4 May ESOCS Devotional
TEXT: GALATIANS 3:15-29
MEMORY VERSE
“But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” Galatians 3:22
The critical question before us is how to be put right with God. In our text today, Paul identifies that it is through faith in Christ that we could be put right with God. It all started with Abraham. He was a man who heard the word of God and not only obeyed it, be he believed and obeyed God. As a result, God was pleased and counted him as a righteous man. Thus, Abraham is the father of all believers. God consequently promised to bless him and that in him “shall all families of the earth be blessed”(Genesis 12:1-3).
The reality of this promise today is that Jesus Christ is that seed of Abraham through which all families of the earth are blessed. In verse 6 of our text, Paul puts it thus: ‘Now, God made His promises to Abraham and to His descendant “The Scripture does not use the plural “descendants” meaning many people, but the singular “descendant” meaning one person, Jesus Christ.
It is the will of God that Christ should be the source of His blessing to us. He did not choose that His blessing to us should come through the law. Even though God gave the Israelites the law when they gained independence from Egypt and settled in the promise land, God waited for the appropriate time for Christ to come to reunite all people with God and bless them(verses 17-19). In verse 19, it is written, “What then is the purpose of the law? It was added in order to show what wrongdoing is, and it was meant to last until the coming of Abraham’s descendant, to whom the promise was made.”
Read yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
Therefore, reconcile ourselves with God through Jesus Christ is the starting point of being put right with God; not by obeying the law, for the purpose of the law ended where Christ began. In verses 21-24, we read thus, “Does this mean that the law is against God’s promises? No, not at all: for if human beings had received a law that could bring life, then everyone could be put right with God by obeying it…. And so the law was in in charge of us until Christ came, in order that we might then be put right with God through faith.”
Indeed, it is Christ that gives us the enablement to obey and please God(verses 25-27). In verse 27, we read, “You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ Himself.” It is equally through Christ that we can be part of the abundant flow of blessings from God. In verse 29, the Bible says, “If you belong to Christ, then you are the descendants of Abraham and will receive what God promised.”
We should therefore, this moment, reconsider our life and confirm that we are truly converted to God through Jesus Christ. If you are not sure of your relationship with God, repent from your sins, confess Jesus Christ as your Lord, agree that God sent Him to save sinners, and invite Him to be Lord of your life.
CHALLENGES
√ Do you find it difficult to live by the word of God in any aspect of your life?
4 MAY ESOCS DEVOTIONAL – PRAYER POINT
√ Lord God Almighty, let Jesus Christ come into my life that I will be able to live by your word and receive your blessings, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!
FURTHER READING
√ Judges 19:17-30; 20:1-17; Galatians 4:1-18
