teaching and Greek philosophy – a person makes their case in full, and then someone replies, rebutting the argument in full. It’s very different to how we converse about things like this now and normal everyday convs wouldn’t have been like this – basically, the way it’s set out (like a poem or song) is supposed to be a clue that this is a classical philosophy-type discussion.
Which is kind of problem to me, honestly, because here’s Job pouring his heart out, and his friends begin playing rhetorics.
Thanks for bringing this up Emily. I too get lost and confused in the language at times. I suppose to do it justice we would need to take it line by line but I appreciate what some of the others have said about the overall points. My *very* birdseye interpretation is that Job’s friends are basically telling him that the pain and loss he has experienced must be his own fault bc wicked people are punished for their sin. I actually get a little lost in Job’s responses as well but I think he’s basically telling them that they are terrible at comforting him and also expressing his frustration with God and his current situation. I would love to hear more people’s comments and brief overviews on the main concepts and themes! It really helps me understand more!
I was lost too but looked up the Matthew Henry commentary on ch. 21 today:
“This is Job’s reply to Zophar’s discourse, in which he complains less of his own miseries than he had done in his former discourses (finding that his friends were not moved by his complaints to pity him in the least), and comes closer to the general question that was in dispute between him and them, Whether outward prosperity, and the continuance of it, were a mark of the true church and the true members of it, so that the ruin of a man’s prosperity is sufficient to prove him a hypocrite, though no other evidence appear against him: this they asserted, but Job denied.”
Basically Job knows that his circumstances don’t prove how good he is but his friends have the wrong view of that. This is still going on in Christian circles today: we believe that if something bad happens to us it’s bc of something we did wrong. Sometimes we have natural consequences to our sins, but sometimes God allows bad things to happen to us so that He can glorify Himself through it (and hopefully make us more dependent on Him in the process!).
17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!
This verse clearly explains how faith alone isn’t justified when acting the same as the world does. In doing so, you are saying that God encourages you to sin and believe in him.
This goes along great with James!
How great it is to see different books affirming each other!
I agree that Paul is saying we should act like we’ve been justified by Christ, not our works. But I think here he is confronting Peter not for acting like the world, but for seeking to please his peers instead of God by refusing to be seen with Gentiles. Jesus didn’t act like the world, but he was referred to as “friends of sinners.”
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
We live by faith in the past, present and future grace of God. Looking back at the finished work on Calvary, ahead to when we will be fully transformed into His image, and believing daily in His strength and power for present struggles.
They touched on Looking back at Calvary and looking ahead to Jesus’ finished work at church this past Sunday. Our pastor preached out of Revelation 7. Jesus has given us so much hope. So thankful for His love and sacrifice
I used to sit back and ask myself like why can’t I do this and why don’t I have that and think that the next person has is so easy.. I had to realize a few things. 1. Things come easy to nonbelievers because God is not going to test them, he already knows they don’t believe. 2. Some people are willing to do things to get things that I am not willing to do. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil… So it may take you a while to get what you want or where you need to go and you will have a feel test from the lord on the way but you will get there without selling you soul or your mind… Amen! This was a good read
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 NLT
love this verse.
love this! “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.”
Galatians 2:20-21 NLT
for the lord has saved us ♡
Galatians 2:20. What a revelation for my life to soak in that passage.
Job asks the age old question, “why do the wicked have it easy?”
16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. – Galatians 2:16
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20
❤️
“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!””
Galatians 2:21 NIV
❤️
The grace of God is powerful and covers many things
We all sin and fall short of the glory of the Lord. Yet, He died and saved us if we believe and repent. No one but God is perfect, so we will sin. We just have to live life as God-like as possible. Thank you, Lord, for saving me!
❤️
❤️
21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Receiving the word ❤️
Thank you to Jesus for dying for my sins. No one can keep every single law from the Old Testament. No one can be pure, but through Jesus-we are saved!
❤️
and what profit do we get if we pray to him
-job 21:15
One hard question I asked myself today that I will continually ask: do I pray for things in return or rewards, do I pray for profit or do I pray to talk with my loving father
Because he knew no contentment in his belly.
I am thankful for the son who gave me a way to come home. For we can do nothing through the law to be set right. It is through faith in him the perfect lamb.
The devotional in the SRT Bible is excellent today. Page 1976; Freedom from the Law.
“Here in Galatians, Paul is really fired up about protecting “the truth of the gospel” (a phrase he uses repeatedly) and he’s fed up with those preaching a different gospel.” SRT Devotional page 1976
We need to be more like Paul! Especially in today’s climate of everything goes.
20I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
16nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
❤️
❤️
✔️
This is the verse I claimed when I accepted Jesus. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
❤️❤️
✅
❤️❤️
❤️❤️❤️
I love what Paul says at the beginning of Galatians, “I wanted to make sure I wasn’t running and had not been running my race in vain.”
❤️
❤️
Praise God that in a His perfect design I have died to the law to live through Him!
“the wicked will suffer” -ellie
The things that set us apart do not matter, but what can unite us- faith in God, matters most.
Galatians 2:20
galatians 2:16-21❤️
I didn’t mean to post yet.
We cannot earn salvation in any way. None of us can do enough or be enough to be good enough to deserve it- it is purely an act of faith by the grace of God. However, once we come to faith, out of our love for the Lord and gratitude for what He’s done and doing in our lives, we will strive to obey, grow in our faith, emulate Him, step out in faith…. Faith without works is dead. He will use us in spite of who us. He stretches us and grows us as we act in faith.
Thank you, Lord. May our lives bring glory to you.
Yes ❤️
James spoke of faith without works being dead. Now Paul is emphasizing salvation is of faith not works. They seem in opposition, but in truth, they are very complimentary.
That was alittle confusing but I think I got it
Godless joy is only momentary ❤️
wonder why they skipped Galatians 1
They didn’t. Gal 1 was under January 31
11But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned.
This stood out to me today, reading about Paul’s audacity in confronting what he knew to be sinful. How often do we face to face confront people who are distorting the gospel, adding to it or taking from it? Probably not nearly enough
So my notes about Psalm 19 we all about the law and its benefits. Then I read Galatians 2 and was struck by verse 19, “I died to the law – I stopped trying to keep all its requirements- so that I might live for God.” The contradiction! I know Paul is meaning that we can’t live by the law alone and try to prove our worth to God, but it just jumped out to me since I was so high on the law from Psalms and then it was like, slow down Sister, this is really about God!
Most of the time we get so stuck on what we need to do as members of our community we forget about our duty as Christians. The world has normalized many things, and it is up to us to remember that the word holds us to a different standard. A higher standard. We must keep each other accountable and work towards Christ together!
Great insight!!
I was also reading Job 20 and the first part of verse 22 stood out especially to me: “in the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress.” This hit me really hard….how often do I feel that what I’m doing is sufficient? How often do I feel sufficient on my own, with Christ as the side note? It is clear that in Job 20 we cannot do anything sufficient apart from God. Reminds me of Philippians 4:13 AMP: I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.]
Shyla, thanks for sharing! I struggle with trying to be sufficient too. And you are right that Christ gives us our strength and ability to be sufficient. Great insight!
Does anyone else get sad reading Job 20 and hearing about what happens to the wicked and those who don’t know God? Surely I’m not the only one who has a loved one who doesn’t know the Lord.
It’s heartbreaking! I’m begging the Lord to open the blind eyes before it’s too late!!
That’s a good way to read it and be motivated to pray for the lost! When I read about the wicked I confess I was thinking of people like sex traffickers, and it’s hard to desire mercy for people like that… But this reminds me and challenges me that we should desire mercy for ALL people, because by knowing God they become better people :) and it keeps hate from our hearts
Live by faith , this app is awesome and the fact we can communicate as sisters is awesome
God bless you ladies
Cat, you made me chuckle. You ladies are awesome! Paul is merely distinguishing between those who follow the Jewish laws and those who don’t. He’s using the symbolism of circumcision to separate Jews from Gentiles since that was a big cultural thing. I don’t think they actually looked.
How do you get to the next chapter of the day?
This is silly, but…. How would one know if one were hanging out with circumcised or uncircumcised folks? Would that have been obvious in another way and they’re just using that to say Jew/Gentile, or what? It’s not quite the first distinguishing characteristic I’d use to describe someone.
I am curious about this, too.
It means that they are hanging out with Jews (circumcised) and non Jews (uncircumcised )
The Jews were circumcised so if the person was a Gentile then they were not circumcised. I’m sure there wasn’t any revealing..
I love this app so much! It has let me see the bible in a different way. I have grown so much in my faith already. I am so grateful
What I found intriguing reading this is how much they talk about children making up for the parents iniquity. If the wicked persons children will have to make up for their sin, how much more I should be considering my future children in the way I conduct myself. If I live right, the burden on my children would be lessened? First time here, having fun delving deep into the word.
I think, as a mother of five, that we can give our children a Godly heritage, or not.
You can’t give someone something you do not yourself possess, and the degree to which we’re able to spiritually overcome the flesh, the world, and the devil through the power of Christ’s life in us matters greatly to our families.
6 As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. – I’m not competing against anyone and their acceptance doesn’t elevate my worth.
Living in faith…this had been such a abstract idea to grasp for me for so long. After returning to the church after 15 years and seeing the many ways God has always been there even when I had rejected him has made me realize that it was FAITH in Him that I needed to have. Everyday I feel like I understand just that tiny bit more and leap further into my faith in God. Praise Him!!
Praying for you Caroline. It’s so awesome that God brought you back to Him after so long!
Every word is God-breathed: a short phrase in Gal 2:6. Something I’m currently struggling with as I have been “missed,” deemed unimportant. But. “God does not show favoritism.” We live in such a Christian celebrity society. I feel a pull to “be” someone. May I be more desirous of Gal 2:19-20 to live for God. “Well done, not well said.” C.Caine
Love this!
Hi Bev, you’re right, we love to put others on a pedastool and say just how “awesome” they are and how hard they work. In fact, we should seek to be more like those who are humble like mother Teresa or Corrie ten Boom, people who loved jesus so much they literally gave their lives for Him. I’m totally with you though, I want to “be” someone in the church, but my true wish is that when I get to see Jesus one day He’ll say “well done good and faithful servant”, now that would be awesome!! Bless you :-)
Also love this!
I love the last piece, the life that I now live…I live by faith in the Son of God
I agree. That really stuck with me. We can’t follow God’s law perfectly. “for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ would have died for nothing.”
I’ve been reading this plan so far and truly love it. Actually remembering what I’m reading! In church we are in Genesis and my knowledge is humbling to myself. Finally found a plan that brings me closer to our Father. Loving Galatians!!!
Me too!
Loving the flow of all of this. Loving being involved. Super excited to continue through.
Also Peter regularly ate with the gentiles but then stopped out of fear of those in the circumcision party. He turned back on all he knew out of FEAR. BUT before I throw the first stone.. Have I not done this before? Acted against what I knew was right out of FEAR? Oh goodness have I ever… Peter’s flesh was still at work in him, as it is in me at times..
I’m just now jumping on this plan today and I’m so excited! My life has been very difficult lately but it was all a part of God’s great plan in my life! Through reading God’s word daily this past week I have developed a relationship with Him that hasn’t been very present in my life. God used my pain to bring me closer to Him. In catching up on this plan I’ve read 20 chapters of my bible today and I’m the happiest I’ve been in months. I’ve found deep joy in God my savior and I can’t wait to continue discovering more about Him!
SO glad that you’ve joined us! Praying today that God would richly bless you with His presence and peace as you read His Word!
Jumped in today too! Glad to know I am not alone. :)
I agree with the posts here about the false doctrine of karma that it seems like Job’s friends are assuming in their dialogue with him. But today I was just wondering what place and what lesson this has in the Bible. Why is all of the banter included? Is it just a lesson that I should never assume I know how God works? It seems like if that’s true, I should never show up to give counsel to friends in distress; but I know that The Gospel fosters community. I know I should want to speak the truth to those who need it. Anybody have any light to shed on any of that?
Most people in deep sadness just want a hug and to feel like someone is there, I think. I don’t think they’re expecting us to have the answers. Even Job mentions how he wishes they would just be supportive instead of trying to analyze everything.
I agree! Job is very convicting to me
In that regard. As a previous comment mentioned, I wonder if Job’s friends are trying to justify what happened to Job because they need assurance that the same won’t happen to them. I know I have done that! When something bad happens, I try to talk it about and justify it, mainly as a way to convince myself not to worry about bad things. I need to work on just being there and comforting people, rather than trying to explain everything.
So often I think that I began in faith but now have to continue in my own power. But Galatians 2:20 says that “the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me”. Faith has to be a central theme. In my own power I will likely fail. Have to continue in faith … even as I must begin in faith.
So good!
So true! Thank you!
I am blown away by Paul in Galatians. We know from Paul’s life how zealous he was in Judaism. He was brought up under Gamaliel educated according to the strict view of their patriarchal law (Acts 22:3; 5:34).. And Gamaliel was a Pharisee and RESPECTED by all people. So think about this, Paul understood God by works and the law all his life until his conversion. He knew nothing of the True Gospel he was going to be preaching. Yet we see between chapters 1 and 2 of Galatians that right after his conversion he didn’t go straight to the apostles! In fact he went away for 3 years (not clear on what he did during that time?!?) THEN after 3 years, went to Jerusalem but only stayed 15 days. Then chapter 2 says after 14 years he went back. 2 visits to Jerusalem over 14ish years shows he wasn’t sitting at the feet of the disciples of Jesus to learn the Gospel he was about to preach. This truly does confirm what he said: “now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not based on human thought. For I did not receive it from a human source and I WAS NOT TAUGHT IT, But it came by a revelation from Christ” (1:11-12) // how AWESOME is this? The Spirit is our teacher & He gives us all the revelation we need! Not that we can’t gain knowledge from others of course. But I just found this fascinating.
Thank you for pointing this out. I love this
Yea it’s really been a back and forth conversation between Job and his friends and each using their own knowledge of what they believe to be God’s immense power and reasoning but who can really say why God does things. No one. His friends should console him though and not speak when they don’t really know either.
I agree with you Jennifer. Zophar says “I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to reply.”… Seems to me an arrogant thought process & should have stopped at “I hear a rebuke that dishonors me”… not continue on! Convicted how many times we feel compelled to beat a point to death instead of just walking away…
Something I struggle with Moni. Letting God work through my actions, not my words. I’m often told that I need to get the last word. My desire is to stand and represent God in those times and not my own ego.
Still reflecting on the profound message in this verse. I read the readings a few hours ago, and keep coming back to this: 2:21 “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” So deep..and so true. Keep our hearts, minds, and spirits focused on the grace of God, and all else will fall in order.
Loved this on too!
YES! My heart is meditating on this thought.
This passage convicted me this morning: “The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.”
I was raised in the church and have seen so many close friends fall away because of hypocrisy and being “burned” by the church. Being called to a higher standard is difficult at times, but this passage motivates me to distance myself from “religion” and pray for those who have been led astray.
Yes, we need to remember not to get caught up in religion. It’s our relationship with Christ that matters most.
Amazing how even back in Job’s time people believed in the false idea of “karma.” A lot of us don’t get what “we deserve.” Some of that we should be thankful for since in our wickedness, we really deserve hell, despite what we may think we’re owed as a “good person” because as many Bible writers reiterate, none of us are good. So all blessings are given to wicked people, really.
I love the cross reference with the NT today. Paul says, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Neither Job, nor the murderers in prison, nor the stock brokers on Wall Street, nor the missionaries, nor you or I can gain righteousness on our own no matter how many rules we may follow. We all need Christ. And Christ has come and given us all grace so freely!
Loving the joy that fills my heart with today. :)
Wow thank you for this! So good :)
7 “Why do the wicked still live,
Continue on, also become very powerful?
WHY, INDEED???? This always makes me feel so angry and helpless.
I agree. It’s one of those difficult questions, to us believers, that we must always try to answer carefully.
Lauren, this can be so frustrating. However, remember the promise of eternal life, and the peace that comes from walking in the will of God. This is our hope! My study Bible says it this way “the final settlement of justice will come, not in this life, but in the next. What is important is how a person views God in prosperity or in poverty, not the prosperity or poverty itself.” Don’t be discouraged, keep persevering and spreading the good news, for the eternal rewards a great! :)
I work at a high end drug and alcohol rehab, and I feel like it has given me a good perspective on this point. I may have to struggle for what I have (my husband and I have been blessed greatly, but it definitely has not all just fallen into out lap!), but I have Christ, and after watching so many extremely wealthy and “successful” people come through our facility searching for healing and hope, I feel so completely grateful that I have an anchor to hold on to. That is worth more than any amount of success and or riches, or an “easy” life.
I feel that this question is answered in the next day’s readings in Job 24. It really blew me away.
V22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;
though they become established, they have no assurance of life.
23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,
but his eyes are on their ways.
24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;
they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
they are cut off like heads of grain.
Agreed, and bothered by this seeming injustice — until I remember & recall
Psalm 73:16-20
16 When I pondered to understand this,
It was troublesome in my sight
17 Until I came into the sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their end.
18 Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.
The wicked need Jesus. We need Jesus. “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each to our own way… ”
Praise God we have heard His voice, repented and are following Him.
A huge call to pray for our unsaved family and friends. Eternity awaits us all.
He’s refuting their prosperity doctrine; the idea that God deals with us not according to our own righteousness but on Christ’s. In the end what matters is did you put your faith in Christ. I thought it was really interesting to see that Job used the prosperity to refute this prosperity doctrine of Jobs friends. How often do I remember to look to the world around me and realize how God works? He has common grace to all men and he has saving, unique grace for his children. He works according to his good will, not my behavior. And if my father sees that it’s best to wound me like a surgeon then I trust that He will guide me through and heal me.
So was Zophar saying Job was wicked b/c his children died and he lost all his possessions? That’s pretty cold for a friend. Maybe I’m reading this wrong but it sounds like all Job’s friends want is the lowdown on what wicked deed he did to deserve this. At first I thought Job was just whining (he is whining, but there’s more to it), but now I think he’s trying to prove his innocence. He’s impatient for God to show his cold-hearted friends that he’s the victim here. And, I could be wrong. That’s just what I got out of today.
That’s exactly what I get out of it too. Instead of truly letting Job let out his suffering and use his friends as sources of comfort, since his real issue is with God, not them, his friends are convinced they have all the answers about God. Basically, they want Job to shut up and admit that they know so much more than him. Job is using them as a catalyst to defend his innocence and try to understand why he’s in so much suffering before God, but they’re not giving him that space.
I think you hit the nail on the head, Shannon. Seems like for a lot of us, in our darkest moments, that’s when the people around us have the least constructive things to say. :(
As I was reading today I realized that Job’s friends could very well be trying to comfort themselves instead of Job. They believe they are godly men, and yet here is their friend who they also thought God favored and yet he was stuck down by God on a scale they never thought possible for someone who was considered godly. How terrifying that must have been for them to see! If Job hadn’t done something to cause his situation, did that mean that none of them were safe from the same things?
There is some thought out there among some Christians that the bad things that happen in a person’s life are directly related to the sins they have committed. That way of thinking is not that different from what Job’s friends are arguing… But the truth is that we live in a fallen world and that bad things can happen to anyone. Fortunately, we do not need to go through it alone because God is so much bigger than any problem we face! :)
Yes! I felt this too Shannon! Seems like they just keep repeating how wicked people are punished so they’re waiting for Job to admit his sin. How frustrating for Job. It also really convicts ME to beware of the mindset that people “deserve what they get.” It is embarrassing to even admit that I have thought that but I absolutely have. It’s a good thing I don’t get what I deserve bc of course I don’t deserve anything except for the penalty of my sins!
I feel sort of lost in Job. I understand the situation but I don’t understand the going back and forth with his friends. Anyone have any comments on how to explain? I want to reread the Job today once I get my bearings!
It’s sort of like a conversation, only one person monopolizes it for awhile & then the other. Job’s friend offers “comfort” (rebuke) & then Job answers (justifies himself). It can be confusing, but if you follow who is speaking, it makes mores sense.
What KSjoyseaker said is a good observation. I’d say the two most important take aways are 1. So many people think they know how God works (like the friends and even Job try to make sense of everything) but only God can speak for Himself and 2. Is my favorite lesson from early on in chapter two, sometimes the best thing to do for a friend having a hard time is sit and mourn with them quietly.
It’s also worth remembering that this was probably not happening all on the same day, but over weeks or even months. The style of conversation is similar to Jewish teaching and Greek philosophy – a person makes their case in full, and then someone replies, rebutting the argument in full. It’s very different to how we converse about things like this now and normal everyday convs wouldn’t have been like this – basically, the way it’s set out (like a poem or song) is supposed to be a clue that this is a classical philosophy-type discussion.
Which is kind of problem to me, honestly, because here’s Job pouring his heart out, and his friends begin playing rhetorics.
Thanks for bringing this up Emily. I too get lost and confused in the language at times. I suppose to do it justice we would need to take it line by line but I appreciate what some of the others have said about the overall points. My *very* birdseye interpretation is that Job’s friends are basically telling him that the pain and loss he has experienced must be his own fault bc wicked people are punished for their sin. I actually get a little lost in Job’s responses as well but I think he’s basically telling them that they are terrible at comforting him and also expressing his frustration with God and his current situation. I would love to hear more people’s comments and brief overviews on the main concepts and themes! It really helps me understand more!
I have always taken Job to have the same sort of overview as you have described here Christina
Me too
I was lost too but looked up the Matthew Henry commentary on ch. 21 today:
“This is Job’s reply to Zophar’s discourse, in which he complains less of his own miseries than he had done in his former discourses (finding that his friends were not moved by his complaints to pity him in the least), and comes closer to the general question that was in dispute between him and them, Whether outward prosperity, and the continuance of it, were a mark of the true church and the true members of it, so that the ruin of a man’s prosperity is sufficient to prove him a hypocrite, though no other evidence appear against him: this they asserted, but Job denied.”
Basically Job knows that his circumstances don’t prove how good he is but his friends have the wrong view of that. This is still going on in Christian circles today: we believe that if something bad happens to us it’s bc of something we did wrong. Sometimes we have natural consequences to our sins, but sometimes God allows bad things to happen to us so that He can glorify Himself through it (and hopefully make us more dependent on Him in the process!).
I am studying Galatians now in Bible study. There is so much wisdom to be found there!
Share please :)
17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!
This verse clearly explains how faith alone isn’t justified when acting the same as the world does. In doing so, you are saying that God encourages you to sin and believe in him.
This goes along great with James!
How great it is to see different books affirming each other!
I agree that Paul is saying we should act like we’ve been justified by Christ, not our works. But I think here he is confronting Peter not for acting like the world, but for seeking to please his peers instead of God by refusing to be seen with Gentiles. Jesus didn’t act like the world, but he was referred to as “friends of sinners.”
I have caught up, yay! I love reading Paul – he’s so honest.
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
We live by faith in the past, present and future grace of God. Looking back at the finished work on Calvary, ahead to when we will be fully transformed into His image, and believing daily in His strength and power for present struggles.
My FAVORITE! Dead to sin and alive in Christ.
They touched on Looking back at Calvary and looking ahead to Jesus’ finished work at church this past Sunday. Our pastor preached out of Revelation 7. Jesus has given us so much hope. So thankful for His love and sacrifice