#314 Victories & Surprising Uphill Battles in the LA Legislature

Galatians 5:4-6

”If you want to be made right with God by fulfilling the obligations of the law, you have cut off more than your flesh—you have cut yourselves off from Christ and have fallen away from the revelation of grace! But the Holy Spirit convinces us that we have received by faith the glorious righteousness of the Anointed One. When you’re joined to the Anointed One, circumcision and religious obligations can benefit you nothing. All that matters now is living in the faith that works and expresses itself through love.“

This passage is speaking into a controversy at the time where Gentile converts to Christianity were being made to follow the Jewish rules related to circumcision. The Apostle Paul was explaining that there were no religious obligations that needed to be followed in order for these new believers to be in right standing with God.Our only obligation in connection with our faith in Jesus is love. Remember when Jesus talked about the first and most important commandment? He instructed us to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength -- and He said that the second commandment is like it - to love your neighbor as yourself. He went on to say that contained within these two commandments to love you will find all the meaning of the Law and the Prophets. So today, let’s take off any religious obligations that we are carrying. And let’s shift our focus onto our true obligation as people who bear the name of Jesus -- and that’s love. Love God and love people. Heidi Baker, a great missionary to Mozambique says it this way, love looks like something. Her point is that love is not just a feeling that you hold in your heart. It has action associated with it. So let’s be people whose love is in action.