JANUARY 19 / JANUARY 26, 2014

 

THE APOSTLE’S EARNEST REASONING AND WARNINGS (PART II)

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

1.  The reason why the Galatian Epistle has been called “the battle cry of the Reformation,” is because in it the Apostle quite convincingly proves the doctrine of justification by faith alone, without the works of the law.

2.  Paul’s powerful arguments have thus far been presented in the forms of a defense. We have considered his powerful defense of himself and his office. (Ch. 1:11-2:21); and his defense of his doctrine (Ch. 3:1-4:7).

3.  On the basis of his solid defense of the truth, the Apostle earnestly reasons with the Galatians, and warns them of the dangers of listening to false teachers. (Ch. 4:8-5:12)

 

I.  THE APOSTLE WARNED THAT THEY WERE IN DANGER OF SUBJECTING THEMSELVES TO BONDAGE SIMILAR TO THAT FROM WHICH THEY HAD BEEN DELIVERED. (VERSES 8-11)

 

II.  THE APOSTLE POINTS OUT THAT SINCE THEIR CONVERSION, NOTHING HAD OCCURRED THAT SHOULD CHANGE THEIR FEELINGS TOWARD HIMSELF OR HIS DOCTRINE. (VERSES 12-16)

 

III.  THE APOSTLE EXPOSES THE UNWORTHY ACTS OF THE JUDAIZING TEACHERS. (VERSES 17-20) In the preceding verses, he had endeavored to rekindle the affection that the Galatians once had for him, by showing how fondly he recalled their kind regards, and if he ever had deserved their esteem, he had done nothing to become unworthy of it. He now proceeds to expose the base acts of the false teachers, who had deliberately tried to undermine their love for him, and seduce them from the true Christian doctrine, as he had taught it to them.

 

A.  THE JUDAIZERS WERE ZEALOUSLY COURTING THE GALATIAN CHRISTIANS, BUT NOT FOR ANY COMMENDABLE PURPOSE. (VERSE 17)

 

1.  These Judaizing teachers pretended the warmest attachment to the Galatian converts, and sought to ingratiate themselves with them, but there was nothing honorable about their motives.

2.  Ostensibly, the Judaizers were deeply concerned for them. “They zealously affect you.” But Paul saw through them, and discerned dishonorable intentions.

3.  Their real object was to exclude the Galatians, to shut them out from all influence except their own, particularly to isolate them from any effect Paul might have on them.

4.  Paul exposes the real motive of these false teachers. “They would exclude you that ye might affect them.” They wanted to isolate the Galatian believers so that they would zealously court them.

 

B.  IT IS GOOD TO BE ZEALOUSLY AFFECTED BY GOOD MEN IN A GOOD THING. (VERSES 17-20)

 

1.  Paul had himself been the object of their whole soul’s attention and affection in a good thing. He had himself courted their favor, if you will, and had won it in a good cause. They had been won to Christ by him and his gospel, which resulted in their being zealously affected to him as well.

2.  It had been good had they remained zealously affected to Paul and his gospel even in his absence. “It is good to be zealously affected…not only when I am present with you.”

3.  That was the trouble. Their attachment to Paul had lost its warmth. Their zeal for the truth had subsided. Their loyalty was in the process of being transferred from Paul to the proponents of dangerous error. Everything was fine as long as Paul was present with them. But once he was gone, and the false teachers had arrived, the alienation of affection had begun, and that, to their own hurt.

 

C.  THE APOSTLE EXPRESSES HIS DEEP ANXIETY FOR THEM AND HIS WISH TO BE PRESENT WITH THEM. (VERSES 19, 20)

 

1.  He expresses his great anxiety for the Galatians in terms particularly touching. “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.” (Verse 19)

 

a)  They had been brought into the faith through his instrumentality. He had been as their mother in travail, as it were, in bringing them to faith in Christ.

b)  Now, seeing that they are still unsettled in their faith, he must yet travail as a mother giving birth, until he can know that Christ is truly formed in them. The phrase is very expressive. When one becomes a true Christian, Christ is formed in him.

c)  Folks who are not settled in their faith, but are wishy-washy and changeable, give cause to question whether they are truly born of God. Zion must continue in travail for them, until there is evidence that Christ is formed in them, that a true child is brought forth. (Isa. 66:7)

 

2.  Paul felt restricted and limited by the fact of his separation from them. He was confined to writing, which was not subject to tone or inflexion. Neither could there be any dialogue. (Verse 20)

 

a)  It is striking that Paul, even though writing by divine inspiration, felt disadvantaged by the restrictions of time and space. They could not read the sorrow written on his face, or hear the tender love in his voice.

b)  He had no choice but to reprove and rebuke them, and say, “O foolish Galatians,” but were he present, he could change the tone of his voice as he spoke.

c)  Let us be so concerned as we speak God’s truth, that our tone and countenance not express hatred or bitterness, but rather love and tenderness.

 

IV.  THE APOSTLE GIVES AN INSTRUCTIVE ALLEGORY. (VERSES 21-31)

 

A.  THE PURPOSE OF THE ALLEGORY WAS TO GIVE UNDERSTANDING TO THOSE WHO WOULD BE UNDER THE LAW. (VERSE 21)

1.  He asks the Galatians who desire to be under the law, (the Mosaic institutions) do ye not hear (understand) what the law (the books of Moses) is saying?”

2.  The notions about the law which the Judaizing teachers had instilled into the minds of the Galatian converts were false, therefore their attachments to the law was formed on these false notions.

3.  The best way of weaning them from their attachment to the law was to show them that such a yoke was not fraught with safety and honor, but instead with danger and disgrace.

4.  This the Apostle does by a reference to a piece of Jewish history which affords a striking emblematic representation of the truth on this subject, and which had already been used by the prophet Isaiah. (Isa. 54:1)

 

B.  THE ALLEGORY. (VERSES 22, 23)

 

1.  “For it is written…” this does not mean that what follows is written in so many words in any of the books of the Old Testament, but that the facts here stated are related there.

2.  “Abraham had two sons…” Abraham had a number of sons besides Isaac and Ishmael, but it is these, and to the circumstances of their birth, their conduct, history, and fate that the Apostle wishes to relate.

3.  “The one by a bond woman, and the other by a freewoman…”

 

a)  Ishmael was the son of Hagar, a female slave.

b)  Isaac was the son of Sarah, a freewoman.

 

4.  “He who was of the bond woman was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise.”

 

a)  Ishmael was born according to the ordinary course of nature.

b)  Isaac was born in consequence of a peculiar interference of heaven, made known ‘by promise.”

             

5.  These are the facts of the history which make for an allegory.

 

C.  THE ALLEGORY EXPLAINED. (VERSES 24-27)

 

1.  When he says, “which things are an allegory,” he is not implying that the factual record (Verses 22, 23) was intended merely to provide analogy.

 

a)  God has given us such accounts not only to teach us what happened in the past, but also to enable us to apply the  lessons of the past to our present situation.

b)  Such things, then, are true as history, and valuable as graphic illustrations for teaching.

c)  As John Brown explains it, Paul, in saying that such things are an allegory, is acknowledging that the prophet Isaiah had used them in that way. Thus, he adds the quotation from Isaiah 54:1. (Verse 27)

 

2.  Paul explains that these two, Agar and Sarah, are the two covenants, that is, they were intended to typify and prefigure the two different dispensations of the covenant. Or, as William Hendrickson puts it, “These two women are (that is represent) two covenants, two distinct affirmations of God’s one and only covenant of grace…these two were: the covenant with Abraham (Ch. 3:8, 16-18) and the covenant of Sinai (Ch. 3:19, 24).”

 

a)  Agar represented that which was given from Mt. Sinai, and “which gendereth to bondage.” (Verse 24)

 

(1)  Though it was a dispensation of grace, its purpose was to bring souls into a state of bondage, that is, to a realization of their condition as slaves to their sins.

(2)  It became to the Jews even more so a cause of bondage through their mistaken notion as to its design.

(3)  “For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia” (Mount Sinai was then called Agar by the Arabians) “and it answereth to Jerusalem that now is, and is in bondage with her children.” (Verse 25) That is, she justly represents the present state of the Jews, who adhering to that covenant remain in bondage.

 

b)  Sarah, on the other hand, was intended to prefigure Jerusalem which is above, that is, the state of Christians under a new and better dispensation of the covenant, which is free from both the curse of the moral law, and the bondage of the ceremonial law, and which is the mother of us all, both Jews and Gentiles. (Verse 26)

 

3.  To this greater freedom and enlargement of the church under the Gospel dispensation, which it typified by Sarah the mother of the promised seed, the Apostle refers the words of the prophet Isaiah. It was Isaiah who first made allegorical use of these historic figures in this manner. (Verse 27, Isa. 54:1)

 

D.  THE ALLEGORY EXTENDED. (VERSES 28-31)

 

1.  The Apostle applies the history thus explained to the present case. (Verse 28)

 

a)  “Now we…as Isaac…are the children of promise.” We, who trust in Christ for justification, become the spiritual, though not the natural, seed of Abraham.

b)  Isaac was the child of promise, for in Isaac would the seed by called. (Rom. 9:7, 8)

 

2.  The persecution that Christians would suffer at the hands of the Jews was also prefigured in the type. (Verse 2; Gen. 21:8, 9) That Paul was thinking particularly of this incident, the next verse strongly indicates.

3.  Although the Judaizers would hate and persecute them, yet it would be Judaism that would sink and perish with her children, while Christianity should flourish and last forever. (Verse 30; Gen. 21:10)

4.  The happy condition of all who are trusting to Christ alone for their salvation is beautifully portrayed in the Apostle’s summation of this allegory. “So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.” (Verse 31)

GALATIANS 4:8-16

 

THE APOSTLE’S EARNEST REASONING AND WARNING (PART I)

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

1.  As the Apostle proceeds to reason with the Galatians regarding their embrace of false teachers and their doctrine, he is clearly fearful of their defection. He says, “I am afraid of you, lest I have labored in vain.” (Verse 11)

2.  The method of the Judaizing teachers was calculated so as to first attack Paul’s character and motives, in order to undermine the trust and affections of the people for him. This tack, which seemed evident from his defense of his integrity in the preceding chapters, is in our present passage made clear beyond all doubt.

3.  Human nature is such that intellect and affections mutually influence each other. Our love for an individual tends to prejudice us in favor of what he says, and the opposite is also true. These Galatians had received Paul’s doctrine, i.e. the true doctrine of the Gospel. What’s more, Paul had endeared himself to them, so that they were the more inclined to hold to his doctrine. Thus, the Judaizers needed first to undermine the people’s love for Paul, so that they would be more likely to be removed from his doctrine.

4.  Paul understood the strategy, and in the passage before us he reminds them of how it once was. However, it was not his love for them or their love for him that was the critical issue. The real concern was that they were reverting back to the bondage of slavery from which they had been delivered by the Gospel.

 

I.  THE GALATIANS WERE IN DANGER OF SUBJECTING THEMSELVES TO BONDAGE SIMILAR TO THAT FROM WHICH THEY HAD BEEN DELIVERED. (VERSES 8-11)

 

A.  BELIEVERS ARE NO MORE SLAVES, BUT THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THEY WERE. (VERSE. 8)

 

1.  These Galatians, having been saved out of heathen idolatry were once ignorant of the true and living God. Howbeit then, when ye knew not God…”

2.  In their former state, before they knew God through Christ, they did service to their false gods like slaves. Their conduct was like slaves engaged in toilsome profitless external service. In false religion, in all its forms, nothing is more remarkable than it’s enslaving, degrading influence over the minds of men.

3.  So it was with us before we knew God in Christ. And so it is with all who are yet unsaved. The heart is darkened so that in the pursuit of sin men become enslaved to their own lusts. (Rom. 1:21-25; Eph. 2:2-3)

 

B.  AN IMPORTANT CHANGE HAS OCCURRED IN BELIEVERS THAT RENDERS TURNING BACK TO THE FORMER BONDAGE UNTHINKABLE. (VERSE 9)

 

1.  Believers know God, and are known of God. Through the Gospel these Galatians had come to acknowledge the true God for Who and what He is. They had, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, been acknowledged of God. From what goes before, (Verse 6) God had acknowledged them as His own. This is true of every true believer in Jesus Christ.

2.  Yet, at this very moment these Galatians were guilty of backsliding, so that Paul, in light of the facts, asks, “How turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?”

3.  The Apostle is shocked to learn that men so enriched with the Gospel would under the influence of false teachers be turning back to the former enslavements they knew before they knew the Lord.

 

a)  Formerly they had been enslaved to the childish and foolish teachings of pagan priests and ritualists.

b)  They had prescriptions regarding the discovery of the will of the gods by means of omens, self-afflictions, submission to fate, etc. Would anyone be so foolish to go back to such bondage, having once known the liberty of Christ?

 

C.  THAT SOME WHO PROFESSED FAITH HAD BEEN SO FOOLISH AS TO RETURN AGAIN TO BONDAGE IS EVIDENT. (VERSES 10, 11)

 

1.  Some had indeed gone back to the weak and beggarly elements. “Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.”

2.  The observances here referred to are doubtless those of the ceremonial law, and not any particular pagan practices. It was to the rites and rituals of the Jewish law that the Judaizers were trying to bring them.

3.  Because some had been influenced to adopt these observances of special Sabbaths and new moons, etc., Paul was afraid for them. He was fearful that they had not truly believed the Gospel, and thus, his labor was in vain as it pertained to them. (Verse 11; compare Col. 2:16-20)

 

a)  The Apostle knew well that labors in the Gospel are never in vain, absolutely. (I Cor. 15:58; II Cor. 2:14-16)

b)  But, should they persist in their backward turn to the former bondage from which the Gospel sets free, his labor will prove to have come up empty in their case.

 

II.  REGARDING THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THEIR CONVERSION, NOTHING HAD OCCURRED THAT SHOULDHAVE CHANGED THEIR THINKING EITHER TOWARDS HIM OR HIS DOCTRINE. (VERSES 12-16)

 

A.  THE APOSTLE URGES THE GALATIANS TO REGARD HIM WITH THE SAME AFFECTION WHICH ONCE THEY DID, AND WHICH HE STILL CHERISHED TOWARD THEM. (VERSE 12)

 

1.  Due to the subject matter of what follows, this seems to be a reasonable explanation. However, some understand it as not meant in so personal a sense, but rather more doctrinal or practical. These views are certainly worthy of our consideration.

 a)  Some believe the Apostle is exhorting the Galatians to embrace the same belief as himself in reference to full and free justification by faith in Christ, without the works of the law. “Brethren be as I am, for I am as you are,” meaning, they say, “I once considered circumcision and other observances necessary to salvation, but not any longer.”

b)  Others suppose he is referring not so much to sentiment as to conduct. “Be as I am,” i.e. exercise your Christian liberty. “I am as ye are,” i.e. I live as Gentiles do. Though a Jew, I regard not these ceremonial observances.

 

2.  It seems, however, that he is speaking of the good and loving relationship they had enjoyed.

 

a)  “Be as I am,” i.e. bear such affection toward me as I do toward you.

b)  “For I am as ye are,” i.e. I am one with you in the most cordial friendship.

c)  “Ye have not injured me at all.” They had done him no personal injury, quite the contrary as he goes on to say.

 

B.  THE GALATIANS HAD FORMERLY EMBRACED PAUL, IN SPITE OF HIS PHYSICAL INFIRMITY WHICH MIGHT HAVE BEEN A “PUT OFF” TO THEM. (VERSES 13, 14)

 

1.  When Paul first preached the Gospel in Galatia, he labored under severe bodily disease.

2.  That his suffering was nearly unbearable to him is made known by both himself and Luke. (Acts 13:50; 14:5, 6, 19; II Tim. 3:10, 11) However, here he is speaking of how unpleasant his condition was to others around him, making his ministry less acceptable to strangers. (Verse 13)

3.  Yet, in spite of the tendency to be repulsed, they heard him gladly, and loved him for the truth’s sake. (Verse 14)

 

a)  “And my temptation which was in my flesh,” lit. “a temptation to you in my flesh,” that is, the temptation that they were faced with to be repulsed or put off.

b)  “Ye despised not nor rejected.” Though his condition was a trial to them, they treated him not with contempt.

c)  “But received me as an angel of God.” So great had been their respect for Paul, so generous the welcome extended to him as if his voice had been that of an angel.

d)  “Even as Christ Jesus.” Better yet, they received him and honored him as though it were Jesus Christ Himself.

e)  Those who bring the Gospel not only have beautiful feet (Rom. 10:13) but they are beautiful in every way for sake of the glad tidings they bring.

f)  Their reception of Paul was proof of the Holy Spirit’s work in them.

 

C.  HOW COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WERE THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THESE GALATIANS, COMPARED TO WHAT IT HAD BEEN. (VERSES 15, 16)

 

1.  The Apostle asks, “Where is then the (former) blessedness ye spoke of?” That is, “Where is the former blessedness?”

2.  Their former disposition of mind and heart was such that they would have gladly plucked out their eyes and given them to Paul. They thought so highly of Paul, and were so blessed by his presence, that they would have done anything for him, even plucked out their own eyes.

 

a)  This may suggest, as many of us believe, that Paul’s great affliction was a disease of the eyes.

b)  It may be simply a proverbial expression, “plucking out the eyes.”

 

3.  Had Paul now become the despised enemy of those who had so loved and honored him simply because he preached the truth to them?

 

a)  What a number the false teachers had done on these people, to turn their hearts from one who had meant so much to them!

b)  What wickedness it was on the part of these religions frauds to attack the reputation of this great man of God, and in so doing, undermine the Gospel, and overthrow the faith of some!

 

DECEMBER 22, 2013                                                                                                                     

 

THE APOSTLE’S DEFENSE OF HIS DOCTRINE (PART IV)

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

1.  Paul is defending the true doctrine of the Gospel.

2.  Since there is only one true Gospel, and since it had been so faithfully preached to the Galatians, and since they had openly received it, the Apostle attributes their sudden disobedience to the bewitching of false teachers.

 

I.  HE EXPRESSES HIS ASTONISHMENT OVER THEIR CHANGE. (VERSE 1)

 

II.  HE PRESENTS STRONG ARGUMENTS CONFIRMING THE TRUE DOCTRINE OF THE GOSPEL. (VERSES 2-9)

 

III.  HE DEMONSTRATES WHY JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS IS IMPOSSIBLE. (VERSES 10-14)

 

IV.  HE STRESSES THE COVENANT ARRANGEMENT OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH, WHICH CANNOT BE DISANNULLED BY THE LAW WHICH CAME 430 YEARS AFTER. (VERSES 15-22)

 

V.  HE EXPLAINS THE PURPOSE AND FUNCTION OF THE LAW AS IT PERTAINS TO THE STATE OF THE CHURCH BEFORE FAITH CAME, AND AFTER FAITH CAME. (VERSES 23-29)

 

VI.  THE APOSTLE GIVES A FIGURATIVE ILLUSTRATION OF THESE TWO STATES OF THE CHURCH BEFORE AND AFTER FAITH. (CH. 4_1-7) Many Galatian believers had become charmed by the Judaizing teachers so that they saw something very appealing in what was now an obsolete Mosaic system. Not only were they fascinated with the ceremonies and forms, but also the idea of a merit system appealed to their pride. Paul had endeavored to remind them of the wonderful advantages and blessings they would be exchanging for a religion which was never designed to give them what they were seeking. The Apostle, who loved them and watched over them, used the appropriate remedy. He stripped away the splendor with which the Judaizing teachers had surrounded the legal economy, and fully unfolds its nature and design. He distinctly shows that it was an introductory, imperfect, and temporary dispensation. What these converts (most of them Gentiles) had been led to believe was very dignified, was in their case degradation, and rather than taking them forward, was really going backward. According to his most recent analogy, it would be like forfeiting the full rights of mature sonship, in order to return to minority status under the care of a custodian. It would be to exchange the liberty of full sonship for the bondage of a servant or slave. He illustrates the principle he has just laid down by a domestic analogy, showing that it would not be more unnatural or absurd for a child who had arrived at majority to insist on being again subjected to the restraints of his minority (which was little different than a servant) than it would be for them, after experiencing the glorious freedom as children of God, to voluntarily subject themselves to the servitude of the Mosaic institution.

       

A.  THE FIGURE USED FOR ILLUSTRATION. (VERSES 1, 2)

 

1.  The example was familiar to both Jews and Greeks. In these families, the son, though destined ultimately to inherit and take possession of his father’s property, was while yet a minor in a state not superior to that of a servant. He was obliged to rise, go to bed, to work, to rest, to study, etc., according to the will of his custodian. Like the servant, he was altogether as a person under the authority of a master.

2.  The schoolmaster was one who had custodial care of children. The word rendered tutors denotes those who had guardianship. Governors were house-stewards to whom the management of domestic concerns were entrusted.

3.  The condition of the minor son was thus to be born patiently. It was much to be preferred to rejection. Trying as it may have been, it was preparing the son for a higher position. Likewise, to be kept and instructed and prepared under the law was a condition to be most thankful. However, it was certainly not a state of being to be held once the ends had been gained for which one was being prepared.

 

B.  THE APPLICATION OF THE FIGURE. (VERSES 3-7) “Even so.” The Apostle is saying, “Analogous to the manner in which human fathers manage the preparation of their sons is the manner in which the Heavenly Father conducts the discipline of His children.”

 

1.  We have God’s elect in the state of their minority, as it were, “in bondage under the elements (rudiments) of  the world.”

 

a)  When the Apostle says, “even so we,” of whom is he speaking? Clearly he speaks of the family of God, the church.

b)  When he speaks of them as being “children,” we are to understand he means children under age, not yet of age to receive their rightful inheritance.

c)  “Under the elements (rudiments) of the world” refers to the state of the church under law. Just as an immature child is governed by rules and regulations, so also before the drawing of the light of the Gospel, we were in bondage to “the rudiments of the world.” (See Col. 2:8; Heb. 6:1)

d)  “Elements of the world” not only speaks of elementary or rudimentary means of preparation, but of the external nature of the observances, as compared to the internal and spiritual nature of Christ’s Kingdom. (John 1:16, 17; Luke 17:21)

 

2.  We have next the state of mature sonship in to which the church is brought, and the means by which it was done. (Verses 4, 5)

 

a)  “The fullness of the time” or “the full time,” i.e. when the time appointed of the Father had fully arrived. When the fullness of the time was come, then “we,” that is, the church, the family of God, obtained the adoption of sons.

b)  “God sent forth His son.” Christ’s coming supplied the basis of freedom for man. He had existed already from eternity with the Father, (John 1:1; 8:58, etc., etc.) but when the time was fully come for His arrival, God sent Him forth.

c)  Many preparatory arrangements had come to pass. In this connection think of: The full development of the Jewish nation from which Christ would come; the scattering of the Jews throughout the world, thus synagogues were established in many places; the Greek language was spoken throughout the civilized world; the Roman road system, and to some extent, the enforcement of Roman peace. But God alone knows why in His inscrutable decree Christ would come at the exact moment that He did.

d)  “Made of a woman.” This was according to the original promise (Gen. 3:15); and many prophetic announcements. (Isa 7:14, etc.) He was the virgin born Son of God. He must, for sake of His mission, be both God and man, for He came to redeem fallen mankind, and bring them back to God. He must therefore be fully man, but a sinless man. (Heb. 2:14-16; 7:26, 27; I Pet. 3:18)

e)  “Made under the law.” Not only was He under personal obligation to keep the law, but He was also duty-bound (a duty to which he voluntarily bound Himself) vicariously to bear the law’s penalty, and to satisfy its demand of perfect obedience.

f)  “To redeem them that were under the law.” The law under which Christ was made is the law under which the church was placed before His coming, and from which it was necessary that she be delivered in order to the obtaining the adoption of sons. Christ was therefore made under that law in order to redeem His church.

 

3.  The consequence and proof of this favorable change of condition. (Verses 6, 7)

 

a)  The redeemed are now sons, not minors, but majors. They have reached maturity, and with it freedom. It is remarkable that the Apostle says to these weak, foolish, erring Galatians that even they are sons of God, the Father of their Lord Jesus Christ.

b)  Now because they are sons, God the Father, having adopted them as sons, has sent forth the Spirit into their hearts. By receiving the Spirit, they became conscious of their sonship. (Rom. 8:15) Note: all three persons of the divine Trinity are prominent in this passage in their harmonious cooperation in the great matter of man’s salvation.

 

(1)  God sent His Son to buy back His chosen ones from the bondage of sin.

(2)  The Son became one in nature with those who were in bondage, in order that He might redeem them, and restore them.

(3)  God sent the Spirit of his Son in order that He might not only dwell with us, but in us, in our very hearts. (John 14:17)

 

c)  It is only natural that the Spirit dwelling within these hearts impels them to joyfully cry out to our great and loving Benefactor, jubilantly calling Him, “Father.” The text reads: crying “Abba! Father!”  (Compare Rom. 8:15, 16)

 

(1)  Paul, a Hebrew of the Hebrews by birth must have loved to use the Hebrew word for Father, “ABBA.’

(2)  Naturally, in writing to a church, the greater part of which were non-Jews, he translated into the Greek, pater, “FATHER.’

 

d)  Now addressing each redeemed and believing soul, the Apostle says, “Wherefore, thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

 

(1)  Once a soul has trusted to Christ’s sacrifice as the only ground for salvation, he draws near to the throne of grace addressing God as ABBA! FATHER! He is no longer in bondage, no longer a slave, but he is a son, and what’s more, he knows he is a son.

(2)  “…and if a son, then also an heir.” He is heir of salvation, which to claim is to admit that it is not his own achievement, but a gift of grace. He is heir of all things through Christ. (See I Cor. 3:21-23) In other words, he is “an heir of God through Christ.” (Compare Rom. 8:15-17)

DECEMBER 15, 2013

 

THE APOSTLE’S DEFENSE OF HIS DOCTRINE (PART III)

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

1.  In the first chapter Paul had referred to the teachings of the Judaizers as “another gospel,” and those who declared such a gospel were accursed of God.

2.  Chapter 3 begins with expressions of astonishment and dismay on the part of Paul that the Galatians had become enthralled with these teachers who were promoting a false gospel.

3.  In this chapter and part of the next we have Paul’s defense of his doctrine, the true doctrine of the Gospel.

 

I.  THE APOSTLE’S ASTONISHMENT AND DISPLEASURE OVER THE CHANGE IN THE GALATIANS. (VERSE 1)

 

II.  THE APOSTLE’S STRONG ARGUMENTS PROVING THE FALSEHOOD OF THE NEW DOCTRINE, AND CONFIRMING THE TRUTH OF THE DOCTRINE HE HAD TAUGHT. (VERSES 2-9)

 

III.  THE APOSTLE SHOWS THAT JUSTIFICATION BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW IS IMPOSSIBLE, AND THAT, FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS. (VERSES 10-14)

 

IV.  THE APOSTLE STRESSES THAT FREE JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH IS A DIVINE COVENANT ARRANGEMENT, WHICH CANNOT BE DISANNULLED BY THE LAW WHICH CAME LONG AFTER. (VERSES 15-22)

 

 A.  THE FACT OF THE COVENANT STATED AND PROVED. (VERSES 15-18)

 

 B.  THE DESIGN AND MODE OF THE GIVING OF THE LAW EXPLAINED. (VERSES 19, 20)

 

 C.  THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW NOT CONTRARY, BUT RATHER SUBSERVIENT TO THE PROMISE. (VERSES 21, 22)

 

 1.  The conclusion drawn by the Apostle to the previous statements with respect to the design of the law he, in typical fashion, puts in the form of a question. “Is the law then against the promise of God?” Then follows the immediate answer, “God forbid,” or “by no means.” (Verse 21a)

2.  As the law was by no means against the promise, it was altogether unfitted to serve the purpose of the promise. In order for the  law to fulfill the purpose of the promise, it would need to be able to give to guilty sinners pardon and life. Since the very reverse is the case, it could not have been given to take the place of the promise. (Verse 21b)

3.  If such a law was given, (which, of course, was not so), then, says the Apostle, “righteousness (justification) would have been by the law,” or rather, “by law.”

 4.  Calvin notes, “The law would be opposed to the promise if it had the power of justifying, for there would be two opposite methods of justification. But Paul refuses that power to the law, so that the contradiction is removed.”

5.  So far from that, “the Scriptures hath concluded all under sin,” i.e. “all guilty.” Thus the Scriptures, i.e. the Old Testament Scriptures have concluded or shut up “all,” both Jews and gentiles, “under sin,” i.e. the guilt and condemnation of sin. (Verse 22a; Rom.3:19)

6.  The Scriptures have shut up all under sin and guilt, “that (so that) the promise (promised blessing)…might be given to them that believe.” (Verse 22b)

 

V.  THE APOSTLE EXPLAINS WHAT THE STATE OF THE CHURCH WAS UNDER LAW, AND WHAT IT IS AFTER FAITH HAS COME. (VERSES 23-29)

 

A.  THE STATE OF THE CHURCH UNDER LAW BEFORE FAITH IS COME. (VERSE 23, 24)

 

1.  “Before faith came.” What is meant by the coming of faith? (Verse 23a)

     

a)  Strictly speaking, it is not the coming of Jesus Christ, as some understand it, making “before faith came” as synonymous with “till the Seed should come.”

b)  Neither is it to be understood as meaning the system or order of things in which faith is the means of  justification. Abraham was justified by faith, as were all believers form the revelation of the first promise. (Gen. 3:15)

c)  The phrase literally rendered is “before THE FAITH came,” meaning “before the faith of Christ came,”  i.e. before the Christian revelation was given.

 

2.  Before this faith came we were kept in custody under law, being locked up with a view to the faith that was to be revealed. (Verse 23)

 

a)  God’s moral law filled their hearts with a sense of guilt and inadequacy. They were obliged to keep it, yet unable to do so. But, even then there was a way of escape provided by God Himself, namely, trust in God’s promise concerning the Seed, which offers free pardon and salvation without money and without price. (Gen. 3:15; 22:18; 49:10; Isa. 1:18; 55:1, etc.) Sadly, most of the Jews failed to believe, and went about to establish their own righteousness. (Rom. 9:31-33; 10:3, 4)

b)  As to the manner in which the strict custody of the law could be a means of leading a formerly self-righteous Pharisee to faith in Christ, Paul’s own testimony says it best. (Phil. 3:5-9)

c)  It was not only the Jews, but also Gentiles who were “kept under law.” In fact, the Galatians, for the greater part, were Gentile believers. The moral law is written upon the heart of every man. (Rom. 2:14, 15) Man’s guilt and the need to somehow atone for his sins is the great motivating force behind innumerable false religions in the world.

d)  These Galatian believers, whether Jew or Gentile, “before faith came, were kept under law,” as were we all.

 

3.  Therefore, the law served as their custodian to conduct them to Christ, that by faith they might be justified. (Verse 24)

 

a)  The original calls the law our “pedagogue” (schoolmaster), but the word then had more the meaning of a  slave in whose custody the slave owner’s boys were placed so that this trusted servant might conduct them to and from school, and might, in fact, watch over their conduct throughout the day.

b)  This servant was, accordingly, and escort (attendant) and also a disciplinarian. The discipline was often such that it would cause those placed under his guardianship to yearn for the day of their freedom.

c)  That was exactly the function the law had performed. (Verses 19, 22, 23)

d)  Thus, it is the preaching of the law with its holy demand, and the severe punishment to which transgressors are subjected, that conducts the sinner to Christ for salvation.

 

B.  THE STATE OF THE CHURCH ONCE CONDUCTED TO FAITH IN CHRIST. (VERSES 25-29)

 

1.  “But, after that faith has come…” After the Gospel revelation has come, and has been received; “…we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” (Verse 25)

     

a)  These words seem not only a statement of fact, but of the reason for it. It is as if Paul had said, “We are no longer, and we no longer need to be under a custodian.”

b)  The time comes when the boy is no longer a mere child. The discipline of childhood is no longer necessary. The Judaizers were insistent upon continuing the tutelage of the law, ignoring the fact that the object had been reached, Christ Himself had arrived, and trust in Him had been established. Those who had embraced Him by this true and living faith had attained to majority and freedom.

 

2.  This new-found freedom in Christ has nothing to do with race or former religion. (Verse 26)

 

a)  Paul emphasizes that the Galatians, whether Jew or Gentile were no longer immature children, but rather, in Christ Jesus they were mature (literally) “sons,” even, “sons of God.”

 b)  They now had all the rights and privileges implied in that term, which state and condition had come about through faith.

 

 3.  In vital union with Christ all believers, Gentiles as well as Jews, are immediately sons of God. (Verse 27)

 

 a)  In Verse 26, he says that all who are “in Christ” are rightful sons of God. Therefore, being in Christ is all that matters.

 b)  In Verse 27 he speaks of this union as putting on Christ by being baptized into Christ. This “being baptized into Christ” clearly means more than being baptized in water, for not all who have been baptized in water have “put on Christ.” This baptism refers not to the picture, but rather to what is being pictured. (Rom. 6:3-6; Col. 2:12, 13)

 

4.  The rights of sonship and the joy of union with Christ are the privilege of all believers regardless of their nationality, background, religion, social status, gender, etc. (Verse 28)

 

a)  All are alike blessed in Christ.

b)  Nothing but our connection with Jesus Christ accounts for our acceptance with God, and all religious privileges.

c)  This fact marks a great difference between both Judaism, and Paganism.

 (1)  In Judaism there was a great difference between Jews and Greeks.

(2)  Among the pagans slaves were excluded, plus there were differences based on gender and social status.

 

5.  Paul again stresses the fact that belonging to the seed of Abraham is not determined by natural descent, but by faith in the promise made to Abraham. (Verse 29)

 

a)  Abraham is called ‘the father of the faithful.” This includes all believers as being his spiritual seed.

b)  Throughout the whole world, the Lord recognizes one, and only one, nation as His own, namely the nation of believers. (I Pet. 2:9)