(Galatians 6:9 KJV) "And let us not be weary (ekkakeo {pronounced ek-kak-eh’-o}, Present Linear Aktionsart, Active Volative Subjunctive, to become mentally discouraged, to faint in the mind) in well doing: (kalos + poieo (Present Active Participle), literally = in continued noble/ beautiful doing) for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

(Galatians 6:10 KJV) "As we have (echo {pronounced ekh’-o}, Present Active Indicative, keep on having) therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."

(Galatians 6:11 KJV) "Ye see (eido {pronounced i’-do}, Aorist Active Imperative, Look Now!) how large a letter (gramma {pronounced gram’-mah}, letterS, plural) I have written unto you with mine own hand."

I rise up early in the morning nearly every day. My body hurts, both from age, arthritis, and from poor sleep during the night. As I work on this text quickly I prepare to go to my secular job, a thankless and low paying thing, so that I can earn funds to keep this and the other ministries alive that the Father has given me. In the midst of the pain some, like spoiled children, will write this ministry to demand more, or to curse that which is presented. In the midst of all this the thought comes to me - give it up! Let another carry the load. There are none who care, so give it up, and live an easier life.

I imagine the Apostle Paul had similar agonies and doubts. As he wrote these ungrateful Galatians, a people who he led to Christ, planted in a church, and now heard how they clung to these Judaizers like they were gods and he but a fool - perhaps Paul thought "Why not just give it up? Who cares? They do not care, so why should I allow them to add to my suffering?" Perhaps as he thought these words the Spirit of God came to him and whispered that which he wrote now: "Keep going. Keep going, my beloved. If you keep your eyes on the prize, on good service to Jesus Christ, you shall succeed, you shall overcome, you shall win".

It is so easy to become discouraged as a Christian. Though you may do your best, though you may be focused on honoring Jesus with all your strength, there may be times when it seems like every person you meet has the inbuilt function of trying to discourage you in your ministry. This was true in Paul's day, and is no less true in our current era. Nonetheless we as Christians must not allow others, even well meaning others, to control our lives in Christ. We must be controlled by what saith the Scripture. We must be controlled by how leadeth the Spirit of God. We must be about our Father's business, doing good even when it seems as if the whole world be against us. What does it matter if all creation be in opposition to our direction? If Christ has sanctioned it by His Word, shouldn't we continue to do as we are told? As I read this text I can see, in my mind's eye, the Apostle sitting in rags in a dank prison cave. That blessed believer is hunched over the parchment, nose nearly pressed to page so that he can see what he is doing. His eyes, damaged by disease, can barely make out the letters he tremblingly wrote. In the midst of his agonizing toil Paul wrote the mantra that the obedient Christian must follow: Do good, no matter what. Whether it be perceived as good, do good. When in doubt, do good to others. Keep on doing good, for one day you shall receive the harvest of that good seed. The Apostle James said it a different way. He said:

James 1:22-25 KJVA But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. (23) For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: (24) For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. (25) But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth [therein], he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Keep doing the Word, no matter what. Don't just hear what the Word says, but do what the Word says, and you will be blessed in your efforts. It may seem that no one sees what you are doing, nor even cares what you are going through. Do what the Word says do anyway. The reward depends on God's faithfulness, not on man's frivolity. Do good, David, and you will be blessed. Do good, believer, and do good out of a source of Christian love. Then will the world know that you are Christ's disciple.

(Galatians 6:12 KJV) "As many as desire to make a fair show (euprosopeo {pronounced yoo-pros-o-peh’-o}, Aorist Active Infinitive, to make a good impression in the flesh) in the flesh, they constrain (anagkazo {pronounced an-ang-kad’-zo}, Present Active Indicative, keep on compelling or forcing) you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ."

(Galatians 6:13 KJV) "For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory (kauchaomai {pronounced kow-khah’-om-ahee}, Aorist Middle Subjunctive, may be caused to boast) in your flesh."

How do we distinguish a good work from a imitation good work? A true good work, that is, a work that our Lord and Savior considers GOOD, is one that glorifies God and not the vessel that produces the work. A good work directs the attention of the witness of the work to the SOURCE, God, and not to the worker, lowly man. A good work glorifies our Father in Heaven. The Judaizers were not interested in doing good works. No, they were interested in doing works that earned them the praise of man, works that puffed them up in the eyes of the witnesses. They wanted to circumcise as many Gentiles as possible so they could go back home and brag to their friends.

This same mentality pervades much of the work of the Church in our present age. I hear pastors ask one another, "So, how many did you baptize last year?" Certificates are given out for churches that baptize the most people. The pastors are held up in public view as winners for Christ. How many of you would feel comfortable receiving a paycheck for a job that you did not do? Would you be proud of the praise you received for another person's effort? Would you brag and take credit for what I did, when your hand had never touched the plow? Yet too often we find ourselves proud and taking credit for that which God the Holy Spirit has done through the blood of Christ. If any are baptized as a testimony of their salvation, who is the preacher but the servant who carries out the immersion? The Master has already done the work of salvation. He called through my pitiful sermon, He touched that soul, He caused that repentance. The Judaizers were not interested in the souls of the Galatians. They were interested in getting a large headcount, a large number of people circumcised so they could brag to their friends. They were willing to force the Galatians into circumcision, a rite that they were never called to perform, for their own prideful press. Let us who pastor be careful to never confuse our feeble efforts with that of Christ and the Spirit of Christ. Let us who pastor be careful to avoid forcing others into the ritual of baptism so that we can look good to our preacher friends or neighboring churches. God is not served when the ritual has no meaning behind it. God is not honored when we force the unconverted to baptism for the sake of our own reputations.

(Galatians 6:14 KJV) "But God forbid (me {pronounced may} + ginomai {pronounced ghin’-om-ahee}, idiomatic expression, Aorist Middle Optative = may it not happen to me in any point of time, may it never become true in my life) that I should glory, (kauchaomai {pronounced kow-khah’-om-ahee}, Present Middle Infinitive, should ever be caused to boast [implied, by the flesh]) save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified (stauroo {pronounced stow-ro’-o}, Perfect Passive Indicative) unto me, and I unto the world."

(Galatians 6:15 KJV) "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth (ischuo {pronounced is-khoo’-o}, Present Active Indicative, keeps on giving power) any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new (kainos {pronounced kahee-nos’}, new in freshness, in quality) creature."

Paul's attitude toward his "reputation" is the same attitude that all of us who believe, and especially Christian ministers, need to adopt today. He refused to boast on anything that was not of Christ. Paul never boasted on the "number" of people he baptized. He never inflated figures for the sake of a following. Paul understood, as we must all understand, that Christianity commercialized for the sake of self is not Christianity at all. Whether a believer has been through a certain ritual or not, whether a believer has been circumcised or baptized in water or chanted over - these are not the things that matter. What matters in Christianity?

2 Corinthians 5:17 KJVA (17) Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

What matters is that the believer, if he or she is truly a believer, is not a Christian in name only, but that this person is a new creature in Christ. God has come into that person's life, and the work of God is evident in all that they say or do. Many pretend to be Christian. Many walk the aisle of our local chapel or church owned building, kneel before the congregation of the righteous, shed tears of remorse, and are added onto the rolls of the church. Many teach Sunday School and Training Union or Bible class. Many speak from behind a pulpit or from a podium. Many are elected to boards of deacons. Many tend to children's church, or nursery. Many cook and feed believers on Wednesday night. Many do and do and do in the assembly of God. But all the doing, all the charity, all the good work, all the teaching and preaching in the world is for nothing if God has not come into your life. If you at the point of salvation - that is, the day that you asked Christ to be your Savior - did not become a new creature in Christ, then your works are useless. If the Spirit of God did not enter your life and begin to work the work of God in you, then what you boast of is useless. Christians are CHRISTians. Christians are changed beings. Certainly we are not perfected at the point of salvation, but we start down a road where our lives are changed.

Here's the rub, as Shakespeare would say. If you come to God and profess to accept Christ as Savior but no change, no newness of life is evident, all the ritualism in the world will not help you. You can be circumcised by the best Rabbi in the local synagogue. You can be baptized by any number of preachers in any number of ways. You can take the Lord's Table as a Protestant, or have the wafer of Communion placed on your tongue by a Catholic Priest. Do what you will, perform any ritual or good deed, but if God has not come into your life to change you, your ritualism is in vain.

The day that Paul accepted Christ as Savior he became identified with the crucified Jesus. The world and Paul, though both were previously married to one another, became two separate entities. Whereas Paul was a friend to the world, now the world considered him to be an enemy. He was crucified with Jesus, separated from the world by the work of God in his life. This is what Paul gloried in. Not in what Paul had done, or the rituals he had performed, but in what Christ in God had done in Paul's life. This alone was worthy of boasting.

(Galatians 6:16 KJV) "And as many as walk (stoicheo {pronounced stoy-kheh’-o}, Future Active Indicative, concept of moving one step at a time) according to this rule, (kanon {pronounced kan-ohn’}, literally = by means of this canon) peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God."

That which was true in Paul's life is laid down by God as a kanon, a measuring line by which every believer must live. This is the great equalizer in Christianity. Not "what denomination do you belong to", nor "what ritual have you performed". These things are of no lasting value. Any unbeliever can be baptized. Any unbeliever can pretend to be a Christian (and, may I point out, has already done so many times, if the contents of our churches are any indication). But what an unbeliever cannot do is mimic the newness of life that comes on a true believer in Christ. Every believer that accepts Christ as Savior knows the intimate touch of God. God the Holy Spirit indwells that person, and that person begins to walk in newness of life. A true believer is a seeker after God, not a troublemaker nor a busybody. A true believer is empowered to understand the things of God. A true believer seeks to glorify Christ in his or her life, not glorify themselves by building up a headcount of "how many I've performed a ritual on".

(Romans 11:4-5 KJV) "But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. {5} Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace."

In our day many of my brother preachers and pastors have so mismanaged the church that Christ entrusted to us that our assemblies are flooded with mimics, pretenders to salvation, unbelievers, troublemakers, and the like. I have pastored churches where, God forgive me, I am certain demons were on the very roll. I know of one where you could not call on her and express love for one minute without her obstinate and vile tongue lashing poison all over the preacher. She came to church not to worship, but to pick and find fault, leaving destruction in her wake. I know of a minister who refused to keep either his word to man or his charge to stand up for the gospel of Christ. He compromised the gospel that our Lord suffered and bled for in order to smooth over evident racism in the local churches. I know of another young minister who refused to stand for Christ, but instead chose to stand for himself and his needs. And I know of another one who, though he called the preacher "pastor", coddled heretical and false doctrine in his breast, making a mockery of the precious Word of God.

Yet for all the perverse I have met on the rolls of local churches over the years, I have met many more, a multitude, of those I gladly call my brothers and sisters in Christ. Though we may differ doctrinally on some points, the hand of God - the fingerprints of Christ - are evident in their lives. Perhaps the day will come when we who believe will wake up and remove unbelievers from the roll of the church. People who are heretics, ungodly, dragons, purveyors of all that separates do not belong in the assembly of the saved - not even on paper. Perhaps we will do a little housecleaning one day and, with God's help, sweep out all the leaven. Until that time I am comforted in knowing that, though the world be all around me, and though worldliness has pervaded many of our churches - God has yet set aside a remnant that love Christ, a remnant that He still manifests Himself in. God is at work in this remnant of believers. God is STILL in control, and the church continues to march forward for Jesus just as it did when established by Jesus so long, long ago.

(Galatians 6:17 KJV) "From henceforth let no man trouble (parecho {pronounced par-ekh’-o}, to cause annoyance or trouble) me: for I bear in my body the marks (stigma, scar of service. In Rome, the recruit to the Army was, once indoctrinated into the service, marked, scarred, or tattooed on the hand to show that he was a part of that organization) of the Lord Jesus."

(Galatians 6:18 KJV) "Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen."

Paul ends this letter by noting that he is marked - not by the rite of circumcision that the Judaizers so love - but by his service to Christ. The scars that Paul carries are those which identify him with Jesus. In ancient Rome, when a man became a member of the army he was tattooed to show that he was a part of that organization. What are the tattoos that we who are Christians carry? We are marked as new creatures in Christ. We are marked as creatures that are different,

1 Peter 2:11 KJVA Dearly beloved, I beseech [you] as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Strangers and pilgrims in this world. Perhaps we are marked by separation, despised by our unbelieving family:

Matthew 10:35-36 KJVA For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. (36) And a man's foes [shall be] they of his own household.

Pretenders to Christianity will not suffer this. They will tolerate the worldliness of others around them, compromising the faith for the sake of peace. The Christian, the true believer will never compromise his faith with the world. This will cause the believer, at times, to be cast out from his or her family. Another scar that the believer will bear is:

John 15:18-20 KJVA If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before [it hated] you. (19) If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. (20) Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

Hatred from the world. If you proclaim Christ as Savior and yet all the world love you, look out! There is a pervasive and retarded mentality today among commercialized Christianity that the more accepting the church is of the world, the better. This is a satanic doctrine. Just as Jesus was hated by the world, you who are believers will also be hated if you are living your life for Jesus. This is one of the scars that we who believe must bear, just as Christ bore them. If you are persecuted for your faith, for your acceptance of Jesus as Savior, then be happy dear Believer. You are in good company. And one day, perhaps not long from now, you shall walk the streets of glory with Jesus, with me, with all the saints who ever were, in peace and harmony.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

• That which keeps the Christian doing good is the central idea, "All that I do, do it for the glory of ____"
• Keep doing _____ no matter what. If you as a believer are not weary in ______, then you shall one day reap ... if you do not faint.
• How do we distinguish a good work from an imitation good work?
• Those who are willing to use you to get a large _________ are not usually interested in the same thing that Christ is interested in. These people are Judaizers, perhaps only pretending to be Christians.
• Paul never boasted on the "number" of people he baptized. He never inflated figures for the sake of a following. Paul understood, as we must all understand, that Christianity ___________ for the sake of self is not Christianity at all.
• What matters is that the believer, if he or she is truly a believer, is not a Christian in name only, but that this person is a ____ ________ in Christ. God has come into that person's life, and the work of God is evident in all that they say or do.
• How can I distinguish a true believer from a false believer?
• Though I may be hated by the world for my stance in Christ, I can take comfort in knowing that ______ was also hated.