Galatians 4:1-11 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
Paul in the above verses gives an analogy of how the law was a guardian to keep the Israelites from failing to bring forth Jesus Christ to the world. The people of the law came from Abraham’s loins. They were sent into slavery for 400 years. Then through God’s miraculous power they were delivered into the wilderness, where they existed for 40 years. During this time in the wilderness, they received the law from God’s own hands. The written law revealed the God of the Israelites as righteous and holy. God provided the Israelites his presence in the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. He provided food and drink in the wilderness, even though they were a rebellious people. All of his care for them was to protect the Seed that they carried within them. God was the guardian of this Seed. In the fulness of time, this Seed would be manifested by the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb. God provided them with the law to set them apart from all other people. They were not free to be as other people. Violation of God’s law given to them would cause great judgment upon them. They were imprisoned by the law. They would face God’s punishment if they departed from his law and regulations. They faced God’s judgment many times in the wilderness and in Canaan. But God’s judgment on their sins never changed their hearts. Even though the law set them apart from other people, their hearts were always in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. However they carried the redemption of mankind in their loins according to God’s plan. When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. For the Jews first and then all of mankind, God sent his Son to the world to bring salvation to every living soul that would trust in Christ. The law was merely a guardian over the Israelites to insure that Jesus would be brought into the world. The Jewish people through the loins of Abraham because of his faith in God’s words carried this Seed to fruition. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for ALL the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:8-12) Now all people could know God in an intimate relationship. No longer would people learn of God through the law and regulations, but through faith in the Christ who died for them and cleansed them with his blood. He would be the intermediator between God and his creation, not the law. Jesus himself would be the high priest before God, presenting men and women who are found IN HIM as holy, for they are IN HIM through faith alone in HIS WORK on the cross.
Paul is addressing the Galatians with this truth of Christ’s redemptive power through faith in him alone and not through observing any law or ritual such as circumcision. The law was meant only to preserve the Seed, for no man can enter the Holy of Holies, where God abides, by obeying commandments and rules. The people's obedience to law will never satisfy God’s demands on people’s lives. Laws represent man’s effort to please God as did the rituals in the Holy Place in the Tabernacle. But without the curtain torn between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, man can never enter into the very presence of God. Jesus the First Born from death to resurrection tore this curtain of separation between God and man by his sacrifice on the cross. We who believe in him will follow this journey, from the flesh to being with God in his intimate presence. We by faith in Christ’s work are God's sons and daughters. He is our Abba Father. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father. The law could not deliver us into this close relationship; only Jesus and his death could accomplish that miraculous act. Paul is now telling the Greeks in Galatia that circumcision never changed the hearts of the Israelites. They never became obedient to God’s will through fleshly circumcision. They needed the spiritual circumcision that Christ performed on the cross. We who are IN CHRIST have that circumcision in our hearts, for Christ abides in us through the works of the Holy Spirit. This work of redemption is what God has predestined for us from the beginning of time. ”For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. (Ephesians 1:4-6) The life we live, we live IN and THROUGH Jesus Christ. Paul is zeroing in on the fact that salvation is an act of grace: God’s grace, not man’s effort. No man or woman can boast about finding salvation through his or her effort. If such a spirit is found in us, it is the antiChrist spirit. For Christ alone is God’s work, not man’s work, his work of grace, not man’s effort to know God. As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. (Ephesians 2:1-3) Dead people cannot produce life. The Bible says we were clearly dead, away from any life, destined to be discarded into hell. The Truth, the Way and the Life is not part of us when we are dead. Trespasses and sins caused our deaths. Therefore, dead men and women cannot boast of redeeming themselves. The law could not restore the dead. The law could only identify death. The law in itself never produced life, only God can do that as demonstrated in the resurrection.
Paul is extremely concerned that the Galatians are being misled by some Jewish Christians, claiming circumcision has merit. He knows if this door is allowed to be opened, then all the law will follow. And as Peter said when Paul met with him in Jerusalem, which one of us has been able to keep the whole law? Lacking obedience to the whole law brings death, for no man will enter God’s presence without being absolutely perfect. Paul knows man’s inability to please God through the law. He considers the law and it regulations to be excessively weak in leading men to God, to be in right relationship with an eternal, sinless God. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? The law is but a jail, restricting you from knowing God, from being free as God is free. You have no sonship if you are not free. Only slaves are not free, but the Son sets us FREE INDEED! I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. (Ephesians 1:18-19) We who know Jesus Christ by faith have the power within us of redemption. To know God in any other way is a futile attempt to please him. Paul expresses his concern for the Galatians’ salvation by saying, You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. He is afraid that the only way of salvation is escaping their understanding, leading them back into darkness, away from God and his redemptive plan in Jesus Christ, his Son. Jesus so clearly laid out the path to redemption. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:56-59) The manna in the wilderness did not sustain life. They eventually died. The law and its regulations will not sustain life. They only point to imperfections, even though they represent the perfect will of God. God needed someone to fulfill every jot and tittle of the law, to be perfect in everything he did on earth. Jesus Christ was that person, kept in the loins of the Israelites who were governed by the law, but the law was but a guardian until Jesus would be manifested in the world. We are no longer IN THE WRITTEN LAW, but we are IN THE PERFECTER OF THE LAW. We are only obedient to the law through and in him. He has written the law on our hearts because He is in our hearts. Therefore, let us live with that knowledge and with that freedom. Let us reflect to the world the God that is in us. Paul goes on and tells us that reflection is evident if we are free IN Jesus Christ. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-25) As you go about your day, breakfast friends, picture yourselves in Christ and in step with the Holy Spirit.
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