REST IN GRACE 🕊 A Powerful Bible Meditation To Usher In The Presence Of God Before You SLEEP BLESSED

hello i'm james thanks for joining me tonight for sleep scriptures as we hear the book of galatians in the new international version the book was written by paul as a letter to a number of churches in galatia where he had traveled doing missionary work paul was deeply concerned even frustrated about the state of the church in galatia where jewish christians in the region were pushing for strict adherence to the laws and practices commanded in the torah he is bewildered by the fact that the galatians have embraced a version of the gospel that denies jesus free gift of grace he believed strongly that holding gentiles to the old laws would portray the message of the gospel that we are justified and declared righteous only by jesus sacrifice and our acceptance of him as messiah not by our own works or observance of law [Music] it's only through our belief in jesus that his resurrection power can transform us so we can belong to his family the whole message of the book of galatians is grace what a freeing beautiful message for us today galatians chapter 2 verse 20 says 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 and then verse 21 gives the gospel message even more strength i do not nullify the grace of god for if righteousness were through the law then christ died for no purpose [Music] that's unthinkable that our lord would have died for no purpose we are free from the law because we now live under the law of grace it's a mystery that we cannot fully understand but that will lead you into deep peaceful sleep tonight so breathe deeply and accept god's free gift now [Music] allow all your concerns to drift away in the light of the amazing truth paul shares with the galatians let the tension of the day's strivings melt away hand over to god any moments you try to earn his love or favor and freely accept his gift of salvation breathe in christ's salvation and breathe out the stress of trying to earn that salvation on your own [Music] god we come to you now as imperfect people much like the galatians we try to earn our salvation forgive us for neglecting the message of the gospel that jesus is the messiah and that through jesus you've created a new family and you are our new father when we accept the gift of your son we are transformed by the power of your spirit let us never forget that this is what the bible is all about help this beloved child of yours to soak in these scriptures as they fall asleep to the reading of your word let your peace fill their heart as they place their faith in you alone in jesus name amen [Music] galatians chapter one paul an apostle sent not from men nor by a man but by jesus christ and god the father who raised him from the dead and all the brothers and sisters with me to the churches in glacier grace and peace to you from god our father and the lord jesus christ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age according to the will of our god and father to whom be glory for ever and ever amen [Music] i'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of christ and are turning to a different gospel which is really no gospel at all evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of christ but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you let them be under god's curse as we have already said so now i say again if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted let them be under god's curse am i now trying to win the approval of human beings or of god or am i trying to please people if i were still trying to please people i would not be a servant of christ i want you to know brothers and sisters that the gospel i preached is not of human origin i did not receive it from any man nor was i taught it rather i received it by revelation from jesus christ 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 i was advancing in judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers but when god who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son and me so that i might preach him among the gentiles my immediate response was not to consult any human being 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 [Music] then after three years i went up to jerusalem to get acquainted with cephas and stayed with him 15 days i saw none of the other apostles only james the lord's brother i assure you before god that what i am writing you was no lie then i went to syria and cilicia i was personally unknown to the churches of judea that are in christ they only heard the report the man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy and they praised god because of me [Music] galatians chapter 2 then after 14 years i went up again to jerusalem this time with barnabas i took titus along also i went in response to a revelation and meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders i presented to 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 yet not even titus who was with me was compelled to be circumcised even though he was a greek 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 we did not give in to them for a moment so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you 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 on the contrary they recognized that i had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised justice peter had been to the circumcised for god who was at work in peter as an apostle to the circumcised was also at work in me as an apostle to the gentiles 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 circumcised all they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor the very thing i had been eager to do all along when cephas came to antioch i opposed him to his face because he stood condemned for before certain men 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 the other jews joined him in his hypocrisy so that by their hypocrisy even barnabas was led astray 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 we who are jews by birth and not sinful gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of 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 the works of the law because by the works of the law no one will be justified 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 if i rebuild what i destroyed then i really would be a law breaker for through the law i died to the law so that i might live for god 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 i do not set aside the grace of god for if righteousness could be gained through the law christ died for nothing galatians chapter 3 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 announce the gospel in advance to abraham all nations will be blessed through you so those who rely on faith are blessed along with abraham the man of faith for all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse as it is written cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before god because the righteous will live by faith the law is not based on faith on the contrary it says the person who does these things will live by them christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us for it is written cursed is everyone who was hung on a pole 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 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 one party but god is one 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 but scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin so that what was promised being given through faith in jesus christ might be given to those who believe before the coming of this faith we were held in custody under the law locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed so the law was our guardian until christ came that we might be justified by faith now that this faith has come we are no longer under a guardian so in christ jesus you are all children of god through faith for all of you who are baptized into christ have clothed yourselves with christ there is neither jew nor gentile neither slave nor free nor is there male and female for you are all one in christ jesus if you belong to christ then you are abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise [Music] galatians chapter 4 [Music] what i am saying is that as long as an heir is underage he is no different from a slave although he owns the whole estate the air is subject to guardians and trustees until the times set by his father so also when we were underage we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world but when the set time had fully come god sent his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law that we might receive adoption to sonship because you are his sons god sent the spirit of his son into our hearts the spirit who calls out abba father so you are no longer a slave but god's child and since you are his child god has made you also an heir formerly when you did not know god you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods 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 you are observing special days and months and seasons and years i fear for you that somehow i have wasted my efforts on you i plead with you brothers and sisters become like me for i became like you you did me no wrong as you know it was because of an illness that i first preached the gospel to you and 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 where then is your blessing of me now i can testify that if you could have done so you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me have i now become your enemy by telling you the truth 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 it is fine to be zealous provided the purpose is good and to be so always not just when i am with you my dear children for who i am again in the pains of childbirth until christ is formed in you how i wish i could be with you now and change my tone because i am perplexed about you tell me you who want to be under the law are you not aware of what the law says for it is written that abraham had two sons one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman his son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh but his son by the free woman was born as a result of a divine promise [Music] these things are being taken figuratively the women represent two covenants one covenant is from mount sinai and bears children who are to be slaves this is hagar now hagar stands for mount sinai in arabia and corresponds to the present city of jerusalem because she is in slavery with her children but the jerusalem that is above is free and she is our mother for it is written be glad barren women you who never bore a child shout for joy and cry aloud you who were never in labor because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband now you brothers and sisters like isaac are children of promise at that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the spirit it is the same now but what does scripture say get rid of the slave woman and her son for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son therefore brothers and sisters we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman galatians chapter 5 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 the whole batch of dough i am confident in the lord that you will take no other view the one who was throwing you into confusion whoever that may be will have to pay the penalty brothers and sisters 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 you my brothers and sisters were called to be free but do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh rather serve one another humbly in love for the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command love your neighbor as yourself if you bite and devour each other watch out or you will be destroyed by each other so i say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh for the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh they are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want but if you are led by the spirit you are not under the law the acts of the flesh are obvious sexual immorality impurity and debauchery idolatry and witchcraft hatred discord jealousy fits of rage selfish ambition dissensions factions and envy drunkenness orgies and the like i warn you as i did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of god but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace forbearance kindness goodness gentleness and self-control against such things there is no law those who belong to christ jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires since we live by the spirit let us keep in step with the spirit let us not become conceited provoking and envying each other galatians chapter 6 [Music] brothers and sisters if someone is caught in a sin you who live by the spirit should restore that person gently but watch yourselves or you also may be tempted carry each other's burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of christ if anyone thinks they are something when they are not they deceive themselves each one should test their own actions then they can take pride in themselves alone without comparing themselves to someone else for each one should carry their own load nevertheless the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor do not be deceived god cannot be mocked a man reaps what he sows whoever sows to please their flesh from the flesh will reap destruction whoever sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up therefore as we have opportunity let us do good to all people especially to those who belong to the family of believers see what large letters i use as i write to you with my own hand those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised the only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of christ not even those who are circumcised keep the law yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh may i never boast except in the cross of our lord jesus christ through which the world has been crucified to me and i to the world neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything what counts is the new creation peace and mercy to all who follow this rule to the israel of god from now on let no one cause me trouble for i bear on my body the marks of jesus the grace of our lord jesus christ be with your spirit brothers and sisters amen god thank you for this gift of grace of salvation the promise of eternity with you as your child sleeps tonight give them dreams that remind them of your great love for them let them be enfolded into your grace so that no matter which way they turn that's all they see all around them [Music] they are saved by grace they are rooted in grace they grow in grace may that be something that they never ever forget we ask this in the precious powerful name of jesus amen the book was written by paul as a letter to a number of churches in galatia where he had traveled doing missionary work paul was deeply concerned even frustrated about the state of the church in galatia where jewish christians in the region were pushing for strict adherence to the laws and practices commanded in the torah he is bewildered by the fact that the galatians have embraced a version of the gospel that denies jesus free gift of grace he believed strongly that holding gentiles to the old laws would portray the message of the gospel that we are justified and declared righteous only by jesus sacrifice and our acceptance of him as messiah not by our own works or observance of law [Music] it's only through our belief in jesus that his resurrection power can transform us so we can belong to his family the whole message of the book of galatians is grace what a freeing beautiful message for us today galatians chapter 2 verse 20 says 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 and then verse 21 gives the gospel message even more strength i do not nullify the grace of god for if righteousness were through the law then christ died for no purpose [Music] that's unthinkable that our lord would have died for no purpose we are free from the law because we now live under the law of grace it's a mystery that we cannot fully understand but that will lead you into deep peaceful sleep tonight so breathe deeply and accept god's free gift now [Music] allow all your concerns to drift away in the light of the amazing truth paul shares with the galatians let the tension of the day's strivings melt away hand over to god any moments you try to earn his love or favor and freely accept his gift of salvation breathe in christ's salvation and breathe out the stress of trying to earn that salvation on your own [Music] god we come to you now as imperfect people much like the galatians we try to earn our salvation forgive us for neglecting the message of the gospel that jesus is the messiah and that through jesus you've created a new family and you are our new father when we accept the gift of your son we are transformed by the power of your spirit let us never forget that this is what the bible is all about help this beloved child of yours to soak in these scriptures as they fall asleep to the reading of your word let your peace fill their heart as they place their faith in you alone in jesus name amen [Music] galatians chapter one paul an apostle sent not from men nor by a man but by jesus christ and god the father who raised him from the dead and all the brothers and sisters with me to the churches in galatia grace and peace to you from god our father and the lord jesus christ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age according to the will of our god and father to whom be glory for ever and ever amen [Music] i'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of christ and are turning to a different gospel which is really no gospel at all evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of christ but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you let them be under god's curse as we have already said so now i say again if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted let them be under god's curse am i now trying to win the approval of human beings or of god or am i trying to please people if i were still trying to please people i would not be a servant of christ i want you to know brothers and sisters that the gospel i preached is not of human origin i did not receive it from any man nor was i taught it rather i received it by revelation from jesus christ 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 i was advancing in judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers but when god who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son and me so that i might preach him among the gentiles my immediate response was not to consult any human being 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 [Music] then after three years i went up to jerusalem to get acquainted with cephas and stayed with him 15 days i saw none of the other apostles only james the lord's brother i assure you before god that what i am writing you was no lie then i went to syria and silicia i was personally unknown to the churches of judea that are in christ they only heard the report the man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy and they praised god because of me [Music] galatians chapter 2 then after 14 years i went up again to jerusalem this time with barnabas i took titus along also i went in response to a revelation and meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders i presented to 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 yet not even titus who was with me was compelled to be circumcised even though he was a greek 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 we did not give in to them for a moment so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you 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 on the contrary they recognized that i had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised justice peter had been to the circumcised for god who was at work in peter as an apostle to the circumcised was also at work in me as an apostle to the gentiles 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 circumcised all they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor the very thing i had been eager to do all along when cephas came to antioch i opposed him to his face because he stood condemned for before certain men 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 the other jews joined him in his hypocrisy so that by their hypocrisy even barnabas was led astray 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 we who are jews by birth and not sinful gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of 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 the works of the law because by the works of the law no one will be justified 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 if i rebuild what i destroyed then i really would be a lawbreaker for through the law i died to the law so that i might live for god 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 i do not set aside the grace of god for if righteousness could be gained through the law christ died for nothing [Music] galatians chapter 3 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 announce the gospel in advance to abraham all nations will be blessed through you so those who rely on faith are blessed along with abraham the man of faith for all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse as it is written cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before god because the righteous will live by faith the law is not based on faith on the contrary it says the person who does these things will live by them christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us for it is written cursed is everyone who was hung on a pole 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 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 one party but god is one is the law therefore opposed to the promises of god absolutely none for if allah had been given that could impart life then righteousness would certainly have come by the law but scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin so that what was promised being given through faith in jesus christ might be given to those who believe before the coming of this faith we were held in custody under the law locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed so the law was our guardian until christ came that we might be justified by faith now that this faith has come we are no longer under a guardian so in christ jesus you are all children of god through faith for all of you who are baptized into christ have clothed yourselves with christ there is neither jew nor gentile neither slave nor free nor is there male and female for you are all one in christ jesus if you belong to christ then you are abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise [Music] galatians chapter 4 [Music] what i am saying is that as long as an heir is underage he is no different from a slave although he owns the whole estate the air is subject to guardians and trustees until the times set by his father so also when we were underage we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world but when the said time had fully come god sent his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law that we might receive adoption to sonship because you are his sons god sent the spirit of his son into our hearts the spirit who calls out abba father so you are no longer a slave but god's child and since you are his child god has made you also an heir formerly when you did not know god you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods 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 you are observing special days and months and seasons and years i fear for you that somehow i have wasted my efforts on you i plead with you brothers and sisters become like me for i became like you you did me no wrong as you know it was because of an illness that i first preached the gospel to you and 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 where then is your blessing of me now i can testify that if you could have done so you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me have i now become your enemy by telling you the truth 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 it is fine to be zealous provided the purpose is good and to be so always not just when i am with you my dear children for who i am again in the pains of childbirth until christ is formed in you how i wish i could be with you now and change my tone because i am perplexed about you tell me you who want to be under the law are you not aware of what the law says for it is written that abraham had two sons one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman his son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh but his son by the free woman was born as a result of a divine promise [Music] these things are being taken figuratively the women represent two covenants one covenant is from mount sinai and bears children who are to be slaves this is hagar now hagar stands for mount sinai in arabia and corresponds to the present city of jerusalem because she is in slavery with her children but the jerusalem that is above is free and she is our mother for it is written be glad barren women you who never bore a child shout for joy and cry aloud you who were never in labor because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband now you brothers and sisters like isaac are children of promise at that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the spirit it is the same now but what does scripture say get rid of the slave woman and her son for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son therefore brothers and sisters we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman galatians chapter 5 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 the whole batch of dough i am confident in the lord that you will take no other view the one who was throwing you into confusion whoever that may be will have to pay the penalty brothers and sisters 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 you my brothers and sisters were called to be free but do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh rather serve one another humbly in love for the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command love your neighbor as yourself if you bite and devour each other watch out or you will be destroyed by each other so i say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh for the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh they are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want but if you are led by the spirit you are not under the law the acts of the flesh are obvious sexual immorality impurity and debauchery idolatry and witchcraft hatred discord jealousy fits of rage selfish ambition dissensions factions and envy drunkenness orgies and the like i warn you as i did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of god but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace forbearance kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control against such things there is no law those who belong to christ jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires since we live by the spirit let us keep in step with the spirit let us not become conceited provoking and envying each other galatians chapter 6 [Music] brothers and sisters if someone is caught in a sin you who live by the spirit should restore that person gently but watch yourselves or you also may be tempted carry each other's burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of christ if anyone thinks they are something when they are not they deceive themselves each one should test their own actions then they can take pride in themselves alone without comparing themselves to someone else for each one should carry their own load nevertheless the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor do not be deceived god cannot be mocked a man reaps what he sows whoever sows to please their flesh from the flesh will reap destruction whoever sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up therefore as we have opportunity let us do good to all people especially to those who belong to the family of believers see what large letters i use as i write to you with my own hand those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised the only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of christ not even those who are circumcised keep the law yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh may i never boast except in the cross of our lord jesus christ through which the world has been crucified to me and i to the world neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything what counts is the new creation peace and mercy to all who follow this rule to the israel of god from now on let no one cause me trouble for i bear on my body the marks of jesus the grace of our lord jesus christ be with your spirit brothers and sisters amen [Music] father god thank you for this gift of grace of salvation the promise of eternity with you as your child sleeps tonight give them dreams that remind them of your great love for them let them be enfolded into your grace so that no matter which way they turn that's all they see all around them [Music] they are saved by grace they are rooted in grace they grow in grace may that be something that they never ever forget we ask this in the precious powerful name of jesus amen the book was written by paul as a letter to a number of churches in galatia where he had traveled doing missionary work paul was deeply concerned even frustrated about the state of the church in galatia where jewish christians in the region were pushing for strict adherence to the laws and practices commanded in the torah he is bewildered by the fact that the galatians have embraced a version of the gospel that denies jesus free gift of grace he believed strongly that holding gentiles to the old laws would portray the message of the gospel that we are justified and declared righteous only by jesus sacrifice and our acceptance of him as messiah not by our own works or observance of law [Music] it's only through our belief in jesus that his resurrection power can transform us so we can belong to his family the whole message of the book of galatians is grace what a freeing beautiful message for us today galatians chapter 2 verse 20 says 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 and then verse 21 gives the gospel message even more strength i do not nullify the grace of god for if righteousness were through the law then christ died for no purpose [Music] that's unthinkable that our lord would have died for no purpose we are free from the law because we now live under the law of grace it's a mystery that we cannot fully understand but that will lead you into deep peaceful sleep tonight so breathe deeply and accept god's free gift now [Music] allow all your concerns to drift away in the light of the amazing truth paul shares with the galatians let the tension of the day's strivings melt away hand over to god any moments you tried to earn his love or favor and freely accept his gift of salvation breathe in christ's salvation and breathe out the stress of trying to earn that salvation on your own [Music] god we come to you now as imperfect people much like the galatians we try to earn our salvation forgive us for neglecting the message of the gospel that jesus is the messiah and that through jesus you've created a new family and you are our new father when we accept the gift of your son we are transformed by the power of your spirit let us never forget that this is what the bible is all about help this beloved child of yours to soak in these scriptures as they fall asleep to the reading of your word let your peace fill their heart as they place their faith in you alone in jesus name amen [Music] galatians chapter 1 [Music] paul an apostle sent not from men nor by a man but by jesus christ and god the father who raised him from the dead and all the brothers and sisters with me to the churches in glacier grace and peace to you from god our father and the lord jesus christ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age according to the will of our god and father to whom be glory for ever and ever amen [Music] i'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of christ and are turning to a different gospel which is really no gospel at all evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of christ but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you let them be under god's curse as we have already said so now i say again if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted let them be under god's curse am i now trying to win the approval of human beings or of god or am i trying to please people if i were still trying to please people i would not be a servant of christ i want you to know brothers and sisters that the gospel i preached is not of human origin i did not receive it from any man nor was i taught it rather i received it by revelation from jesus christ 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 i was advancing in judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers but when god who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son and me so that i might preach him among the gentiles my immediate response was not to consult any human being 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 [Music] then after three years i went up to jerusalem to get acquainted with cephas and stayed with him 15 days i saw none of the other apostles only james the lord's brother i assure you before god that what i am writing you was no lie then i went to syria and cilicia i was personally unknown to the churches of judea that are in christ they only heard the report the man who formally persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy and they praised god because of me [Music] galatians chapter 2 then after 14 years i went up again to jerusalem this time with barnabas i took titus along also i went in response to a revelation and meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders i presented to 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 yet not even titus who was with me was compelled to be circumcised even though he was a greek 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 we did not give in to them for a moment so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you 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 on the contrary they recognized that i had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised justice peter had been to the circumcised for god who was at work in peter as an apostle to the circumcised was also at work in me as an apostle to the gentiles 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 circumcised all they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor the very thing i had been eager to do all along when cephas came to antioch i opposed him to his face because he stood condemned for before certain men 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 the other jews joined him in his hypocrisy so that by their hypocrisy even barnabas was led astray 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 we who are jews by birth and not sinful gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of 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 the works of the law because by the works of the law no one will be justified 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 if i rebuild what i destroyed then i really would be a law breaker for through the law i died to the law so that i might live for god 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 i do not set aside the grace of god for if righteousness could be gained through the law christ died for nothing [Music] galatians chapter 3 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 announce the gospel in advance to abraham all nations will be blessed through you so those who rely on faith are blessed along with abraham the man of faith for all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse as it is written cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before god because the righteous will live by faith the law is not based on faith on the contrary it says the person who does these things will live by them christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us for it is written cursed is everyone who was hung on a pole 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 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 one party but god is one is the law therefore opposed to the promises of god absolutely none for if a law had been given that could impart life then righteousness would certainly have come by the law but scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin so that what was promised being given through faith in jesus christ might be given to those who believe before the coming of this faith we were held in custody under the law locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed so the law was our guardian until christ came that we might be justified by faith now that this faith has come we are no longer under a guardian so in christ jesus you are all children of god through faith for all of you who are baptized into christ have clothed yourselves with christ there is neither jew nor gentile neither slave nor free nor is there male and female for you are all one in christ jesus if you belong to christ then you are abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise [Music] galatians chapter 4 [Music] what i am saying is that as long as an heir is underage he is no different from a slave although he owns the whole estate the heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the times set by his father so also when we were underage we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world but when the set time had fully come god sent his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law that we might receive adoption to sonship because you are his sons god sent the spirit of his son into our hearts the spirit who calls out abba father so you are no longer a slave but god's child and since you are his child god has made you also an heir formerly when you did not know god you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods 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 you are observing special days and months and seasons and years i fear for you that somehow i have wasted my efforts on you i plead with you brothers and sisters become like me for i became like you you did me no wrong as you know it was because of an illness that i first preached the gospel to you and 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 where then is your blessing of me now i can testify that if you could have done so you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me have i now become your enemy by telling you the truth 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 it is fine to be zealous provided the purpose is good and to be so always not just when i am with you my dear children for who i am again in the pains of childbirth until christ is formed in you how i wish i could be with you now and change my tone because i am perplexed about you tell me you who want to be under the law are you not aware of what the law says for it is written that abraham had two sons one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman his son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh but his son by the free woman was born as a result of a divine promise [Music] these things are being taken figuratively the women represent two covenants one covenant is from mount sinai and bears children who are to be slaves this is hagar now hagar stands for mount sinai in arabia and corresponds to the present city of jerusalem because she is in slavery with her children but the jerusalem that is above is free and she is our mother for it is written be glad barren women you who never bore a child shout for joy and cry aloud you who were never in labor because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband now you brothers and sisters like isaac are children of promise at that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the spirit it is the same now but what does scripture say get rid of the slave woman and her son for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son therefore brothers and sisters we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman galatians chapter 5 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 the whole batch of dough i am confident in the lord that you will take no other view the one who was throwing you into confusion whoever that may be will have to pay the penalty brothers and sisters 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 [Music] you my brothers and sisters were called to be free but do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh rather serve one another humbly in love for the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command love your neighbor as yourself if you bite and devour each other watch out or you will be destroyed by each other so i say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh for the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh they are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want but if you are led by the spirit you are not under the law the acts of the flesh are obvious sexual immorality impurity and debauchery idolatry and witchcraft hatred discord jealousy fits of rage selfish ambition dissensions factions and envy drunkenness orgies and the like i warn you as i did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of god but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace forbearance kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control against such things there is no law those who belong to christ jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires since we live by the spirit let us keep in step with the spirit let us not become conceited provoking and envying each other galatians chapter 6 [Music] brothers and sisters if someone is caught in a sin you who live by the spirit should restore that person gently but watch yourselves or you also may be tempted carry each other's burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of christ if anyone thinks they are something when they are not they deceive themselves each one should test their own actions then they can take pride in themselves alone without comparing themselves to someone else for each one should carry their own load nevertheless the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor do not be deceived god cannot be mocked a man reaps what he sows whoever sows to please their flesh from the flesh will reap destruction whoever sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up therefore as we have opportunity let us do good to all people especially to those who belong to the family of believers see what large letters i use as i write to you with my own hand those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised the only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of christ not even those who are circumcised keep the law yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh may i never boast except in the cross of our lord jesus christ through which the world has been crucified to me and i to the world neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything what counts is the new creation peace and mercy to all who follow this rule to the israel of god from now on let no one cause me trouble for i bear on my body the marks of jesus the grace of our lord jesus christ be with your spirit brothers and sisters amen [Music] father god thank you for this gift of grace of salvation the promise of eternity with you as your child sleeps tonight give them dreams that remind them of your great love for them let them be enfolded into your grace so that no matter which way they turn that's all they see all around them [Music] they are saved by grace they are rooted in grace they grow in grace may that be something that they never ever forget we ask this in the precious powerful name of jesus amen the book was written by paul as a letter to a number of churches in galatia where he had traveled doing missionary work paul was deeply concerned even frustrated about the state of the church in galatia where jewish christians in the region were pushing for strict adherence to the laws and practices commanded in the torah he is bewildered by the fact that the galatians have embraced a version of the gospel that denies jesus free gift of grace he believed strongly that holding gentiles to the old laws would portray the message of the gospel that we are justified and declared righteous only by jesus sacrifice and our acceptance of him as messiah not by our own works or observance of law [Music] it's only through our belief in jesus that his resurrection power can transform us so we can belong to his family the whole message of the book of galatians is grace what a freeing beautiful message for us today galatians chapter 2 verse 20 says 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 and then verse 21 gives the gospel message even more strength i do not nullify the grace of god for if righteousness were through the law then christ died for no purpose [Music] that's unthinkable that our lord would have died for no purpose we are free from the law because we now live under the law of grace it's a mystery that we cannot fully understand but that will lead you into deep peaceful sleep tonight so breathe deeply and accept god's free gift now [Music] allow all your concerns to drift away in the light of the amazing truth paul shares with the galatians let the tension of the day's strivings melt away hand over to god any moments you tried to earn his love or favor and freely accept his gift of salvation breathe in christ's salvation and breathe out the stress of trying to earn that salvation on your own [Music] god we come to you now as imperfect people much like the galatians we try to earn our salvation forgive us for neglecting the message of the gospel that jesus is the messiah and that through jesus you've created a new family and you are our new father when we accept the gift of your son we are transformed by the power of your spirit let us never forget that this is what the bible is all about help this beloved child of yours to soak in these scriptures as they fall asleep to the reading of your word let your peace fill their heart as they place their faith in you alone in jesus name amen [Music] galatians chapter 1 [Music] paul an apostle sent not from men nor by a man but by jesus christ and god the father who raised him from the dead and all the brothers and sisters with me to the churches in glacier grace and peace to you from god our father and the lord jesus christ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age according to the will of our god and father to whom be glory forever and ever amen [Music] i'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of christ and are turning to a different gospel which is really no gospel at all evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of christ but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you let them be under god's curse as we have already said so now i say again if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted let them be under god's curse am i now trying to win the approval of human beings or of god or am i trying to please people if i were still trying to please people i would not be a servant of christ i want you to know brothers and sisters that the gospel i preached is not of human origin i did not receive it from any man nor was i taught it rather i received it by revelation from jesus christ 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 i was advancing in judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers but when god who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son and me so that i might preach him among the gentiles my immediate response was not to consult any human being 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 [Music] then after three years i went up to jerusalem to get acquainted with cephas and stayed with him 15 days i saw none of the other apostles only james the lord's brother i assure you before god that what i am writing you was no lie then i went to syria and cilicia i was personally unknown to the churches of judea that are in christ they only heard the report the man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy and they praised god because of me [Music] galatians chapter 2 then after 14 years i went up again to jerusalem this time with barnabas i took titus along also i went in response to a revelation and meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders i presented to 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 yet not even titus who was with me was compelled to be circumcised even though he was a greek 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 we did not give in to them for a moment so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you 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 on the contrary they recognized that i had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised justice peter had been to the circumcised for god who was at work in peter as an apostle to the circumcised was also at work in me as an apostle to the gentiles james cephas and john those esteemed as pillars gave me and barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognize the grace given to me they agreed that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcised all they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor the very thing i had been eager to do all along when cephas came to antioch i opposed him to his face because he stood condemned for before certain men 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 the other jews joined him in his hypocrisy so that by their hypocrisy even barnabas was led astray 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 we who are jews by birth and not sinful gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of 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 the works of the law because by the works of the law no one will be justified 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 if i rebuild what i destroyed then i really would be a lawbreaker for through the law i died to the law so that i might live for god 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 i do not set aside the grace of god for if righteousness could be gained through the law christ died for nothing galatians chapter 3 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 announce the gospel in advance to abraham all nations will be blessed through you so those who rely on faith are blessed along with abraham the man of faith for all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse as it is written cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before god because the righteous will live by faith the law is not based on faith on the contrary it says the person who does these things will live by them christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us for it is written cursed is everyone who was hung on a pole 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 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 one party but god is one 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 but scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin so that what was promised being given through faith in jesus christ might be given to those who believe before the coming of this faith we were held in custody under the law locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed so the law was our guardian until christ came that we might be justified by faith now that this faith has come we are no longer under a guardian so in christ jesus you are all children of god through faith for all of you who are baptized into christ have clothed yourselves with christ there is neither jew nor gentile neither slave nor free nor is there male and female for you are all one in christ jesus if you belong to christ then you are abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise [Music] galatians chapter four [Music] what i am saying is that as long as an heir is underage he is no different from a slave although he owns the whole state the heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father so also when we were underage we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world but when the said time had fully come god sent his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law that we might receive adoption to sonship because you are his sons god sent the spirit of his son into our hearts the spirit who calls out abba father so you are no longer a slave but god's child and since you are his child god has made you also an heir formerly when you did not know god you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods 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 you are observing special days and months and seasons and years i fear for you that somehow i have wasted my efforts on you i plead with you brothers and sisters become like me for i became like you you did me no wrong as you know it was because of an illness that i first preached the gospel to you and 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 where then is your blessing of me now i can testify that if you could have done so you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me have i now become your enemy by telling you the truth 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 it is fine to be zealous provided the purpose is good and to be so always not just when i am with you my dear children for who i am again in the pains of childbirth until christ is formed in you how i wish i could be with you now and change my tone because i am perplexed about you tell me you who want to be under the law are you not aware of what the law says for it is written that abraham had two sons one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman his son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh but his son by the free woman was born as a result of a divine promise [Music] these things are being taken figuratively the women represent two covenants one covenant is from mount sinai and bears children who are to be slaves this is hagar now hagar stands for mount sinai in arabia and corresponds to the present city of jerusalem because she is in slavery with her children but the jerusalem that is above is free and she is our mother for it is written be glad barren women you who never bore a child shout for joy and cry aloud you who were never in labor because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband now you brothers and sisters like isaac are children of promise at that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the spirit it is the same now but what does scripture say get rid of the slave woman and her son for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son therefore brothers and sisters we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman galatians chapter 5. 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 the whole batch of dough i am confident in the lord that you will take no other view the one who was throwing you into confusion whoever that may be will have to pay the penalty brothers and sisters 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 [Music] you my brothers and sisters were called to be free but do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh rather serve one another humbly in love for the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command love your neighbor as yourself if you bite and devour each other watch out or you will be destroyed by each other so i say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh for the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh they are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want but if you are led by the spirit you are not under the law the acts of the flesh are obvious sexual immorality impurity and debauchery idolatry and witchcraft hatred discord jealousy fits of rage selfish ambition dissensions factions and envy drunkenness orgies and the like i warn you as i did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of god but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace forbearance kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control against such things there is no law those who belong to christ jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires since we live by the spirit let us keep in step with the spirit let us not become conceited provoking and envying each other galatians chapter 6 [Music] brothers and sisters if someone is caught in a sin you who live by the spirit should restore that person gently but watch yourselves or you also may be tempted carry each other's burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of christ if anyone thinks they are something when they are not they deceive themselves each one should test their own actions then they can take pride in themselves alone without comparing themselves to someone else for each one should carry their own load nevertheless the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor do not be deceived god cannot be mocked a man reaps what he sows whoever sows to please their flesh from the flesh will reap destruction whoever sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up therefore as we have opportunity let us do good to all people especially to those who belong to the family of believers see what large letters i use as i write to you with my own hand those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised the only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of christ not even those who are circumcised keep the law yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh may i never boast except in the cross of our lord jesus christ through which the world has been crucified to me and i to the world neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything what counts is the new creation peace and mercy to all who follow this rule to the israel of god from now on let no one cause me trouble for i bear on my body the marks of jesus the grace of our lord jesus christ be with your spirit brothers and sisters amen [Music] father god thank you for this gift of grace of salvation the promise of eternity with you as your child sleeps tonight give them dreams that remind them of your great love for them let them be enfolded into your grace so that no matter which way they turn that's all they see all around them [Music] they are saved by grace they are rooted in grace they grow in grace may that be something that they never ever forget we ask this in the precious powerful name of jesus amen the book was written by paul as a letter to a number of churches in galatia where he had traveled doing missionary work paul was deeply concerned even frustrated about the state of the church in galatia where jewish christians in the region were pushing for strict adherence to the laws and practices commanded in the torah he is bewildered by the fact that the galatians have embraced a version of the gospel that denies jesus free gift of grace he believed strongly that holding gentiles to the old laws would portray the message of the gospel that we are justified and declared righteous only by jesus sacrifice and our acceptance of him as messiah not by our own works or observance of law [Music] it's only through our belief in jesus that his resurrection power can transform us so we can belong to his family the whole message of the book of galatians is grace what a freeing beautiful message for us today galatians chapter 2 verse 20 says 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 and then verse 21 gives the gospel message even more strength i do not nullify the grace of god for if righteousness were through the law then christ died for no purpose [Music] that's unthinkable that our lord would have died for no purpose we are free from the law because we now live under the law of grace it's a mystery that we cannot fully understand but that will lead you into deep peaceful sleep tonight so breathe deeply and accept god's free gift now [Music] allow all your concerns to drift away in the light of the amazing truth paul shares with the galatians let the tension of the day's strivings melt away hand over to god any moments you try to earn his love or favor and freely accept his gift of salvation breathe in christ's salvation and breathe out the stress of trying to earn that salvation on your own [Music] god we come to you now as imperfect people much like the galatians we try to earn our salvation forgive us for neglecting the message of the gospel that jesus is the messiah and that through jesus you've created a new family and you are our new father when we accept the gift of your son we are transformed by the power of your spirit let us never forget that this is what the bible is all about help this beloved child of yours to soak in these scriptures as they fall asleep to the reading of your word let your peace fill their heart as they place their faith in you alone in jesus name amen [Music] galatians chapter 1 [Music] paul an apostle sent not from men nor by a man but by jesus christ and god the father who raised him from the dead and all the brothers and sisters with me to the churches in glacier grace and peace to you from god our father and the lord jesus christ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age according to the will of our god and father to whom be glory for ever and ever amen [Music] i'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of christ and are turning to a different gospel which is really no gospel at all evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of christ but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you let them be under god's curse as we have already said so now i say again if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted let them be under god's curse am i now trying to win the approval of human beings or of god or am i trying to please people if i were still trying to please people i would not be a servant of christ i want you to know brothers and sisters that the gospel i preached is not of human origin i did not receive it from any man nor was i taught it rather i received it by revelation from jesus christ 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 i was advancing in judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers but when god who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son and me so that i might preach him among the gentiles my immediate response was not to consult any human being 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 [Music] then after three years i went up to jerusalem to get acquainted with cephas and stayed with him 15 days i saw none of the other apostles only james the lord's brother i assure you before god that what i am writing you was no lie then i went to syria and cilicia i was personally unknown to the churches of judea that are in christ they only heard the report the man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy and they praised god because of me [Music] galatians chapter 2 then after 14 years i went up again to jerusalem this time with barnabas i took titus along also i went in response to a revelation and meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders i presented to 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 yet not even titus who was with me was compelled to be circumcised even though he was a greek 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 we did not give in to them for a moment so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you 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 on the contrary they recognized that i had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised justice peter had been to the circumcised for god who was at work in peter as an apostle to the circumcised was also at work in me as an apostle to the gentiles james cephas and john those esteemed as pillars gave me and barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognize the grace given to me they agreed that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcised all they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor the very thing i had been eager to do all along when cephas came to antioch i opposed him to his face because he stood condemned for before certain men 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 the other jews joined him in his hypocrisy so that by their hypocrisy even barnabas was led astray 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 we who are jews by birth and not sinful gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of 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 the works of the law because by the works of the law no one will be justified 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 if i rebuild what i destroyed then i really would be a law breaker for through the law i died to the law so that i might live for god 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 i do not set aside the grace of god for if righteousness could be gained through the law christ died for nothing [Music] galatians chapter 3 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 announce the gospel in advance to abraham all nations will be blessed through you so those who rely on faith are blessed along with abraham the man of faith for all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse as it is written cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before god because the righteous will live by faith the law is not based on faith on the contrary it says the person who does these things will live by them christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us for it is written cursed is everyone who was hung on a pole 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 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 one party but god is one 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 but scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin so that what was promised being given through faith in jesus christ might be given to those who believe before the coming of this faith we were held in custody under the law locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed so the law was our guardian until christ came that we might be justified by faith now that this faith has come we are no longer under a guardian so in christ jesus you are all children of god through faith for all of you who are baptized into christ have clothed yourselves with christ there is neither jew nor gentile neither slave nor free nor is there male and female for you are all one in christ jesus if you belong to christ then you are abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise [Music] galatians chapter 4 [Music] what i am saying is that as long as an heir is underage he is no different from a slave although he owns the whole state the heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father so also when we were under age we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world but when the set time had fully come god sent his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law that we might receive adoption to sonship because you are his sons god sent the spirit of his son into our hearts the spirit who calls out abba father so you are no longer a slave but god's child and since you are his child god has made you also an heir formerly when you did not know god you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods 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 you are observing special days and months and seasons and years i fear for you that somehow i have wasted my efforts on you i plead with you brothers and sisters become like me for i became like you you did me no wrong as you know it was because of an illness that i first preached the gospel to you and 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 where then is your blessing of me now i can testify that if you could have done so you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me have i now become your enemy by telling you the truth 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 it is fine to be zealous provided the purpose is good and to be so always not just when i am with you my dear children for who i am again in the pains of childbirth until christ is formed in you how i wish i could be with you now and change my tone because i am perplexed about you tell me you who want to be under the law are you not aware of what the law says for it is written that abraham had two sons one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman his son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh but his son by the free woman was born as a result of a divine promise [Music] these things are being taken figuratively the women represent two covenants one covenant is from mount sinai and bears children who are to be slaves this is hagar now hagar stands for mount sinai in arabia and corresponds to the present city of jerusalem because she is in slavery with her children but the jerusalem that is above is free and she is our mother for it is written be glad barren women you who never bore a child shout for joy and cry aloud you who were never in labor because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband now you brothers and sisters like isaac are children of promise at that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the spirit it is the same now but what does scripture say get rid of the slave woman and her son for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son therefore brothers and sisters we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman galatians chapter 5. 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 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 whoever that may be will have to pay the penalty brothers and sisters 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 [Music] you my brothers and sisters were called to be free but do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh rather serve one another humbly in love for the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command love your neighbor as yourself if you bite and devour each other watch out or you will be destroyed by each other so i say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh for the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh they are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want but if you are led by the spirit you are not under the law the acts of the flesh are obvious sexual immorality impurity and debauchery idolatry and witchcraft hatred discord jealousy fits of rage selfish ambition dissensions factions and envy drunkenness orgies and the like i warn you as i did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of god but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace forbearance kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control against such things there is no law those who belong to christ jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires since we live by the spirit let us keep in step with the spirit let us not become conceited provoking and envying each other galatians chapter 6 [Music] brothers and sisters if someone is caught in a sin you who live by the spirit should restore that person gently but watch yourselves or you also may be tempted carry each other's burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of christ if anyone thinks they are something when they are not they deceive themselves each one should test their own actions then they can take pride in themselves alone without comparing themselves to someone else for each one should carry their own load nevertheless the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor do not be deceived god cannot be mocked a man reaps what he sows whoever sows to please their flesh from the flesh will reap destruction whoever sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up therefore as we have opportunity let us do good to all people especially to those who belong to the family of believers see what large letters i use as i write to you with my own hand those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised the only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of christ not even those who are circumcised keep the law yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh may i never boast except in the cross of our lord jesus christ through which the world has been crucified to me and i to the world neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything what counts is the new creation peace and mercy to all who follow this rule to the israel of god from now on let no one cause me trouble for i bear on my body the marks of jesus the grace of our lord jesus christ be with your spirit brothers and sisters amen [Music] father god thank you for this gift of grace of salvation the promise of eternity with you as your child sleeps tonight give them dreams that remind them of your great love for them let them be enfolded into your grace so that no matter which way they turn that's all they see all around them [Music] they are saved by grace they are rooted in grace they grow in grace may that be something that they never ever forget we ask this in the precious powerful name of jesus amen the book was written by paul as a letter to a number of churches in galatia where he had traveled doing missionary work paul was deeply concerned even frustrated about the state of the church in galatia where jewish christians in the region were pushing for strict adherence to the laws and practices commanded in the torah he is bewildered by the fact that the galatians have embraced a version of the gospel that denies jesus free gift of grace he believed strongly that holding gentiles to the old laws would portray the message of the gospel that we are justified and declared righteous only by jesus sacrifice and our acceptance of him as messiah not by our own works or observance of law [Music] it's only through our belief in jesus that his resurrection power can transform us so we can belong to his family the whole message of the book of galatians is grace what a freeing beautiful message for us today galatians chapter 2 verse 20 says 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 and then verse 21 gives the gospel message even more strength i do not nullify the grace of god for if righteousness were through the law then christ died for no purpose [Music] that's unthinkable that our lord would have died for no purpose we are free from the law because we now live under the law of grace it's a mystery that we cannot fully understand but that will lead you into deep peaceful sleep tonight so breathe deeply and accept god's free gift now allow all your concerns to drift away in the light of the amazing truth paul shares with the galatians let the tension of the day's strivings melt away hand over to god any moments you tried to earn his love or favor and freely accept his gift of salvation breathe in christ's salvation and breathe out the stress of trying to earn that salvation on your own [Music] god we come to you now as imperfect people much like the galatians we try to earn our salvation forgive us for neglecting the message of the gospel that jesus is the messiah and that through jesus you've created a new family and you are our new father when we accept the gift of your son we are transformed by the power of your spirit let us never forget that this is what the bible is all about help this beloved child of yours to soak in these scriptures as they fall asleep to the reading of your word let your peace fill their heart as they place their faith in you alone in jesus name amen [Music] galatians chapter 1 [Music] paul an apostle sent not from men nor by a man but by jesus christ and god the father who raised him from the dead and all the brothers and sisters with me to the churches in glacier grace and peace to you from god our father and the lord jesus christ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age according to the will of our god and father to whom be glory for ever and ever amen [Music] i'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of christ and are turning to a different gospel which is really no gospel at all evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of christ but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you let them be under god's curse as we have already said so now i say again if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted let them be under god's curse am i now trying to win the approval of human beings or of god or am i trying to please people if i were still trying to please people i would not be a servant of christ i want you to know brothers and sisters that the gospel i preached is not of human origin i did not receive it from any man nor was i taught it rather i received it by revelation from jesus christ 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 i was advancing in judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers but when god who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son and me so that i might preach him among the gentiles my immediate response was not to consult any human being 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 [Music] then after three years i went up to jerusalem to get acquainted with cephas and stayed with him fifteen days i saw none of the other apostles only james the lord's brother i assure you before god that what i am writing you was no lie then i went to syria and cilicia i was personally unknown to the churches of judea that are in christ they only heard the report the man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy and they praised god because of me [Music] galatians chapter 2 then after 14 years i went up again to jerusalem this time with barnabas i took titus along also i went in response to a revelation and meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders i presented to 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 yet not even titus who was with me was compelled to be circumcised even though he was a greek 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 we did not give in to them for a moment so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you 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 on the contrary they recognized that i had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised justice peter had been to the circumcised for god who was at work in peter as an apostle to the circumcised was also at work in me as an apostle to the gentiles james cephas and john those esteemed as pillars gave me and barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognize the grace given to me they agreed that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcised all they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor the very thing i had been eager to do all along when cephas came to antioch i opposed him to his face because he stood condemned for before certain men 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 the other jews joined him in his hypocrisy so that by their hypocrisy even barnabas was led astray 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 we who are jews by birth and not sinful gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of 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 the works of the law because by the works of the law no one will be justified 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 if i rebuild what i destroyed then i really would be a lawbreaker for through the law i died to the law so that i might live for god 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 i do not set aside the grace of god for if righteousness could be gained through the law christ died for nothing [Music] galatians chapter 3 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 announce the gospel in advance to abraham all nations will be blessed through you so those who rely on faith are blessed along with abraham the man of faith for all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse as it is written cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before god because the righteous will live by faith the law is not based on faith on the contrary it says the person who does these things will live by them christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us for it is written cursed is everyone who was hung on a pole 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 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 one party but god is one 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 but scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin so that what was promised being given through faith in jesus christ might be given to those who believe before the coming of this faith we were held in custody under the law locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed so the law was our guardian until christ came that we might be justified by faith now that this faith has come we are no longer under a guardian so in christ jesus you are all children of god through faith for all of you who are baptized into christ have clothed yourselves with christ there is neither jew nor gentile neither slave nor free nor is there male and female for you are all one in christ jesus if you belong to christ then you are abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise [Music] galatians chapter 4 [Music] what i am saying is that as long as an heir is underage he is no different from a slave although he owns the whole estate the heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father so also when we were under age we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world but when the set time had fully come god sent his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law that we might receive adoption to sonship because you are his sons god sent the spirit of his son into our hearts the spirit who calls out abba father so you are no longer a slave but god's child and since you are his child god has made you also an heir formerly when you did not know god you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods 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 you are observing special days and months and seasons and years i fear for you that somehow i have wasted my efforts on you i plead with you brothers and sisters become like me for i became like you you did me no wrong as you know it was because of an illness that i first preached the gospel to you and 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 where then is your blessing of me now i can testify that if you could have done so you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me have i now become your enemy by telling you the truth 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 it is fine to be zealous provided the purpose is good and to be so always not just when i am with you my dear children for who i am again in the pains of childbirth until christ is formed in you how i wish i could be with you now and change my tone because i am perplexed about you tell me you who want to be under the law are you not aware of what the law says for it is written that abraham had two sons one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman his son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh but his son by the free woman was born as a result of a divine promise [Music] these things are being taken figuratively the women represent two covenants one covenant is from mount sinai and bears children who are to be slaves this is hagar now hagar stands for mount sinai in arabia and corresponds to the present city of jerusalem because she is in slavery with her children but the jerusalem that is above is free and she is our mother for it is written be glad barren women you who never bore a child shout for joy and cry aloud you who were never in labor because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband now you brothers and sisters like isaac are children of promise at that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the spirit it is the same now but what does scripture say get rid of the slave woman and her son for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son therefore brothers and sisters we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman galatians chapter 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 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 whoever that may be will have to pay the penalty brothers and sisters 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 [Music] you my brothers and sisters were called to be free but do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh rather serve one another humbly in love for the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command love your neighbor as yourself if you bite and devour each other watch out or you will be destroyed by each other so i say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh for the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh they are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want but if you are led by the spirit you are not under the law the acts of the flesh are obvious sexual immorality impurity and debauchery idolatry and witchcraft hatred discord jealousy fits of rage selfish ambition dissensions factions and envy drunkenness orgies and the like i warn you as i did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of god but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace forbearance kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control against such things there is no law those who belong to christ jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires since we live by the spirit let us keep in step with the spirit let us not become conceited provoking and envying each other galatians chapter 6 [Music] brothers and sisters if someone is caught in a sin you who live by the spirit should restore that person gently but watch yourselves or you also may be tempted carry each other's burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of christ if anyone thinks they are something when they are not they deceive themselves each one should test their own actions then they can take pride in themselves alone without comparing themselves to someone else for each one should carry their own load nevertheless the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor do not be deceived god cannot be mocked a man reaps what he sows whoever sows to please their flesh from the flesh will reap destruction whoever sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up therefore as we have opportunity let us do good to all people especially to those who belong to the family of believers see what large letters i use as i write to you with my own hand those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised the only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of christ not even those who are circumcised to keep the law yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh may i never boast except in the cross of our lord jesus christ through which the world has been crucified to me and i to the world neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything what counts is the new creation peace and mercy to all who follow this rule to the israel of god from now on let no one cause me trouble for i bear on my body the marks of jesus the grace of our lord jesus christ be with your spirit brothers and sisters amen [Music] father god thank you for this gift of grace of salvation the promise of eternity with you as your child sleeps tonight give them dreams that remind them of your great love for them let them be enfolded into your grace so that no matter which way they turn that's all they see all around them [Music] they are saved by grace they are rooted in grace they grow in grace may that be something that they never ever forget we ask this in the precious powerful name of jesus amen the book was written by paul as a letter to a number of churches in galatia where he had traveled doing missionary work paul was deeply concerned even frustrated about the state of the church in galatia where jewish christians in the region were pushing for strict adherence to the laws and practices commanded in the torah he is bewildered by the fact that the galatians have embraced a version of the gospel that denies jesus free gift of grace he believed strongly that holding gentiles to the old laws would portray the message of the gospel that we are justified and declared righteous only by jesus sacrifice and our acceptance of him as messiah not by our own works or observance of law [Music] it's only through our belief in jesus that his resurrection power can transform us so we can belong to his family the whole message of the book of galatians is grace what a freeing beautiful message for us today galatians chapter 2 verse 20 says 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 and then verse 21 gives the gospel message even more strength i do not nullify the grace of god for if righteousness were through the law then christ died for no purpose [Music] that's unthinkable that our lord would have died for no purpose we are free from the law because we now live under the law of grace it's a mystery that we cannot fully understand but that will lead you into deep peaceful sleep tonight so breathe deeply and accept god's free gift now [Music] allow all your concerns to drift away in the light of the amazing truth paul shares with the galatians let the tension of the day's strivings melt away hand over to god any moments you tried to earn his love or favor and freely accept his gift of salvation in christ's salvation and breathe out the stress of trying to earn that salvation on your own [Music] god we come to you now as imperfect people much like the galatians we try to earn our salvation forgive us for neglecting the message of the gospel that jesus is the messiah and that through jesus you've created a new family and you are our new father when we accept the gift of your son we are transformed by the power of your spirit let us never forget that this is what the bible is all about help this beloved child of yours to soak in these scriptures as they fall asleep to the reading of your word let your peace fill their heart as they place their faith in you alone in jesus name amen [Music] galatians chapter 1 [Music] paul an apostle sent not from men nor by a man but by jesus christ and god the father who raised him from the dead and all the brothers and sisters with me to the churches in glacier grace and peace to you from god our father and the lord jesus christ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age according to the will of our god and father to whom be glory for ever and ever amen [Music] i'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of christ and are turning to a different gospel which is really no gospel at all evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of christ but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you let them be under god's curse as we have already said so now i say again if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted let them be under god's curse am i now trying to win the approval of human beings or of god or am i trying to please people if i were still trying to please people i would not be a servant of christ i want you to know brothers and sisters that the gospel i preached is not of human origin i did not receive it from any man nor was i taught it rather i received it by revelation from jesus christ 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 i was advancing in judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers but when god who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son and me so that i might preach him among the gentiles my immediate response was not to consult any human being 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 [Music] then after three years i went up to jerusalem to get acquainted with cephas and stayed with him fifteen days i saw none of the other apostles only james the lord's brother i assure you before god that what i am writing you was no lie then i went to syria and cilicia i was personally unknown to the churches of judea that are in christ they only heard the report the man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy and they praised god because of me [Music] galatians chapter 2 then after 14 years i went up again to jerusalem this time with barnabas i took titus along also i went in response to a revelation and meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders i presented to 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 yet not even titus who was with me was compelled to be circumcised even though he was a greek 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 we did not give in to them for a moment so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you 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 on the contrary they recognized that i had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised justice peter had been to the circumcised for god who was at work in peter as an apostle to the circumcised was also at work in me as an apostle to the gentiles 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 circumcised all they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor the very thing i had been eager to do all along when cephas came to antioch i opposed him to his face because he stood condemned for before certain men 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 the other jews joined him in his hypocrisy so that by their hypocrisy even barnabas was led astray 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 we who are jews by birth and not sinful gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of 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 the works of the law because by the works of the law no one will be justified 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 if i rebuild what i destroyed then i really would be a lawbreaker for through the law i died to the law so that i might live for god 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 i do not set aside the grace of god for if righteousness could be gained through the law christ died for nothing galatians chapter 3 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 announce the gospel in advance to abraham all nations will be blessed through you so those who rely on faith are blessed along with abraham the man of faith for all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse as it is written cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before god because the righteous will live by faith the law is not based on faith on the contrary it says the person who does these things will live by them christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us for it is written cursed is everyone who was hung on a pole 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 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 one party but god is one 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 but scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin so that what was promised being given through faith in jesus christ might be given to those who believe before the coming of this faith we were held in custody under the law locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed so the law was our guardian until christ came that we might be justified by faith now that this faith has come we are no longer under a guardian so in christ jesus you are all children of god through faith for all of you who are baptized into christ have clothed yourselves with christ there is neither jew nor gentile neither slave nor free nor is there male and female for you are all one in christ jesus if you belong to christ then you are abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise [Music] galatians chapter 4 what i am saying is that as long as an heir is underage he is no different from a slave although he owns the whole estate the heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father so also when we were underage we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world but when the said time had fully come god sent his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law that we might receive adoption to sonship because you are his sons god sent the spirit of his son into our hearts the spirit who calls out abba father so you are no longer a slave but god's child and since you are his child god has made you also an heir formerly when you did not know god you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods 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 you are observing special days and months and seasons and years i fear for you that somehow i have wasted my efforts on you i plead with you brothers and sisters become like me for i became like you you did me no wrong as you know it was because of an illness that i first preached the gospel to you and 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 where then is your blessing of me now i can testify that if you could have done so you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me have i now become your enemy by telling you the truth 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 it is fine to be zealous provided the purpose is good and to be so always not just when i am with you my dear children for who i am again in the pains of childbirth until christ is formed in you how i wish i could be with you now and change my tone because i am perplexed about you tell me you who want to be under the law are you not aware of what the law says for it is written that abraham had two sons one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman his son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh but his son by the free woman was born as a result of a divine promise [Music] these things are being taken figuratively the women represent two covenants one covenant is from mount sinai and bears children who are to be slaves this is hagar now hagar stands for mount sinai in arabia and corresponds to the present city of jerusalem because she is in slavery with her children but the jerusalem that is above is free and she is our mother for it is written be glad barren women you who never bore a child shout for joy and cry aloud you who were never in labor because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband now you brothers and sisters like isaac are children of promise at that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the spirit it is the same now but what does scripture say get rid of the slave woman and her son for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son therefore brothers and sisters we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman galatians chapter 5 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 the whole batch of dough i am confident in the lord that you will take no other view the one who was throwing you into confusion whoever that may be will have to pay the penalty brothers and sisters 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 [Music] you my brothers and sisters were called to be free but do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh rather serve one another humbly in love for the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command love your neighbor as yourself if you bite and devour each other watch out or you will be destroyed by each other so i say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh for the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh they are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want but if you are led by the spirit you are not under the law the acts of the flesh are obvious sexual immorality impurity and debauchery idolatry and witchcraft hatred discord jealousy fits of rage selfish ambition dissensions factions and envy drunkenness orgies and the like i warn you as i did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of god but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace forbearance kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control against such things there is no law those who belong to christ jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires since we live by the spirit let us keep in step with the spirit let us not become conceited provoking and envying each other galatians chapter 6 [Music] brothers and sisters if someone is caught in a sin you who live by the spirit should restore that person gently but watch yourselves or you also may be tempted carry each other's burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of christ if anyone thinks they are something when they are not they deceive themselves each one should test their own actions then they can take pride in themselves alone without comparing themselves to someone else for each one should carry their own load nevertheless the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor do not be deceived god cannot be mocked a man reaps what he sows whoever sows to please their flesh from the flesh will reap destruction whoever sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up therefore as we have opportunity let us do good to all people especially to those who belong to the family of believers see what large letters i use as i write to you with my own hand those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised the only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of christ not even those who are circumcised keep the law yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh may i never boast except in the cross of our lord jesus christ through which the world has been crucified to me and i to the world neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything what counts is the new creation peace and mercy to all who follow this rule to the israel of god from now on let no one cause me trouble for i bear on my body the marks of jesus the grace of our lord jesus christ be with your spirit brothers and sisters amen [Music] father god thank you for this gift of grace of salvation the promise of eternity with you as your child sleeps tonight give them dreams that remind them of your great love for them let them be enfolded into your grace so that no matter which way they turn that's all they see all around them [Music] they are saved by grace they are rooted in grace they grow in grace may that be something that they never ever forget we ask this in the precious powerful name of jesus amen you

Channel: Abide - Sleep Meditations

Views: 12,472

Rating: 4.8915009 out of 5

Keywords: Christian, Motivation, guided meditation, Christian meditation, guided meditation for sleep, Christian meditation for sleep, Christian meditation guided, Abide meditation, Let go of stress, Meditation Christian, fall asleep, Bible verses for sleep, psalms meditation, mindfulness meditation, Abide, Alone with God, Be Still, Bible sleep Talk Down, psalms meditation sleep, Let go of fear, Fall asleep fast, wind down, switching off, Bible meditation, Presence of God, sleep, blessed

Id: N3PbLRwJJbU

Length: 183min 27sec (11007 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 13 2021