The Galatian Error -- Mixed Message of God's Grace and Man's Effort

My mother was a well-meaning soul in many respects.

She believed, as do many Christians, that God sent His Son to die for our sins, that we are assured our place heaven, but as for living on this earth, we are on our own.

Much of this confusion stems from the fact that many people are only receiving half of the Gospel, if even that.

John 3: 16 is so simple as to mystify, like a man who misplaces his glasses, which have been resting on his forehead the whole time:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3: 16)

Not just so that we would not perish, but God sent His Son so that we would have eternal life, and we receive this life through Jesus Christ Himself:

"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossianss 1: 27)

and then

"3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3: 3-4)

In my life, I had always known and believed that I was going to heaven.

As for living on this earth, I had no idea what I was doing, or what I was supposed to do.

Bob George, a pastor based in Oregon who sponsored a program called "People to People" Ministries, submitted that many people are in bondage to this error.

His words are telling:

"The Galatian error has been the greatest thorn in the flesh of the church since the very beginning. In many places and times, it has been bold and straightforward. . .The one that is much more difficult and much more common. . .is committed by groups that swear up and down that a person is saved by grace through faith alone. . .Their only problem is that their use of the word "salvation" is limited to your initial acceptance of Christ, the issue of where you go when you die. Here and now, though, they teach that God accepts you on the basis of your performance of certain rules and regulations." (Classic Christianity, 1989, pg 126)

This is simply not the case for believers who have been made the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 21), and who cannot expect to go from Spirit back to law and self-effort:

"Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3: 3)

In fact, in trying to be good and holy through our efforts, or in "the flesh", these perversions are the result:

"19Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." (Galatians 5: 19-21)

So, like many people, my mother and I and  many others in "Twelve Step" Programs do not know how to live, since we only heard that part of the Gospel that informed us that Jesus died on the Cross for our sins.

My mother would often share: ""With these two books, you will be just fine. The Twelve Steps makes the Christian life practical."