Galatians 5,25-6,10 4722
15. Sn. n. Trinitatis 62
Cleopas, Luke 24,18
25. September 2022
1. ℣ Bow down Thine ear, O Yahweh, hear me:
℟ O Thou, my God, save Thy servant that trusteth in Thee. (Psalm 86,1a.2b)
O God, our Deliverer, save us out of trouble, fear and distress, avert our misfortune, so that we daily remember that all is in Your hands. Amen. (Auf meinen lieben Gott elkg 540,1 2021 Lübeck 1590)
2. »If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Brothers and sisters, if anyone is caught in any transgression, then you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, then he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load. Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.«
3. Paul exhorts the Galatians: do not become conceited or boastful. A 1000 years earlier, Solomon opines: By pride comes nothing but strife. Pride goes before destruction and a conceited spirit before a fall (Proverbs 13,10a;16,18). Sinful pride will always lead to numerous other sins. Unchecked pride ultimately leads to a downfall.
4. These are thoughtful exhortations that every person needs to meditate upon. Leaders and nations should also contemplate them, Yahweh calls us to repentance. A proud person will resist, but a humble person will submit. »Yahweh declares: Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me« (Psalm 50,15). »For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving: abounding in mercy to all who call upon You« (Psalm 86,5). The Psalms encourage us at least 18 times to call upon God.
5. Paul reminds us that we reap what we sow. Unrepentance reaps judgment and punishment; repentance reaps grace and forgiveness. God desires to pour out His mercy upon us; Paul exhorts us to show that mercy to others and proclaim God’s mercy to those caught in transgression and those burdened with guilt.
6. Just a few verses later in his epistle, Paul tells the Galatians: »Boast in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ« (Galatians 6,14). There is only 1 gospel: the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ; there is no other gospel (Galatians 1,6-7). »A person is not justified by works of the law but is justified through faith in Jesus Christ« (Galatians 2,16). Paul would not budge from this teaching and gospel. You couldn’t beat him into submission, and they certainly tried to! You couldn’t sneak in the false gospel behind his back after he had gone to another city to preach, and they certainly tried to! Paul relentlessly defended the gospel to all his congregations; he would not allow the gospel to be distorted or lost altogether. »If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, then let him be anathema!« (Galatians 1,9).
7. Don’t let the world or false teachers trick you or bewitch you (Galatians 3,1). For the time is coming, yes, it is already upon us, when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2. Timothy 4,3-4).
8. We live by the Spirit, and we keep in step with the Spirit. The foundation of this life is Christ crucified and risen: he was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification (Romans 4,25). This is the gospel through which we live, move and have our being (Acts 17,28; Epimenides of Crete, 7./6. century bc). Good works are born forth from the faith that this gospel creates and sustains. Therefore, we do good to everyone, showing charity and mercy to all.
9. The gospel is Christ alone (solus Christus) which is by grace alone (sola gratis) and is received by faith alone (sola fides). We boast and are proud in this Christ and this gospel. The foundation of our faith is Christ alone who was crucified for us and our sin, the Christ who 3 days later rose from the grave. In this Christ alone we boast.
10. In the cross of Christ I glory,
Tow’ring o’er the wrecks of time.
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime (In the Cross of Christ I Glory tlh 427,1 John Bowring 1792-1872).
This is most certainly true.
10. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.
11. Let us pray. O God, in whom all fullness dwelleth, who givest without measure to them that ask, give us faith to ask and faith to receive all that Thy bounty giveth, that being filled with all Thy fullness, we may as Thy faithful stewards impart Thy gifts to all Thy children. Amen. (The Week of Trinity 15, Vespers Collect 2. The Daily Office. Copyright © 1965 Concordia Publishing House.)
To God alone be the Glory
Soli Deo Gloria
✠
All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
Evangelisch-Lutherisches Kirchengesangbuch. Copyright © 2021 Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, Hannover.
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