July 29

“…because of false brethren unawares brought in…” Galatians 2:4

It seems that infiltration into the church by those who are bent on doing damage, is not a new thing! Paul faced such enemies constantly. They were determined to bring his ministry into disrepute, and the souls of the saints to whom he ministered, back under the bondage of the ceremonial laws of Israel. Today similar challenges exist for true believers and probably even more so. With the advent of progressively easier, private and public methods of communication, spreading of false doctrines, canvassing among the believers, and detracting from what they learn at church, has become common-place, and even accepted as normal and healthy behaviour. Paul warned the church incessantly against the philosophies and tradition of men, which were contrary to God and were being held in higher regard than God’s word. Dissention of such kind, has not only revived many old false doctrines and issues, but created all sorts of new variations. From a pastoral standpoint, it is almost impossible to address in close detail, all the fallacies and erroneous doctrines which prevail today, and often find their way to the ears and eyes of the congregation. The best possible defence is to ensure that true doctrine is taught from the pulpit, and that the saints are well versed with why they believe what they do. They must be equipped with a working knowledge of the Scriptures to defend their minds and hearts from all such attacks. The onslaught presenting all kinds of perverse views, and waged against God’s people, will take place anytime and anywhere. The workplace, school, the shops, the media or even general conversation, can often be a battleground where the truth of God’s word is under attack and as a result, so are those who believe it.

Learning to contend for the truth is the task and responsibility of every believer. We can never stop learning and growing in the truth of God, and should develop a deep love and sense of responsibility for it. Like Paul we will then be more ready and prepared to engage those who oppose, and stand fast against the infiltration of false doctrine in the community of the believers.

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July 23

“…they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship;…” Galatians 2:9

God was anointing and blessing the work of Paul and Barnabas, indicating their call and ministry. Based on this perception, James, Peter and John, who were established apostles in the church, extended the ‘right hand’ of fellowship to them. This was a token that Paul and Barnabas were now accepted as God-ordained ministers and admitted into the church and the society of the saints, and given full permission and consent to carry out their work. Their labours of preaching and ministering God’s word, though not limited only to the Gentile people, emphasized reaching those who had not known the truth of the God of Israel to date. It has always been important that ministers form and maintain strong and stable relationships. God’s work thrives when there is unity and singleness of purpose among the brethren. Factions, jealousies and seeking self-recognition, can only impair and hinder the progress of preaching the gospel, reaching to new souls or establishing existing believers. There is room for diversity in the manner and specific influence of the various individuals whom God calls to be ministers. The scriptures describe under general headings the various areas of ministry to which some are called. These include: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.  In many cases, aspects of each of these areas of works overlap and form the overall individual ministry of a man who is called by God. It is a good and encouraging advantage to have a body of believers who will recognise, give place to, pray for and welcome into fellowship a man with the calling of God on his life. The Bible also adds cautions to believers such as to ‘know those who labour among’ us, indicating that we cannot be superficial about our relationship with those we trust in ministry. Clearly evaluating a man’s calling and determining the degree of his sincerity in conducting the work to which he is called, becomes the responsibility of the individual who would sit under the influence of such ministry. How wonderful it is when true, loving and one-minded fellowship exists among the saints of God and especially among those in spiritual authority! The body of Christ, the church, is meant to be a place of refuge, comfort, encouragement and fellowship. This closeness is ‘family-like’ and affords those who participate the best of what the human family is able to offer, by way of love and mutual support, in an environment which stresses and places importance on spiritual, holy and righteous living. Spiritual fellowship therefore, is more than just a ‘club’ getting together, it implies genuine and holy intimacy, belonging to a family, learning and growing in spiritual things, and working for the common purpose of bringing glory to God and seeing His kingdom furthered.  

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June 10

“Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world…” Galatians 1:4

What an amazing thought! Jesus who as the Eternal God needs nothing, and is Supreme above all His created work, didn’t merely spend out of His treasury to rescue our lost human race. He didn’t just trade some other property in exchange for our freedom, but rather gave Himself! This is the loftiest and most incomprehensible view of God’s love for mankind! We who had nothing, were without hope of ever be free from the slavery of our sin, and were enemies of God, would even merit the least of His attention, never mind His personal sacrifice! It is truth sublime and without parallel! This is the love of God, which He has freely shown to each of us, and which merits our hearts’ greatest gratitude and praise. Our best response to such love is to live the life for which He made such sacrifice. He did it so that we could be delivered, saved, rescued and made free from ‘this present evil world’. Creation itself, the physical world God made is not evil, but the sin which is perpetrated by the human race in this world, makes this present world wicked and evil beyond imagination! It is out of this spiritual darkness that Jesus desires to save and deliver us. Even the casual observer would agree that the condition of our world is becoming more desperately wicked and increasingly vacuous of the values and morals of God. Sin reigns in our world’s societies, and all efforts made by human government to police and curb, malicious and evil behaviour, overall fail, and are met with progressively less manageable challenges. There seems to be no end to the wickedness, and no answer to the sin problem, except in Christ! Jesus gave Himself for just such purpose. He Who had no sin, gave Himself for our sins! He made this deliverance open to all who will receive it and available to people of all ages, background or nationality. There may be many things that we cannot do as individuals, but we can all learn to love Jesus! To love God, means to believe in Him, partake of the salvation He has provided, and obey His commands and words so that we may live the kind of life He has always intended us to live! A life that testifies of His goodness and reflects His love to others; a life blessed and fulfilled by His purposes and lived for His glory! Like all things made and conceived for a specific purpose, we too function best and are happiest when we live the kind of life He created us for and made us capable of. Jesus gave Himself for us, it is only fitting we should give ourselves to Him!

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Mar 26

“…subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” Galatians 2:5

There are instances when pressures from fellow believers, who may express their opinions openly and forcefully, would cause some to compromise their stand in God. Paul found himself facing some perhaps well meaning, Judaic Christians, who were insisting that certain practices of the law, be observed as necessary to salvation of Gentile Christians. The apostle was confident in his stand for truth that he did not, even for the least time, give in to them in the least detail on this issue! What Paul faced in his day, with some not giving place to the newly established Christian way, we are finding somewhat in reverse. In our day, we are faced with many determined to do away with the established  Christian way and resolute on re-inventing Christianity, giving rise to a re-interpretation of all that believers over the centuries have stood, lived and died for! There may be many areas in Christian living, where we can allow for various degrees of personal conviction and individual stance, as the Lord may guide. There are however, core doctrinal issues, on which there can be no compromise, or room for negotiation. As we head further into the last days of time, the bulk of Christendom is allowing for modernisation, change and adjustment, in an effort to appeal to the contemporary mind. We are seeing more compromise, watering down of Biblical truth and revisionism, taking place at every level of Christian belief and practice. We are surrounded by many church goers, who insist that it is ‘old fashioned’ to believe in holiness and sing hymns, preferring rather that rock and roll be used as a means of worship. We are pressured into thinking that unless we can get ‘with the times’, become relevant to contemporary thinking and preferences, we cannot grow or survive as a church. We are faced with the criticism that rejecting agenda-driven, new age versions of the Bible, is narrow minded and separates us, identifying us as a sect! The opposition we face may be ‘new’ and geared to our modern times, but in fact it is motivated by the same old and antichrist spirit, which would bring believers into bondage and lure them away from the truth and simplicity of the gospel of Christ. The devil tried to undermine the church in its infancy, and is now trying to topple it, in its aged and established state. Like Paul, we must not give place or subjection to these things, not for a moment, that the truth of the gospel may continue with all those who sincerely desire it. In this we rejoice, that Jesus has already determined that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church of God! There will be a remnant, faithful to God till the end, enduring in the doctrine and the faith, without compromise and adulteration! Let’s be sure we are among those who stand faithfully for Jesus, till He comes!

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Mar 11

“Which is not another…” Galatians 1:7

Paul had laboured hard with the church at Galatia. He had ensured that they were exposed to the whole counsel of God and understood the gospel of truth. Here we find him expressing surprise and concern over how quickly and with little discernment, they were influenced to follow teaching, which did not support or reflect the truth they had learned from him. Sadly this is not an uncommon fact among many believers. Those who instead of aligning what they hear to God’s Word, as the plumbline and benchmark, merely accept anything that ‘sounds like truth’, will inevitably end up accepting error and a false gospel. False doctrine, promulgated by false teachers, was a serious concern in the early church, and it remains a primary cause of alarm in our day and age. Far too many subscribe and too easily consent to teachings of men, that cannot be satisfactorily substantiated by the Holy Scriptures. Tradition and cultural preferences, often play a major part of bending understanding, and twisting the truth of the Bible to suit the customs and practices of the people being addressed. To some degree this was happening in the early New Testament church, where people of various cultures and established religions, came into the relatively new Christian faith, in spite of accepting Christ, they also tended to include and impose factors of their own beliefs, upon others. Paul speaks against these troublesome individuals, and sees them as perverting the pure and true gospel of Christ. Satan has been intent in manipulating humanity to adulterate and pollute the purity of God’s Word. During the establishment of the church, and often since, many ‘gospels’, so called, have been formulated, and offered as ‘truth’. Paul makes it clear that though some may present alternatives as ‘another gospel’, they are not really “the Gospel” at all! We too must take a stand the way he did. We live in a time when all kinds of substitutions, changes and replacements are being inflicted upon the established Word of God. Many gnostic writings, which had in the past already been disqualified from being included as part of the revealed and inspired message from God, are being resurrected, and presented as viable options and choices of belief for Christians. We should view this as Paul did - a perversion and falsification of the truth! When we hear or read material which cannot be aligned with the revealed Word of God, the Bible, as it has been known and established now for many centuries, let us stand firm and resolute for the truth. It has been correctly stated that "if we do not stand for truth, we will fall for every lie". We are encouraged to distinguish and discern truth from error, through the Spirit of God and the inspired text. It ultimately becomes our personal responsibility to stay true to God and not be moved, affected or persuaded by any of the winds of false doctrine and false gospels, published and proclaimed by false teachers. Let us carefully buy into, treasure and never sell out, the truth God reveals to us from His Word!

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Feb 10

“…it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Galatians 3:6

Abraham walked by faith. Faith and righteousness are presented as related yet distinct in scripture. It is because we believe God that His righteousness is imputed to us. The mental assent of faith and even the action of faith, does not of itself beget righteousness, until the ‘object’ of that faith is clearly exhibited – that object is Jesus! Abraham’s action of faith was not the reason for righteousness being accounted to him, but the fact that his faith and obedience was placed in the Lord and His word. We can say then, that what authorises and validates our faith, whether it is expressed in our heart or shown by our actions and obedience, is the fact that it is located and fixed in Christ! As such it displays in us Christ’s righteousness, and we become a reflector of Him and His virtue! This is important because many have a ‘faith’ which can be considered genuine, though misplaced. Their ‘faith’ may be in human abilities such as science or technology, or in entities which they may consider ‘divine’. Never will such faith bring about righteousness with the One True God however, regardless of how well intentioned, strong or sincere it may be! Not until Jesus Christ is the sole and central object of a person’s faith, can true and godly righteousness be attributed and assigned to that individual! Even with Christians faith can often be misplaced. Some place their faith and make their belief system, their church organization, human ministry or acts of devotion. These things cannot of themselves bring about the righteousness of God! Abraham-like faith, a faith which acts and demonstrates its value through genuine obedience, is accounted for righteousness because it has as its clear object the Lord Jesus, it is firmly placed in God as the absolute authority, and is based on the validation of His Word!

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Jan 20

“…he deceiveth himself.” Galatians 6:3

Generally speaking natural man has this very flaw prominent at heart, he deceives himself. Forgetting the frailty bound in his physical being and that it is only by God’s grace that he is kept alive and breathing, he deludes himself with all sorts of notions of grandeur and self-glorification. Ultimately, this pride and forsaking of God, will result in the most traumatic and destructive end for humanity. The most insidious self-deception, is the self-aggrandizement which causes us to believe we are better and greater than is so in reality! This is particularly dangerous for the Christian. This kind of self-deception can make us think we are more spiritually apt and mature than our lives give evidence for. It causes many to stop growing, depleting true desire for searching the scriptures and deepening biblical knowledge, and killing the reliance we should have on God, through faith, trust and prayer. The Lord in His love and consummate knowledge of our flawed and fallen human nature, has given many warnings against the trap of pride and self-exaltation. The prime example of this ancient sin, was the fall of the mightiest angel Lucifer, who lost his original estate through pride, to become the defeated, and doomed, arch-enemy of God. The infection of his sin was passed onto the human family shortly after creation, and has plagued us ever since in many varied forms. The greatest single expression of sin continues to be pride and rebellion against God. This is what marks and stains human beings from conception, and will cause the eventual eternal damnation of all the human family that refuses to accept the only antidote and remedy available for the sin-sick soul – God’s salvation! Coming to know Jesus means also coming to an understanding that without Him, we are nothing but lost, miserable and dead in iniquity and sin - in other words, a realisation that we have nothing to be ‘proud’ of! This reality check and the development of a close, intimate relationship with the Lord, should arm every believer with the correct degree of genuine humility! It is therefore totally incongruous, that a Christian should give way and subscribe to pride in any form, and be self-deceived when he knows that outside of Jesus, he is nothing. Any good thing that he is able to perform, any good action, thought or motive, any useful and charitable expression, is only through and because of the One from Whom all blessings flow, and Who is the author and finisher of the our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ! 

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion