Thursday, January 17, 2013

Galatians 1:6


6 I am surprised and astonished that you are so quickly turning renegade and deserting Him Who invited and called you by the grace (unmerited favor) of Christ (the Messiah) [and that you are transferring your allegiance] to a different [even an opposition] gospel.

There is something very powerful about what the Holy Spirit has Paul write here and it is that these Galatians who are turning away were invited and called by Jesus, but the Holy Spirit does not tell us that they were chosen by Him. 

For many are called (invited and summoned), but few are chosen. Matthew 22:14

The Truth is that salvation is a free gift from our Father.

For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved ( delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; Ephesians 2:8

The Truth is also that our Father never withdraws His gifts once they are given.

For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.] Romans 11:29

It is also true that Jesus will receive and keep all who the Father gives to Him.

And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me, but that I should give new life and raise [them all] up at the last day.  John 6:39

These Galatians were called and invited to be the Bride of Christ, yet they were not chosen by our Father to be, this is why they could leave Jesus. If we are called and chosen, the gift that is given to us will never be taken away and Jesus will never lose us. Jesus is our Shepherd and He will not allow us to wonder off from the flock. Jesus will keep us and He will raise us up on the last day. Jesus is not a hired Shepherd, He owns us and He will never loose a single one of us who have been given to Him as His Bride. 

The question often comes up: can we reject the gift of salvation? The answer is no. The Bible teaches us that to be saved means to be born again, John 3:3. Does a child choose to be born or is he chosen to be born? The Bible teaches us that we were wild branches that were chosen to be grafted into Jesus, Romans 11:17. Does a branch choose to be grafted into the vine or does the gardener choose the branch to be grafted? Does the clay decide what it will be or does the potter decide what it will be, Romans 9:21? There is a reason that the Holy Spirit used all of these examples to speak of us and it is because our Father’s will is what drives everything, it is not our will.

For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him. Colossians 1:6

The Truth is that our Father chose what He was going to do with us before He ever created the world and who can withstand His will?

But when He, Who had chosen and set me apart [even] before I was born and had called me by His grace (His undeserved favor and blessing), saw fit and was pleased Galatians 1:15

There is great peace with the Truth that our Father’s will is being done. There is great joy and hope when the Holy Spirit empowers us to accept that our Father knew what He was going to do before He ever said let it be. True humility, humility empowered by the Holy Spirit, allows us to rejoice in our Father’s will and it sets us free from glorying in believing in free will. A hand does not have free will over the head, a branch does not have free will over the vine, clay does not have it over the potter, and the sheep do not have free will over the shepherd. Whether people like or or not we were created by God and He has the right and the only power to do what He will’s. We that are created do not rule or dictate to the Creator. God is not reactive to our desires, He is active in directing them and inspiring them. All things, whether seen or unseen are controlled by our Lord and Savior.

He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God's] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high, Hebrews 1:3

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