Daily Dose of Hope

January 7, 2026

Scripture: Galatians 3

Prayer: Lord Jesus, We belong to you! How often we forget that. We become selfish and consumed with the things of this world. We don't spend enough time with you and so we drift. Lord, please forgive us. Help us not to be self-consumed and disobedient. We want to know you more. In fact, we yearn for your presence in our lives. How we need you! Jesus, as we enter into our devotional time, we ask for you to speak to us in a new way today. We yearn to hear your voice. In Your Name, Amen.

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast the goes along with the daily Bible reading plan at New Hope Church in Brandon, Florida. We have started on a journey through the letters of Paul. We are starting with what scholars believe is Paul's very first pastoral letter to his churches – Galatians.

Today, we are walking through Galatians 3. We've talked about how Paul is expressing disappointment that the Galatians have so quickly believed the false teaching that one must become a Jew before they become a Christ-follower. The Galatians, swayed by Jewish Christians, have begun to drift away from the Gospel that Paul preached to them. Paul was clear – we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Adding elements of the law, such as circumcision, is simply wrong. The Gospel of Jesus needs nothing added to it or subtracted from it. To do so is to corrupt the Gospel.

In today's passage, Paul speaks of the law being our guardian until Jesus arrived. The promise was given to Abraham but the people needed more boundaries so God gave them the law through Moses. But with Jesus, we can be justified by faith. Paul is pointing out that we no longer live "under the law" but are "in Christ" despite our inability to keep the law. We are no longer condemned by God because of our sin. Rather, because we now live in Christ, God is our father. Because of the forgiveness and salvation that we have in Christ, we don't have to approach God with fear of punishment, but rather we know that God loves us. We are his sons and daughters and we have the privileges that children have with their father. This isn't because of anything we've done but because of what Jesus Christ has done for us.

In verse 27, Paul writes that those who have been baptized into Christ are now clothed in Jesus. What does that mean? Well, baptism is a visible sign of the union we have with Jesus. Our salvation is NOT dependent on baptism (remember Paul is making a point that salvation is by faith alone and nothing else). But baptism is an outward and visible sign of what Christ has done within us. Through the inward faith in Christ, we are now sons and daughters of God. Belief in Jesus is the great equalizer. As sons and daughters of God, we not only belong to God but we also belong to one another.

Thus, we are brothers and sisters and there is no distinction of race, rank, or sex. Paul says that whether we are Greek, Jew, male, female, slave, or free, we are all one in Jesus. You could add any variable to this list. We are equal in the eyes of Jesus and thus, we should be equal in the eyes of one another. Over thousands of years, this is a doctrine that has been twisted and or ignored. Forgive us, Lord. We are all equal and we belong to one another. Period.

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki