| Mistakes and Failures - article by Joel Hempel First, I apologize for the two mistakes that were published in last week’s devotional article: It was Paul who had a thorn – not Peter, and it was Jesus’ cousin who was beheaded – not his nephew. I was embarrassed when I caught one, and a friend pointed out the other. I hate making mistakes! Failures are even worse. I have had too many of both over the years. In a book by Timothy Keller entitled Galatians For You, Keller makes the point that Paul goes to great lengths in Scripture’s Galatians to emphatically state that (a) we are saved solely by God’s grace through faith and (b) that our salvation becomes nullified if we try to add anything (e.g., the necessity of good works, required religious rites, even giving up sinful behavior) to God’s ordained grace-alone Gospel.1 In one of Keller’s illustrations, he poignantly addresses the issue of failure – especially ours! Paul brings to his readers’ attention the matriarch Sarah – the ninety-year-old barren wife of Abraham. In Old Testament days, a woman unable to bear children was believed to be of minimal value. Indeed, they were thought of as failures! But God (as the story is reported in Genesis 16-17) chooses this “failure” and promises her that a great nation will come from her 90+-year-old womb. That is how God’s grace works,2 Keller states. If you read the six chapters of Galatians, you will see St. Paul coming to the rescue of the church he established. The Galatians are being seduced by a false teacher, leading them to believe that salvation by grace alone is misleading and that God only saves those who can get themselves ready to be saved. These pseudo-facts were leading them away from Jesus’ saving sacrifice on the cross and adding Jewish rites and practices to God’s Gospel. Then and only then, the false teacher admonished, would these lowly Gentiles be good enough to be loved by God. That is garbage theology! God not only loves failures; he specializes in failures. If God posted a yard sign, it would read, Wanted: Failures Only! God needs us to recognize we are not worthy in and of ourselves to be granted His unconditional love and forgiveness. We will always fall short if we think we can be good enough to earn God’s love! If we believe that Jesus dying on the cross was not enough, that it is too easy, and that we need to add a life of service to be saved – well, we have then contaminated the Gospel. Does that mean good works and being re-formed into the image of Christ are irrelevant? No! As a result of the Gospel of Grace having delivered us from death to life, we are now called to a life of growing in Christ and serving others. To complete the task before us, we are given unique gifts to get the job done, and the Holy Spirit as our Helper. By God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, we are blessed to be able to change, and to give of ourselves in Gospel-empowered ways.
1. See Galatians 2:16, 20-21, 3:7, 10-11, 5:2-4. 2. Galatians For You, page 124. | 
