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9/28 Reading Portions: 2 Samuel 24; Galatians 4; Ezekiel 31; Psalm 79
Galatians 4:14
and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.
SPIRIT
The fourth chapter of Galatians is one of the great passages of Scripture, in my humble opinion. I don’t write many devotional thoughts from this chapter because, frankly, I’m not skilled enough to condense the great truths from most of these verses into a reasonable daily devotion. Today’s verse, however, is worth considering (and I’ll do my best to keep it short, yet instructive). Although Paul suffered from a physical infirmity, those in Galatia received him as if they were receiving the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself. In our behavior, this is where we want to be as Christians. Paul preached the gospel of Christ to them despite his bodily ailment (Gal 4:13); and basically, he only had the Hebrew Scriptures to reference. He presented them pictures of the gospel, showing them Christ from the Scriptures (John 5:39); and even in correcting their errors through this letter, presented them a lesson from the Old Testament Scriptures, saying,
Now this may be interpreted allegorically: Galatians 4:24
While the Hebrew Scriptures present to us historical facts, God the Holy Spirit carried the prophets and men of God so that everything points to Christ Jesus in some way, fashion, or form (John 15:26; 2 Pet 1:21). This is for our benefit as believers. The more we seek the Spirit’s guidance to understand the Bible through the perspective of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more we will see believers as Christ, Himself. If one is saved by God’s grace, should we not treat them accordingly? Absolutely, yes! since Christ dwells in them by the Spirit (Heb 13:5). Evangelism, then, will also be a more loving and lively activity because we will see unbelievers as potential believers anointed with Christ; we will see them as one more soul who will glorify God through Christ. Hallelujah! What a wonder-working Savior!
The blessed Holy Spirit’s work
T’reveal Christ in the Word,
Produces in us souls transform’d
To live out what we’ve heard.