Galatians 4

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0:00 The rest of us were moving through here the Paul's letter to the churches in Galatia It's really driving home his point by chapter 4 where we are now this morning chapter 4 of Galatians Got to find it Romans 1st of Saint Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians Here we go Galatians chapter 4 we've been working our way through

0:32 Galatians and remember the challenge that Paul has he he's Paul's in this unique place because He had Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus and it kind of blew his mind and changed like turned all of his theological thinking on his head and then he He realizes that Jesus is this like culmination and in many ways completion of the

1:06 relationship that Israel had with God as defined at Mount Sinai and it brings it back to this Relationship God had as defy God had with people as defined by his covenant with Abraham which is older and And so he realizes then that because it's now with Abraham that it's all based on faith that the way that this God the God of creation in life the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the God that restores humanity to the life that they were made for and paves and eternity for them is open not just to the Jewish people now

1:39 But to all people to Jews and Gentiles alike All the nations of the world can come into relationship with the God of creation and life through the person of Jesus It takes him a while to realize it But once he does man, he is fired up We talked about how he like walks around kind of the known Roman world multiple times and the churches in Galatia were particularly actually the the Jewish folk and some of the like idol manufacturers were particularly

2:11 Frustrated with Paul in Galatian the region of Galatia member. It's a region not one town in in there That's the place in Galatia where they stoned him and left him for dead But Paul was so fired up by this good news about the person of Jesus that that when they didn't kill him He got up and went back to the towns where they tried to kill him and announced again That Jesus has come which means that all people can find their way to the God of creation in life The God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and be restored to the life they were made for and so he's like

2:45 Announcing this and forming churches He'd stay in the town for a period of time maybe a year or so and then walk to the next one and start some more bring some people with them leave most of everybody behind and and he's like moved through Galatia and left and and some people have come back behind him remember he's like taken he's he's Taken a group a subset of people out of the synagogue who may have some copies of the Torah or some scrolls of the Prophets but but in terms of the application of the way of Jesus all they've got is what Paul taught him

3:21 And maybe they wrote down some things or there are some people who are particularly good learners But they don't have a New Testament at all and so they're trying to figure out how to live in Other people come in and start trying to tell this group of folks how to live and one and several of them in Galatia Start saying cool Now you're in now that you're in here's how you live We have this calendar with all the feast days you've got to keep all the feast days and and then inside of the feast days There's all the sacrificial system get started and then but to welcome you in you go through this rite of circumcision

3:55 And this was like the the like breaking point You can imagine reasons why the the rite of circumcision would have been the breaking point But probably it was a breaking point because it was the entry it was like all right now that you are the people of God You get circumcised right and people are like wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute Is that what we need to do? Let's ask Paul and Paul's letter back to the church in Galatia We're finding is really trying to unearth the misunderstanding in the way of Jesus

4:27 That would suggest that they need to be circumcised and follow all of the laws and He last week He we talked about this a little bit this like idea that they recognized often that they came in by grace They they couldn't even even most rabbinic scholars couldn't find a reason other than grace that Abram was given the the Privileged position of being the people of God on earth That's a lot of peace the privileged position of being the people of God on earth

4:59 They couldn't figure out a reason other than grace that Abram was given that but then the way that he stayed there was By keeping the laws right and so now they're saying great Gentiles you come in through the person of Jesus now Keep the laws and you can stay in and Paul saying we don't like that. This is not why would we continue to use this? When Jesus has blown the doors off right and he gets into it a little bit at the beginning of chapter four So let's look at it together. He's reiterating a point that he got that point that he got on last week and

5:35 He Says I mean that the air as long as he is a child is no different from a slave Though he is the owner of everything But he is under guardians and managers until the dates set by his father in the same way We also when we were children were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world But when the fullness of time has come God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who were Under the law so that we might receive adoption his sons and because we are sons God has sent his spirit

6:11 Of his son into our hearts crying of a father so you are no longer a slave But a son and if a son in an heir through God he's gonna explain this but the first thing I want us to get here It's like he's saying there. He's almost sees like like the mosaic law as a as a how can I describe it like a placeholder like a Apocal place like in there's an epoch in the way God is dealing with people and there's a period of time an era where where the law is in

6:43 Place it's like a placeholder to hold but it's not a full Communication of the mercy or grace of God and so God's like okay. You are gonna be Israel great your Israel Abraham Isaac Jacob And then Joseph and then the 12 tribes now we've got the 12 tribes Let's bring them in now as I'm bringing them in all the world is gonna pay attention to this nation now strategically placed in the in the in the Crux there right there on the Mediterranean Sea and so let's give you this placeholder

7:19 Let's give you this external law so that you're that you know how to live Now just keep these laws don't worry about the position of your heart Don't divine internally what you must do just look externally at what I've told you to do and keep that and that's a placeholder Paul says it's like a guardian for a child It's interesting when I was in Seminary and we were we had this first class about Lutheran mind it was like the introduction to system addicts

7:52 And they wanted you to learn how to think like a Lutheran and one of the things they always talk about is this this dichotomy of law and gospel and Often then this idea that you're told what to do or you're set free You're convicted you're forgiven you're killed you're made alive And so in order to kind of bring this out there they tell this they read this letter That's that some medieval priest wrote to children and

8:25 And he talks about how good little children if they're good We'll get good things If these good little children are good then there is a place where all the good things will be laid aside for them And it's like you'll have golden apples and beautiful bows and arrows to play with and you'll have all the great things right and The professors like any guesses on who wrote this to their kids right and

8:56 The punchline for Luther in mind is that Martin Luther wrote that letter to his kids Because he said there is a right time and place for the use of the law and when you're training kids up in the way They should go it's okay to structure cause and effect benefit and and Harm that that law has its place and Paul says in the epochs of the way God's dealing with humanity There's a period where the law was just enough for Israel

9:29 It's like when you're dealing with kids you need to teach them the right way. They don't know it intuitively You need to teach them the right way to go and he's like the law was there for that right But now he's like we become full heirs of the promise I've heard though. I don't know from firsthand That when parents make lots of money and they must leave it to their kids rather than the government There's an age when they kids get a chance to take whole possession of all the money

10:02 If the kids die before they're 18 or 21 or 25 or whatever it is they don't get it right But then there's a certain age where the floodgates open and all the money comes down Don't know it from firsthand heard about it Paul is saying here there is a period where the children become heirs of the promise and here we are Okay, and then he's gonna do this thing at the end of this chapter. So let's skip forward to verse

10:38 Oh Yeah, verse 21 he does this thing He does this thing with the treatment of the story of Abraham and Sarah Verse 21 tell me you who desire to be under the law You tell me you who desire to be under the law do not listen to the law. Do you not listen to the law question mark?

11:15 For it is written that Abraham had two sons One by a slave woman and one by a free woman But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh Well, the son of the free woman was born according to the promise now This may be interpreted allegorically This is interesting to me because One of the other things I learned in seminary is don't allegory scripture, dude

11:47 They said it pretty emphatically Allegory suggests that the events didn't happen that they are like a fable or something and Interestingly when I did some research it was not calling like Like Jewish rabbis did not often allegory scripture. There were some that did but it's because It was a big method for for in argument in in Greek and Roman circles and so

12:19 what the Scholars think is that Paul is using this allegorical method here Because he's writing to mostly Greek people. He's wanting them to get the idea and In allegory there is that something that happened words that communicate what happened But then there's a different meaning underneath those words, right? So they stand in for other ideas and Paul is going to take the story of Sarah and Hagar and Abraham and Make it an allegory to explain the relationship of the law and the gospel for us or the the old covenant and the new covenant

12:57 and so he says Let's see, but the now verse 24 this may be interpreted allegorically these women are two covenants One is from Mount Sinai Bering children for slavery. She is Hagar Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, right? Because the present Jerusalem says look we're we're kids because

13:28 God picked us because we descend from God, right? And so hey Gar has Ishmael is a son because he's Abraham's Right now all of the the merit that goes to him in terms of becoming an heir as a child in terms of getting the full Benefit of being the son is through the law and Israel says we're kids because we belong to God now if we follow the laws We'll get the inheritance If we follow all the rules and do the right things we'll get the inheritance, right?

14:01 And so Paul is drawing an allegory and saying ishmael is like that. He's like current Jerusalem We get the inheritance the benefit of being sons by following the laws and the rules ishmael firstborn of Abraham um Hagar is the Sinai in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem for she is in slavery with her children verse 26 But Jerusalem above is free and she is our mother for it is written

14:33 Rejoice. Oh barren one who does not bear break forth and cry aloud you who are not in labor for the children of the desolate One will become more than those of the one who has a husband now you brothers like Isaac are children of the promise But just as at that time He who was born to the flesh Persecuted wait you are children of the promise. This is a refrain like a recurring theme in the story of Israel, right?

15:05 God makes a promise For his grace mercy Generosity to come to bear on earth and it often comes through a child that's unexpected the second born or one born to a woman Who couldn't have kids? Sarah is just the first example, right? Rachel Rebecca Elizabeth finally married Right all these women who by Demonstrated the grace and the power of God that his gift comes in through

15:37 Right the the the seed comes at the prerogative of God not according to the laws of the world So even like Jacob and Esau Jacob is the younger and he's even the story of the prodigal and the older son Remember They're both kids by rights They both get the full benefit if they want it

16:11 But the older son would like to earn it according to the law And this is famous. You remember the story at the end the prodigal comes back He's already squandered half of his possession that he took hold of he's already received the full benefits of being Sonship everything that belongs to him and he squandered it and ruined it and he comes back and His loving father puts on a party and invites the whole village to it

16:42 Kills the fattock half spends all the money Celebrates all the things and he gets the full benefit of being a Child of the loving father and the older brother gets none of it Didn't have the inheritance to squander so hasn't had that already Hasn't as he said even had a benefit of the party He's living according to the law and getting none of the benefit of it And he says the loving father Hey I've been living according to the law and getting none of the benefits of sonship and the father says that's your own dumb fault

17:17 I would have given it to you whenever you wanted, but you kept trying to earn it and Paul is saying this is the same thing that happened to Ishmael and Isaac Ishmael wanted it according to the law. He doesn't get it Isaac would receive it according to the promise and he gets the whole thing Right and so he's trying to say why go back to this thing He says and then he goes on this is the interesting part for us. I feel like we get that right and maybe you don't

17:49 Here's how you might not get it To the degree that you let your own failure Your own lack of faith Your own moral malaise Your own repetitive anger or sin or addictive behavior your own kind of meandering of your heart and apathy towards the things of God towards to the degree that you let these things in

18:23 Your heart and mind disqualify you from relationship to God or even hold you back to the degree that you do that You are siding with the law instead of the grace of God Whenever you feel that your behavior Your pattern of belief Your action or attitude of your heart whenever you feel those things creeping up to say don't return to God

18:54 You have no standing you it's embarrassing to go back to prayer To commit again to the things of faith Remember the prodigal eating the food of the pigs that says I'll go back to the loving father And tell him I've got no right to be a son, but take me anyway do that right so for us maybe the temptation of earning our way with God isn't high except for right there maybe

19:25 But this is what caught me this morning is where he goes on that might be a little bit even more of a challenge for us Now you brothers like Isaac our children of the promise verse 29, but just as That at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the spirit So also it is now member that part of the reason

19:55 Sarah asked Hagar to leave or told Abraham you got to ask Hagar Hagar to leave is because Ishmael was Given Isaac a hard time going I'm the firstborn bud and it all comes to me by rights it all comes to me If we had time would go to Romans chapter 9 where Paul reminds the Christians gathering in Rome that God says I'll have mercy on whom I have mercy I

20:29 Get to decide and there is no injustice in the just God deciding in So he's like the they always come down you and they're coming down on you now Paul is saying aren't they they're telling you what you must do and mustn't do they're telling you when you belong and when you don't belong And you may have that in your life or you may have that in your head and your heart pointing condemning fingers, okay

21:00 Okay Spirit is not also is it but verse 30 But what does the scriptures say? Cast out the slave woman and her own for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit With the son of the free woman So brothers we are not children of a slave But of the free woman okay pause for a minute In the story in the actual events

21:31 kicking Hager out is brutal right and and her son and and in a separate time we could address that story specifically Paul has abstracted the story and is treating it allegorically and is saying that what they had to do Was take a specific choice and move past the way of legal rights

22:01 and commit fully to the way of grace and This is a theme in Paul's writing which can be easily missed and I just want to try and describe it here a little bit It's going to come further in the in the next weeks But Paul when he's describing the way of Jesus It's not as though Jesus amended the law and Now you have perfect things that you must do

22:31 what Paul in several places and in coming chapters is trying to suggest is that Jesus did something not merely better than the law but all together different So that now there's actually nothing you must do This is hard for us to handle but I remember one of the first times

23:05 Here that I was having a conversation about baptizing a little baby for a family And they were discussing whether or not they were comfortable baptizing a little baby And it's we can baptize people whenever I don't know we can baptize them as babies We can baptize them as adults and if that's an interesting question to you But this is what it gets to I was just they were described they were asking what baptism brings and now it's like Baptism gives the free gift of faith to this baby

23:37 Give faith is a gift and it's given freely and completely They said well, then what else has to happen for the baby to be saved. I said nothing They said they don't have to do anything when they grow up Nope They get salvation as a free gift from God yes Paul says you are free he's gonna say it explicitly in the next couple chapters. There's nothing you must do

24:12 There's nothing you must do free gift of faith take it Live it. Oh what? Live it The way of Jesus is completely free and without obligation and Because we have this conflict to this fatal flaw is not without cost

24:48 Paul in this allegory is telling the Christians in Galatia that they've got to separate from this what they call in other places the Judah isers the people who say You're still a branch of Judaism Still keep the old laws. He says you've got to separate from them because it's It's a contamination that's causing you to miss the gospel the free gift of faith and There is expense for them in that at the very minimum

25:19 We talked at the very beginning about the Jewish people had a dispensation to abstain from worship to Caesar So if you were counted as Jewish you didn't have to do the Caesar worship Well, if they kick out the Jews and say we're not Jewish now They've got to contend with the rules and regulations on their own They're writing Paul because they'd rather get along with everyone it would be easier just to go Okay, we got to keep these rules Let's just keep these rules and now we know we're on the inside and they're on the outside and we feel better about it There's a cost to following the way of Jesus to living in his grace and

25:53 There will be for you Some things will be harder Uncomfortable Some things will be more difficult If we're not in op if we don't find ourselves in opposition to the ways of the world Periodically then we're not living In the full inheritance of children of God

26:26 So the question is just like what does it cost you? To like the prodigal go back to the loving father partake in the party To put aside what you deserve and take what you get freely from God Where is the cost for you? Jesus says whoever would come after me? Must deny himself take up his cross and follow me

26:59 Paul is saying there's nothing that you must do. There's no rules that you must follow instead We freely follow the example of Jesus it costs something So it's a healthy question For us to ask periodically. What does it cost me? To follow Jesus in the way that my life looks right now Whatever the cost The inheritance is worth it

27:31 Let's pray. Hey Lord, thank you for the promise inheritance of being full heirs In your family children full heirs Give us grace to receive that there's nothing we must do Nothing And Then Lord Teach us what it looks like for us to follow Your example with our lives what costs there might be

28:05 That we might gladly put pay to move towards your inheritance more fully In Jesus name we pray