42 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
42 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Galatians 6:11–18"
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date = "2023-08-24"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Galatians6.11-18)
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In a at least one of Paul's letters, the secretary who took Paul's dictation
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inserted himself into the letter to send his own greetings to the church. More
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often, though, we see evidence that Paul pens his own conclusions to the
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letters. To the Galatians, he tells us that we could see the large letters that
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he wrote, if we had his original manuscript. (Now I wonder if any scribe tried
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to capture this style when they copied the manuscript.) I can think of a couple
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of good reasons why he would do this. In chapter 4, he mentioned that the
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Galatians would have given him their eyes if they could, which implies that
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there was something wrong with his own eyes. Perhaps his eyesight was poor or
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became so, and the Galatians could see these large letters and know for sure he
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wrote them.
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Another possibility is that Paul really wants to draw attention to what he's
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about to say. In the very next sentence he exposes the true motivations of the
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ones trying to force the Galatians to become Jews. During the middle of the
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first century, there was a movement of extreme Jewish nationalism. It's
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adherents chafed mightily under Roman rule and were concerned about the
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Hellenization encroaching on their way of life. They rebelled and agitated
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enough that Rome eventually sent an army that sacked Jerusalem and completely
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destroyed the temple in <span style="font-variant-caps:
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small-caps">a.d.</style> 70. Before then, these nationalists would be opposed
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to the church welcoming Gentiles into its number, so Paul says the Judaizer
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party is trying to make the Gentile believers into Jews in order to appease the
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nationalists.
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Paul reiterates that circumcision in itself does not affect one's status. Even
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those who trust in it can not keep the whole law. Instead, what counts is what
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Christ has done on the cross and what He works through us because of that.
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Nothing else matters in this world or the next, so let us make much of Him.
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* * *
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Your grace is more amazing than we can comprehend, and we are able to worship
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You because of it.
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