Vanity
Comments on Galatians with an ear to Luther’s commentary
Scripture Text: Galatians 2:16 and Ecclesiastes 1:1-11
Series: Comments on Galatians
The best that we have to give to God is our faith in him. We cannot and must not have faith in ourselves or our actions or deeds. Have they not failed us at every turn? But he has never failed us.
Even our faithless thoughts fail us. What about this and what about that? What is the answer on how to fix this broken life? I know! No, you do not. Your intellectualizing will end in yet one more scholastic mess.
Then, I shall do a wondrous thing and make my life a marvel! All is vanity. All of it — your thinking, your working, your words — is vain, if you imagine for a moment that any of it will gain you salvation. Worse, it is sin. Vanity is sin. The vain notion that your works will gain your salvation is worse than sin. It is a diabolical notion that your plans are better than God’s way. You cannot “please God with sins.”
Faith in the one who died for your sins is God’s answer and God’s work rolled into one. Repent and trust God.
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Author
Rev. Dr. Mark E. Ryman has served as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC, since 2021. Previously, Pastor Ryman served congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
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