SONS OF GOD THROUGH FAITH

I absolutely love the last half of Galatians Chapter 3! It is so clear in its explanation of the purpose of the law - that people were held captive under it, and that it served as the guardian until the Messiah came. When Jesus came, He didn't annul the law, He fulfilled it. The law is a mirror that proves our need for a Savior - but it couldn't save. And, it could never be kept perfectly.

Verse 24-26 (ESV) says, "So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian (the law), for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith."

Justified by faith. Faith in Christ alone. All sons! Hooray! Wahoo! Yee-haw!

(I don't think I need to point out that the word 'sons' and the word 'man' in reference to people is inclusive of females - - but just in case someone wonders, I will....)

The other thing I want to point out is that we are no longer called sinners. Being identified as a sinner is a pre-faith designation. I am not a sinner. I am a Christian who occasionally sins, but there is a huge difference. I am God's child, adopted in, and an heir. I am redeemed by the blood of the lamb. My name is written in the Lamb's book of life. I am forgiven, and seen as righteous through the filter of the blood of Yeshua/Jesus/Messiah/Christ. I was once a sinner. No more. That is not my identity. I certainly could be the poster child for God's amazing grace for all he forgave me for! But the point is, He forgave me for my sins, by His grace, and drew me into His family. I call myself a child of God's grace. I seek to be an intentional Christian. Sometimes I fail even in the trying, but God's correction and forgiveness are immediate.

I long to know Him more fully. He both initiates and responds to that yearning. Revelation 3:20 was written to the church. It says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, and will open the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." That verse is frequently taken out of context. What it vociferously declares is that God wants to have a relationship with those who take His name. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" ends that paragraph in Revelation 3. My prayer is that I will always be attuned to hear the knock.