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Day 331, or November the 27th. Doing good just

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isn't enough. Our thoughts today are rooted in

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Galatians chapter 2 verse 16. A person is not

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justified by the works of the law, but by faith

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in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith

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in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by

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faith in Christ, and not by the works of the

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law. And now the big picture surrounding this verse.

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Paul's letter to the Galatians was probably the

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first letter of his that has survived. It was

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written following the first missionary journey,

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when he visited Cyprus and then continued to

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Turkey, where the area called Galatia was situated,

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not far from Paul's hometown of Tarsus. The main

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problem in the fledgling Galatian church was

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that some early converts from Judaism were insisting

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that the way to Christ who is the Jewish messiah

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is through Judaism and therefore keeping the

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law and being circumcised were prerequisites

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to being saved, Paul emphasizes that the gospel

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of Jesus is a gospel of grace, and that Jesus'

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cross has now superseded trying to keep all the

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Mosaic law. And now today's action step. Paul

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explains that there is a difference between doing

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good things in order to achieve salvation, and

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doing good out of gratitude after receiving salvation.

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It's the old cart before the horse dilemma. Of

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course we should do good things and live as good

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a life as we can in any event, but don't be fooled

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into believing that this is sufficient for salvation.

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A moment's thought reminds us that if good deeds

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alone could justify us before a holy God, then

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the cross is unnecessary, and all we have to

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do is try harder. Reality tells us that trying

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harder rarely works, so I for one am glad that

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Jesus did all that was necessary for me through

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the cross. All I have to do is accept his gift

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of salvation, and then out of gratitude live

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a life of love and devotion to God. The alternative

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is to stay independent and keep trying with a

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guaranteed fail at the end. In the words of an

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old commercial, You know it makes sense. So why

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not listen to day 21 again and choose wisely

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today?