Family Chapel

Having persuasively defended the authenticity of his gospel and his apostleship, the question that now lingers in the heads of the Galatians is: “Okay, Paul, if you’re right, then does that mean the Jerusalem leaders are wrong? Is there division in the Church?” Paul responds by showing how he and the Jerusalem leaders share unity in the Gospel. They are in fundamental agreement that it is faith in Christ alone, and not obedience to the Law, that is needed for salvation. And maintaining this unity in the Gospel is of the utmost importance for Paul because if we want to get the Gospel out, we need to first get the Gospel right.

After calling out the false teachers for their false gospel, the question that naturally comes up is: "Okay, Paul, but what makes your gospel the true Gospel? How can we trust that what you're saying is true?" Paul anticipates that question and he responds by sharing about how he came to receive the Gospel. And he makes it very clear that he received the Gospel, not through any man, but through God Himself, who chose him, saved him, and commissioned him to preach that Gospel. We too can rest assured that the true Gospel about God has come from God!

Paul addresses the problem of a false gospel. And he shows us that a false gospel is not just fake news, it's bad news. Unlike the true Gospel, which comes from God, centers on the person and work of Jesus Christ, and provides new life, a false gospel only leads to destruction. We have to faithfully hold on to the Good News in a fake news world because there is no other Gospel.

God is committed to our change, but the Christian's transformation is progressive in nature. Sanctification is God's work and often includes pain and suffering, but He has also given us the most amazing gift to cooperate with that work, and that is the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 1 describes a person who is thriving as a healthy tree that is well planted and bears much fruit. But thriving does not happen by accident. Rather, thriving requires intentional cultivation. If we want to truly grow in the life we have received in Christ, we need to prune away our sin and we need to be rooted in God's Word.

With a new year, we do have a new theme for OMC: Family Chapel: "Thrive". We want to be healthy disciples that holistically follow Jesus in every arena of our lives. But so often, our lives don’t look like they’re thriving. Instead, we envision following Jesus to be one long, miserable march of just barely scraping by. But we see in Scripture that Jesus offers us a holistically, abundant life. Instead of trying to make life work on our own terms, would we receive the life that Jesus offers? It is a far better life. It is an abundant life, an overflowing life, a joyful life. This is life in Christ. This is the life that thrives!

As we close our series on the Person of the Holy Spirit, we will end by looking at the gifts of the Spirit. Just as it is the Holy Spirit who empowers us to live the Kingdom Life, it is Him who provides the gifts/abilities to build up His Kingdom. All believers in Christ are gifted by the Spirit, and we are called to use these gifts for the building of the church and the faith of those around us.

We have the death-defeating, sin-crushing, life-giving power of the Holy Spirit residing in us, but so often, we seek to handle life by our own strength. How are we able to tap into the power that is available to us through the Holy Spirit? That happens as we are filled with the Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit is to be empowered by the Spirit. And we are filled with the Spirit's power to fulfill the Spirit's purpose in magnifying Christ through our faithful witness.

Upon giving us new life, the Holy Spirit seeks to make us holy – to look more like Jesus. The new birth gives way to new growth as the Spirit carries out His work of sanctification in us. The work of sanctification is carried out in our lives by our effort through the Spirit's power, in having us behold Jesus to become more like Jesus.

Now that we’ve seen who the Holy Spirit is, over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking at what the Holy Spirit does. And the first work of the Spirit that we’ll be looking at is what theologians call “regeneration”. Regeneration is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in which He gives new spiritual life to those who are spiritually dead. We are made alive by the Spirit to live the Kingdom life!