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

Daily Dose of Hope

January 6, 2026

Scripture – Galatians 2

Prayer: Almighty God, I come before you today with a sense of gratefulness. You are Lord of all and yet you care for me. Thank you, Lord. Help me walk through this day with humility and your wisdom; help me represent you well. Lord, in these next few moments of silence, help me gather my scattered thoughts, I want to hear your voice...Come Holy Spirit, and guide this time. In Your Name, Amen.

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the daily Bible reading plan at New Hope Church in Brandon, Florida. We are now doing a journey through the letters of Paul. It's a privilege to have you with us today.

The first letter of Paul, chronologically, is Galatians, and we started diving into it yesterday. Paul was appalled at how quickly the Galatians were swayed by false teachers who corrupted the true gospel. Paul was pretty clear – salvation is in Jesus alone. The false teachers wanted to say that new believers needed to become Jews before they became Christians, which meant getting circumcised (for males) and following the law of Moses. Paul insisted that adding anything to the Gospel beyond simply belief in Jesus was a true corruption of the Gospel message itself. A core doctrine of our faith is that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

We talked about the importance of getting a good understanding of what we believe about salvation --- do we believe that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone? Or, have we added or subtracted from this doctrine? This is a main theme of the book of Galatians.

Today's reading provides an interesting discussion about how, early on, the apostles accepted Paul's ministry to the Gentiles and even blessed it. There was a clear understanding, in Paul's view anyway, that Gentile Christians didn't have to follow Jewish law but needed to simply believe in Jesus Christ. But the power of criticism is strong. People within the church were highly upset about this and the apostles started to cave. They began to profess the need to follow Jewish law again and even stopped eating with Gentiles. Paul was forced to confront Peter, who ministered primarily to Jewish Christians, about his hypocrisy which seemed to be spreading among the apostles.

Let's think about the definition of hypocrisy: to state specific beliefs and values to which one's actions clearly defy. The church has often been accused of being hypocritical, professing one thing and doing another. Individual Christians have often been accused of being hypocritical, saying one thing and then doing another. Hypocrisy has been incredibly damaging to the Kingdom. Paul is calling it out in today's Scripture, as he recognizes how dangerous it is for the new Gentile believers. It has the potential to not only confuse them, but lead them away from the Gospel message.

The same can be said today. When we live by the mantra "do as I say but not as I do" then people are turned off. I've had a number of friends and family members leave the church permanently because they couldn't stand the way those who gathered on Sunday and professed one thing behaved poorly the rest of the week. Friends-our behavior, attitudes, and words matter to an unbelieving world!

It's in this chapter that Paul makes this very famous statement, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. What does he mean by this? My best way of explaining it is to say that as Christians, we have died to sin and our old way of life. It's now Jesus living in us. What Paul is saying is that because I've been united to Christ in his crucifixion and his resurrection, his life is now part of mine. I'm not forced to work harder to live out the gospel's demands by myself. I'm no longer under the demands of the law. Rather, there's a new power source supplying me with all I need, and that source is Christ living in me.

As we continue our week, ask God to give you a hyper awareness of the kinds of things you say and do. Are you representing Jesus well in everything you do, even in social media? Are we representing Jesus well as a church?

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki