“The Wounds of a Friend” - Galatians 4:12-20

“The Wounds of a Friend”

Galatians 4:12-20

Introduction.: Theology is always practical. Galatians addresses right doctrine, it also speaks to Christian living. Tim Keller affirmed the practical relevance of this section of Galatians:

These verses set before us two contrasts. One is between gospel faith and worldly religion (v 8-11), and is one of the most important and remarkable insights of the whole book. The other is between gospel ministry and worldly ministry (v 12-20), and gives us insights into how the gospel practically affects our relationships with others…  (Keller, Galatians For You).

Last week we looked at 2:8-11, and this week we turn to verses 12-20, and consider the practical outworking of the Gospel in our lives. I remember someone giving advice on preaching: “Your people won’t remember everything you tell them. But they will remember if you loved them.” If you’ve been reading Galatians these last few months as we have been going through this series on Getting the Gospel Right, I hope you know that Paul was not all head and no heart! He has been direct, getting to the matter the Galatians were immersed in, and endangered by, from the first verses. But if you had any doubt, these verses that we’ll read today assure us that Paul is confronting them out of love. The Proverb says “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Prov 27:6). And that summarizes well the contrast Paul is making between his own ministry to the Galatians, and the message and ministry of the Judaizers among them. Paul is only concerned with loving the Galatians enough to tell them the truth, even if it hurts, and he hopes to turn them back toward the Gospel truth: grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone!

       John Piper suggests that

“…the basic reason why Christian faith meets with opposition in the world and even finds resistance in our own hearts is that true saving faith always brings with it the reshaping of our heart and mind so that it is no longer we who live but Christ in us. There is in every human heart an intense and powerful love for the praise of men.”  

Paul loved the people who he served, the churches he planted, the leaders he mentored. He has been harsh in this letter, but rather than just saying what they perhaps would have wanted to hear, he spoke the truth in love.  This is what sets us apart from the world, what tells them we belong to Jesus: “By this men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

The Maine* Idea: Brotherly love should be the basis of our caring and our accountability in the church, and growth, to God’s glory, should be the goal.

I. There is a bond of love in God’s family (4:12a). Notice the change in tone at this point in the letter. Paul had been harsh, perhaps even painfully direct, and now he reveals his heart felt concern for the Galatians…

“Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are.”

       “I beg of you brethren…”  Another translation says, “Brothers, I urge you…” This is a very personal appeal from Paul, quite a contrast from 3:1,3!  This is an urgent letter from the apostle, but the excitement over their flirting with apostasy is now overcome by his genuine love for them as his spiritual children.  Its almost as if he “sighed” as he wrote 4:11, in moving to this paragraph.  If there was any doubt in the readers’ minds what Paul thought and felt about them, it is very clear at this point that his motivation was his love for them in Christ.  Confronting error or sin or inconsistency in the church is not wrong, in fact it is necessary. That is, as long as the motivation is brotherly love and the desire is not to punish them or to make ourselves look good, but rather to restore. For their good and for God’s glory.

       “become as I am…” In many contexts Paul exhorts the believers he is writing to to follow his example of faith.  He was not one to say “do as I say, not as I do.” I remember once when our daughter was maybe 4 years old, we were going down the darkened steps of the church I pastored in NJ. I said, “Stick close Sarah.” Her reply was, “OK Dad, I’ll follow you, you follow God.” That was convicting! Paul walked so closely with the Lord, he could say with confidence, “Follow me, as I follow Christ!” Become as I am. But he reminds them of his relationship with them, how he sought to understand and identify with the nuances of their culture. He, in a sense, became “like them.” In this context he is saying that just as he received them as his spiritual children, just as he became “like them” by identifying with them and becoming one of their own, so should they receive his admonition as their spiritual father, they should “become like him” (c.f. 4:19). Tim Keller said,

Our words are not sufficient for (and maybe not even most important in) persuading others about the truth of Christ. People have to be able to look into our hearts and lives, to assess how we handle trouble, how we deal with disappointment and interruptions, how we conduct our relationships, how we feel and act, so that they can see whether Christ is real and how the gospel affects a day-to-day human life. Generally, we find faith mainly through relationships with joyful, flawed-but-honest, loving Christians, not through arguments, information and books.

Ideally, our lives are putting Christ on display, showing His beauty to the world. Not that we do so perfectly, but people see something real, something authentic, about our faith, and about how we live it day-to-day.

       There are many characteristics that we might choose to be defined by: intelligence, hard work, honesty, humor. Those are all good. But Jesus said, “…by this men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:33-35).  Brotherly love should be the basis of our caring and accountability in the church, and our growth, to God’s glory, should be the goal.

II. If we really love, we must be willing to confront (12b-16).

…You did me no wrong.  ¹³ You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first,  ¹⁴ and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.  ¹⁵ What then has become of the blessing you felt? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.  ¹⁶ Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?

       First, Paul relates the circumstances under which he first ministered to the Galatians. And he reminds them of how graciously they had accepted him (12b-13). I think this reminds us that there are somethings love overlooks. Things that might make us uncomfortable, or even repel us personally. If it isn’t sin, can we look past differences of culture or the like for the good of the relationship?

       Paul reminds the Galatians of the situation under which they had met, the unlikely, perhaps unpleasant, circumstances that opened the door for him to share Christ with them. God can work sovereignly through unusual circumstances to bring us together. “…because of a bodily illness I preached to you the first time…” Some think that while in Pamphilia (Acts 13:13-14) Paul contracted Malaria and went to Galatia to recuperate.  Maybe, but truthfully we don’t know for certain what Paul’s physical malady was (eye trouble, malaria, epilepsy) [nor do we even know if this is to be identified with his “thorn in the flesh” he refers to in 2 Cor 12:7-10] but whatever it was it was serious. Yet God used his trial to bring him into a community, to allow extended fellowship with a group of people, who became believers, and at least initially were taught and discipled by Paul. Galatia wasn’t part of Paul’s ministry plan, but God used that situation for the good of the Galatians, and for Paul’s good as well. A lesson here: it is good to plan, to think ahead about our goals and the next steps in our lives and ministries, but remember that our plans are always subject to God’s revision. A student of mine used to say, “Man plans, and God laughs!”

       Are you open to God’s redirection? Can it be that the circumstances of life have opened to you an unexpected opportunity? Remember the story of Queen Esther, when Mordecai wondered if she had risen to power “for such a time as this”?  Can I ask, how did you come to this church?  What were the series of circumstances that God used, the people, the events, to get you here? Do you see His hand in it all?

       The church should be a place where we can find acceptance, understanding, help, accountability, and also opportunities to bless others. That was Paul’s experience when he first ministered among the Galatians…

       Paul refers to “…that which was a trial…” The Galatians knew what he was referring to, we don’t. But even so, we can get the lesson: It is easy to be accepting of those who have something to offer us, but are we as accepting of people who have a lot of needs, but at least initially, seemingly little to offer? Could it be that God is working to teach us something, to grow our faith?

       Whatever the trial was, Paul says of the Galatians’ response to him, “…you did not despise or loathe…” Common in the Ancient Near East to view sickness as a judgement from God.  Remember Job’s friends (cf. Job 4:7-9)? And the disciples when they saw the man born blind (John 9:2)? Remember the reaction of the natives on Patmos when Paul was bitten by a snake after having survived a shipwreck (Acts 28:3,4)? But the Galatians, their hearts being softened by God, did not reject Paul. The word “loathe” [ekptuo] literally meant to “spit out” in disgust. It implied a condition that was repulsive. I remember a young couple that was married in the first church I pastored. When they came back from their honeymoon, we learned that something happened to the husband when they were scuba diving in the Caribbean. He experienced something called “mask squeeze.” I don’t know exactly what happened, but the result was the whites of his eyes were blood-red. Not just blood shot, but they looked like they had been painted with red paint. When they returned, he went to the apartment of someone who rented from them, and as soon as the woman looked at him, she started to cry! It was that hard to look at! I don’t think Paul was doing any scuba diving, but whatever the ailment was that he had, there was something seemingly repulsive about it. Even so, the Galatians looked past the surface, and they received him warmly. His message touched their hearts and many of them believed. A good reminder to us not to get too hung up with physical appearances, externals.  Are we willing to reach out to and embrace people who are despised by the world? 

        Paul goes even further and says, not only were you not repulsed, “…but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself…” The word “angel” can mean “messenger,” which Paul certainly was, or perhaps he could be saying that he was given a reception worthy of an angel from heaven.  He was welcomed that warmly and genuinely.  When we welcome people into the church we take responsibility for one another. We love one another, because Christ first loved us. We make folks feel at home, we develop relationships, and over time, there is a growing mutual transparency which should make us willing to confront, or to be confronted, in love, when the need arises. That’s one of the means by which we grow to be more like Christ.

       Paul calls on them in v. 15 to remember their history together, the “joy” they had when they first believed. The word the NIV translates “joy” literally can be translated remember the “blessing” [makarismoj] or “blessedness” [ESV]. The word can imply “a feeling of joy, fulfillment and contentedness.” But when Paul asks in v.15, “What became of your blessedness?” (ESV) I think he is saying that their response to him was an evidence of God’s presence and blessing on them (cf. “unity” as an evidence of blessing in Psalm 133). It is the sense we have when we recognize God’s hand in a situation through which we were passing. Have you been there?  Paul reminds them “…you would have plucked out your eyes…” (That may be a clue that the problem has something to do with Paul’s eyes). The primary point is clear – the Galatians would have done anything for Paul, they loved him in such a way that  would have compelled them to make any sacrifice on his behalf.

       After reminding them of their history, of the kind of relationship they had, he asks, “…have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?”  (v.16). Sometimes the truth hurts, right?  But if that pain is motivated by love, shouldn’t we listen?  It broke the heart of Paul as it should break the heart of any Christian to see a brother being turned from the truth – or living in a way that denies the faith that they profess – how much more must it break the heart of God (Isa 5:4; Lk 13:34)!  If we really love, we must be willing to tell the truth!

            The truth may hurt, but remember the Proverb, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, deceitful are the kisses of an enemy” (Prov 27:6).  Love must be tough!  Many appreciate a messenger only as long as he says what they want to hear (e.g. the rich young ruler, Luke 18:18-23). Brotherly love should be the basis of our caring and accountability in the church, and our growth, to the glory of God should be the goal.

III. If we love someone, we desire God’s best for them, especially that they would become more like Christ (4:17-20).

¹⁷ They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.  ¹⁸ It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you,  ¹⁹ my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!  ²⁰ I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

       We saw the Christian movie last week or so call “Courageous!” Remember the scene when the one dad makes it clear that He is going to interview any suitors that want to date his daughter? There are different views about dating… Are his intentions “honorable”? Paul is making that kind of statement here, these false teachers don’t have good motives! (17-18). Paul now warns the Galatians about who the real enemies were –

       In v.17 Paul describe the false teachers. They are zealous, but for themselves.  The term “eagerly seek” was often used of a man courting a woman—Paul applies it to false teachers who are trying to win the hearts of believers-Does this happen today? Are some teachers guilty of skewed motives (Acts 20:28-30)? The contrast is that faithful teachers are zealous to make disciples for Jesus, not for themselves.

       Paul contrasts himself with the false teachers. His desire was for their growth that they would achieve real maturity (19-20).  Paul refers to them tenderly as his “little children.” He uses it as a term of endearment, but also implying that they would grow up!  He says, “I am in the pains of child birth…” The idea seems to be that as a mother experiences the agony of labor, she does so willingly, longing for the birth of her child. Paul is saying to the Galatians, “You are my spiritual children, yet I endure this suffering willingly, longing for your transformation, that you would grow up to reflect the character of Christ.”

       When we are justified by grace through faith, we are declared righteous. That is our position, our standing in Christ. Experientially, Christ must increasingly be “formed in us.” The term morfow speaks to essential form rather than mere outward appearance.  The idea is that believers should exhibit increasingly Christ-like character. This is the NT dynamic of the Christian life, the indicative and the imperative in Paul, “This is who you are and what you have in Christ, now act like it!”

    In v. 20 Paul says, “I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.” This shows the perplexity of Paul. It is like he is saying, “I know you know better, how could you be taken in?” The verb reading “perplexed” [aporeomai] means “to be at one’s wits end.”  He could not understand how they could have been taught the gospel well, believed it so genuinely, then appeared to be in the process of forsaking it so quickly (cf. 1:6). And so he does the hard thing, and confronts them in love.

What is God saying to me in this passage? Brotherly love should be the basis of our caring and accountability in the church, and our growth, to God’s glory, should be the goal.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? What is the defining characteristic of your relationships in the church?  Is it really love?  John wrote, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another...” (I John 4:10-11).  What does love in the church look like? It means really wanting the best for each other, wanting to see our brothers and sisters growing in their faith, growing closer to God. 1) Do you love your brother enough to confront him when necessary?  2) Are you willing to accept confrontation when it is given in love? As we live this way in the church, those outside will see:  “By this men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another…”  To God be the glory! AMEN.

It's Time to Grow Up! - Galatians 4:1-11

It’s Time to Grow Up! (or, “From Slavery to Sonship”)

Galatians 4:1-11

Introduction: A well-known story that Jesus told was of a son who made a selfish choice. He chose to despise the father who loved him, and walked away from the blessings of sonship. Going the way of the world, he eventually became enslaved by his poor choices. That story had a happy ending as the prodigal son repented, and went back in brokenness, and was received by his gracious father. The Old Testament story of Esau shows another case of despising the blessings of sonship, when, in a moment of hunger, Esau, the eldest son of Isaac, exchanged his birthright for a bowl of stew. In our text today Paul is asking, “Why would a child of the king reject his position, and choose to become a slave?”  He is urging the Galatians, and us, to live in the light of who we are in Christ!

       In a sermon a couple of weeks back I referenced the movie Matrix. Here I go again! One of the characters in that movie, Cypher, betrayed Morpheus and the team of humans who had been set free from bondage to the Matrix. Why did he do it? He thought he was happier living in the illusory world of the Matrix than he was struggling against the machines in the real world. He wanted to return to living in the blissful ignorance of bondage! Not too unlike the Jews in the wilderness who murmured against Moses, “Why did you take us out of Egypt? We had leeks and cucumbers there, we should go back!” So quickly they forgot what they had been saved from, and were ready to turn back. That sounds a little like the Galatians, doesn’t it? They had been set from bondage through faith in the Gospel of Christ. And now they were seemingly on the brink of turning back to a religion of works.

Context: We saw in chapter 3 how God is truly the Lord of history.  He made a promise to Abraham 2000 years before Christ.  He then gave Moses a Law, which not only did not annul the promise, it actually made it more urgent and necessary. We’ve seen how that promise was fulfilled in Christ, so that everyone who the Law drives to Jesus receives in Him the promise that was made to Abraham—by grace alone through faith alone.  That is what God has done for us.  But Paul is writing this letter because it seemed as though the Galatians had forgotten who they were and what they had in Christ, or at least they were being convinced that if faith was good, faith plus works must be even better in terms of earning God’s favor. No!

The Maine* Idea: If we recognize the privilege it is to be called God’s son, we will never desire to go back to our former position of slavery. We have been set free in Christ. It’s time to grow up and live in the light of the Gospel of Grace!

I. What we were: In effect, we were slaves (4:1-3)!  God’s revelation in the period before Christ was anticipating a new age and a new standing: We were slaves, now we are sons!

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything,  ² but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.  ³ In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.

       Think back about your experience before you trusted Christ. Can you see how God was guiding your life, bringing you to the point of finding your place in His story?  You were a slave, but then came to know God, or rather, be known by God (cf. Gal 4:9)!  God knows everything, so what does that mean? It is the personal, intimate knowledge of relationship. When God is the subject of the verb, knowing, loving, and choosing, all go together. While we were yet sinners, in rebellion, separated from God, by nature children of wrath, even then God so loved us that He gave His Son.

       The image of “slavery” can be applied both in the macrocosm of redemptive history (the progressive unfolding of his plan until the coming of Christ in the fullness of time) and also in the microcosm of our individual experience of coming to faith. As the Jews were slaves, under the Law, waiting for the coming of the Promised One, we too were personally slaves to sin and to Satan until God graciously intervened in our life, and we heard and believed the gospel. 

       Here Paul uses an illustration: even though a child might be an heir, and so fully expect his inheritance in the future, as a young boy he would continue under the authority of the servants of the father who had been appointed as his guardians or stewards. There is a future promise, but it is still future.  A trust is an example today, a sum might be held for a minor until an appointed time, perhaps when they are 21.  It’s their money, but they can’t have access to it until the time appointed.

        Typically, at a 1^st century bar-mitzvah of a Jewish boy at age 12, the father would thank God for taking from him the responsibility for the boy. Can you imagine that? Twelve years old, time to grow up son, take some responsibility! The ancient Greeks had a ceremony at about age 18 marking the transition to manhood. For Roman children, as they were marking their transition to adulthood, the boys would actually sacrifice their toys and girls their dolls!  In most American homes it is not always such a clean break! (Mary Ann did say she dreaded going into the 6^th grade – it meant it was time to give up her dolls). At some point, it’s time to grow up! One father, cleaning up the toys his kids had spread across the backyard, was heard to quote I Corinthians 13:11 – “…when I became a man, I put away childish things…”

       In Verse 3 Paul says, “In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.” We’ve had quite a lot of discussion in our Tuesday morning meeting about the phrase elementary principles [stoixeia]. It is a word that can mean “elements” as we would us it, the simple form of the material that the world is made of. It can also be used metaphorically of ABC’s, the simple teachings that a child must learn. The word appears twice in this passage. In verse 3, when we were children, we “…were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.” Then Paul uses the word again in verse 9, “…how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles, whose slaves you want to be once more?” Paul’s experience was rigorously following the Law, and the Jewish traditions. The Galatians had been pagans. Now the Judaizers were undercutting the gospel by saying that faith alone was not enough. I think we see a similar idea in Colossians 2:8,20, where Paul is confronting false teaching that he summarizes in v.21, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.” Do you see what was happening? Legalism, following rules, as the requirement to come to God. I think that is the elementary principle, the way that seems right to a man, to which Paul is referring. As though by being good enough we could approach holy God! Colossians 2:13,14 says…

¹³ And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,  ¹⁴ by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

That is clear enough, is it not? It is not by our good works or piety or performance. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe! You can’t add anything to that! It is finished!

        John Wesley’s testimony was that he was a minister, a teacher, a missionary, and devoutly religious. He practiced the Sabbath on Saturday and the Lord’s day on Sunday. But he later wrote: “I had even then the faith of a servant, but not that of a son…” If we recognized the privilege it is to be called God’s son, we would never choose to go back to our former position of slavery. We have been set free in Christ. It’s time to grow up and live in the light of the Gospel of Grace!

II.  What we are: Through God’s Gracious provision we have been made “Sons of God” through faith in Christ (4:4-7).

⁴ But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,  ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  ⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"  ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

       The source of our sonship was the gracious action of God on our behalf (4-5). A friend posted this quotation from Philip Yancey this week…

Jesus forgave a thief dangling on a cross… That thief would never study the Bible, never attend synagogue or church, and never make amends to those he had wronged. He simply said “Jesus, remember me,” and Jesus promised “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” It was another shocking reminder that grace does not depend on what we have done for God but rather on what God has done for us.

That is Amazing Grace! Jesus paid it all, we can’t add to it, there is nothing to complete, “the debt is paid.” He had a plan, and He did it, so only He gets the glory.

       The timing was in accordance with God’s sovereign will: “When the fullness of time came…” In God’s providence, the world was ready for the birth of the Savior.  Not only was there an air of expectancy and dissatisfaction with the status quo, but the stage was also set for God’s plan to unfold in its fullness: including the rejection and crucifixion of God’s Son by His own people!  What? The Jews were prepared to misunderstand Christ’s mission. They were looking for a military or political Rescuer rather than a Savior from sin. Ironically, by delivering him into the hands of the Romans, they fulfilled prophecy, proving who Jesus is (since the Scriptures predicted a rejected Messiah), and setting the stage for His sacrifice for our sins.

       There were other elements that made the first century “the fullness of time,” the perfect time for God’s plan to unfold. The synagogue system had become widespread. Any town or village with at least ten Jewish men organized into a center where the Scriptures could be read and talked about on a weekly basis. It provided a prepared audience, Jews and gentile proselytes who knew and memorized the Law and the Prophets, including the promises of the coming Messiah. The Pax Romana and the Roman system of roads set the stage for the rapid growth of the church, allowing missionaries to bring the good news of Jesus throughout the Roman world. The Greek language itself had become the Lingua Franca of the Greco-Roman world, and prepared the way for the Hebrew Scriptures to be translated into a language that Gentiles from Asia, North Africa and Spain could read and understand. After the resurrection the disciples wrote letters that were preserved, copied, and circulated, and soon became the written New Testament. The King of History was working at exactly the right time, guiding the story to fulfill His plan. The fullness of time had come, and Jesus had completed His saving work, and begun to build His church!

      The circumstances were in accordance with God’s plan: born of a woman: God the Son took upon himself a human nature (but without sin); born under the Law, to live a sinless life, and so fulfill the Law in a way that no other human ever did or could. But the most important thing for us is why He did it: In order to “…redeem those who were under the Law…” There are a few words the Bible uses to get across the idea of a price being paid to save us from sin. Here, it is evxagora,zw – “To buy out of the market.” We were slaves, bought at a price, by the blood of Christ.

       There is a second purpose stated by Paul, the Son was sent to redeem us, for this purpose: “…that we might receive the adoption as sons…” That translation is a bit awkward, since the goal is stated with a single Greek word: ui`oqesi,a = “adoption as sons.” The idea is the full enjoyment of the privileges of being a legal heir. Not just a child destined to be an heir, but someone with the rights of an adult son. He bought us from slavery, to make us his sons!

      The confirmation of our sonship (v.6).  God’s Spirit within us subjectively confirms the objective truth: We are God’s children (see Rom 8:14-16).  The servant has only a master, the son has a father!  The servant obeys out of fear, a son out of love (I Jn 3:1)! The first word in v.7, “So…”  In the light of these facts, the one who is in Christ is not longer a slave, no longer under the Law, but a son, an heir according to the promises, we obey out of love. If we recognized the privilege it is to be called God’s son, we would never choose to go back to our former position of slavery. We have been set free in Christ. It’s time to grow up and live in the light of the Gospel of Grace!

III.  How we should therefore live: Why would a son choose to return to a position of slavery (4:8-11)? Being a child of the King brings with it tremendous blessings and privileges, but also an obligation or expectation to live differently because of who we are in Christ.

⁸ Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.  ⁹ But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?  ¹⁰ You observe days and months and seasons and years!  ¹¹ I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

       Paul is clearly implying that before they believed in Jesus, the Galatians were slaves of Satan. Read v.8: “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were in bondage to beings that by nature are no gods…” Paul wants to reserve the word "God" for the one true God. But he knows that formerly the Galatians were in bondage to beings which they called "gods." The Galatians were among those who the “god” (small “g”) of this world had blinded. The enemy is real. And he is vicious.

       Now isn’t it wrong to see the devil under every rock?  You’ve heard people say, “It’s not my fault, the Devil made me do it!”  We are responsible – and we can resist Him – but we need to beware!  We are in a spiritual war, and  Jesus and his apostles have said as much. "If by the finger of God I cast out demons, the kingdom of God has come upon you," Jesus said (Luke 11:20). Casting out demons demonstrated His authority.  Paul said, "We are not contending against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers . . . against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  Peter said, "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). James said, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). John said, "Every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already" (1 John 4:3). These are not isolated or ambiguous verses! It is clear that the New Testament writers want us to be aware, and to be wary of the evil one and his minions! The good news is that greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world!

       Paul warns the Galatians of the peril of sliding back into spiritual bondage in 4:9-11. But weren’t these false teachers only calling the Galatians to add the Law to the Gospel – Is that really demonic?  Trying to be saved by human effort, whether through the Law or through paganism, is the “elementary principle” that really amounts to bondage to demons. "When you did not know God, you were in bondage to beings that by nature are no gods." Paul says Galatian Christians were in danger of going back to the slavery of their former Gentile pagan religion when they turn to the legalism of the Judaizers. Remember these new Galatian believers were Gentiles whose past was not Jewish law but Gentile paganism and idolatry. So the Judaizers—these rigorous, moral monotheists out of Jerusalem—must have been shocked to hear Paul say to the Galatians: if you begin to use the Jewish law to show God how good you are, you come under the sway of demons and are no better off than in your former idolatry. In other words, Paul is exposing a typical demonic scheme which is just as prevalent in the religions of the world today as it was in Paul's day. It is clean, it is moral, it is religious, and it is “the way of death.”

What is God saying to me in this passage? If we recognized the privilege it is to be called God’s son, we would never choose to go back to our former position of slavery. We have been set free in Christ. It’s time to grow up and live in the light of the Gospel of Grace!

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? The enemy would have us pervert the Gospel of Grace by adding our “requirements” for spirituality. Remember John Wesley, no one was more religious, more disciplined. Still, by his own testimony he was still a slave, and not a son. Jesus paid it all. By grace through faith we are children of the King. What difference should this make in our prayer life?  We are the King’s kids!  Does any of this matter in our service to God, in our ministry?  In the parable of the prodigal son, the younger son chose to ignore his Father, even despise him, and pursue pleasure. Jesus didn’t tell us how his life changed when he came home, graciously accepted by the Father as a son, not a slave. Like the prodigal we don’t deserve anything. But in Christ, the blessings of heaven are lavished on us. We are free in Christ – freed from bondage. Free to know God and walk with Him. We want to serve Him – out of love. When we live in the light of the Gospel, we “portray the beauty of Christ to the world.” Let’s be faithful children of the King!  To God be the glory. AMEN.

Guards, Guides, and Grace - Galatians 3:23-39

“Guard’s, Guides, and Grace”

Galatians 3:23-29

Introduction:  The TV reality show “Biggest Loser” was pretty well known around here for a time when the former youth pastor was a contestant. The contestants had a couple of things that they probably hated at times, but which were there to help them toward their goal: 1) the scale, which spoke only the hard objective truth, and 2) a personal trainer, to instruct, encourage, and urge them toward their objective.  These guides could reveal the need, and help them toward their goal.  The Law served that way for the Jews, and for us, as it exposed our desperate need for a Rescuer!

Context: After setting forth his apostolic credentials Paul argued both from the experience of the Galatian Christians in coming to faith, and from the Scriptures that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus and His finished work, apart from the works of the Law.  We’ve seen in Galatians 3 that God never intended the Law as a means of salvation, in fact if the Law could save the cross would not have been necessary and Jesus died for nothing.  Paul now uses another illustration from everyday life to show that God has revealed clear boundaries to expose man’s sin and to guide us to faith in Christ. 

The Maine* Idea: The Law serves as a disciplinarian, a personal tutor, urging us toward sonship which is through faith in Jesus.

I. Humans were in bondage under the Law: The Law is compared to a prison where we were kept under guard, and then to a disciplinarian which would correct and guide (3:23-24).

²³ Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.  ²⁴ So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 

       The Law as a “Guard” (3:23) “…we were kept under guard…. And kept for faith…” The ESV says, “help captive… until the coming faith would be revealed.” Remember the context, v.22 says, “But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” The NKJV translates everything as “…all…” This must include Jews and Gentiles alike.  This refers to the Mosaic Law, but also includes the broader revelation of God in nature (Rom 1:18-21) and conscience (2:14,15).  One of the questions that comes up is what about those who were outside of Israel in the period before Christ, or those today who haven’t heard the Gospel?  The truth is that they will be convicted (and condemned!) on the basis of the light of general revelation which they have received, in nature and in their consciences. There is none righteous, no not one… all have sinned… and in our more thoughtful moments we know it.

        Through the years I read to our daughter at night, and one of the books we read together was Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. There is one scene in that allegory that illustrates the idea we are addressing here,

“…As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where was a den, and laid me down in that place to sleep; and as I slept I dreamed a dream.  I dreamed and behold I saw a man clothed with rags standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back.  I looked and saw him open the book and read therein; and as he read, he wept and trembled; and, not being able longer to contain he brake out with a lamentable cry saying “What shall I do?”

That is the desired effect of the Law… through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. Pilgrim’s burden is sin, and the book in his hand is the Bible. Our desperate need is exposed. In Bunyan’s story, a short while later the man encountered Evangelist, who asked him why he was crying. Pilgrim replied, “Sir, I perceive by the book in my hand that I am condemned to die and after that to come to judgment.” Evangelist pointed to a hill in the distance, and said that was the way to light and life. The Bible opens our eyes to our need, our lost and desperate condition, and it also is the means that God uses to stir faith in our hearts: Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.

        Not only with respect to the history of redemption, but every human being either continuously lives as a captive slave chained under the judgment of God’s perfect and unchanging law, the demands of which he must pay by eternal death or hell; or he lives by faith in Jesus, utterly free from judgment (cf. Rom 8:1-3) as a redeemed child of God under his sovereign and eternal grace. Yet just like Cain, men continue to insist on coming to God on their own terms and choosing for themselves what they decide should be pleasing to God. God is God and we are not! He gets to make the rules!

       In Philippians 3:5-9 Paul described his conversion from Law to Grace:

“…circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;  ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.  ⁷ But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ…  I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ,  ⁹ and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”

That last verse from Paul is the message of Galatians in a nutshell! I can’t keep the Law flawlessly; my only hope is being declared righteous through faith in Christ!

       The Law as a Guide (3:24). – Paul applies the idea of being “kept in custody” to another situation that would have been readily understandable in his first century context. Read again 3:24,

²⁴ So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

The “guardian,” or paidagogos, in the Greek world wasn’t a teacher or schoolmaster, but rather he was a household servant who was an attendant to the child from 6 to 16 years of age.  He would take him to school, make sure he studied his lessons, and scold and even discipline as necessary.  It was never permanent; it was for that specific period of time. All of it, leading, disciplining, directing, lasted only until the child reached the age of an “adult son.” Paul uses that as an illustration of the nature and function of the Law. It has a restraining and guiding function, and for the Jews before Christ it looked forward to the coming of the One who would rescue those who believe.

     The main purpose of the Law, God’s divinely appointed pedagogue, was to provide boundaries, to give guidance, to show people their need, until the coming of Christ, that they might be justified through faith in Him.  After a person comes to him there is no longer a need for external ceremonies and rituals to act as guides and disciplinarians, because the new inner principles operate through the indwelling Christ in who is “hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3).  The Law in a ceremonial sense is done away with, though in the moral sense it remains, revealing the character of our Father, and His desire for us. Tim Keller said,

Law and grace work together in Christian salvation. Many people want a sense of joy and acceptance but they will not admit the seriousness of their sin. They will not listen to the law’s searching and painful analysis of their lives and hearts. But unless we see how helpless and profoundly sinful we are, the message of salvation will not be exhilarating and liberating. Unless we know how big our debt is, we cannot have any idea of how great Christ’s payment was. If we think that we are not all that bad, the idea of grace will never change us. The law shows us as we really are. And so the law points us to see Christ as He really is: our Savior, the One who obeyed the law on our behalf and then died in our place so that we might receive the promised blessing.

The law serves as a disciplinarian, a personal tutor, urging us toward sonship, which is only through faith in Jesus Christ.

II. In Christ, by faith, we are sons; we’ve been set free! Sonship is a gracious gift, received by faith (3:25-29). Paul now unfolds the results of being rightly related to God through faith in Jesus Christ….

²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,  ²⁶ for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.  ²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  ²⁹ And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

       What does Paul mean: "Faith has come" (25)? I don't think Paul is saying that no one in Israel had saving faith before Christ came. Abraham clearly did, Paul is using him as an example (3:6)!  Indeed, the New Testament teaching about faith is based largely on quotations from the Old Testament! Hebrews 11 surveys Old Testament history and gives examples of faith from the past. The reformers didn’t invent the phrase, “The just shall live by faith,” it came from the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk! So, Paul does not mean that no one had faith before Christ came, or that justification was by works before Christ came. Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. That has always been true. What does he mean then?

        Paul must mean, when he says that "faith has come," that by God's grace, a period in redemptive history has come in which God sent forth His Son, the One who is the object of faith. The Rescuer has arrived (Gal 4:4,5)! When the gospel is preached, people believe and are saved. The movement has spread around the world, the word of Christ is being fulfilled when He said, “I will build my church.” Every one of us here who lives by faith in the Son of God is living evidence that by the sovereign, effectual grace of the Holy Spirit "faith has come"—even to us, and taken up residence in our hearts, and made us new. “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live is the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved and gave himself for me.” That was Paul’s testimony in chapter 2, and if you know Him, in some way, it is your testimony as well.

        Now that “faith has come” (v.25), we are living in the age of grace, under the Gospel, the full and final revelation of God in Christ. So, we have moved from the position of children under the direction and discipline of a custodian, to being Sons of God (vv. 25,26).   As we think about what we are in Christ, contrast that with what we were without Him. Apart from faith in Christ, all men are enemies of God (Rom 5:10) and children of wrath (Eph 2:3).  Like the self-righteous Pharisees in Jerusalem, every unbeliever, according to Jesus, is in reality a child of the devil (John 8:44). In that condition of utter darkness, a Light shone – Jesus, the Light of the World. And He is the only way (Jn 14:6; Acts 4:12). Is that an exclusive message? Yes… There is no other way to God, but through faith in Christ. Period.

        There are implications to this: Because all believers are in Christ, our unity with Him implies a positional unity with other Christians (27-28). There's no room for pride, or prejudice, rather there's a call to being forgiving and gracious.

     We says we were “…baptized into Christ…” (27), Paul makes a similar reference in Romans 6:3-5, which is primarily a reference to our spiritual identification with Christ…

³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  ⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Christ is in us, and at the same time, we are in Christ. Paul affirmed that in Galatians 2:20,21 and he is assuming here in Galatians 3. If we are in Christ and He is in us, we are His, and He is ours! He also says we have been  “clothed with Christ…” enveloped in his presence, his righteousness….

       Another implication, spiritual equality. Read again v. 28, ^“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  That is a radical statement in the context of the 1st century, asserting absolute spiritual equality regardless of social status, race, or sex! Coming from Paul, trained as a Rabbi and Pharisee, this seems to be a conscious rebuttal of a common prayer of the Pharisees at that time: “Lord, I thank you that I was not born a slave, a gentile, or a woman…” Such was the discrimination of that time!  Paul is saying, before God, all humans are equal. All spiritual blessings, resources, and promises are equally given to all who believe unto salvation (cf. Rom 10;12). Paul later writes in Ephesians that the dividing wall of partition between Jew and Gentile has been abolished in Christ, he counsels his friend Philemon to receive back his runaway slave Onesimus, no longer as a slave, but now as a brother in Christ.  He commends women such as Phoebe and Priscilla for their service for the Lord (in the context of the roles He has established in Creation and affirmed in the NT).

       It also means that we are heirs of the promise (see v.29). Since we are “in Christ,” the promised Seed, we too are joint heirs, and share in the spiritual promises given to Abraham. Through faith.

What is God saying to me in this passage? The Law served as a temporary disciplinarian, a personal tutor, urging us toward sonship through faith in Jesus.  John Stott commenting on these verses said: “We cannot come to Christ to be justified until we have first been to Moses to be condemned.  But once we have gone to Moses, and acknowledged our sin, guilt, and condemnation, we must not stay there. We must let Moses send us to Christ.” The Gospel is clear: Grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? For those of us who struggle with our weight, the hard, objective truth presented by a scale can sometimes hurt, but if it’s the truth, we would do well to pay attention!  The Bible is Truth, and it will show us our need, it will point out how far short we fall and how hopeless we are in and of ourselves. But it doesn’t leave us there. It also serves as a kind, encouraging tutor, a personal coach, to point us to Jesus and His amazing grace. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – and he did it by taking our sins in his own body on the Cross – He drank the cup of wrath to the dregs, so that our cup, the cup of blessing, could be filled to overflowing. That is Amazing Grace!  AMEN.