The Gift of the Holy Spirit and the Process of Salvation (Tues. Oct. 1)

The word of the day is “Spirit.” Paul emphasized that we are saved through faith as he wrote in Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (OSB Ephesians 2:9).  Yet, despite its critical importance, many mistake faith for something less.  They substitute what is essential for salvation for something inferior that cannot save them.

In Paul’s day, the primary rival to faith was the works that the law of Moses prescribed.  In today’s reading of Galatians 2:21-3:17, Paul attacks this challenger.  He writes, “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? (OSB vs. 2).  He is so adamant that he asks the same question twice (OS vs. 5).

Salvation is a Process

That powerful question seems a bit off track.  Why didn’t Paul say, “Were you saved by faith?” The answer is that “salvation” is a process.  The Greek Archdiocesan Website states, “The reception of the gift of salvation is not a one-time event, but a lifetime process.  St. Paul employs the verb “to save” (sozesthai) in the past tense (‘we have been saved,’) [Rom 8:24; Eph 2:5], in the present tense (‘we are being saved,’) [1 Cor 1:18; 15:2], and in the future tense (‘we will be saved,’) [Rom.  5:10].  He can think even of justification as a future event and part of the final judgment (Rom. 2:13, 16) (Stylianopoulos 2012).

The Question: Have You Received the Holy Spirit?

Therefore, we might put the question, “Have you received the Holy Spirit as a sign of the promise of salvation?”.  The Holy Spirit, you see, is the guarantee of the promises of God because He is the down payment of the future blessings of the Kingdom (2 Corinthians 1:22).

Paul’s reasoning is based on his experience that hearing the Gospel inspires faith, and faith receives the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For example, when Peter preached to the Gentile Centurion Cornelius, Luke reports, “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the Word (Acts 10:44).  In response, Peter asked, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” (OSB Acts 10:47).

The Gift of the Holy Spirit: A Sign that God Had Given Grace Through Faith

 Accordingly, at the Jerusalem Council, Peter testified, “So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us” (Acts 15:8).  The decision to admit Gentiles into the church’s fellowship was grounded in the idea that the reception Holy Spirit was an unmistakable sign that God had extended His favor to the Gentiles through faith.

Faith is only visible to God, who alone sees the heart.  But the gifts of the Holy Spirit manifest what is in the inner self.  Thus, Paul wrote, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all (1 Corinthians 12:7).  Likewise, as a tree is known by its fruits (Luke 6:44), the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) give outward testimony to the inner condition of the soul.

Paul’s point is that this reasoning denies that we can be saved by keeping the Mosaic law.  If we can earn our salvation by observing the Law of Moses, then faith is not only unnecessary but negated.  And if faith is void, then Jesus Christ died nothing (vs. 2:21).

Created in Christ for Good Works

However, recall that salvation is a process.  In the same letter of Ephesians that declares that we are saved through faith, Paul writes, “For we are His [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

For Reflection

The Lord sends us the Holy Spirit to equip and empower us to grow in our faithful response to God, becoming more and more like Him in “deification.”  Thus in Against Heresies, Irenaeus writes, “But we do now receive a certain portion of His Spirit, tending towards perfection, and preparing us for incorruption, being little by little accustomed to receive and bear God; which also the apostle terms ‘an earnest,’ that is, a part of the honor which has been promised us by God, where he says in the Epistle to the Ephesians, ‘In which ye also, having heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, believing in which we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance.’  This earnest, therefore, thus is dwelling in us, renders us Spiritual even now, and the mortal is swallowed up by immortality” (Irenaeus, Book V, Chapter 8).

Works Cited

Irenaeus. Against Heresies. Edited by Kevin Knight: New Advent.

Stylianopoulos, Theodore. 2012. "How Are We Saved?" Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. https://www.goarch.org/-/how-are-we-saved-.

Dead to the Law But Alive to God (Mon. Sept. 30)

The Word of the Day is “Law.”  We take it for granted that the Mosaic Law and its regulations and restrictions do not apply to us. But today, we reflect on why that Law no longer holds us captive. We learn that each of us is personally liberated from the bondage to the Law and its judgment and given the grace of the Holy Spirit through Holy Baptism. Today, we learn to think sacramentally about our salvation. We realize that the water and oil of the Holy Mystery of Baptism and Chrismation are agents of grace by which we die to sin and rise to the freedom of the New Life of Christ in the Spirit.

In today’s reading of Galatians 2:11-16, St. Paul reports on an incident that provoked him to develop his theology of the cross. The apostle states that he confronted the apostle Peter for inconsistent conduct. Peter ate with the Gentiles in Antioch until some Jewish Christians from Jerusalem objected. Fearing their disapproval, the foremost disciple of Christ backed off, and even Paul’s co-worked Barnabas did the same.

Paul Charged that Peter was Contradictory and Hypocritical

Paul did not hold back but charged that Peter’s conduct was both contradictory and hypocritical. From a historical point of view, the more significant inconsistency was that, at this time, there were two parallel communions of Christians. One was the fellowship of the circumcised who kept the Law of Moses. They even observed the dietary and social rules against eating with Gentiles. The other circle was the group of churches that Paul and others had started in the Roman Empire. This grouping had a mixture of Jewish Christians and Gentiles. And by the decision of the Jerusalem Council, these Gentiles were not circumcised nor bound to keep the Mosaic Law.

The issue that Paul discerned was whether the cross was the center of the Gospel. He stated, “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died in vain (Galatians 2:21). One cannot have it both ways, as Paul teaches in Romans.  One either depends on one’s own righteousness or one depends on the righteousness of Christ. For the former, one must try one’s best to keep the Law—and will fail.  For the latter, “Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:3).

What the Law Could Not Do, God Did

Paul explains, “For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Romans 8:3a). Thus God “condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3b). Again, he writes that by the cross, God “… made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

For Reflection

It takes a sacramental understanding to grasp the relationship of the cross, grace, “works of the Law,” and the believer. Paul writes, “For through the Law, I died to the Law so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:19-20).

Being “crucified with Christ” means that we have died to the Law and its condemnation. Therefore, they do not affect us. It cannot make us righteous before God. And it can no longer condemn us.

Sorry: no post for Sun. Sept. 29

Glorifying God With Our Bodies (Sat. Sept. 28)

 

The Word of the Day is “body.”  Of all the gifts of God, one of the most precious and yet neglected and mistreated is the body.  Yet in our reading of 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, the apostle writes, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and that you are not your own” (vs. 19).  Today the apostle teaches us the proper reverence for the body that Christ has “bought with a price” (vs. 20).

Many people have a complex relationship with our bodies.  When it comes to the treatment of their bodies, many vacillate between self-indulgence and self-punishment.  We have found in the current pandemic that our bodies are vulnerable, whether they are strong or frail.  The virus has reminded us that our bodies are subject to corruption.  And from the time we are born, we experience the relentless process of aging toward our death.

The Wonder of Our Bodies

Still no matter whether we spoil them or abuse them, the basic bodily functions do their work of keeping us alive: the lungs, heart, digestion, lymphatic system, and brain all work together while our bones and muscles respond to the directions that they are given.  Truly the body is a miraculous gift of God.

Yet the body needs discipline.  St. Paul says, “But I discipline my body and bring it under subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).  The Greek word for “discipline” comes from the sense of striking a blow under the eye as if boxing (Strong’s #5299, 260).  Accordingly, some translations translate it as “strike a blow” (NIV 1 Corinthians 9:27) or “buffet” (AMS 1 Corinthians 9:27).  The thought is of an athlete in training who brings the body under “servitude” that is, under “bondage” or “slavery” (Strong’s #1396, 73).  We might say the athletes “bring it under control.”

The Purpose of Bodily Discipline

This discipline is not to inflict pain.  It is to subdue the body’s appetites and passions, its sensual desires.  The apostle mentions two bodily sources of temptation:  food and sexual immorality.  In the case of food, he reminds us that food is simply nutrition.  And if we view it as that, eating need not control us.  On the other hand, sexual immorality is an assault on oneself (vs. 18).  Furthermore, it is a desecration of the holy place where the Spirit dwells since the body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit (vs. 19).

Despite its role in temptation, the body deserves our utmost reverence.  The Apostle writes, “You are not your own; you were bought with a price” (vs. 19-21).  In this way, the apostle refers to our “redemption,” a term that refers to the purchase of slaves in the marketplace in order to free them (Strong’s 1805, 90).  Paul uses this term when he writes, “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:5).  Peter uses another term for “redeem” that means to be released from slavery by the payment of a ransom.  He writes, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18)

Because of this redemption, we now owe our freedom to the one who bought it for us.  In Galatians, the consequence is that we receive the “adoption” as “children of God” (Galatians 4:5). In 1 Peter it is that we live in fear, that is reverence to God (1 Peter 1:17).

Glorifying God with Our Body

But note that in our reading, the effect is that we should “Glorify God in your body and in your spirit” (vs. 20).  This is a startling statement of the Lord’s regard for the worth of the body.  It is redeemed and made holy by the blood of Christ along with the spirit.  And it is now a means of glorifying God.  We should not treat it as mortal stuff that we can mistreat until it dies and is buried.  But it is a gift of God to be cherished and used to love our Creator and serve our neighbor.

For Reflection

As Lent approaches, we might consider our attitudes toward the body during that sacred time of prayer and fasting.  Our reading discourages us from punishing our body as the cause of sin or as a payment for our trespasses.  Rather, Lent is a time for repentance, the redirection of our hearts and minds to God, and the reorienting of our way of life.  To accomplish this turning around, the discipline of our bodies is necessary to align our bodies with the intention of our spirits.

Bearing the One Anothers While Bearing Our Own Load (Friday, September 27)

Today's Word of the Day is 'bear." The key to today's reading is that a single word can carry different meanings depending on how it is used in its context. That principle applies to our reading of Galatians 6:2-10, which seems to present a paradox. Paul first writes, 'Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ' (OSB vs. 2). However, the apostle seems to go on to contract himself when he says, "'For each will have to bear his own load' (OSB vs. 5). In today's study, we will find that these verses are not opposed to one another. They refer to different uses of the word "bear" in the situation that Paul is addressing.

Bear One Another’s Burdens

The first statement is that we should “bear each other’s burdens” (OSB vs. 2). The word “burdens” here refers to what is “heavy,” that is, “loads” or “weights” (Strong’s #922).  Therefore, the thought of “heavy loads” is a metaphor for troubles that weigh us down. Paul teaches that we are to “take up” or “carry” these difficulties for one another (Strong’s 941).

We should carry each other’s struggles just as the Lord “has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows,” according to Isaiah’s prophesy (OSB Isaiah 53:14).[i] The word “borne” in Hebrew refers to “lifting,” “carrying,” and “taking [along with us]” (Strong’s Hebrew #5375).  And the word “carried” means to lift a heavy load (Strong’s Hebrew #5445).

Mutual Support in the Body of Christ

It is important to note that the Lord taught that our support of one another should be mutual. The cares of others should become our cares.  The troubles of others should become our troubles.  The concerns of others should become our concerns.  Accordingly, Paul teaches that there should be “no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another” (1 Cor. 12:25).  If one member suffers, all the members suffer. If one member is honored, all the members are honored (OSB 1 Corinthians 12:25-26). Thus, the mutual sharing of the weight of our troubles testifies to the church’s unity in Christ.

The Term “Bear” In a Different Sense

However, Paul uses the term “bear” differently.  He writes, “

Each will bear his own load “(OSB vs. 6).  We can understand why Paul is using the word in another sense if we ask why Paul is doing so.  In verse 3, Paul abruptly turns to the question of those in Corinth who are “puffed up” with pride.  The apostle suggests that their bragging is empty.  It is self-deception (vs. 3).  Therefore, Paul urges, “Let each one examine his own work” (vs. 4).  Self-criticism is the remedy for self-conceit. In self-reflection, one discovers what accomplishments he can “rejoice in” and what congratulations belong to another (vs. 4).

In this light, Paul declares that everyone shall carry his own weight (vs. 6).  We can express the sense of this word when we say everyone will bear responsibility for their own work.  What we do or do not do will reap the credit or the blame in the judgment of the Lord.

For Reflection

Today’s reading presents a challenge to us because it is a summary of Paul’s teaching.  To wrap up his message, the apostle skips from one topic to another.  The apostle’s final admonitions are like aphorisms, succinct kernels of truth and wise counsel.  But like other adages, these pithy statements are easy to remember, such as “Bear one another’s burdens,” “Each one must bear his own load,” and “Examine your own work.”  These sayings provide a kind of New Testament wisdom comparable to Proverbs, the Wisdom of Solomon, and Sirach.  Like the wisdom of the Old Testament, we should understand each on its own terms.

Notes

[i] The Greek Septuagint translates, “This One bears our sins and is pained for us .”  Matthew 8:17 and 1 Peter 2:24 cite this version.

Galatians 6:2-10, Aphorisms of wisdom, bear one another’s burdens, each bear his own load, He has borne our griefs, if one suffers all suffer, 

Decending Our Liberty in Christ (Thursday, September 26)

 The Word of the Day is “liberty.” In today’s reading of Galatians 1-10, 20-2:5, Paul writes about “false brethren” “who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage” (OSB vs. 2:4).

There is physical imprisonment, but there is also spiritual bondage. There is servitude to earthly masters, but there is also slavery to sin (OSB Romans 6:20). Then, too, we can exchange one kind of freedom for another.

But we can be freed from sin only to be enslaved by another kind of captivity. Today, we learn of Paul’s teaching that the Galatians should not trade their freedom in Christ for new spiritual bondage. This case teaches us to fiercely guard our liberty in Christ against those who would enslave us with human preoccupations, practices, and prescriptions that would negate God’s undeserved gift of God’s grace.

Surprisingly, as he begins his letter to the Galatians, St. Paul skips over the customary polite greetings of a letter and immediately expresses his grave concern that a “false Gospel” has misled his flock (vs. 6). The apostle speaks of “false brothers” who have conspired against the liberty that the faithful in Galatia have in Christ (vs. 2:4). The Galatians had once accepted the “Good News” of grace. But now, imposters have enticed them to submit to bondage to the Mosaic Law (vs. 2:4). This 'false Gospel' refers to a distorted version of the true Gospel, which is the message of salvation through faith in Christ's grace.

LIBERTY IS FREEDOM FROM RESTRAINT, OBLIGATION, OR LIABILITY

In response to this threat of slavery, Paul signals in our reading that his epistle will be a provocative declaration of the freedom given by the grace of God in Christ. The Greek Word for the “liberty” of St. Paul’s gospel is derived from the word for going where one wants to go. Thus, “liberty” is freedom from restraint, obligation, or liability (Strong’s #1658, 84).

In this fiery letter, St. Paul defends this freedom of grace. He proclaims that the Mosaic Law, the set of laws given to Moses by God, no longer restrains the faithful. The Law had enslaved them. But now, their freedom from the Law enabled them to become children of God (3:26-4:7). He preaches that since Christ had perfectly fulfilled the Law, believers were no longer obligated to keep it to be righteous before God (2:21). He teaches that those who have faith in Christ are not under the curse that applied to those who could not keep the Law (3:10-14).

PAUL DID NOT RECEIVE HIS GOSPEL FROM ANYONE BUT CHRIST

In today’s reading, St. Paul insists that this gospel of liberty is the true gospel. He recounts that he did not consult with anyone after his dramatic vision of the Risen Christ. Thus, he did not receive “his Gospel” from anyone. He obtained it from the revelation of Christ himself (vs.12). The apostle also presents his version of the Jerusalem Council (vs. 2:2), the meeting of the apostles that accepted his message, and the mission to the Gentiles.

Today’s reading vividly portrays St. Paul's impassioned stance toward the gospel of freedom from the Mosaic Law. This doctrine of grace was not just a belief for him but the very foundation of his outreach to the Gentiles. In Paul’s day, whether the Gentiles must be circumcised and bound to the Mosaic Law was a contentious issue, and Paul's fervor in defending his position is palpable.

THE GOSPEL OF GRACE: THE FOUNDATION OF THE GENTILE MISSION

The apostle was so adamant against those who sought to preserve the rule of the Mosaic Law that he used course language like “accursed,” “false brethren,” and “yield into submission” (1:9, 2:4, 2:5). And no wonder, for the ruling that the Gentiles must keep the Mosaic Law to be members of the Body of Christ would mean the collapse of the mission to those who were not Jews. It would also make the faith in Christ one more form of the Jewish religion instead of the fulfillment of God’s promises and the means of salvation for the whole world.

FOR REFLECTION: DEFENDING OUR FREEDOM IN CHRIST

The Mosaic Law may not enslave us with all its ritual, dietary, social, and religious regulations. But we may have unwittingly let ourselves be restrained, obligated, and liable to other forms of spiritual bondage. Our study of Galatians teaches that when human beings pose requirements for salvation other than faith in the grace of God, they are undermining the gospel. When human persons insert regulations, restrictions, and obligations between us and our relationship with Christ, then we should resist them. We should reject the focus on these substitutes for grace with the enthusiasm that Paul expressed to the Galatians.

The structures, practices, and hierarchies of the church should be sacramental rather than end in themselves. That is, the church's traditions should be means of drawing us ever closer to the Lord and our fellow believers. If anything does not enlighten, equip, and edify us in the grace of Christ, then we should free ourselves from it, as Paul claimed liberty for the Galatians. 

Being in Christ and Living in Christ (Wed. Sept. 25)

The Word of the Day (Wednesday, September 25)

Being in Christ and Living in Christ

The Word of the Day is “in.” What do we mean when we speak of being “in Christ”? Today, in our reading of 2 Corinthians 13:3-14, Paul uses the term “in” in two senses. He writes, “Since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you” (OSB vs. 3). He also says, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is “in” you– unless indeed you are disqualified” (OSB vs. 5)? Today, we will analyze our reading cording to the meaning of these two uses. Our study will help us expand our understanding of our relationship to Christ.

Today, in 2 Corinthians 13:3-14, Paul closes what we now call his second letter to the Corinthians. We find that the apostle is preparing the members of the congregation for his third visit. The situation seems to have improved after his “painful visit” in about 55 A. D. and his letter (called 1 Corinthians). However, Paul worries that not every conflict has been resolved in the congregation and that not everyone practicing open and shameful sin has repented.

Paul Will Come “in the Power of God”

If either is the case, Paul will not back down. He will exercise his apostolic authority in the name and power of God (vs. 4) and correct those at fault. We find the key to this passage in a boast of his opponents. They charged that “His letters… are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible” (2 Cor. 9). The apostle responds that he will not come to Corinth in weakness but in the power of God (vs. 4). The sentence construction, however, is complex. Paul says, “You seek a proof of Christ speaking in me…” (vs. 3). Then he says that though Christ “was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God (vs. 4).

In these verses, Paul plays on this contrast between weakness and strength. In a sentence that is parallel to the verse above, he goes on, “We also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you” (vs. 4). In other words, Paul says that in his first visit, he did not come to Corinth with powerful words and compelling wisdom. He came with the message of the seeming weakness of the cross. But if the apostle returns to Corinth, he will come with the power of God, who raised Christ from the dead and lives eternally. In short, Paul will come “in Christ” and manifest the Lord’s weakness and His power. Therefore, he says his visit will demonstrate that Christ is “speaking in me” (vs. 3).

Paul Will Be the Instrument of Christ

What does it mean that he will not come in weakness but in the “power of God”? Paul’s use of the term does not refer to location but function. He comes as the means of God’s power and as the instrument of Christ. Therefore, he will show that Christ is “speaking in” him. That is, Christ will speak through the medium of his voice.

But then, Paul turns the whole matter around. The question to be answered is not whether Christ is “in” the apostle and Paul is Christ’s instrument. The question is whether Christ dwells “in” the members of the Corinthian church. It is a matter of self-examination. If Jesus Christ is “in” them, then Paul’s visit will be a blessing. However, if they believe and act as if the Lord is not “in” them, they are already “disqualified.” That is, they are already spiritual failures.

Being “In Christ” is a Spiritual State of Being

Whether one is “in” Christ refers to a location within a boundary, such as a container. To be “in” Christ is, of course, not a physical position. It is a spiritual state of oneness with the Lord. Since it is an inner condition, no one can say whether another is “in Christ.” However, one must know that through “self-examination” (OSB vs. 5)

For Reflection 

The study of today’s passage raises the same matter for our self-examination. Are we living “in Christ”? Paul wrote in Philippians, “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ and to be found in Him…” (OSB Philippians 3:8). To be “in” Christ” means that He becomes “our wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). When we are “in Him,” we have the gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23). When we live “outside” of the boundaries of His life, we are also “outside” the benefits of God’s grace.

We may believe that we are in the state of being “in Christ’ But are we living in a way that is worthy of this status: are we “living in Christ?” Paul wrote, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (OSB Colossians 3:17). To conduct ourselves in the power of Christ means that we speak and act with the divine power and authority of Christ as His disciples and servants. We consciously live as the instruments of the Lord’s peace, goodness, and love.