During their first missionary journey (Acts 13:14), Paul and Barnabas, under the demonstration of the Holy Spirit, had evangelized and established several Churches in the southern region of the province of Galatia. Believers (mostly Greek converts) were saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, all by the activities of the Holy Spirit.
It was not long before Judiazers from within the Christian Churches began to confuse the believers. They were trying to introduce another gospel. They tried to add the law and works to faith in Jesus Christ as requirement for salvation.
In their seeming zeal and extra knowledge they were challenging Paul’s teaching and his right to teach at all. Just before the matter would be settled in the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) and to combat this delusive persuasion, Paul wrote to the Galatians who were forgetting how they had begun in the Lord.
Sometimes we see that after a big move of God, out of some groups grow certain tendencies and trends that tend to promote a forgetfulness of what God did in the past. There becomes a growing dependence on modern methods, new ideas and new ways of doing things. We see this leading in songs, praying in the public, conducting tarry nights, weddings, child dedication, water baptism etc.
Gradually we find out that from the government of the family, to the local Church, to the section, to the District, to the National Church, we are endorsing human wisdom, clever manipulation, subtitle maneuvering of issues, circumvention of long standing principles and policies. Personalities begin to influence policies. Practices that go on in the world now find their way into the Church.
Our value system is heavily colored by the temporal and the perishing. Success (in the ministry) is now measured by the acquisition of material wealth and be the Sectional Leader; the Sectional Leader wants to be the District Superintendent of course the General Superintendent wants to be the EC, and the EC member wants to be the General Superintendent. All these aspirations lead to unhealthy manipulation to realize unworthy ambitions. Members call for a lower of standards to be like others. Who has bewitched us?
It is a high time we sat ourselves down to look at this pertinent question.
“Having Begun in the Spirit, Are We Now trying To attain Our Goals By Human Effort? We Begun in the Spirit. We cannot make it in the Flesh. We must continue in the Spirit. We Must End in the Spirit.
The Pilot 