Friendly
Persuasion
The Apostle Paul was a
master rhetorician. That is, he used the
power of a formalized persuasive speech to state his beliefs and understanding
of the gospel and the core of Christianity.
We see this most clearly in his letters which at times seem to go around
in circles as he attempts to prove a point.
The center of his letter to the churches in Galatia is no exception!
After
establishing his bona fides and letting his readers know he is really angry
about even having to address the questions about membership requirements for
the Christian Church (should pagans/Gentiles become Jews as a prerequisite to
becoming a Christian?), he decides to lay out his argument in his own style of
persuasive argument.
Galatians
2:15-21: Here is my foundational
belief. We are justified by faith in
Jesus.
Galatians
3:1-5: Remember your own
experience. Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing
what you heard?
Galatians
3:19-25: This is what the Law really
means, its true purpose. These verses
(and their varied interpretations) are examples of Paul being his particularly
convoluted self. However, if you take
Paul’s basic argument at face-value (salvation/justification comes through
faith in Jesus Christ), then in verse 22
– you get his premise. The Law had its
validity for a time. Its purpose was a
form of “holding pattern” until Christ came.
It gave us form and structure to navigate on this earth. But now that Christ has come, we have been
set free from that holding pattern.
Galatians
3:27-28: We are one in our
baptisms. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with
Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek,
there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female, for all of
you are one in Christ Jesus.
Can we look
at one another across denominational lines, across church tradition lines,
across “conservative” or “progressive” lines, across conflicted church
lines? Can we see each other as one in
Christ Jesus? Can we listen to one
another through our baptisms? Can we,
united in our baptisms, be united in discipleship to the world in Christ
Jesus? Can we humble ourselves so Christ
might live through us?
May it be so.
Grace and Peace
Rev. Clara