When the learner yields to the teacher’s intentions, both student and teacher succeed. God does not leave things to chance. We glorify Him the most when we yield to his loving intentions. That is also when we are most blessed.
Consider these pairs of Polar Opposites: Plus and Minus, Night and Day, Black and White, Light and Darkness, Win or Lose, Right and Wrong, Life and Death, Heaven and Hell.
Now let’s add one to it: Law and Grace. Grace and Law should be treated as Polar Opposites; it’s vital that we see this difference for what it is.
Paul was transformed by meeting Jesus. He went from persecutor of the church to the most ardent spokesman for Christ and explainer of Christian doctrine. This is something like the big bad wolf not just being stopped from blowing down houses, but actually becoming the fourth little pig – and then becoming the world’s foremost scholar and chief defender of piggishness. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is real; it must produce real changes in the lives of those who believe it.
The Apostle Paul is seriously upset. Churches in the Roman province of Galatia that he had worked very hard and even risked his life to plant were now falling for a false gospel – one that required them to keep Jewish customs and rituals. He is writing to them to set the record straight. They need to stick to the truth of the gospel and not let anything, not even these seemingly biblical elements, cause them to depart from it, add to it, or modify it in any way.
Central Reflections 