storiesofvalue

Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.  The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.  What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.  For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.  What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator.  A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.  Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.  But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.  Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.  So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:15-24)

I have included this large passage today because it is nearly impossible to break things up for our purposes.  It reinforces two points about the Law that have already been stated in our study of Galatians: 1) The Law is good because it was given by God and 2) The Law was not end-all (or the “promise”), but rather the schoolmaster to lead us to Christ. 

You will find these principles throughout this passage.  Just because something is not the foundation of our hope doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a purpose.  Such is the case with the Law.  God gave it to Moses, many years after His original Covenant with Abraham, to provide a system of conviction and confession for mankind.  One day, Christ came to erase our guilt.  He was synonymous with the “promise,” and like it we receive Him by faith.

Today I had an “aha” moment.  I remembered an old hymn from my childhood with these words:  

One day when heaven was filled with His praises,
One day when sin was as black as could be,
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin—
Dwelt among men, my example is He!

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely forever:
One day He’s coming—O glorious day!

This hymn “One Day” wasn’t based on this passage.  In fact, it almost wasn’t published at all because the author and song writer had a big fight over the copyright.  But the term “one day” jumped into my head like a light bulb.  Abraham lived for “one day.”  Moses and Israel lived for “one day.”  Then that day came.  The promised was fulfilled in Jesus, and the darkness of sin was washed clean by the light of grace.

I love the Law and the way it provided a vehicle for the “promise” to be carried forward.  And then, the beautiful Law humbly moved aside to make way for the beautiful Savior. 

I love it when a plan comes together!

Dear God, thank You for the “one day” in my life.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”  Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”  The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (Galatians 3:10-14 NIV)

Why would anyone who loves us give us something to curse our lives?

I must confess: I have an evil streak that leads me to give people gifts that create havoc in their lives.  For example, if I am buying a present for a child, I buy something that makes lots of noise.  I take great joy knowing the child is going to push the noise button again, and again, and again.  When I buy someone a book, I like to buy them a big book with lots and lots of pages, and I work hard to find authors with high academic credentials so the reading is especially hard.  So you don’t want to be on my Christmas list.

But would God do this?  Would He give us something to make our lives miserable?  Did He give Moses the Law, knowing full well no one could keep it, and that all would be condemned under it? 

Yes, I can only assume He did.

But there is more to the story than this.  While it is true God gave something that would put mankind under a curse, the Law itself was not cursed.  The Law was beautiful.  Rather, it was man’s sinful nature that created the curse, just as Adam and Eve’s original sin brought the curse of spiritual death into the human race.

God had two options.  He could have left us under the curse of sin, in which case we would have missed out on a healed relationship with Him and the gift of eternal life.  Or He could have given us the Law to school us in righteousness and convict us of sin, then send His Son to pay for that sin and remove the curse.  He did the latter.  

Without the Law there would be no conviction of sin.  Without sin’s conviction, the removal of the curse would mean nothing to us.  And without this understanding, we would not know enough to accept the grace God gave us, and we would be lost. 

Therefore, though the Law left mankind cursed, it was nevertheless a good thing it came.  Otherwise, we would be drifting along in ignorance, destined to eternal destruction. 

It occurs me this puts the curse of knowing the Law in the same category as good medicine.  It doesn’t always taste good, and makes people sick to their stomach, but it is necessary to be made well.  And it is a part of our recovery.  Even though we know Jesus, we can’t appreciate Him fully unless we know the pain of sin, which is a result of the curse of the Law. 

By the way…what was that address again?  I am putting together my Christmas shopping list.

Dear God, thank You for removing the curse.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?  Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”  Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.  The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”  So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (Galatians 3:5-9 NIV)

The world of credit has always fascinated me.  Throughout our marriage my wife and I have only owned one credit card.  Well, actually, we have owned several physical cards, but we are still operating on the same line of credit we opened up with a bank in downtown Lexington, Kentucky 33 years ago.  Over the years our credit-line has passed from bank to bank through mergers and acquisitions, and now our card actually reflects the name of our main bank.

From time to time, a bank officer will encourage me to open up a second line of credit.  I am told if I do, I will have better credit.  This doesn’t make any sense to me.  How can my credit improve by putting money on two credit cards instead of one?  I am also told I can switch my money to a card with a better rate interest rate?  But isn’t it better to pay off my balance every month so I don’t have to worry about interest?  It almost sounds like someone wants me to owe more money, so I will pay more interest, so…..  Ooooooh!  I get it!  Such is the world of credit as we know it.

But as I understand credit, in its most conservative sense, it involves an allowance for something I can’t afford.  It is not a scheme to create debt in my life, but an acknowledgement that debt already exists.  In its purest form, credit is a merciful means by which I can be released from a burden I cannot carry. 

This is also how we define God’s grace.  God doesn’t pour out mercy in our lives to put us deeper in debt.  He doesn’t convict us of sin so we will be more burdened.  Rather, He uses conviction to drive us to repentance, which puts us in a place where He can credit us with righteousness.

A “credit of righteousness” is God’s way of removing a burden we cannot bear.  We are not righteous, but He puts us in a right relationship with Himself when we choose to follow Him by faith.  In New Testament terms, we do this when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  Jesus fulfilled all righteousness by paying our debt of sin on the cross, and by faith we receive His righteousness.  Some people speak of the righteousness God “imputes” to believers through Jesus.  “Impute” is somewhat of a synonym for credit and it used in some translations.  It means the righteousness Jesus earned by paying our debt is transferred to our account, or imbedded in our being. 

The difference between even the most conservative credit line in the world and the credit of righteousness is that we have to eventually pay off the former.  However, we couldn’t pay off our credit line of righteousness even if we wanted to.    So Jesus not only does not want us to be more indebted, but rather He doesn’t want us to be indebted at all.  As a result, we are free to spend our life in sacrificial service to His kingdom, instead of insanely trying to pay off an impossible debt.  Now that’s credit!  And while I am not expected to repay it, I want to spend the rest of my life sharing the same grace with others.  God sure has a crazy banking system.

Dear God, thank You for giving me the credit I don’t deserve.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing–if it really was for nothing? (Galatians 3:2-4 NIV)

If you have just joined our study of Galatians and want to better understand the contrast of righteousness by the “spirit” and that by the law, go the Stories of Value site and scroll through the last few day’s devotions.

Today I want to focus on Paul’s last statement about suffering for nothing. There are many examples of this principle in our culture…

The other day I heard an update on one of our country’s military operations overseas. The report expressed concerns about the ability of leaders to govern after our troops are gone. A core principle was that we don’t want all of the pain and loss we have experienced in the conflict to be for nothing.

Suffering isn’t usually something we desire, but we are able to accept it if it leads to a favorable outcome. But suffering for nothing is downright depressing.

Evidently, the Galatians had already suffered as a result of their decision to follow Jesus and life by grace. We can assume Jewish Christians had been verbally attacked by their brothers who were horrified to see them worshipping with uncircumcised Gentiles. And we can only imagine what it was like for the Gentiles.

Verbal attacks aren’t as serious as death threats (which some might have received), but they can destroy families, friendships, and careers. The easiest thing for some of the Galatian Christians to do would have been for them to succumb to their critics and adopt whatever form of righteousness necessary to keep the peace. But that would have been a denial of the cross, and the all-sufficient payment Jesus made there for sin.

“Have you suffered so much for nothing?”

I think this is a good question to ask ourselves anytime we are tempted to give up a worthwhile fight. Are you battling a sin or addiction? Are you trying to repair a relationship? Are you attempting to live our Christian values in a hostile environment? How far have you come? How many battles have you fought? Don’t give up! Don’t let all of the pain, sweat and tears you have endured to this point come to nothing.

I am not talking about circumstances we can’t control. In life, we lose a few battles through no fault of our own. Rather, I am thinking of those “foolish” surrenders, when we fight a good fight but put out the white flag in a moment of weakness.

I suppose we are all going to have to decide for ourselves which battles are worth fighting. But believe me when I say the spiritual ones are among the most important. In my experience, when we give in to Satan, there is still no peace. Instead, we discover we have more battles than ever.

Dear God, teach me to be slow to surrender. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. (Galatians 3:1 NIV) 

I like the word “bewitched.”  Perhaps you know people who have the ability to “cast a spell” over others because of their dynamic personality.  In a short time they can lead people down a path to nowhere.

Leadership is neutral.  Leaders have traits that prompt people to follow them, but it is possible for a leader to draw others in the wrong direction.  As was the case in Galatia, false teachers sometimes communicated with great confidence, and they are believed by those who can’t fathom talented, charismatic people could have impure motives.

How could it be the Galatians were beginning to put their trust in the Law, when they obviously knew Jesus had fulfilled it in His death?  Why were they returning to a “righteousness by works” lifestyle when they had been made righteous by the blood of Jesus?”

Were the words of the bewitchers more vivid and attractive that Paul’s portrayal of the cross?  Was the personality of the false teachers more exciting than that of the apostle?

It seems so.  Sorry Paul…I’m just calling it the way I see it. 

Paul was a bold, intelligent and effective communicator.  But he was out of sight and out of mind. 

I have often wondered how servants like the Apostle Paul were ever able to manage false teaching long-distance.  In our culture, if we hear something that sounds a little off biblically, we can e-mail a respected teacher, or start a Facebook discussion with people we know all over the world.  But in Paul’s day, a false teacher could do a lot of damage before he, or any of the other apostles were aware there was a problem.  And by the time a messenger delivered the news and a letter was sent correcting the doctrine, the damage could be severe.

On the other hand, letters, such as this one from Paul to the Galatians, were held in higher esteem than today’s electronic messages.  We receive e-mails and either file them in a mailbox or delete them.  We might forward them, but they are rarely read again, and again, and again.  This was not the case with the letters that would one day make it into our New Testament.  Not only were they treasured and read repeatedly, but they were often sent to outlying regions. 

Where do you suppose the letter to the Galatians was read, and who do you think was there at the time?  When the reader read “Who has bewitched you”, were the culprits in the room?  Did everyone look at them with suspicion and turn their heads again to hear the rest of the letter.

Letters were a big deal, and correcting doctrine was critical.  It is still critical, but since the New Testament was not complete, letters such as this one to the Galatians were among an apostle’s main lines of defense.  This, together with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, explains why they still are.

Dear God, thank You for preserving Your letters.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:19-21 NIV)

The reality of human organ transplants still amazes me.  Although they take place every day, I never cease to be overwhelmed at the thought doctors can take a part of someone’s body and put it in another body, and make it work. 

Although I am not an expert in the transplant process, I have often thought about the finality of removing a diseased organ to make way for a new one…especially a life-sustaining organ such as a heart.  At the exchange, the person receiving the transplant has passed the point of no return.  His old heart is gone, and his very life depends on the new one.

In today’s passage Paul is describing a similar situation.  When we die to our old person of sin and put on Jesus, we are dependent on His grace thereafter.  However, I should add it would be a mistake to merely see this as a spiritual parallel.  Since Jesus is also the Lord of the resurrection, the transformation He brings about in our lives is also a physical one.  Our earthly body is still sustaining us, but as it wears out, it groans for the new eternal body we have been promised. 

This means, for the follower of Jesus, there truly is no turning back.  Once we have put on grace, we are dead without it.  In fact, we were dead before it.

In Paul’s case, he was dead under the Law.  But in Christ, he became justified through the blood that poured from Calvary, and therefore was restored to life.

Had it been possible to have been made alive by keeping the Law, Jesus would not have needed to die.  His death would have been senseless.  I believe Paul is appealing to the Jewish-Christian mind here as believers were conflicted over their adherence to the Law and their acceptance of grace.  There simply was no middle ground.  To be alive in Christ was to be dead to the Law.  To strive for justification under the Law was to diminish Christ. 

It occurs to me, we sometimes fail to consider the implications of our spiritual positions.  But as we say, “when you put it like that”, we see the flaws in our thinking.  For example, I have heard believers in Jesus say, “What’s most important is that we fight for mercy and justice in our world.  Whether or not we need Jesus to be saved is secondary.”  Really?  I am all for mercy and justice, but can the gospel be reduced to a social cause?  Can we survive without the transforming, saving grace of Jesus?  And if we can, then did Christ die for nothing?

Yup.  That’s what that means.  If we don’t need Jesus for sin salvation, then He didn’t need to die.  And “when you put it like that”, we know there is no straddling the fence.

Dear God, teach me to think through my spiritual ideas.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified. “If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. (Galatians 2:15-18 NIV)

Under the Old Testament Law, God established a system of ceremonial cleanliness and sacrifice as a means through which man could approach Him.  The system itself was never intended to be the focus.  It was always about faith and a desire to be in relationship with God.  Yet, man, corrupted in his thinking, found a way to turn the system into a test of righteousness. 

People tend to demonize the Law as if it was something horrible.  How can this be if God gave it?  No, the Law was beautiful, and although it was fulfilled by Jesus and is therefore no longer a part of our covenant relationship with God, there was nothing in it that was inherently bad. 

There was, however, a problem people faced when living under the Law.  Actually, there were two problems.  There was the problem of what man had made of it…i.e. turning it from a means of knowing God into a burdensome system of self-justification…and there was its lack of fulfillment.  The Law convicted men of sin, and gave them a means to express repentance through sacrifice, but it did not justify them.  They had no way of cleansing their hearts completely.  This doesn’t mean the Law was an inferior model that God tossed out until He could roll out something better (the cross).  We will discover later it was a “schoolmaster” preparing the world for Jesus, and it is my opinion those who followed God by faith in the Old Testament were also covered by the blood that would one day flow from Calvary. 

This is where Jesus, the cross, and the new covenant with God come in.  Jesus fulfilled the Law by keeping it perfectly and paying the penalty for those areas in which we did not keep it.  When we put our faith in Him, our sins are washed away by His blood, and we are made just. 

But here is Paul’s dilemma in today’s passage: If, as we look at the cross, we are convicted of our sins, how is this different from living under the Law?  Has Jesus merely replaced the Law as the one who condemns us for our failures? 

No!  Absolutely not!  He is not like the Law.  He is not like the Law as God gave it, and certainly not like the monster some men created out of the Law.  He is the fulfillment of the Law.  Yes, we recognize we are sinners in light of His glory, but instead of killing ourselves in a futile attempt to live just lives, we throw ourselves on His mercy and live in His grace.  This doesn’t mean we don’t care about how we live.  In fact, it means we try all the harder to live a just life.  The difference is, we are not trying to justify ourselves.  Instead, we are living to please the One who justified us. 

I think had I ever lived under the Law I would have a greater appreciation for grace.  But it means enough to me as it is.  I really don’t want to live my life trying to justify my actions.

Dear God, thank You for grace.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.   

When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.  Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ (Galatians 2:11-15 NIV)

Before we begin I have a question: If Peter and Paul were pillars in the early church, and if they had a fight in Antioch over the Gentile issue, was is a “pillar fight?”

Sorry…just had to toss then in.

We don’t know for sure when this incident took place.  If it happened after the Jerusalem council, it shows Peter and Paul still had some unresolved issues regarding the Jew/Gentile debate, regardless of the agreement they had to focus on their respective missions.  If it happened before the council, then we might conclude the agreement Peter and Paul reached, along with their associates, was a resolution to the conflict described above.

It might be good to clarify the conflict.  It seems Peter, who had learned to let go of Jewish ceremonial law in his personal life, fell in with some of James’ representatives when they came to Antioch to examine the involvement of Gentiles in the church.  He succumbed to peer pressure and reverted to a legalistic stance on circumcision, inciting some Jews and even Barnabas to join in.  We can only imagine how hard it was to resist this narrow-minded perspective, especially since no one in Antioch wanted to be perceived as heretics by the pillars of the faith in Jerusalem.

Can you picture what this was like for Paul?  Some pillar representatives from James were in town putting a strangle-hold on the Gentiles he had introduced to the Gospel, and Peter was pretending to follow their party line.  Then Barnabas, his right-hand man, fell in with them.

“What!!!!????  You too Barnabas?” 

Poor Paul.

Human dynamics are a funny thing, and we are so quickly led away from our convictions by the need for acceptance.  It is important that we take time to remind ourselves why we believe as we do.  If we do, we will be less likely to throw others under the bus when we feel threatened.

I personally believe this incident with Peter occurred before the council meeting in Jerusalem, and before Peter, James and John had an opportunity to set some parameters for their ministry with Paul and Barnabas.  I think it was all a part of the rising anxiety that eventually led to need to call a council.  Every now and then you just need to get everyone in a room and talk.

Dear God, give me the courage to be true to myself.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews.  All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. (Galatians 2:9-10 NIV)

We are so accustomed to viewing the early church as a loose-knit band of believers we sometimes forget there were established authorities, and a fairly well-developed system of accountability for doctrine and practice.  This doesn’t fit our individualistic filters formed by modern culture, but it is, nonetheless, fact.

I don’t mean to suggest James, Peter and John sat in big cushioned chairs waiting for church members to kiss their rings.  But they were reputed to be “pillars” and two of them were from Jesus’ original Twelve.  Incidentally, the James mentioned here is the brother of Jesus, not the brother of John.  James, the brother of John and the other piece of the “Sons of Thunder” was run through with a sword by Herod’s administration soon after the birth of the church.

I love this passage because it provides valuable insight into some of the more relational activity that took place during the Jerusalem council of Acts 15.  This is the kind of stuff that would have taken place at Starbucks (or McDonalds, as the Jerusalem church was on a tight budget), after the evening council session.  I can hear the apostle Paul sharing the story of Jesus’ appearance to him on the road to Damascus and his special meeting with Ananias where he received clarity concerning his mission to the Gentiles.  And I can hear Peter talking about his vision of unclean animals on a sheet before his visit to the home of Cornelius.

“So, Peter, which one of us is going to take on the Gentile world?”

“Well, Paul, to be truthful, even though I accept God’s plan to invite the Gentiles into His church, it still makes me feel awkward.  And since you spent all of those years in Tarsus…

“It’s settled then. Peter, you will focus on Jews, and I will go to the Gentiles: deal?”

“Deal!”

Maybe it didn’t happen exactly like this, but at some point at the Jerusalem council the strategy was set and everyone came to a consensus on how they were going to pursue God’s mission.  And I should also point out Paul uses the word “they” and “we” suggesting Peter was going to work in collaboration with James and John and Paul with Barnabas.

As to why James, Peter and John requested that Paul remember the poor, it is possible they perceived Gentile merchants to be more affluent and they feared Paul might get wrapped up in the high life and forget the needs of his Jewish brothers.  This would not be the case as one of the defining aspects of Paul’s ministry would be his campaign for a special collection for the church in Jerusalem.

It is always great to see how God’s people come to agreement on how they can all be used for his glory.  It is great, but not always easy…as we are about to see…

Dear God, make me open to Your vision.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

As for those who seemed to be important–whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance–those men added nothing to my message. On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews. For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles. (Galatians 2:6-8 NIV)

I like it when scripture gives testimony to scripture.  I will explain what I mean in a moment.

It is worth noting, in our passage today, that Peter was actually the one who officially broke the gospel ice with the Gentiles.  Though Paul was called as a special minister to the Gentiles, Peter was chosen by God to witness the flow of Christ’s grace into the life of Cornelius (Acts 10-11).  He reported the conversion of this important Gentile to leaders in Jerusalem, thereby validating the presence of a new people group in the church.

Yet, at the heart level, it is safe to say Peter was not, nor did he feel called as a special minister to the Gentiles.  If anything, throughout his ministry he was conflicted in the matter (as we will see a little later in Galatians 2).  Paul, however, gave his life to the cause.

Now onto my comment about scripture:  The matter of circumcision, and the outward appearance of self-righteous acts, led Paul to evoke a theological principle: “God does not judge eternal appearance.”  But this was nothing new.

In the Old Testament, when Samuel visited with Jesse to test his sons as possible candidates for a future king, the subject of outward appearance was raised.  The first of Jesse’s oldest sons, Eliab, must have looked like king material, for when Samuel saw him he thought to himself, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here!”  That’s when the Lord said, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

This event, and the teaching that emerged from it, became a principle that stuck in the Jewish mind.  This doesn’t mean it is wrong to have human criteria for leadership.  We shouldn’t ask people to do things for which they aren’t equipped, or prepared.  On the other hand, we should never count people out, or be surprised when, in God’s time, he develops them into people that surprise us.

This principle is also important in its reverse application.  In other words, we should be careful not to assume someone who looks capable at first glance, is the person God needs.  Looks really can be deceiving, and more than one good looking and talented individual has been derailed by a character flaw.

So, when Paul suggested one’s spiritual life should not be judged by outward appearance, he was referencing the whole Jesse’s son event.  By the way, if you are not aware, this is where David, the least likely of all of Jesse’s sons, was chosen.  Paul was writing scripture, and in the process giving testimony to scripture.  Just out of curiosity, can you think of any other examples of this phenomenon?

Dear God, thank You for these small reinforcements of Biblical truth.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.