Week 40: Don’t Quit, Stay the Course! | Day 2

Tasks for this week:

  1. Watch all three parts of Don’t Quit, Stay the Course!
  2. Complete daily Bible reading
  3. Memorize Acts 17:11 and Acts 17:24-25

Week 40: Day 2

Today’s F260 Bible reading: Galatians 1-3

1:1 From Paul, an apostle (not from men, nor by human agency, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead) 2and all the brothers with me, to the churches of Galatia. 3Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, 5to whom be glory forever and ever! Amen. 6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel— 7not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell! 9As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell! 10Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ! 11Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; instead I received it by a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I was savagely persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it. 14I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. 15But when the one who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace was pleased 16to reveal his Son in me so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from any human being, 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, but right away I departed to Arabia, and then returned to Damascus. 18Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and get information from him, and I stayed with him fifteen days. 19But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. 20I assure you that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you! 21Afterward I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22But I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23They were only hearing, “The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news of the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24So they glorified God because of me. 2:1 Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem again with Barnabas, taking Titus along too. 2I went there because of a revelation and presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so only in a private meeting with the influential people, to make sure that I was not running—or had not run—in vain. 3Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. 4Now this matter arose because of the false brothers with false pretenses who slipped in unnoticed to spy on our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves. 5But we did not surrender to them even for a moment, in order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. 6But from those who were influential (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people)—those influential leaders added nothing to my message. 7On the contrary, when they saw that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised just as Peter was entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8(for he who empowered Peter for his apostleship to the circumcised also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles) 9and when James, Cephas, and John, who had a reputation as pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10They requested only that we remember the poor, the very thing I also was eager to do. 11But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he had clearly done wrong. 12Until certain people came from James, he had been eating with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he stopped doing this and separated himself because he was afraid of those who were pro-circumcision. 13And the rest of the Jews also joined with him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray with them by their hypocrisy. 14But when I saw that they were not behaving consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “If you, although you are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” 15We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, 16yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. 17But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages sin? Absolutely not! 18But if I build up again those things I once destroyed, I demonstrate that I am one who breaks God’s law. 19For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God. 20I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing! 3:1 You foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed as crucified! 2The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? Although you began with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort? 4Have you suffered so many things for nothing?—if indeed it was for nothing. 5Does God then give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law or by your believing what you heard? 6Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, 7so then, understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham. 8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” 9So then those who believe are blessed along with Abraham the believer. 10For all who rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.” 11Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law because the righteous one will live by faith. 12But the law is not based on faith, but the one who does the works of the law will live by them. 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) 14in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith. 15Brothers and sisters, I offer an example from everyday life: When a covenant has been ratified, even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it. 16Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not say, “and to the descendants,” referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ. 17What I am saying is this: The law that came 430 years later does not cancel a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to invalidate the promise. 18For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise, but God graciously gave it to Abraham through the promise. 19Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the descendant to whom the promise had been made. It was administered through angels by an intermediary. 20Now an intermediary is not for one party alone, but God is one. 21Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22But the scripture imprisoned everything under sin so that the promise could be given—because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ—to those who believe. 23Now before faith came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners until the coming faith would be revealed. 24Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by faith. 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. 27For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise. (NET Bible)

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission. www.Lockman.org