I Promise...
Today as I was getting ready to do my daily reading the song "Please Only You" by Steven Curtis Chapman played on my iPod. May this song be your prayer today as you look at Galatians chapter 3. (See the lyrics after the P= prayer section)
Galatians 3
S=Galatians 3:18 "For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise."
O= The promise made to Abraham according to verse 17 was made 430 years before the law was given to the children of Israel. Abraham was not a child of the law but was called a friend of God. His relationship was based upon faith not following a code of behavior. This chapter clearly lays out the purpose of the law. It was the law that pointed us to the need of a Savior. It is absurd to think that we could keep the law. God gave the law to Israel knowing the impossibility of keeping it! That was the point! He promised Abraham that He would bless the world through him. Through Abraham God did bless the world in Christ but that would have been a mute point unless Christ's life and death was necessary (verse19)! The law shows us our GREAT need for a SAVIOR! The law was used to be an answer to the promise made it WAS NOT the promise! Jesus is our promise (see verse 22). Jesus was the blessing given as Abraham's seed. Faith in Him is what provides justification. Verse 21 is clear righteousness cannot be given through the law, NEVER! The law can only confirm the curse of our sinful condition. The law can only rub the righteousness of God in our face. The law can only teach us the great necessity of God's Amazing Grace! For without faith in Christ's provision and His righteousness we are doomed to earn our salvation.
A= Grace, grace, grace... Abraham never had to sacrifice to be righteous. We see in Genesis that he was not a perfect man and twice he really pimped out his wife to another man and still he was known as a friend of God because he trusted God by faith. I cannot justify myself by my works. What an impossible feat that would be! I must live by faith. I am saved by faith and I live out my sanctification by faith as well. I will fall today and tomorrow and again the next day and the next but the promise of God is that, if He started the work in me He would finish it (Phil. 1:6). I need grace every day. The power of grace is there for me to trust in today. I so often feel like I will never get some things right. I too often hear my inner cries of self sufficiency or really it is my admission of felt inadequacy and I think buckle down, get it right. Then I remember the promises of God and I recall that righteousness is a gift, it is a promise given and that this promise, the grace of God, is sufficient for me! That is when I again ask God in faith to continue His work in me.
P= Heavenly Father, I want to walk by your promises and by your provision. I want to accept your work, Lord Jesus, as my sacrifice, as the finished payment for my past sin, my present sin, and the sin of my future. Thank you for the law that revealed to me my need of a Savior. I am always selfish and self deceived without you. I cannot sustain my walk without you every day! Fill me today with your grace and may I walk in faith!
Galatians 3
S=Galatians 3:18 "For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise."
O= The promise made to Abraham according to verse 17 was made 430 years before the law was given to the children of Israel. Abraham was not a child of the law but was called a friend of God. His relationship was based upon faith not following a code of behavior. This chapter clearly lays out the purpose of the law. It was the law that pointed us to the need of a Savior. It is absurd to think that we could keep the law. God gave the law to Israel knowing the impossibility of keeping it! That was the point! He promised Abraham that He would bless the world through him. Through Abraham God did bless the world in Christ but that would have been a mute point unless Christ's life and death was necessary (verse19)! The law shows us our GREAT need for a SAVIOR! The law was used to be an answer to the promise made it WAS NOT the promise! Jesus is our promise (see verse 22). Jesus was the blessing given as Abraham's seed. Faith in Him is what provides justification. Verse 21 is clear righteousness cannot be given through the law, NEVER! The law can only confirm the curse of our sinful condition. The law can only rub the righteousness of God in our face. The law can only teach us the great necessity of God's Amazing Grace! For without faith in Christ's provision and His righteousness we are doomed to earn our salvation.
A= Grace, grace, grace... Abraham never had to sacrifice to be righteous. We see in Genesis that he was not a perfect man and twice he really pimped out his wife to another man and still he was known as a friend of God because he trusted God by faith. I cannot justify myself by my works. What an impossible feat that would be! I must live by faith. I am saved by faith and I live out my sanctification by faith as well. I will fall today and tomorrow and again the next day and the next but the promise of God is that, if He started the work in me He would finish it (Phil. 1:6). I need grace every day. The power of grace is there for me to trust in today. I so often feel like I will never get some things right. I too often hear my inner cries of self sufficiency or really it is my admission of felt inadequacy and I think buckle down, get it right. Then I remember the promises of God and I recall that righteousness is a gift, it is a promise given and that this promise, the grace of God, is sufficient for me! That is when I again ask God in faith to continue His work in me.
P= Heavenly Father, I want to walk by your promises and by your provision. I want to accept your work, Lord Jesus, as my sacrifice, as the finished payment for my past sin, my present sin, and the sin of my future. Thank you for the law that revealed to me my need of a Savior. I am always selfish and self deceived without you. I cannot sustain my walk without you every day! Fill me today with your grace and may I walk in faith!
"Please Only You"
Steven Curtis Chapman
Steven Curtis Chapman
So here I go again, again
I let myself get spread so thin
But I can see right through my skin
And I don't like what I'm finding in my heart
So many different voices call
And I try hard to please them all
I run in circles 'til I fall
So I'm falling on my knees and praying
Please, Please, Please only You, only You
Please, Please, Please take my heart, and make it true
Let everything I say and everything I do
Please, please only you
Please only you
For every moment of my time
For every thought that fills my mind
For every melody and rhyme
This is the prayer that I'll be praying
Please, Please, Please only You, only You
Please, Please, Please take my heart, and make it true
Let everything I say and everything I do
This is what it means to be
The reason why I live and breathe
To know that I am totally existing for Your pleasure
I'm still learning but I know
As this becomes my only goal
The more I find my heart and soul is filled up with joy when I
I please only you
I please only you
Please only you
