Bible

Continuing in our Getting Started Bible here in the Bible room today, we are reading the final three chapters of Galatians with Session 2, the summaries of chapters 4, 5, and 6.

____________________________________

Galatians

Session 2

Chapter 4. Bondage

While an heir is still a child, he is like the chief slave in a household:

• And he will remain that way until his father changes him;
• In the same way, we were like children, serving under the law;
• Then one day, in His own time, God made Jesus to be born to
• Redeem us from under the bondage of the law, so that we
• Became as adopted children of God; And, as such, you became
• Eligible to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit of His Son, so, now
• We can call Him ‘Abba, Father!’; That means that you are no
• Longer a slave, but an heir of God through Christ;
• Before you became adopted, you were in bondage to the old life
• Under the law; However, now that you are in the family of
• God, why are you wanting to go back to that old life;
• I hope my work among you has not been wasted, for when I
• First preached the gospel to you, even with my physical
• Impairment, you accepted me as a messenger of Christ Jesus;
• I know that you would have been willing, if it were possible, to
• Give me your own eyes; But now that I am telling you the
• Truth, you seem to be rejecting me, and listening to those false
• Teachers who are trying to persuade you away from me; You
• Are like my children, and I have strong feelings for you, so if I
• Were there with you, I would be using stronger words for you;
• To those who want to go back serving the law: Do you not
• Understand what the law says about Abraham and his two
• Sons? One was born to a slave, and one born of promise;
• These are symbols of the two covenants: The one from Hagar,
• The bond woman, is like the bondage that came from Mt. Sinai,
• And is also like the bondage in present-day Jerusalem; But in
• The new Jerusalem, which is coming from above, is freedom,
• And that is now our mother, for we are like Isaac, the children
• Of promise, born by the will of the Spirit;
• What is happening now is the same as it was before: The
• Children of the bondage are opposing the children of the Spirit;
• But the scripture says we are to strongly avoid the children of
• Bondage as we are the children of freedom.

Chapter 5. Liberty

Therefore, keep holding to the liberty given to us by Christ,

• And stay away from the old life entangled in bondage; If you
• Revert to living by the law, Christ has done nothing for you;
• And, remember, if you go back to the law, then you must be
• Willing to adhere to the entire law; If you attempt to be made
• Right with God by living under the law, then you will have
• Abandoned Christ and His grace; For it is only faith, working
• Through love, not the requirements of the law, that gives us
• The ability, through Christ Jesus, to live in right standing
• Before God;
• You were doing so well in your faith, so I am wondering who
• It was that led you away from the truth; This persuasion is like
• Leaven in bread—it only takes a small amount to be effective;
• But I am confident that you will obey the truth, and will turn
• Away from those who are troubling you; I would wish that
• Those who are advocating for circumcision would go ahead and
• Mutilate themselves;
• You, my brothers in Christ, have been called to a life of liberty,
• But I tell you not to abuse your liberty, for your new life calls
• For you to be of service to one another in love; The entire law
• Can be expressed like this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself;’
• Avoid fighting each other as that could be your destruction;
• If you live daily in the Spirit, you will overcome the desires
• Of the body, even as the body and the Spirit are fighting each
• Other; Sometimes this fight prevents us from doing things that
• We should do, but remember that if you are Spirit led, you are
• Not under the law; Everyone can recognize all the wrong
• Things that the body is capable of doing, such as: sexual
• Immorality and impurity, idol worship, sorcery, acts of hatred
• And anger, jealousies, selfish ambitions and envy, heresies,
• Drunkenness, murders, and, as I have said before, those who
• Practice those kinds of things will lose their inheritance in the
• Kingdom of God; But there are certain traits that will be
• Exhibited by those who live in the Spirit, such as: love, joy,
• Peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
• Self-control, and none of these violate any law;
• We should be living in the Spirit both in words and behavior;
• And let us all avoid any trace of arrogance or envy.

Chapter 6. Generosity

If anyone in the church is found to be in any failure of proper behavior,

• Let those who are filled with the Spirit counsel gently with
• Him, so that he can be restored in the faith;
• Help each other when help is needed, as Christ would; We
• Should not be bragging about ourselves in what we have done,
• But keep our thoughts to ourselves; Be quick to share a blessing
• With those who are teachers, for God sees our generosity, and
• Anything we give will be returned to us; Supporting the work
• Of the Spirit will last forever, while all things physical will pass
• Away; And we should not stop doing good things, for at the
• Proper time, we will be rewarded; So, at every opportunity we
• Should support all those in need, especially those in the church;
• Notice how I am emphasizing my writing with large letters so
• That you can see their importance: There are some who would
• Try to force you back into living under the law, but they are
• Only trying to avoid any suffering that comes from accepting
• The gospel of Christ;
• But I will gladly accept the cross of Christ, and I will never go
• Back to the ways of the world; The rules of the law no longer
• Matter to me, for I am now a new creation in Jesus Christ;
• This is the new rule, and all those who live under it will have
• Peace and mercy upon them as the people of God;
• From this time forward, I do not want to hear about any more
• Trouble, for I have suffered enough for the cause of Christ
• Concerning you;
• My fellow believers, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
• With you in spirit. Amen.

End of Session 2 of the book of Galatians.

(This concludes the reading of the book of Galatians.)