Song of Solomon 1-3, Galatians 2 • Key Verse: Galatians 2:16
Those who are taught how to teach will sooner or later hear that “repetition aids learning.”
Repeat your point, in a different way, restating it so your hearers will have more than one
opportunity to learn the lesson.
Sometimes we find repetition in the Bible; and when we read a passage with repetition it should
really catch our attention. If God thought it necessary to repeat a point, it is extremely
significant.
In Galatians 2:16, we are told the same thing three times. As is pointed out in the New
International Study Bible, “Three times it tells us that no one is justified by observing the law,
and three times it underscores the indispensable requirement of placing one’s faith in Christ.”
Read the verse again, looking for the repetition. It says that man is “not justified by observing the
law …. not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.” The
point is made, remade and made again!
God repeats it because we struggle to learn this lesson. People try to earn salvation, work their
way to heaven, keep the Ten Commandments, even, though God clearly says it doesn’t work that
way. Salvation is by faith alone, never by works or faith and works.
Have you learned this lesson? The final exam is when you die. See if you pass this one-question
mid-term exam: Why should God let you into heaven? The wrong answer is “works.”
God gives salvation to those who believe, who by faith receive Jesus as their Savior. You cannot
trust in anything or anyone else and be saved. Make sure your hope is based on Jesus and Him
alone.
Woodrow Kroll & Tony Beckett
www.backtothebible.in