A Study of Galatians
Chapter 4
1. Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Paul now picks up on the theme of the heir and begins to expand upon that thought. He does this by taking a step back in order to look at the situation familiar to the children of Israel prior to the coming of the New Covenant – while they were still under the Mosaic Law with all of its statutes and ordinances. You will recall that the New Covenant was unveiled by the Lord the night that He was betrayed, when He declared to His disciples: “This cup is the new testament [or covenant] in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20).1 Moreover, this should not have come as a surprise to those who had eyes of faith, for they would have recalled what Jeremiah had prophesied: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:31-33). What is very interesting is that the Hebrew word translated as write in Jeremiah 31 is the same basic word as used in Exodus 31:18 – “And he [God] gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” Just as God wrote His Law upon tables of stone, so He will write His Law upon the hearts of those who participate in His New Covenant.
Our verse declares a reality that would have been understood within the culture of the day. Until the heir of an estate came of age, he had no more rights than a slave; even though he might well be the governor of the entire estate one day, as a child he had no authority over it. However, he would have had more hope than a slave (for he could well anticipate the day when he would be lord), nevertheless, as a child, he would have been without the freedoms, authority and responsibility of an adult. Within our culture, we have a child, a teenager, and then an adult; it seems that we attempt to delay accountability; within their culture, a child was an adult in training. Teenager is a term that only goes back to the early twentieth-century.2 “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11). This gives us a glimpse into the culture of Paul’s day – the transition was from a child to a responsible adult, thereby skipping the modern concept of a childish adult (a teenager).
Before Christ established the New Covenant in His blood, the Jews were under the burden of the Mosaic Law – and it was a burden, for it placed many demands upon them. Even if viewed through the eyes of faith, there were still many, many minute details in the Law that had to be kept, for they were God’s specific commands. Being a child of God through faith would have instilled a profound meaning to the traditions of the Mosaic Law, but that would have done little to reduce the tremendous burden that it was to abide carefully by the endless rigors of Moses’ Law.
2. But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
We learned (Galatians 3:24) that the Law of Moses served as a schoolmaster, or a child-leader, to bring the children of Israel unto faith in Christ; it foreshadowed the coming Redeemer for all who had eyes of faith to see. The Law served as an educator to instill growth in the life of the faithful doer of the Law, as well as a guide to keep the people of Israel faithful to the Lord Jehovah. When Moses ascended Mt. Sinai for the first time to meet with the Lord, God revealed His purposes to him and the children of Israel: “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel” (Exodus 19:5-6). It was God’s desire that Israel should be a light to the nations, revealing His holiness, mercy and grace to all who looked on. Throughout all of this, further revelation of the coming Messiah (the Promised One Who would be a blessing to everyone) was there for all who would look with the eyes of faith. The Law of Moses was not given without foundation and purpose, and God revealed His heart’s desire before giving the Israelites the statutes and ordinances of the Mosaic Law. Despite the children of Israel’s hearty acceptance of God’s desire for them, they failed to be that kingdom of priests to the Gentiles and that holy nation. The tutor (the Law of Moses), to which Israel became servant, was never able to bring the nation to spiritual maturity – only a remnant of individuals within that nation understood the need for faith.
Within the culture of that day, the wealthy would have trusted men (often slaves) who would be with their sons at all times, training them and educating them in all that they would need in order to be able to function as capable adults. The Law of Moses was given by God to train and educate the children of Israel, as individuals, so that they would be able to live responsibly when the inheritance was theirs. The training of the heir would continue until the day that the father had pre-determined, at which time the heir of all would take his place as a functioning adult within society.
3. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Paul now begins to make application of the illustration of the child-heir to the situation of the Jews of his day. Notice that he uses the word we to show that he is included within this application; after all, he was a Jew to the core.
The word children comes from a Greek word meaning “not-speaking,”3 and so it refers to an infant (one who cannot speak) or a minor whose words have no power (he is not unlike a slave who cannot speak with his own authority). The Jews, under the Mosaic Law, were children; they remained under the guidance of the Schoolmaster, and were in servitude to it.
The word elements speaks of those “first things from which others ... take their rise.”4 For all of us, the first thing is physical life; the one thing that we all have in common is that of being alive. From this similarity flows many, many things that make us different from one another, but we do hold that one thing in common. Being under the Mosaic Law of statutes and ordinances was very physically demanding. There were sacrifices to be made, offerings to be prepared in a very specific manner, feast days to be kept in prescribed ways – all of these things required an expenditure of effort to accomplish. In a very real sense, the keeping of the Mosaic Law was very physical; obedience to the statutes and ordinances was definitely outward and could be kept meticulously with no response at all from the heart (although doing so rendered the keeping of the Law of no value before God – Isaiah 1:11; Hebrews 11:6). This was the situation that Jesus found when He dealt with the Pharisees – they had many outward manifestations of their righteousness but their hearts were not right before God (Matthew 15:8). Nevertheless, the Law was there to train and educate, to lead those to spiritual maturity who had eyes to see (Galatians 3:24). Yet even with all faith and maturity, obedience to the statutes and ordinances of the Law of Moses was still required – the physical demands of obedience never lessened; indeed, there was a strong element of bondage to the Mosaic Law.
4. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
When the time appointed by the Father was come, Jesus came to this earth by being born of Mary. Israel was under the instruction of the Law of Moses until the time pre-determined by God the Father. Even as the son who grew up with tutors, came of age at a time that was determined by his father, so God had pre-determined the day when everything would change for the children of Israel. When that day arrived, God was ready to send His Son in fulfillment of the Mosaic traditions.
What we must not miss is that Jesus did not come too early or too late, but at precisely the right time as determined by God the Father. As we read of God having established the death of His Son in payment for the sins of mankind from before the world was spoken into existence (1 Peter 1:18-20), we see confirmation here of His unalterable sovereignty over His creation in keeping with His promise to Satan in Genesis 3:15 – when the time was right, Jesus came as the Seed of the woman Who would crush the serpent’s head. There is a precision to the plan of God that we will never be able to comprehend, and which Satan will never be able to thwart.
God, the Son (sent from glory – John 17:5), became a man and was made of a woman. The word woman used here is a general term that could be applied to a virgin, a married woman, or someone who was betrothed.5 Although it is very clear from other Scriptures that Jesus was born of a virgin (Luke 1:27, for example), the emphasis here is on the fact that He proceeded from God and entered this world by being made of a woman (John 1:1, 14). The promise made in Genesis 3:15 showed that the One Who would bring defeat to the devil would be the Seed of a woman. Jesus, quite literally, is God and Man brought together in a most unique manner.
However, further to being born of a woman, Jesus also entered the world subject to the statutes and ordinances of Moses (under the law). The Law of Moses remained in full effect until Jesus’ death on the cross, at which time it was completed and removed (Ephesians 2:14-16). As Jesus grew (as a man) and throughout His ministry, He would have perfectly understood the fulfillment of those Mosaic ordinances; each Passover celebration was a reminder to Him as to why He had come to earth and what was ahead for Him. Through all of this time, Jesus kept the Law of Moses and the Law of God with perfection – as God, He would have understood the spirit of the Law that demanded far more than simply the outward expression of obedience, and He kept it without sin (Hebrews 4:15). The religious leaders of the Jews had turned the Law of Moses, that Schoolmaster intended to bring the faithful unto Christ (Galatians 3:24), into an empty form of works that served to magnify their position and keep the people dependent upon them (Matthew 23:13).
Little has changed, for we find the same situation today. Christianity has become big business, even within Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism, and pastors, who love to speak eloquently every Sunday morning and comfort the people with soft-sounding words, watch over it very carefully. Even when truth is proclaimed, it is most often couched within a framework that permits the pastor to maintain his superior position as the trained, spiritual professional. Jesus said, “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28). The pastor may well speak of the service that he offers his congregation (the congregation is more surely his than the Lord’s), but it is a service for which he is generally well paid and one that does not require him to abandon his position of pre-eminence. Carrying out his “service” to his people will in no way threaten his prominent position in the eyes of his congregants, but will actually enhance their dependence upon him to speak God’s words unto them. Even as the Pharisees loved the adulation of the people who regarded them as being very spiritual and the purveyors of truth, so pastors today hold a very similar position in the minds of most who participate in the traditions of “church.” Spiritual ignorance was the blight of the common people of Jesus’ day just as surely as it is today among Evangelicals; both the Pharisees and today’s pastors use that blindness to secure their positions of authority.
Jesus entered this scene of domination in order to bring life to those who had eyes to see and ears to hear; yet, with only a few exceptions, it excluded most of the religious leadership of the day. Today, the Spirit of God works to bring a conviction of sin and righteousness on those who will see and hear (John 16:8). Once again, the “religious of the day,” for the most part, are excluded – they have the same problem as the Pharisees. “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth” (John 9:39-41). The confident declaration of Evangelical leadership today is: “We see!” However, as they heap to themselves well-honed theologies and draw unto themselves blind admirers, they are the purveyors of the same self-righteous error as the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. Indeed, the leaders of both Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism (for the most part) have fallen into the very same pit as the Pharisees – they teach the traditions of men and call it God’s truth (Matthew 15:9). Yes, the Pharisees were under the Mosaic Law of statutes and ordinances, but they had created a whole additional layer of their own traditions and practices to which they held the people accountable; they had departed from the “thus saith the Lord,” and had replaced it with “thus saith our teachings” – something that is echoed among today’s Evangelicals.
5. To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
In the same way that God did not give the Law of Moses without purpose, so He did not send His Son into this world without purpose. The eternal God took on the form of man, born under the Law of Moses and the Law of God, for the express purpose of redeeming those who are under the Law. Who is under the Law? – all of mankind!
Before God gave the children of Israel the statutes and ordinances of the Mosaic Law, He revealed His purpose to them: “... if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people ... ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6). God’s desire for Israel was that they should become a light to the nations; through them the holiness and grace of God would be evidenced for all to see, and in them the peoples of the world would find intercessors who could bring them to God. In essence, the whole world was brought under the Law of Moses, for it was a refinement of God’s revelation of the Redeemer Who would come to deal finally and fully with man’s sin. The essence of the Law of Moses was not new, but it was now in written form and included sacrifices, a structured priesthood and ceremonies outlined in minute detail.
Abraham had lived in obedience to the commands and statutes of God (Genesis 26:5), but now, God wrote His Ten Commandments (the Law of God) on tables of stone for everyone to read, and prescribed the numerous statutes and ordinances (the Law of Moses) to instill faith in the hearts of the obedient. Within the Garden of Eden, God made His commands known to Adam, and from that time onward man has never been without a knowledge of what God requires.
Those who do not walk by faith in the Lord are, very truly, under the Law. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). Unless we are in Christ Jesus by faith, we are under the condemnation of the Law of God. Adam stood in no condemnation until he ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree, at which time he came under the condemnation of the Law and died spiritually. Yet God, in His mercy, provided a way for man to be redeemed from the penalty of the Law, and the key was faith in Him expressed through obedience to His commands. The OT saints lived by faith in God to keep His promise to provide a Redeemer; they lived in hope and anticipation of the Promised One. Today we live by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ – the One Who came in fulfillment of the promises made. However, as noted, unless we are in Christ Jesus, we remain under the condemnation of the Law of God; those who are not found in Christ will ultimately be judged by God according to their deeds (Revelation 20:13) and no one will be justified (Galatians 2:16).
Christ came for the express purpose of providing redemption for all of mankind. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “... [God] will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). Despite the best efforts of Calvinists to say that whosoever and all men do not mean everyone, the reality is that through Christ, God has established the Way for all of mankind to be reconciled to Himself. The desire of God for man, from Adam through to the coming of Jesus Christ, always included a mixture of faith and blood sacrifice for the temporary remission of sin – something that foreshadowed the time when the promised Redeemer would become the final Sacrifice for sins (Hebrews 11:6; Leviticus 17:11). With the progression of time, the prophets of God elaborated more and more on the coming of the Promised One, providing both general information and often very specific details that would be fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ. God, in His love and mercy, “sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:14); in Jesus’ day, the Samaritans of Sychar recognized and declared this truth (John 4:42). When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He declared that the final sacrifice for man’s sin had been made; access to the very presence of God was opened for all men (the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom, indicating that God had opened the way – Matthew 27:51). Jesus is the “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29); nevertheless, Christ’s redemption of mankind remains ineffective unless it is personally appropriated by faith – “... I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Without that personal application of the work of Christ on the cross, we remain bound under the condemnation of the Law of God; it is only as we are in Christ by faith that we are freed from the Law’s condemnation.
Christ came to provide redemption for mankind so that we might be adopted by God. We must note that the pronoun we is used, thereby indicating that Paul is including himself within the adopted sons of God. What we must immediately recognize is that there is a difference between an adoptive relationship and a naturally born one. Jesus Christ is referred to as “the only begotten Son” of God (Psalm 2:7 [quoted further in Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5; 5:5]; John 1:18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9). Jesus is the only Son of God Who was not adopted; He was born of the Spirit of God and woman (Luke 1:35), and being fully God in the form of man, “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). Therefore, it is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (through adoption) that everyone is brought into a living relationship with God.
The words of Jesus to the woman of Samaria come to bear here: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). When we speak of our adoption as children of God, we are referring to a spiritual adoption – it is by a living faith in Jesus Christ that we are declared to be the children of God (Galatians 3:26). We have been called to walk a spiritual walk with God: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after [according to] the flesh, but after [according to] the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after [according to] the flesh, but after [according to] the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4).6 Jesus’ admonition is: “Abide [meno] in me ...” (John 15:4); John declared so clearly: “... he that keepeth [is keeping (present tense)] his [God’s] commandments dwelleth [meno, is remaining (present tense)] in him” (1 John 3:24).7 The reality is as evident as James makes it: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). We are not adopted into the spiritual family of God through praying a simple prayer, responding to an “altar call,” or by being raised in a godly home. Our adoption comes only through a personal, living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God Who took the punishment for our sins upon Himself – unless that living faith remains continually active in our lives, we are on very slippery ground (this is the situation in which the Galatians found themselves – Galatians 1:6-7). Yet even more than simply a matter of faith (which is the Evangelical mantra of the day), our living faith must demonstrate its presence through obedience to the commandments of God; otherwise, as James declares, we cannot lay claim to having saving faith. As we permit the Spirit of God to lead us in paths of righteousness (which is the spiritual outworking of the Law of God – Romans 8:4; Psalm 23:3), we will live as the adopted, spiritual children of God.
However, we do find places where God refers to Israel as His son. “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn ...” (Exodus 4:22). A moment’s consideration makes it clear that this could not be referring to a spiritual relationship between God and Israel, for Israel was a large group of people by this time, and God only establishes His spiritual relationship with individuals. A ready confirmation is the Law of God (the Ten Commandments – Exodus 20:1-17) which (in the KJV) all include the Middle English word thou or thy; this pronoun is second person singular, which means that these Commandments are directed toward the individual and do not have a group or national application (other than through many individuals). This is also clearly confirmed by looking to the final judgment of the wicked, “... and they were judged every man according to their works” (Revelation 20:13). These are those who have been excluded from the first resurrection of the righteous (Revelation 20:5-6), yet they will stand, individually, before God and receive His condemnation according to their works.
Furthermore, we recognize that the Lord is speaking metaphorically of Israel as His firstborn (in Exodus 4:22), for the physical ancestry of Israel is easily traced through the pages of Scripture. Abraham was chosen by God out of Ur of the Chaldees, yet he, too, had a delineated heritage. Moses, in his final song to the people of Israel, declared, “Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?” (Deuteronomy 32:6). There is clear recognition that the nation of Israel owes its very existence to Jehovah, and the image of a father is used to demonstrate their utter dependence upon the Lord. However, even within his song, Moses spoke of the failure of the children of Israel to honor the God Who formed them (Deuteronomy 32:15); despite having an opportunity to live by faith in God and the promise of His redemption, they would forsake the Lord and follow falsehood (Deuteronomy 32:17-18).
We are told in Galatians 4:5 that the Son of God came in order to redeem those who were under the condemnation of the Law and the adoption that they would receive. Although the words redeem and receive are both in the subjunctive mood, because they are in a purpose clause, they do not express possibility but rather, provide an explanation as to why the Son of God came. Now we must understand that even though these are reasons for Jesus’ coming, that does not mean that everyone will be redeemed and receive His adoption; what it does mean is that such redemption and adoption is available to everyone (the whosoever of John 3:16 applies). The reality is that God has done everything necessary to redeem all of mankind, but everyone still bears a will that has been corrupted by sin (the certainty of the purpose for the Logos becoming flesh can be availed only through faith in what the Lord has done, which requires a choice – the exercise of the will). Moses understood this reality: “I call heaven and earth to record [witness] this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).8 Moses set the “life and death, blessing and cursing” before the people of Israel (you), but the choice to be made was individual (thou, thy). Joshua also understood the reality of the will of man: “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15). Elijah recognized the necessity of the people of Israel to exercise their will in determining whom they would follow: “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him” (1 Kings 18:21a). Jesus, too, spoke of man’s need to choose: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). The truth that we must not miss is this: God has provided the Way of redemption for all of mankind, but every man must choose.
Among Evangelicals the choosing has been reduced to a momentary, isolated decision; as long as that decision was made at some point in time, then the eternal destiny of adoption as a child of God has been secured (the decision is all-important but the subsequent living is not). Unfortunately, there is no Biblical support for this doctrine. “But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die” (Ezekiel 18:24). “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins ...” (Hebrews 10:26). Jesus’ words further support this: “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62); “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure [hupomeno – to remain faithful through trials] unto the end, the same shall [this is the one who will] be saved” (Mark 13:13).9 Jesus calls us to count the cost of following Him before we commit to walking in His ways (Luke 14:25-33), lest we begin and fall away to our own eternal destruction (the parable of the soils confirms this reality as well – Luke 8:11-15). We must not miss the promise that Paul wrote to Timothy: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12); this is what awaits the child of God who is faithfully living for Him, yet Jesus said plainly that this is what is required in order to be saved (Matthew 24:13).
Compounding the failure among Evangelicals in this matter of an isolated decision securing eternal life, is their position that the subsequent lifestyle does not really matter. Once again, this is not a doctrine that can be found in God’s Word. “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:13-16; with reference to Leviticus 11:44). Paul understood this as well: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4). The Spirit of God, the Comforter promised by the Lord before His ascension, comes to abide within us when we come to God by faith in what Jesus Christ did for us on Calvary. The Spirit residing in our lives is not to be without consequence; as we walk in obedience to the Spirit, the righteousness of the Law will be lived out through us – we will be living the holiness of God. The Apostle John declared, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). The writer of Hebrews confirms the necessity of continually walking by the Spirit of God in obedience to the commands of God: “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end ...” (Hebrews 3:14; see also Matthew 24:13). What we must not miss is that God has done everything to keep us in our walk with Him (Romans 8:38-39); however, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12; the same warning was given to Israel in Deuteronomy 11:16). We are called upon to exercise discernment lest we succumb to faithlessness, which would be to apostatize. Even though God has made every provision for our safe-keeping, what we are warned against is giving place to an evil heart of unbelief that will lead us into apostasy; God may well have protected us from all external attacks, but we are called on to exercise vigilance so that we do not fall away through our own doings. It is God’s desire that we remain faithful to Him (Matthew 10:22), that we be continually on guard against the temptations of the devil (1 Peter 5:8), that we test all things against His Word (Acts 17:11; 1 John 4:1), and that we stand fast in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 16:13).
6. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Here, again, we find confirmation that Paul did not see the Galatians as having already fallen away, but they were in the process of removing themselves from God’s light (Galatians 1:6 expresses this idea, indicating that the deed had not been clinched as yet); however, what must not be overlooked is that the road that they were on would lead them directly into apostasy. Paul confidently refers to them now as being sons of God (present tense – the thought brought forward from the previous verse). Paul’s confidence would have been founded upon what he saw at work within this group after he and Barnabas had ministered the truth of God to them. Clearly, there was no question in Paul’s mind that these people had genuinely made a commitment to follow the Gospel of God.
To confirm this further, he speaks of God having instilled the Spirit of Christ into their hearts. Jesus affirmed with His disciples that when He was ascended to heaven, He would have the Father send His Spirit to teach them (John 14:26). Paul declares here that these Galatians were recipients of the promised Spirit – there can be no doubt as to the genuineness of the faith of these people. However, we must also recognize that the reason for the Spirit of God being sent is based on these people being sons of God, genuinely embarked on the pathway of faith in Christ. What we must not lose sight of, living as we do in a day of casual spirituality, is that there is a prerequisite to the Spirit of God’s presence in the life of an individual. It is because the Galatians were sons of God that God sent His Spirit to abide within them; this is an essential distinction that must be emphasized in our day of careless spirituality. Although we see the Spirit of God coming to abide within the individual at the time that he places his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:9), it is also important to recognize is that the Spirit of God will not continue to abide with anyone who does not have a persistent, living faith in Jesus Christ. However, there is more to this relationship: “For as many as are led [being led (present tense)] by the Spirit of God, they are [present tense] the sons of God” (Romans 8:14).10 As we come to God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God comes to abide within us; as we are continually led by the Spirit of God, we will remain as sons of God. This reality is not given any credence within Evangelicalism today. “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit [do mind] the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded [to have in mind the things of the flesh] is death; but to be spiritually minded [to be after the Spirit] is life and peace” (Romans 8:5-6).
Today, the “Spirit of God” is carelessly flaunted by the name-it-claim-it charismatic preachers, and is heralded as being part of their raucous and blasphemous dog-and-pony shows. When we recognize that the work of these men and women does not line up with the Word of God (that Standard by which we are to measure all things – 1 John 4:1), we can, with full assurance, conclude that the spirit that they are demonstrating is not the Spirit of God. Satan is a great lover of religion, for it has proven to be a very effective disguise for him to wreak havoc among those who profess to know God; he especially loves to use a professing Christian to accomplish his greatest wiles. We must be constantly vigilant – something that the Galatians were failing to do.
Abba, Father appears only three times in our Scriptures. The first time it is recorded by Mark in Jesus’ petition in Gethsemane to His Father regarding the terrible punishment that He was about to bear on the cross (Mark 14:36). In his letter to the Romans, Paul includes the phrase in a manner very similar to what we find here in Galatians: “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). The word Abba is of Chaldee or Aramaic origin and Jewish tradition limits its use to natural children – slave were not permitted to use the term for the head of the family; the only reason that we can use this term for God the Father is because He has adopted us as His own children through Christ, thereby making the use of the term to be, my father.11 In the passage in Mark, we have Jesus using the term to address His Father in Heaven. In Romans, the adopted recipients of the Spirit of God utter the cry of “My Father,” expressing their new relationship with God. In our passage, it seems evident that it is the Spirit of God sent into our hearts Who is crying, “Abba, Father.” We are told in Romans: “... the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (8:26). The Spirit of God intercedes for us with sounds that cannot be expressed in words. The Greek word for crying (Galatians 3:6) means literally to croak,12 and is a “strong word, expressing deep emotion ... generally, an inarticulate cry ....”13 Again, we see the Spirit interceding with the Father with “groanings which cannot be uttered,” and thereby expressing to our heavenly Father our marvel at calling Him our Father.
As we consider the work of the Spirit of God on our behalf, the question may arise: to Whom do we address our petitions? Are we to petition the Father only? Are we to appeal to Jesus, the Son of God? Are we to bring our requests to the Holy Spirit? Or, does it really matter?
If we begin with the model prayer that Jesus gave to His disciples, we read: “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven ...” (Matthew 6:9); “When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven” (Luke 11:2). The model prayer as it was prescribed by Jesus, is to be addressed to God the Father. Matthew records these additional guiding words of Jesus: “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:6). What would seem to be evident is that Jesus’ words on the matter are that we are to address our prayers to God the Father. However, are we sure that this hasn’t been changed? Evangelicals today can take a clear declaration of God’s will from the Scriptures and nullify its effect through the application of scholarly rationalism. They might well recognize and accept that God’s Word is eternally settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89), and that Jesus, the eternal Word made flesh, will never change (John 1:1,14; Hebrews 13:8), and yet they will casually change what God has very clearly declared into something that better fits with their traditions. Jesus made it very clear to the Pharisees of His day that this practice was unacceptable – they were nullifying the commands of God by adhering to their own traditions (Matthew 15:6). It is not uncommon to hear prayers addressed to either Jesus or the Holy Spirit, or both. Is this acceptable, or should we be concerned? If we are concerned with walking in obedience to the words of the Lord, then we must unhesitatingly say that we are to address our prayers to the Father.
Jesus did offer an additional bit of guidance in this matter. As He taught His disciples, He declared: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 15:16). Here is the admonition to ask of the Father in the name of the Son; hence, it is Biblical to make our prayers to the Father in the name of Jesus. However, lest the name-it-claim-it crowd use these words as a blank cheque from God, Jesus also said, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). James clarifies the matter as well: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:3). The qualification of abiding places any requests that we might make of God, into the realm of being according to His will. Our focus must be on abiding in Him, not on our requests.
Jesus spoke concerning the Holy Spirit: “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another [allos – another of the same kind] Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever [Jesus had just spoken of leaving the disciples – vs. 1-4]; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you [in the presence of Jesus amongst the disciples – John 1:32], and shall be in you [speaking of the day when the Spirit would come to abide within them]” (John 14:15-17).14 Jesus says that He will ask the Father to send the Spirit so that He might abide with us forever. In keeping with the model prayer that He taught the disciples, Jesus indicates that He will ask the Father to send the Spirit to abide within the disciples. Jesus goes on to provide further clarification on the coming of the Comforter: “... when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father ... he shall testify of me ...” (John 15:26). We notice that Jesus said that He would send the Spirit; we recognize that Jesus ascended to the Father prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit, and we see that the Spirit of God will bear witness of Jesus. Further to that, we are told that the Spirit, “when he is come [unto you (carrying the thought from the previous verse forward)], he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment ...” (John 16:8); the Spirit of God is actively convicting the world as He abides in those who belong to Christ. However, more importantly for those who place their faith in Christ, He “will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself ...” (John 16:13). We see the Spirit of God as the One Who is abiding within the believer, Who is heralding Jesus Christ, and providing guidance into all truth; considering the day in which we live, these are very significant and will clearly mark God’s faithful ones. Paul identified this reality in his letter to the Ephesians: “... after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise ...” (Ephesians 1:13); the Holy Spirit is the mark that we bear, for we have been stamped in order to be identified as His. The foundational understanding in all of this is that we will walk in obedience to the commands of the Lord (John 14:15) so that the righteousness of the Law of God might be manifested through us by the working of God’s Spirit (Romans 8:4).
As we view the Evangelical landscape today, we are only too painfully aware of the significant role that the will of man plays in determining his eternal destination. Sinful mankind still bears the image of God (Genesis 9:6), and part of that is his ability to exercise his will to choose. We recognize that the sinner can choose to go his own way, but we are less likely to be aware of the capability of someone who is presently faithful to choose a path that leads away from God. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12); this warning is issued to brethren, not the ungodly, and warns of the very real possibility of apostasy (departing). “And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake [abandon or apostatize] the LORD shall be consumed [destroyed]” (Isaiah 1:28);15 you cannot forsake that of which you were never a part, therefore, it must be understood that it is possible for the Lord’s faithful ones to apostatize. “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away [having fallen away], to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6).16 The reality is that apostasy is eternal – it is impossible to recover from it. Jesus made only one sacrifice for sins, and if that Sacrifice has been appropriated and subsequently turned away from, then there is no longer a way of repentance available – the eternal destiny of that person is sealed.
We have glimpsed some of the significance of the Holy Spirit in the life of the faithful believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, yet there is nothing to indicate that we are to address our prayers to the Holy Spirit. He is our intercessor with the Father, but we are not told to direct our petitions to Him. Yet how often we sing hymns that violate this teaching of the Scriptures; words like:
Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move;
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art;
And make me love Thee as I ought to love17
or
Spirit divine, attend our prayer;
Make a lost world Thy home;
Descend with all thy gracious powers,
O come, great Spirit, come.18
The latter of the two just quoted brings to mind the spiritism of the North American Indians who speak of worshipping the “great spirit.” “O Great Spirit, who art before all else and who dwells in every object, in every person and in every place, we cry unto Thee. We summon Thee from the far places into our present awareness.”19 The Indians have no problem with praying to that spirit, but, rest assured, they are not praying to the God Who created them, only to a god of their own making whom they recognize as being spirit in form. Their panentheism20 is very evident, but that is also becoming more acceptable among Evangelicals. As already noted, Max Lucado is now promoting the idea that everyone bears a spark of the divine within him – this is not arguing for the image of God still evident within sinful mankind, but rather that a small bit of God is within every one of us. What has formerly been readily recognized as paganism within the Indian culture has now begun to take root within Evangelical teaching. “God in everyone” is a form of panentheism that is becoming increasingly popular through the Emergent Church teachings; it is also the spirituality of which the world is so proud – look within to find the good that is common to everyone. Man is spiritually dead, and will die physically (the reality of being a son of Adam, 1 Corinthians 15:22), yet, even in this situation, God still acknowledged that man is made in His image (Genesis 9:6). Clearly, bearing the image of God has no impact on man’s fallen spiritual condition; without faith in Christ, we are all “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).
As the adopted children of God, we may well cry, “Abba, Father,” in the exhilaration of the relationship that we have with God (Romans 8:15); just as truly, the Spirit of God will cry, “Abba, Father” as He enters our being (our verse) and begins to intercede with God the Father on our behalf (Romans 8:26). Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). As we walk in obedience to the commands of God through the guiding work of His Spirit Who is now abiding within us, we will live out the righteousness of the Law of God (Romans 8:4). We are not adopted by God to live unto ourselves, but to live to bring glory to His name (Matthew 5:16; Ephesians 2:10). Paul’s desire was for the Galatians to realize their position in Christ before God, a position that is only achieved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God, Who was abiding in them as sons, was in communion with God the Father – there was absolutely no need for them to step into the bondage of the Mosaic statutes and ordinances.
7. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ
Continuing to build on the principle that, as believers, the Galatians had been adopted into a close relationship with God, Paul reiterates their position as sons, not servants. The Spirit of God is abiding within them; they are no longer under the tutelage of the Mosaic Law but have now entered into a full relationship with God as His adopted sons. If sons, then they are also declared to be inheritors of God; their adoption has brought them into a living relationship with God. The last two words, through Christ, form the critical factor in all of this, and it was the one thing that the Galatians were forgetting. This marvelous relationship with God, being adopted as God’s sons and daughters and being made heirs, all comes through faith in Christ. The foundation of all that Paul has declared is faith in Christ, not obedience to the Law of Moses. Yet even as Paul was writing this letter of correction to the Galatians, they were in the process of replacing God, Who had called them into the grace of Christ, with a false gospel of faith and works (Galatians 1:6-7). Works are important (James makes that abundantly clear – James 2:26), however, they are never a part of salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9) but, rather, will flow out of our commitment to walk according to the Spirit of God Who lives in us (Romans 8:4).
1. Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Paul now picks up on the theme of the heir and begins to expand upon that thought. He does this by taking a step back in order to look at the situation familiar to the children of Israel prior to the coming of the New Covenant – while they were still under the Mosaic Law with all of its statutes and ordinances. You will recall that the New Covenant was unveiled by the Lord the night that He was betrayed, when He declared to His disciples: “This cup is the new testament [or covenant] in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20).1 Moreover, this should not have come as a surprise to those who had eyes of faith, for they would have recalled what Jeremiah had prophesied: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:31-33). What is very interesting is that the Hebrew word translated as write in Jeremiah 31 is the same basic word as used in Exodus 31:18 – “And he [God] gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” Just as God wrote His Law upon tables of stone, so He will write His Law upon the hearts of those who participate in His New Covenant.
Our verse declares a reality that would have been understood within the culture of the day. Until the heir of an estate came of age, he had no more rights than a slave; even though he might well be the governor of the entire estate one day, as a child he had no authority over it. However, he would have had more hope than a slave (for he could well anticipate the day when he would be lord), nevertheless, as a child, he would have been without the freedoms, authority and responsibility of an adult. Within our culture, we have a child, a teenager, and then an adult; it seems that we attempt to delay accountability; within their culture, a child was an adult in training. Teenager is a term that only goes back to the early twentieth-century.2 “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11). This gives us a glimpse into the culture of Paul’s day – the transition was from a child to a responsible adult, thereby skipping the modern concept of a childish adult (a teenager).
Before Christ established the New Covenant in His blood, the Jews were under the burden of the Mosaic Law – and it was a burden, for it placed many demands upon them. Even if viewed through the eyes of faith, there were still many, many minute details in the Law that had to be kept, for they were God’s specific commands. Being a child of God through faith would have instilled a profound meaning to the traditions of the Mosaic Law, but that would have done little to reduce the tremendous burden that it was to abide carefully by the endless rigors of Moses’ Law.
2. But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
We learned (Galatians 3:24) that the Law of Moses served as a schoolmaster, or a child-leader, to bring the children of Israel unto faith in Christ; it foreshadowed the coming Redeemer for all who had eyes of faith to see. The Law served as an educator to instill growth in the life of the faithful doer of the Law, as well as a guide to keep the people of Israel faithful to the Lord Jehovah. When Moses ascended Mt. Sinai for the first time to meet with the Lord, God revealed His purposes to him and the children of Israel: “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel” (Exodus 19:5-6). It was God’s desire that Israel should be a light to the nations, revealing His holiness, mercy and grace to all who looked on. Throughout all of this, further revelation of the coming Messiah (the Promised One Who would be a blessing to everyone) was there for all who would look with the eyes of faith. The Law of Moses was not given without foundation and purpose, and God revealed His heart’s desire before giving the Israelites the statutes and ordinances of the Mosaic Law. Despite the children of Israel’s hearty acceptance of God’s desire for them, they failed to be that kingdom of priests to the Gentiles and that holy nation. The tutor (the Law of Moses), to which Israel became servant, was never able to bring the nation to spiritual maturity – only a remnant of individuals within that nation understood the need for faith.
Within the culture of that day, the wealthy would have trusted men (often slaves) who would be with their sons at all times, training them and educating them in all that they would need in order to be able to function as capable adults. The Law of Moses was given by God to train and educate the children of Israel, as individuals, so that they would be able to live responsibly when the inheritance was theirs. The training of the heir would continue until the day that the father had pre-determined, at which time the heir of all would take his place as a functioning adult within society.
3. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Paul now begins to make application of the illustration of the child-heir to the situation of the Jews of his day. Notice that he uses the word we to show that he is included within this application; after all, he was a Jew to the core.
The word children comes from a Greek word meaning “not-speaking,”3 and so it refers to an infant (one who cannot speak) or a minor whose words have no power (he is not unlike a slave who cannot speak with his own authority). The Jews, under the Mosaic Law, were children; they remained under the guidance of the Schoolmaster, and were in servitude to it.
The word elements speaks of those “first things from which others ... take their rise.”4 For all of us, the first thing is physical life; the one thing that we all have in common is that of being alive. From this similarity flows many, many things that make us different from one another, but we do hold that one thing in common. Being under the Mosaic Law of statutes and ordinances was very physically demanding. There were sacrifices to be made, offerings to be prepared in a very specific manner, feast days to be kept in prescribed ways – all of these things required an expenditure of effort to accomplish. In a very real sense, the keeping of the Mosaic Law was very physical; obedience to the statutes and ordinances was definitely outward and could be kept meticulously with no response at all from the heart (although doing so rendered the keeping of the Law of no value before God – Isaiah 1:11; Hebrews 11:6). This was the situation that Jesus found when He dealt with the Pharisees – they had many outward manifestations of their righteousness but their hearts were not right before God (Matthew 15:8). Nevertheless, the Law was there to train and educate, to lead those to spiritual maturity who had eyes to see (Galatians 3:24). Yet even with all faith and maturity, obedience to the statutes and ordinances of the Law of Moses was still required – the physical demands of obedience never lessened; indeed, there was a strong element of bondage to the Mosaic Law.
4. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
When the time appointed by the Father was come, Jesus came to this earth by being born of Mary. Israel was under the instruction of the Law of Moses until the time pre-determined by God the Father. Even as the son who grew up with tutors, came of age at a time that was determined by his father, so God had pre-determined the day when everything would change for the children of Israel. When that day arrived, God was ready to send His Son in fulfillment of the Mosaic traditions.
What we must not miss is that Jesus did not come too early or too late, but at precisely the right time as determined by God the Father. As we read of God having established the death of His Son in payment for the sins of mankind from before the world was spoken into existence (1 Peter 1:18-20), we see confirmation here of His unalterable sovereignty over His creation in keeping with His promise to Satan in Genesis 3:15 – when the time was right, Jesus came as the Seed of the woman Who would crush the serpent’s head. There is a precision to the plan of God that we will never be able to comprehend, and which Satan will never be able to thwart.
God, the Son (sent from glory – John 17:5), became a man and was made of a woman. The word woman used here is a general term that could be applied to a virgin, a married woman, or someone who was betrothed.5 Although it is very clear from other Scriptures that Jesus was born of a virgin (Luke 1:27, for example), the emphasis here is on the fact that He proceeded from God and entered this world by being made of a woman (John 1:1, 14). The promise made in Genesis 3:15 showed that the One Who would bring defeat to the devil would be the Seed of a woman. Jesus, quite literally, is God and Man brought together in a most unique manner.
However, further to being born of a woman, Jesus also entered the world subject to the statutes and ordinances of Moses (under the law). The Law of Moses remained in full effect until Jesus’ death on the cross, at which time it was completed and removed (Ephesians 2:14-16). As Jesus grew (as a man) and throughout His ministry, He would have perfectly understood the fulfillment of those Mosaic ordinances; each Passover celebration was a reminder to Him as to why He had come to earth and what was ahead for Him. Through all of this time, Jesus kept the Law of Moses and the Law of God with perfection – as God, He would have understood the spirit of the Law that demanded far more than simply the outward expression of obedience, and He kept it without sin (Hebrews 4:15). The religious leaders of the Jews had turned the Law of Moses, that Schoolmaster intended to bring the faithful unto Christ (Galatians 3:24), into an empty form of works that served to magnify their position and keep the people dependent upon them (Matthew 23:13).
Little has changed, for we find the same situation today. Christianity has become big business, even within Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism, and pastors, who love to speak eloquently every Sunday morning and comfort the people with soft-sounding words, watch over it very carefully. Even when truth is proclaimed, it is most often couched within a framework that permits the pastor to maintain his superior position as the trained, spiritual professional. Jesus said, “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28). The pastor may well speak of the service that he offers his congregation (the congregation is more surely his than the Lord’s), but it is a service for which he is generally well paid and one that does not require him to abandon his position of pre-eminence. Carrying out his “service” to his people will in no way threaten his prominent position in the eyes of his congregants, but will actually enhance their dependence upon him to speak God’s words unto them. Even as the Pharisees loved the adulation of the people who regarded them as being very spiritual and the purveyors of truth, so pastors today hold a very similar position in the minds of most who participate in the traditions of “church.” Spiritual ignorance was the blight of the common people of Jesus’ day just as surely as it is today among Evangelicals; both the Pharisees and today’s pastors use that blindness to secure their positions of authority.
Jesus entered this scene of domination in order to bring life to those who had eyes to see and ears to hear; yet, with only a few exceptions, it excluded most of the religious leadership of the day. Today, the Spirit of God works to bring a conviction of sin and righteousness on those who will see and hear (John 16:8). Once again, the “religious of the day,” for the most part, are excluded – they have the same problem as the Pharisees. “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth” (John 9:39-41). The confident declaration of Evangelical leadership today is: “We see!” However, as they heap to themselves well-honed theologies and draw unto themselves blind admirers, they are the purveyors of the same self-righteous error as the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. Indeed, the leaders of both Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism (for the most part) have fallen into the very same pit as the Pharisees – they teach the traditions of men and call it God’s truth (Matthew 15:9). Yes, the Pharisees were under the Mosaic Law of statutes and ordinances, but they had created a whole additional layer of their own traditions and practices to which they held the people accountable; they had departed from the “thus saith the Lord,” and had replaced it with “thus saith our teachings” – something that is echoed among today’s Evangelicals.
5. To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
In the same way that God did not give the Law of Moses without purpose, so He did not send His Son into this world without purpose. The eternal God took on the form of man, born under the Law of Moses and the Law of God, for the express purpose of redeeming those who are under the Law. Who is under the Law? – all of mankind!
Before God gave the children of Israel the statutes and ordinances of the Mosaic Law, He revealed His purpose to them: “... if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people ... ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6). God’s desire for Israel was that they should become a light to the nations; through them the holiness and grace of God would be evidenced for all to see, and in them the peoples of the world would find intercessors who could bring them to God. In essence, the whole world was brought under the Law of Moses, for it was a refinement of God’s revelation of the Redeemer Who would come to deal finally and fully with man’s sin. The essence of the Law of Moses was not new, but it was now in written form and included sacrifices, a structured priesthood and ceremonies outlined in minute detail.
Abraham had lived in obedience to the commands and statutes of God (Genesis 26:5), but now, God wrote His Ten Commandments (the Law of God) on tables of stone for everyone to read, and prescribed the numerous statutes and ordinances (the Law of Moses) to instill faith in the hearts of the obedient. Within the Garden of Eden, God made His commands known to Adam, and from that time onward man has never been without a knowledge of what God requires.
Those who do not walk by faith in the Lord are, very truly, under the Law. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). Unless we are in Christ Jesus by faith, we are under the condemnation of the Law of God. Adam stood in no condemnation until he ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree, at which time he came under the condemnation of the Law and died spiritually. Yet God, in His mercy, provided a way for man to be redeemed from the penalty of the Law, and the key was faith in Him expressed through obedience to His commands. The OT saints lived by faith in God to keep His promise to provide a Redeemer; they lived in hope and anticipation of the Promised One. Today we live by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ – the One Who came in fulfillment of the promises made. However, as noted, unless we are in Christ Jesus, we remain under the condemnation of the Law of God; those who are not found in Christ will ultimately be judged by God according to their deeds (Revelation 20:13) and no one will be justified (Galatians 2:16).
Christ came for the express purpose of providing redemption for all of mankind. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “... [God] will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). Despite the best efforts of Calvinists to say that whosoever and all men do not mean everyone, the reality is that through Christ, God has established the Way for all of mankind to be reconciled to Himself. The desire of God for man, from Adam through to the coming of Jesus Christ, always included a mixture of faith and blood sacrifice for the temporary remission of sin – something that foreshadowed the time when the promised Redeemer would become the final Sacrifice for sins (Hebrews 11:6; Leviticus 17:11). With the progression of time, the prophets of God elaborated more and more on the coming of the Promised One, providing both general information and often very specific details that would be fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ. God, in His love and mercy, “sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:14); in Jesus’ day, the Samaritans of Sychar recognized and declared this truth (John 4:42). When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He declared that the final sacrifice for man’s sin had been made; access to the very presence of God was opened for all men (the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom, indicating that God had opened the way – Matthew 27:51). Jesus is the “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29); nevertheless, Christ’s redemption of mankind remains ineffective unless it is personally appropriated by faith – “... I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Without that personal application of the work of Christ on the cross, we remain bound under the condemnation of the Law of God; it is only as we are in Christ by faith that we are freed from the Law’s condemnation.
Christ came to provide redemption for mankind so that we might be adopted by God. We must note that the pronoun we is used, thereby indicating that Paul is including himself within the adopted sons of God. What we must immediately recognize is that there is a difference between an adoptive relationship and a naturally born one. Jesus Christ is referred to as “the only begotten Son” of God (Psalm 2:7 [quoted further in Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5; 5:5]; John 1:18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9). Jesus is the only Son of God Who was not adopted; He was born of the Spirit of God and woman (Luke 1:35), and being fully God in the form of man, “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). Therefore, it is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (through adoption) that everyone is brought into a living relationship with God.
The words of Jesus to the woman of Samaria come to bear here: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). When we speak of our adoption as children of God, we are referring to a spiritual adoption – it is by a living faith in Jesus Christ that we are declared to be the children of God (Galatians 3:26). We have been called to walk a spiritual walk with God: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after [according to] the flesh, but after [according to] the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after [according to] the flesh, but after [according to] the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4).6 Jesus’ admonition is: “Abide [meno] in me ...” (John 15:4); John declared so clearly: “... he that keepeth [is keeping (present tense)] his [God’s] commandments dwelleth [meno, is remaining (present tense)] in him” (1 John 3:24).7 The reality is as evident as James makes it: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). We are not adopted into the spiritual family of God through praying a simple prayer, responding to an “altar call,” or by being raised in a godly home. Our adoption comes only through a personal, living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God Who took the punishment for our sins upon Himself – unless that living faith remains continually active in our lives, we are on very slippery ground (this is the situation in which the Galatians found themselves – Galatians 1:6-7). Yet even more than simply a matter of faith (which is the Evangelical mantra of the day), our living faith must demonstrate its presence through obedience to the commandments of God; otherwise, as James declares, we cannot lay claim to having saving faith. As we permit the Spirit of God to lead us in paths of righteousness (which is the spiritual outworking of the Law of God – Romans 8:4; Psalm 23:3), we will live as the adopted, spiritual children of God.
However, we do find places where God refers to Israel as His son. “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn ...” (Exodus 4:22). A moment’s consideration makes it clear that this could not be referring to a spiritual relationship between God and Israel, for Israel was a large group of people by this time, and God only establishes His spiritual relationship with individuals. A ready confirmation is the Law of God (the Ten Commandments – Exodus 20:1-17) which (in the KJV) all include the Middle English word thou or thy; this pronoun is second person singular, which means that these Commandments are directed toward the individual and do not have a group or national application (other than through many individuals). This is also clearly confirmed by looking to the final judgment of the wicked, “... and they were judged every man according to their works” (Revelation 20:13). These are those who have been excluded from the first resurrection of the righteous (Revelation 20:5-6), yet they will stand, individually, before God and receive His condemnation according to their works.
Furthermore, we recognize that the Lord is speaking metaphorically of Israel as His firstborn (in Exodus 4:22), for the physical ancestry of Israel is easily traced through the pages of Scripture. Abraham was chosen by God out of Ur of the Chaldees, yet he, too, had a delineated heritage. Moses, in his final song to the people of Israel, declared, “Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?” (Deuteronomy 32:6). There is clear recognition that the nation of Israel owes its very existence to Jehovah, and the image of a father is used to demonstrate their utter dependence upon the Lord. However, even within his song, Moses spoke of the failure of the children of Israel to honor the God Who formed them (Deuteronomy 32:15); despite having an opportunity to live by faith in God and the promise of His redemption, they would forsake the Lord and follow falsehood (Deuteronomy 32:17-18).
We are told in Galatians 4:5 that the Son of God came in order to redeem those who were under the condemnation of the Law and the adoption that they would receive. Although the words redeem and receive are both in the subjunctive mood, because they are in a purpose clause, they do not express possibility but rather, provide an explanation as to why the Son of God came. Now we must understand that even though these are reasons for Jesus’ coming, that does not mean that everyone will be redeemed and receive His adoption; what it does mean is that such redemption and adoption is available to everyone (the whosoever of John 3:16 applies). The reality is that God has done everything necessary to redeem all of mankind, but everyone still bears a will that has been corrupted by sin (the certainty of the purpose for the Logos becoming flesh can be availed only through faith in what the Lord has done, which requires a choice – the exercise of the will). Moses understood this reality: “I call heaven and earth to record [witness] this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).8 Moses set the “life and death, blessing and cursing” before the people of Israel (you), but the choice to be made was individual (thou, thy). Joshua also understood the reality of the will of man: “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15). Elijah recognized the necessity of the people of Israel to exercise their will in determining whom they would follow: “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him” (1 Kings 18:21a). Jesus, too, spoke of man’s need to choose: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). The truth that we must not miss is this: God has provided the Way of redemption for all of mankind, but every man must choose.
Among Evangelicals the choosing has been reduced to a momentary, isolated decision; as long as that decision was made at some point in time, then the eternal destiny of adoption as a child of God has been secured (the decision is all-important but the subsequent living is not). Unfortunately, there is no Biblical support for this doctrine. “But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die” (Ezekiel 18:24). “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins ...” (Hebrews 10:26). Jesus’ words further support this: “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62); “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure [hupomeno – to remain faithful through trials] unto the end, the same shall [this is the one who will] be saved” (Mark 13:13).9 Jesus calls us to count the cost of following Him before we commit to walking in His ways (Luke 14:25-33), lest we begin and fall away to our own eternal destruction (the parable of the soils confirms this reality as well – Luke 8:11-15). We must not miss the promise that Paul wrote to Timothy: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12); this is what awaits the child of God who is faithfully living for Him, yet Jesus said plainly that this is what is required in order to be saved (Matthew 24:13).
Compounding the failure among Evangelicals in this matter of an isolated decision securing eternal life, is their position that the subsequent lifestyle does not really matter. Once again, this is not a doctrine that can be found in God’s Word. “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:13-16; with reference to Leviticus 11:44). Paul understood this as well: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4). The Spirit of God, the Comforter promised by the Lord before His ascension, comes to abide within us when we come to God by faith in what Jesus Christ did for us on Calvary. The Spirit residing in our lives is not to be without consequence; as we walk in obedience to the Spirit, the righteousness of the Law will be lived out through us – we will be living the holiness of God. The Apostle John declared, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). The writer of Hebrews confirms the necessity of continually walking by the Spirit of God in obedience to the commands of God: “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end ...” (Hebrews 3:14; see also Matthew 24:13). What we must not miss is that God has done everything to keep us in our walk with Him (Romans 8:38-39); however, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12; the same warning was given to Israel in Deuteronomy 11:16). We are called upon to exercise discernment lest we succumb to faithlessness, which would be to apostatize. Even though God has made every provision for our safe-keeping, what we are warned against is giving place to an evil heart of unbelief that will lead us into apostasy; God may well have protected us from all external attacks, but we are called on to exercise vigilance so that we do not fall away through our own doings. It is God’s desire that we remain faithful to Him (Matthew 10:22), that we be continually on guard against the temptations of the devil (1 Peter 5:8), that we test all things against His Word (Acts 17:11; 1 John 4:1), and that we stand fast in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 16:13).
6. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Here, again, we find confirmation that Paul did not see the Galatians as having already fallen away, but they were in the process of removing themselves from God’s light (Galatians 1:6 expresses this idea, indicating that the deed had not been clinched as yet); however, what must not be overlooked is that the road that they were on would lead them directly into apostasy. Paul confidently refers to them now as being sons of God (present tense – the thought brought forward from the previous verse). Paul’s confidence would have been founded upon what he saw at work within this group after he and Barnabas had ministered the truth of God to them. Clearly, there was no question in Paul’s mind that these people had genuinely made a commitment to follow the Gospel of God.
To confirm this further, he speaks of God having instilled the Spirit of Christ into their hearts. Jesus affirmed with His disciples that when He was ascended to heaven, He would have the Father send His Spirit to teach them (John 14:26). Paul declares here that these Galatians were recipients of the promised Spirit – there can be no doubt as to the genuineness of the faith of these people. However, we must also recognize that the reason for the Spirit of God being sent is based on these people being sons of God, genuinely embarked on the pathway of faith in Christ. What we must not lose sight of, living as we do in a day of casual spirituality, is that there is a prerequisite to the Spirit of God’s presence in the life of an individual. It is because the Galatians were sons of God that God sent His Spirit to abide within them; this is an essential distinction that must be emphasized in our day of careless spirituality. Although we see the Spirit of God coming to abide within the individual at the time that he places his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:9), it is also important to recognize is that the Spirit of God will not continue to abide with anyone who does not have a persistent, living faith in Jesus Christ. However, there is more to this relationship: “For as many as are led [being led (present tense)] by the Spirit of God, they are [present tense] the sons of God” (Romans 8:14).10 As we come to God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God comes to abide within us; as we are continually led by the Spirit of God, we will remain as sons of God. This reality is not given any credence within Evangelicalism today. “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit [do mind] the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded [to have in mind the things of the flesh] is death; but to be spiritually minded [to be after the Spirit] is life and peace” (Romans 8:5-6).
Today, the “Spirit of God” is carelessly flaunted by the name-it-claim-it charismatic preachers, and is heralded as being part of their raucous and blasphemous dog-and-pony shows. When we recognize that the work of these men and women does not line up with the Word of God (that Standard by which we are to measure all things – 1 John 4:1), we can, with full assurance, conclude that the spirit that they are demonstrating is not the Spirit of God. Satan is a great lover of religion, for it has proven to be a very effective disguise for him to wreak havoc among those who profess to know God; he especially loves to use a professing Christian to accomplish his greatest wiles. We must be constantly vigilant – something that the Galatians were failing to do.
Abba, Father appears only three times in our Scriptures. The first time it is recorded by Mark in Jesus’ petition in Gethsemane to His Father regarding the terrible punishment that He was about to bear on the cross (Mark 14:36). In his letter to the Romans, Paul includes the phrase in a manner very similar to what we find here in Galatians: “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). The word Abba is of Chaldee or Aramaic origin and Jewish tradition limits its use to natural children – slave were not permitted to use the term for the head of the family; the only reason that we can use this term for God the Father is because He has adopted us as His own children through Christ, thereby making the use of the term to be, my father.11 In the passage in Mark, we have Jesus using the term to address His Father in Heaven. In Romans, the adopted recipients of the Spirit of God utter the cry of “My Father,” expressing their new relationship with God. In our passage, it seems evident that it is the Spirit of God sent into our hearts Who is crying, “Abba, Father.” We are told in Romans: “... the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (8:26). The Spirit of God intercedes for us with sounds that cannot be expressed in words. The Greek word for crying (Galatians 3:6) means literally to croak,12 and is a “strong word, expressing deep emotion ... generally, an inarticulate cry ....”13 Again, we see the Spirit interceding with the Father with “groanings which cannot be uttered,” and thereby expressing to our heavenly Father our marvel at calling Him our Father.
As we consider the work of the Spirit of God on our behalf, the question may arise: to Whom do we address our petitions? Are we to petition the Father only? Are we to appeal to Jesus, the Son of God? Are we to bring our requests to the Holy Spirit? Or, does it really matter?
If we begin with the model prayer that Jesus gave to His disciples, we read: “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven ...” (Matthew 6:9); “When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven” (Luke 11:2). The model prayer as it was prescribed by Jesus, is to be addressed to God the Father. Matthew records these additional guiding words of Jesus: “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:6). What would seem to be evident is that Jesus’ words on the matter are that we are to address our prayers to God the Father. However, are we sure that this hasn’t been changed? Evangelicals today can take a clear declaration of God’s will from the Scriptures and nullify its effect through the application of scholarly rationalism. They might well recognize and accept that God’s Word is eternally settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89), and that Jesus, the eternal Word made flesh, will never change (John 1:1,14; Hebrews 13:8), and yet they will casually change what God has very clearly declared into something that better fits with their traditions. Jesus made it very clear to the Pharisees of His day that this practice was unacceptable – they were nullifying the commands of God by adhering to their own traditions (Matthew 15:6). It is not uncommon to hear prayers addressed to either Jesus or the Holy Spirit, or both. Is this acceptable, or should we be concerned? If we are concerned with walking in obedience to the words of the Lord, then we must unhesitatingly say that we are to address our prayers to the Father.
Jesus did offer an additional bit of guidance in this matter. As He taught His disciples, He declared: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 15:16). Here is the admonition to ask of the Father in the name of the Son; hence, it is Biblical to make our prayers to the Father in the name of Jesus. However, lest the name-it-claim-it crowd use these words as a blank cheque from God, Jesus also said, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). James clarifies the matter as well: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:3). The qualification of abiding places any requests that we might make of God, into the realm of being according to His will. Our focus must be on abiding in Him, not on our requests.
Jesus spoke concerning the Holy Spirit: “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another [allos – another of the same kind] Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever [Jesus had just spoken of leaving the disciples – vs. 1-4]; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you [in the presence of Jesus amongst the disciples – John 1:32], and shall be in you [speaking of the day when the Spirit would come to abide within them]” (John 14:15-17).14 Jesus says that He will ask the Father to send the Spirit so that He might abide with us forever. In keeping with the model prayer that He taught the disciples, Jesus indicates that He will ask the Father to send the Spirit to abide within the disciples. Jesus goes on to provide further clarification on the coming of the Comforter: “... when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father ... he shall testify of me ...” (John 15:26). We notice that Jesus said that He would send the Spirit; we recognize that Jesus ascended to the Father prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit, and we see that the Spirit of God will bear witness of Jesus. Further to that, we are told that the Spirit, “when he is come [unto you (carrying the thought from the previous verse forward)], he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment ...” (John 16:8); the Spirit of God is actively convicting the world as He abides in those who belong to Christ. However, more importantly for those who place their faith in Christ, He “will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself ...” (John 16:13). We see the Spirit of God as the One Who is abiding within the believer, Who is heralding Jesus Christ, and providing guidance into all truth; considering the day in which we live, these are very significant and will clearly mark God’s faithful ones. Paul identified this reality in his letter to the Ephesians: “... after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise ...” (Ephesians 1:13); the Holy Spirit is the mark that we bear, for we have been stamped in order to be identified as His. The foundational understanding in all of this is that we will walk in obedience to the commands of the Lord (John 14:15) so that the righteousness of the Law of God might be manifested through us by the working of God’s Spirit (Romans 8:4).
As we view the Evangelical landscape today, we are only too painfully aware of the significant role that the will of man plays in determining his eternal destination. Sinful mankind still bears the image of God (Genesis 9:6), and part of that is his ability to exercise his will to choose. We recognize that the sinner can choose to go his own way, but we are less likely to be aware of the capability of someone who is presently faithful to choose a path that leads away from God. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12); this warning is issued to brethren, not the ungodly, and warns of the very real possibility of apostasy (departing). “And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake [abandon or apostatize] the LORD shall be consumed [destroyed]” (Isaiah 1:28);15 you cannot forsake that of which you were never a part, therefore, it must be understood that it is possible for the Lord’s faithful ones to apostatize. “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away [having fallen away], to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6).16 The reality is that apostasy is eternal – it is impossible to recover from it. Jesus made only one sacrifice for sins, and if that Sacrifice has been appropriated and subsequently turned away from, then there is no longer a way of repentance available – the eternal destiny of that person is sealed.
We have glimpsed some of the significance of the Holy Spirit in the life of the faithful believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, yet there is nothing to indicate that we are to address our prayers to the Holy Spirit. He is our intercessor with the Father, but we are not told to direct our petitions to Him. Yet how often we sing hymns that violate this teaching of the Scriptures; words like:
Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move;
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art;
And make me love Thee as I ought to love17
or
Spirit divine, attend our prayer;
Make a lost world Thy home;
Descend with all thy gracious powers,
O come, great Spirit, come.18
The latter of the two just quoted brings to mind the spiritism of the North American Indians who speak of worshipping the “great spirit.” “O Great Spirit, who art before all else and who dwells in every object, in every person and in every place, we cry unto Thee. We summon Thee from the far places into our present awareness.”19 The Indians have no problem with praying to that spirit, but, rest assured, they are not praying to the God Who created them, only to a god of their own making whom they recognize as being spirit in form. Their panentheism20 is very evident, but that is also becoming more acceptable among Evangelicals. As already noted, Max Lucado is now promoting the idea that everyone bears a spark of the divine within him – this is not arguing for the image of God still evident within sinful mankind, but rather that a small bit of God is within every one of us. What has formerly been readily recognized as paganism within the Indian culture has now begun to take root within Evangelical teaching. “God in everyone” is a form of panentheism that is becoming increasingly popular through the Emergent Church teachings; it is also the spirituality of which the world is so proud – look within to find the good that is common to everyone. Man is spiritually dead, and will die physically (the reality of being a son of Adam, 1 Corinthians 15:22), yet, even in this situation, God still acknowledged that man is made in His image (Genesis 9:6). Clearly, bearing the image of God has no impact on man’s fallen spiritual condition; without faith in Christ, we are all “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).
As the adopted children of God, we may well cry, “Abba, Father,” in the exhilaration of the relationship that we have with God (Romans 8:15); just as truly, the Spirit of God will cry, “Abba, Father” as He enters our being (our verse) and begins to intercede with God the Father on our behalf (Romans 8:26). Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). As we walk in obedience to the commands of God through the guiding work of His Spirit Who is now abiding within us, we will live out the righteousness of the Law of God (Romans 8:4). We are not adopted by God to live unto ourselves, but to live to bring glory to His name (Matthew 5:16; Ephesians 2:10). Paul’s desire was for the Galatians to realize their position in Christ before God, a position that is only achieved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God, Who was abiding in them as sons, was in communion with God the Father – there was absolutely no need for them to step into the bondage of the Mosaic statutes and ordinances.
7. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ
Continuing to build on the principle that, as believers, the Galatians had been adopted into a close relationship with God, Paul reiterates their position as sons, not servants. The Spirit of God is abiding within them; they are no longer under the tutelage of the Mosaic Law but have now entered into a full relationship with God as His adopted sons. If sons, then they are also declared to be inheritors of God; their adoption has brought them into a living relationship with God. The last two words, through Christ, form the critical factor in all of this, and it was the one thing that the Galatians were forgetting. This marvelous relationship with God, being adopted as God’s sons and daughters and being made heirs, all comes through faith in Christ. The foundation of all that Paul has declared is faith in Christ, not obedience to the Law of Moses. Yet even as Paul was writing this letter of correction to the Galatians, they were in the process of replacing God, Who had called them into the grace of Christ, with a false gospel of faith and works (Galatians 1:6-7). Works are important (James makes that abundantly clear – James 2:26), however, they are never a part of salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9) but, rather, will flow out of our commitment to walk according to the Spirit of God Who lives in us (Romans 8:4).
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers ... for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:14, 16-18). We must note the qualification to being called the sons and daughters of God – we are to walk in holiness, separated from all that would defile us. This has not changed: “If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; ... [then] I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people” (Leviticus 26:3, 12). To walk by faith in the statutes and commandments that God gave to Moses (which foreshadowed the Messiah to come) would result in purity of life; one thing that the Mosaic Law (the statutes, judgments, priesthood and sacrificial system) emphasized was the holiness of God. Jesus said, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you” (John 15:14-15). Once again, the foundation for being called a friend by Jesus is our obedience to Him; there is no way to get away from this fundamental principle, for it is everywhere throughout God’s Word. We come to God by faith (Hebrews 11:6), but then we must live out that faith through obedience to His commandments; remember, Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29). It is notable that the yoke is an instrument for work – either to bring two animals together to accomplish a common task, or a bar that is suited for the shoulders of a man and used to carry a load at each end. Either way, it is understood that idleness will not be the lot of the faithful in Christ. Could it be that through much repetition, God hopes that we will begin to understand His desire for us?
8. Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Paul now takes the Galatians back to the time before they placed their faith in Christ, to a time when they had no understanding of the true God. There are times when we need to look back to see where we have come from, not with longing for what has been left behind, but to see afresh the mercy and grace of God that has been at work in our lives. The word knew bears the idea of a full, or complete, knowledge; therefore, with the negative addition to this, it is clear that the Galatians previously had absolutely no knowledge of the true God.21 This is an apt description of the state of mankind without Christ; even the religious fall into this category, for Jesus very plainly told the scribes and Pharisees of His day that they would die in their sins (John 8:21). These religious ones were no better or worse than the religious of our day, and their destination is the same; it matters not what religious stripe you want to wear – Evangelical, Fundamental, Pentecostal, or Reformed – there is no salvation within religion.22 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6); unless our faith is in Jesus Christ, we have no hope. Paul now reminds the Galatians of where they once stood for the express purpose of helping them to see the contrast between where they were and where they are, all in an effort to get them to realize how they had failed to stand fast in their faith in Christ. If we look back, in this manner, we should see a difference between where we were and where we are – we should see growth in our understanding of God’s truth and His desire for us. However, if we are like the Galatians, we might well see a shift downward through compromise and/or neglect of God’s Word. Unless we are presently experiencing spiritual growth and an increasing desire for, and understanding of, what God desires of us, we are actually in decline. The only rest of which the Scriptures speak, is a future rest in glory and a present rest in the Lord Jesus Christ; neither of these involves inactivity, and it is clear from the Bible that we are presently involved in a struggle (John 16:33). Those who are actively engaged in standing firmly for the Lord cannot afford to sit-back, relax and listen to the harmonious bleating of the disguised wolves. We must be constantly vigilant (1 Peter 5:8) lest we succumb to the smooth words of those who would draw us into their net of deceit and error. The alluring voice of New Evangelical theology laid the groundwork of compromise for the devilish practices of the Emergent Church, which seeks to meld a form of Eastern mysticism with Christianity. God’s truth plus anything, is error, and we must carefully and deliberately avoid it (Romans 16:17-18) – this is the truth that Paul is trying to communicate to the Galatians.
Paul reminds them that they were servants to that which by nature are no gods. The insertion of the word nature not only emphasizes that what they served what were not gods (i.e., not deity), but that their service within this religion necessarily excluded them from any form of godliness. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul spoke of this as well: “... the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils [demons], and not to God ...” (1 Corinthians 10:20).23 Prior to coming to Christ, the service in which the Galatians had been involved was to Satan and his minions. Jesus declared very clearly: “He that is [present tense] not with me is against me; and he that gathereth [present tense] not with me scattereth abroad” (Matthew 12:30; Luke 11:23).24 This is a significant dividing statement; there is no fence to straddle, only a decision to make as to whom we will serve. However, once again, we must be careful to recognize that the verbs in Jesus’ statement are present tense – i.e., we must be with Him continually; it is not a decision that is made once and for all time, but rather a daily reality of consistently and persistently walking with Him. It was at this point that the Galatians were failing, and it is this failure that Paul is endeavoring to have them understand, so that they can return to their original commitment to the Lord.
9. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Having just stated the spiritual reality of the Galatians prior to coming to Christ by faith, Paul again seeks to make them think about what they are doing by asking them a question. However, he precedes the question with a quick reminder of their relationship with God; it is really a parenthetical comment to stimulate serious consideration of his question.
He begins with after that ye have known God. The Greek word for known speaks of an understanding of God “not by mere intellectual activity, but by operation of the Holy Spirit consequent upon acceptance of Christ.”25 This is supported by the declaration made in verse six: “... God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts ....” As stated before, these people were not simply religious; they were truly born of the Spirit of God. They not only held an understanding of God, but the Spirit of God was present in their lives to guide them into all truth (John 16:13); they had truly experienced the reality of walking in the Spirit (Romans 8:4).
However, Paul goes on: or rather are known of God. Rather comes from a Greek word that means “to a greater degree,” often translated as more.26 The word known, although the Greek word is similar to the one already used, carries the idea of approval as well. The concept presented here is this: yes, you have known God, but, to a greater degree, God has known and approved of you. This is a significant declaration – prior to their present brink-of-failure position, the Galatians had lived under God’s approving knowledge of who they were in Christ.
Now comes the question, and the pivotal word in the question is turn. It carries the present tense, and therefore, it must be understood that the Galatians were in the process of turning,27 or reverting anew to a former condition.28 This stands in complete agreement with Paul’s declaration that they were removing themselves from God Who had called them to Christ, unto a false gospel (Galatians 1:6-7); then he adds the thought that they were returning to something that they had held once before (again). The reality of this is that it did not matter to what they turned, for whatever it might appear to be, it was still away from God.
The Galatians were reverting to the weak and beggarly elements; they were turning back to a physical form of religion that is without strength and destitute.29 They were turning to an adherence to the Mosaic Law of statutes and ordinances, all of which had been ended at Calvary through the work of Christ (Galatians 3:19). Having been abolished by God through Christ (Ephesians 2:15), the keeping of these traditions was not only an effort in futility, but an affront to the Lord Jesus Christ – He had removed them. They no longer held any spiritual significance; as important as these practices had been before the coming of Christ, they no longer held any value – the One Whom they foreshadowed had come; their purpose had been fulfilled. Consider this: many of these Galatians would have been Gentiles, and what is striking here is that Paul makes no differentiation between the futility of paganism and holding to the Mosaic traditions. Both are considered to be of no value in our relationship with God through Christ – a strong statement against what the Judaizers were determined to implement. It is important that we understand this in our present day as well, for there are a growing number of groups who advocate keeping the feasts and some of the traditions of the Mosaic Law; the Seventh-Day Adventists are opening this door (it was not approved by Ellen G. White, but the sense is that she would have if she had had time to study the matter) and they are not alone.30
Earlier, in verse three, it became clear that the Mosaic Law was a bondage to the children of Israel – it was very physically demanding, and that did not change even with a heart of faith to see what God would provide through its fulfillment. It is this concept that fleshes out the final phrase of Paul’s question – are you Galatians desiring to be in bondage once again? It is a question with a great deal of incredulity in it. Why, when you have known God and been known and approved by Him, would you desire to be enslaved again under physical demands; whether of paganism or the traditions of Moses, it matters little.
10. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
There are two things that we need to note about the word observe. First of all, it is in the present tense, indicating that this was something that the Galatians were doing. Secondly, the Greek word, paratereo, means “to watch assiduously, observe carefully,” or to “keep scrupulously.”31 This was not a casual observance of festivities whenever the mood might hit – intensive attention is being given to the details of the Mosaic demands so that nothing was omitted or left undone. Under the Mosaic Covenant, there were special days to be observed (for example, Leviticus 23:5-6 [the Passover and first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread], Leviticus 23:34 [first day of the Feast of Tabernacles]). With the beginning of each month, there were special activities that had to be kept (Numbers 28:11-14). The word times speaks of a clearly defined period of time; for example, the Feast of Unleavened Bread was held for seven days, and there were different offerings that had to be made during that time (Numbers 28:17-25). Within the Mosaic tradition, every seventh year was a time of rest for the land when nothing was to be planted (Leviticus 25:4), and every fiftieth year was when everyone was restored to his original property, a time of new beginnings for those who had not fared well (Leviticus 25:10) – again, a year when nothing was to be planted or reaped. This list of days, months, times and years might seem of little consequence to us but to those who were endeavoring to follow the traditions of the Mosaic Law, this would have highlighted their perpetual need to keep meticulous records so that they would always be prepared for the next feast, festival or special observation. After coming to Christ by faith, this was what the Galatians were now settling for: from freedom in Christ to live out the righteousness of the Law through the enablement of the Spirit of God, to bondage in keeping strict, physical regiments (something that had been done away with by Christ).
Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Undoubtedly, they would have said that they loved the Lord, yet they were endeavoring to keep something that the Lord had removed. Jesus also said: “... when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth ...” (John 16:13). We’ve already seen that these Galatians had received the Spirit of God; they knew what it meant to walk in the righteousness of the Law of God through the working of the Spirit, and yet they were falling prey to the Judaizers. In essence, they were failing to give heed to the Spirit’s guidance. We might be highly critical of them – after all, they had the Apostle Paul teaching them what it meant to be a Christian; yet how often do we fail to apply the clear Word of God to our own situations? We might rationalize that it is common practice, perhaps even among those whom we might consider to be wonderful Christians. However, our faith is to be in the Lord Jesus Christ and not in the words or examples of men; our standard must always be the Word of God, and never polished theologies. The Bereans received commendation for their diligence (Acts 17:11); the Galatians were receiving Paul’s disapproval for their willingness to turn away from the Gospel of God. Consider Paul’s instruction to Timothy: “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue [present tense] in them: for in doing [present tense] this thou shalt both save [future tense] thyself, and them that hear [present tense] thee” (1 Timothy 4:16).32
11. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
Paul is not saying that he is scared of the Galatians, as we might interpret this first phrase; rather, he is afraid, or alarmed, concerning them.33 Based upon what we have looked at so far, Paul’s fear is for their spiritual wellbeing; it is their departure from the truth (Galatians 3:1), and their replacement of God (Who called them to Christ) with a false gospel (Galatians 1:6-7) that has given rise to Paul’s deep anxiety for their spiritual welfare. His concern is even to the point that he fears that he might well have expended such exhausting toil (labour) upon them for no purpose.
What we cannot overlook is that these people were true Christians; the Spirit of God had been sent to abide within them (Galatians 3:6). However, they were being conned into believing that they could complete (or, perhaps, improve) their faith through their own righteous acts (Galatians 3:3), and they were being convinced to set aside their saving faith in Christ for a system of works, by which no one will ever be justified (Galatians 2:16). The subtlety of the allurement was that they did not recognize that they were setting their faith in Christ aside, but thought that they were actually enhancing their faith. When the devil came to Eve with his charming, “Yea, hath God said,” he brought the same two realities that were facing the Galatians: there was an underlying contravention of God’s truth, while superficially there appeared to be a benefit or a positive result. For Eve, the devil’s “Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4) was a direct denial of God’s word (Genesis 2:17), but that was quickly masked with the obvious benefit of knowing both good and evil (Genesis 3:5). For the Galatians, the contravention was contaminating faith in Christ with fleshly works (Galatians 1:6-7 makes it clear that this is impossible), and the supposed benefit was a form of righteous living by keeping the long-standing Mosaic traditions. Today we see the all-pervasive Ecumenical mindset that loudly proclaims the need to love one another (and the seemingly undeniable benefit of this way of thinking), even while they depart from the clear teaching of God’s Word that we are to separate from everyone who does not live according to His Truth (Romans 16:17). Eve’s failure to discern led to man’s fall into sin; the Galatians were on the brink of apostasy for endeavoring to add the Mosaic traditions to their faith in Christ; Evangelicals today have become largely apostate (or religiously pagan) for relinquishing their grasp on the truths of God’s Word and falling from a life of purity in the Spirit of God. Paul, indeed, feared that the labor that he had expended upon these Galatians would be so much wasted effort (if they fell away, his work would have been in vain); evidence would seem to indicate that his warnings that were written to the Galatians, are falling on deaf ears today.
12. Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.
Once again, Paul addresses the Galatians as brethren; this is further confirmation of their present state as believers – something from which they were in jeopardy of falling away. To call them back from the brink of spiritual disaster, Paul begs them to be as he is (to follow his example, see also 1 Corinthians 4:16; 11:1; Philippians 4:9). Within the context of what has been written up to this point, this can mean nothing other than being free from the burden and demands of the Mosaic Law of statutes and ordinances. What the Galatians were falling into, Paul, as a religious Jew, had been freed from through faith in Christ.
Paul then goes on to identify with them: I am as ye are. This cannot mean that Paul was on the brink of returning to the traditions of Moses, but that he had identified himself with the Gentiles; he had set aside all of the advantages that he had as a Jew. “If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ” (Philippians 3:4b-7). Paul held none of those things that had made him a Jew of the Jews as being of any spiritual value; among the Corinthians, he determined “not to know any thing ... save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). There was no perpetuating the traditions of the Mosaic Law within Paul’s Message; in his faith in Christ, he became as a Gentile – no longer holding onto his Jewish traditions, and his Jewish traditions had no hold on him.
The last phrase, ye have not injured me at all, would appear to be an opening statement of fact for what is following, and does not speak to the present situation with the Galatians. Undoubtedly Paul had been hurt by their present state of potential apostasy, for he has just declared that he feared lest he should have labored among them in vain (Galatians 3:11). It would seem that this phrase applies to his first time with these people when they gave heed to his Message and demonstrated grace toward his needs. The thought has been laid out as, “Ye did not injure me then, do not do so now.”34
13. Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.
As Paul takes a moment to speak of his first time with the Galatians, it would seem that he is trying to remind them of it and their attitude toward him. He reminds them that when he was first among them, he declared the Good News (preached the gospel) to them in weakness.35 In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul expresses this same thought: “I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3). Infirmity and weakness are the same word in the Greek, and speak to the lack of strength for the task at hand. The trembling speaks of his coming to them “with fear and trembling, used to describe the anxiety of one who distrusts his ability completely to meet all requirements, but religiously does his utmost to fulfil his duty.”36 This was Paul, the man who had received direct revelation from God concerning the Gospel that he was to bring to the Gentiles, yet it seems clear that God placed a physical weakness within him that served to keep him humble (2 Corinthians 12:7). As Paul sought the Lord to free him from this infirmity, the Lord provided clarification of His working even through this: “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).
14. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
Paul includes another reminder here that his infirmity was physical, perhaps emphasized to make it clear that this weakness was not spiritual or mental.
There are three words used here that are stronger than they might appear in our English translation. Temptation speaks of a trial – in this case a physical weakness “of such a kind as to arouse feelings of natural repugnance.”37 Despite this, Paul says that the Galatians did not despise him; they did not regard him as nothing or treat him with contempt,38 nor did they reject him – literally, “to spit out.”39 Paul is endeavoring to instill, within the minds of the Galatians, a recollection of the time when he first came to them, when he bore in his body that infirmity – a weakness that could have caused them to turn away from him.
However, the Galatians received, or accepted, Paul into their midst despite his weakness, and he describes his reception as if he were an angel, or messenger, from God; they received him as if he were the Lord Himself. Paul uses strong language to describe his physical infirmity, but he uses language equally as strong to describe how they accepted him into their community. The implication in all of this is that their reception of the Message that Paul brought was both open and strong.
15. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.
Robert Young translates the question as: “what then was your happiness?”40 Paul came to the Galatians preaching the Gospel of Christ, and they openly received him and his Message. Since they embraced him and the truth that he brought to them with such gladness of heart, Paul’s question is meant to have them call to mind the basis for their happiness.
It is from this verse that many speculate that Paul’s infirmity was an eye disease of some sort. However, the emphasis within the Greek evidently does not permit such a direct application of the words used, but rather underscores the attitude of the Galatians to Paul; “their devotion prompted a readiness to part with their most treasured possession on his behalf.”41 They would have done anything to be of help to Paul; anything, within their ability to perform, would have been done with gladness. Such was his reception among these people when he first came to them.
16. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
Paul now turns a corner. After reminding them of how they had received him when he first came to them, he asks now if he has become their enemy –odious in their sight and hated by them.42 We have seen so clearly, the error into which the Galatians had fallen, and Paul’s disapproval of what was taking place would have seemed even sharper to those who were falling prey to the Judaizers. Considering the reception that these people had originally given to Paul, he is wondering if they will now hate him because of the truth that he is telling them (present tense) in this letter. Would their attitude towards him change because of the message of correction that he was writing to them (and which they would be reading)?
The reality is that the truth often times will not win many friends; it is decidedly exclusive and narrow, which is not a popular thing within our inclusive society. Jesus said of the Jews who followed Him: “... because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not” (John 8:45). The words of Jesus, the Truth, became a barrier to them, and they refused to accept Him for Who He was. It is because of an unwillingness to receive the truth that the Antichrist will receive such a broad acceptance (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). Truth can be very uncomfortable, for it will often require us to change what we have become accustomed to doing. As Paul expounded his position in contradiction to the Galatians’ error, his question is very understandable. Despite the grand reception that he had received when he first brought the words of life and truth to them, would they now turn their backs on him because he sought, with great earnestness, to turn them from the error that was about to cost them their spiritual lives?
We read Jesus’ words: “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division ...” (Luke 12:51), and we also read: “So there was a division among the people because of him” (John 7:43). Jesus, the eternal Truth (John 14:6 and 17:17), brought division while on earth, and the same is to be the case today (Romans 16:17-18). However, what must not be overlooked is that the Truth, the Word of God, is eternally settled in the heavens (Psalm 119:89), and it cannot, nor will it ever, change or be changed! Therefore, when a teaching, thought, or action does not align itself with the pure Word of God, there is automatically a separation from the Truth, for God’s truth is eternally the same. When Evangelicals and Fundamentalists tenaciously hold to doctrines that do not find support from the eternally established Word of Truth, they have separated themselves from that which has been eternally established by God. This is the reason why we are to diligently weigh all that we hear and read against the perfect Standard of God’s Word (1 John 4:1), lest we inadvertently align ourselves with those who have separated themselves from God by fiercely holding onto doctrines that do not agree with Scripture. This is also the reason why we are to separate ourselves from those whom we recognize as having departed from the truth of God. Biblical separation is an essential doctrine for the preservation of the saints of God; the antithesis of this is the Ecumenical unity that is rife among Evangelicals today, a unity that comes through compromise and acceptance of all kinds of teachings.
Elijah recognized this important truth as he dealt with King Ahab. After there had been drought in the land of Israel for three and a half years, Elijah came to Ahab. “And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim” (1 Kings 18:17-18). Ahab had forsaken the truth of God and had aligned himself with the gods of the heathen, and Elijah makes it very clear that this was the cause of the trouble in Israel. Even though the drought had come at the word of Elijah (God working through him), it was due to Ahab’s failure to follow the Lord. Elijah then led the children of Israel to Mt. Carmel where he called on them to decide whom they would follow – God or Baal (1 Kings 18:21); here was a call to choose, for they could not dabble in both and be accepted by God. God is exclusive, and will not abide a mixture of righteousness and evil (Revelation 3:16). The Ecumenical unity of Evangelicalism seeks to do that very thing – downplay the truth in favor of love and acceptance; this is a lukewarm mixture that God says that He will vomit (spue) out of His mouth.
A recent visit with an Evangelical friend showed the reality of this compromised, lukewarm understanding. What he emphasized, above all else, was that God loves us. Yes, God does love us, for it was through the expression of His love that He gave Jesus to die for the sins of mankind (John 3:16). However, it was the holiness and justice of God that required that ultimate sacrifice to be made for us. God is first, and foremost, a holy God; His holiness is emphasized in the Scriptures and He is declared to be holy by the heavenly creatures (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). When God created man in His image (Genesis 1:26), His desire was to have fellowship with him (Genesis 3:8). When Adam sinned, he immediately died spiritually (his fellowship with his Creator was broken), just as God had warned him (Genesis 2:17); we read: “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity ...” (Habakkuk 1:13a). If a holy God was to have fellowship with sinful man, something had to be done to atone for man’s sinfulness. Even while still in the Garden of Eden, God made coverings for Adam and Eve through the shedding of blood (Genesis 3:21), and this foreshadowed the One Who would come to make the final sacrifice for sins on Calvary. The love of God desires fellowship with man (unfortunately, it seems that Evangelicals stop there), the holiness of God cannot abide the sin that is now a part of man, the justice of God demands payment for man’s sinfulness, and the mercy of God finds expression through Jesus Christ. Jesus came to earth (the expression of God’s love – John 3:16) and lived a life of purity (the perfect expression of God’s holiness – Hebrews 4:15), and, as the perfect Lamb of God, He provided redemption for man through His death and resurrection (He opened the way of salvation by fulfilling the required justice for sin – John 3:17). God is love – it cannot be denied, because the Scriptures make it very clear: “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 4:8). What is marvelous to behold is the holiness, the justice and the love of God all working together to make a way for man to have fellowship with Him again. “Jesus saith ..., I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). Jesus describes Himself as being the Way, and explains that the Way is narrow, or tightly compressed. The Evangelical emphasis on love has resulted in a message of openness and tolerance, but this does not align with the pure, unalterable Word of God, and we who are in Christ, must reject it completely.
The concept of truth has taken a real beating in our day. In recent years, a poll taken of “born-again” adults in America showed that only 44% believed in “the existence of absolute moral truth.”43 Clearly, those who are supposed to be handling the Word of God have given in to pleasant homilies and smooth words of encouragement that appeal to the itching ears of their hearers (2 Timothy 4:3-4). There is no longer a compulsion among Evangelical preachers to teach the Word of God and proclaim it with clarity and fervency; they realize the loss of popularity that would be theirs, and have opted instead for soft-sounding messages that leave their hearers feeling comforted rather than convicted. The devil has succeeded in twisting the concept of truth into a subjective pretzel that bears no resemblance to the truth that is expounded in the Word of God. Unfortunately, there is too little discernment within the body of church-goers today to recognize the handiwork of the devil.
17. They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.
Zealously affect is one word in the Greek and means “to desire one earnestly, to strive after.”44 The Judaizers had a passionate desire to convince the Galatians of their philosophy; after all, they were sure that they were correct in their understanding (Acts 15:5). Evangelization is not limited to believers in Christ; those who come under the spell of Satan’s philosophies will also seek to convince others of the truth of their position – Satan would not have it any other way. He began his program of evangelism right in the Garden of Eden, and began his first message to mankind with the words, “Yea, hath God said ...?” (Genesis 3:1). Although the context of his luring message has changed many times, the words have varied little; his methodology is typically to cast doubt on the words of God. When Harold Ockenga announced the New Evangelicalism in 1948, one of the platforms for this new way of thinking was to revisit some of the fundamental doctrines of Scripture in light of the position of the religious Liberals. Do you recognize the “Yea, hath God said” of the devil in that? If Satan can bring us to question even one clear statement of the Word of God, he has then established a toe-hold in our thinking. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour ...” (1 Peter 5:8); we must be ever on guard against the wiles of the devil. Paul makes it evident here that the Judaizers’ earnest desire for the Galatians was not right; they had a passion, but it was not Biblically based. The people of this world can be very passionate about their concept of spirituality, but that does not make it good, only more dangerous to those who hear.
The caution for the Christian is this: when the Scriptures are clear on a matter, be inflexible because your position is founded firmly upon the word of the eternal God. However, on those things that are not addressed by the Scriptures, we must be more tolerant, yet we must still examine all positions and their foundations against the one true Standard (1 John 4:1). Unfortunately, today most Evangelicals have set God’s Word aside in favor of the well-crafted theologies of men (and there is a difference), so that most today will defer to their favorite preacher or author. Throughout the Dark Ages, the Roman Catholic priests withheld the Bible from the people on the premise that they would fall into error if allowed to read it for themselves; today, church-goers have voluntarily forfeited God’s Word in favor of the opinions and philosophies of scholarly theologians, and we are rapidly entering a new age of darkness.
Paul now seeks to expose the works of the Judaizers. He states that their desire is to exclude you, [ekkleio] i.e., it is their intent to shut out.45 Based on what Paul has already declared, this can only mean that they sought to shut these people out of salvation that only comes through faith in Christ – the Judaizers may not have understood this, for frequently those who are deceiving are also being deceived (2 Timothy 3:13). Jesus’ words to the Pharisees fit well here: “... woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees [and Judaizers], hypocrites! for ye shut up [kleio] the kingdom of heaven against [in front of] men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in” (Matthew 23:13).46 The message of the Judaizers was a perverted gospel of works and faith that Paul has already clearly condemned (Galatians 1:7); therefore, it is very safe to say that the Judaizers were not on the pathway that leads to life – they were not entering into faith in Christ. However, they were not satisfied to keep such a corrupted message to themselves but sought to convince those who had accepted Christ by faith, those who were the sons of God, that the works of the Law of Moses were integral to faith in Christ. We may be assured that Satan will never keep his perversions of the Gospel message to himself. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith ...” (1 Peter 5:8-9). Satan is a master at making evil appear to be good (Isaiah 5:20), and disobedience as something desirable (Genesis 3:5-6), yet his end purpose is always to destroy (devour).
The motive of the Judaizers is revealed here: “that ye might affect them”; literally: in order that you being zealous for them.47 This is a purpose clause, and thereby expresses why the Judaizers are zealously trying to persuade the Galatians to follow them – they want to increase their following. Many years earlier, Paul and Barnabas had experienced this attitude from the Jews in this very region (Acts 13:45) – the size of the apostles following became their motivation for persecution. The Judaizers sought to have the Galatians earnestly desire them, to look to them as their mentors and teachers; this was their motivation, but this would only take place if the Galatian believers decided to accept their teachings. Paul is intent on providing the Galatians with all of the reasons that they need to dismiss the Judaizers’ teachings – if only they will have eyes to see the truth that Paul is presenting.
18. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.
Paul says here that it is good to be earnestly desired (zealously affected), but only in that which is good. In essence, he did not have a problem with the zeal of the Judaizers (for he was also a man of great zeal – Galatians 1:14), the difficulty was that the Judaizers were not grounded in the truth of the Gospel message; they had polluted and perverted the Word of Truth and therefore, their zeal was ill founded and to be avoided.
When Paul began his defense before the Jews of Jerusalem, he said: “I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day” (Acts 22:3). He describes himself as being zealous toward God, and attributes to his hearers the same passion for God. However, clearly zeal alone is insufficient and can be either positive or negative; unless it is founded upon a proper understanding of God’s Message to mankind, it is of little value. The world today might well be enthusiastic in the declaration of their inclusive form of spirituality, but that will accomplish nothing in light of eternity; there is still only one Way to God (John 14:6). Rick Warren may speak very eloquently and with great enthusiasm as he garners the support and assistance of the Muslim community, but he, nonetheless, walks in disobedience to God’s Word. As the Judaizers came to the Galatians, they came with well-polished arguments and made their case with great passion, yet the basis for their position was contrary to the message of the Gospel, and therein they failed. The latter part of this verse tells us that Paul was not possessive of the Galatians; he did not claim them as his own, thereby making the Judaizers wrong. No, the Judaizers were wrong because the basis of their teaching was in falsehood, and not because they were approaching those whom Paul had taught and established in the Lord.
When Paul was with the Galatians, he was zealous, earnestly desiring to impart to them the truths of God; he longed to draw them into a fuller understanding of faith in Christ. Yet he did not hoard this for himself; as he declared to the Corinthians: “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:6). Paul’s overwhelming concern for the Galatians was that those who would seek to impart some truth to them would do so upon the foundation of Truth, in a good thing. It mattered not to him who desired the attention of the Galatians, as long as the message that they brought was the Truth of God.
8. Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Paul now takes the Galatians back to the time before they placed their faith in Christ, to a time when they had no understanding of the true God. There are times when we need to look back to see where we have come from, not with longing for what has been left behind, but to see afresh the mercy and grace of God that has been at work in our lives. The word knew bears the idea of a full, or complete, knowledge; therefore, with the negative addition to this, it is clear that the Galatians previously had absolutely no knowledge of the true God.21 This is an apt description of the state of mankind without Christ; even the religious fall into this category, for Jesus very plainly told the scribes and Pharisees of His day that they would die in their sins (John 8:21). These religious ones were no better or worse than the religious of our day, and their destination is the same; it matters not what religious stripe you want to wear – Evangelical, Fundamental, Pentecostal, or Reformed – there is no salvation within religion.22 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6); unless our faith is in Jesus Christ, we have no hope. Paul now reminds the Galatians of where they once stood for the express purpose of helping them to see the contrast between where they were and where they are, all in an effort to get them to realize how they had failed to stand fast in their faith in Christ. If we look back, in this manner, we should see a difference between where we were and where we are – we should see growth in our understanding of God’s truth and His desire for us. However, if we are like the Galatians, we might well see a shift downward through compromise and/or neglect of God’s Word. Unless we are presently experiencing spiritual growth and an increasing desire for, and understanding of, what God desires of us, we are actually in decline. The only rest of which the Scriptures speak, is a future rest in glory and a present rest in the Lord Jesus Christ; neither of these involves inactivity, and it is clear from the Bible that we are presently involved in a struggle (John 16:33). Those who are actively engaged in standing firmly for the Lord cannot afford to sit-back, relax and listen to the harmonious bleating of the disguised wolves. We must be constantly vigilant (1 Peter 5:8) lest we succumb to the smooth words of those who would draw us into their net of deceit and error. The alluring voice of New Evangelical theology laid the groundwork of compromise for the devilish practices of the Emergent Church, which seeks to meld a form of Eastern mysticism with Christianity. God’s truth plus anything, is error, and we must carefully and deliberately avoid it (Romans 16:17-18) – this is the truth that Paul is trying to communicate to the Galatians.
Paul reminds them that they were servants to that which by nature are no gods. The insertion of the word nature not only emphasizes that what they served what were not gods (i.e., not deity), but that their service within this religion necessarily excluded them from any form of godliness. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul spoke of this as well: “... the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils [demons], and not to God ...” (1 Corinthians 10:20).23 Prior to coming to Christ, the service in which the Galatians had been involved was to Satan and his minions. Jesus declared very clearly: “He that is [present tense] not with me is against me; and he that gathereth [present tense] not with me scattereth abroad” (Matthew 12:30; Luke 11:23).24 This is a significant dividing statement; there is no fence to straddle, only a decision to make as to whom we will serve. However, once again, we must be careful to recognize that the verbs in Jesus’ statement are present tense – i.e., we must be with Him continually; it is not a decision that is made once and for all time, but rather a daily reality of consistently and persistently walking with Him. It was at this point that the Galatians were failing, and it is this failure that Paul is endeavoring to have them understand, so that they can return to their original commitment to the Lord.
9. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Having just stated the spiritual reality of the Galatians prior to coming to Christ by faith, Paul again seeks to make them think about what they are doing by asking them a question. However, he precedes the question with a quick reminder of their relationship with God; it is really a parenthetical comment to stimulate serious consideration of his question.
He begins with after that ye have known God. The Greek word for known speaks of an understanding of God “not by mere intellectual activity, but by operation of the Holy Spirit consequent upon acceptance of Christ.”25 This is supported by the declaration made in verse six: “... God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts ....” As stated before, these people were not simply religious; they were truly born of the Spirit of God. They not only held an understanding of God, but the Spirit of God was present in their lives to guide them into all truth (John 16:13); they had truly experienced the reality of walking in the Spirit (Romans 8:4).
However, Paul goes on: or rather are known of God. Rather comes from a Greek word that means “to a greater degree,” often translated as more.26 The word known, although the Greek word is similar to the one already used, carries the idea of approval as well. The concept presented here is this: yes, you have known God, but, to a greater degree, God has known and approved of you. This is a significant declaration – prior to their present brink-of-failure position, the Galatians had lived under God’s approving knowledge of who they were in Christ.
Now comes the question, and the pivotal word in the question is turn. It carries the present tense, and therefore, it must be understood that the Galatians were in the process of turning,27 or reverting anew to a former condition.28 This stands in complete agreement with Paul’s declaration that they were removing themselves from God Who had called them to Christ, unto a false gospel (Galatians 1:6-7); then he adds the thought that they were returning to something that they had held once before (again). The reality of this is that it did not matter to what they turned, for whatever it might appear to be, it was still away from God.
The Galatians were reverting to the weak and beggarly elements; they were turning back to a physical form of religion that is without strength and destitute.29 They were turning to an adherence to the Mosaic Law of statutes and ordinances, all of which had been ended at Calvary through the work of Christ (Galatians 3:19). Having been abolished by God through Christ (Ephesians 2:15), the keeping of these traditions was not only an effort in futility, but an affront to the Lord Jesus Christ – He had removed them. They no longer held any spiritual significance; as important as these practices had been before the coming of Christ, they no longer held any value – the One Whom they foreshadowed had come; their purpose had been fulfilled. Consider this: many of these Galatians would have been Gentiles, and what is striking here is that Paul makes no differentiation between the futility of paganism and holding to the Mosaic traditions. Both are considered to be of no value in our relationship with God through Christ – a strong statement against what the Judaizers were determined to implement. It is important that we understand this in our present day as well, for there are a growing number of groups who advocate keeping the feasts and some of the traditions of the Mosaic Law; the Seventh-Day Adventists are opening this door (it was not approved by Ellen G. White, but the sense is that she would have if she had had time to study the matter) and they are not alone.30
Earlier, in verse three, it became clear that the Mosaic Law was a bondage to the children of Israel – it was very physically demanding, and that did not change even with a heart of faith to see what God would provide through its fulfillment. It is this concept that fleshes out the final phrase of Paul’s question – are you Galatians desiring to be in bondage once again? It is a question with a great deal of incredulity in it. Why, when you have known God and been known and approved by Him, would you desire to be enslaved again under physical demands; whether of paganism or the traditions of Moses, it matters little.
10. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
There are two things that we need to note about the word observe. First of all, it is in the present tense, indicating that this was something that the Galatians were doing. Secondly, the Greek word, paratereo, means “to watch assiduously, observe carefully,” or to “keep scrupulously.”31 This was not a casual observance of festivities whenever the mood might hit – intensive attention is being given to the details of the Mosaic demands so that nothing was omitted or left undone. Under the Mosaic Covenant, there were special days to be observed (for example, Leviticus 23:5-6 [the Passover and first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread], Leviticus 23:34 [first day of the Feast of Tabernacles]). With the beginning of each month, there were special activities that had to be kept (Numbers 28:11-14). The word times speaks of a clearly defined period of time; for example, the Feast of Unleavened Bread was held for seven days, and there were different offerings that had to be made during that time (Numbers 28:17-25). Within the Mosaic tradition, every seventh year was a time of rest for the land when nothing was to be planted (Leviticus 25:4), and every fiftieth year was when everyone was restored to his original property, a time of new beginnings for those who had not fared well (Leviticus 25:10) – again, a year when nothing was to be planted or reaped. This list of days, months, times and years might seem of little consequence to us but to those who were endeavoring to follow the traditions of the Mosaic Law, this would have highlighted their perpetual need to keep meticulous records so that they would always be prepared for the next feast, festival or special observation. After coming to Christ by faith, this was what the Galatians were now settling for: from freedom in Christ to live out the righteousness of the Law through the enablement of the Spirit of God, to bondage in keeping strict, physical regiments (something that had been done away with by Christ).
Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Undoubtedly, they would have said that they loved the Lord, yet they were endeavoring to keep something that the Lord had removed. Jesus also said: “... when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth ...” (John 16:13). We’ve already seen that these Galatians had received the Spirit of God; they knew what it meant to walk in the righteousness of the Law of God through the working of the Spirit, and yet they were falling prey to the Judaizers. In essence, they were failing to give heed to the Spirit’s guidance. We might be highly critical of them – after all, they had the Apostle Paul teaching them what it meant to be a Christian; yet how often do we fail to apply the clear Word of God to our own situations? We might rationalize that it is common practice, perhaps even among those whom we might consider to be wonderful Christians. However, our faith is to be in the Lord Jesus Christ and not in the words or examples of men; our standard must always be the Word of God, and never polished theologies. The Bereans received commendation for their diligence (Acts 17:11); the Galatians were receiving Paul’s disapproval for their willingness to turn away from the Gospel of God. Consider Paul’s instruction to Timothy: “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue [present tense] in them: for in doing [present tense] this thou shalt both save [future tense] thyself, and them that hear [present tense] thee” (1 Timothy 4:16).32
11. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
Paul is not saying that he is scared of the Galatians, as we might interpret this first phrase; rather, he is afraid, or alarmed, concerning them.33 Based upon what we have looked at so far, Paul’s fear is for their spiritual wellbeing; it is their departure from the truth (Galatians 3:1), and their replacement of God (Who called them to Christ) with a false gospel (Galatians 1:6-7) that has given rise to Paul’s deep anxiety for their spiritual welfare. His concern is even to the point that he fears that he might well have expended such exhausting toil (labour) upon them for no purpose.
What we cannot overlook is that these people were true Christians; the Spirit of God had been sent to abide within them (Galatians 3:6). However, they were being conned into believing that they could complete (or, perhaps, improve) their faith through their own righteous acts (Galatians 3:3), and they were being convinced to set aside their saving faith in Christ for a system of works, by which no one will ever be justified (Galatians 2:16). The subtlety of the allurement was that they did not recognize that they were setting their faith in Christ aside, but thought that they were actually enhancing their faith. When the devil came to Eve with his charming, “Yea, hath God said,” he brought the same two realities that were facing the Galatians: there was an underlying contravention of God’s truth, while superficially there appeared to be a benefit or a positive result. For Eve, the devil’s “Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4) was a direct denial of God’s word (Genesis 2:17), but that was quickly masked with the obvious benefit of knowing both good and evil (Genesis 3:5). For the Galatians, the contravention was contaminating faith in Christ with fleshly works (Galatians 1:6-7 makes it clear that this is impossible), and the supposed benefit was a form of righteous living by keeping the long-standing Mosaic traditions. Today we see the all-pervasive Ecumenical mindset that loudly proclaims the need to love one another (and the seemingly undeniable benefit of this way of thinking), even while they depart from the clear teaching of God’s Word that we are to separate from everyone who does not live according to His Truth (Romans 16:17). Eve’s failure to discern led to man’s fall into sin; the Galatians were on the brink of apostasy for endeavoring to add the Mosaic traditions to their faith in Christ; Evangelicals today have become largely apostate (or religiously pagan) for relinquishing their grasp on the truths of God’s Word and falling from a life of purity in the Spirit of God. Paul, indeed, feared that the labor that he had expended upon these Galatians would be so much wasted effort (if they fell away, his work would have been in vain); evidence would seem to indicate that his warnings that were written to the Galatians, are falling on deaf ears today.
12. Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.
Once again, Paul addresses the Galatians as brethren; this is further confirmation of their present state as believers – something from which they were in jeopardy of falling away. To call them back from the brink of spiritual disaster, Paul begs them to be as he is (to follow his example, see also 1 Corinthians 4:16; 11:1; Philippians 4:9). Within the context of what has been written up to this point, this can mean nothing other than being free from the burden and demands of the Mosaic Law of statutes and ordinances. What the Galatians were falling into, Paul, as a religious Jew, had been freed from through faith in Christ.
Paul then goes on to identify with them: I am as ye are. This cannot mean that Paul was on the brink of returning to the traditions of Moses, but that he had identified himself with the Gentiles; he had set aside all of the advantages that he had as a Jew. “If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ” (Philippians 3:4b-7). Paul held none of those things that had made him a Jew of the Jews as being of any spiritual value; among the Corinthians, he determined “not to know any thing ... save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). There was no perpetuating the traditions of the Mosaic Law within Paul’s Message; in his faith in Christ, he became as a Gentile – no longer holding onto his Jewish traditions, and his Jewish traditions had no hold on him.
The last phrase, ye have not injured me at all, would appear to be an opening statement of fact for what is following, and does not speak to the present situation with the Galatians. Undoubtedly Paul had been hurt by their present state of potential apostasy, for he has just declared that he feared lest he should have labored among them in vain (Galatians 3:11). It would seem that this phrase applies to his first time with these people when they gave heed to his Message and demonstrated grace toward his needs. The thought has been laid out as, “Ye did not injure me then, do not do so now.”34
13. Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.
As Paul takes a moment to speak of his first time with the Galatians, it would seem that he is trying to remind them of it and their attitude toward him. He reminds them that when he was first among them, he declared the Good News (preached the gospel) to them in weakness.35 In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul expresses this same thought: “I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3). Infirmity and weakness are the same word in the Greek, and speak to the lack of strength for the task at hand. The trembling speaks of his coming to them “with fear and trembling, used to describe the anxiety of one who distrusts his ability completely to meet all requirements, but religiously does his utmost to fulfil his duty.”36 This was Paul, the man who had received direct revelation from God concerning the Gospel that he was to bring to the Gentiles, yet it seems clear that God placed a physical weakness within him that served to keep him humble (2 Corinthians 12:7). As Paul sought the Lord to free him from this infirmity, the Lord provided clarification of His working even through this: “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).
14. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
Paul includes another reminder here that his infirmity was physical, perhaps emphasized to make it clear that this weakness was not spiritual or mental.
There are three words used here that are stronger than they might appear in our English translation. Temptation speaks of a trial – in this case a physical weakness “of such a kind as to arouse feelings of natural repugnance.”37 Despite this, Paul says that the Galatians did not despise him; they did not regard him as nothing or treat him with contempt,38 nor did they reject him – literally, “to spit out.”39 Paul is endeavoring to instill, within the minds of the Galatians, a recollection of the time when he first came to them, when he bore in his body that infirmity – a weakness that could have caused them to turn away from him.
However, the Galatians received, or accepted, Paul into their midst despite his weakness, and he describes his reception as if he were an angel, or messenger, from God; they received him as if he were the Lord Himself. Paul uses strong language to describe his physical infirmity, but he uses language equally as strong to describe how they accepted him into their community. The implication in all of this is that their reception of the Message that Paul brought was both open and strong.
15. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.
Robert Young translates the question as: “what then was your happiness?”40 Paul came to the Galatians preaching the Gospel of Christ, and they openly received him and his Message. Since they embraced him and the truth that he brought to them with such gladness of heart, Paul’s question is meant to have them call to mind the basis for their happiness.
It is from this verse that many speculate that Paul’s infirmity was an eye disease of some sort. However, the emphasis within the Greek evidently does not permit such a direct application of the words used, but rather underscores the attitude of the Galatians to Paul; “their devotion prompted a readiness to part with their most treasured possession on his behalf.”41 They would have done anything to be of help to Paul; anything, within their ability to perform, would have been done with gladness. Such was his reception among these people when he first came to them.
16. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
Paul now turns a corner. After reminding them of how they had received him when he first came to them, he asks now if he has become their enemy –odious in their sight and hated by them.42 We have seen so clearly, the error into which the Galatians had fallen, and Paul’s disapproval of what was taking place would have seemed even sharper to those who were falling prey to the Judaizers. Considering the reception that these people had originally given to Paul, he is wondering if they will now hate him because of the truth that he is telling them (present tense) in this letter. Would their attitude towards him change because of the message of correction that he was writing to them (and which they would be reading)?
The reality is that the truth often times will not win many friends; it is decidedly exclusive and narrow, which is not a popular thing within our inclusive society. Jesus said of the Jews who followed Him: “... because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not” (John 8:45). The words of Jesus, the Truth, became a barrier to them, and they refused to accept Him for Who He was. It is because of an unwillingness to receive the truth that the Antichrist will receive such a broad acceptance (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). Truth can be very uncomfortable, for it will often require us to change what we have become accustomed to doing. As Paul expounded his position in contradiction to the Galatians’ error, his question is very understandable. Despite the grand reception that he had received when he first brought the words of life and truth to them, would they now turn their backs on him because he sought, with great earnestness, to turn them from the error that was about to cost them their spiritual lives?
We read Jesus’ words: “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division ...” (Luke 12:51), and we also read: “So there was a division among the people because of him” (John 7:43). Jesus, the eternal Truth (John 14:6 and 17:17), brought division while on earth, and the same is to be the case today (Romans 16:17-18). However, what must not be overlooked is that the Truth, the Word of God, is eternally settled in the heavens (Psalm 119:89), and it cannot, nor will it ever, change or be changed! Therefore, when a teaching, thought, or action does not align itself with the pure Word of God, there is automatically a separation from the Truth, for God’s truth is eternally the same. When Evangelicals and Fundamentalists tenaciously hold to doctrines that do not find support from the eternally established Word of Truth, they have separated themselves from that which has been eternally established by God. This is the reason why we are to diligently weigh all that we hear and read against the perfect Standard of God’s Word (1 John 4:1), lest we inadvertently align ourselves with those who have separated themselves from God by fiercely holding onto doctrines that do not agree with Scripture. This is also the reason why we are to separate ourselves from those whom we recognize as having departed from the truth of God. Biblical separation is an essential doctrine for the preservation of the saints of God; the antithesis of this is the Ecumenical unity that is rife among Evangelicals today, a unity that comes through compromise and acceptance of all kinds of teachings.
Elijah recognized this important truth as he dealt with King Ahab. After there had been drought in the land of Israel for three and a half years, Elijah came to Ahab. “And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim” (1 Kings 18:17-18). Ahab had forsaken the truth of God and had aligned himself with the gods of the heathen, and Elijah makes it very clear that this was the cause of the trouble in Israel. Even though the drought had come at the word of Elijah (God working through him), it was due to Ahab’s failure to follow the Lord. Elijah then led the children of Israel to Mt. Carmel where he called on them to decide whom they would follow – God or Baal (1 Kings 18:21); here was a call to choose, for they could not dabble in both and be accepted by God. God is exclusive, and will not abide a mixture of righteousness and evil (Revelation 3:16). The Ecumenical unity of Evangelicalism seeks to do that very thing – downplay the truth in favor of love and acceptance; this is a lukewarm mixture that God says that He will vomit (spue) out of His mouth.
A recent visit with an Evangelical friend showed the reality of this compromised, lukewarm understanding. What he emphasized, above all else, was that God loves us. Yes, God does love us, for it was through the expression of His love that He gave Jesus to die for the sins of mankind (John 3:16). However, it was the holiness and justice of God that required that ultimate sacrifice to be made for us. God is first, and foremost, a holy God; His holiness is emphasized in the Scriptures and He is declared to be holy by the heavenly creatures (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). When God created man in His image (Genesis 1:26), His desire was to have fellowship with him (Genesis 3:8). When Adam sinned, he immediately died spiritually (his fellowship with his Creator was broken), just as God had warned him (Genesis 2:17); we read: “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity ...” (Habakkuk 1:13a). If a holy God was to have fellowship with sinful man, something had to be done to atone for man’s sinfulness. Even while still in the Garden of Eden, God made coverings for Adam and Eve through the shedding of blood (Genesis 3:21), and this foreshadowed the One Who would come to make the final sacrifice for sins on Calvary. The love of God desires fellowship with man (unfortunately, it seems that Evangelicals stop there), the holiness of God cannot abide the sin that is now a part of man, the justice of God demands payment for man’s sinfulness, and the mercy of God finds expression through Jesus Christ. Jesus came to earth (the expression of God’s love – John 3:16) and lived a life of purity (the perfect expression of God’s holiness – Hebrews 4:15), and, as the perfect Lamb of God, He provided redemption for man through His death and resurrection (He opened the way of salvation by fulfilling the required justice for sin – John 3:17). God is love – it cannot be denied, because the Scriptures make it very clear: “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 4:8). What is marvelous to behold is the holiness, the justice and the love of God all working together to make a way for man to have fellowship with Him again. “Jesus saith ..., I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). Jesus describes Himself as being the Way, and explains that the Way is narrow, or tightly compressed. The Evangelical emphasis on love has resulted in a message of openness and tolerance, but this does not align with the pure, unalterable Word of God, and we who are in Christ, must reject it completely.
The concept of truth has taken a real beating in our day. In recent years, a poll taken of “born-again” adults in America showed that only 44% believed in “the existence of absolute moral truth.”43 Clearly, those who are supposed to be handling the Word of God have given in to pleasant homilies and smooth words of encouragement that appeal to the itching ears of their hearers (2 Timothy 4:3-4). There is no longer a compulsion among Evangelical preachers to teach the Word of God and proclaim it with clarity and fervency; they realize the loss of popularity that would be theirs, and have opted instead for soft-sounding messages that leave their hearers feeling comforted rather than convicted. The devil has succeeded in twisting the concept of truth into a subjective pretzel that bears no resemblance to the truth that is expounded in the Word of God. Unfortunately, there is too little discernment within the body of church-goers today to recognize the handiwork of the devil.
17. They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.
Zealously affect is one word in the Greek and means “to desire one earnestly, to strive after.”44 The Judaizers had a passionate desire to convince the Galatians of their philosophy; after all, they were sure that they were correct in their understanding (Acts 15:5). Evangelization is not limited to believers in Christ; those who come under the spell of Satan’s philosophies will also seek to convince others of the truth of their position – Satan would not have it any other way. He began his program of evangelism right in the Garden of Eden, and began his first message to mankind with the words, “Yea, hath God said ...?” (Genesis 3:1). Although the context of his luring message has changed many times, the words have varied little; his methodology is typically to cast doubt on the words of God. When Harold Ockenga announced the New Evangelicalism in 1948, one of the platforms for this new way of thinking was to revisit some of the fundamental doctrines of Scripture in light of the position of the religious Liberals. Do you recognize the “Yea, hath God said” of the devil in that? If Satan can bring us to question even one clear statement of the Word of God, he has then established a toe-hold in our thinking. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour ...” (1 Peter 5:8); we must be ever on guard against the wiles of the devil. Paul makes it evident here that the Judaizers’ earnest desire for the Galatians was not right; they had a passion, but it was not Biblically based. The people of this world can be very passionate about their concept of spirituality, but that does not make it good, only more dangerous to those who hear.
The caution for the Christian is this: when the Scriptures are clear on a matter, be inflexible because your position is founded firmly upon the word of the eternal God. However, on those things that are not addressed by the Scriptures, we must be more tolerant, yet we must still examine all positions and their foundations against the one true Standard (1 John 4:1). Unfortunately, today most Evangelicals have set God’s Word aside in favor of the well-crafted theologies of men (and there is a difference), so that most today will defer to their favorite preacher or author. Throughout the Dark Ages, the Roman Catholic priests withheld the Bible from the people on the premise that they would fall into error if allowed to read it for themselves; today, church-goers have voluntarily forfeited God’s Word in favor of the opinions and philosophies of scholarly theologians, and we are rapidly entering a new age of darkness.
Paul now seeks to expose the works of the Judaizers. He states that their desire is to exclude you, [ekkleio] i.e., it is their intent to shut out.45 Based on what Paul has already declared, this can only mean that they sought to shut these people out of salvation that only comes through faith in Christ – the Judaizers may not have understood this, for frequently those who are deceiving are also being deceived (2 Timothy 3:13). Jesus’ words to the Pharisees fit well here: “... woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees [and Judaizers], hypocrites! for ye shut up [kleio] the kingdom of heaven against [in front of] men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in” (Matthew 23:13).46 The message of the Judaizers was a perverted gospel of works and faith that Paul has already clearly condemned (Galatians 1:7); therefore, it is very safe to say that the Judaizers were not on the pathway that leads to life – they were not entering into faith in Christ. However, they were not satisfied to keep such a corrupted message to themselves but sought to convince those who had accepted Christ by faith, those who were the sons of God, that the works of the Law of Moses were integral to faith in Christ. We may be assured that Satan will never keep his perversions of the Gospel message to himself. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith ...” (1 Peter 5:8-9). Satan is a master at making evil appear to be good (Isaiah 5:20), and disobedience as something desirable (Genesis 3:5-6), yet his end purpose is always to destroy (devour).
The motive of the Judaizers is revealed here: “that ye might affect them”; literally: in order that you being zealous for them.47 This is a purpose clause, and thereby expresses why the Judaizers are zealously trying to persuade the Galatians to follow them – they want to increase their following. Many years earlier, Paul and Barnabas had experienced this attitude from the Jews in this very region (Acts 13:45) – the size of the apostles following became their motivation for persecution. The Judaizers sought to have the Galatians earnestly desire them, to look to them as their mentors and teachers; this was their motivation, but this would only take place if the Galatian believers decided to accept their teachings. Paul is intent on providing the Galatians with all of the reasons that they need to dismiss the Judaizers’ teachings – if only they will have eyes to see the truth that Paul is presenting.
18. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.
Paul says here that it is good to be earnestly desired (zealously affected), but only in that which is good. In essence, he did not have a problem with the zeal of the Judaizers (for he was also a man of great zeal – Galatians 1:14), the difficulty was that the Judaizers were not grounded in the truth of the Gospel message; they had polluted and perverted the Word of Truth and therefore, their zeal was ill founded and to be avoided.
When Paul began his defense before the Jews of Jerusalem, he said: “I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day” (Acts 22:3). He describes himself as being zealous toward God, and attributes to his hearers the same passion for God. However, clearly zeal alone is insufficient and can be either positive or negative; unless it is founded upon a proper understanding of God’s Message to mankind, it is of little value. The world today might well be enthusiastic in the declaration of their inclusive form of spirituality, but that will accomplish nothing in light of eternity; there is still only one Way to God (John 14:6). Rick Warren may speak very eloquently and with great enthusiasm as he garners the support and assistance of the Muslim community, but he, nonetheless, walks in disobedience to God’s Word. As the Judaizers came to the Galatians, they came with well-polished arguments and made their case with great passion, yet the basis for their position was contrary to the message of the Gospel, and therein they failed. The latter part of this verse tells us that Paul was not possessive of the Galatians; he did not claim them as his own, thereby making the Judaizers wrong. No, the Judaizers were wrong because the basis of their teaching was in falsehood, and not because they were approaching those whom Paul had taught and established in the Lord.
When Paul was with the Galatians, he was zealous, earnestly desiring to impart to them the truths of God; he longed to draw them into a fuller understanding of faith in Christ. Yet he did not hoard this for himself; as he declared to the Corinthians: “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:6). Paul’s overwhelming concern for the Galatians was that those who would seek to impart some truth to them would do so upon the foundation of Truth, in a good thing. It mattered not to him who desired the attention of the Galatians, as long as the message that they brought was the Truth of God.
Chuck Colson
19. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
The Greek word correctly translated here as little children,48 is a “term of affection [used] by a teacher to his disciples under circumstances requiring a tender appeal.”49 As Paul has opened his heart to the Galatians, it has been with a burning desire to have them understand that they are standing on the brink of spiritual disaster. Even as he would have taught them during his first journey through their area, he now appeals to them as their teacher.
We can catch a glimpse of the zeal and passion that Paul had for these people. The phrase travail in birth is one word in the Greek and means “to experience the pains of parturition” or giving birth.50 Paul is in childbirth for these people, again! When he first came into this region, he would have found these people serving pagan gods (Galatians 4:8), and, evidently, he went through this same intense expenditure of labor to see Christ instilled in them. Now, as the Judaizers wreak their havoc among the Galatian Christians, Paul says that he is in travail again, and will continue in such pain until Christ might be formed in them. We must not miss the intensity of this situation. Paul was in travail when he first preached the Gospel to these people, so that they might come to faith in Christ; he travails again as they are in the process of embracing the error of the Judaizers, and longs that they might regain their hold on the truth of the Gospel. The anguish of soul that Paul felt when they first came out of paganism is the same as his desire to see them come out of the error of the Judaizers. This gives us a glimpse into the attitude that Paul held toward these who taught a false gospel of faith and works; they were as the heathen! We saw Paul equating the message of the Judaizers with paganism in Galatians 4:9 – even though they were turning to the works of the Mosaic Law, the result is the same as the paganism out of which they came during Paul and Barnabas’ first journey through this area. The Gospel plus anything does two things: 1) it destroys the Gospel, for it is no longer pure (Galatians 1:7), and 2) whatever it may appear to be, it is no better than dead paganism (Galatians 4:9).
Probably the primary example today of those who cling to a faith and works message is the Roman Catholics (although they are certainly not the only ones). Salvation, within their religion, comes by faith in the working of their sacraments. “The Council of Trent solemnly defined that there are seven sacraments ... truly and properly so called, viz., Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and Matrimony.”51 Salvation within the Catholic teaching is somewhat convoluted, but begins with this: “children and those permanently deprived of their use of reason are saved by the Sacrament of Baptism.”52 Upon this foundation are built the various sacraments, which, if kept religiously according to Catholic tradition, will instill an element of sanctifying grace in the life of the participant. Although the Catholics will speak of works flowing from their faith, their practices contradict their words, for it is through faithfully keeping the seven Church-prescribed sacraments that they offer any hope of salvation – and that only if they are kept to the death. Yet what is the attitude of today’s Evangelical toward those who hold tenaciously to the Catholic faith? Chuck Colson has been a strong advocate for having Evangelicals join together with the Roman Catholics, and has zealously promoted the need to reduce our doctrines to a few that are held in common with them. Colson makes this statement: “The Scripture is clear on this; unity is a matter of obedience,”53 and uses Ephesians 4:4-5 as his only defense. However, this passage speaks against Colson, for the Catholics do not hold to the same faith or baptism as the true believer in the Lord. Not to be dissuaded, Colson quickly declares: “True unity is not sought by pretending that there are no differences, as modern Ecumenists have done, but by recognizing and respecting those differences, while focusing on the great orthodox truth all Christians share.”54 Paul would have been in great agony over Colson’s words, yet Evangelicals today, for the most part, have come to accept that many Catholics are their brothers and sisters in the Lord. “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17). With the New Evangelical repudiation of Biblical separation, it was only a matter of time before Evangelicals and Catholics Together (the document drafted by Colson [a Baptist] and Richard Neuhaus [a Catholic]) became a reality.
The Greek word correctly translated here as little children,48 is a “term of affection [used] by a teacher to his disciples under circumstances requiring a tender appeal.”49 As Paul has opened his heart to the Galatians, it has been with a burning desire to have them understand that they are standing on the brink of spiritual disaster. Even as he would have taught them during his first journey through their area, he now appeals to them as their teacher.
We can catch a glimpse of the zeal and passion that Paul had for these people. The phrase travail in birth is one word in the Greek and means “to experience the pains of parturition” or giving birth.50 Paul is in childbirth for these people, again! When he first came into this region, he would have found these people serving pagan gods (Galatians 4:8), and, evidently, he went through this same intense expenditure of labor to see Christ instilled in them. Now, as the Judaizers wreak their havoc among the Galatian Christians, Paul says that he is in travail again, and will continue in such pain until Christ might be formed in them. We must not miss the intensity of this situation. Paul was in travail when he first preached the Gospel to these people, so that they might come to faith in Christ; he travails again as they are in the process of embracing the error of the Judaizers, and longs that they might regain their hold on the truth of the Gospel. The anguish of soul that Paul felt when they first came out of paganism is the same as his desire to see them come out of the error of the Judaizers. This gives us a glimpse into the attitude that Paul held toward these who taught a false gospel of faith and works; they were as the heathen! We saw Paul equating the message of the Judaizers with paganism in Galatians 4:9 – even though they were turning to the works of the Mosaic Law, the result is the same as the paganism out of which they came during Paul and Barnabas’ first journey through this area. The Gospel plus anything does two things: 1) it destroys the Gospel, for it is no longer pure (Galatians 1:7), and 2) whatever it may appear to be, it is no better than dead paganism (Galatians 4:9).
Probably the primary example today of those who cling to a faith and works message is the Roman Catholics (although they are certainly not the only ones). Salvation, within their religion, comes by faith in the working of their sacraments. “The Council of Trent solemnly defined that there are seven sacraments ... truly and properly so called, viz., Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and Matrimony.”51 Salvation within the Catholic teaching is somewhat convoluted, but begins with this: “children and those permanently deprived of their use of reason are saved by the Sacrament of Baptism.”52 Upon this foundation are built the various sacraments, which, if kept religiously according to Catholic tradition, will instill an element of sanctifying grace in the life of the participant. Although the Catholics will speak of works flowing from their faith, their practices contradict their words, for it is through faithfully keeping the seven Church-prescribed sacraments that they offer any hope of salvation – and that only if they are kept to the death. Yet what is the attitude of today’s Evangelical toward those who hold tenaciously to the Catholic faith? Chuck Colson has been a strong advocate for having Evangelicals join together with the Roman Catholics, and has zealously promoted the need to reduce our doctrines to a few that are held in common with them. Colson makes this statement: “The Scripture is clear on this; unity is a matter of obedience,”53 and uses Ephesians 4:4-5 as his only defense. However, this passage speaks against Colson, for the Catholics do not hold to the same faith or baptism as the true believer in the Lord. Not to be dissuaded, Colson quickly declares: “True unity is not sought by pretending that there are no differences, as modern Ecumenists have done, but by recognizing and respecting those differences, while focusing on the great orthodox truth all Christians share.”54 Paul would have been in great agony over Colson’s words, yet Evangelicals today, for the most part, have come to accept that many Catholics are their brothers and sisters in the Lord. “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17). With the New Evangelical repudiation of Biblical separation, it was only a matter of time before Evangelicals and Catholics Together (the document drafted by Colson [a Baptist] and Richard Neuhaus [a Catholic]) became a reality.
Paul’s agony for the Galatians was that Christ might be formed in you. Even while being in agony over the error that these people were beginning to embrace, Paul recognizes that he cannot force them to be in Christ and Christ in them. Once again, we are faced with the unknown factor of the will of man – God has done everything necessary for man to walk faithfully in Christ, yet that does not mean that he will do so. The word formed is in the subjunctive mood in the Greek, and so it is “as many as are led [being led (present tense)] by the Spirit of God, they are [indicative mood – a statement of fact] the sons of God” (Romans 8:14);55 the reality is that unless we are being led by the Spirit of God, we are not considered to be the sons of God.
20. I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.
In his agony of heart over the failure of the Galatians to remain true to the commitment that they had made to Christ, Paul expresses his deep longing to be with them at this time. He is endeavoring to express his heart and longing for them through the words of this letter, but he would much rather have been with them in person. If, perhaps, he was with them, he could change his tone, for he would be able to reason with them and to respond to their arguments for doing what they were. The essence of this is that because he is limited to writing to them, he is trying to make them understand the error that they were about to embrace, and doing so in the strongest and clearest terms that he can find. Is he overstating his case? No, but he is laying it out methodically and in terms that they will not misunderstand, with the realization that this is probably his only opportunity to prevent them from falling into apostasy.
Paul declares, I stand in doubt – this is one word in Greek, and means that he is at a loss or is perplexed by their situation.56 “And when they had preached the gospel to that city [Derbe], and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, Confirming [to strengthen more] the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue [remain] in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed” (Acts 14:21-23).57 When Paul and Barnabas left the area of Galatia, the people were strengthened in their understanding of the Gospel and had been challenged to persevere in the faith. Paul and Barnabas had provided them with leadership to watch over them, and had entrusted them to the Lord in Whom they had believed – there was no doubt as to their spiritual standing with the Lord. Yet Paul expresses that he is now puzzled by their present actions that don’t fit with what he recalls when he and Barnabas left them. It is this doubt that compels him to express his concern as clearly and forcefully as possible so as to avert their inevitable apostasy if they continue with their error – their spiritual disaster of falling from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:6-7).
21. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
Here is a shift in focus. Up to this point, Paul has addressed his letter to all of the Galatians, but this next section he is addressing specifically to those who are being convinced of the necessity to keep the Mosaic traditions. The word hear is more than simply perceiving the sound of something, but also includes the thought of understanding what is being said – it is always more than simply hearing (or reading) the Word of God, which, in itself, holds little value unless we understand what is being spoken or read. This is so evident in those who read the Scriptures regularly, yet never grow in their comprehension of what God is saying in His Word. Modern theologians of all stripes continually exemplify this – they might well study and teach the Scriptures, but they do so through the grid of their own man-made understanding of what God is saying. Unless we are prepared to permit the Spirit of God to speak through the Word of God, we will be left with only man’s slant on what God is saying. In dealing with such controversial matters as eternal security, church structure, and a proper understanding of the seventh-day Sabbath, there is a great reluctance to permit the Bible to speak for itself. We are called to test all things according to the Word of God (1 John 4:1) – the only basis for dismissing something must be that it does not agree with the Scriptures, not that it simply does not align with our theology or opinion on a matter.
Paul is saying to those who insist on being under the Mosaic Law, “Don’t you understand what the Law is saying to you?” He has already made it very clear that the Mosaic Law was set in place to bring them “unto Christ, [so] that [they] might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). The end, or purpose, of the Mosaic Law was saving faith in God’s provision for man’s sin; yet when the Galatians had arrived at faith in Christ (the end of the Mosaic Law), they were now being convinced to pollute it with that which Christ had removed at great cost (Ephesians 2:15). It’s perhaps a little like buying a brand new car, having the pleasure of its use, but then deciding to use a horse to pull it around because that is a long-standing tradition known to our forefathers for many generations. There is nothing spiritual about elevating the traditions of man – even traditions that had been established by God for a season.
While communicating with a Calvinist acquaintance, what became apparent very early on was that he was totally dependent upon Reformed theology and the ancient creeds that he had accepted as truth – they were his sole basis for “salvation.” His faith was founded on the belief that these theologies and creeds accurately represented the truths of the Word of God, but he would not examine them in the light of Scripture. Whenever he opened the Bible, what he saw was viewed through the prism of Reformed theology, and, after doing this long enough, he was convinced that what he saw was right-side up when in reality it was upside down. Paul is advocating that the Galatians have faith in Christ only – not in a theology, not in a creed, not even in the Mosaic Law, which was established by God for a time and an expressed purpose (and is now fulfilled in Christ). The Way to life is narrow (Matthew 7:14; John 14:6), and there is no room to carry the baggage of man-made theologies; it is a faith-only Way, all else must be left behind.
20. I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.
In his agony of heart over the failure of the Galatians to remain true to the commitment that they had made to Christ, Paul expresses his deep longing to be with them at this time. He is endeavoring to express his heart and longing for them through the words of this letter, but he would much rather have been with them in person. If, perhaps, he was with them, he could change his tone, for he would be able to reason with them and to respond to their arguments for doing what they were. The essence of this is that because he is limited to writing to them, he is trying to make them understand the error that they were about to embrace, and doing so in the strongest and clearest terms that he can find. Is he overstating his case? No, but he is laying it out methodically and in terms that they will not misunderstand, with the realization that this is probably his only opportunity to prevent them from falling into apostasy.
Paul declares, I stand in doubt – this is one word in Greek, and means that he is at a loss or is perplexed by their situation.56 “And when they had preached the gospel to that city [Derbe], and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, Confirming [to strengthen more] the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue [remain] in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed” (Acts 14:21-23).57 When Paul and Barnabas left the area of Galatia, the people were strengthened in their understanding of the Gospel and had been challenged to persevere in the faith. Paul and Barnabas had provided them with leadership to watch over them, and had entrusted them to the Lord in Whom they had believed – there was no doubt as to their spiritual standing with the Lord. Yet Paul expresses that he is now puzzled by their present actions that don’t fit with what he recalls when he and Barnabas left them. It is this doubt that compels him to express his concern as clearly and forcefully as possible so as to avert their inevitable apostasy if they continue with their error – their spiritual disaster of falling from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:6-7).
21. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
Here is a shift in focus. Up to this point, Paul has addressed his letter to all of the Galatians, but this next section he is addressing specifically to those who are being convinced of the necessity to keep the Mosaic traditions. The word hear is more than simply perceiving the sound of something, but also includes the thought of understanding what is being said – it is always more than simply hearing (or reading) the Word of God, which, in itself, holds little value unless we understand what is being spoken or read. This is so evident in those who read the Scriptures regularly, yet never grow in their comprehension of what God is saying in His Word. Modern theologians of all stripes continually exemplify this – they might well study and teach the Scriptures, but they do so through the grid of their own man-made understanding of what God is saying. Unless we are prepared to permit the Spirit of God to speak through the Word of God, we will be left with only man’s slant on what God is saying. In dealing with such controversial matters as eternal security, church structure, and a proper understanding of the seventh-day Sabbath, there is a great reluctance to permit the Bible to speak for itself. We are called to test all things according to the Word of God (1 John 4:1) – the only basis for dismissing something must be that it does not agree with the Scriptures, not that it simply does not align with our theology or opinion on a matter.
Paul is saying to those who insist on being under the Mosaic Law, “Don’t you understand what the Law is saying to you?” He has already made it very clear that the Mosaic Law was set in place to bring them “unto Christ, [so] that [they] might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). The end, or purpose, of the Mosaic Law was saving faith in God’s provision for man’s sin; yet when the Galatians had arrived at faith in Christ (the end of the Mosaic Law), they were now being convinced to pollute it with that which Christ had removed at great cost (Ephesians 2:15). It’s perhaps a little like buying a brand new car, having the pleasure of its use, but then deciding to use a horse to pull it around because that is a long-standing tradition known to our forefathers for many generations. There is nothing spiritual about elevating the traditions of man – even traditions that had been established by God for a season.
While communicating with a Calvinist acquaintance, what became apparent very early on was that he was totally dependent upon Reformed theology and the ancient creeds that he had accepted as truth – they were his sole basis for “salvation.” His faith was founded on the belief that these theologies and creeds accurately represented the truths of the Word of God, but he would not examine them in the light of Scripture. Whenever he opened the Bible, what he saw was viewed through the prism of Reformed theology, and, after doing this long enough, he was convinced that what he saw was right-side up when in reality it was upside down. Paul is advocating that the Galatians have faith in Christ only – not in a theology, not in a creed, not even in the Mosaic Law, which was established by God for a time and an expressed purpose (and is now fulfilled in Christ). The Way to life is narrow (Matthew 7:14; John 14:6), and there is no room to carry the baggage of man-made theologies; it is a faith-only Way, all else must be left behind.
How a deceived wolf sees himself.
As we look around at the Evangelical landscape today, what is amazing to consider is that numerous individuals, who spend their whole lives studying the Word of God, never come to a knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3:7). Like the Judaizers who were luring the Galatians away from the truth, Evangelicalism today has produced many who with “good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:18). The simple are those who are unsuspecting, or who distrust no one – those who in reality are either unwilling or unable to hold what they hear and see up to the light of the Scriptures (1 John 4:1). As the Evangelical community at large becomes increasingly ignorant of the Word of God, this is an apt description of who they are before their chosen, bleating wolves who love to speak “sheep.” Indeed, the time has come when Evangelicals “will not endure sound doctrine,” but draw unto themselves teachers who bring to them carefully crafted homilies that leave them feeling justified and secure. When those who are in positions of leadership refuse to acknowledge sound doctrine, what hope is there for those who sit week-by-week under their teaching? Paul warns us that there will come a day when the wicked, and those who practice deceit, shall prosper in their evil, “deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13). The wolf, who thinks that he is a sheep or tries to appear to be one, will deceive others, but this also tells us that at the same time that he thinks that he is a sheep, he is also being deceived – both will take place at the same time, thereby digging the pit of deception ever deeper. Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Satan will ensure that the false prophet bears a veneer of righteousness in order to disguise his true nature. However, that false prophet might well think that he is one of God’s own. Robert Schuller is a classic example of such a wolf; he not only fooled many Evangelicals into thinking that he was a wonderful purveyor of God’s truth, but he vigorously attacked any suggestion that he was not a true Christian. Even though he denied the reality of sin (saying that it’s only poor self-esteem), which is the foundation for accepting Christ’s redemption by faith, he didn’t recognize that he had abandoned the Lord Jesus Christ for a faith of his own making. Unless we are prepared to take the messages that we hear and hold them against the pure Word of God, we should not be surprised to be taken in by every charlatan who comes along.
22. For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Paul begins to draw an interesting example from the life of Abraham in order to bring clarity to what the Galatians were doing as they turned to the statutes and ordinances of the Mosaic Law. Although Abraham had many children (Genesis 25:1-2), it is his first two sons who are the primary ones within Scripture. The children whom Abraham fathered after Ishmael and Isaac were all sent away so as not to interfere with his two firstborn (Genesis 25:6), indeed, even Ishmael was sent away with his mother that he might not be an heir with Isaac (Genesis 21:10-14). The other children of Abraham are of so little consequence, that Paul does not even acknowledge them here. When Abraham died, it was only Ishmael and Isaac who attended to his burial (Genesis 25:9), and it was only Isaac who was his beneficiary (Genesis 25:5).
As we know, Ishmael was born of Hagar who was the Egyptian servant of Sarah – he was born of a slave; Isaac, on the other hand, was born in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah – born of a freewoman. A glimmer of the contrast is evident, a contrast that was clearly understood by Sarah (Genesis 21:10).
23. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
The contrast between these two deepens; Paul continues to use bondwoman and freewoman to emphasize the dichotomy that existed between these two mothers who both bore children to Abraham. Even though Hagar gave Abraham a son, that did not change her position as a slave – she continued to be Sarah’s servant (Genesis 16:6, 8). Ishmael was born after the flesh, or according to the flesh.
As the years passed and Abraham and Sarah still had no children, rationalization began to creep in (Genesis 16:2). According to the custom of the day, what Sarah proposed was an acceptable means of obtaining an heir, yet it obviously compromised the promise that God had made to Abraham. After Ishmael was born, God met with Abraham and specifically promised a son through Sarah (Genesis 17:16-19); it would be through this son that the promises of God would be carried forward. Ishmael, although receiving the promise to be the father of a great nation (Genesis 16:10; 17:20), also bore the promise of being wild (Genesis 16:12). Islamic tradition holds that Mohammed was a descendant of Ishmael, and, in keeping with the promise given to Hagar, the Muslims are a people who are against every man.
Rationalization is the bane of mankind; we see the negative evidence of Sarah’s rationalization every day in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Eve heard the words of the devil in the Garden and began to see how the forbidden fruit was good for food, it was pleasant to the eyes, and it would actually make one wise – she couldn’t resist (Genesis 3:6). Our minds are powerful to change how things appear; we live in a day when that which is evil has become something desirable. Evangelicals live like the world, and justify their worldliness by believing that they are saved because they prayed a prayer, and that it really doesn’t matter how they live – it’s what’s on the inside that matters. The principle with which Jesus confronted the Pharisees also applies to the Evangelical error of today: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Matthew 23:25-26). The Pharisees worked on the premise that if they were outwardly righteous, then they were okay. Today, Evangelicals are not so concerned about the outward; as long as they have prayed a prayer, they think that they are set for eternity. Jesus cuts through both of these errors by focusing on the relationship between the inward and the outward – cleaning the inside first, so that out of a cleansed heart may come righteous living. The Pharisees appeared to be righteous but, in reality, were unholy; Evangelicals say that they are holy, but their lives contradict their words. Jesus said that you need both – for a heart cleansed by the Spirit of God will produce a holy life. We are called to faith in Christ, but a life without righteous living is contrary to the faith that we might claim (Romans 8:4); “shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (James 2:18).
24. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Paul now launches into the application of what he has just outlined, which, in turn, is built upon what he has been emphasizing up to this point. Paul has declared: “They which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7); he further stressed that the coming of the Law could not change the promise that God had made to Abraham (3:17) – the promise remained. Paul has used the stories of Ishmael and Isaac as an allegory to drive a deeper truth home that the Galatians were failing to comprehend.
The way that Abraham received his two sons represents two covenants; the first one (which produced Ishmael), is represented by Hagar, and speaks of the covenant that was received at Mt. Sinai – a covenant that gives birth to, or results in, slavery (bondage).
“And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.” (Deuteronomy 4:12-14). The summation of the Lord’s covenant with mankind is the Ten Commandments, written by His finger upon tables of stone. These are the unchangeable words of the Lord – they were written upon stone (thereby indicating permanency), and these were kept within the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle (1 Kings 8:6, 9). Subsequent to receiving these commands at Mt. Sinai, Moses also received the supplemental ordinances and statutes that provided Israel with specific requirements for sacrifices, feast celebrations, and general daily living (Exodus 21 ff.). Due to the significant contrast between these two, I refer to the former as the Law of God (Ten Commandments, written by the finger of God upon tables of stone), and the latter as the Law of Moses (also from God, but carrying the idea of less permanency, as indeed we see in Galatians 3:19). The former provided the framework for the latter; however, the written Law of God was kept in the holiest part of the Tabernacle, where the high priest went only once each year. The Law of Moses placed upon the Israelites stringent demands in order to teach them of God’s holiness, His justice, and His mercy; the Israelites faced it every day. Their salvation was secured by faith in God to fulfill what these demands foreshadowed, yet the physical demands of the Law of Moses would have been like unto slavery. This is after the pattern of Abraham receiving Ishmael through the slave-girl, Hagar.
Ishmael was born as a result of Abraham and Sarah taking the matter of an heir into their own hands; true, what they did was in accordance with the custom of the day, but they failed to wait on the fulfillment of the promise of God for an heir.
25. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Paul now closes the allegory as it applies to Hagar, lest there be any misunderstanding on the part of the Galatians. First of all, Hagar is Mt. Sinai where Israel received the written Law of God and the Law of Moses, and where the physical demands upon Israel, as God’s people, were delineated. Secondly, Paul extends the allegory to include Jerusalem, which speaks of the center of Judaism. The word answereth (present tense) means “to stand or march in the same row”58 or “to correspond to.”59 In other words, Hagar and Mt. Sinai (the bondwoman representing the physical demands of the Law of Moses) is the same as Judaism that was still solidly in place in Jerusalem. Ishmael, born according to the flesh, represents the Jews who were still in bondage (present tense) under the Law of Moses.
By drawing this parallel, Paul strikes at the heart of the Galatian problem: namely, the Jews who had come from Jerusalem (aligned with Mt. Sinai) seeking to impose their hybrid of Judaism and Christianity upon these believers. It is important to understand that these Judaizers would not have been appreciated by the traditional Jews either. They were peddling a mixed doctrine that was neither traditional Judaism nor the Gospel of Christ; it was a unique theology that sought to bring the two together. What these Judaizers were seeking to do was to retain the Law of Moses, to cling to the pattern of Hagar – born into bondage, even while they professed to have faith in Christ. The existing Jerusalem symbolized the demand to hold onto the Law of Moses. Paul has already made it clear that such a melding is heresy – a perverted gospel that is not the Gospel (Galatians 1:6-7).
This is the error of many Evangelicals today – the Gospel of God is mixed with many and varied things, and they still consider it to be the truth. Paul would vigorously disagree. My wife and I have personally experienced the generally accepted situation with the North American Indians; many of their traditional religious items and rituals are brought into their form of “Christianity,” and we are supposed to accept this perverted form of God’s truth. Rick Warren mixes the world’s marketing techniques with the Gospel in order to fill a huge auditorium each week with people coming to hear a perversion of the truth that permits them to feel comfortable within their lost condition. Evangelicals have succumbed to the god of pragmatism that permits the inclusion of anything with the Gospel in order to produce the desired results – the end justifies the means.
26. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Here is a contrasting Jerusalem; we just read of a Jerusalem that is in bondage, and now Paul speaks of a Jerusalem that is above and free.
“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ... And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God ...” (Revelation 21:2, 9-10).
This New Jerusalem is identified as the wife of the Lamb of God. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; ... That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25,27). The New Jerusalem, which is heavenly, is made up of those who have been redeemed by the Lamb of God – they are free! They are free from the condemnation of the Law (Romans 8:1), and free to live out the righteousness of the Law through the power of the Spirit of God working within them (Romans 6:18; 8:4). This is not a freedom to do as you please, but a freedom to live in obedience to the commands of the Lord, the Creator of all things Who never changes. It is the freedom to live according to what God has prepared for us in Christ (Ephesians 2:10).
The Jerusalem above is “the mother of us all” – mother is used metaphorically to indicate the source of all who believe, both Jew and Gentile. The Jerusalem of Judea was the hub of Jewish traditions, the place where the Mosaic Law ruled and was enforced with rigor; the Jerusalem above, made up of all who have been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ, stands in contrast to this. Our Redeemer is presently in heaven building the redeemed New Jerusalem, the promised ekklesia, and we are to look for His return to complete our salvation (Hebrews 9:24-28). Hebrews 12:18-29 draws a parallel between the children of Israel coming before Mt. Sinai and our coming unto Mt. Zion, to the dwelling place of God, the heavenly Jerusalem. “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof” (Revelation 21:22-23). At Mt. Sinai, the children of Israel heard a voice from heaven, saw the lightning, heard the thunder, and felt the trembling of the earth (Exodus 19:16-19). When Jesus began His ministry, a voice was heard from heaven (Matthew 3:17); when Jesus died, the sun was darkened and there was an earthquake (Matthew 27:45, 51). However, Mt. Sinai brought bondage, for the children of Israel were required to keep the Law of Moses meticulously, which, if they had eyes to see, would bring them to faith in the Promised One. Coming to Mt. Zion, by contrast, is coming to the fulfillment of Mt. Sinai, to the Promised One Who has completed all that is necessary for salvation through His shed blood. Mt. Sinai demanded living according to the standards expressed by God through Moses, which would bring those to faith who could see the promise of redemption imbedded within the sacrificial system. Mt. Zion can only be approached by faith in the completed work of Christ, and out of this will flow a life of righteousness through the Spirit of God living within (Romans 8:4). The heavenly Jerusalem is made up of those who have exercised faith in Christ – the saints of all ages have been brought together into one Body, Christ having removed the barrier forever (Ephesians 2:11-22). There is only one heavenly Jerusalem comprised of all of the redeemed from all ages.
27. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Paul quotes here from Isaiah 54:1 – “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.” This comes on the heels of a significant Messianic passage that speaks of the Messiah bearing the iniquities and the sin of many (Isaiah 53:11-12). Out of the completed redemptive work of Promised One would come a mushrooming of the children of God that would include the Gentiles as the inheritance or possession of Israel (Isaiah 54:3). Up to this time, Israel had not grown much, and now that they had been taken into captivity, their growth was even less; but faithful Israel, through all of this time, would have been so much smaller than the nation as a whole – merely a remnant. However, Isaiah is speaking of the faithful here – although they had been left desolate, they would flourish through the work of Messiah; they would be brought into a close relationship with Jehovah, their Husband and Redeemer (Isaiah 54:5). “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body” (Ephesians 5:23). The unity of the Godhead is again demonstrated – Jehovah and Christ, the Messiah, both fill the role of Husband to the faithful, and both fill the role of Redeemer.
What is unmistakable within the OT Scriptures is the inclusion of the Gentiles within the family of God (Isaiah 11:10). Paul did not miss this reality, and provided the Roman Christians with specific instructions in this regard. Using the analogy of the horticultural practice of grafting, he provides a clear picture of the relationship that the Gentile believers have with the faithful of Israel in Romans 11. His foundational statement is this: “For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches” (Romans 11:16) – the latter speaking directly to the word picture that Paul is about to unfold. What must be firmly in mind before proceeding is that if the Root (the Source) is holy, then so will be that which grows out of it – namely, the branches. Isaiah prophesied of the coming Messiah and referred to Him as the root of Jesse (Isaiah 11:10), an interesting term that fits so well with the analogy that Paul is making in Romans 11. The life of a branch is dependent upon the root, for the life-giving sap flows from the root into the branches, and when a branch is grafted into the root, that same life-giving sap will then flow into the grafted branch. Jesus used this very same picture: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned [literally, it is burning]” (John 15:4-6).60 Notice the relationship of the Vine to the branches; unless the branches continue to abide in the Vine, they will die – life for the branch is dependent upon a continual connection to the Vine, its source of life.
“And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee” (Romans 11:17-18). The Gentiles, referred to as the wild olive tree, have been grafted by faith into the root of faithful Israel. “And there shall come forth a rod [a branch] out of the stem [stump, it carries the sense of a tree which has been cut down – speaking of the house of David, which had fallen due to the unfaithfulness of David’s descendants] of Jesse, and a Branch [a sprout] shall grow [bear fruit] out of his roots ...” (Isaiah 11:1);61 this is speaking of the Messiah Who would come, the Promised One of the family line of David. He would grow out of a stump – all that remained of the royalty of David. “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:10). “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16). Jesus is the root of David – David found his spiritual life from the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus is the offspring of David – a descendant of his family line (Matthew 1:2-16). Jesus used this same thought to silence the Jews (Matthew 22:41-46); they had little difficulty with the Christ (the Messiah) being the descendant of David, but for David to also call Him Lord strained their understanding of Who the Messiah really was.
“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:11-13). The Gentiles, those wild olive branches who were steeped in paganism, come to faith in Christ, and are grafted, thereby, into the spiritual root of Israel – namely the Lord Jesus Christ. Israel is not the root. “And if some of the branches be broken off ... Boast not against the branches. ... because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee” (Romans 11:17-21). The people of Israel, the physical descendants of Abraham, were the branches that were broken off because of unbelief; the reality is that we, as grafted branches, could face the same demise for the very same reason (Romans 11:21). We have been grafted into the spiritual Root (Christ) by faith, yet through unbelief, or faithlessness, we, too, could lose our connection to the life that flows from Christ. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).
It is very important to notice as well, that Paul uses the singular pronoun thou in Romans 11 – “thou, being a wild olive tree” (v.17). We are grafted individually; this is not a group or community grafting. Jesus referred to a man as being a branch (John 15:6) – again clarifying the individuality of the relationship of abiding in Christ. Unlike the Emergent Church concept that salvation can be experienced as a group, Christ is building His ekklesia one faithful believer at a time.
What is equally important to understand is that this is a spiritual grafting; faith in Christ does not make anyone a Jew, a physical descendent of Abraham. “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7). Paul clarified this for the Romans as well, clearly demonstrating that not everyone born of the lineage of Abraham was a child of God – but only the one born through promise (Romans 9:6-7); Abraham had many children (Genesis 25:1-2), but only one son according to the promise. As we come to Christ through faith, we become children of the Promised One. What we must recognize is the critical importance of faith in God – not all of the children born to Isaac, the child of promise, were accepted either. So, going forward, not everyone born within the family line of Abraham, Isaac and Israel were children of faith. You are not born a child of faith; you must be spiritually born again to become a child of faith in the Promised One (Christ) – that is the essence of the salvation that God has offered to mankind from the time of the fall (Hebrews 11).
28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Once again, Paul addresses the Galatians as brethren. Even though they were standing on the brink of spiritual apostasy, Paul appeals to them as brethren, and he unfolds for them a marvelous truth – we are the children of promise. The promise began here: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). This is a marvelous promise made by Jehovah at the time that sin entered into the heart of man, albeit a promise addressed to Satan. God said that there would be enmity between Satan and the woman. “For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken ...” (Isaiah 54:5-6a); the faithful of Israel are the wife (the woman – wife and woman are the same word in Hebrew) of Jehovah. “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body” (Ephesians 5:23); the correlation is clear, the woman speaks of those who are faithful. Peter’s warning to the faithful is: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Satan has always been set against those who would walk faithfully with the Lord; he deceived Eve in the Garden, and he will use every device at his disposal to destroy those who desire to walk the narrow Way of life.
However, the enmity would also be between the seed of Satan and her seed. The seed of Satan is all of his demons (the fallen angels), and the wicked among men who are doing his bidding. The Seed of the woman refers, first of all, to the Savior to come, the Messiah (Galatians 3:16), but also included are those who by faith live according to the righteousness of God (Ephesians 5:30, cp. Acts 9:5). Among Evangelicals today, there is a willingness to acknowledge the enmity that exists between Satan and Jesus Christ, but there is a wholesale neglect of the enmity that also exists between God’s faithful ones and the wicked. Therefore, when Rick Warren seeks to embrace the Muslims in his ventures to bring his P.E.A.C.E. plan to the world, he is actually in direct contravention of this earliest promise of God. What God has clearly declared, Warren seeks to ignore. “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12); here is a direct reiteration of God’s promise to Satan in Genesis 3:15. There will be conflict between the redeemed and the wicked – it is guaranteed.
The last part of God’s promise is that Satan will receive a bruise to the head, and the Seed of the woman would be dealt a bruise to the heel (Genesis 3:15). A deathblow for a serpent (the creature used by Satan against Eve) is a blow to the head, so the promise of God to Satan here is that he will be completely defeated. However, there will also be a bruise on the heel of the Seed of the woman. This is readily acknowledged to be the punishment that Jesus received at the time of His crucifixion (and this is correct), but what is less likely to be accepted is that this also speaks of the persecution that will be received by the Body of Christ, His ekklesia. When Paul set about heaping persecution upon the new Christians of Judea, Jesus made it very clear that this was being directed at Him (Acts 9:5); therefore, it follows that as the heel of the Lord was bruised in bringing about Satan’s defeat, this would include the persecution promised to His followers. “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12-13). “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake ...” (Philippians 1:29). Contained within the promise of God to Satan (Genesis 3:15), is the assurance that Satan will be dealt a death blow, but, just as surely, we will experience persecution and suffering until his death blow will render him helpless before God. Do we suffer persecution? There is promised suffering for being a child of God who is living righteously; the consequences for doing wrong or living contemptibly is not persecution. “For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God” (1 Peter 2:20). Harassment can come to anyone who lives in annoyance to his neighbor – there is no glory in enduring this, for it flows as natural retribution for being irritating.
However, a persecution that comes from living a life that is righteous before God, will come without provocation; it will be an automatic result of following the Lord (2 Timothy 3:12).
“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7). The promise of redemption was first made in the Garden, and, subsequently, it was reiterated to Abraham (Genesis 12:3), to Isaac (Genesis 26:4), to Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15), and through the many prophets of Israel. We, all who are faithful in the Lord, are included as the children of the promise that God made in the Garden of Eden; a promise that was confirmed and clarified through Abraham and the prophets of Israel – a promise that has always included the Gentiles, along with the promise of suffering for the Lord.
29. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
“And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking” (Genesis 21:8-9). Here is the occasion to which Paul refers – Ishmael, who would have been at least 15 years old by this time, made light of the celebration for Isaac. The one who was born according to the flesh (Ishmael) harassed the one born after the Spirit, the one born by promise. Undoubtedly, by this time, Ishmael was fully aware that he would not be the primary beneficiary of his father’s wealth. Paul identifies this as a pattern that was still active at the time that he wrote this letter; the righteous will be persecuted by the unrighteous. This will be standard fare for those who have been born of the Spirit of God – those who are walking in accordance with the Spirit and demonstrating the righteousness of the Law of God through their daily living (Romans 8:4). These are those who are walking worthy of the calling that they have received of God (Ephesians 4:1; Colossians 1:10).
For the Galatians, the Judaizers had come from Jerusalem to convince them to adopt their gospel message of faith plus works, to live according to their doctrines. To this point, the Galatians were in Christ by faith; they were walking according to the Spirit of God, but the Judaizers were pressuring them to add the Mosaic traditions to their faith in order to complete their salvation. Satan is the one who roams the earth looking for those whom he might destroy (1 Peter 5:8). If we determine to walk the narrow path to which God has called us (Matthew 7:13-14), we do not have to do anything else to draw the persecution of those who are not walking that pathway to life. Isaac (the son according to promise) was an infant, too young to be an aggressor, and yet he was mocked by Ishmael (the son according to the flesh). If we will live godly lives, walking in obedience to the commandments of God’s Word (1 John 5:3), then the persecution will come (2 Timothy 3:12). Unfortunately, Evangelicals seem to be of the opinion that you can be “saved” in the inside, yet live like the world on the outside; however, you cannot profess to walk the narrow pathway to life while cavorting in the ways of the world – the broad way that leads to destruction. Jesus said, “He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth” (Luke 11:23); the devil has convinced Evangelicals that the forbidden fruit of the world is really quite desirable, and holiness of life is unattainable, so why even bother trying.
When Paul left these Galatians, they heard that “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22b); Paul now writes to them that this very thing has taken place – persecution has come! Unfortunately, even if they were prepared to face it, they evidently didn’t recognize it when it came. The devil, in his craftiness, brought persecution to the Galatians in the form of false doctrine from a people who should have known the truth – after all, they came from Jerusalem. Little wonder that Paul takes the bulk of the first two chapters of this letter to expound the error made by the leadership in Jerusalem. The failure of the Galatians was that they did not weigh the gospel of the Judaizers against what they had already heard and obeyed. Paul is adamant that there is only one Gospel: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8). We must ever be on guard against those who would promote teachings other than what we find in the Scriptures, and we must be students of the Word of God, strengthening our understanding of His truth (Colossians 1:10). The enemy of our souls will come to us with a message that sounds good, and it will be delivered in a very gracious and appealing manner (Romans 16:18) – our responsibility is to measure it against the truth of God’s Word (1 John 4:1). A knowledge of theology will not suffice; we must grow in our knowledge of the Scriptures; many times theology will be the very tool that Satan will use to drive a wedge of doubt into our thinking.
30. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Paul quotes Sarah’s words to Abraham as recorded in Genesis 21:10 – “Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.” Contained here is Paul’s application of this piece of Jewish history to the Galatian situation.
Ishmael and Hagar have been identified with Mt. Sinai and the Mosaic Law that was a burden to Israel, and Jerusalem of Judea has been identified as the center for this bondage (Galatians 4:25). Having made the association, Paul now quotes Sarah’s words to provide the Galatians with the instruction that he has for them in the matter of the Judaizers, namely: cast out the bondwoman and her son. In other words, cast the keeping of the Mosaic Law out of your lives! The legalistic keeping of the Law of Moses is to have no part with salvation by faith in Christ. Don’t be snared into adding the keeping of the Mosaic Law to your faith in Christ; cast out that which will only lead to bondage – a very different, yet strangely similar bondage to what they had experienced while under paganism (Galatians 4:9).
The latter portion of Sarah’s words finds a very definitive application for the Galatians. Those who are held in bondage to the keeping of the Law of Moses (likened to the bondwoman, Hagar and her son, Ishmael), will never share the inheritance with those who have been made heirs through faith in Christ. Once again we must face the reality that if these Galatians followed the teachings of the Judaizers, they would then no longer be heirs with those who walk according to the Spirit of God through faith. To accept the doctrine of the Judaizers would be to accept a different, perverted gospel, and to relinquish the true Gospel of faith in Christ (Galatians 1:6-7). There can be no doubt; the Galatians were on the brink of apostasy, which simply means that they were on the threshold of losing the inheritance of the promise. Despite having begun in the Spirit of God (Galatians 3:3), they were about to forfeit everything that they had in Christ. The inheritance of the faithful is to abide in the presence of God for eternity (Revelation 22:3-5); yet it is very clear here that those who were falling for the error of the Judaizers were in jeopardy of losing that inheritance. Anything less would be a contravention of the analogy that Paul has so carefully unfolded, and, more specifically, of the statement that Paul makes in this verse.
31. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
As Paul concludes the use of Sarah and Hagar as his historical illustration, his summation is very clear, and is a reiteration of 3:29 – “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Undoubtedly, the Judaizers would have considered themselves to be children of the freewoman as well, yet the application of the illustration makes it abundantly clear that they were not – and this is the message that Paul desired these Galatians to hear and heed. The Judaizers were no longer functioning under the banner of faith in Christ; they had added the Mosaic Law and had succumbed to the flesh in an effort to complete their salvation. “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3) – Paul’s question is completely applicable to this situation, and points directly to the reality of what the Judaizers had done, and that which the Galatians were being convinced to do. Paul has very carefully, through the use of the examples of Hagar (Ishmael) and Sarah (Isaac), outlined the dramatic separation that exists between the children of promise (the faithful in Christ Jesus) and the children of the flesh (those who will freely add to or subtract from the Gospel message). The way of promise is narrow. “Jesus saith unto him [Thomas], I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). Paul calls adding the Mosaic Law to the Gospel of Christ a perversion (Galatians 1:7); we must do no less as we observe the travesty of the message of Evangelicals today. God help us to stand, wearing His truth and righteousness (Ephesians 6:14).
22. For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Paul begins to draw an interesting example from the life of Abraham in order to bring clarity to what the Galatians were doing as they turned to the statutes and ordinances of the Mosaic Law. Although Abraham had many children (Genesis 25:1-2), it is his first two sons who are the primary ones within Scripture. The children whom Abraham fathered after Ishmael and Isaac were all sent away so as not to interfere with his two firstborn (Genesis 25:6), indeed, even Ishmael was sent away with his mother that he might not be an heir with Isaac (Genesis 21:10-14). The other children of Abraham are of so little consequence, that Paul does not even acknowledge them here. When Abraham died, it was only Ishmael and Isaac who attended to his burial (Genesis 25:9), and it was only Isaac who was his beneficiary (Genesis 25:5).
As we know, Ishmael was born of Hagar who was the Egyptian servant of Sarah – he was born of a slave; Isaac, on the other hand, was born in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah – born of a freewoman. A glimmer of the contrast is evident, a contrast that was clearly understood by Sarah (Genesis 21:10).
23. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
The contrast between these two deepens; Paul continues to use bondwoman and freewoman to emphasize the dichotomy that existed between these two mothers who both bore children to Abraham. Even though Hagar gave Abraham a son, that did not change her position as a slave – she continued to be Sarah’s servant (Genesis 16:6, 8). Ishmael was born after the flesh, or according to the flesh.
As the years passed and Abraham and Sarah still had no children, rationalization began to creep in (Genesis 16:2). According to the custom of the day, what Sarah proposed was an acceptable means of obtaining an heir, yet it obviously compromised the promise that God had made to Abraham. After Ishmael was born, God met with Abraham and specifically promised a son through Sarah (Genesis 17:16-19); it would be through this son that the promises of God would be carried forward. Ishmael, although receiving the promise to be the father of a great nation (Genesis 16:10; 17:20), also bore the promise of being wild (Genesis 16:12). Islamic tradition holds that Mohammed was a descendant of Ishmael, and, in keeping with the promise given to Hagar, the Muslims are a people who are against every man.
Rationalization is the bane of mankind; we see the negative evidence of Sarah’s rationalization every day in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Eve heard the words of the devil in the Garden and began to see how the forbidden fruit was good for food, it was pleasant to the eyes, and it would actually make one wise – she couldn’t resist (Genesis 3:6). Our minds are powerful to change how things appear; we live in a day when that which is evil has become something desirable. Evangelicals live like the world, and justify their worldliness by believing that they are saved because they prayed a prayer, and that it really doesn’t matter how they live – it’s what’s on the inside that matters. The principle with which Jesus confronted the Pharisees also applies to the Evangelical error of today: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Matthew 23:25-26). The Pharisees worked on the premise that if they were outwardly righteous, then they were okay. Today, Evangelicals are not so concerned about the outward; as long as they have prayed a prayer, they think that they are set for eternity. Jesus cuts through both of these errors by focusing on the relationship between the inward and the outward – cleaning the inside first, so that out of a cleansed heart may come righteous living. The Pharisees appeared to be righteous but, in reality, were unholy; Evangelicals say that they are holy, but their lives contradict their words. Jesus said that you need both – for a heart cleansed by the Spirit of God will produce a holy life. We are called to faith in Christ, but a life without righteous living is contrary to the faith that we might claim (Romans 8:4); “shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (James 2:18).
24. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Paul now launches into the application of what he has just outlined, which, in turn, is built upon what he has been emphasizing up to this point. Paul has declared: “They which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7); he further stressed that the coming of the Law could not change the promise that God had made to Abraham (3:17) – the promise remained. Paul has used the stories of Ishmael and Isaac as an allegory to drive a deeper truth home that the Galatians were failing to comprehend.
The way that Abraham received his two sons represents two covenants; the first one (which produced Ishmael), is represented by Hagar, and speaks of the covenant that was received at Mt. Sinai – a covenant that gives birth to, or results in, slavery (bondage).
“And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.” (Deuteronomy 4:12-14). The summation of the Lord’s covenant with mankind is the Ten Commandments, written by His finger upon tables of stone. These are the unchangeable words of the Lord – they were written upon stone (thereby indicating permanency), and these were kept within the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle (1 Kings 8:6, 9). Subsequent to receiving these commands at Mt. Sinai, Moses also received the supplemental ordinances and statutes that provided Israel with specific requirements for sacrifices, feast celebrations, and general daily living (Exodus 21 ff.). Due to the significant contrast between these two, I refer to the former as the Law of God (Ten Commandments, written by the finger of God upon tables of stone), and the latter as the Law of Moses (also from God, but carrying the idea of less permanency, as indeed we see in Galatians 3:19). The former provided the framework for the latter; however, the written Law of God was kept in the holiest part of the Tabernacle, where the high priest went only once each year. The Law of Moses placed upon the Israelites stringent demands in order to teach them of God’s holiness, His justice, and His mercy; the Israelites faced it every day. Their salvation was secured by faith in God to fulfill what these demands foreshadowed, yet the physical demands of the Law of Moses would have been like unto slavery. This is after the pattern of Abraham receiving Ishmael through the slave-girl, Hagar.
Ishmael was born as a result of Abraham and Sarah taking the matter of an heir into their own hands; true, what they did was in accordance with the custom of the day, but they failed to wait on the fulfillment of the promise of God for an heir.
25. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Paul now closes the allegory as it applies to Hagar, lest there be any misunderstanding on the part of the Galatians. First of all, Hagar is Mt. Sinai where Israel received the written Law of God and the Law of Moses, and where the physical demands upon Israel, as God’s people, were delineated. Secondly, Paul extends the allegory to include Jerusalem, which speaks of the center of Judaism. The word answereth (present tense) means “to stand or march in the same row”58 or “to correspond to.”59 In other words, Hagar and Mt. Sinai (the bondwoman representing the physical demands of the Law of Moses) is the same as Judaism that was still solidly in place in Jerusalem. Ishmael, born according to the flesh, represents the Jews who were still in bondage (present tense) under the Law of Moses.
By drawing this parallel, Paul strikes at the heart of the Galatian problem: namely, the Jews who had come from Jerusalem (aligned with Mt. Sinai) seeking to impose their hybrid of Judaism and Christianity upon these believers. It is important to understand that these Judaizers would not have been appreciated by the traditional Jews either. They were peddling a mixed doctrine that was neither traditional Judaism nor the Gospel of Christ; it was a unique theology that sought to bring the two together. What these Judaizers were seeking to do was to retain the Law of Moses, to cling to the pattern of Hagar – born into bondage, even while they professed to have faith in Christ. The existing Jerusalem symbolized the demand to hold onto the Law of Moses. Paul has already made it clear that such a melding is heresy – a perverted gospel that is not the Gospel (Galatians 1:6-7).
This is the error of many Evangelicals today – the Gospel of God is mixed with many and varied things, and they still consider it to be the truth. Paul would vigorously disagree. My wife and I have personally experienced the generally accepted situation with the North American Indians; many of their traditional religious items and rituals are brought into their form of “Christianity,” and we are supposed to accept this perverted form of God’s truth. Rick Warren mixes the world’s marketing techniques with the Gospel in order to fill a huge auditorium each week with people coming to hear a perversion of the truth that permits them to feel comfortable within their lost condition. Evangelicals have succumbed to the god of pragmatism that permits the inclusion of anything with the Gospel in order to produce the desired results – the end justifies the means.
26. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Here is a contrasting Jerusalem; we just read of a Jerusalem that is in bondage, and now Paul speaks of a Jerusalem that is above and free.
“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ... And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God ...” (Revelation 21:2, 9-10).
This New Jerusalem is identified as the wife of the Lamb of God. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; ... That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25,27). The New Jerusalem, which is heavenly, is made up of those who have been redeemed by the Lamb of God – they are free! They are free from the condemnation of the Law (Romans 8:1), and free to live out the righteousness of the Law through the power of the Spirit of God working within them (Romans 6:18; 8:4). This is not a freedom to do as you please, but a freedom to live in obedience to the commands of the Lord, the Creator of all things Who never changes. It is the freedom to live according to what God has prepared for us in Christ (Ephesians 2:10).
The Jerusalem above is “the mother of us all” – mother is used metaphorically to indicate the source of all who believe, both Jew and Gentile. The Jerusalem of Judea was the hub of Jewish traditions, the place where the Mosaic Law ruled and was enforced with rigor; the Jerusalem above, made up of all who have been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ, stands in contrast to this. Our Redeemer is presently in heaven building the redeemed New Jerusalem, the promised ekklesia, and we are to look for His return to complete our salvation (Hebrews 9:24-28). Hebrews 12:18-29 draws a parallel between the children of Israel coming before Mt. Sinai and our coming unto Mt. Zion, to the dwelling place of God, the heavenly Jerusalem. “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof” (Revelation 21:22-23). At Mt. Sinai, the children of Israel heard a voice from heaven, saw the lightning, heard the thunder, and felt the trembling of the earth (Exodus 19:16-19). When Jesus began His ministry, a voice was heard from heaven (Matthew 3:17); when Jesus died, the sun was darkened and there was an earthquake (Matthew 27:45, 51). However, Mt. Sinai brought bondage, for the children of Israel were required to keep the Law of Moses meticulously, which, if they had eyes to see, would bring them to faith in the Promised One. Coming to Mt. Zion, by contrast, is coming to the fulfillment of Mt. Sinai, to the Promised One Who has completed all that is necessary for salvation through His shed blood. Mt. Sinai demanded living according to the standards expressed by God through Moses, which would bring those to faith who could see the promise of redemption imbedded within the sacrificial system. Mt. Zion can only be approached by faith in the completed work of Christ, and out of this will flow a life of righteousness through the Spirit of God living within (Romans 8:4). The heavenly Jerusalem is made up of those who have exercised faith in Christ – the saints of all ages have been brought together into one Body, Christ having removed the barrier forever (Ephesians 2:11-22). There is only one heavenly Jerusalem comprised of all of the redeemed from all ages.
27. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Paul quotes here from Isaiah 54:1 – “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.” This comes on the heels of a significant Messianic passage that speaks of the Messiah bearing the iniquities and the sin of many (Isaiah 53:11-12). Out of the completed redemptive work of Promised One would come a mushrooming of the children of God that would include the Gentiles as the inheritance or possession of Israel (Isaiah 54:3). Up to this time, Israel had not grown much, and now that they had been taken into captivity, their growth was even less; but faithful Israel, through all of this time, would have been so much smaller than the nation as a whole – merely a remnant. However, Isaiah is speaking of the faithful here – although they had been left desolate, they would flourish through the work of Messiah; they would be brought into a close relationship with Jehovah, their Husband and Redeemer (Isaiah 54:5). “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body” (Ephesians 5:23). The unity of the Godhead is again demonstrated – Jehovah and Christ, the Messiah, both fill the role of Husband to the faithful, and both fill the role of Redeemer.
What is unmistakable within the OT Scriptures is the inclusion of the Gentiles within the family of God (Isaiah 11:10). Paul did not miss this reality, and provided the Roman Christians with specific instructions in this regard. Using the analogy of the horticultural practice of grafting, he provides a clear picture of the relationship that the Gentile believers have with the faithful of Israel in Romans 11. His foundational statement is this: “For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches” (Romans 11:16) – the latter speaking directly to the word picture that Paul is about to unfold. What must be firmly in mind before proceeding is that if the Root (the Source) is holy, then so will be that which grows out of it – namely, the branches. Isaiah prophesied of the coming Messiah and referred to Him as the root of Jesse (Isaiah 11:10), an interesting term that fits so well with the analogy that Paul is making in Romans 11. The life of a branch is dependent upon the root, for the life-giving sap flows from the root into the branches, and when a branch is grafted into the root, that same life-giving sap will then flow into the grafted branch. Jesus used this very same picture: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned [literally, it is burning]” (John 15:4-6).60 Notice the relationship of the Vine to the branches; unless the branches continue to abide in the Vine, they will die – life for the branch is dependent upon a continual connection to the Vine, its source of life.
“And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee” (Romans 11:17-18). The Gentiles, referred to as the wild olive tree, have been grafted by faith into the root of faithful Israel. “And there shall come forth a rod [a branch] out of the stem [stump, it carries the sense of a tree which has been cut down – speaking of the house of David, which had fallen due to the unfaithfulness of David’s descendants] of Jesse, and a Branch [a sprout] shall grow [bear fruit] out of his roots ...” (Isaiah 11:1);61 this is speaking of the Messiah Who would come, the Promised One of the family line of David. He would grow out of a stump – all that remained of the royalty of David. “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:10). “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16). Jesus is the root of David – David found his spiritual life from the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus is the offspring of David – a descendant of his family line (Matthew 1:2-16). Jesus used this same thought to silence the Jews (Matthew 22:41-46); they had little difficulty with the Christ (the Messiah) being the descendant of David, but for David to also call Him Lord strained their understanding of Who the Messiah really was.
“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:11-13). The Gentiles, those wild olive branches who were steeped in paganism, come to faith in Christ, and are grafted, thereby, into the spiritual root of Israel – namely the Lord Jesus Christ. Israel is not the root. “And if some of the branches be broken off ... Boast not against the branches. ... because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee” (Romans 11:17-21). The people of Israel, the physical descendants of Abraham, were the branches that were broken off because of unbelief; the reality is that we, as grafted branches, could face the same demise for the very same reason (Romans 11:21). We have been grafted into the spiritual Root (Christ) by faith, yet through unbelief, or faithlessness, we, too, could lose our connection to the life that flows from Christ. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).
It is very important to notice as well, that Paul uses the singular pronoun thou in Romans 11 – “thou, being a wild olive tree” (v.17). We are grafted individually; this is not a group or community grafting. Jesus referred to a man as being a branch (John 15:6) – again clarifying the individuality of the relationship of abiding in Christ. Unlike the Emergent Church concept that salvation can be experienced as a group, Christ is building His ekklesia one faithful believer at a time.
What is equally important to understand is that this is a spiritual grafting; faith in Christ does not make anyone a Jew, a physical descendent of Abraham. “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7). Paul clarified this for the Romans as well, clearly demonstrating that not everyone born of the lineage of Abraham was a child of God – but only the one born through promise (Romans 9:6-7); Abraham had many children (Genesis 25:1-2), but only one son according to the promise. As we come to Christ through faith, we become children of the Promised One. What we must recognize is the critical importance of faith in God – not all of the children born to Isaac, the child of promise, were accepted either. So, going forward, not everyone born within the family line of Abraham, Isaac and Israel were children of faith. You are not born a child of faith; you must be spiritually born again to become a child of faith in the Promised One (Christ) – that is the essence of the salvation that God has offered to mankind from the time of the fall (Hebrews 11).
28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Once again, Paul addresses the Galatians as brethren. Even though they were standing on the brink of spiritual apostasy, Paul appeals to them as brethren, and he unfolds for them a marvelous truth – we are the children of promise. The promise began here: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). This is a marvelous promise made by Jehovah at the time that sin entered into the heart of man, albeit a promise addressed to Satan. God said that there would be enmity between Satan and the woman. “For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken ...” (Isaiah 54:5-6a); the faithful of Israel are the wife (the woman – wife and woman are the same word in Hebrew) of Jehovah. “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body” (Ephesians 5:23); the correlation is clear, the woman speaks of those who are faithful. Peter’s warning to the faithful is: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Satan has always been set against those who would walk faithfully with the Lord; he deceived Eve in the Garden, and he will use every device at his disposal to destroy those who desire to walk the narrow Way of life.
However, the enmity would also be between the seed of Satan and her seed. The seed of Satan is all of his demons (the fallen angels), and the wicked among men who are doing his bidding. The Seed of the woman refers, first of all, to the Savior to come, the Messiah (Galatians 3:16), but also included are those who by faith live according to the righteousness of God (Ephesians 5:30, cp. Acts 9:5). Among Evangelicals today, there is a willingness to acknowledge the enmity that exists between Satan and Jesus Christ, but there is a wholesale neglect of the enmity that also exists between God’s faithful ones and the wicked. Therefore, when Rick Warren seeks to embrace the Muslims in his ventures to bring his P.E.A.C.E. plan to the world, he is actually in direct contravention of this earliest promise of God. What God has clearly declared, Warren seeks to ignore. “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12); here is a direct reiteration of God’s promise to Satan in Genesis 3:15. There will be conflict between the redeemed and the wicked – it is guaranteed.
The last part of God’s promise is that Satan will receive a bruise to the head, and the Seed of the woman would be dealt a bruise to the heel (Genesis 3:15). A deathblow for a serpent (the creature used by Satan against Eve) is a blow to the head, so the promise of God to Satan here is that he will be completely defeated. However, there will also be a bruise on the heel of the Seed of the woman. This is readily acknowledged to be the punishment that Jesus received at the time of His crucifixion (and this is correct), but what is less likely to be accepted is that this also speaks of the persecution that will be received by the Body of Christ, His ekklesia. When Paul set about heaping persecution upon the new Christians of Judea, Jesus made it very clear that this was being directed at Him (Acts 9:5); therefore, it follows that as the heel of the Lord was bruised in bringing about Satan’s defeat, this would include the persecution promised to His followers. “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12-13). “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake ...” (Philippians 1:29). Contained within the promise of God to Satan (Genesis 3:15), is the assurance that Satan will be dealt a death blow, but, just as surely, we will experience persecution and suffering until his death blow will render him helpless before God. Do we suffer persecution? There is promised suffering for being a child of God who is living righteously; the consequences for doing wrong or living contemptibly is not persecution. “For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God” (1 Peter 2:20). Harassment can come to anyone who lives in annoyance to his neighbor – there is no glory in enduring this, for it flows as natural retribution for being irritating.
However, a persecution that comes from living a life that is righteous before God, will come without provocation; it will be an automatic result of following the Lord (2 Timothy 3:12).
“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7). The promise of redemption was first made in the Garden, and, subsequently, it was reiterated to Abraham (Genesis 12:3), to Isaac (Genesis 26:4), to Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15), and through the many prophets of Israel. We, all who are faithful in the Lord, are included as the children of the promise that God made in the Garden of Eden; a promise that was confirmed and clarified through Abraham and the prophets of Israel – a promise that has always included the Gentiles, along with the promise of suffering for the Lord.
29. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
“And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking” (Genesis 21:8-9). Here is the occasion to which Paul refers – Ishmael, who would have been at least 15 years old by this time, made light of the celebration for Isaac. The one who was born according to the flesh (Ishmael) harassed the one born after the Spirit, the one born by promise. Undoubtedly, by this time, Ishmael was fully aware that he would not be the primary beneficiary of his father’s wealth. Paul identifies this as a pattern that was still active at the time that he wrote this letter; the righteous will be persecuted by the unrighteous. This will be standard fare for those who have been born of the Spirit of God – those who are walking in accordance with the Spirit and demonstrating the righteousness of the Law of God through their daily living (Romans 8:4). These are those who are walking worthy of the calling that they have received of God (Ephesians 4:1; Colossians 1:10).
For the Galatians, the Judaizers had come from Jerusalem to convince them to adopt their gospel message of faith plus works, to live according to their doctrines. To this point, the Galatians were in Christ by faith; they were walking according to the Spirit of God, but the Judaizers were pressuring them to add the Mosaic traditions to their faith in order to complete their salvation. Satan is the one who roams the earth looking for those whom he might destroy (1 Peter 5:8). If we determine to walk the narrow path to which God has called us (Matthew 7:13-14), we do not have to do anything else to draw the persecution of those who are not walking that pathway to life. Isaac (the son according to promise) was an infant, too young to be an aggressor, and yet he was mocked by Ishmael (the son according to the flesh). If we will live godly lives, walking in obedience to the commandments of God’s Word (1 John 5:3), then the persecution will come (2 Timothy 3:12). Unfortunately, Evangelicals seem to be of the opinion that you can be “saved” in the inside, yet live like the world on the outside; however, you cannot profess to walk the narrow pathway to life while cavorting in the ways of the world – the broad way that leads to destruction. Jesus said, “He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth” (Luke 11:23); the devil has convinced Evangelicals that the forbidden fruit of the world is really quite desirable, and holiness of life is unattainable, so why even bother trying.
When Paul left these Galatians, they heard that “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22b); Paul now writes to them that this very thing has taken place – persecution has come! Unfortunately, even if they were prepared to face it, they evidently didn’t recognize it when it came. The devil, in his craftiness, brought persecution to the Galatians in the form of false doctrine from a people who should have known the truth – after all, they came from Jerusalem. Little wonder that Paul takes the bulk of the first two chapters of this letter to expound the error made by the leadership in Jerusalem. The failure of the Galatians was that they did not weigh the gospel of the Judaizers against what they had already heard and obeyed. Paul is adamant that there is only one Gospel: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8). We must ever be on guard against those who would promote teachings other than what we find in the Scriptures, and we must be students of the Word of God, strengthening our understanding of His truth (Colossians 1:10). The enemy of our souls will come to us with a message that sounds good, and it will be delivered in a very gracious and appealing manner (Romans 16:18) – our responsibility is to measure it against the truth of God’s Word (1 John 4:1). A knowledge of theology will not suffice; we must grow in our knowledge of the Scriptures; many times theology will be the very tool that Satan will use to drive a wedge of doubt into our thinking.
30. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Paul quotes Sarah’s words to Abraham as recorded in Genesis 21:10 – “Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.” Contained here is Paul’s application of this piece of Jewish history to the Galatian situation.
Ishmael and Hagar have been identified with Mt. Sinai and the Mosaic Law that was a burden to Israel, and Jerusalem of Judea has been identified as the center for this bondage (Galatians 4:25). Having made the association, Paul now quotes Sarah’s words to provide the Galatians with the instruction that he has for them in the matter of the Judaizers, namely: cast out the bondwoman and her son. In other words, cast the keeping of the Mosaic Law out of your lives! The legalistic keeping of the Law of Moses is to have no part with salvation by faith in Christ. Don’t be snared into adding the keeping of the Mosaic Law to your faith in Christ; cast out that which will only lead to bondage – a very different, yet strangely similar bondage to what they had experienced while under paganism (Galatians 4:9).
The latter portion of Sarah’s words finds a very definitive application for the Galatians. Those who are held in bondage to the keeping of the Law of Moses (likened to the bondwoman, Hagar and her son, Ishmael), will never share the inheritance with those who have been made heirs through faith in Christ. Once again we must face the reality that if these Galatians followed the teachings of the Judaizers, they would then no longer be heirs with those who walk according to the Spirit of God through faith. To accept the doctrine of the Judaizers would be to accept a different, perverted gospel, and to relinquish the true Gospel of faith in Christ (Galatians 1:6-7). There can be no doubt; the Galatians were on the brink of apostasy, which simply means that they were on the threshold of losing the inheritance of the promise. Despite having begun in the Spirit of God (Galatians 3:3), they were about to forfeit everything that they had in Christ. The inheritance of the faithful is to abide in the presence of God for eternity (Revelation 22:3-5); yet it is very clear here that those who were falling for the error of the Judaizers were in jeopardy of losing that inheritance. Anything less would be a contravention of the analogy that Paul has so carefully unfolded, and, more specifically, of the statement that Paul makes in this verse.
31. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
As Paul concludes the use of Sarah and Hagar as his historical illustration, his summation is very clear, and is a reiteration of 3:29 – “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Undoubtedly, the Judaizers would have considered themselves to be children of the freewoman as well, yet the application of the illustration makes it abundantly clear that they were not – and this is the message that Paul desired these Galatians to hear and heed. The Judaizers were no longer functioning under the banner of faith in Christ; they had added the Mosaic Law and had succumbed to the flesh in an effort to complete their salvation. “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3) – Paul’s question is completely applicable to this situation, and points directly to the reality of what the Judaizers had done, and that which the Galatians were being convinced to do. Paul has very carefully, through the use of the examples of Hagar (Ishmael) and Sarah (Isaac), outlined the dramatic separation that exists between the children of promise (the faithful in Christ Jesus) and the children of the flesh (those who will freely add to or subtract from the Gospel message). The way of promise is narrow. “Jesus saith unto him [Thomas], I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). Paul calls adding the Mosaic Law to the Gospel of Christ a perversion (Galatians 1:7); we must do no less as we observe the travesty of the message of Evangelicals today. God help us to stand, wearing His truth and righteousness (Ephesians 6:14).
ENDNOTES:
1 Strong’s Online.
2 Etymology Dictionary, “teenage.”
3 Vine’s, “children.”
4 Vine’s, “elements.”
5 Strong’s Online.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Strong’s Online; Friberg Lexicon.
10 Strong’s Online.
11 Strong’s Dictionary; Vine’s, “abba.”
12 Strong’s Online.
13 Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. IV, p. 137.
14 Strong’s Online.
15 Ibid.
16 Stephanus 1550 NT.
17 George Croly, “Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart.”
18 Andrew Reed, “Spirit Divine, Attend Our Prayer.”
19 http://www.indigenouspeople.net/greatspi.htm
20 Panentheism – God exists and is part of everything (The whole is in God); pantheism – God is synonymous with all of nature (God is the whole); http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panentheism
21 Vine’s, “know.”
22 By definition, religion is “people's beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities, and divine involvement in the universe and human life” (Encarta Dictionary).
23 Strong’s Dictionary.
24 Strong’s Online.
25 Vine’s “known.”
26 Strong’s Online.
27 Ibid.
28 Strong’s Dictionary.
29 Ibid; Strong’s Online.
30 https://yrm.org/seventh-day-adventist-church/; https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/08/19/why-many-evangelical-christians-now-celebrate-jewish-holidays/
31 Strong’s Online.
32 Ibid.
33 Strong’s Dictionary.
34 Vincent’s Word Studies, ESword.
35 Strong’s Online.
36 Ibid.
37 Vine’s “temptation.”
38 Vine’s “despise.”
39 Vine’s “reject.”
40 Young’s.
41 Vine’s “pluck.”
42 Strong’s online.
43 http://www.crossroad.to/charts/church-statistics.html
44 Strong’s Online.
45 Ibid.
46 Ibid.
47 Stephanus 1550 NT.
48 Strong’s Online.
49 Vine’s “children.”
50 Strong’s Dictionary.
51 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13295a.htm#IV
52 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13407a.htm
53 Charles Colson, The Body, p. 102.
54 Ibid, p. 104.
55 Strong’s Online.
56 Friberg Lexicon.
57 Strong’s Online.
58 Ibid.
59 Strong’s Dictionary.
60 Stephanus 1550 NT.
61 Strong’s Online.
1 Strong’s Online.
2 Etymology Dictionary, “teenage.”
3 Vine’s, “children.”
4 Vine’s, “elements.”
5 Strong’s Online.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Strong’s Online; Friberg Lexicon.
10 Strong’s Online.
11 Strong’s Dictionary; Vine’s, “abba.”
12 Strong’s Online.
13 Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. IV, p. 137.
14 Strong’s Online.
15 Ibid.
16 Stephanus 1550 NT.
17 George Croly, “Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart.”
18 Andrew Reed, “Spirit Divine, Attend Our Prayer.”
19 http://www.indigenouspeople.net/greatspi.htm
20 Panentheism – God exists and is part of everything (The whole is in God); pantheism – God is synonymous with all of nature (God is the whole); http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panentheism
21 Vine’s, “know.”
22 By definition, religion is “people's beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities, and divine involvement in the universe and human life” (Encarta Dictionary).
23 Strong’s Dictionary.
24 Strong’s Online.
25 Vine’s “known.”
26 Strong’s Online.
27 Ibid.
28 Strong’s Dictionary.
29 Ibid; Strong’s Online.
30 https://yrm.org/seventh-day-adventist-church/; https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/08/19/why-many-evangelical-christians-now-celebrate-jewish-holidays/
31 Strong’s Online.
32 Ibid.
33 Strong’s Dictionary.
34 Vincent’s Word Studies, ESword.
35 Strong’s Online.
36 Ibid.
37 Vine’s “temptation.”
38 Vine’s “despise.”
39 Vine’s “reject.”
40 Young’s.
41 Vine’s “pluck.”
42 Strong’s online.
43 http://www.crossroad.to/charts/church-statistics.html
44 Strong’s Online.
45 Ibid.
46 Ibid.
47 Stephanus 1550 NT.
48 Strong’s Online.
49 Vine’s “children.”
50 Strong’s Dictionary.
51 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13295a.htm#IV
52 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13407a.htm
53 Charles Colson, The Body, p. 102.
54 Ibid, p. 104.
55 Strong’s Online.
56 Friberg Lexicon.
57 Strong’s Online.
58 Ibid.
59 Strong’s Dictionary.
60 Stephanus 1550 NT.
61 Strong’s Online.