Quick Thought for Meditation – Children of Promise – Galatians 4

Galatians 4:28

“Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.”

We are the children of promise in more ways than one.  We are the children of a promise made unto Abraham just as Isaac was for it was promised to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations.  He is the father in our lineage of faith as Paul has proven over and over again throughout the book of Galatians.  He is not the father to just the Jews but rather to all that have faith such as he displayed.  And yet we are the children of a greater promise which is the promise of eternal salvation made before the foundation of the world.  Just as God had a covenant with Abraham he made a covenant with his own Son for the redemption of a chosen people.  In that covenant you were known and were promised to be brought forth unto eternal life.  Certainly, we are as Isaac and are the children of promise.

Additional Reading:

Acts 3:25

Quick Thought for Meditation – Schoolmaster – Galatians 3

Galatians 3:24

“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”

Here Paul describes the law as being our schoolmaster.  A schoolmaster, though the term has largely faded from our language, was responsible for two things with his charges.  The first was to provide them instruction that they might grow in knowledge and second to use discipline measures to make them walk in a proper form of living.  The law did the same for the natural Israelites.   It instructed them in the ways of Godly living including worship, moral living, and looking to better things to come.  When they walked out of those ways discipline was used to correct the walk.  However, after Christ came we are brought out from under the schoolmaster for we have full knowledge of the working of Christ Jesus and it becomes up to us to choose how we live our lives.  We are no longer children in the sense that we cannot choose whether or not to be obedient.  Let us choose, therefore, to be faithful each and every day.

Quick Thought for Meditation – The Heathen Justified – Galatians 3

Galatians 3:8

“And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.”

The heathen referenced to by the Apostle Paul in this verse was none other than the gentiles that he was called to preach unto.  The justification was again a justification of the mind or heart through faith given by God.  Paul’s point in this verse though is that the gentiles were not a last-minute addition by the Lord, but rather were planned for through all time.  He proves this by saying that God himself preached this doctrine to Abraham when he said, “In thee shall all nations be blessed.”  With those words God showed Abraham that there would be no limitation on the people of God.  As Paul proved to the doubters in his day let us also take comfort in the fact that God knows all of his no matter where they may be today.

Quick Thought for Meditation – Suffered in Vain – Galatians 3

Galatians 3:4

“Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.”

These Galatians, as is true for so many, had suffered greatly due to the adherence to the gospel which Paul preached.  Now they have decided to walk away from something that they held to in persecution and tribulation.  If they do so then they have suffered all of these things in vain.  There is great comfort in knowing that the tribulation you suffer is for something beautiful and grand.  But if you are willing to walk away from it later, what was the point in suffering for it for a season?  Paul finishes the verse though by saying that it is not yet in vain.  The truth and beauty are still there and should still be held to.  Hope and faith have not passed away, nor shall they ever do so until the Lord comes back to gather his people home.

Quick Thought for Meditation – Pure and Spotless – Revelation 3

Revelation 3:5

“He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”

This particular verse is worthy of consideration on many levels.  The verse begins by defining an audience and then giving the rewards for those that fit the category.  The people being spoken of are the overcomers.  These overcomers are not such in an eternal sense but rather in a timely.  The scriptures do not teach the idea of having to overcome for eternal life.  Rather, the scriptures teach that believers are to overcome the temptation of this life.  Here again John is addressing those that would overcome the problems facing believers and the church.