July 28, 2022 – Thursday
Galatians 5:4 NIV
4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
Comments – Part 2
Why a part 2 on the verse above? I was struggling with Christ and Christ alone as the only way to salvation vs all the things Judaizers wanted to add on. In particular, they wanted to add circumcision for men. That’s when I quoted Galatians 5:6, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. I should have quoted John 14:6 as well where Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And of course, Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28, There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And all the above brings me to a few comments of a friend who is also a reader (Thanks Phil). He wrote, It boils down to the “exclusivity” of the old covenant vs the “inclusivity” of the new. The Pharisees put up enough “fences” to protect the Law from being “defiled” by the common people. Churches today do the same, adding their “ordinances” to keep out the riffraff and alienating the very ones who need to come to the altar.
Then he added, The Reformers came up with the “Five Sola’s” (sola from the Latin word for alone). They summarized the biblical gospel, in contrast to the legalism of the Roman church, who had basically replaced the Mosaic law with a body of church law which was no less pharisaical and hypocritical. The five sola’s are: Sola Fide (by faith alone) Sola Scriptura (by the Bible alone) Soli Christo (through Christ alone) Sola Gratia (by grace alone) and finally Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone).
The sola’s that would have been applicable in Paul’s time would have been Sola Fide (by faith alone) and Soli Christo (through Christ alone) with Sola Gratia (by grace alone) and Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone) subsets of Soli Christo. As there was not yet a New Testament, Sola Scriptura (by the Bible alone) would not have been applicable.
Bottom Line: Only through Christ and His grace are we saved by our faith. Nothing in the Bible says otherwise.
Prayer: Almighty God, Thank You for Your Son and the mercy we receive through Him. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton
in Beavercreek