Scripture: Galatians4: 8-11, 17-20; Galatians 4:21-26; Galatians 5:1,16-26
As we continue through our series on the early church
and the problems that were working to destroy the Christian faith in Galatia,
we see that the only purpose that the law ever had was to be a placeholder for
the people’s lives until Messiah arrived.
But the problem with the law was that human influence and involvement
was injecting demands that God had never intended to be placed upon the lives
of humanity! Men were making additions
to the law that had been set down for Moses on Mount Sinai, and their
explanations as to what God had intended for the people were so far off track,
that the law had become impossible for the people of God to follow.
But when Jesus was sent to Earth, the divine
expectation that God held out for humanity had left the law, and had become faith
in who the Son of God was for us, as well as in trust and obedience of all that
He had taught and had completed for us.
It was the law at work when the Lord Jesus was
crucified at Calvary, but it was God’s will at work that raised Him from
death in the tomb and into eternal life.
As we have seen these past three weeks, there were still those who were
pinning their hopes to the impotence of legalism. But when Jesus ascended to His throne in
heaven, did that imply that His rein on Earth had come to an end? Certainly not! God has promised that we will never be left
wanting – in Deuteronomy 31:6,
we read of God’s promise that “the Lord your God goes
with you; he will never leave you nor
forsake you.”
And how is God with us if Jesus has gone back to His
Father? The third person of the Trinity,
the Holy Spirit, will continue to be with us, reminding us of all that the word
and way of Jesus is, and has done, and will continue to do for us for all time! Jesus will
always be with us through the presence of the Holy Spirit!
As today’s lesson begins, Paul continues with his
teaching regarding the powerless hope and the damage that the law will work
within us, and that faith in the work of God is our only hope.
Read Galatians 4:8-11, 17-20
Paul is beginning to move toward showing us that
personal efforts, whether through the law, or through individual efforts of be
“good” by some other human standard, will only be a means to slavery,
and that faith in Jesus Christ is God’s way of ensuring that divine freedom
is available for all who believe and obey.
Without Jesus in a person’s life, Paul is proclaiming that we are
trapped and enslaved to a future that is dependent solely in the inadequate hope
that Earth can offer, and that there will be nothing that the Lord of heaven
can do for us until we surrender our own understanding and expectations. Until we place our life fully in the hands of
the only One who can save us, we will still be chained as slaves!
The apostle is appalled that those who had once come
to the grace and freedom that is only found by faith in Jesus Christ, are
suddenly considering a return to the legality of worldly slavery. He aches for their loss, but he still refuses
to let them continue without his making a concerted attempt to restore them to
faith in Jesus.
Paul’s lesson and example for us is that we should
never give up on anyone who hesitates, or even objects, to living in the way of
God until all hope for victory totally escapes from our spirit. Freedom is always worthy of our all-out
commitment!
Read Galatians 4:21-26
Paul uses a very interesting example to describe the
difference between the law and God’s grace.
Without going into any depth in the story of the offspring of Abram, who
God would later rename Abraham, he would have two sons – Ishmael whose mother
was Sarai’s slave Hagar, and Isaac, whose mother was Sarai, and who the Lord would
later rename Sarah. The difference
between the two births, however, was that it was Abram who impregnated Hagar,
but due to the extreme ages of both Abraham and Sarah, it was only God who
caused this woman to become pregnant.
(See Genesis 15:1-6; 16:1-4;21:1-7)
Paul is referring to Hagar as a slave, which she
actually was, and, as a point of comparison to the law, as a symbol of our slavery
to the world. But in the case of Sarah
and her pregnancy, it was God’s blessing that freed her from the condemnation
of the world.
He tells us that Hagar represents the slavery and
limitation of law – the problem was that as soon as Moses came back down the
mountain, the law that he carried became susceptible to the world’s
intervention and manipulation through their bondage.
But Sarah’s delivery of Isaac was different. For
her, it was God’s work, and only His that freed Abraham and Sarah from slavery and condemnation
in the ways of the world, and brought them a child through the Lord’s grace!
Read Galatians 5:1, 16-26
The truth is that our “God will never leave us,
nor forsake us”, for the Holy Spirit will be with us until the day when
Jesus returns to sit in judgment over the false ways of Earth. God is definitely with us, working in us, working
through us, working for us through the power of faith.
And as long as the Spirit of God is with us, and
we with Him, the world’s law, which is sin, will stand in direct opposition
to all that the Spirit proclaims for us.
The ways of each will always be in constant conflict with each other,
with sin at work to
enslave us, and the Spirit to free us.
But as long as we keep our eyes and ears and heart focused on the
leading of the Spirit, sin will never find a way in.
Consider the list of differences that the Apostle
offers us in this passage. His list of
“acts of the sinful nature” should be
very familiar to us all, for who can possibly say that they have never fallen
into the trap of at least one, and probably more, of them! And how often have we been told by one of the
world’s advocates that these are natural for people do, that these acts are all
part of our human nature, and if we were created this way, how could they
possibly be bad for us?
But if God denies these claims, and has proclaimed
them to be detrimental to our mortal lives, how could we possibly have been
created that way? God is unchanging,
and His word tells us otherwise! Paul’s acknowledgment at the conclusion of
this list (verse 26!), that “those who live like this will not inherit the
kingdom of God.” should encourage us to avoid them all like the plague that
they truly are! As we read through them,
it becomes obvious that they are all centered on our own personal gratification
and glorification, which is far from a Godly way of life.
But what about the “fruit of the Spirit”? Where are they focused? Either to the betterment of others (love,
joy, peace, patience, and so on), or to the glorification of God (goodness,
faithfulness, etc.).
And that is the victorious life that Jesus has brought
to all who will believe in Him.
