“Grace
be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.” Galatians 1:3
“Notice
that, in all of his epistles, Paul constantly reminds of the grace of God and
the love He bears to all believers. He says, Grace be to you and peace. This word peace includes all worldly prosperity. By it Paul is asking God to
provide those things which He considers for our good. He will shower His riches
upon us and reveal His bounty so that we might praise Him for His goodness.
However,
the wealth of this world will be harmful for us unless we have found favor with
the Lord. Hence, Paul speaks here in an orderly way, always placing God’s grace
and free pardon before an increase in worldly prosperity. Though we may ask God
to bless us with those things we need, we must not forget the most important blessing
is to be members of His church and assured of God’s love in our hearts.
The
light of God’s countenance should suffice us. Although God permits us to ask
for good things from His hand, we must keep a tight rein on our desires. God
may afflict us with many sorrows, and at such times we need to value His grace
above everything else. If we live in comfort, surrounded by all kinds of
pleasures and delights, we will still be miserable if we do not have the peace
of conscience that comes from knowing that God loves and accepts us.
We
should not desire earthly goods more than the love of God. For what if God, who
loves us, wishes to test our patience by making us suffer in this world and
subjects us to many trials? Even then, we must prize His love above all else and
patiently bear all trials, though it seems as if everything is against us.”
_________________
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Galatians 2:16
“Since
God has loved us and has showered His grace upon us, we are obliged to do our
part by forgetting about self and devoting ourselves completely to Him. In
other words, the two main factors in our religion are, first, to recognize that
God is to be served and glorified; and second, to understand how we can present
ourselves to Him and be accepted and acknowledged as His children, owning Him
as our Father. Then we can have full assurance of the salvation of our souls.
These
words of humble confession define the sacrifice that God requires of us. I
speak of humility, not simply the right facial expression but rather being
affected in such a way that we willingly accept God’s condemnation and cast away
all trust in our works.
In addition,
we learn from this text that when God commanded the ceremonial law, He did not
intend for us to cling to such external things. He wanted the children of
Israel to exercise patience, acknowledging poverty and misery, and rid
themselves of all corruptions of the flesh. Indeed, His purpose was to lead
them to the Lord Jesus Christ so they would put their trust in Him and lean on
Him completely for salvation. Those who sought to keep the ceremonial law as if
it were absolutely vital and a sin not to do so were establishing a pattern of
worship that was against God’s will and contrary to His intention. Those who
did so were therefore false teachers, distorting the real significance of the
law. In addition, they were instructing people to exalt themselves and to boast
of their own works. That does not bring glory to God, for if we attribute to
ourselves even a little merit, we are robbing and spoiling God of what
rightfully belongs to Him.”
-From
John Calvin 1509-1564
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