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Paul in Colossians 1:27 tells us of a rich and glorious mystery, Christ, the Anointed One, God Himself, was LIVING IN the Colossian believers. How can that be? They were Gentiles, and ignorant of the Mosaic Covenant and all that people must do to be acceptable to God. As Gentiles they had no covenant with God. No Ten Commandments. No rites, rituals and observations. So what did they DO to EARN the right to have God Himself living IN them, making them complete in Him, and blessing them with every spiritual blessing?
The simple answer: THEY DID NOTHING. OBEYED NOTHING. They BELIEVED the Good News, that GOD had accomplished salvation, and offers it freely to everyone. Forgiveness of sins. Justification. Righteousness. Eternal life. Thanks to the BLOOD of the CROSS, people without a clue to the ways of the Living God found this Living God—LIVING IN THEM!
A few miles to the east of Colossae, the Galatians found themselves in a touchy situation. Some law-abiding Jewish believers had come by to try to get them to obey all the Jewish Laws in order to be ‘proper’ Christians. ‘Authentic’ Christians.
Paul corrected them. That’s found in Galatians chapter 3. Verses 2 and 3: “This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Verse 5: “…does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”
Then Paul reminds them, and us, that Abraham BELIEVED GOD, and God counted him RIGHTEOUS. He quotes from the Old Testament, reminding them we can’t obey just some of the law, but we must obey ALL the rules or we put ourselves under a curse! He boldly declares that the Righteous live by faith and that focusing on keeping the rules is NOT of Faith.
If you have been trying to be a good, obedient, rule keeping Christian, one that God can be proud of, well, your thinking is Old Covenant. Your striving has been in vain.
We were made to live by the Spirit. DON’T GO BACK to observing rules, even perfect rules like the Ten Commandments. Don’t look back. Stay on this side of the CROSS — keep looking to Jesus, and live by the Spirit. That’s how we COME ALIVE and STAY ALIVE!
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