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 1st 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 6th 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.
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