So why the Law?

It was added because of transgressions,
          until the one who is the seed came,
                    to whom it had been promised 
having been given through angels, 
         by the hand of a mediator.

But he is not the mediator of (the) one, but God is one. 

Therefore is the Jewish Law against the promises of God?
By no means!

For if a Law had been given which was able to give life,
then indeed righteousness  was from the Jewish Law.

But Scripture imprisoned all things under Sin, 
so that the promise
          on the basis of  the faith of Jesus Christ
might be given to those who believe.

O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.

Gertrude the Great

Brothers and sisters,
speaking humanly,
no-one cancels or adds to a human will, it having been ratified.

But the promises
have been spoken to Abraham and to his seed. 
not spoken to his seeds, 
as to many but as to one.
‘And to his seed,’who is Christ.
But I am saying this:
the Jewish Law which came into effect
four hundred and thirty years later
does not cancel
a promise
having been made previously by God,
so as to render the promise ineffective. 

For if the inheritance is on the basis of the Jewish Law,
it is no longer on the basis of promise, 

But God graciously gives to Abraham through promise. 

So why the Law?…

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius

For whoever (lives) on the basis of  the Jewish Law, 
  is under a curse.
For it has been written:
‘Everyone is under a curse
      who does not keep within all that has been written
              in the book of the Law
to do those things.’ (Dt 27:26)

But, because by the Jewish Law
no one is declared righteous before God
clearly  ‘The righteous person will live from faith.’ (Hab 2:4)

But the Law is not based on faith,
but the ‘one who does these things will live by them.’  (Lev18:15)

Christ has bought us back,
      out from the curse of the Jewish Law,
having become a curse for us,
because it is written:
      ‘Under the curse is everyone who hangs on a tree‘ (Dt 21:23)
so that the blessing of Abraham
(promised) to the pagan nations
might come about
              in Christ Jesus, 
so that we (all?) might receive the promise of the Spirit,
            through faith. 

Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen

St Anselm

Just as Abraham  believed in God,
      and it was counted to him as righteousness
now you know that those of faith,
          these are the children of Abraham.
And Scripture having foreseen
          that God declared righteous the pagan nations by faith,
preached ahead of time to Abraham:
          ‘All the nations will be blessed in you.’
so that those of faith will be blessed together with Abraham.

Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.

Thomas More (c.1478-1535)

You brainless Galatians, 
who put a spell on you all,
to whom, 
visibly ,
Jesus Christ has been displayed crucified?

I want only 
to find out this from you:

On the basis of the works of the Jewish law
did you receive the Spirit –

or 
from believing
on the basis of what you heard?

Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit
now you finish with the flesh?

Did you experience so many things in vain?

If indeed it was in vain!?

Does the one who supplies you the Spirit and works powerfully among you
do so on the basis of works or on the basis of what you heard?

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

If then,
   seeking to be declared righteous in Christ
we have been found to be sinners
then Christ is a servant of sin. 
Certainly not!

For if those things 
which I tore down
I build up again, 
I prove myself a lawbreaker. 

For I died 
             through the Jewish Law
with regard to the Jewish Law.,
so that I might live with regard to God. 

I have been crucified with Christ.

I live 
but no longer I
but Christ lives in me.
But (the life) which I now live in the body,
I live in the faithfulness of the Son of God 
who loved me
and gave himself for me. 

I am not rejecting the grace of God.

For if being righteous (comes) through the Jewish Law, 
then Christ died for nothing.

O Lord Jesus Christ,
stay beside me to defend me,
within me to guide me,
before me to lead me,
and above me to bless me,
that with you and in you,
I may live, and move and have my being,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

(unknown)

We (are) born-Jews,
and not pagan sinners.

But,
– knowing that a person is not declared righteous
        by means of works of the Jewish Law
  but rather through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, 
we have also placed our trust in Christ Jesus, 
– so we will be declared righteous
on the basis of the faithfulness of Christ
and not on the basis of works of the Jewish Law, 
because on the basis of works of the Jewish Law
“all flesh is not declared righteous.” (Ps 143:2)

Steer the ship of my life, good Lord, to your quiet harbour,
where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict.
Show me the course I should take.
Renew in me the gift of discernment,
so that I can always see the right direction in which I should go.
And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course,
even when the sea is rough and the waves are high,
knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in your name
we shall find comfort and peace.
Amen

Basil of Caesarea (c.329-379)

But when Cephas came to Antioch, 
I opposed him to his face, 
because he had been ‘condemned’.

For until certain people came from James
he was eating with the gentiles.

But when they came, 
he drew back and separated himself
fearing the ‘circumcision’
and the other Jews play-acted with him.
so that even Barnabas was led astray by their charade. 

But when I saw that they were not being straight, 
with the truth of the gospel, 
I said to Cephas
before them all
‘If you, Jewish, live a gentile lifestyle  and not the Jewish lifestyle,
how do you force gentiles to adopt Jewishness?’

Take from us,
O God, all pride and vanity,
all boasting and self-assertion,
and give us the true courage that shows itself in gentleness,
the true wisdom that shows itself in simplicity,
and the true power that shows itself in modesty.

Charles Kingsley

And from those who appeared to be something…
-whatever they once were made no difference to me in any way,
God shows no partiality between people –
for (they) added nothing to me. 
But these seeing that
      I had been trusted with the gospel
          for the uncircumcision
      as Peter for the circumcision,
                 (for the one who empowered Peter for the circumcision 
                   also empowered me for the pagan nations. )
and knowing the grace
                which had been given to me
Jacob (James)  and Cephas, and John,
               the ones considered to be  pillars
gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me,
          so that we (might go) to the pagan nations,
          and they to the circumcision.

Only that (we)  continue to remember the poor.,
which
– this very thing –
I was also eager to do. 

O thou, who art the light of the minds that know thee,
the life of the souls that love thee,
and the strength of the wills that serve thee;
help us so to know thee that we may truly love thee;
so to love thee that we may fully serve thee,
whom to serve is perfect freedom.
Amen

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem,
with Barnabas
taking along Titus also. 

But I went in accordance with a revelation,
and I set before them the gospel, 
which I preach to the pagan nations
privately 
to the influential people
lest somehow I am running (or I ran) in vain.

But not even, Titus,
who was with me,
being Greek, 
was compelled to be circumcised…

… but because of some false believers, 
who had been brought in un der false pretences,   
to spy on our freedom
which we have in Christ Jesus,
so that they might enslave us…

… we did not give in to them
for a moment
in submission, 
in order that the truth of the gospel
might remain with you. 

God be in head and in my understanding;
God be in my eyes and in my looking;
God be in my mouth and in my speaking;
God be in my heart and in my thinking;
God be at my end and at my departing.