Text:
Galatians 6:7-9 (ESV)
7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Observation:
I came to this passage of scripture with a different topic on my mind, but God had another plan.
The churches of Galatia that Paul had planted were in trouble. This is the problem that Paul addresses in this letter.
Galatians 1:6-7 (ESV)
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—
7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
Paul considered the false teachers as a threat to the new life that God had given these new believers in Christ. The gospel is not just something Paul preached, it was a miracle he had experienced.
Romans 1:16 (ESV)
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Why did Paul say this to the churches of Galatia?
Galatians 6:6 (ESV)
6 Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.
Paul wanted them to be aware of the consequences of rejecting the gospel of Christ, and the messenger of the gospel, to follow false teachers.
Galatians 6:7 (ESV)
7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
Paul had authority from God, and he taught and encouraged the churches of Galatia in the Gospel of Christ. He warns them that God is not mocked. If the readers of this letter were mocking God's messenger, they were mocking God. The message is clear if you reject God, He will reject you.
Notice that Paul begin this letter unlike any of his letters to other churches. Notice what he did not say to the church at Philippi, and what he felt necessary to say to the churches of Galatia about his authority.
Philippians 1:1-2 (ESV)
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:1-2 (ESV)
1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—
2 and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:
Father, help us to always be mindful of the law of the harvest; we will always reap the same kind that we sow.
Prayer:
Father, hallowed be Your name. Father, help us by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God to be able to distinguish truth from error, and to not be deceived by the enemy of our soul. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Isaiah 55:11 (KJV)
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Read the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:
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