SEPTEMBER 3, 2023
THE APOSTLE’S EARNEST REASONING AND WARNING (PART III)
INTRODUCTION:
In this section of the epistle (Ch. 4:8-5:12) the Apostle tries to reason with the Galatians respecting the present crisis, and warns of the dire consequences should they allow themselves to be seduced by false teachers.
I. HE WARNS OF THE BONDAGE TO WHICH THEY WOULD BE SUBJECTING THEMSELVES. (CH. 4:8-11)
II. HE POINTS OUT THAT THE CHANGE IN THEM IS TOTALLY WITHOUT REASON. (CH. 4:12-16)
III. HE EXPOSES THE ACTIONS OF HIS OPPONENTS AS BASE AND UNWORTHY. (CH. 4:17-20)
IV. HE ATTEMPTS BY WAY OF AN ALLEGORY TO ENLIGHTEN THOSE WHO WOULD BE UNDER LAW OF WHAT THEY WERE GETTING THEMSELVES INTO. (CH. 4:21-31) The Apostle was a master at turning his adversaries’ weapons on themselves, which seems to be the case here. The Judaizers attached great import- ance to their fleshly ties to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and no doubt dwelt much on circumcision being the seal of the covenant. Thus, they saw uncircumcised men as strangers to the covenant of promise, regardless of their faith in Christ as the Messiah. Any connection they had to Abraham in their eyes was like that of Ishmael, not Isaac. Paul therefore used this practical illustration (Verses 22-27), showing that believers in Christ are the true children of promise with Isaac. It was these unbelieving Judaizers who were the “Ishmaelites,” as it were. The practical truth illustrated by this allegory is plainly stated: “So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond woman, but of the free.” (Ch. 4:31) They must therefore stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ had made them free.
V. THE APOSTLE WARNS THAT THE COURSE THEY WERE TAKING WAS AN IMPLICIT RENUNCIA- TION OF THEIR CHRISTIAN FAITH, AND A FORFEITURE OF ITS BLESSINGS. (VERSES 1-6)
A. THEY WERE IN DANGER OF FORFEITING THEIR GLORIOUS LIBERTY BY CHRIST, AND REVERTING BACK INTO THEIR FORMER BONDAGE. (VERSE 1)
1. He had described the former bondage by a variety of examples. (Ch. 3:24; 4:1-3; 8-11)
2. Under the Gospel we are brought into a state of liberty, wherein we are freed from the yoke of the ceremonial law and from the curse of the moral law. We are no longer tied to the observance of one (Ch. 2:14), nor to the rigors of the other. (Ch. 3:10)
3. We owe this liberty to Jesus Christ. It is He who has made us free. Christ has “redeemed us from the curse of the law” (Ch. 3:13), and He has “blotted out the handwriting of ordinances…and taken it out of the way.”
(Col. 2:14)
4. It is therefore our duty to “stand fast in this liberty.”
B. THEIR REVERTING BACK WAS A CONTRADICTION OF THEIR FAITH, AND A FORFEITURE OF THEIR WONDROUS ADVANTAGES BY CHRIST. (VERSES 2-4)
1. The Apostle is very emphatic about what he is here saying. Notice how he doubles down: “Behold I Paul say unto you,” (Verse 2) and then again, “I testify unto you.” (Verse 3)
2. Well he should be clear and emphatic, seeing that what he says is so solemn and powerful: “If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.”
a) By this he does not mean that those who are circumcised cannot be saved or have any benefit in Christ. That would be to exclude all Old Testament saints, not to mention himself, Timothy, perhaps all of the apostles, etc. He means not mere circumcision.
b) He speaks of circumcision as a religious rite seen as necessary to one’s salvation, as the Judaizers imposed it. “Except they were circumcised and kept the Law of Moses they could not be saved.” (Acts 15:1)
3. Note the dire consequences, should they accept and follow the teachings of the false teachers, who taught that ceremonial rights and obedience to the moral law must be added to faith in Christ.
a) Christ would profit them nothing. (Verse 2) Either Christ is all in all, or He is nothing at all.
b) They would be debtors to the whole law. (Verse 3) If one is to be justified by obedience to the moral law, he must produce perfect obedience to the whole law. (Ch. 3:10; Deut. 27:26)
c) Christ would then become of no effect to them. (Verse 4a; Rom. 4:15) To go about to establish one’s own righteousness is to reject the righteousness of God which is by faith. (See Rom. 9:31, 32; 10:3; Phil. 3:9)
d) They would then have fallen from grace. (Verse 4b) Having renounced and abandoned that way of justification which God had established, which is essentially what they were doing, they laid themselves under an impossi- bility of being justified in His sight.
4. By being circumcised they renounced their Christianity, cutting themselves off from all the advantage by Christ. This was the chief reason why they should steadfastly adhere to the doctrine of the Gospel, and not suffer them- selves to be brought under the yoke of bondage.
a) Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost, yet there are multitudes whom He will profit nothing.
b) All who build their hopes on anything else than His blood and righteousness do forfeit all hope in Him Who alone can save sinners. (Acts 4:12)
C. THE ONLY HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR BOTH THE CIRCUMCISION AND THE UNCIRCUM- CISION IS BY FAITH THROUGH THE OPERATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WITHIN. (VERSE 5)
1. Some think that by “we” he speaks of himself and all other Jews who were turned form Judaism to Christianity. Others think that he means “we Christians,” whether Jew or gentile, who have truly embraced Christ.
2. It is by the guidance and direction of the Spirit; and through the operation of the Spirit that all believers “wait for the hope of righteousness,” that is, hope for righteousness, i.e. hope to be made righteous before God.
3. Some understand “the hope of righteous” to mean the “crown of righteousness.” However, his argument all along has been concerning righteousness itself, and this seems more likely.
D. UNDER THE GOSPEL DISPENSATION THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JEW AND GENTILE, FOR THERE IS BUT ONE WAY OF SALVATION FOR THEM BOTH. (VERSE 6)
1. The design of the new covenant institution was to abolish the difference between Jew and Gentile. (Eph. 2:14-16)
2. Both Jews and Gentiles are justified by faith, without the works of the law. Yet, this faith is not idle and inactive, but such faith as worketh by love, both toward God and men, in obedience to the commandments of God.
(Matt. 22:37-40)
VI. THE APOSTLE OFFERS ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS IN HOPES TO CAUSE SERIOUS THOUGHT. (VERSES 7-12)
A. THEY HAD TURNED BACK FROM A COURSE THEY HAD BEGUN WELL. (VERSE 7) “…who did hinder you?” or literally, “who did drive you back?”
1. That faith of which the Apostle had just spoken was once their faith, and according to their profession of it, the course of their life had been redirected, and they had run the course very well.
2. But, they had been hindered in the race; they had been made to swerve from the true course, making them disobedient to the truth. (See I Cor. 9:24; Heb. 12:1)
3. Many that set out to follow Christ seem to run well for a while, but either they begin to tire, or to turn out of the way. It is a fair question to ask, one which they need to consider: “Who (or what) did hinder you?”
B. THE INFLUENCE WHICH HAD PERSUADED THEM TO CHANGE COURSE WAS NOT THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST. (VERSE 8)
1. It was not through the persuasion of Christ that they came to the opinion that circumcision, and adherence to the Law of Moses were necessary to salvation.
2. This new opinion into which seducers had misled them came not from God, who had called them out of darkness into His marvelous light.
C. THE EVIL INTO WHICH THEY HAD BEEN SEDUCED WAS INFECTIOUS AND DANGEROUS. (VS. 9)
1. “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” The Apostle, like His Lord, made use of this proverbial expression to show the infectious nature of sin, and as in this case, doctrinal error.
2. With respect to individuals, those who err in any doctrine of the faith seldom continue sound as to other points.
3. The danger that this deadly infection would spread to others was very real, and a matter of grave concern to Paul.
D. THE APOSTLE STILL HAD CONFIDENCE THAT THEY SHOULD HOLD TO THE FAITH IN SPITE OF THE EFFORT BY FALSE TEACHERS TO CAUSE THEM TO ERR. (VERSE 10)
1. His confidence was based in the hope that they were true children of grace, in which case, the Lord Himself would keep them from falling. “I have confidence in you through the Lord.” He was confident that through the grace of God they would be kept form wandering.
2. He was also confident that those who were endeavoring to seduce and pervert them, God should reward accord- ing to their evil deeds. “But he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.” (See II Pet. 2:1)
E. HE SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT REGARDING ANY SUGGESTION THAT HE WAS A PREACHER OF CIRCUMCISION. (VERSE 11)
1. It should seem that these false teachers had asserted that Paul himself preached circumcision. Perhaps they referred to Paul’s having Timothy circumcised, not distinguishing between what he did as of liberty, and to avoid offence of the Jews, and what they pressed as a necessity for salvation.
2. To disprove this assertion, he simply asks this question: “Why do I yet suffer persecution?” The great persecu- tion that he suffered continuously at the hands of the Jews was because he was as one who had apostatized from their religion.
3. If he had yielded to the Jews in this, then the offence of the cross would have ceased. They would not have taken so much offence against the doctrine of Christianity as they did.
a) It was the preaching of the cross that was to the Jews a stumblingblock. (I Cor.1:23)
b) The doctrine of justification only by faith in Christ crucified was to the Jews highly offensive, because there- by the whole frame of the legal administration was set aside as no longer in force.
c) Had Paul and others recanted on this matter, and agreed that circumcision and the works of the law were not set aside, the offence of the cross would have been removed.
F. HE WISHES THAT THOSE WHO WERE TROUBLING THE GALATIANS MIGHT BE “CUT OFF.” (VERSE 12)
1. He had expressed the certainty that God would usher them into judgment. (Verse 10) Here he wishes it might be sooner rather than later.
2. This wish stems not from hatred, but from his jealousy over the Galatian converts, and his desire for God’s glory.
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