LEARNING DAILY

Galatians 3:1-3, O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by 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?

Pastor Ed Newton, lead pastor at Community Bible Church, spoke this weekend with this thought in mind: “Religion is what I do. Christianity is what Christ has done.” This was the target statement on the Listener Guide. What did he mean by this? He is building on the Galatians 2:21, “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” Paul wrote that if anyone can be made right by God by following the law, then Jesus dies for nothing. He is writing to the people of Galatia who had believed in Jesus and His death and resurrection while Paul was in their region on one of his missionary journeys. But since then, they had begun to believe the lies of Judaizers, a group of Jews who taught the Gentiles needed to be circumcised and follow the law to be saved. Paul called them “foolish” and “bewitched.” Paul said they had clearly seen the power of the cross and God’s grace when he had described it to them. Now they were believing foolish teachings!

Last week, Pastor described the various “isms” that people believe – false doctrine. This week he described the various religions that people have bought into and follow – again false doctrines. He began with progressivism (post-modernism) – multiple different teachings that provide salvation. False doctrine! This includes humanism – man does not need God, secularism – if it feels good then do it whether it is right or wrong, tolerance – everybody is right, Marxism – oppressed/oppressor that states you will never escape the category you are in, nationalism – placing one’s hope in political figures, and evolutionism – evolved from a one-celled ameba. False doctrine! He mentioned Islam – a works-based salvation based on Five Pillars to follow and the prophet Mohammed who did not die on a cross nor walk out of his grave. All based on fear. The Jehovah Witnesses believe in a Jesus as a created being, salvation through works, loyalty to the Watch Tower Society, and only 144,000 people go to heaven. False doctrine! He finished with Mormonism – Jesus is a spirit-child and the elder brother of Lucifer. One goes to heaven through Jesus, repentance of sin, being baptized in the Mormon Church only; there are different levels in heaven depending on how obedient you are to the temple rights and how much money you give to the church.

What does all this mean and how does it relate to us? People are still getting distracted from walking with Jesus on the narrow way by trying to do something, by trying to work their way into heaven. “Oh, foolish people! Stop being deceived by what the world’s ‘isms’ and religions made by man are trying to speak into you!” “Religion is about human effort trying to reach God, about doing, and about performance to get into heaven. Jesus broke the curse of the law. The law was given to show mankind that he /she could keep it to perfection; it was never given so you could fix yourself.” (EN).

When Jesus becomes your Savior, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” (Romans 8:16-17). He looks at you and at me as if we had never sinned. “Your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life because of Jesus only!” (EN).