Will Vaus

Listen for God’s word to you from Galatians 5:1-15… It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 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 the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith 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. You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?   That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through ...

Listen for God’s word to you from Galatians 3:15-4:7… Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.   The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,”   meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. A mediator, however, implies more than ...

  Listen for God’s word to you from Galatians 3:1-14… You foolish   Galatians!   Who has bewitched you?   Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.   I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit   by the works of the law,   or by believing what you heard?   Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?   Have you experienced   so much in vain—if it really was in vain?   So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles   among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?   So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Understand, then, that those who have faith   are children of Abraham.   Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed...