Not of Him that Calls You Galatians 5:8 - Equipped for Battle

As Paul the apostle shared with the Galatian church members, he wondered previously who hindered them in their walk with the Lord. They at one time were on the right tract, but now since the Judaizers came, they were impeded and altered in their path. Paul wanted to know who was responsible for such false doctrine, and in chapter five and verse eight he speaks directly against these false teachers. He wrote:

This persuasion comes not of him that calls you.

Paul begins, “This persuasion...” which means this deceptive persuasion and is a play on words in the Greek language as it relates to the word “obey” in the previous verse. Paul calls it a “persuasion” because he knows that those who promoted it have influenced their behavior and thinking. His inference is that just because someone may present appealing arguments and give notable reasons for their ideas does not mean that the ideas are correct ones. Many today are promoting attitudes, thinking and ways of living that are contrary to the truth. Nonetheless they persuade now as they did then.

Paul continues, “...comes not of him that calls you.” Paul makes note of the source of the persuasion. It is important to know from where a line of thinking comes. Paul's supposition is that this persuasion was not of God nor from any of His agents by whom He gave them the gospel. It must have therefore originated from the ultimate enemy of God, Satan, and any of his agents who promote ideas contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. God called the Galatian church members unto the gospel which is appropriated to them by faith in Jesus Christ. All other influences contrary to the gospel are meant only to persuade people to believe in something that does not originate with God. These persuasions are not of Him that calls us.

Today we have many people with convincing words attempting to persuade and alter thinking about the gospel of Jesus Christ. This attempt is to remove people from the truth to believe a lie. Jesus said in the gospel of John in chapter fourteen and verse six:

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.

These are the words of Jesus, and He is the one who “calls” us. No matter how convincing the arguments, no matter how persuasive the jargon, and no matter how emphatically or empirically spoken the words are put together, Jesus is “the truth”, and anyone who attempts to share otherwise is one whom Paul deems is in opposition to the gospel to which we have been called. May we evermore stand in the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ regardless of the convincing words of many to do otherwise.

Next time Paul will tell us the influence that a little leaven has, so read ahead, and let us join together then.

Until tomorrow...there is more...

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major

bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore