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#72-G18 ~ Galatians 1:2-3a

Gary Googe Aug 07

We go back for a brief review of Acts 2:38 and discuss the concept of repentance and baptism, both of which were required at that time. The repentance was to do with them having a change of mind  about the identity of Jesus. He was the Christ, the prophesied Messiah for Israel.  They were required to believe that for salvation.  Water baptism was to provide for the remission of sins.  All this is unlike today where we have just one baptism, the baptism of the Holy Spirit that puts the believe in Christ.

Even though it might seem that many were accepting the message of the apostles at the time of Acts 2, it was still a small minority. Ultimately Israel rejected her Messiah and the promised Kingdom was put off to a future day.  At this point it has been roughly 2,000 years that the Kingdom has been put off.  Instead of bringing judgment, God dispensed grace.  That’s why this present time is even called the Dispensation of The Grace of God.

Today, salvation doesn’t come by faith PLUS anything. Neither water baptism, the keeping of the Mosaic Law or doing anything else is required. Today, salvation come by faith alone in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 15:1-4).  It is that plus nothing.  If anything is added, it negates the salvation.  Salvation is NOT provided in such cases where additional works are added.  Therefore, salvation is granted where there’s faith plus nothing. The object of faith must be strictly Christ’s work, not ours.  I Corinthians 15:1-4 spells all this out in simple terms.

Christ paid the complete penalty for our sins.  They were all judged in Him during the time He was on the cross.  To be saved one must believe that.  When someone does, they receive the righteousness of God.  God’s perfect righteousness is then credited freely to the one believing.

Because Christ’s work was accepted of God, the complete payment for sins has been made. Our personal sins have all been removed as something hindering our salvation.  Gaining the righteousness of God by faith gives us salvation permanently.  All this is called the gospel, which means good news. Therefore, salvation comes to us by grace at the moment we believe. We don’t and can’t do anything whatsoever to deserve it.  Salvation is all about God’s grace, not our works.  Works after salvation should come, but strictly as a matter of appreciation for the salvation we were freely given.

I Timothy 2:7 and II Timothy 1:11 are passages I conclude with in this study, describing our role in this as ones who get to proclaim this wonderful message.

I then go into verse 3 of our passage and discuss the first word found there. It is the word grace! We will develop this more in our next lesson.

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