Why be good

Beyond the conflict that Paul was dealing with earlier in Galatians - pushing back against a sense of legalism among some Jewish followers of Jesus - Galatians 5:1, 13-25 begins to unfold a second conflict. Pastor Phil Kniss highlighted that these 2 conflicts were not unrelated. Hearing the news that justification came through faith and not through following the law, some people began to ask the question, "Why be good?" Paul had to write to counter this growing sense of libertarianism and he did this by highlighting love. Salvation is not found in works and it is not found in freedom, it is a gift of God. However, this gift should evoke in us a response of love. The question is how to do this and avoid both legalism and libertarianism. Both 1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21 and Luke 9:51-62 help to exemplify this.