Galatians 4:19 English Standard Version (ESV) my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!

John 1:15-17 English Standard Version

¹⁵ (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Do we find ourselves struggling over these two verses together? We perceive that we have not come to the fullness of Christ in us but yet believe we have received His fullness. Let us reason with one another.

We have been born again and have become a new creation. Christ in us is Christ in all His fullness when we are reborn just as a baby is fully human at birth. That baby has done nothing to demonstrate the maturity that only time can bring about. It is much the same way with us now that we have entered into the Kingdom of God.

This relationship is likened to a betrothal. The bride has a past, a history, a mind of her own. Until the wedding she gets to know the love of the groom and in discovering how much He loves her, her attitudes about being an individual with a mind of her own melt away in favor of loving her betrothed.

The more time she spends with Him the more she changes but she will not be one with Him until the wedding.

Paul’s expression in Galatians 4:19 is a reflection of his calling to build Christ’s church, to preach the gospel and oversee many members of His church, His bride. We are members of a large wedding party. Like Paul we should recognize our responsibility to Jesus to love those whom He loves and called to be members with us.

Loving Jesus requires us to love those He loves.

John 14:1 English Standard Version

I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life

¹“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;^{[the Triune God]} believe also in me.

We know by faith what John 14:6 says. This is not about that exact truth. This is about dealing with the other religions that call Abraham the father of their faith.

We know what they are but we have placed our faith in Christ which has enough diversities of administrations to keep us busy for many years. Finding unity of faith with that many administrations is difficult enough, we do not have to go looking for trouble by speaking about any other religion besides Christianity.

Being called to speak the truth in love requires us to know Him who is Truth. Discovering who we are in Christ is a lifelong endeavor. We should not argue about other religions.

James 1:19-20 English Standard Version

¹⁹ Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰ for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Nothing produces anger faster in religion than accusing others that they have misplaced their faith. There is nothing to be gained in accusing others. It is hard enough for us to know truth and to live by it given there are so many opinions about how to live this life in Christ. Wars have been fought because of the accusations leveled against those other two religions. Their battles continue.

The production of the righteousness of God is the purview of God and God alone. We of the Christian faith believe that Jesus Christ is our righteousness and that we have none of our own. We should not engage in speculation of how God is at work in the hearts of others. We have enough to learn about our own hearts and what God is doing in us.