Galatians
“Living Free”
Main Teaching: 1:10-6:10
3:1-4:31 Reasoned Grace
4:1-31 Liberty vs legalism
4:1-7 “From slave to son”
Vs. 1-3 The way we were
Vs. 4-7 The way we are
Intro.
In Galatians 1-3 we have been listening to Paul the apostle, Paul the theologian, Paul the defender of the faith; but now we are hearing Paul the man, Paul the pastor, Paul the passionate lover of souls. Paul’s focus in the fourth chapter in man’s personal history instead of world history:
- Vs. 1-3 Man’s condition under the law
- Vs. 4-7 Man’s condition under grace
- Vs. 8-11 Passionate not to go back to the law
- Vs. 12-18 Not forgetting the past
John Newton, who wrote Amazing Grace, was only seven years old when his mother died. He became a sailor, and went out to sea at eleven years old. He became the captain of a slave ship, and had an active hand in the horrible inhumanity of the slave trade. But when he was twenty-three, on March 10, 1748, when his ship was in imminent danger of sinking off the coast of Newfoundland, he cried to God for mercy, and he found it. He never forgot how amazing it was that God had received him, as bad as he was. To keep God’s grace ever on his mind, he placed a plaque over the fireplace mantel with the words of Deuteronomy 15:15 “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you.” We must keep fresh in our mind what we once were, and what we are now in Jesus Christ, if we do we will do well.
Vs. 1-3 The way we were
One of the tragedies of legalism is that it gives the appearance of spiritual maturity when in reality it leads the believer back into a second childhood. The motives may be right but the methods are wrong! The Judaizers had sold them a bill of goods in thinking that their following the law and circumcision would make them superior Christians.
Wiersbe commented saying that legalism practiced in Christianity is like, “Hearing your pilot announce that the navigator has lost their position and has been flying in circles for the last hour and half but the good news is that they are making very good time!” To counter this Paul takes three appeals the first we will look at this week the other two when I get back:
- Vs.1-7 He explains their adoption: First we have entered into our adoption by being born again but once we did we entered into the family of God as full adults able to enjoy our complete inheritance.
- Vs. 8-11 His concern over their regression: They had cashed freedom in for bondage and thus having escaped the bondage of false gods.
- Vs. 12-18 His heart that they would come back to the simplicity of a relationship: Paul reminds them of how their heart towards him had changed because they had embraced legalism instead of obedience for love’s sake.
Vs.1-3 In 3:26 Paul said we are sons of God through faith in Jesus, now he compares a child and a slave. In the Jewish tradition, on the 1st Sabbath after a boy had turned 12, his father took him to the Synagogue, where he became “A Son of the Law”. The father spoke these words over the son “Blessed be thou, O God, who has taken from me the responsibility for this boy.” The son then prayed, “O my God and the God of my Fathers! On this solemn and sacred day, which marks my passage from boyhood to manhood, I humbly raise my eyes unto thee, and declare with sincerity and truth, that henceforth I will keep thy commandments, and undertake and bear the responsibility of mine actions towards thee.” In Greek culture the boy was under the fathers care from 7-18 then he became a cadet for two years and was under the direction of the state. Before he became a cadet they had a ceremony where the boyhood long hair was cut off and offered to the gods.
In Roman culture the age was not specific as it was up to the father to determine when the boy was ready and apparently based upon verse 2 Paul has in mind the Roman custom and not the Jewish or Greek custom. What we do know is that the Romans held a sacred family festival every year on the 17th of March and if the father believed the son was ready he would be formally adopted and recognized as a son and heir and given the toga virilis. In turn the boy or girl would give the father a toy showing that they had put away childish things!
While the child is still recognized as a child they have less day-to-day freedoms and authority then slaves of the household even though one day they will inherit it all. Paul uses that truth to compare it to the spiritual condition of a person born under the guardian of the law set to watch us as children bringing its truth to bear upon our conscience until we could be presented as adult children and heirs of the King. Paul says, “So too, we, when we were ‘young children,’ were kept in slavery to the ABC of the universe.” One of those chief elements is the idea of “you get what you deserve” some call it karma. This is one of those things that holds us in bondage and that grace completely destroys. Legalism is not a step towards maturity, it is a step back into childhood. Maturity is doing the right thing for the right reason. Immaturity is having to be told to do the right thing and without being told it won’t get done and if it gets done it will be for the wrong reason.
Vs. 4-7 The way we are
Vs. 4-5 Paul says, “When the time was right” Jesus came into our lives as the law had worked perfectly in the world to prepare us for God’s redemptive work. Paul’s aim is not to destroy the work of the law in our lives only to limit its influence. Some that remain under the law in the world are still being prepared but once you have received Jesus by the grace He offers you no longer need to law working in the world. Paul tells us four things:
- “WHO” came, Jesus:
- “WHEN” He came, the fullness of time:
- “HOW” He came “born of a woman, born under the law:” Jesus came not only as God’s Son, but also as one born of a woman, born under law. The eternal Son of God in heaven added humanity to His deity and became a man, born of a woman, born under law.
- “WHY” He came, “to redeem those born under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons”: Because Jesus is God, He has the power and the resources to redeem us. Because Jesus is man, He has the right and the ability to redeem us. He came to purchase us out of the slave market, from our bondage to sin and the elements of the world.
We were not just purchased out of a slave market to be owned by another! We were purchased from a slave market to be made heirs, placed into the family as adult sons and daughters. God is not just their creator, their “man upstairs” He is their Dad as they have been adopted into His family. In Roman culture adopted children were given equal privileges in the family as biological children.
When we consider our status as Christians we need to go much further than thinking of God as one who has merely saved us from certain destruction to realizing that He has saved us not only out of harm’s way he has saved us all the way home into His lavish mansion. Solomon wrote in Song 2:4 “He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.” We gain something in Jesus that is greater than what Adam ever possessed. He was never adopted as a son of God. Redemption is far more than restoring what Adam lost as we are granted more in Jesus than Adam ever had.
Vs. 6-7 We have access to the same intimacy with God the Father that God the Son, Jesus Christ had. Jesus addressed God the Father as “Daddy” when He prayed, Abba, Father, as recorded in Mark 14:36. Listen to Paul’s words carefully as he doesn’t say we “whisper” Abba, Father as if we are lacking confidence to speak affectionately. No, we are bold and confident to shout out our love for we have experienced His love for us. Our cries, as weak as they may seem in a world that belittles our faith, mocks our life and attempts to drown out our voices will never be able to keep our Dad from hearing us! God’s purpose was not only to secure our sonship by His Son, but to assure us of it by His Spirit. There are five differences Paul makes here with regards to Sons’ verses slaves:
- A son has the nature of the father, a slave has a master: The law can make us a slave but it can never make us a son! It could reveal our need for the nature of the father but it could never produce it.
- A son’s father is the master; a slave’s master is the father: No slave could ever call the master, father and no son would ever call his father, master! As son’s we have the holy spirit that has entered our hearts that naturally cries out to our Dad.
- A son obeys out of love; a slave obeys out of fear: The fruit of the Holy Spirit indwelling us is love! The law demanded and fear would obey but never out of love.
- A son is wealthy; a slave is poor: We are both sons and heirs and since we have been adopted as adults into the family of God we get to enjoy our inheritance the moment we have been adopted into God’s family.
- A son has a future and a hope; a slave doesn’t: The worst day of a son’s life always holds the promise of something better the next day. The best day of a slave’s life always helps the certainty of something worse.
To be an heir you must inherit something but we don’t inherit something we inherit Someone, God the Father! And as such we have received according to Ephes. 1:3 we have also received “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”.
Galatians
“Living Free”
Main Teaching: 1:10-6:10
3:1-4:31 Reasoned Grace
4:1-31 Liberty vs legalism
4:8-18 “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”
Vs. 8-11 No reverse gear
Vs. 12-18 Where’s the love?
Intro.
Religious rituals have a fascination that to some lasts a lifetime. Festivals, ceremonies and church liturgy have captured hearts where emotions are stirred by the music, church décor and even the look of the facility. Many of those traditions that aroused religious feelings still do so but the truth that the tradition pointed to has long ago been lost and what the focus of worship and truth is now is just the façade of symbols and ceremonies. The sad truth is that it is quite possible to observe and practice a ritual and completely miss the truth.
People that do so will be satisfied with the performance thinking that this is God and miss the opportunity to have an ongoing relational encounter with the living God. The Galatians were being persuaded to follow the sign at the cost of what it pointed too. Jesus didn’t come and say, “I have come that they may have religion!” He came and said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly!” Last time we looked at this passage we looked at Paul’s three appeals the first of which we looked at two weeks ago, they were:
- Vs.1-7 He explains their adoption: We have entered into our adoption by being born again but once we did we entered into the family of God as full adults able to enjoy our complete inheritance.
- Vs. 8-11 His concern over their regression: They had cashed freedom in for bondage and thus having escaped the bondage of false gods.
- Vs. 12-18 His heart that they would come back to the simplicity of a relationship: Paul reminds them of how their heart towards him had changed because they had embraced legalism instead of obedience for love’s sake.
Vs. 8-11 No reverse gear
Vs. 8-11 His concern over their regression: They had dropped out of the school of grace for the nursery of the law. From the wealth of the gospel to the poverty of the law! They were doing this by adopting special observances of days, weeks, months etc. It wasn’t wrong to celebrate those times it was wrong to think that having done so they obtained a special standing before God.
Vs. 8-11 Paul says based upon this truth that we have become heirs we have a choice to make: Live as heirs or live under the law. Why would a person who has become an heir to the King want to go back and live as like the beggars we once were? It’s one thing to live like a beggar because you don’t know that you are an heir and it’s a whole other matter to choose to do so when you know you are an heir. Wiersbe wrote, “One of the tragedies of legalism is that it gives the appearance of spiritual maturity when, in reality, it leads the believer back into a ‘second childhood’ of Christian experience.” These elements of the world are:
- Weak because they offer no strength
- Beggarly because they bestow no riches
All they can do is bring us again into bondage. The false teachers demanded the observance of days, months, seasons and years as if this would lead them into a higher plane of spirituality. But all these weak and beggarly elements of legalism did was bring them into bondage. Paul didn’t object to these observances for he kept them himself. He objected to the Gentiles taking them as a means of salvation. We can have a living, free, relationship with God as a loving Father based on what Jesus did for us and who we are in Him. Or we can try to please God by our best efforts of keeping the rules, living in bondage as slaves, not sons.
Vs. 12-18 Where’s the love?
Vs.12-18 His heart that they would come back to the simplicity of a relationship: Paul reminds them of how their heart towards him had changed because they had embraced legalism instead of obedience for love’s sake. Saint’s works and effort always has as one of its casualties love for others. When our standard is our obedience then we must continually compare ourselves to the very ones we are called to come alongside of to love. One of the telling characteristics of false teaching is that its focus is towards the churched to win them to their way of thinking. Their outreach is to those who already attend, not to those who don’t. They want the sheep to follow them, not the lost to follow Christ! That is what Paul says about the Judaizers as well. The true servant of Christ reaches the lost and desires to bring them into a relationship to Jesus not get followers to join them. Because the Galatians had lost the truth about their salvation they had lost the joy of it as well and were now engaged in the work that couldn’t satisfy them.
Vs. 12 Paul wasn’t standing before the Galatian Christians, saying “Look at how perfect I am. Don’t worry about following Jesus, just follow me.” He simply wanted them to follow him as he followed Jesus. On a side note: Can we say to others be like me? If the Christian life is as we proclaim it to be then we ought to be able to say this. Paul had lived his life in legalism as they were now attempting to do; he knew its appeal and failure. He wasn’t speaking to them about being personally hurt by them; he was motivated only by love.
Vs. 13-16 It seems based upon this passage that Paul traveled for this reason because of some physical infirmity. Yet even though Paul was weak physically the Galatians still received him and would have given their own eyes if they could have. Physical infirmity and illness were regarded by Jews and Gentiles alike as a symbol of divine displeasure or punishment, there would have been a natural temptation for the Galatians to despise Paul and reject his message. Paul marveled at those who had displayed such love towards him before they knew him would now show such hatred for him simply because he spoke the truth against the lie they had believed.
Those that have the privilege of teaching God’s word must only be judged upon the truthfulness of their words not upon their performance.
Vs. 17-18 The legalists were talented at glad handing and demonstrating love but their motive was to seduce them into false teaching. There have been many false teaching groups who practice overwhelming love and support initially to prospective members to gain control over them then they indoctrinate them into the same kind of self righteousness and class distinctions that they practice. The zeal of these kinds of churches is a zeal for the group above a zeal for Jesus even though they do so with a pretense in the name of Christ. Any church that becomes exclusive and proclaims to be the “one true church” or of higher standing than other churches will soon make demands upon its own members to keep them in bondage and control. These groups start out with excessive love, then trot out special insightful teaching that they only have and once the person is in, begin to lay on them heavy demands. And if the member doesn’t go along then they are ostracized from all including family. Had these so-called churches started with the latter they would have no followers.
Galatians
“Living Free”
Main Teaching: 1:10-6:10
3:1-4:31 Reasoned Grace
4:1-31 Liberty vs legalism
4:19-31 “StairWay To Heaven?”
Vs. 19-23 Mother or a monitor
Vs. 24-26 A tale of two hills
Vs. 27-31 Children of promise or children of work
Intro.
Parents have you noticed that we never seem to outgrow our children? When they are little they are a “handful”, when they’re grown they are a “heart-full”! The events of this section actually happened, but Paul used them as an allegory, (a narrative that has a deeper meaning). The Jewish Rabbis held that a passage of scripture had four meanings:
- Literal meaning
- Suggested meaning
- Deduced meaning
- Allegorical meaning
Paul’s purpose in using this story as an allegory is to again reiterate that the works and grace can’t coexist. In 1971 Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin sat down and wrote the lyrics that would become the most popular rock songs ever called, “StairWay to Heaven”. In it he wrote about “a lady who’s sure that all that glitters is gold and she’s buying a stairway to heaven”. Though Plant says that “Depending on what day it is I still interpret the song a different way—and I wrote the lyrics” He does go on to say, “The woman is getting everything she wanted, without giving anything back.” That is in line with the subject matter of Paul’s in this section as the Judaizers were false saying that the gentile believers in Galatia could get everything they wanted without giving something back. Dear ones there is no stairway to heaven there is only a resurrection to heaven!
Vs. 19-23 Mother or a monitor
Vs. 19-20 Every parent has had to speak to their adult children as if they were little and Paul experienced just that as he felt the need to speak to those he truly loved in Christ but had chosen the law over grace as if they were children in need of being won to Jesus again. Paul didn’t doubt their salvation as he said that Christ was formed in them he was concerned that they had decided to leave what was clearly formed. Saints it is the job of every parent to raise adults and it is the responsibility of every pastor to raise mature believers. Paul wanted two things with regards to this communication with them:
- That he could speak to them in person
- That he could speak to them with gentler words
Vs. 21-23 Right in the middle of his letter Paul has a bible study out of Genesis 16 and the story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar. Paul will use this story as yet another metaphor between religion and relationship as he contrasts Sarah’s free son Isaac with Hagar the bound woman’s son, Ishmael. Right here would be a good time to give a little time line of the events that Paul is using as a metaphor:
At 75 Abraham was called by God to go to Canaan and is promised many descendants. At 85 the promised son has not arrived and Sarah becomes impatient and suggests that Abraham marry Hagar, her maid and slave girl. At 86 Hagar becomes pregnant and Sarah becomes jealous and throws her out of the house. But the Lord intervenes, and sends Hagar home and she delivers a son Ishmael. At 99 God speaks to Abraham and again promises that he will have a son by Sarah 24 years after the first promise and 14 years after Sarah suggested Hagar. At 100 years of age (16 years after the birth of Ishmael) Isaac (laughter) is born. At 103 when Isaac was three a party celebrating his weaning Ishmael (19) mocks Isaac and Abraham is told he needs to kick Hagar and Ishmael out of the house.
The sad truth concerning Ishmael’s birth was that it was concocted by Sarah to “help God out” in fulfilling His promise to give them a child. That is what religion is always about trying to inherit the promise of God through the works of the flesh. One of these two sons will represent your life at any given time:
- Faith in God to fulfill His promises to you.
- Trusting yourself is an effort to earn God’s promises to you.
Wiersbe said, “Legalism does not mean the setting of spiritual standards; it means worshiping these standards and thinking we are spiritual because we obey them. It also means judging other believers on the basis of these standards.” Religion offers two things but neither of them have any benefits:
- It offers a list of outward rules to keep: But those rules gain you no real benefit
- It allows you to take credit for your salvation: But it isn’t a true salvation because it’s not by grace.
Spurgeon said, “The law is the road which guides us, not the rod which drives us.”
Vs. 24-26 A tale of two hills
Vs. 24-26 Here Paul uses yet another metaphor, this one dealing with geography. Paul says these two contracts had two separate mountains that they came from: The law came from Mount Sinai according to Exodus chapter 19-20. The rules passed down from that hill are all about what we must do to be right with God, and if we start climbing that mountain we will never reach the peak! Paul tells us that this metaphor equals Hagar as it makes us a slave as we try to inherit the promises of God by the works of the flesh. Note the irony here as Paul says in verse 25 that “this corresponds with Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.” Works took control and made that which was born of the free women, born by simply trusting God, and put him into bondage as it became Ishmael instead of Isaac!
Oh dear ones Paul’s words ought to speak to us who have inherited every spiritual blessing in heavenly places by simple trust in God’s finished work through His Son. Because if Israel can look to their works as the basis of acceptance before God and the Galatians who began in the Spirit are now trying to be made perfect by the works of the flesh; then so can we!
“But the Jerusalem above is FREE!” The geography of grace is not to be visited from an earthly hill top but from a heavenly one! Look not to another hill to find grace. The Catholic church sought to find grace on the hill of Calvary but only saw the sacrifice and as such their Jesus must be crucified each week to atone for their sins. (Even that isn’t enough as they will need to spend a few 1,000 years in purgatory to atone for their sins.) No Paul says look up to heaven’s Zion where Jesus was taken up into heaven and the disciples didn’t look down at the earth but up into heaven into the clouds.
Our relationship to God is a matter of heaven coming to earth not earth reaching up to heaven. The New Covenant is all about freedom, but there are far too many in the churches today that say they are free while they still are enslaved to their works. Paul says the New Covenant is the “Mother of us all” every birth from her is a “new birth”, a miracle, and as such we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. To further illustrate this Paul says that it is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 54:1. This prophecy says that there will be many more of those born by faith than will ever be borne by works.
Vs. 27-31 Children of promise or children of work
Vs. 27-31 Paul says as followers of Christ we don’t identify with Ishmael, we identify with Isaac as children of promise. There is another reality as it relates to these two covenants represented by these two boys Ishmael and Isaac and that is that Ishmael the child of works and self effort will always resent the child of faith, represented by Isaac.
The answer to this problem is clear, but not easy, says Paul in verse 30, “cast out the bound woman and her son”. Law and grace cannot coexist together in our Christian life. Every believer must “kick out” the idea of a relationship with God maintained by our works and effort. In saying this Paul says that you can’t continue to practice Judaism the way the Jews did during Paul’s day and practice Christianity. Today there are those that attempt to do so but one of those two boys will have to go. Only one is the true heir! It was the child of promise, Isaac that was given the inheritance not Ishmael. The Isaac’s will be persecuted by the Ishmael’s but it is the Isaac’s that inherit the promises of God not the Ishmael’s.
Dear ones there were 24 years after the first promise and 14 years after Sarah suggested Hagar. Sarah thought, “Honey, I know God spoke to you but I think what God meant was that we were supposed to help Him out. So I’ve got this idea: why don’t you take my slave girl from Egypt and father a child through her?” The result was the birth of Ishmael and they probably thought, “Yep that is what God meant”; for 16 years until God said, “Abraham, I’m still going to give you that boy I promised you and Sarah!” But Abraham said, “It’s ok Lord Ishmael will do it, I love him, he’s my boy!”
But God Insisted and said, “No, he isn’t what I had in mind with my promise, Abraham; I don’t need your help to fulfill My promise.” There were years between the time that God first spoke to Abraham about giving him and Sarah a son and they took matters into their own hands. That’s a long time to wait for God to do what He said He was going to do isn’t it? Listen up saints; there is always a gap of time between God giving a promise and the fulfillment of the promise. It’s easy for us to get impatient and start thinking that God needs our help to do what He promised us He would do. As I look over my life, I can see a lot of Ishmael’s because I got impatient and tried to help God. And whenever I’ve birthed an Ishmael, strife, bitterness and anxiety have come with him. The answer is not religion, not doing things to help God out. No, the answer is rest in what God has done!