Advent Devotions

Today’s author is Prince of Peace member, Gary Olson.

Please read Galatians 3:1-9, 23-29.

Professor Terence Fretheim writes, “It is not enough to say you believe in God. What is important finally is the kind of God in whom one believes.” (p. 1, The Suffering of God). This is the core of the Apostle Paul’s message to the Galatians in the third chapter.

It is a good question for us. “What kind of God do you believe in.” Fretheim goes on to write about the kind of God the Old Testament (and I would say the New Testament) describes. This description of God is the foundation for our interpretation of the stories of God in relation to creation and people. He quotes God’s description of her/himself from Exodus:

“The Lord passed before him (i.e. Moses), and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, . . . forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.’”

God wants a relationship with us based on God’s grace and our faith. Not based first on the law. God’s desire is most vividly expressed in the life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ Jesus. This is Paul’s message. This is the basis of Paul’s frustration with the Galatian Christians. Why would they abandon faith in God’s grace and go back to having to earn their way to God’s love by the futility of trying to keep the law? You can’t keep it. But God’s grace has you covered. Trust it. Have faith.

Is the law, then, unimportant? Here I mean the Ten Commandments. They are important but as followers of Christ, we do not lead with them. They are a guide to living with God and our neighbors. We lead with grace given in Christ. Would you love your neighbor? Then do not scheme to steal from her/him but help her improve and keep what is hers. Do not lie about your neighbor but defend him and explain his actions in the kindest way. These and other positive meanings Martin Luther gives to the Commandments are worth a look.

Paul insists that faith is the glue which holds together our relationship with God. We are held by God’s grace in Christ no matter what. This is the kind of God we have. Trust it.

Prayer: Dear Lord, may we live one day at a time trusting your loving grace, having faith that you receive us as your own. Amen.