No Good at All

No Good at All

Comments on Galatians with an ear to Luther’s commentary

Scripture Text: Galatians 3:12 and Colossians 2:20–23

Series: Comments on Galatians

Today's Scripture Jigsaw

We must be vigilant that our traditions are not deemed those things that save us. Washing our hands before eating does not save. Being baptized in a specific manner with various quantities of water does not cleanse us. Circumcision does not justify us to God. Faith alone in Christ alone does these things. Insistence upon these traditions honors the commandments of men, not God. It turns false doctrine into new modes of worship, robbing God of glory. For God would have us trust in him only, not in our man-made forms. 

So, what does God command us but to believe, to have faith — not in our works but in his work, his grace toward us. We recoil at the thought; there must be something we must do. And God’s response is ever, believe: fear, love, and worship me, not your denominational doctrines or your personal devotion. These things may cause us to seem outwardly as though we honor God but our hearts, bent in upon our self-righteousness, are far from God. Though, seemingly, religious and good, we are no good at all. 

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