Monday 24 May 2021

Psalm 130

Background

The letter that Paul writes to the Church in Galatia mainly deals with the subject of those who have come to faith from a non-Jewish background, and how they live alongside and become one with those followers of Jesus who have a Jewish background.

This is a tension throughout much of the New Testament from Acts onwards, as those from different backgrounds seek to live alongside each other. As in other letters, Paul has set out his credentials to speak to them and reminds them of how he has come to his position within the Church. He now turns to the specifics of the law and helping those who hear his letter understand their position now they have found faith in Jesus.

The passage mixes images, first that of being a slave or under the ownership of another and then that of heirs, receiving the inheritance set aside for each of us. His encouragement to the people summarised in verse 7 is that the Galatians are no longer slaves but are in fact children of God. This means they inherit God’s good gifts such as the Spirt of God that dwells in their hearts.

 As we hear this promise for the Church in Galatia we also hear it for ourselves. We are no longer slaves, but instead as we discover who Jesus is and seek to follow him we become his children and are free. On the day when we remember the conversion of John and Charles Wesley, I offer a quote of John’s about his early faith: “I had even then the faith of a servant, though not that of a son.” It was through John’s strangely warmed heart that he began to experience the faith of a child of God.

 To Ponder:

• Can you relate to John Wesley's quote “I had even then the faith of a servant, though not that of a son”? What makes you feel like a child of God?
• How do you seek to build and nurture your relationship with God?