Wednesday, August 12 –
A good
middle of the week greeting to you. We are reading in the book of Galatians,
and today, our reading is Gal. 3:1 – 4:7. After you finish, you know what to
do...see you in a while.
From the glories of the Gospel where Paul declared – “I have been crucified
with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live
in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me” (2:20) – Paul openly makes some harsh rhetorical statements in the form
of questions to confront their drifting from the one true Gospel – “You foolish
Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was
clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you:
Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you
heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now
trying to finish by means of the flesh”? (3:1-3).
The
question is valid – how did you receive the gift of the Spirit? He calls them
“foolish,” meaning “mindless, not thinking.” They are not thinking about how
they received Christ – not by obeying the law, but by grace through faith. They
are being “bewitched,” seduced by the legalism of the false apostles. In my
experience, there seems to be a sense of “I have to do something” in a lot of
people who do not know the Gospel. These false apostles were preaching works
done under the law, and today it’s a more general “you have to be good” – both
are wrong. We didn’t begin by the works of the flesh, and the Spirit is not
going to complete us by the works of the flesh.
It is
interesting to note that he begins with this question of how they received the
Holy Spirit, and he will end this section in the same way, appealing to their
reasoning about the role of the Spirit in their spiritual life – “Because you
are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who
calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’” (4:6). In between, Paul appeals for them to
understand that the time of the Law has ended, and God has ushered in a new
covenant based on grace through faith. The sequence for the argument is
brilliant.
First,
Paul, as a good Jew would, appeals back to Abraham. Abraham demonstrated the
principle of faith long before the giving of the law (3:6-9), and therefore we
must “Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham,”
and, “Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and
announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed
through you.’ So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the
man of faith” (3:7-9). Abraham did nothing to gain God’s grace, and he would do
nothing to make the promises God made to him come to pass. We can argue, “well,
he did believe God,” and therefore accept the premise that everything from God
on our part is an act of faith – trust in his word.
Second,
the law (3:10-14) is not based on the faith of doing, because no one could
perfectly obey the whole law; but instead, the law can only serve to show us
our failure to obey – “The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says,
‘The person who does these things will live by them.’” (3:12). When a person
says they live under the law, remind yourself, they live under a curse (3:10).
It is Jesus Christ who redeems us from the curse of the law – “Christ redeemed
us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us... He redeemed us in
order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through
Christ Jesus so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit”
(3:13-14).
Because
the law is not about faith, but a duty, no one can be made righteous before God
by observing the law. Look again at Paul's description of what it means to come
into a right relationship with God. He says (3:11), it is called being
"justified before God". Then he adds two times in (3:11,12) "he
shall live". Lastly, he proclaims (3:13), "Christ redeemed us”...from
the curse...from the law, in his death on the cross. Jesus’ death is the only
means by which the curse of the law is removed as we place our trust in Him.
Thirdly,
(3:15-18), the law did not precede the promise of God to bless the entire earth
through the seed of Abraham – i.e., Jesus – but in fact, the promise of God was
given 430 years before the giving of the law –
“For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the
promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise” (3:18).
Of course, this then begs some questions – “Why, then, was the law given at
all”? (3:19a). Paul answered that the law served to keep a check on the
inherent sinfulness until the promised seed would make it no longer necessary.
The problem is not the law (3:21). The problem was that no one could perfectly
keep the law, and the law did not give life but made it clear, life had to come
from an outside source –
“But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin so that the promise by faith
in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe” (3:22).
The law served God’s people as a teacher does a student. It instructs and
provides a means to understand what is needed, but cannot do it for them. Paul
said the law imprisoned them, serving as a “guardian” (3:24), “until Christ
came, in order that we might be justified by faith, and now that faith has
come, we are no longer under a guardian.” (3:25).
Lastly,
the fact is that God never intended to make us into a new creation by the law,
but only through faith in Jesus Christ – “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons
of God, through faith” (3:26). The guardian is released from service when the
child reaches the age of maturity. So also, the law is no longer necessary
because we have been made complete in Christ Jesus’ finished work on the cross.
Paul says it twice (3:23-29) and (4:1-7), that we are true children of God,
heirs of God’s promised salvation, and this is only by grace through faith. As
sons and daughters of God, we are an heir, no longer under the guardian control
of the law (4:1-2). Paul adds, neither are we slaves under bondage to the world
system that is still under the power of Sin (4:3). How did it change? “...when
the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born
under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive
adoption as sons” (4:4-5).
Immediately
we should realize the reason God can justify us by grace through faith is
because Jesus Christ was born “under the law”, which means he fully and
perfectly obeyed all of the demands of the law. Is it important? Yes, for
otherwise, why didn’t God just send Jesus on the Thursday evening of his
arrest, have him die on Friday, and be resurrected on Sunday? It is Christ’s
perfect obedience to the Father and the perfect righteousness of his obedience
to the Law that substitutes for our imperfect lives. Do works save us? Yes,
it’s just that it’s not our works, but Christ’s!
The result
is that religion is replaced by relationship – “And because you are sons, God
has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you
are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God”
(4:6-7). The word “Abba” is Aramaic, and roughly it is equivalent to our
“Daddy.” It is an affectionate word and makes us realize that we – through
Jesus – have been adopted into the family of God, and indeed, God is “our
Father who is in heaven.” How do we know it’s true? The answer comes full
circle from where we started – “the Father sent the Spirit of His Son into our
hearts.”
Peace
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