Day 331, or November the 27th. Doing good just
isn't enough. Our thoughts today are rooted in
Galatians chapter 2 verse 16. A person is not
justified by the works of the law, but by faith
in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith
in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by
faith in Christ, and not by the works of the
law. And now the big picture surrounding this verse.
Paul's letter to the Galatians was probably the
first letter of his that has survived. It was
written following the first missionary journey,
when he visited Cyprus and then continued to
Turkey, where the area called Galatia was situated,
not far from Paul's hometown of Tarsus. The main
problem in the fledgling Galatian church was
that some early converts from Judaism were insisting
that the way to Christ who is the Jewish messiah
is through Judaism and therefore keeping the
law and being circumcised were prerequisites
to being saved, Paul emphasizes that the gospel
of Jesus is a gospel of grace, and that Jesus'
cross has now superseded trying to keep all the
Mosaic law. And now today's action step. Paul
explains that there is a difference between doing
good things in order to achieve salvation, and
doing good out of gratitude after receiving salvation.
It's the old cart before the horse dilemma. Of
course we should do good things and live as good
a life as we can in any event, but don't be fooled
into believing that this is sufficient for salvation.
A moment's thought reminds us that if good deeds
alone could justify us before a holy God, then
the cross is unnecessary, and all we have to
do is try harder. Reality tells us that trying
harder rarely works, so I for one am glad that
Jesus did all that was necessary for me through
the cross. All I have to do is accept his gift
of salvation, and then out of gratitude live
a life of love and devotion to God. The alternative
is to stay independent and keep trying with a
guaranteed fail at the end. In the words of an
old commercial, You know it makes sense. So why
not listen to day 21 again and choose wisely
today?