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Before we continue into the last section of Galatians, let’s take a step back for a moment. The themes that Paul has written about so far are New Covenant themes. What is the New Covenant? Back in the prophets of the Old Testament, we read about this future New Covenant. The nation was under the law, but was this producing righteousness? No. The Law and the Prophets were merely showing them how desperately sinful they were.
So in passages like Ezekiel 36, Jeremiah 31 and Isaiah 40–66 God promised a New Covenant, one that would actually answer the sin question and not just highlight the problem. Here are three big features of this promise:
- Sins are forgiven – God promised to release sinners from the guilt of their sin.
- New hearts are fashioned – God promised to replace hearts of stone (dead hearts) with living hearts and to write the law on these new hearts so that His people would actually want to live righteously.
- An intimate relationship begins – God promised to give His Spirit to His people and to bring them into a close relationship with Him.
Do we see these features in the argument of Galatians? Absolutely! Why would we turn from such good news back to the old external code of righteousness?
The New Covenant is God’s plan to turn sinners into lovers of a loving God! So as we look at the summary of the main argument in 5:1–6, we see Paul re-introduces the term, ‘love’ in his description of the Christian life (v. 6). Both Christ and the Spirit have a critical role in stirring our love for God and others.
Back in 2:20 Paul wrote of Christ ‘who loved me and gave himself for me’. It is like two bookends around the body of the letter. Paul is saying Christ loved me, I trust Him, and now that trust generates love in me too.
You cannot legislate for love. National governments cannot enact laws requiring people to love. It cannot be forced, because love is always a response. John put it this way, ‘We love because he [God] first loved us’ (1 Jn. 4:19). Our faith in Christ generates a New Covenant kind of response – from the inside out, so we have a heartfelt love that could never be achieved by an externally imposed code of conduct.
Reflection
How much does Christ’s love for you stir you to respond in love?
Scripture
About this Plan
Paul wrote the book of Galatians to Christians who were tempted to add good works to the gospel. Although we might not want to admit it, adding to the gospel is a great temptation for us too. So be encouraged as Peter Mead takes us through these devotions, be reminded that Christ is everything, and that the gospel is all we need for our lives now in Jesus.
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