Galatians 3:2 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?

It is interesting that there are essentially no new heresies; all the lies have been around since at least the 1^st century, and probably since the Garden of Eden. Today there are countless earnest believers who practice performance-based religion. It’s not at all that what we do doesn’t matter, but that isn’t what sets us right with God. The devil attacks us from both sides on this issue. On the one hand he tells us we have to follow a set of rules for God to love us, and on the other hand he tells us that we can do anything we feel like, because God loves us anyway. What is so dangerous is that both of those lies are just a little bit off of the truth. We are indeed justified by faith alone, as Paul argues so strongly in this whole letter, and at the same time we are called to be holy, (1 Peter 1:14-16) and we were created to do good things that God has already planned and prepared for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10) We need to keep both of those things in our minds and hearts, in full submission to God, if we are indeed going to resist the devil and have him flee from us. (James 4:7) One interesting thing to note about Galatians is that they were what we would call “Charismatic” or “Pentecostal” Christians; they evidently had and operated in the gifts of the Spirit. No branch of Christianity is immune from the lies of the devil! We all need a fundamental humility that causes us to seek and cling to Christ alone, or we will fall prey to the devil’s lies.

I have been saddened to see dear friends who seem imbedded in their religious traditions to the point of ignoring the liberty of the Spirit, (2 Corinthians 3:17) but I am just as prone to get in a rut and do “business as usual,” instead of always seeking more of my Lord. The Lord is leading me into a new season in my life, with retirement from school teaching, and I need to be fresh and ready for whatever He says to me. Traditions and habits aren’t bad in themselves, but I must not let them blind me to what the Lord is saying to me right now. I have all sorts of desires and expectations that are rooted in my flesh rather than in the Spirit of my God, and my choice must always be to follow Christ. I must never take things for granted and think that I know it all or have it all, but keep learning and growing as an obedient child of God.

Father, thank You for this reminder. The devil’s attacks can be very subtle. Help me be so in tune with You that I recognize them immediately and stand against them appropriately, so that his works may be destroyed (1 John 3:8) and Your rule and reign be established, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!