Strutting away from God
Comments on Galatians with an ear to Luther’s commentary
Scripture Text: Galatians 3:10 and Proverbs 13:1–3
Series: Comments on Galatians
People of faith do not strut and crow at God when they are corrected. They understand that their Father is gracious and they repent of their wrong, knowing they will be forgiven (Proverbs 13:1). Cain was no such person; you can see it in his response to God. He hated God and his brother instead of his wrong.
It is incredible how people sometimes react to God. They get angry with him when things do not go their way. They are furious for one reason: they believe themselves to be God, that it should be their will that is done instead of the Father’s. They may pray a rote prayer, “Thy will be done,” but all the while their dark hearts want their wills to be what plays out.
A man’s wife died and he became so angry at God, whom he wanted to prevent her death, that he began to refer to him as “that SOB.” He would not even speak to his friends at church, people whom he grew up with, without insulting them and cursing them. He is Cain. His furious words are no less deadly than Cain’s blow in the field. He murdered his brothers through his hateful, strutting words (1 John 3:15).
People of faith take life in stride when things do not go their way, when the heavenly Father rebukes them, when they wish things would have turned out differently. They do not let the sun go down on their anger (Ephesians 4:26), strutting angrily out of control and at odds with the will of the Father.
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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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