Galatians

Spiritual Relapse

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Galatians 4:8–20 – Paul warns that the danger of spiritual relapse is real, even for those who’ve experienced gospel freedom. We slip when we trade God’s grace for manmade expectations.

Liberating Adoption

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Galatians 4:1-7 – We were enslaved to the ways of the world, but the Father desired to adopt us as His children. In Christ, we are free to live joyfully as the sons and daughters of God.

Helpful Restraints

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Galatians 3:15-22 – Many wonder why God provided a covenant for His people and later gave them rules they could not keep. The law couldn’t save anyone, but it did help in restraining the spread of sin.

Faithful Redemption

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Galatians 3:10-14 – Our works could not save us; in fact, they only condemned us. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we obtain the faithful redemption that we require under sin’s curse.

Sanctifying Spirit

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Galatians 3:1-9 – If we believe our salvation to be of grace, we must not rely on our works after that. The Spirit that saves is the same Spirit that sanctifies.

Crucified Lives

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Galatians 2:1-21 – Paul was so enthralled by the power of the gospel that he confronted others who were wavering in its truth. By faith and faith alone, we can experience lives that have been crucified with Christ.

Counterfeit Gospels

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Galatians 1:1-10 – Paul confronted lesser messages posing as the gospel since they corrupted the church. We must beware of counterfeit gospels that could hinder us from knowing the grace of Jesus.

Galatians

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The Apostle Paul had many enemies in his ministry, but none were as dangerous as legalists. In his letter to the Galatians, he reveals how the gospel is sufficient for our salvation and lives.

Galatians (Series Overview)

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The Apostle Paul had many enemies in his ministry, but none were as dangerous as legalists. In his letter to the Galatians, he reveals how the gospel is sufficient for our salvation and lives.

Approachable Attitudes

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It’s hard to help others out in life if you give off an aura that you don’t want to be bothered by them. Christians ought to have the most open-hearted attitude toward others.

Thorough Theology

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To embrace a biblical theology, we cannot pick and choose which doctrines to accept. By developing a thorough theology grounded in Scripture, we understand God as He truly is rather than who we think He ought to be.

Inspecting Your Approvals

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Whether or not we realize it, we are addicted to affirmation. So much of what we do is attempting to draw the attention of others. Social media gives us an unhealthy opportunity to be fulfilled simply by the number of interactions we receive. It’s time to go the second mile in inspecting your approvals.

God’s Awareness & Our Adoption

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God knows every bit of our history and is aware of every turn in our future. Instead of turning away with such knowledge, he reaches down and reaches out anyway.

Closed Cliques at Church

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The church should be the most friendly, outgoing, warm, hospitable group of people in all the world, but that has not been all of our experiences. The longer we belong, the more difficult it is to remember what it was like before we did.

Authentic and Safe Groups

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We need each other. As Christians, we know that life is difficult and that it is unwise to attempt it alone. But how do we develop authentic relationships that maintain needed trust? Having a safe place to share life is vital. It’s time to go the second mile in having authentic and safe groups.

Letting Down Relational Defenses

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You know people in your church, but do you really know them? Do they really know you? Our suspicion of people grows by the year, and we will only experience minimal growth if we limit ourselves to reserved relationships.

Protecting from Pornography

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To fight against lust, we must have a plan to protect ourselves from pornography. Using scriptural insight and practical wisdom, you can find hope with this struggle.

Hypnotized Christians

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Have you become hypnotized? Are you trying to live for God apart from God? Don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself for your spiritual condition.

The Law’s Primary Purpose Was Not to Keep It

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You can’t understand the purpose of the Ten Commandments until you grasp the timeline of when Moses climbed the mountain to receive them. God gave the 10 Commandments to Moses in Exodus 20.  In Exodus 14, the Israelites are walking through the Red Sea on dry ground.  Why did God give the Law after this event?  It would seem that …

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Praying for the Fruit of the Spirit

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It is a natural thing to pray for others.  When it comes to praying for ourselves, we can easily get confused.  What exactly should we pray for? Usually, prayers we offer for ourselves can focus on safety, security, or sanity.  Our prayers can be limited to simple endurance through difficult or unsure situations.  But, how should we pray for ourselves? …

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There Are 2 Travis Agnew’s…

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There are 2 Travis Agnew’s.  No, for real.  There are 2 of us.  I’m not doing some type of preacher illustration, there are two of us out there.

So, let me explain.  Years ago, when I decided to start blogging, I tried to get a domain name and realized that travisagnew.com was taken.  By whom, I wondered.  I went ahead with the .org and continued upon my trek through life’s uncharted waters.  Then I was talking with a college student one day who said he heard me speak somewhere.

He then tried to find me on the world wide web.  He said I had changed my appearance a lot.  He then asked me when I lived in Wisconsin.  I was perplexed.  I was pretty confident that my looks have not changed that much and that I had remained in South Carolina in recent years.  Curious, I began to do research and I was shocked at what I found.

Here’s what I discovered:

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Founding Freedoms – New LifeWay Curriculum

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  I was so excited to receive these copies in the mail of LifeWay’s LifeTruths upcoming quarterly edition.  The crew at LifeWay does a fantastic job at this Bible study curriculum geared towards parents. I was honored to write for the second time for this publication.  The first time I wrote a curriculum called “I (Still) Do” on marriage.  In …

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Spoiled Rotten

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13 For you are called to freedom, brothers; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.
(Galatians 5:13-15, HCSB)

Spoiled Rotten

As a parent, I have certain rules and stipulations by which I prefer my children to adhere. My wife and I have standards of bed time routines, dietary selections, and level of freedom bestowed upon our children. We want our children to have fun, but we have certain rules we prefer them to live by.

That is, until they go and spend time with their grandparents.

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