Stand fast in the freedom that only Jesus Christ can give!!
Hosea 7:1-3
“When I would have healed Israel,
Then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered,
And the wickedness of Samaria.
For they have committed fraud;
A thief comes in;
A band of robbers takes spoil outside.
2 They do not consider in their hearts
That I remember all their wickedness;
Now their own deeds have surrounded them;
They are before My face.
3 They make a king glad with their wickedness,
And princes with their lies.
Hosea 7:6-10
They prepare their heart like an oven,
While they lie in wait;
Their baker sleeps all night;
In the morning it burns like a flaming fire.
7 They are all hot, like an oven,
And have devoured their judges;
All their kings have fallen.
None among them calls upon Me.
8 “Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake unturned.
9 Aliens have devoured his strength,
But he does not know it;
Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him,
Yet he does not know it.
10 And the pride of Israel testifies to his face,
But they do not return to the Lord their God,
Nor seek Him for all this.
God’s chosen were mixing their religion with the worship of idols. They were half baked followers of Jehovah God. This mixing of the two was the downfall of God’s chosen. The truth of God was nowhere to be found. They sought others to help them and turned their backs to the protection that only God could give them.
1 Corinthians 5:6-8. Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
As the leaders accepted this mixed religion the truth was lost and the sin of idolatry permeated Israel
Galatians 5:6 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
Galatians 4:22-26 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar—25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children—26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Galatians 5:1-6 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
Stay firm in your faith. Only Jesus, in His birth, death and resurrection, freed us from the sin that entangles us. The Law will never save you only Jesus Christ can accomplish that. Legalism binds us but there is freedom in Christ alone. Faith plus nothing equals salvation. John 3:18
Hosea 8:7-10
They sow the wind,
And reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no bud;
It shall never produce meal.
If it should produce,
Aliens would swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
Now they are among the Gentiles
Like a vessel in which is no pleasure.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria,
Like a wild donkey alone by itself;
Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Yes, though they have hired among the nations,
Now I will gather them;
And they shall sorrow a little,
Because of the burden of the king of princes.
They chose to be under the influence of their worthless idols. God will not have false gods above Him. It is a horrible truth that if we do not seek to keep the truth of Jesus we will turn to the false idols of this world, seeking money, power and control. We falsely believe that these can save us. Only Jesus Christ can save us. Only in faith in Him and His death for our redemption can God work in us. History repeats itself if truth is kept hidden and unbelief is the sin of idolatry. It is a frightening thing to be without God in this life. Carla
This statement summarizes Paul’s arguments in Galatians 3 and 4. The freedom given by Christ liberates believers from the law. In Jewish tradition, the image of the yoke was often used to describe the law’s role of guiding people in righteousness. Paul redirects this imagery to clarify the law’s effect now that Christ has come: It does not lead or teach people anymore, but instead enslaves them (Galatians 4:3, 8).
Paul’s use of “slavery” and “freedom” echoes the story of the exodus, when God delivered Israel from the Egyptians through a series of mighty deeds. He led them out to the wilderness to make a covenant with them. God saved them without their obedience to the law, as the law had not yet been given to them. Soon after, however, the people began to complain about God’s provision and leadership. Some even pleaded for a return to Egypt—the land of their enslavement. Because of their ingratitude and disobedience, God allowed a generation of Israelites to wander and die in the wilderness.
If the Galatians allowed themselves to be circumcised, they would nullify Christ’s work on their behalf, since His death had already redeemed them from the law (4:4–5). Paul does not mean that (circumcised) Jews cannot become believers or that Christ’s value can be diminished by the law. His point is that anyone who insists on living under the law fails to trust in Christ.
For Paul, Christ’s work is completely sufficient in the life of the believer. Therefore, to trust in the value of circumcision is to diminish the worth of Christ. Paul’s repetition of this point conveys his feeling of urgency (3:2–5). Paul equates submission to circumcision with the attempt to be justified by the law. Seeking to be justified by means outside of Christ is foreign to the gospel message, and results in estrangement from Christ. If someone depends on the law for justification, they have effectively rejected God’s gift of grace in Christ.
God’s gift of the Holy Spirit confirms believers’ status as His children (Romans 8:14–16) and empowers them to obey God. God’s people are no longer defined by their keeping of the law; rather, their status before God depends exclusively on their faith in Christ (Galatians 2:16, 20; 3:11–12, 23–25). Paul therefore asserts that it no longer matters whether people are circumcised—that is, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. Because of the new creation begun by the work of Christ (6:15), all who trust in God’s gift of grace and receive His Spirit belong to the family of God (3:28; Colossians 3:11).
Paul is not betraying his Jewish heritage or the law with his comment on circumcision. The Old Testament prophets rebuked the people of Israel for giving more value to the outward sign of circumcision than to the inward change of the heart (Jeremiah 9:25–26).
Like the prophets before him, Paul puts obedience to the law in the proper perspective. The goal of the Christian life is to express faith in Christ through love, not to live under the requirements of law. Believers are called to demonstrate their faith through sacrificial love for others because their faith is placed in the one who first demonstrated such love (Galatians 2:20). Paul describes the fruit of sacrificial love in verses 22–23. Faithlife Study Bible
The legalistic Jewish teachers in Galatia were urging believers to be circumcised (6:12, 13). Paul points out that being circumcised changes the entire orientation of salvation away from God’s grace to one’s own actions. One who is circumcised in an attempt to gain God’s acceptance is obligated to keep the whole law, which history has abundantly demonstrated no one can do (Romans 3:10–18).
Fallen from grace is understood by some to refer to the loss of salvation. However, fallen from may refer to their attitude and to the message that it communicates, rather than to their eternal salvation. Faith in Christ brings about not only justification before God, but also growth in the Christian life until we are completely glorified by God and freed from the presence of sin. This is the hope of righteousness. We can be assured that we will be declared righteous before the Lord on that last day, because we have a foretaste of that righteousness from the Spirit who lives within us (2 Corinthians 5:5).
By faith it is possible to fulfill Christ’s command to love one’s neighbor (verses 13, 14; John 13:34, 35). The NKJV Study Bible
Galatians 2:4 And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage),
1 Thessalonians 1:3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,
Acts 15:1 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
James 2:18–22 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble…
What if brokenness is not a “fixable problem,” but an opportunity for grace and love and ministry—in a world that is crying out for mercy?
Many of us live under the illusion that some “expert” has created a life to die for, to be emulated. If that’s the case, knock yourself out, but just remember that there’s no one to complain to when you find out that, in the end, you—the flawed and broken you—can be a pretty trustworthy guide on this expedition we call life. Nouwen writes, "Nobody escapes being wounded. We all are wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. The main question is not 'How can we hide our wounds?' so we don't have to be embarrassed, but 'How can we put our woundedness in the service of others?'"
When we do, we are Tikkun Olam, repairers of the world.
“He (Pope Francis) often used the image of the Church as a ‘field hospital’ after a battle in which many were wounded; a Church determined to take care of the problems of people and the great anxieties that tear the contemporary world apart; a Church capable of bending down to every person, regardless of their beliefs or condition, and healing their wounds.” Cardinal Re said in the funeral homily.
Yes, and Amen. Francis, a voice of mercy, for the wounded and the marginalized—inviting the compassionate treatment of those in need (even and especially when it’s within one’s power to harm or “punish” them).
And this I know my friends: We live in an emotionally and spiritually de-hydrated world, thirsty for the sustaining balm of mercy—as repairers of the world. Sabbath Moments
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