—Galatians 5.13–15—

¹³ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another humbly in love. ¹⁴ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." ¹⁵ If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Because of the awesome gift Jesus gave us through his death on the cross, there is no limit to the forgiveness we can receive. However, we must be careful not to abuse this gift by continuing to live sinfully. Even though we will be forgiven, our disobedience will keep us from growing closer to God. Not only will this cause our own spiritual lives to become stagnant, but it will also prevent others from seeing God’s love through us.

So instead of selfishly indulging our sinful nature, we should focus on showing love to others. If we show love to everyone we come across, we will be showing unsaved people the love of Jesus, and we will also be bringing strength and unity to the church. Focusing on others rather than ourselves will also bring fulfillment and spiritual growth to our own lives.

—Galatians 5.1–12—

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 law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit 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 and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. Brother, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!


As a man I do not find myself purchasing shampoo with much frequency. I do not possess a luxurious mane of hair to maintain. Yet occasionally I do run out of shampoo.

I find the shampoo section in the store quite intimidating. The only reason I can find to choose one brand over another is price, which is all well and good, but who knows what I could be missing in this brand, or this brand, or that brand. Part of me wants to believe that somewhere there exists a giant faucet that pours out all the shampoo in the world into a single vat to drain through an infinity of little nozzles into all the different brand names and types and specialties. Call me a shampoo conspiracy theorist.

Too much choice can lead to paralysis. Before I know it I've killed off 15 minutes staring at shampoo and still have nothing in hand.

In the race we run in pursuit of Jesus Christ, many times (if we are honest) we would prefer someone, anyone, to simply tell us exactly what we need to do. Even though Jesus deposited his spirit in us and set us loose to live, our lives still seem murky a lot of the time.

Paul is clear on what should guide us: "faith expressing itself through love."

—Galatians 4.21–5.1—

To understand this section of scripture better, I encourage you to read Genesis, chapters 15, 16, 18 and 21.

Genesis 18:21 says: Then one of them said, “About this time next year I will return, and your wife Sarah will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent nearby. And since Abraham and Sarah were both very old, and Sarah was long past the age of having children, she laughed silently. “How could a worn-out woman like me have a baby?” she thought. “And when my husband is so old?”

Genesis 21:1 (But) the Lord did exactly what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant, and she gave a son to Abraham in his old age. It all happened at the time God had said it would. (Vs. 6) And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter! All who hear about this will laugh with me. For who would have dreamed that I would ever have a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!”

So. The question of the day becomes this:
WHO WOULD HAVE DREAMED…WHO WOULD HAVE DREAMED SOMETHING SO AMAZING?
God would have, and still does.

Maybe the road ahead is uncertain, maybe your vision is cloudy, and maybe you even doubt like Sarah did.

But hold fast, young people.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 says that God has a plan for you. Plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray He will listen. If you look for Him in earnest, you will find Him.

Treasure this in your hearts.

—Galatians 5.13-15—

¹³ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another humbly in love. ¹⁴ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." ¹⁵ If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.


Because of the awesome gift Jesus gave us through his death on the cross, there is no limit to the forgiveness we can receive. However, we must be careful not to abuse this gift by continuing to live sinfully. Even though we will be forgiven, our disobedience will keep us from growing closer to God. Not only will this cause our own spiritual lives to become stagnant, but it will also prevent others from seeing God’s love through us.

So instead of selfishly indulging our sinful nature, we should focus on showing love to others. If we show love to everyone we come across, we will be showing unsaved people the love of Jesus, and we will also be bringing strength and unity to the church. Focusing on others rather than ourselves will also bring fulfillment and spiritual growth to our own lives.

—Galatians 4.12–20—

¹² I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong. ¹³ As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. ¹⁴ Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. ¹⁵ What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶ Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? ¹⁷ Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. ¹⁸ It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you. ¹⁹ My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, ²⁰ how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

A sickly stranger comes stumbling into town with nobody to turn to. Helping hands are extended. Wounds are dressed, an illness is cured, healing is acomplished, and one sick man’s trial yields deeper healing, Godly healing, for many.

This was Paul’s situation in Galatia. His language indicates that his purpose in coming to Galatia had something to do with his broken body. Today we can only speculate what his ailment may have been, but regardless of the problem notice how God turned Paul’s trial toward His purposes.

Imagine the surprise of the Galatian caretakers when their broken down patient, certainly grateful for their services, revealed himself as the passionate, truth-speaking servant of Christ Jesus that he was. The tables were turned. The patient had become the healer and the healer the patient. To receive such a harshly worded letter as this from one to whom they had so lovingly tended, for whom they “would have torn out their eyes”, must have been hard to swallow.

But the truth transcends Galatian defensiveness. They needed someone to keep them grounded in the narrow path that Jesus blazed toward God, even when strong words were necessary.

We all still desperately need this remedy.

—Galatians 4.8–11—

⁸ Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. ⁹ But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? ¹⁰ You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! ¹¹ I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.


Back when I was an undergrad, I coached an intramural flag football team. One of the guys on the team was very fast and had really good hands, so it was natural that he would be a receiver. The only downfall was that he was about 5 feet 5 inches tall. Our quarterback was only about 5 feet 7 inches, so he had trouble seeing him on long routes.

As we got into games, I felt that a player with his talents should be getting more catches than he was getting. So, during practice one afternoon, I worked really hard on teaching him to run short routes across the field rather than long routes down the field and then use his speed to evade the defenders. We worked and worked and worked on it, and he seemed to catch on. But, in the next game, he went right back to running the deep routes.

It doesn’t feel good to put in all that time into someone and then have him or her go back to the old ways. Paul feels this way about the churches in Galatia. They had seemingly made so much progress, only to end up falling into the same things they did before they became Christians.

What is an area that you have lost some ground in? What do you need to do to regain it?

—Galatians 4.1-7—

¹ What I am saying is that as long as heirs are underage they are no different from slaves, although they own the whole estate. ² They are subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by their fathers. ³ So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. ⁴ But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. ⁶ Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." ⁷ So you are no longer slaves, but God's children; and since you are his children, he has made you also heirs.


I was once lost and a slave to this world
No purpose was found in my life
He was my father and wanted to give me everything
Everything in the world held me in bondage
Redemption was what God offered me through his son
I said I believed and asked for forgiveness
The Holy Spirit came upon me because of the sacrifice of my lord
And a new life began
Now I am God’s heir
Certain of the inheritance of heaven
Eternal life with him

If you have not found him yet, he is waiting…
Ask God into your heart and receive his full inheritance.

—Galatians 3.19–21—

¹⁹ What, then, was the purpose of the law? 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. ²⁰ A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.²¹ Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.

The law and Promise
What was the purpose of the law? The law was put in place to bring us to Christ so that we might believe and trust in God. We can’t live by the law alone,but by faith in Christ and believe that Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross. Threw faith we can receive the promise of the Spirit. By faith we have been set free from the law and no longer have to be a prisoner because Jesus took our sin. Jesus died on the cross so that we may be set free in order to receive God’s promise. The ultimate sacrifice so that we might live and have eternal life.

—Galatians 3.15–18—

¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ 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.


In this book, Paul is responding to an important controversy that was developing in the church at Galatia. Some people were telling the members of this church, mostly Gentiles, that faith in Christ was not enough. They said that to be truly saved and enter the kingdom of God, a person also had to follow the old Jewish Law. Paul has been striving for the last three chapters to correct this misunderstanding.

Here, Paul tries to explain that the Law does not matter by taking an example from the legal world. He said that the salvation offered through Jesus was not something new, but a fulfillment of the ancient covenant, or legal contract, that God had made with Abraham. God promised Abraham that he and his offspring would be God’s children, and that all nations would be blessed through them. This is fulfilled in Jesus. The Law did not change that promise or that plan.

Think of it this way: when a family adopts a child, they enter into a legally binding agreement that they will love and care for that child as if s/he were their own, and that that child will forever be a part of their family. If, later on, they assign that child a list of chores or a curfew, the child’s performance or neglect of those duties does not change the adoption agreement. No matter what, the child is promised a place in the family. God’s covenant with Abraham allowed him to adopt all people into his family as his children through what Jesus did. The Law set curfews and boundaries to protect the people and gave them chores to develop their characters. However, doing or not doing our chores does not affect our position in God’s family. God drew up the contract, Jesus paid the fee. Once we sign on the dotted line, we’re in. God loves us no matter what. We cannot earn that love, it is freely given. Rejoice in that today.

—Galatians 3.10–14—

¹⁰ All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." ¹¹ Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because "the righteous will live by faith." ¹² The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, "Whoever does these things will live by them." ¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole." ¹⁴ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.


You are a carpenter. Your father and grandfather were both carpenters, establishing the family trade. Everyone knows your talent and customers flock to your name and reputation. Carpentry is your life and your identity.

One day you and your father are reflecting on the family business. “I built 2 houses in the same city block one year,” you remember. “Termites moved through the whole block the next year, ate ‘em up one by one.”

With a knowing “sigh,” your father offers a suggestion. “We should’ve known son. Wood rots. It just can’t do anything else.”

Just as the limitations of wood undermine the work of a carpenter, the Apostle Paul can look at his people (he was a Jew, after all) and see that their own scriptures spoke of a “curse”, a ticking time bomb of sorts that was embedded in their Law. But unlike the carpenter and his wood, Israel’s problem was not their Law—it was themselves.

Paul could see that the entire history of Israel told the story of a people who fell short of their goal to be God’s light to the world—a people who missed what God wanted of them amid the cursed and rotted ruins of their religion—a people who believed they had God in their pocket. And yet, miraculously, God still accomplished his purposes...not according to any law, but according to a promise made to Abraham.

We would do well to pray not to make the same mistakes.

—Galatians 3.1–9—

¹ You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. ² I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? ³ Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort? ⁴ Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? ⁵ Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by your observing the law, or by your believing what you heard? ⁶ So also Abraham "believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

⁷ Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. ⁸ Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." ⁹ So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

The beginning of Galatians three talks about the fact that works aren’t enough, you have to have faith. As is the case today, many of the people were trying to earn their way into heaven and that just isn’t possible.

Of course actions are important to, as James 2:26 says, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” It is impossible to have faith without deeds, but what Paul is saying is that you can have deeds without faith.

We like the Galatians sometimes need to be reminded that the deeds are only important if we have the faith to back it up, because we are saved through faith. It is also much harder to strengthen your faith that your deeds. Faith requires a long-term commitment to wanting to know and follow God’s plan and there are several ways that we can do this. Reading, memorizing and meditating over God’s word is a great way to see His faithfulness and begin to build up more trust in Him. The biggest thing you can do is to pray, how can you have a relationship without communication? God is always there and he loves to talk to you.

Galatians 2.18-21

¹⁸ If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

¹⁹ "For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

There is only one way to heaven. That is the purpose for Christ dying on the cross for us. If there were any other way then what would be the point of striving to be like Christ. We have to live by faith not knowing what will happen next but knowing that if we trust in Christ, He will always lead us in the right direction. Making sure we are always striving and not going back to the way we were before Christ came into our life is important because we need to show Christ that we are faithful to him always.

Galatians 2.14–17

¹⁴ When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

¹⁵ "We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles ¹⁶ know that a person is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

¹⁷ "But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn't that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!

Have you ever read through some of the rules and regulations in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy? It’s kind of interesting to read through it. Some of the rules in there you are quite aware of (such as do not lie, and do not steal). Others you probably aren’t aware of (such as do not lend money with interest or that land that is sold has to be returned to it’s original owner every 50 years).

Have you ever wondered why we follow some laws and ignore others? Paul, in this passage, is wondering the same thing. If you look back in Acts Chapter 10, Peter has a vision from God about Gentile converts. In it, God tells him that he can eat any animal, regardless of whether or not that animal is considered ceremonially clean or unclean (some more of the obscure laws from Leviticus that we have put into the “ignore” category). In Acts 15, Peter, on the basis of this vision, claims that Gentiles can become Christians without circumcision (yet another law from the OT).

Now, it seems, Peter has decided that circumcision is mandatory for salvation. But, he seems to be content to continue eating “unclean food. Paul reminds us that it’s not any of the old laws that save us, but faith in Christ.

What laws are you using to gauge the “Christianity” of others?

Galatians 2.11-13

¹¹ When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹² For before certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. ¹³ The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

In this passage, Peter is eating and hanging out with the Gentiles but separates himself from them when friends of James arrive. If you have to hide your actions from other people like Peter in this passage, you probably shouldn’t be doing them at all! If you read on in verse 13, Peter’s hypocrisy even causes Barnabas to sin as well. Leading a double life like Peter did might work at first, but it will always catch up to you and someone will eventually find out. If you know of someone who is doing something similar to Peter, perhaps hiding something from their parents or living differently on Friday night then they do on Sunday morning, I encourage you to confront them much like Paul did in our passage. If this person is you, pray that God will forgive you and make a conscious effort to change.

Galatians 2.1–10

¹ Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. ² I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. ³ Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. ⁴ This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. ⁵ We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.

⁶ As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. ⁷ On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews. ⁸ For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. ⁹ James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. ¹⁰ All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.

In this passage Paul secretly visits the leaders in Jerusalem to reveal the revelation he has received from God concerning the freedom we have in Christ. Recognizing the grace bestowed upon Paul, the Jewish leadership extended fellowship to Paul and blessed him to continue his mission to the Gentiles. What was this freedom that Paul felt so important to express to the Jewish leaders? Given in this passage as an example of Old Testament law was circumcision. To be a part of God’s people circumcision was required to show that one was set apart to God. But Paul wanted to let everyone know that Christ’s death had changed everything. No longer is anyone subject to living to the letter of the law to be considered God’s people. In fact, it was now the acceptance of Christ’s death, the one perfect sacrifice, for the spiritual “circumcision” of our hearts that allows us to be called God’s children.

Galatians 1.18-24

¹⁸ Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord's brother. ²⁰ I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.

²¹ Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. ²² I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. ²³ They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." ²⁴ And they praised God because of me.

What sticks out to me in this passage is the attitude of the church toward Paul (formerly Saul, the persecutor).

What would you think if someone who was previously your worst enemy now claimed to be your strong advocate and encourager? What if Osama Bin Laden suddenly decided to rebuild the part of lower Manhattan he once destroyed? Would I be inclined to accept and approve of his offer?

Paul "saw the light," so to speak. And the response of the church was to praise God. Talk about being on the same page with God in His work of redeeming lives and turning them toward His purpose.

Am I on that page?

Galatians 1.11-17

¹¹ I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. ¹² I did not receive it from any human source, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

¹³ For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. ¹⁵ But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. ¹⁷ I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.

Paul is concerned here with the authenticity of his ministry. He wants the Galatians to realize that what he does is not motivated by any earthly thing, but motivated by a special calling from Jesus Christ.

I wonder if my ministry is authentic in that sense? Is it a thing that comes about because I have willed it to, or is it only attributable to God and his plan and grace? I wonder if I take too much credit for what God has done and is doing...

Paul is also concerned with drawing a sharp distinction between his former life as an enemy of the church (and of God, by extension) and his present life of humble service. Even though Paul expended a lot of effort persecuting the church, he STILL views his whole life in view of God's purpose...despite the roadblocks, GOD STILL SET HIM APART AT BIRTH!

Oh, the mystery and wonder and unsearchableness of the Lord God Almighty!
Who has known his mind that he might counsel him?

Galatians 1.6–10

⁶ I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— ⁷ which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let that person be under God's curse! ⁹ As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let that person be under God's curse!

¹⁰ Am I now trying to win human approval, or God's approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Today it seems there are people who used to have beliefs a few years ago, and now have changed their minds to believe in something totally different. How do people get so caught up in beliefs that are not of Jesus? I hear about people I use to know in my high school days and I wonder what or who has gotten a hold of them. I looked up to these people because of their faith. They relied on God everyday and I prayed I could have enough faith to know and believe the bible is true. But someone or thing has put doubt in their mind and they follow another religion or group like Mormons or Jehovah witnesses. They still read the bible right but then they have other beliefs and doctrine that they believe that’s not part of the Christian bible.

Galatians 1.1–5

¹ Paul, an apostle—sent not with a human commission nor by human authority, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— ² and all the brothers and sisters with me,
To the churches in Galatia:

³ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ⁵ to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Our devotional efforts today take us to Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia, which is also a letter to us.

As we read through this epistle we’ll find some of the words to be pretty harsh, but here in the beginning Paul reminds us of the compassion of our God. The greeting wishes us grace and peace. Paul then reminds us that Jesus is the one who gave himself up to rescue us from the present evil age.

The first century could be called a “present evil age”. It was a time of violence, a time of uncertainty, a time in which Christians were being harshly criticized; sounds a lot like the twenty-first century. Just browse the internet and you will be flooded with stories of violence, uncertainty and it is easy to find those who are harsh toward Christ’s church.

Take time to examine Jesus, investigate his claims, and then take time to thank him for his willingness to be our eternal life rescuer.

2 Corinthians 13.11–14

¹¹ Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

¹² Greet one another with a holy kiss. ¹³ All God's people here send their greetings.

¹⁴ May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

In this section Paul is basically saying good-by and finishing his letter, but there are some important last minute reminders that he wants to bring up. He says to aim for perfection; a simple reminder that our standards are to be higher than those of the world. He says listen to my appeal. Basically, make sure that you take the advice in this letter to heart and put it into practice. Be of one mind—focus on the things of Christ in your thought life. And, finally, live in peace; be concerned about others even more than you care for yourself.

He goes on to say that they should greet each other with a holy kiss which would be kind of awkward in CCF so I wouldn’t recommend it.

Lastly, he reminds the church that the saints say hello and the most important thing, that no matter what happens God and Jesus are always there for them just like they are here for you and me.