Devotionals

Daily readings to encourage your heart and mind in the pursuit of God and his glory.

  • The Curse of the Law

    Galatians 3:10

    Martin Luther comments on Galatians 2:17 that God’s law “requires perfect obedience unto God, and condemns all those who do not accomplish the same,” and on 3:10 he says that to follow God’s commandments is not to do them “in ...Read More

  • The Gift of the Spirit

    Galatians 3:1–5

    Good works are not wholly absent from the Christian life. They do not earn God’s favor, but they do prove that we have faith (James 2:14–26). Martin Luther says good works “ought to be done not as the cause, but ...Read More

  • Crucified with Christ

    Galatians 2:17–21

    Issues like the curse of the Law that were raised briefly today will have to wait a few days for more analysis. In closing, note that Galatians 2:19–20 reveals that being united to Christ means being crucified with Him, as ...Read More

  • Justification by Faith Alone

    Galatians 2:14–16

    Martin Luther’s commentary on today’s passage includes this nugget of wisdom: “God is honored in His Son. Whoever then believes that the Son is our mediator and Savior, he honors the Father, and him again does God honor; that is ...Read More

  • Confrontation in Antioch

    Galatians 2:11–13

    The confrontation with Peter is an important segue for Paul to begin explaining the doctrine of justification, and we will consider it more tomorrow. Today, consider how Peter’s failure proves that “we are nothing with all our gifts be they ...Read More

  • False Brothers in Jerusalem

    Galatians 2:3–5

    It is the duty of all believers, not just our pastors and other leaders, to contend for the faith. We must be especially wary of incremental steps to undermine biblical authority and the historic Christian faith. Denominations do not typically ...Read More

  • Paul’s Former Life

    Galatians 1:13–14

    Not all of us have had a dramatic conversion experience like Paul had, and by God’s covenantal grace, many of us may not even remember a time when we did not know Christ. Nevertheless, all who have turned from darkness ...Read More

  • Maligning Paul’s Character

    Galatians 1:10

    The context of Galatians 1:10 refutes any notion that Paul was a people-pleaser. Would a man concerned to win the acclaim of all people call down curses upon some of them (vv. 8–9)? Paul’s becoming “all things to all people” ...Read More

  • False Teachers Accursed

    Galatians 1:8–9

    Martin Luther’s comments on Galatians 1:8–9 illustrate Scripture’s relationship to tradition: “Here then is a plain text like a thunderbolt, wherein Paul subjects both himself and an angel from heaven, and all others, doctors, teachers, and masters, to be under ...Read More

  • Pollution’s True Source

    Matthew 15:1–20

    The concern with outward acts and not the intent of God’s law manifested these particular Pharisees’ blindness to the ultimate source of impurity. Jesus therefore reminded them that the heart is the true source of corruption, not the hands, a ...Read More

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