Paul, an apostle--not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead-- and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Paul had such a awkward entering in to the Body of Christ—from a persecutor (approving of deaths, imprisonments, public embarrassment, harassment) of this sect of Judaism to it’s most vocal, active and enduring advocate of the early first century. It is then through this “power” that appeared to him on the road to Damascus and this “gospel(good news)” that he accepted in faith and baptism 3 days later that he appeals to in this letter.
I find it interesting that Paul’s experience, and much of his ‘theology’ of Jesus is based on the DEATH and REZURRECTION of Jesus Christ (aka Jesus of Nazareth). Much of the Christian experience to Paul requires the necessity to associate ones life with the DEATH of Jesus (faith in that event and the promise of this event); and to associate then in the promises of REZURRECTION (indeed Jesus was whom he claimed to be, these events were not outside God’s will, in fact it was His will, eternal life, words and teaching of authority—all that Jesus taught in his ministry should be well studied, etc.)
As Paul writes to many of the churches he help begin, he justifies his Apostleship (literally: one who is sent with authority) through appealing to Jesus as RAISED and God the Father as the POWER that raised him. He is not appealing to the one that died for our sins, and the one who’s will demanded that He would sacrifice His Son for justice. No, it is power, the head of the church, the Creator of all that Paul is insisting on as his “Boss”. Not a mere man claiming to be something he is not, or claiming authority to teach something he knows little of (as we will see coming later in the letter).
Second then he greets his spiritual family with the substance of the DEATH of Jesus, grace and peace. I think this is just a combination of Roman ideals of goodwill (that God has our best in mind, we can trust that) and Jewish peace (wholeness, oneness, prosperity of joy, peace in the midst of chaos). But the interesting point is the justification for this is the dying of Jesus aka the sending of God’s Son as a sacrifice. So after Paul cites the power of God for his Apostleship and authority, he then quickly reminds all of the family of God (that he serves as an Apostle and doesn’t ‘lord over’) that our grace and peace come directly from God and we can know he is that good because of the one who has died for us. To be our deliverer.
Finally all of this was to the will of God the father, and so is Paul’s apostleship (as he will argue later) and so is Paul’s authority in his teaching (especially when the Apostles add to the teachings of Christ and set new precedents… it is extremely important that anyone who adds to the teachings of Jesus, or further clarifies them (ie: Paul’s’ teaching on marriage in Corinthians) that this individual be appointed by Jesus Christ or one of his Apostles or they should not be trusted (as we will see later in the letter).
Bottom line?
1- Jesus is the one who BUILDS his church with those whom he wishes, and it is his direct extension and delegation of his authority as the risen Lord and not the delivering sacrifice that our faith must root itself in – especially our faith in the New Testament documents, leadership, and our current leaders of today (elders, pastors, etc).
2- The church is the community of the BROKEN. There is no one in Christ, not necessarily in the church community or building, but “in Christ” that doesn’t get there without the impact of Gods grace and peace. There is no room for boasting in self, but only in Christ. All must come into the family through the death of Christ, the deliverance from sin. New life is our gift, not our entitlement.
3- The family of God to function correctly must be the community of the BELOVED. First the community of the Beloved Son of God (our deep feelings of grateful love and affection towards our Lord and God and His heart towards us). Second the community must hold our Maundy Thursday commandment to “love each other as I have loved you” is such a greater position as we reflect on and grow in our appreciation for the deliverance of our sins and the confidence of Jesus as Lord of his people (his body, his church, etc). Frankly it is God’s will. That simple!
As I sit in India:
• If I am to do any action in my life I must reflect on the general will of God morally… I must then reflect on the additional ‘law of Christ’ or ‘law of Love’ as a Christian… I must embrace the further commandments in Jesus’ church but also the true freedom we have knowing the boundaries and all that we can do and still know that we are definitely in God’s will…this is even more important to reflect on when you are thinking outside of yourself (who, what, when, where and why to help minister in this world)… lastly I must reflect on the awesome tasks of Jesus and when I consider full-time mission work, ministry work, I must give the Lord time to choose whether he wishes to intervene into my life and declare his will, to disclose his idea for my life, if he so chooses.
• Nothing will help our marriage as we spend 40 days here in India unless I also realize the calling in Jesus to be a husband. To take that role now not just as a created being, but also as a recreated disciple of Jesus under his authority to SERVE Kathryn. This will bear directly with my role to be a vessel of GRACE and PEACE from both Jesus and me. It is truly remarkable that Jesus is willing to step back from what he could do, and chooses to allow Kathryn and myself (mistakes and all) to grow in our understanding of his love for our spouse and our growing love for him/her.
• The future of this mission, the ministry of Christ’s love share to all –regardless of background, faith, income, caste, sex, etc—and the task of helping in communication, fundraising and future development of BSSI MUST be a ordained thing that Jesus places his authority on (to truly CALL us into this work) and it must not be a really great idea to help a family member. The motivations and the move to come here over the last year has been good. But now we must return with a real sense of our role. One cannot be 90% convinced and attempt to stand before a missions team, or 300 members of a church to share the need of BSSI.
Well, a lot for just an introduction to a letter of Paul. And a prayer for shorter posts in the days ahead.
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