Will Vaus

Listen for God’s word to you from Galatians 5:1-15… It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.   You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?   That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through ...

Listen for God’s word to you from Galatians 4:21-31… Tell me, you who want to be under the law,   are you not aware of what the law says?   For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman   and the other by the free woman.   His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh,   but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise. These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar.  Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.   But the Jerusalem that is above   is free, and she is our mother.   For it is written: “Be glad, barren woman,      you who never bore a child; shout for joy and cry aloud,      you who were never in labor; because more are the...

Listen for God’s word to you from Galatians 4:8-20… Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces ? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?   You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!   I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong. As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you, and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them...