Verse of the day: Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please
men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
Let us stop for a moment and evaluate our lives as a
born again believers. Are we truly living for Jesus, or are we living for
people? The Apostle Paul is addressing those believers at Galatia who, after
coming to know Jesus by faith, were later foolishly convinced that they needed
to both believe in Jesus and be circumcised in order to be justified (Gal
3:1-3). The Apostle was very clear that any gospel message that preaches
anything other than salvation by faith in Christ alone is not the Gospel; and
he also made it clear that it did not matter who the messenger was, whether it
be him or an angel from Heaven (v. 8). There is only one true Gospel, and it is
salvation by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. The Apostle
Paul knew what it was like to be under the influence of being a man-pleaser. In
the Book of Acts, 9:1-2, we see that he sought man’s authority to go after and
persecute Christians, but now he was in pursuit of lost men & women under
the authority of God. Justification (being declared not guilty) comes from God
through Jesus Christ alone. Nothing that we add to that adds to our salvation,
and to add to it is to make Jesus’ sacrifice of no value. God forbid! Yet, even
today, we have too many people who have insisted in adding to the Gospel by
adding requirements to salvation that are not biblical (though the act may not
be unbiblical, such as baptism, when it is added as a requirement for
salvation, it becomes unbiblical). When Jesus was crucified between two
thieves, one of those thieves put his faith on Jesus, and on that day received
salvation (Lk 23:42-44). The thief did not have an opportunity to be baptized
or do any good works; for that day would be the day of his execution. Yet,
Jesus accepted him on the basis of faith alone. The Apostle suffered
persecution for his stance, as the Jews insisted that circumcision (and the
celebration of certain holidays) be practiced as part of the salvation process,
and claiming that justification would not be granted if it were not part of a
new believer’s profession of faith (Gal 4:9-11). Adding works to salvation does
not gain us anything. We know from James that true works of faith come after,
and as a result of, first accepting Jesus as Savior, and not as a requirement
to gain salvation or greater favor; for we have all the favor we will ever have
in Jesus alone (Jm 2:17-19). The bottom line is that we go “sideways”, and
unnecessary burdens are placed on our walk with the Lord, when we start putting
more weight on what man’s opinion is of how we are to live for Jesus or how we
can gain more favor with Him, when the Bible already reveals to us how we
receive eternal life, and how we are to live our lives for the Lord. This does
not mean that God will not put people in our lives to guide us in His truth,
such as pastors and teachers. What it does mean is that we, as Christians, need
to be diligent to compare what we hear from God’s messengers with what God has
said in His Word (Acts 17:11). If we have ever tried to live life pleasing
others, and trying to keep up someone’s else’s standard, based on their own opinion
or their personal convictions, then we have learned very quickly that we cannot
please everyone, and that there is nothing but misery associated with being
men-pleasers. We must, as God’s children, decide that we will live life in
accordance to the Word of God, regardless of whether man likes it or not; for
it is far better to please God than to please the whims of men which change
with the shifting of the wind, or the changing of their mood. The decisions we
make each day, if made by the guidance of God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit, is
sure to be disagreeable with men, even those who profess to be our
brothers/sisters in Christ. Even Jesus said that He came not to bring peace,
but a sword, and that even those of the same household would be at odds with us
when we choose to follow Him (Mt 10:32-39). Salvation comes by faith alone.
What we do after that, whether it be baptism, and service to the Lord, or
living according to whatever biblical convictions we choose to live by, we need
to make sure that we are living, and serving, in accordance to Holy Spirit’s
leading as we study and apply God’s Word. Let us not stress over the reviling
of men, if we are truly living in a way that is pleasing to God, glorifying
Jesus, based on the Word of God, and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
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