Galatians 6:10 (KJV) Are You Doing Good the Biblical Way?

Galatians 6:10 (KJV)

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

I’m a local church guy. I don’t believe the Bible teaches any other kind of church. There is no such thing as a universal body of Christ— invisible or otherwise.

I do recognize that Christians outside my church are brothers and sisters in Christ. But, like my own brothers and sisters in the flesh, we’ve grown up and belong to our own families now. I love my brothers and sisters in the flesh, but they don’t have a key to my house! Those belong strictly to my immediate family.

The same principle applies to local churches. We are related, to be sure, but we are independent, separate, and must remain so.

With that in mind…

“…let us do good unto all men…”

I take this to mean exactly what it says. I want to do good to all men:

• Saved or unsaved
• American or foreign
• Friend or stranger
• Even an enemy

“…especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”

I would want to prioritize my “doing good” to those within my local church.

“As we have therefore opportunity…”

I must prioritize because opportunity is limited by time, supply, and energy. I want to do good to all men, but realizing my limits, I prioritize like this:

• First, to those in my local church.
• Second, to those who are believers.
• Finally, to those who are unbelievers.

Realizing my resources are limited, and recognizing that I have biblical priorities, I am able to budget my time, talents, and treasures so that I might have opportunities to do good unto all men.

#HouseholdOfFaith #DoGoodToAllMen #LocalChurchPriority #BiblicalPriorities #FaithInAction

Are You Doing Good the Biblical Way? The Biblical Order for Helping Others

What do you think about the priority Paul gives in Galatians 6:10?

Do you believe Christians should focus first on their local church, or should the order be different? I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts. Leave a comment and join the conversation.

If you enjoy simple, practical Bible teaching like this, I invite you to visit marvinmckenzie.org where you’ll find more studies, articles, and resources to help you grow in your understanding of God’s Word.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7000 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

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Galatians 6:10 (KJV) Are You Doing Good the Biblical Way?

Galatians 4:31 (KJV) Rules, Rituals, and Religion

Galatians 4:31 (KJV)

So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

We are free, not bound.

The passage deals specifically with the Judaizers. It is incredible to me that there are those claiming to be Christians these days who go back to the Old Testament law, observing days and months and times and years.

There is that whole idea that you cannot be saved unless you observe the Sabbath. The very strictest of Christians will not insist you cannot be saved if you skip Sunday church!

Then there are those who observe things like the Feast of Tabernacles. Going camping is just fine, but sleeping in your backyard and calling it part of a religious experience is anti-Christian.

But I am afraid of much more than that.

I am afraid that we place ourselves in bondage in many ways. We structure and organize and plan and refine to the place where there is little to no room for the liberty that is ours through the Spirit of God.

We are not meant to be—yea, we are not—the children of bondage, but of the free.

But freedom, I think, in every realm requires that we fight for it.

Freedom, I think, in every realm is worth dying for.

Freedom, I think, in every realm must be insisted upon.

A realm might be political, spiritual, religious, emotional, or even how we use our time.

#LibertyInChrist #NotUnderTheLaw #ChristianFreedom #ChildrenOfTheFree #StandFastInLiberty

Rules, Rituals, and Religion: Professing Christians Returning to Religious Bondage

What do you think about this truth from Galatians 4:31? Are Christians today living in the liberty Christ gave us, or are we slowly rebuilding systems that place believers back into bondage?

I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts. Leave a comment below and join the discussion.

If you enjoy Bible studies like this one and want more lessons, articles, and teaching resources, I invite you to visit marvinmckenzie.org. You’ll find many studies designed to help believers understand Scripture and walk faithfully with the Lord.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7000 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Galatians 4:31 (KJV) Rules, Rituals, and Religion

Galatians 3:11 (KJV) Faith or Works?

Galatians 3:11 (KJV)

But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

The Word of God says there is “evidence” that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God. It is also, I think, evident that in some circles men are justified by the law in the sight of men.

• Judaizers.
• Muslims.
• Seventh-day Adventists.

And some modern-day quasi-Christian denominations that have been duped into returning—foolishly—to the works of the law.

The evidence that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God (in whose sight I am only concerned) is based upon the written Word of God.

Habakkuk 2:4 (KJV)

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

Regardless of the skeptics, inspired by serpentine theology, the Bible—God’s Word—is the sole basis for faith and practice. God’s Word lays the foundation: “the just shall live by his faith.”

Not by his good deeds.

Not by the performance of the law.

Galatians goes on to build upon this foundation:

• The law is not of faith.
• The man that doeth them shall live in them.
• Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.

Justification—redemption—is a work of faith. The law is not of faith but of works. The man who attempts justification by the law is trapped in a life of “good works,” of which he can never do enough.

The roof that covers this structure is that Christ’s death on the cross purchased us out of the trap of works. When a man places faith in the finished work of Jesus, he is sheltered, protected, and covered by Christ.

The point of the book of Galatians is to persuade people who are tempted and tossed by the works of the law to come finally and fully to trust Christ alone.

For trusting Christ alone is faith.

#JustShallLiveByFaith #FaithNotWorks #ChristAloneSaves #RedeemedFromTheLaw #SolaScripturaFaith

Faith or Works?  The Trap of Trying to Earn Salvation

Do you believe salvation comes by faith alone, or by faith plus works? The Bible gives a clear answer. “The just shall live by faith.”

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment below and join the conversation.

For more Bible studies like this, visit marvinmckenzie.org where you’ll find teaching resources, articles, and encouragement from the Word of God.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7000 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Galatians 3:11 (KJV) Faith or Works?

Galatians 2:3 (KJV) The Quiet Test in Jerusalem

 Galatians 2:3 (KJV)

But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:

The apostle brought with him to Jerusalem a Greek man named Titus. In this environment, Paul says that Titus was never “compelled” to be circumcised.

Gill writes that there was such agreement between Paul and his fellow apostles that this was not an issue.

A person might be compelled in different ways.

• He might be physically forced.
• He might be instructed and convinced.
• He might be intimidated and shamed.

None of these were the case. None of the leadership of the church, or the members of the church in Jerusalem whom Titus met, made him feel lesser as a believer or that he was left out of their fellowship because he had not been circumcised.

And, I might add, the physical event was not all that was implied. Circumcision was used to represent all that meant following the Law of the Old Testament. One might never know whether a man was physically circumcised, but he would be able to observe whether he practiced other parts of that Law.

The point is that the church in Jerusalem gave no impression to either Paul or Titus that they believed a Gentile must observe those laws.

Peter experienced a time when he was intimidated by the Judaizers. Barnabas and some others followed suit. We are all human, and we all can fall under peer pressure.

But even in Jerusalem, overwhelmed by the influence of Jewish culture, the believers knew that Gentile believers (as well as the Jewish ones) were free from the Law.

The Law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. We thank God for it and have much to gain by studying it.

But we are under no obligation—and indeed do ourselves great harm—if we attempt to revert back to the observation of it.

#LibertyInChrist #NotCompelled #FreeFromTheLaw #GraceNotWorks #GospelFreedom

The Quiet Test in Jerusalem: A Living Example of Christian Liberty

If this passage helped you see the freedom we have in Christ, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do you think many Christians today are still being pressured to return to religious rules instead of resting in grace? Leave a comment and join the conversation.

And if you enjoy simple, biblical teaching like this, visit marvinmckenzie.org for more Bible studies, articles, and resources designed to help you grow in your understanding of God’s Word.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7000 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Galatians 2:3 (KJV) The Quiet Test in Jerusalem