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The superiority of the Gospel, parts 3 and 4

Lynne Baab • Wednesday May 6 2026

The superiority of the Gospel, parts 3 and 4

Overall theme for the next few months: God’s law is love

Lesson 8: The superiority of the Gospel, parts 3 and 4 (Galatians 3:1-18)

Key verse: “Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard?” Galatians 3:2b.

Faith always mattered to God

Paul is presenting an idea that may seem foreign to many Christians. Faith always mattered to God, beginning long before Moses received the law on Mount Sinai. Abraham believed that God would provide an offering on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:1-19, Romans 4), and God was pleased with Abraham’s belief. In the same way, Paul argues, we are called to believe in what God has done and will do through Jesus, and God desires that we stop trying to justify ourselves through our actions.

Many Christians perceive that the God of the Old Testament is somewhat — or entirely — different than Jesus. Paul is presenting a seamless view of God, our Creator who always desired relationship with us and who was always more concerned with our hearts than with our slavish self-justification through our actions. God speaks through the prophet Hosea: “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings” (Hosea 6:6). Jesus quotes that verse in Matthew 9:13 and 12:7. In Galatians 3:11, Paul draws on another prophet, Habakkuk, to argue that that righteousness comes through faith.

God always desired actions that flow from loving hearts, and God desires to give us clean, obedient hearts as a foundation for action (Ezekiel 36:26-27). However, we humans love to prove that we are worthy. God never desired obsession with obedience to rules, but instead desires the kind of relationship with us that flows into seeking justice that reflects God’s priorities. The prophet Amos says, “Seek the Lord and live” (Amos 5:6). Amos then expresses God’s distaste for observance of festivals and holy days without a heart of love for God (v. 21-23). Amos continues, “Let justice roll down like waters,and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (v. 24). This sequence — draw near to the God who loves you, learn God’s values, then act on them in the world — gets lost when the focus shifts to observing specific rules and laws as a way to justify ourselves and earn God’s approval.

Paul is angry that the Galatians have fallen into the trap of self-justification when the evidence is so strong that God desires faith — a trusting relationship with the God who loves us and delivers us from slavery to sin. Christians often view anger as inappropriate. Anger, however, can be a powerful call to action. All of the great Christian social reformers who worked for the abolition of slavery, voting rights for women and people of color, and justice for the poor were fueled by anger at the status quo. Paul’s anger reflects his passion for an accurate understanding of what God desires.

Have you experienced anger when people misunderstand God’s priorities? What do you do with that anger?

Stepping into the world

We cannot measure up to all the standards of beauty, excellence and success stressed by our culture. We cannot fulfill all the requirements of God’s law. Often we cannot measure up to our own standards. The apostle Paul is angry that we keep trying, when God has spoken so clearly that we are accepted just as we are through Jesus Christ. Paul uses his anger to fuel his ministry, speaking out forcefully about the power of the Gospel to free us from self-condemnation and slavery to perfectionism.

 Anna, who has struggled with an eating disorder, allows her anger to fuel compassion for others as well as self-compassion, the idea that we give ourselves the same kindness and care that we would give to a friend. Self-compassion is a contested term among Christians. Some Christians view it as self-indulgent and too permissive. Other Christians have comfortably embraced the idea of self-compassion in the past couple of decades, as psychology researchers have advocated for it. These Christians cite “love your neighbor as yourself” as a foundational idea for a Christian form of self-compassion, grounded in God’s love for each of us as shown in Jesus.

Perhaps Christians who don’t resonate with the term “self-compassion” are afraid it gives permission for us to be lazy and selfish. Instead, we can face regrets with a form of self-compassion that begins with kindness but also empowers us to change and grow. For Christians, we understand love as the foundation for change rather than condemnation. We know that as we grow, we are being transformed into Jesus’s image (2 Corinthians 3:18). Jesus treats us with love, yet also calls us to be our very best selves, reflecting the holiness and love of the God who transforms our hearts and who desires relationship with us, not slavish obedience to rules or standards.

Self-compassion invites us to reframe the actions we regret into specific moments that can be forgiven and learned from, rather than events that fully define our lives. In addition, self-compassion allows us to see the choices we regret as something that other people also experience. We are human, frail and fallible beings who are also creatures of a loving God, and self-compassion enables us to reframe our lives in that light.

We receive support for a journey of self-compassion from the scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments that affirm God’s desire to cleanse our hearts so that we can draw near to God in faith and trust. We rely on the Holy Spirit to turn our anger into healthy action and turn our hearts to God. Jesus gives us a great gift in his compassion for us. Let’s receive it with joy.

In what ways has anger fueled positive actions for you? In what ways do you practice self-compassion?

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Next week: Freed to become an heir. Illustration by Dave Baab: Seward Park, Seattle

Previous posts about self-compassion:

This lesson appeared in the Fall 2023 edition of The Present Word adult Bible study curriculum published by the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Used with permission.

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