“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son
of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of
God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for
nothing!”
– Gal. 2:20-21, NLT
Galatians is one of the books of the Bible most near
and dear to my heart. The Galatians, having been saved by faith, were now
adding “rules for rules sake,” claiming that following the Jewish law was necessary.
This almost extended to the point where they were claiming that one could achieve
salvation through works, rather than through Christ alone.
I see a strong parallel between the church at
Galatia and many of the churches of American Christianity. The general idea of
salvation appears to be one of “if my good outweighs my bad, I will be saved.”
Galatians challenges this idea, reminding us that salvation comes by faith in
Christ alone. As Dr. Warren Wiersbe puts it, Galatians teaches us to Be
Free and exchange legalism for true spirituality.
With clarity and conciseness, Wiersbe offers
valuable insights into the Biblical text. Written in a manner suitable for the
layperson, Be Free is easily accessible and communicates clearly even to
those without an extensive background in theology or Biblical training. When
reading, I found myself repeating key phrases and sentences aloud in order to
commit them to memory, just because it expressed the truth in such a memorable
manner.
The Be series is a classic in layperson
commentaries, and every Christian should take the time to study Dr. Wiersbe’s
groundbreaking achievement. Though they’ve been around for quite a while – Be Free
was first penned in 1975 – the truths it contains are timeless and now
available in a new edition through David C. Cook publishing company. You can purchase the volume from them HERE.
To complement this release of Wiersbe’s
commentaries, Cook is also publishing a Bible Study Series, which is perfect
for small groups or Sunday School sessions. The guide integrates both the
Biblical text and the commentary to create a study certain to get your small
group talking. Whether in church or home, for small groups or individual
reading, read by scholar or layperson, this is a commentary that you should
read and refer to often.
1 comments:
Good review, Josh.
Post a Comment