The Only Thing That Counts; Galatians 5-6

May the mumbling commence!

The only thing that counts is…  How would you finish this sentence?  Would your answer depend upon what circle of your life you found yourself in – you know, your family or your friends or your co-workers or your church family (realizing that some of these circles overlap each other – or at least they should.)?  In his letter to the Galatians, Paul finished this sentence in this way: “faith expressing itself through love.”  Yes, “The only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:6b).”  Now I invite you to look at this sentence in its context:

Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.  Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.  You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.  But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.  (Verses 2-6)

We can seek our golden rules from Scripture.  We can stack rule upon rule upon rule.  We can make sure that we are following the Law of the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament), starting with the circumcision of all our male children.  But, when we do so, we make ourselves obligated to obey the whole Law.  Not that we are to disregard the entire Hebrew Bible!  But we are to see the Hebrew Bible through the prophetic eyes of Jesus.  Christ Jesus is our lenses.

OR we can seek our golden rules from the business world.  Some congregations have.  Some congregations have fully adopted the business model where the bottom line – money – drives anything.  Christians have adopted the business model is disregard to Jesus’ way of life.  Jesus depended upon his heavenly Father to provide through a variety of ways.  This faith was greatly rewarded and allowed Jesus to minister, teach, and heal full-time.  Christians adopt the business model in disregard to Jesus’ statement that it is difficult for a rich person to get into heaven.  In fact, Jesus talks quite frequently about money-related issues.  How come we talk so little about in Christian circles?  Is it a private issue?  It is not.

OR we can seek our golden rules from some else entirely.  It doesn’t matter.  Rules have a way of distorting the only thing that counts – faith expressing itself through acts of love.  Jesus would often ask people “Where is your faith?”  Faith gets choked out by rules.  Sometimes, faith gets choked out regardless of how golden the rules are.

It is time for a new way of life – a way of life that needs to be embraced anew each day.  Paul writes about this new way of life in a very familiar passage from Galatians 5:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  (Verses 22-25)

If we, as Christians, can have such a harvest of fruits, then what a new creation we will become.  I believe that it is this new creation that Paul speaks about in Galatians 6:15 – “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.”

What a wonderful gift to be found under the Christmas tree!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out