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Published: 08 June 2018

We ask kids that question when they are having a “Red Bull” burst of energy.  We also ask adults that question when they do not appear to be thinking correctly.  Apostle Paul was incredulous that the Galatian believers, who had expressed faith in Christ and joy in the Holy Spirit were turning to legalism.  In Galatians 3, the NKJV reads, “O foolish Galatians.”  The Message paraphrases that line, “You crazy Galatians.”  Paul wasn’t angry or filled with contempt in addressing them in such a way.  He simply wanted to know, in a loving manner, if they had lost their minds!  Sadly, though this letter has been in circulation for almost two millennia, people are “still crazy after all these years.”  Any time we suggest that justification requires more than faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ—we are crazy.  Any time we suggest that our own power and practice is enough to conquer the sins of the flesh—we are crazy.  Sanctification is only possible through the life-giving power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  We allow His power to operate when we cooperate by yielding to Him.  We cannot be justified by the works of law and we cannot live a supernatural kind of life apart from the Holy Spirit.  God has provided wonderful gifts to be received.  On Sunday, we will rehearse them, “in remembrance of Him,” the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.

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Published: 03 June 2018

I’m not.  My allegiance goes to an earlier time in the history of the church.  Paul wrote that believers are God’s building; God is fitting us together building us upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.  We all need to look the Cornerstone first and always.  That said, I am not anti-Calvin either.  Have you ever read his Institutes?  If that is too much for you, read Calvin’s “A Little Book on the Christian Life.”  You will be blessed and encouraged in the gift of life that God has provided to those who come to Him by faith.  Calvin had some amazing insights into our life with God.  I’ll mention one of Calvin’s simple quotes on Sunday, he wrote, “Our salvation is not through works, though, it is not without works.”  That one sentence dispenses with the tension that people often have between justification and sanctification.   Are works involved in our salvation?  No and Yes!  We are not saved by our works but we are saved to do good works.  Justification by faith is not a license to sin.  In fact, as we’ll see in Galatians, if that were the case, Christ becomes the minister of sin!  Since we are declared righteous through faith, God intends to make us what He has declared us to be—righteous!  Mr. Calvin had that right because he agreed with Paul who was giving the Galatians a fresh hearing of the Cornerstone Himself.