Galatians 4:1-20 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. I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong. As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you, and 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. Where, then, is your blessing of me now? 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? Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you. 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!
Paul , the apostle sent by Jesus Christ to the Greek world, is now in pain as one birthing a child because of his fear that the Galatians will venture back into law as the way to be right with God. Rather than have Christ formed fully in them, they are considering another way to be right with God: keeping the law given to Moses. Paul knows this pathway to God will lead them back into sinful lives, rather being free IN CHRIST; they will be in bondage to sin. Sin separates men and women from a holy, righteous God. Jesus knew the Pharisees and teachers of the law were corrupted by sin and a desire to kill him. The were seeking to commit the same sin that Cain did in the beginning, kill the righteous Abel. These followers of the law of Moses were filled with corruption. Even though they spoke the law, their hearts were far from righteousness and the perfection God demands of humans. Rather than being part of God’s family of righteousness and goodness, they were members of the devil’s family. God was not their father, but the devil was their father, for they were slaves to sin. Jesus tells them that they belong not to God but to Satan. “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 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. I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.” (John 8:34-38) In today’s focus, we see Paul concerned about the Galatians venturing back into the slavery of circumcision, the law and its regulations. If they revert back to these beggarly elements, Christ will be aborted in them. They will fall back into the darkness of sin that is characteristic of the world. Being Greeks in a society of mythology, they have a good chance of trending back to following the no-gods of their world. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. Darkness will once again saturate their lives. Jesus who is the light of world will not be seen by them. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5) No one else can free men and women from the shackles of sin; no one else can make men and women children in the household of God. No one else has eternal life as a gift for mankind. He alone is the way, the truth, and the life. Paul wants the Galatians to realize that the gift of God, Jesus Christ, is the only way to be right with God, and He is the only way to eternal life in the household of a righteous and holy God.
Now for them to draw back into works to please God, even the works of the law and its regulations, will only lead them to slavery. The law is good, but it cannot clear men of their sins and their debt to God. Humans will always fail in fulfilling the law completely, and as James said, any variation or mistake in completely satisfying the law's demands, makes people guilty of violating all that is written in the law, For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. (James 2:10) God is perfect, complete, and exact. We see in the building of the tabernacle that only perfect was accepted. Every measurement had to be exact, precisely as God wanted it. Nothing could be estimated, all the construction must be exactly as God planned it. We too must be exact. If we follow the law, we must do it in the completeness that He demands. Jesus knows this holiness of God, his nature of completeness. When He was on the cross, He said it is finished. The exactness of God has come to mankind through the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. He paid the complete price for the freedom of men and women to come into the presence of his Father. He alone could complete the work God demanded of people. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20) In this verse we see only Jesus could fulfill the law. Jesus called himself, the son of man. Why, because he was satisfying the requirements that God had on men and women. God demanded that men and women fulfill his requirement of holiness, which is the complete and thorough obedience to the law: not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Jesus said, “It is finished," on the cross. The son of man has completed the course of obeying the words of God at all times in the flesh. He literally paid the price of perfection, substituting his perfection for mankind’s imperfection. No one should call the law unholy; all of it must be fulfilled, for it reveals the righteousness of God. Every jot and tittle of it reveals God, so live it the best you can in the freedom of Christ. Jesus places the law in the framework of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. We know these law-bound servants of the law were ungodly in their hearts, not necessarily in their words. Paul is telling the Galatians that the only person who has ever lived who has fulfilled the law completely in words and heart is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. To be more righteous than these religious followers of the righteous law, people must hide in Jesus, the only one who has fulfilled the law completely. Since God judges the heart and not our outward appearance, we need to know Jesus by faith in him and his completed work.
What then the law? The law was given to a rebellious, chosen people 430 years after the promise of God to Abraham. Through Abraham’s faith in God’s words, God was going to bless all nations on earth through his SEED. Abraham’s descendants were especially rebellious. Moses complained to God all the time about their wayward nature. At Mount Sinai, God revealed to them his nature of holiness. It was depicted in his commands and regulations. If they were completely obedient to everything God told them, they would receive blessings on their lives, but if they were disobedient, they would receive curses on their lives. Of course, they received the latter, for they were a very rebellious people. But the law came into being, demanding a righteous behavior from the Israelites. And there was only a remnant that continued being obedient. This remnant protected the Seed by their obedience to God’s demands, even observing special days and months and seasons and years. But that period of time has been completed, for the Seed has come to the world in the form of Jesus Christ. The law and its regulations were guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. In Mary’s womb this Seed was finally revealed, for the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and placed the Seed into her womb. The righteous law would now be manifested in human flesh: the son of man. No longer would people just be heirs to eternal life, but possessors of the full kingdom. The law served it purpose as a guardian, protector of the Seed, but now since the Seed has come in the flesh, its guardianship is no longer needed. Paul feared for the Galatians because they were falling back into the law and its regulations to be right with God. You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! Circumcision, the law, and its regulations will not satisfy a righteous God. Why are you turning back to those weak and miserable forces. The Seed has come in the form of Jesus Christ. He alone carries the righteousness of God, for he IS THE SON OF GOD. The law reveals people’s unrighteousness. It has no redemptive power in it. The law shows people's lack of Godliness. It has no healing component within it that will extract the lethal wound of sin resident in mankind’s nature. The law condemns, does not heal. Jesus came not to condemn but to save men and women from eternal death. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:17) If people stay under the law, they will be judged by the law. We know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:19-24) Our friends around this breakfast table, we are those who have been set free by the grace and mercy of God through his Son, Jesus Christ. Paul was lamenting the fact that the Galatians were binding themselves again into following the law rather than remaining in the grace of God. The grace of God through Jesus Christ would make them free, fully God’s adopted children, but the law would enslave then again in the darkness of the world. Our friends, hear the message of God delivered in the book of the Galatians: be free, free indeed through the works of Christ, his death on the cross. You are NO LONGER CHILDREN OF THIS WORLD. You are resident children of God’s domain. Fully accept your inheritance, remaining completely free as children of God.
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