Have you ever been at a live sporting event when a marriage proposal was triggered by a message on the jumbotron? The message is displayed, the camera spotlights the couple, and a private moment of celebration is shared publicly. I’ve witnessed this a few times, and every event erupts in cheers and shares in the happiness of the moment. No one in the room doubts the sincerity of love and intentionality of the arrangement because they witness it publicly displayed before them.
This image serves as a metaphor for what Paul writes in Galatians 3:1. He defends that his missionary journey clearly portrayed Christ crucified to them. In essence, Paul is saying that he preached Christ and the Gospel so clearly, it was as if it was plastered on a billboard for all of them to see, so there was no doubt and no confusion. It was crystal clear and affirmed by all who heard.
However, in a short time, the Galatians had been deceived and began to follow a distorted message that ran them off course. This illustrates for us the need to clearly portray the Gospel in our words and actions; and also the need to guard our hearts against being led astray by false teaching. How can we do this?
The answer lies in the work of the Holy Spirit. He has spoken through 40 authors of thousands of years to give us a perfect and authoritative book called the Bible. He dwells within every believer and speaks to us each day with conviction, correction, and guidance. Our ability to more clearly hear Him speak is impacted by the frequency of opening His Word and our willingness to sit quietly in His presence. How well do you do that with discipline? I realize that every person can always do more or better. My intention is not to guilt trip you into more actions, as that we be a potential path toward the legalism that Paul is warning Galatia against.
What I am encouraging us to consider is that we are not able to sanctify ourselves. What we can do is humbly and routinely submit ourselves to Him and allow Him to work in us and refine our hearts to be more conformed to His image. One practical suggestion would be to take time to build confidence in how to study Scripture. We have a resource on our webpage that may help. Check it out: https://calvaryga.com/binge-watch-or-movie-critic/