[:en]SCRIPTURE: GALATIANS 1
“Am I now trying to win the approval of men or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10)
The false teachers called Judaizers were telling the Gentile Christians to obey all the Jewish laws – such as circumcision, eating special foods and celebrating Jewish feast days – in order to be saved.
But Paul preached that we cannot be saved from our sins by obeying the laws but only by believing in Jesus Christ. The Judaizers told the Christians not to listen to Paul because he did not have the authority from God. Paul told the Galatians that the gospel he was preaching was from God. He said that Christians are free to live by the law of love not by the law of Moses. Believers must live by the Spirit of faith shown in love.
Lesson: As followers of Christ, we should obey God’s command not men’s law. We should please God, not men.[:]