with Bob Condly
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Spirit

God Our Savior

By Bob Condly
August 21, 2020
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If you ask me who’s my savior, I’d answer “Jesus!” without hesitation. That’s the basic gospel truth – Jesus is the Savior. And because I trust in Christ, He’s my Savior. As He Himself said,

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” – Luke 19:10

That’s me! Recalling the line from “Amazing Grace,” “I once was lost, but now I’m found.” The good news is that Jesus can and will save anyone who calls for His help.

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:13

In a general sense, Christ saves because God does. Six times the Old Testament identifies God as our Savior (see 1 Chronicles 16:35, Psalms 65:5, 68:19, 79:9, and 85:4). And in the New Testament, Jude 25 repeats this phrase.

In spite of having written thirteen letters, the apostle Paul uses this expression only in two of his three Pastoral Epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus). These are the letters he penned to apostolic assistants he’d dispatched to the churches of Ephesus and Crete. These congregations needed help getting their teaching and leadership in order. Since Paul wasn’t able to come to their aid, he sent Timothy and Titus in his place.

Here are the verses that mention “God our Savior” or use similar terminology:

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, 2To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” – 1 Timothy 1:1-2

“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” – 1 Timothy 2:3-4

“That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.” – 1 Timothy 4:10

“and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,” – Titus 1:3

“Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive” – Titus 2:9-10.

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” – Titus 3:4-5a

Paul’s choice of words surprises me. Like I said at the beginning of this post, when I think of my Savior, I think of Jesus. I know Paul agrees. Twice He calls Jesus our Savior.

“To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.” – Titus 1:4

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” – Titus 3:4-7

But Paul isn’t confused. He doesn’t believe we have two saviors. Instead, he identifies Jesus as our divine redeemer:

“We wait for the blessed hope–the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” – Titus 2:13

What an amazing confession! Jesus is so much more than a great religious teacher. He’s the Lord God who saves us! There’s no one like Him!

Given the uniqueness and majesty of Jesus, it strikes me as odd that Paul refers to God as Savior twice as often as He refers to Jesus that way. Since he was dealing with Christians, shouldn’t he have emphasized Christ?

But Paul knows what he’s doing. The people in Ephesus and Crete were getting caught up in Jewish teachings about issues like the Mosaic law and genealogies. Some folks were stirring up trouble by imposing legalistic morality on believers. This heretical teaching concluded that if we want to be saved, we owe God our best efforts. The more religious our behavior, the more spiritual we are.

The apostle reminds Timothy and Titus to stress God’s grace. If anyone gets saved, it’s only due to the mercy and lovingkindness of the Lord. Salvation is God’s work, not ours. And the reason why salvation is the work of the Lord is because of who He is. God Himself is our Savior. Were it otherwise, He wouldn’t have sent His Son. He would have withheld His Holy Spirit, too, seeing that we’re unworthy to receive Him.

God’s work of salvation flows from His character and His heart. It’s God’s plan fulfilled by Jesus and instilled in us by the Spirit. Paul stresses God as our Savior to highlight divine grace. Because it’s only by God’s grace that we’re saved.

His plan, His purpose, His work.

Wow!

Fulfilling the Law of Christ

By Bob Condly
August 23, 2019
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“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:2

Question

What’s the law of Christ? Paul doesn’t define it in this verse, but he describes how we can observe it. We do so by carrying each other’s burdens.

But I don’t recall Jesus instructing His disciples to do this. And what’s more, this notion of the law of Christ smacks of legalism. Doesn’t it conflict with the doctrine of grace which Paul stressed wherever he travelled?

John the apostle highlighted the distinction in his gospel.

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” – John 1:17

So what does Paul mean by the law of Christ and how are we Christians supposed to keep it?

Background

Let’s back up and start from the top.

Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians to teach them (and us) how to stay saved. I realize that a lot of ministers and pastors disagree. They believe that many in the church were buying into a Jewish notion of salvation by the works of the Mosaic law. So the apostle had to remind them that God’s grace saves those who trust in Christ.

But Paul reveals his heart in the middle of the letter when he asks two questions that are more realistic than rhetorical:

“Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” – Galatians 3:3

The Galatian knew that their journey with Jesus had begun by God’s grace given by the Holy Spirit. But how do we stick to the path of Christ? What keeps us on the right road to heaven? Obeying laws and regulations in our own power, or relying on the same Spirit Who got us going? The answer is clear: the Spirit who starts our life with Jesus sustains us with Him and will bring us home to glory.

In chapter 5, Paul asks them another question, one designed to encourage and correct: 

“You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?” – Galatians 5:7

Again, these Christians had started their spiritual race well, but along the way, they were getting disrupted. Attempting to please God by keeping rules and regulations was distracting them from depending on the Holy Spirit. And that’s unfortunate because the goal of discipleship, a Christlike life, is possible only by the Spirit:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22-23

Afterwards, Paul instructs about how to deal with Christians who get so caught up in self-reliance that they end up violating God’s will:

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” – Galatians 6:1

Spirit-centered, gentle, humble, self-aware–these describe mature Christians who are growing in holiness. Such children of God are capable of helping a fellow believer repent of a shortfall and prevail over it. Rather than condemning one who sins, they serve as agents of restoration. The Spirit is the secret to overcoming sin.

25 times Paul mentions the law in this letter. He wants to dissuade people from trying to perfect themselves by keeping the ordinances of the old covenant. In contrast, he refers to the Spirit or spirit 14 times and grace 8 times. These are the sources of victory in the Christian life.

Answer

So what does Paul mean by the law of Christ? He beats the Galatians at their own game by using their language against them. He takes their enthusiasm for God’s law as the supposed means of holiness and directs it to Jesus. And isn’t the prime ministry of the Holy Spirit to reveal and exalt Jesus? If the Galatians would conduct themselves in the Spirit, they’d be less concerned about the law of God and more focused on the Son of God.

Application

What’s the law of Christ? In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, it’s the way of life in the Spirit. A heart growing in purity and power by the grace of God. A soul becoming more like Jesus every day.

Are you accustomed to relying on yourself to live up to God’s standards? How long can you maintain that course before you crash? Instead, let the Holy Spirit transform you. He will renew you and put you on a different path. Follow Him and you will learn more about Jesus and come to resemble His character. He’ll help you to deal with your sins and use you to take care of the failures of others with effectiveness and compassion.

That’s how you fulfill the law of Christ.

with Bob Condly

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