Galatians 6:16

Peace, Mercy and the Israel of God

20^th August 2011

Having said that:

Galatians 6v15
Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.

Paul now says:

Galatians 6v16
Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.

The rule Paul is taking about may be described thus: (1) No religious rituals are of any value (2) Being Jewish is not better or worse than being Gentile (3) Our relationship with God is based on repentance and faith, not on keeping the law (4) Everybody who believes in Jesus Christ is born again, becoming a new person.

Even the ceremonies Jesus handed down to us, baptism and the Lord's supper, only do us good if we receive God's grace in them through faith. Their mere observance, without faith, is useless.

As Paul said earlier in the letter:

Galatians 3v6-9
Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Abraham's family line has many branches, including the descendents of Ishmael and the descendants of Esau, but one branch is called "the children of promise" in the Bible (see Romans 9v8 and consider Acts 2v39). This branch came down through Isaac, the original child of promise (see Genesis 17v19) and his son Jacob, whom God renamed Israel. It comes to us through Jesus Christ, who was also a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Galatians 4v28 describes Christians as like Isaac, children of promise.

Abraham's relationship with God was on the basis of faith, and everyone who has the same kind of faith has the same kind of relationship. This includes both Israelites who share Abraham's faith and Gentiles who share Abraham's faith: those who believe are also described by Paul as children of Abraham.

Paul prays for peace and mercy for "the Israel of God". By this, I believe, he means all the children of promise, including Isaac, Jacob named Israel, and those of his descendents who have faith in God, and all the Gentiles who have faith in God through Jesus Christ.

"Israel" means "he wrestles with God". Jacob received this name when he literally wrestled with God in Genesis 32v25-28, and God's people still seem to wrestle with Him. We talk about "wrestling in prayer", for example, but we also seem to spend much of our lives wrestling with God either by trying to win God's favour, as if it wasn't a free gift, thus going back to ceremonies and law keeping, and ignoring grace and God's promises, or by complaining to God that the life He's given us is different from the life we would have chosen for ourselves.

Paul says "Peace and mercy" to all God's people - the Israel of God. And we will know much more of God's peace and mercy when we accept His grace, and stop trying to earn it, and when we submit willingly to His choices for our lives.