What forgetting the cross of Christ will do
By Scott A. Fulks
If you forget to take out the trash, you might be grounded. If you forget to turn in a paper, you might fail. If you forget your anniversary, you might be sleeping alone. We're humans right? We forget things and we forget them over and over again. Yet, the implications for forgetting the cross are much more serious.
With everything at stake and the gospel on the line in the provincial land of Galatia, the apostle Paul faithfully and systematically outlines the implications of the gospel. This 'good news' had reached their ears through his persistent preaching but had so quickly left their hearts through the deceitful discourse of the unfaithful few. They had fallen to an unbalanced and unnattainable gospel that added works. Their apostle pleaded with them to turn from this gospel while eternity is yet at stake.
How did they get there? How did they quickly turn to a different gospel? How were they deceived? Paul sets forth the very thing that he had faithfully done and that they had forgotten: "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified."
They had forgotten something more important than a daily chore or a wedding anniversary. They had forgotten to remember and meditate on that epic scene. If they had only remembered the cross of Christ, they would have never believed grace plus works.
When we remember the unbelievable sacrifice that God endured by slaying Himself on a pole on our behalf and because of us, we recognize that any effort in addition to His momentous and monumental work is outlandish. It is simply by faith in that work and not in our work that the gospel makes sense. We must endeavor daily to portray Jesus Christ crucified in our minds, in our homes, and in our churches. If we forget this, the very essence of the gospel will be marred.
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