Focused on Holiness

Yesterday during our worship service, we looked at what the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 3 about Christ freeing us from the curse of the law. What’s important for us to remember is that it isn’t the law which was the curse, it was our inability to do the works of the law so that we might stand justified before God. We were the weakest link. But Paul shared the good news that Christ became a curse for us in order to free us from the law’s curse (Galatians 3:13). We are thankful to God that in Christ he did for us what we could not do ourselves.

In the adult Sunday School class we were thinking about the nature of temptation. How is it that we are tempted to do wrong? While sometimes the temptation is quite obvious, there are other ways in which we are tempted that are much more subtle. Many times (though not always) those subtle temptations are the more dangerous. One of the problems with our relationship to the Old Testament law, according to Paul, is that what it forbid can become our focus. In Romans 7 Paul makes quite an impressive argument that law makes us aware of sin, and then in our weakness we become slaves to sin. We will see in the next few weeks that the freedom we have in Christ isn’t a freedom to do whatever we want, but we have been freed from slavery to the law and from slavery to sin, so that we can become slaves of righteousness. Our focus becomes on what we should become rather that what we shouldn’t be.

I’m looking forward to our wiener roast on November 13th at 4pm. We’ll be convening at Steve and Nancy Dennis’ farm (weather permitting). The hotdogs and buns and condiments will be provided. Bring a dish to share or a dessert. Here’s the big thing—make sure to invite someone else to come!

We’re getting some of that much-needed rain today. Continue to join me in praying for one another and for North Danvers as a whole.

God bless,

Brian

Scripture readings for next Sunday Galatians 4—What is the most striking thing to you about the contrast between slaves and heirs?

Genesis 21—What point is Paul making in Galatians 4 about the story of Hagar and Sarah?

John 3:1-21—What does it mean to be “born of the Spirit”?

1 John 5:1-12—What does this say about being “born of God”?