Response to first 3 Questions of Chapter1 in Grace Walk

1. The biblical meaning of success in the Christian life is explained by our realizing how truly evil we really are and how truly holy and awesome God is and our need for His redeeming us from our evil selves. When one comes to understand this, then I would consider them successful. The Apostle Paul put the biblical meaning of Christian success like this: “For to me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” Jesus put it like this: “The greatest in the Kingdom is the servant of all.” Most Christians have no idea that this is what biblical success in the Christian life is. Most Christians have been heavily influenced by Arminian leanings in Church practice and theology and lack a true understanding of the Gospel's necessary centrality to not only salvation but all of life after salvation.

2. The motivation-condemnation-reconciliation cycle is a very descriptive term for how most people live their Christian lives. It is particularly so in the Fundamentalistic realm of Evangelicalism. There are several problems that come from this cycle but there is one overarching issue that must be addressed and dismantled, namely a problem of motive. The motive is self! The whole cycle is based upon you and what you can do a how you can achieve God’s acceptance and grace after salvation. Secondly, people are trying to feel saved. Therefore the second problem is an existential problem. People should not base their relationship with God upon feelings! Ever! The third problem I see in this cycle is one of theology. It seems that this cycle promotes wrong theology, namely, that God expects you to keep and attain spiritual righteousness by works. Christians are called to trust not try! Trusting happens when a person comes to the understanding that they are more evil then they ever thought and completely incapable of producing anything Godly or spiritually righteous and then trusts in God’s good news of redemption!

3. 19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.
21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

According to Galatians 3:19-25 the purpose of the law was to bring us to faith in the promise of a coming messiah that would do we can do, namely fulfill the law and pay for our failing God’s righteousness. A Christian who lives under the law is what I call religious. His/her profile is that of keeping lists in order to achieve what they deem righteous in the eyes of God. That list can be made of various great things turned evil like reading the bible, praying, going to church, winning someone to the Lord, singing a hymn, encouraging people, caring for the orphan and widow. None of these things are evil only the motive of the religious person is evil. His/her motive is evil because it seeks to satisfy oneself in what one does for God instead of simply being satisfied in God himself.