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In chapter three of the book of Galatians, Paul is talking to the Galatians reminding them that they received the Spirit by believing what they heard and not by the works of the law (Galatians 3:2). I believe this is due to the fact that they were pursuing things that were keeping them away from God instead of bringing them closer to God or maybe they were focusing on their work thinking that they would gain God’s heart. We know that the Galatians used to follow God through the Spirit but at a certain point in their life they started walking by their flesh and not their faith in Jesus Christ even though they had seen God’s miracles among them (Galatians 3:5). Living by faith means that you are not ruled by what-ifs, doubts, and worries. You know God will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), and that He will care for you even when you make mistakes. Are you living by faith? Is there anything in your life that is keeping you away from God? We have to live by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), not by our flesh.

We should ask ourselves the above questions because many of today’s believers are in the same boat as Galatians. Some have started following Jesus by means of the Spirit but are now trying to finish by means of the flesh (Galatians 3:3). To make it easier to understand, I found the following explanation on Wikipedia; the flesh and the Spirit are two opposing forces that exist within us, believers. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit and the flesh is the part of us, believers, that disagree with the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:13 tells us that if by the Spirit we put our flesh to death, we will live. Are you choosing life or death today? because if we continue obeying the flesh we are surely heading to our death but if we choose to decline all the demands of our flesh we are choosing life over death. Remember, this may be hard most of the time but if we submit ourselves to God and resist all those temptations, the devil will flee (James 4:7).

⁷ “Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. ⁸ Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles (outsiders) by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”⁹ So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith”. (Galatians 3:7-9)

We have been justified by faith through Jesus Christ. You are blessed if you have faith in Jesus! You get blessings through the promises of God to Abraham because of the faith you have in God. We have a promise through Abraham, who was the father of faith.

²³ 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. ²⁴ So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. ²⁶ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, ²⁷ for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:23-29)

We no longer live under the era of law because Jesus came to remove the law. This is good news because the law is not based on faith as it is written that the person who does these things (the law) will live by them (Galatians 3:12). Jesus came so that we may be justified by faith. The era of law is over, it was before Jesus Christ. I read somewhere that the law existed to guide us to Jesus Christ and you know what, I am so grateful that I live in the current era because I am already justified by faith through Jesus Christ, I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). I do not have to do ANYTHING to be right before God’s eyes! I don’t know about you but this is life-changing for me as it is exhausting to walk by flesh.

If you received Jesus as your Lord and savior, the bible says that you have clothed yourself with Christ (Galatians 3:27). What a beautiful image! There are several roles of clothing but I would like to clarify two of them I found on the internet which are protection and safety. Clothing protects us from heat, cold, rain, and wind as extreme weather can affect our skin and body; clothing also keeps people safe while in some specific environments or jobs such as firefighters. This means that Jesus protects us and keeps us safe. As followers of Jesus, we become one in Christ. Therefore, we should enjoy having people with different personalities and different roles around us.

You are a child of God! Yes, you! This is not a promise, it is a fact. Since the day you welcomed Jesus Christ in your life, you became a child of God. In my Christian journey, I learned to differentiate between two voices in order to make good decisions. When God wants to correct you about something He will talk to you with love because God is love (1 John 4:8), He does not make us feel guilty about anything as His mercy is new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). As a parent, we love our children more than anything and their behaviors do not change a bit about how we feel about them. Like a parent, God loves you no matter what you did.

More than that, you are His heir by promise. The heir of the richest Kingdom. You are Abraham’s seed and according to Wikipedia, a seed is put in a protective outer covering along with a food reserve. Since you are a seed, there is food in you that need to come out and be shared with your surroundings. That food can only come out if you are kept in your environment, in Jesus Christ. God has put something in you in order for your surroundings to benefit from it. It is time for you to live by faith and be fruitful, abide in Jesus and what God has put in you will glorify Him among people.

Prayer: Father God, thank you for sending Jesus Christ to remove the law and giving me righteousness by faith through Jesus. Thank you for making me an heir through the promises of Abraham and many other blessings. I implore you to help me walk by faith, help me to abide in Jesus Christ, and live as a child of God. Give me the strength to decline all the demands of my flesh and choose to live in faith every day, in Jesus’ name. Amen