Having visited the churches in Pisidia and the neighboring region, Paul and Silas, with Timothy, pressed on into "Phrygia and the region of Galatia,"where with mighty power they proclaimed the glad tidings of salvation.The Galatians were given up to the worship of idols; but, as the apostles preached to them, they rejoiced in the message that promised freedom from the thralldom of sin.Paul and his fellow workers proclaimed the doctrine of righteousness by faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ.They presented Christ as the one who, seeing the helpless condition of the fallen race, came to redeem men and women by living a life of obedience to God's law and by paying the penalty of disobedience.And in the light of the cross many who had never before known of the true God, began to comprehend the greatness of the Father's love.
Thus the Galatians were taught the fundamental truths concerning "God the Father" and "our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father." "By the hearing of faith" they received the Spirit of God and became "the children of God by faith in Christ." Galatians 1:3, 4; 3:2, 26.
Paul's manner of life while among the Galatians was such that he could afterward say, "I beseech you, be as I am." Galatians 4:12.His lips had been touched with a live coal from off the altar, and he was enabled to rise above bodily infirmities and to present Jesus as the sinner's only hope.
Those who heard him knew that he had been with Jesus.Endued with power from on high, he was able to compare spiritual things with spiritual and to tear down the strongholds of Satan.Hearts were broken by his presentation of the love of God, as revealed in the sacrifice of His only-begotten Son, and many were led to inquire, What must I do to be saved?
This method of presenting the gospel characterized the labors of the apostle throughout his ministry among the Gentiles.Always he kept before them the cross of Calvary."We preach not ourselves," he declared in the later years of his experience, "but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."2 Corinthians 4:5, 6.
The consecrated messengers who in the early days of Christianity carried to a perishing world the glad tidings of salvation, allowed no thought of self-exaltation to mar their presentation of Christ and Him crucified.They coveted neither authority nor pre-eminence.Hiding self in the Saviour, they exalted the great plan of salvation, and the life of Christ, the Author and Finisher of this plan.Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever, was the burden of their teaching.
If those who today are teaching the word of God, would uplift the cross of Christ higher and still higher, their ministry would be far more successful.
If sinners can be led to give one earnest look at the cross, if they can obtain a full view of the crucified Saviour, they will realize the depth of God's compassion and the sinfulness of sin.
Christ's death proves God's great love for man.It is our pledge of salvation.To remove the cross from the Christian would be like blotting the sun from the sky.The cross brings us near to God, reconciling us to Him.
With the relenting compassion of a father's love, Jehovah looks upon the suffering that His Son endured in order to save the race from eternal death, and accepts us in the Beloved.
Without the cross, man could have no union with the Father.On it depends our every hope.From it shines the light of the Saviour's love, and when at the foot of the cross the sinner looks up to the One who died to save him, he may rejoice with fullness of joy, for his sins are pardoned.Kneeling in faith at the cross, he has reached the highest place to which man can attain.
Through the cross we learn that the heavenly Father loves us with a love that is infinite.Can we wonder that Paul exclaimed, "God forbid that Ishould glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ"? Galatians 6:14.
It is our privilege also to glory in the cross, our privilege to give ourselves wholly to Him who gave Himself for us.Then, with the light that streams from Calvary shining in our faces, we may go forth to reveal this light to those in darkness.
