Paul's burden for the believers in Galatia was not just that they get their theology right, but that the gospel would continue to transform their hearts and lives such that they become more and more like Jesus. This should be the burden of every gospel minister and the goal of every gospel believer, and yet it is also the chief target of those who would alienate us from the gospel and each other. The gospel not only sets us free from sins penalty, but it also sets us free from sins power and enables Christ to live in us by his Spirit and to shape us in his image. Here we look at the burden and blessing of gospel ministry - to see Christ formed in you.

J.I. Packer said, "If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child and having God as his Father." It is one thing to know that we are forgiven and accepted by God through Jesus Christ, but it is quite another to live in the reality and experience that God has adopted us as his sons and daughters with all the privileges that brings. Today we take a look at the truth that we are no longer slaves, but sons, because of the great gift of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

So far in the book of Galatians, Paul has repeatedly reminded believers that they have been justified by faith apart from works of the law. Nothing could be truer, but it does raise a very important question: why then the law? If salvation has always been about grace, then what good is the law? Why did God ever subject his people to it anyway? Anticipating this question from those who oppose his teaching, Paul puts forth a compelling case for the purpose of the law in redemptive history. Here we learn how the law, which is never contrary to the promises of God, has always served to direct people to the amazing grace found in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

If after beginning a race, a marathon runner decides to jump on a bike and ride part of the way or decides to take a different route to the finish line, that runner would be disqualified for making such a foolish move. Likewise, for the believer, if we start out on our journey with God by trusting in Christ, but then return to trusting our good works to maintain and finish that journey, then as Paul says to the Galatians, we are being foolish and headed down a path that leads to death, not life.

The good news of the gospel is that we as sinners can be justified, accepted, declared right in our relationship with God. That is true freedom. At the very heart of that good news is the truth that this has nothing to do with what we ourselves do, and everything to do with what Jesus Christ has done on our behalf. We are justified by faith in his work, not reliance upon our own. When we deny or lose sight of this central truth, we have in essence nullified God's grace and are in grave danger of missing the gospel altogether. We return now with the apostle Paul to the very heart of the gospel: justification by faith in Christ.

At the very heart of the gospel message is the reality that barriers once separating us from fully receiving God’s love and acceptance have been torn down through the radical, justifying grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And because of this, other barriers come crashing down too. For all who have been saved by this grace are now part of God’s universal family where there are no longer any superficial distinctions that separate us either. But we are prone to forget this. And we are really good at building walls - walls that divide, separate, and even alienate those who actually belong to this family of God. Here we consider two incidents in the life of the early church where upholding the truth of the gospel leads to preserving the very unity that the gospel was meant to bring.

Sometimes when an event or a claim seems so outrageous, we might say, "You can't make this stuff up." In many ways that could be said of the gospel. The good news of God's grace through Jesus is so radical, so counter-cultural in nature that it's not something man would make up on his own. Which is why when the apostle Paul's message is challenged by those saying he received it from men, he is quick to point to his own calling and conversion as evidence that the gospel is from God, not man. We continue to pursue the true freedom that the gospel of Jesus brings to those who receive it from God.

The liberating power of the gospel to rescue people from bondage to sin apart from any merit of their own is at the very heart of Christianity and its global nature. Because of the gospel of God's grace, the freedom found in Christ transcends geographic, ethnic, economic, cultural, political, social and even religious boundaries. When those boundaries become barriers to the message of the gospel, especially in the church, then we must fight against anything that would threaten the true freedom the gospel brings.

When Peter, Jesus' disciple, realized that Jesus was the Messiah, God's anointed King and Savior, he was eager and ready to follow him. But when Jesus showed Peter, and others, where following him would lead and what it would cost, it caused them to pause and even object. The call to true discipleship is a call to follow Jesus on the path of suffering and self-sacrifice, but it is a path that leads ultimately to true freedom, life, and joy. In following Jesus, losing is truly winning. Listen as we consider what it means and what it costs to follow Christ.

Sometimes we are quick to recognize our dependence on God for salvation, but we forget that we need him just as much for power to live our lives as he desires. David knew what it was to have God as his rock of salvation as well as his strength for living and leading as God's anointed King. Here we are reminded from David's life that God is the Rock on which we stand for sanctification as well as salvation.