Galatians 4:28-31 Children of the Promise!

Galatians 4:28-31  Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.  At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit.  It is the same now.  But what does the Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”  Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

Paul concludes his allegory of the slave woman and the free woman with the admonition: “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”  This yeast of works can easily contaminate the message of salvation in our lives, for the idea of works spreads easily.  In another place, Paul repeats what Jesus said about yeast, Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?  (1 Corinthians 5:6, See also Matthew 13:33)  Too often, after we have committed our lives to Jesus, we begin building a structure of righteousness in our lives based on our works rather than on faith in the sacrifice of Jesus.  We begin to compare our lives with the lives of others, even Jesus' life.  Not that this is terribly wrong in the right context, but if our works become our obsession, our thoughts, our worries, we lose the thankfulness for the completed sacrifice of Jesus, his efficacious works.  Rather than live in joy because of who Jesus is and what He has done, we live in sadness and recrimination because of what our works often fail to accomplish.  We find sadness in our lives rather than the joy of victory through Christ our Lord.  Paul says get rid of this idea of trying to please God through your works, for we know perfectly well that our righteous acts are like filthy rags before the Almighty.  (Isaiah 64:6)  Our self efforts of obtaining righteousness will never fulfill the righteous requirements of God's holiness.  The works of the flesh always fall short of pleasing God because any failure at all means complete unrighteousness: For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.  (James 2:10)  One slip in following the law is just as dangerous to you as if you fell into the pit of unrighteousness in every part of your life.  Therefore, Paul tells us: Get rid of the slave woman, for the product of her womb will never please God.  The natural means to salvation cannot span the rift between God and us: only Jesus' works can acceptably present us to God.  Only his acts can place our heavenly names in the Book of Life.  We are sons and daughters because of the free woman's womb that birthed the son of promise, not the slave woman's womb, representative of man's works.  

In Colossians 2:20 Paul asks us this question, Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle!  Do not taste!  Do not touch!”?   Why are you trying to be right with God by following rules established to control the flesh?  These rules have a form of godliness, but they deny the power of righteousness that comes through the works of Christ by the Holy Spirit.  These (rules) are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.  (Colossians 2:22)  They are finite, they are powerless to change the heart.  Because of their temporariness and weakness, they do not have the power to grant eternal forgiveness.  These rules cannot create sons and daughters of God.  To create these new creatures, a heavenly Creator is needed.  Through him (Jesus) all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  (John 1:3)  Since Jesus is the Creator and because his works are perfect, Paul is asking us to cast out the idea that righteousness, perfection, comes from what we do or do not do.  Such thinking leads us into lives of perpetual wandering and seeking when the work is already finished in Christ.  As surely as Hagar and Ishmael found themselves wandering in the desert after being cast out, so will we be if we reject God's plan for our lives.  Following the errant path of works will not lead to the oasis of joy, where God's spring of life exists, but to the bitter spring of self, where works try to make everything right.  One path leads to death, the other eternal life.  We must choose life, for we know, if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.  And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.  (Romans 8:10-11) 

God's Word is our foundation.  Christ Jesus is our only hope of righteousness and life eternal.  When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.  And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.  (Colossians 2:13-15)  Our hope of life eternal is found in Christ alone.  He has given us the Holy Spirit to lead our lives, to ensure that we could live lives of love.  Jesus' work on the cross has changed us forever, made us children of God, joint heirs with Christ.  He has forgiven us our sins.  The power of the law and its regulations over us has been cancelled, never to condemn us again.  He has taken away that power and nailed it to the cross.  Not only that, the cross has silenced the powers of the air that would prosecute us before God in his heavenly court.  The cross has won the day!  "IT IS FINISHED"  (John 19:30)  Grace and mercy have won the day!  Paul tells us to get rid of the slave woman and her son, for works and grace cannot coexist.  We must cling to the grace of God, not to the works of men.  We cannot mix the two in our lives.  We cannot have a little bit of the yeast of works in our lives for it would soon penetrate everything we do.  We must live by the grace and mercy of God, not by the law and its consequences.  “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”  As children of God, we walk in newness of life.  John writes: We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.  Anyone who does not love remains in death.  (1 John 3:14)  We are children of a new day, a new beginning.  Embrace this day of freedom, grace, peace, and love.  Share the mercy of the Lord with someone who is trying to run the race alone.  

  

Galatians 4:21-27 Rejoice In Your Freedom!

Galatians 4:21-27  Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?  For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.  His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.  These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants.  One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar.  Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.  But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.  For it is written: “Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”

The man or woman who tries to find God by his or her works is like the son of Hagar.  Hagar's son was conceived under normal human methods: both Abraham and Hagar were young enough to have conceived Ishmael, and they made the decision to have him according to their plan, not God's.  Abraham was going to work out God's promise to him to be blessed with a son through his own way: the womb of Hagar.  Otherwise, through his and Hagar's strength and actions, Abraham was going to implement the plan of God.  This plan of Abraham's exemplifies the works of the flesh rather than the works of the Spirit.  The works of the flesh always place man in the middle of the plan: his wants, desires, and methods, not God's.  Long ago when the law was read to them, the Israelites said: "WE WILL DO IT."  As capable men and women, human beings believe we are strong enough, smart enough, dedicated enough to work out God's blessing in our lives.  "We will do it" is our cry of self-sufficiency.  But, in all situations of blessing, certainly with eternal life, God must be in the center of the plan.  Sometimes God's plan of blessing for us does not seem practical or possible; as with Abraham: Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?  Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”  (Genesis 17:17)  Abraham laughed because he felt God's plan was nonsensical, did not line up with the realities of the flesh, for age is a significant determinant in conceiving children.

 

Paul uses this allegory of Abraham attempting to carry out God's plan through the flesh to warn us that we cannot find eternal life through our efforts.  He is telling the Galatians that circumcision will profit them nothing when it comes to attaining God's eternal blessing on them.  Following the law and its ceremonies will not satisfy God, for it negates God's grace and mercy, placing man and his efforts in the center of the plan, not the goodness of God.  Abraham received God's blessing, not because of his goodness, but because of God's grace and mercy.  God chose to bless Abraham.  The blessing was not the result of Abraham choosing God.  Of course, Abraham was a man of faith, which means: He believed God's words to him.  When Abraham complained to God that he did not have a child, the Lord told him, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars — if indeed you can count them.”  Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”  The Bible goes on to say, Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.  (Genesis 15:5-6)   But, even though he had a belief in God, he was confused about how to implement those words.  He thought he would have to take the responsibility of carrying out God's plan for blessing him.  But God thwarted Abraham's plan by having Hagar and Ishmael sent out into the desert.  Abraham's fleshly plan had to be completely rejected before God could carry out his divine plan of blessing the world through Isaac and his seed, Jesus Christ.  The slave child, born of natural intent, could not inherit the blessing of God; for God's eternal blessing rests only with those who are free to receive the Holy Spirit's gifts.  Freedom from sin comes only through the works of God and not of men.

Through this juxtaposition of Hagar, the slave woman, and Sarah, the free woman, Paul stresses that eternal life does not come from man's efforts; his plans or his works.  Paul tells the Galatians exactly what John stated well when he wrote: Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  (John 8:35-36) God's plan was to set his people free.  His new covenant was sealed through the death of Jesus' Christ on the cross.  God's works through Jesus Christ is the only path that can set men free from sin and death.  No other sacrifice pleases God; for the works of man are always inherently sinful, imperfect, falling short of his holiness.  Even if a man could outwardly perform all the works necessary to fulfill the law, his heart would deceive him.  As we hear the Lord say in his Word: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?  (Jeremiah 17:9)   Jesus said, But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  (Matthew 5:28)  In his teachings, Jesus made it clear if we hold bitterness or anger against a person, we are not right with God.  If we hate our enemies, we are in danger of hellfire.  Since we cannot obtain perfection on our own, we need a Savior, one who is always pleasing to God, the Father.  Paul stresses this point in his allegory of the free and the slave woman: we must be born of God's plan: the free woman; not of our plan: the slave woman.  The former leads to life eternal, the latter to death.  We know from scripture that if we want to be forgiven, we must forgive others.  God has given us the perfect example of perfect love and forgiveness.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  (Romans 5:8-9)  Rejoice in this love and forgiveness today and share Christ's love!     

Galatians 4:19-23 Children of the Promise By Faith!

Galatians 4:19-23  My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!  Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?  For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.  His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. 

We who are found in Christ are chosen by God to live eternally with him.  We are chosen to be his people, intimately interacting with God forever as adopted children in his family.  John rejoiced as he wrote: How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!  (1 John 3:1)  The Spirit of God has been given to us as a fulfillment of this promise that we are chosen, that we are his beloved.  We are the fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham:  Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.  “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  (Genesis 12:1-3)  Through Abraham's seed, which is Jesus Christ, all peoples on earth will be blessed.  That blessing is the gift of eternal life to anyone who believes the works of Jesus Christ: his life, his death, his resurrection.  John 3:16 reads, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  Paul reminds the believers at Galatia of these realities.  He is perplexed!  How could they forget such an inheritance in Christ, such a marvelous rebirth through God's gift of grace?  He asks if they need to be reborn in Christ all over again, until Christ is formed in them.   

To clarify his concern, Paul points to Abraham, the father of faith.  His two sons represent two approaches to fulfilling God's promise of blessing on Abraham: one was Abraham's attempt to bring a son through a fleshly plan; the other was God's provision to fulfill his promise to Abraham.  Paul reminds these believers of their inheritance.  Abraham's biological descendants are the chosen people of the promise.  God chose Abraham from many.  He knew Abraham was a man of faith, a man who would believe in the promises, the words of God, regardless of the circumstances.  Abraham believed God was a God who kept his word, even as he tied Isaac to the altar to be sacrificed.  We know the story leading up to this moment: “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”  (Genesis 22:7-8)  Surely in his own mind, Abraham knew what he would do with the knife in his hands.  He would hold back nothing in his allegiance to God, even his son of the promise, Isaac, whose life was necessary for God to biologically fulfill his promise to Abraham of making his progeny into a great nation.  Through his actions, Abraham revealed he was definitely a man of faith, as with Job, Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him. . ..  (Job 13:15) Yet Abraham also believed in the goodness and faithfulness of God in all situations: God did not make Abraham's promise to his son a lie.  But his descendants failed to be faithful to God.  Their allegiance was weak, even though they promised God many times they would follow his laws and regulations.  Their dedication to God was not as powerful as their dedication to their own fleshly ways.  They fell so far away that they even followed other gods.  As Isaiah said, they went astray to their own ways, following their own desires and wishes, not God's desires and wishes.

We, who are found in Christ, are the children of the free woman, the woman God chose to bear the child of the promise.  We are new creatures because of Jesus Christ, who is the complete fulfillment of the promise.  His allegiance to God never wavered.  He fulfilled all of God's commandments: He always did what the Father wanted him to do.  He said, By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.  (John 5:30)  And again in another place, he said, For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.  (John 6:38)  Because of his obedience, Jesus was perfectly pleasing to God.  We who have placed our faith in him are also perfectly pleasing to God our Father.  Our allegiance to God is Jesus' allegiance to God.  We who abide IN CHRIST JESUS by faith are perfect for He is perfect.  The Israelites failed to please God because of their sinful ways; Christ succeeded because of his righteousness.  The Israelites were judged; Christ was blessed: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.  Listen to him!”  (Matthew 17:5)  The Israelites were bound by time; Christ is forever.  As the blind man in John 9:25 answered the complaints of the Pharisees about Christ, so do we say: I KNOW THIS: I WAS BLIND, AND NOW I CAN SEE.  I was without hope, lost in this finite world; but now I have hope of eternal life with God.  We are no longer slaves, bound hand and foot to this world; no, we are free, free to dance, to sing, to shout, for we will live forever in God's domain as children of God, children of the promise.  Amen!        

 

Galatians 4:12-16 Truth Sets You Free In Christ!

Galatians 4:12-16  I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong.  As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.  Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.  What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.  Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

In our last breakfast, we read Paul's words of concern for the church at Galatia that they were turning back to the law, turning back to those weak and miserable principles that would enslave them.  (See Galatians 4:8-11)  Now we see Paul telling them he wants them to be free in the Lord as he is.  He says when he came to them he identified with them as Gentiles and did not ask them to become Jews or to take on his ways as he shared the Good News.  He was a witness to them and allowed them to see Christ in him.  He goes on to mention that he was sick during his visit, and they showed him kindness and treated him as an angel of God, even as if he were Christ Jesus himself.  Many Bible scholars have studied to identify Paul's illness.  According to the NIV Commentary, he may have had malaria or he had been suffering from his continued physical abuse or he was recovering from when he was stoned and left for dead outside the city of Lystra.  (See Acts 19)  Others believe he is referring to problems with his eyes, his thorn in the flesh, mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12:7.  Whatever his disability, it was serious enough for him to mention in this letter, and Paul considered his condition was a trial to them during his former visit that could have elicited scorn or contempt from the people.  

While Paul compliments the Galatians for their former treatment of him, he now asks them: What has happened to all your joy?  In this instance, the word joy means a state of blessedness or being blessed.  His next remark that they would have torn out their eyes and given them to him, leads us to believe Paul may, indeed, have been suffering from an eye problem while he was with them.  He infers they were so full of love they would have done anything within their power to help him, to serve his needs.  Their hearts were servants' hearts of love.  We are reminded of Jesus' words, By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.  (John 13:35)  Paul recognizes their love for him as the fruit of his ministry among them.  They were evidencing the love of God toward Paul, the same love he had brought to them in the name of the Lord.  He says I came to you while I was sick, preaching a gospel of faith; and you accepted that gospel, turned it around, and showed the love I brought to you back to me.  This is the fruit of the Spirit in action, the love of God going full circle.  When we invest in people's lives, we see a return.  Sometimes the word is rejected, but many times we reap a harvest for the Lord and see a great reward for the kingdom of God.  The scripture says, Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  (2 Corinthians 9:6)  This is true with our giving of tithes and offerings, but it is also true in every area of our lives: our time, our spiritual gifts, our passion, our energy, and the like.  Many times Christians sit in a church service singing, "I surrender all," when what they really mean is, "I surrender ten percent."  We let our flesh rule our choices rather than the Spirit.  As Paul will tell the church later in this letter, if we sow to the flesh, we will reap what we sow.

As we look at our own lives, we easily see places where the world creeps in, situations where we take the easy way out, rather than standing up for the truth of Christ.  We sometimes reveal an outward show of piety rather than an inward change of the heart.  Christ wants to set us free from the bondage of ritual, going through the motions of faith, instead of truly putting our hope and trust in our Lord.  Simply going to church or reading the Bible once in a while is not enough to have the joy Paul was referring to when he questioned the Galatians about their joy.  They had welcomed him at one point, but in this letter he had to ask them whether he had become their enemy because he was telling them the truth.  Yes, sometimes the truth does hurt, but it also helps.  The truth sets us free to remember who we are in Christ and who He is in us!  So many scriptures tell us who we are, opening our eyes to the glorious truth of our victory in Christ.  Paul told the church in Rome: And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.  Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation — but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.  For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  (Romans 8:11-14)  This is our hope, our freedom, the glorious Good News.  The Holy Spirit who raised Christ from the dead lives in us.  Therefore, we are no longer slaves to the sinful nature: we are alive in the Spirit, so we can put to death the misdeeds of the fleshly nature.  We are led by the Holy Spirit of God as his sons and daughters to do his will.  Praise the name of the Lord!  Praise him forever, children of the Most High God!