A Tale of Two Covenant's...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter in the Bible called the book of Galatians. Yesterday, we saw a man named Paul share the story of Sarah and Hagar. Instead of waiting and trusting in God and His promises, Abraham and Sarah decided that they would help God out by doing something for God, which resulted in the birth of a son named Ishmael. Instead of trusting God, Abraham and Sarah decided to do for themselves what God had promised that He would do for them. However, even though they had attempted to do for God what God promised to do for them through Abraham’s activity with Sarah’s slave, God is a promise maker and God is a promise keeper.

And a little later in the story, we read that Abraham, who was 99 and Sarah, who was 90 and on the other side of menopause, acted with confident trust in God and His promises that demonstrated their faith. And God, just as He had promised, graciously intervened in a supernatural way to provide for them a son, named Isaac. Unlike Ishmael, who was the result of their attempts to do something for God, Isaac was the result of them placing their confident trust in God to do what only God could do.  

Today, we will see Paul transition from this story to the situation in the churches of Galatia in verse 24:

This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

Now to understand what Paul is communicating here, we first need to define some terms. When Paul states that this is allegorically speaking, he is letting the members of the churches of Galatia know that he is going to use the story of Sarah and Hagar as an analogy to express a truth that he wanted to convey to them. You see, when people ask me if I take the Bible literally, my response is that I take the parts of the Bible literally that are meant to be taken literally. The Bible is composed of many different types of literary genres and here Paul is making an allegorical analogy to reveal a truth.

First, Paul states that these women serve as an analogy to two covenants. Now a covenant refers to a decree from God that establishes a relationship between God and humanity. One covenant, Paul explains, is represented by Hagar and proceeds from Mount Sinai bearing children who are slaves. Here Paul is referring to the covenant that God made with Moses and the Jewish people that is recorded for us in the second letter in our Bibles, called the book of Exodus, in Exodus 19-24.

In Exodus 19-24, we see Moses go up to meet with God on Mount Sinai, where he was given the Law, which contained the list of commandments that revealed to the Jewish people God’s nature, God’s character, and the type of nature, character, and conduct that humanity would need to possess and display in order to live in a right relationship with God. It was the Law that formed the Jewish religious system. And it was the Law which Paul refers to as bearing children who are to be slaves. But what does that mean?

Paul here is revealing the reality that attempting to do things for God in order to be in a right relationship with God by keeping a list of religious rules for God, in this case the Law produced people that were enslaved by the religion of legalism. Just as Hagar was a slave, attempting to do things for God in order to be right with God instead of trusting in God and the promises of God results in slavery to the religion of legalism that can only reveal the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God.

Paul then makes application of his analogy by explaining in verse 25 that Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem. Paul’s point here was that just as Hagar was a slave, the Jewish people who attempted to do things for God in order to be right with God, by keeping the commandments of the Law were enslaved by the religion of legalism. Paul wanted the members of the churches of Galatia to clearly understand that the Jewish people were enslaved by the religion of legalism and separated from God. Paul then transitions to talk about the second covenant in verse 26:

But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. For it is written, "REJOICE, BARREN WOMAN WHO DOES NOT BEAR; BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR; FOR MORE NUMEROUS ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE THAN OF THE ONE WHO HAS A HUSBAND." And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.

Here we see Paul contrast the Jewish people that attempted to do things for God in order to be right with God and were enslaved by the religion of legalism with the Jerusalem above. You see, the present earthly Jerusalem served as the center for the Jewish religious system that represented the covenant that God made with Moses on Mount Sinai.

However, the Jewish people took that covenant and responded by becoming enslaved in the religion of legalism. By contrast, the Jerusalem above was a place of freedom from the slavery that comes from attempting to do things for God by keeping a list of religious rules for God through the religion of legalism. But, this morning, where is this Jerusalem above? What is Paul referring to here?

When Paul refers to the Jerusalem above, he is referring to the covenant relationship that God offers to all humanity through Jesus life, death, and resurrection. Paul is reminding the members of the churches of Galatia, and us here this morning that the spiritual and eternal kingdom of Heaven first arrived when Jesus entered into humanity and will come in its fullest sense when Jesus returns to earth to defeat selfishness, sin, and death.

Paul’s point here is that the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provide us the opportunity to be freed from the slavery of the religion of legalism so that we can experience that forgiveness and freedom that comes when we live in the relationship with God that we were created for as a part of the family of God. Paul uses the analogy of this Jerusalem above as our mother to reveal that we become a child of God by trusting in what God has done for us, not in what we do for God.

Paul then quotes from a section of the Old Testament letter the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah 54:1, the prophet Isaiah predicted and proclaimed that there would be a future day when Jerusalem would be restored from captivity and be blessed with fruitfulness and children that would make up for those that were lost as a result of God’s right and just response to their selfishness and rebellion. Paul then takes this Old Testament quotes and applies it to reveal that God’s new covenant through Jesus life, death, and resurrection would result in a fruitfulness and blessing of people becoming a part of the family of God through faith in Christ.

Just as Sarah rejoiced with joy at the birth of Isaac, who was the result of them placing their confident trust in God to do what only God could do; just as Sarah’s children were more numerous than those of Hagar, who were the result of their attempts to do something for God; followers of Jesus who have placed their confident trust in what God has done for us through Jesus life, death, and resurrection have the freedom and the victory over the slavery of the religion of legalism.

Paul then reinforces this reality in verse 28. Like Isaac, those who place their confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel are a part of the family of God. Paul is asking the members of the churches of Galatia: “After having the opportunity the experience the freedom and forgiveness and comes through placing your confident trust in what God has done through Jesus, why would you then go back to the religion of legalism that only enslaves you once again and separates you from God?”

Friday, we will see Paul transition to address a situation that was occurring between those who embraced a gospel centered life and those who embraced a religious centered life…

 

A Story Fit For Reality T.V....

During this election season at the church where I serve we have been involved in a sermon series entitled vote no on religion. During this series we have been looking at a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament in our Bibles called the Book of Galatians. And just as it was for the members of the churches of Galatia, we discovered that, every day, we cast a ballot in an election for one of two candidates. Either we choose to live our day to day lives as a gospel-centered person whose life is driven to respond to what God has done for us through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection by placing our confident trust in Jesus and following His message and teachings by faith. Or, we choose to live our day to day lives as a religious centered person who follows one of two different forms of religion.

As we have seen throughout this series, there are several reasons why we must vote no on religion. This week, I would like for us to pick up where we left off last week, where we will see Paul continue to try to convince the members of the churches of Galatia to vote no on religion. And once again, we will discover another timeless reason why we are to vote no on religion. So let’s look together at what Paul has to say next, beginning in Galatians 4:21:

Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law?

Paul begins this section of his letter to the churches of Galatia by asking a question: “Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law?” When Paul refers to the Law here, he is referring to the first five books that are recorded for us in our Bibles today, which the Jewish people referred to as the Law or the Torah. The phrase under the Law literally means to be in subjection to the Law. In other words, to be under the Law required that a person followed all of God’s commandments that were recorded in the Law, all of the time.

When Paul asks “do you not listen to the Law?”, he is asking “Do you hear and understand what the Law really says? So you say you want to live a religious centered life that follows the religion of legalism, by keeping all of the commandments of the Law. Do you really understand what the Law really says about how one experiences a right relationship with God?” Paul then points the members of the churches of Galatia to a story that is recorded for us in the Law in Galatians 4:22:

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise.

Paul points the members of the churches of Galatia, and us here today, to the story of Sarah and Hagar, which is recorded for us in the very first letter of the Bible, called the book of Genesis. In Genesis 15, we see God remind Abraham, who was 86 years old, of His promise to make Him a great nation that would leave a great legacy. Abraham responds to God’s reminder with a question “How is my reward going to great? I am 86 and have no children. I am getting old. You are going to have to give the reward to my servant.”

God then makes an amazing and seemingly impossible promise to Abraham. Your servant will not be your heir. No, Abraham, you and your wife Sarah will have a child and your legacy, your descendants, will be too great to count. However, ten years after God had made this promise, Abraham and Sarah still had no children. And after waiting ten years for God to fulfill His promise, Sarah became impatient. We read what happens next in Genesis 16:1:

Now Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, "Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight. And Sarai said to Abram, "May the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight. May the LORD judge between you and me." But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight." So Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.

Now who says the Bible is boring; you really should read it sometime. I mean this has all the makings of a reality T.V. show, doesn’t it? “God is not moving fast enough, so sleep with my female slave; that should turn out well”. Instead of waiting and trusting in God and His promises, Abraham and Sarah decided that they would help God out by doing something for God, which resulted in the birth of a son named Ishmael. Instead of trusting God, Abraham and Sarah decided to do for themselves what God had promised that He would do for them.

However, even though they had attempted to do for God what God promised to do for them through Abraham’s activity with Sarah’s slave, God is a promise maker and God is a promise keeper, as we see a little later in the book of Genesis, beginning in Genesis 18:9, when the Lord and two angels visit Abraham and Sarah:

Then they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" And he said, "There, in the tent." He said, "I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing. Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" And the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?'  "Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son."

And, a few chapters later in Genesis 21, we read that Abraham, who was 99 and Sarah, who was 90 and on the other side of menopause, acted with confident trust in God and His promises that demonstrated their faith. And God, just as He had promised, graciously intervened in a supernatural way to provide for them a son, named Isaac. Unlike Ishmael, who was the result of their attempts to do something for God, Isaac was the result of them placing their confident trust in God to do what only God could do.

Tomorrow, we will see Paul transition from this story to the situation in the churches of Galatia…

We Are To Vote No On Religion Because Relying On Religion Reveals You Are Dead...

This week, we are looking at a letter in the Bible called the book of Galatians, where a man named Paul was providing evidence to prove that religion results in alienation while the gospel results in reconciliation. Wednesday, we saw Paul plead with the members of the churches of Galatia to consider the consequences of a religious centered life and to instead live gospel centered lives. Today, we will see Paul shift his focus to expose the motivations of those who were influencing and leading the members of the churches of Galatia to turn away from a gospel centered life and toward the religion of legalism in verse 17:

They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them. But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner, and not only when I am present with you.

When Paul refers to the “they” in verse 17, he is referring to a group of people known as the Judaizers. Now the Judaizers taught that to become a Christian, one must follow the Mosaic Law’s standards and become circumcised. The Judaizers were legalists who advocated for the religion of legalism. Paul explains to the members of the churches of Galatia that the Judaizers were interested in earning their favor, but the reason they were interested in earning their favor was not above board. Instead, Paul states that the Judaizers were trying to earn the favor of the members of the churches of Galatia so that they would shut you out so that you would seek them.

Paul’s point here is that the Judaizers were trying to earn the favor of the Galatians by discrediting Paul in order to exclude the members of the churches of Galatia from being connected with Paul and the message of the gospel that he was proclaiming so they would instead align with them and the religion of legalism that they were proclaiming.

The issue wasn’t that the Judaizers interested in earning the favor of the members of the churches of Galatia; the issue was how the Judaizers were going about attempting to earn their favor. The issue was the motivation behind the Judaizers attempts to earn their favor. The motivation and methods of the Judaizers was to earn the favor of the churches of Galatia so that they would turn away from living gospel centered lives to instead embrace living religious centered lives. Paul then concludes this section of his letter by painting a powerful word picture that reveals another timeless reason why we are to vote no on religion. Let’s look at it together, beginning in Galatians 4:19:

My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you-- but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

To understand what Paul is communicating here we first need to unpack this word picture. Paul refers to the members of the churches of Galatia as my children and then paints a metaphorical picture of a mother in labor. Paul explains that just as a mother in labor will suffer greatly during labor until she gives birth to the new life within here, Paul has been laboring; Paul has been suffering greatly in his attempt to bring new life to the members of the churches of Galatia. And he thought that he had already made it through the labor and brought new children into the world.

However, Paul explains that he is again in labor. And the reason that he is in labor; the reason he is suffering is because the new life has not yet arrived. The new life has not been fully formed. The members of the churches of Galatia have not experienced the new life that comes from being in relationship with Christ as a result of placing one’s confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. Instead, the members of the churches of Galatia were embracing the false religion of legalism.

And because of that reality, Paul states in verse 20 that he wished that he could be present with them face to face. This letter was not sufficient to convey the seriousness of the problem at the churches of Galatia. Paul wished that he could be there face to face because words on a page would not convey the urgency of the situation. Instead of words on a page, Paul wanted to change the tone of his voice. Perhaps the change of a tone of voice would grab their attention, because at this point, Paul is perplexed about the members of the churches of Galatia. Now this word perplexed literally means to be so confused that one is at a loss.

You see, Paul thought that he had given birth to a group of churches who were filled with people who had been given new life through the message of the gospel. But what he was seeing now from the members of the churches of Galatia was not the new life that is part of the body of Christ. Instead, Paul was seeing something else. And what he was seeing had him at a loss.

And it is here that we see Paul reveal for us another timeless reason why we are to vote no on religion. And that timeless reason is this: We are to vote no on religion because relying on religion reveals that you are dead. You see, what Paul was seeing were dead people walking. And the reason why Paul was seeing dead people walking is because that is what relying on religion reveals. When we rely on religion, we reveal that we are dead.

When we rely on religion we reveal the reality that we are still separated from God as a result of the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God. Relying on the religion of legalism reveals that we are dead because legalism calls us to a life and a lifestyle that is based on our performance for God that will always fall short of being able to rescue us from the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God. And relying on the religion of license reveals that we are dead because the religion of license calls us to a life and a lifestyle that embraces and enslaves us to the very selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God.

So here is the question: are you a dead man walking, so to speak? Have you been casting your ballot to vote for a religious centered life? Because, as we have seen, relying on religion only reveals that you are a dead man walking, being separated from God as a result of our selfishness and rebellion. Or have you been casting your ballot to vote for a gospel centered life that brings us new life into the relationship with God that we were created for as a result of placing our confident trust in what God has done for us by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader?

A Passionate Plea...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter in the Bible called the book of Galatians, where a man named Paul was providing evidence to prove that religion results in alienation, while the gospel results in reconciliation. Yesterday, we saw Paul express his fear that all of the physical, emotional, and spiritual energy that he had expended with the members of the churches of Galatia had produced no result. Paul was afraid that instead of embracing that claims of Christ and the message of the gospel, the members of the churches of Galatia had simply added the gospel to the list of things that they needed to do for God in order to be right with God. And as a result, Paul was afraid that they were still enslaved in the religion of legalism and still separated from God as a result of their selfishness and rebellion.

Today, as we pick up where we left off yesterday, we see Paul reveal the depth of his concern as a result of the problem in the churches of Galatia in verse 12:

I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong; but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time; and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself.

Here we see Paul pleading with the members of the churches of Galatia to consider the consequences of a religious centered life and to instead live gospel centered lives: “become as I am, for I also have become as you are”? But what does that mean? If Paul was making this plea in the language we use in our culture today, his plea would have sounded something like this: “Members of the churches of Galatia, become like me; just as I left the religion of legalism to embrace a gospel centered life, leave legalistic religion behind and embrace the gospel. Just as I left legalistic self righteousness and considered myself in need of rescue from my selfishness and rebellion like you, you need to recognize the selfishness and rebellion within you and embrace the gospel”.

Paul then reminds the members of the churches of Galatia of how they embraced him and the message that he proclaimed to them during his first missionary journey, which is recorded for us in Acts chapters 13 and 14. Paul reveals the reality that it was a physical illness that he was suffering that God used to bring the message of the gospel to the churches of Galatia. And in spite of the physical illness and the burden that his illness placed on the members of the churches of Galatia, Paul explains that they did not despise or loathe him. What is so interesting is that the word loathe, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to spit out.

You see, it would have been very tempting to look at someone like Paul, who was suffering from a significant illness that required significant attention from the members of the church, as being someone who is of little value or worth. It would have been very tempting to view Paul, and the message of the gospel that he was proclaiming, with disdain and reject Paul and his message.

But that is not what the members of the churches of Galatia did. Instead, Paul states that they received him as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself. In other words, the members of the churches of Galatia responded to Paul and the message that he was proclaiming as if it was Jesus Himself who was delivering the message. They warmly and lovingly received and welcomed Paul as a messenger from God with a message from God, which leads Paul to ask the following question, in verse 15:

Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?

Paul asks the members of the churches two questions designed to expose the change in their attitude and receptiveness to both Paul and the message of the gospel that he had been proclaiming. First, Paul asks “Where then is that sense of blessing you had?” In other words, Paul is asking “Where is the excitement that you once had about the message of the gospel? Remember how you rejoiced and proclaimed your excitement about having the opportunity to receive forgiveness and a relationship with God based on God’s performance for you and not your performance for God”.

Paul then reminds them that they would have plucked out their eyes and given them to Paul. Most scholars believe that Paul suffered from significant vision problems the rest of his life after his encounter with Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road. Paul’s point here is to remind the members of the churches of Galatia that they would have done anything for Paul in appreciation for him and the message of the gospel he was proclaiming.

In verse 16, we see Paul ask a second question: “So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?” Paul is asking, so now you have hatred and hostility toward me because I told you the truth about God’s message of rescue through the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel? So because I told you that our rescue and right relationship with God is revealed not as a result of our activity for God by keeping a list of rules for God, but as a result of the Holy Spirit’s activity as God in our lives, you are mad at me? Because you were not mad at me when I shared the message of the gospel with you when I was with you a year ago”.

Tomorrow, we will see Paul shift his focus to expose the motivations of those who were influencing and leading the members of the churches of Galatia to turn away from a gospel centered life and toward the religion of legalism and reveal for us another timeless reason why we are to vote no on religion…

Addition That Results In Separation...

During this election season, we are looking at a letter in our Bible called the book of Galatians. Last week, we discovered that we are to vote no on religion because religion results in alienation, while the gospel results in reconciliation. Whether it the religion of legalism or the religion of license, every religious system can only enslave us and restrict us in a way that results in our continued alienation from God. God responded to our alienation from Him as a result of our selfishness and rebellion by sending His Son on specific mission to solve a specific problem. A problem that we caused; a problem that separated us from God; a problem that religious based performance could not solve, because religion only further alienates us from God; a problem that only God, in a bod, could solve. Only God’s message of rescue through the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel can rescue us from the selfishness and rebellion that alienates us from God and bring us into the relationship with God that we were created for as children of God.

This week, I would like for us to pick up where we left off last week, where we will see Paul continue to provide evidence to prove that a religious centered life results in alienation from God, while a gospel centered life results in reconciliation with God. And it is in the evidence that Paul provides that we will discover another timeless reason why we are to vote no on religion. So let’s look at the evidence together, beginning in Galatians 4:8:

However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?

Paul begins this section of his letter to the members of the churches of Galatia by revealing a significant problem that had arisen in their midst. Before exposing the nature of the problem, however, Paul first reminds them of the stark contrast of their religious centered lives before hearing the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. As we discovered last week, at just the right time, the time that God had previously set in advance, God sent forth His Son, Jesus Christ entered into humanity so that we could be rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separated us from God and so that we might receive the adoption as sons. Jesus entered into humanity so that He could live the life that we refused to live by following all of God’s commandments, all of the time, so that He could then allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life.

Paul wanted the members of the churches of Galatia to clearly understand that it is not what we do for God that results in us experiencing a right relationship with God; it is placing our confident trust in what Jesus Christ has done for us that results in us experiencing a right relationship with God. And when we place our confident trust in what God has done through Jesus life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader, we are no longer enslaved by our religious performance that only results in us being further alienated from the family of God. Instead, we have been adopted into the family of God, in spite of our performance.

Here, however, we see Paul remind the members of the churches of Galatia that before they came to know Jesus and the message of the gospel, they were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. In other words, prior to encountering the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel, they lived their lives in total service to the false religious systems that claimed to worship God, but in reality did not worship god.

Paul then confronts the members of the churches of Galatia with a powerful question that exposes a significant problem in verse 9: “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?” As we discovered last week, the weak and elemental things refer to the elementary forms of religion that had come to dominate the world and that enslaved and restricted humanity from experiencing the relationship with God that they were created for.

Paul’s question, if communicated in the language that we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “now if you say that  you have come to know Jesus through the message of the gospel; if you say that you have responded to what God has done to take the initiative to rescue you from your religious centered lives that enslaved to you to the false gospel of religion; how is it that I hear that you are turning from living gospel centered lives that are driven to respond to what God has done for us through Jesus by placing our confident trust in Jesus and His message and teachings by faith to instead choose to willfully enslave yourselves all over again in a religious centered life that is attempting to do things for God in order to live in a right relationship with God? How can it be that you are turning away from living gospel centered lives to now embrace living religious centered lives?” After asking the question to expose the problem, Paul then reveals the evidence of the problem in verse 10:

 You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.

In verse 10, we see Paul reveal for us the reality that the members of the churches of Galatia had begun to observe the legalistic traditions of the religious systems that they had supposedly been freed from.  But what exactly is Paul referring to when he talks about them observing days and months and seasons and years. Most likely, these four terms refer to the many different religious observances and seasons that were a part of the Jewish religious calendar and that were required to be observed under the Jewish religious system in order to be considered to be in a right relationship with God.

Paul’s point here is that the members of the churches of Galatia embracing and participation in these legalistic religious observances revealed that they were embracing the religion of legalism. The members of the churches of Galatia had moved from gospel centered living to a form of religious centered living that called for works for God plus faith in Christ in order to be in a right relationship with God. 

And because the members had moved from gospel centered living to religious centered living, in verse 11, the Apostle Paul proclaims, “I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.” Verse 11 literally states “I am afraid that my work with you may be wasted if you revert back to the religion of legalism.” You see, Paul was afraid that all of the physical, emotional, and spiritual energy that he had expended with the members of the churches of Galatia had produced no result. Paul was afraid that instead of embracing that claims of Christ and the message of the gospel, the members of the churches of Galatia had simply added the gospel to the list of things that they needed to do for God in order to be right with God. And as a result, Paul was afraid that they were still enslaved in the religion of legalism and still separated from God as a result of their selfishness and rebellion.

Tomorrow, we will see Paul reveal the depth of his concern for the members of the churches of Galatia…

We are to vote no on religion because religion results in alienation, while the gospel results in reconciliation...

This week, we have been looking at a section of a letter in the Bible called the book of Galatians. Wednesday, we saw Paul reveal that Jesus entered into humanity and faced life here on earth under the same conditions that all of humanity faced, under the same rules, expectations and temptations that we face, so that He could totally and completely identify with us. God sent His Son on specific mission to solve a specific problem. A problem that we caused; a problem that separated us from God; a problem that religious based performance could not solve, because religion only further alienates us from God; a problem that only Jesus, as God in a bod, could solve. Today, we see Paul reveal Jesus mission for us in Galatians 4:5:

so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Here we see Paul reveal for us two reasons why Jesus entered into humanity and faced the same rules, expectations and temptations that we face. First Jesus entered into humanity so that He might redeem those who were under the Law. Now this word redeem, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to liberate or rescue. Jesus entered into humanity in order to provide humanity that opportunity to be rescued from their selfishness and rebellion that separated us from God. Jesus entered into humanity so that He could live the life that we refused to live by following all of God’s commandments, all of the time, so that He could then allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life.

You see, it is not what we do for God that results in us experiencing a right relationship with God; it is placing our confident trust in what Jesus Christ has done for us that results in us experiencing a right relationship with God.

Second, Paul explains that Jesus entered into humanity so that we might receive the adoption as sons. Now to fully understand what Paul is communicating here, we first need to understand what adoption looked like in the Apostle Paul’s day. You see, unlike today, most adoptions in Roman society did not occur when children were babies. In Roman culture, you would never adopt a baby. Now a natural question that arises here is “why would you not adopt a baby? Why would you wait to adopt until children were older?”

In Roman culture, the reason you would never adopt a baby is you would never know what you would be getting. The Romans recognized that when a baby was born, “you got what you got,” whether you liked it or not. This would include the sex of the child, birthmarks, etc. Thus, according to Roman law, a naturally born baby could be disowned from the family if they failed to meet up to expectations. However, people adopting an older child knew exactly what they were getting, and no one adopted a child unless that specific child was wanted as a family member. So as a Roman child growing up, you never had a sense of security, because your security and your identity was based solely on your ability to perform.

So what would often happen in Roman culture, where there were many who did not have large families, an affluent but childless adult who wanted an heir would adopt a post-pubescent male, often a slave, to be his son. The need for a male heir and the expense of raising children were strong incentives to have at least one son, but not too many children. However, if that son did not work out, what a Roman citizen would do is disown his son and adopt a slave who had demonstrated the responsibility and ability to continue the legacy that they had built. In addition, according to Roman law, an adopted child could not be disowned. He or she was permanently added to the family.

So when the Apostle Paul states that God sent His Son Jesus Christ to rescue humanity from selfishness and sin so that we would be adopted as His children in spite of our performance, this would have been a revolutionary statement. This would have been difficult to comprehend. That God would adopt us in spite of our performance instead of because of our performance? That God would make us a permanent member of His family? That I could never be disowned, not because of my performance for God, but because of God’s performance for me?

Maybe I have just described the thoughts that are running through your mind. Maybe you feel like there is no way that God would adopt you; maybe you are here and you feel like that you need to change some things in your life, that you would need to clean up your life, that you need to become more religious and do some things for God, before God would even consider adopting you.

If I have described you, here’s the thing; God sent His Son Jesus in order to provide an opportunity for rescue and for you to experience the relationship with God that you were created for in spite of your performance, not because of your performance. And to provide further evidence of this reality, Paul states the following in Galatians 4:6-7:

Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

Here we see Paul reveal to the members of the churches of Galatia the reason we can know that we have been rescued in spite of our performance and not because of our performance and have been adopted as children of God. And that reason is because God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying Abba! Father! The term Abba, in the language that this letter was originally written in, was a term of endearment that was used in the culture of the day to describe one’s closeness to one’s father. In our culture today, this would be a word picture of a young child crawling into the lap of their father and saying “daddy”. The word father here, however, conveys the sense of recognition of God as the Creator and caretaker of the universe.

Paul’s point here is that the Holy Spirit is given to followers of Jesus as a gift to enable us to recognize our adoption as sons and to empower us to live as His Sons. It is the Holy Spirit’s presence that results in us experiencing God’s presence and empowers us to live our lives in light of His presence. Paul’s point is that we have access to experience God’s presence and power in our lives not because of our religious performance for God; we have access to experience God’s presence and power in our lives because of what God has done for us through the gospel.

And because of that reality, Paul explains that we are no longer a slave that is restricted by our religious performance that only results in us being further alienated from the family of God. Instead, we have been adopted into the family of God, in spite of our performance.

And as a result of our adoption through God gracious act of sending His Son we are an heir. An heir is one who receives the possession of another. In the Roman culture of Paul’s day, adopted children became co- heirs with the natural children of their parent’s estates. Paul’s point here is that, as a follower of Jesus, we are a co-heir with Jesus Christ of the Kingdom of Heaven. We share now, and in all eternity, with Christ, all the blessings that come from living in relationship with God as part of His kingdom.

And it is here that we see the Apostle Paul reveal for us another timeless reason why we are to vote no on religion. And that timeless reason is this: We are to vote no on religion because religion results in alienation, while the gospel results in reconciliation. You see, whether it the religion of legalism or the religion of license, every religious system can only enslave us and restrict us in a way that results in our continued alienation from God. God responded to our alienation from Him as a result of our selfishness and rebellion by sending His Son on specific mission to solve a specific problem. A problem that we caused; a problem that separated us from God; a problem that religious based performance could not solve, because religion only further alienates us from God; a problem that only God, in a bod, could solve.

Only God’s message of rescue through the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel can rescue us from the selfishness and rebellion that alienates us from God and bring us into the relationship with God that we were created for as children of God.

So how are you casting your ballot? How have you been voting?

Timing is Everything...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter in the Bible called the book of Galatians. Yesterday, we saw a man named Paul reveal to the members of the churches of Galatia, and to humanity throughout history, that humanities attempts to do things for God in order to be right with God through religious performance only enslaved and restricted humanity from the relationship with God that they were created for. Humanities embrace of religion resulted in continued alienation from God. And this reality was not a surprise to God. God was not in Heaven saying “Oh no, we didn’t see that one coming! What are we going to do now?”

God was not surprised because God already had a plan in mind. God had already set a date in advance when He would intervene in human history in a most unexpected and powerful way in order to provide humanity the opportunity to experience the forgiveness and freedom that comes from living in the relationship with God that we were created for. Today, we will see Paul reveal that date and that plan to the members of the churches of Galatia in Galatians 4:4. Let’s look at it together:

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,

But when the fullness of time came; in other words, at just the right time. At just the right point in history, not too early, not too late, at just the right time, the time that God had previously set in advance, God sent forth His Son, Jesus Christ. And what is so amazing is how God sent forth His Son. God sent forth His Son to enter into humanity as a baby born of a teenage girl in a feeding trough for animals. But not only does Paul tell us that Jesus entered humanity as a baby; Paul also states that Jesus was born under the Law. But what does that mean? And is that a big deal?

When Paul refers to the Law here, he is referring to the first five books that are recorded for us in our Bibles today, which the Jewish people referred to as the Law or the Torah. These five books contained the list of commandments that revealed to the Jewish people God’s nature, God’s character, and the type of nature and character that humanity would need to possess and display in order to live in a right relationship with God.

However, as we discovered earlier in this series, God’s standard has been clear from the beginning and has not changed. To be in a right relationship with a perfect God requires perfection. And because nobody is perfect, humanities attempt to live religious centered lives based on their performance for God only revealed that they have a huge problem with God because every human being on the planet ends up breaking a rule on their religion’s list.

And the Jewish people were no exception. Instead of living in relationship with God, the Jewish people selfishly rebelled against God. Over time the Jewish people increasingly were involved in actions and attitudes of omission and commission that flowed from selfishness and rebellion and that hurt God and others.

But notice that Paul states that Jesus was born under the Law. Jesus did not enter into humanity in a position that was above the Law; instead Jesus entered into humanity under the Law. This phrase literally means to be in subjection to the Law. Paul’s point here is that Jesus entered into humanity and faced life here on earth under the same conditions that all of humanity faced, under the same rules, expectations and temptations that we face, so that He could totally and completely identify with us.

You see, God sent His Son on specific mission to solve a specific problem. A problem that we caused; a problem that separated us from God; a problem that religious based performance could not solve, because religion only further alienates us from God; a problem that only Jesus Christ, as God in a bod, could solve.

Friday, we will see Paul reveal Jesus’ mission….

The Limits of Religion...

During this election season, we have been spending our time together in the church I serve in looking at a letter in our Bible called the book of Galatians, where we have discovered several timeless reasons why we are to vote no on religion. Last week, we discovered that we are to vote no on religion because religion confines and can only guide us to see our need for Christ. Whether it the religion of legalism or the religion of license, every religious system can only confine us and guide us to see our need for a rescuer. But religion does not provide that rescuer that can deliver us from the destructive power of selfishness and rebellion that is within us.

We saw Paul revealing for us the reality that regardless of one’s cultural or socioeconomic background; regardless of one’s gender; we all receive the opportunity to experience forgiveness and the fulfillment of God’s promise to humanity the same way. And that way is not through religion or religious activity. That way is by placing our confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

Now this week, I would like to pick up where we left off last week, where we will see Paul continue to provide evidence to prove that the way to experience forgiveness and a relationship with God is only by placing our confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. And it is in the evidence that Paul provides that we will discover another timeless reason why we are to vote no on religion. So let’s look at the evidence together, beginning in Galatians 4:1:

Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.

Paul begins this section of his letter to the members of the churches of Galatia by pointing to a familiar scenario involving fathers and their children in the Roman Culture of the first century. However, since we live in the 21^st century, to understand what Paul is communicating here, let’s take a minute and unpack this scenario. In the Roman culture and law of the Paul’s day, if a father died early in life and left the family estate to a child, then the child heir of the family estate was under the control of a tutor until he was the age of fourteen. Then from the age of fourteen until 25 the child heir was under a curator that was appointed by a judge if the father had not done so as part of a will. However, in most wills, a father, prior to his death would set a date, in advance, as to when the child would be considered an adult and have the freedom to have access and authority over the family estate.

Paul then reminds the members of the churches of Galatia that until the child reached the date that had been set in advance by their father, the child does not differ at all from a slave. The child, while the rightful heir to the family estate, has no freedom or authority when it comes to accessing all that they own as heir to the estate. Instead they are restricted by the guardians and managers that the father had set over them until the date that the father had set in advance arrived. Even though the child owned the family estate, the child was had no power over the estate or his situation. The heir was restricted and limited when it came to experiencing the freedom that he was destined for until a date in the future. After reminding the members of the churches of Galatia of this familiar scenario, Paul draws an analogy in verse 3:

So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.

Here we see Paul provide a spiritual analogy to this familiar family scenario involving children and their father. “So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.” In other words, Paul is stating that God, as our Heavenly Father, had set a date, in advance, when humanity would be able to experience the blessings that come from being in a right relationship with God. However, prior to the date that God the Father had set in advance, humanity was held in bondage; humanity was restricted from experiencing the freedom that they were destined for. Humanity had no power over their situation. Even though humanity was created for a relationship with God as their Heavenly Father and for a relationship with one another as brothers and sisters, humanity was enslaved and was unable to experience the freedom that comes from living in the relationship with God and one another that they were created for.

Paul then explains that what enslaved and restricted humanity from experiencing the relationship with God and one another that they were created for were the elemental things of the world. But what does that mean? What are the elemental things of the world? When Paul refers to the elemental things of the world, he is referring to the elementary forms of religion that had come to dominate the world. As we have talked about throughout this series, a clear and simple definition of religion is that religion is man’s attempt to do things for God in order to be right with God. 

And here we see Paul reinforcing the evidence that we looked at last week when we discovered that we are to vote no on religion because religion confines and can only guide us to see our need for Christ. Whether it the religion of legalism or the religion of license, every religious system can only confine us. Religion can only confine and imprison us in the selfishness and rebellion that resides in us and separates us from God. All religion can do is guide us to see our need for a rescuer. But religion does not provide that rescuer that can deliver us from the destructive power of selfishness and rebellion that is within us.

Paul’s point to the members of the churches of Galatia, and to humanity throughout history, is that humanities attempts to do things for God in order to be right with God through religious performance only enslaved and restricted humanity from the relationship with God that they were created for. Humanities embrace of religion resulted in continued alienation from God. And this reality was not a surprise to God. God was not in Heaven saying “Oh no, we didn’t see that one coming! What are we going to do now?”

You see, God was not surprised. God already had a plan in mind. And God had already set a date in advance when He would intervene in human history in a most unexpected and powerful way in order to provide humanity the opportunity to experience the forgiveness and freedom that comes from living in the relationship with God that we were created for.

Tomorrow, we will see Paul reveal that date and that plan to the members of the churches of Galatia…

Equal Access Apart From Our Activity...

This week we have been looking at a letter in our Bibles called the book of Galatians. Wednesday, we saw the Apostle Paul reveal for us another timeless reason that we are to vote no on religion because religion confines and can only guide us to see our need for Christ. Whether it the religion of legalism or the religion of license, every religious system can only confine us. Religion can only imprison us in the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God. Every religion that has ever been devised can guide us to see the desperate situation that we are in as a result of the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God. But that is all religion can do.

All religion can do is to confine us and lock us up under the destructive power of the selfishness and rebellion that resides within us. All religion can do is to guide us to the reality that there is nothing we can do for God in order to rescue us and make us right with God. All religion can do is guide us to see our need for a rescuer. But religion does not provide that rescuer that can deliver us from the destructive power of selfishness and rebellion that is within us. Only Jesus Christ can rescue us.

It is only when we place our confident trust in what God has done for us that we can be rescued from the destructive power of the selfishness and rebellion that resides within us and experience the forgiveness and relationship with God that we were created for. We see Paul unpack this reality for us in verse 27:

For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Now when Paul uses the phrase baptized in Christ, he is not promoting that we need to be baptized in order to be saved. In verse 27, Paul is revealing the results of what occurs in the life of those who place their faith in Christ. Paul’s point here is that as a result of placing our confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel, we have received forgiveness and are now living in a right relationship with God as a follower of Jesus. As a follower of Jesus, we become a part of the body of Christ. And as we follow Jesus command to be baptized, that baptism is a public proclamation and a public identification with an inward reality that has occurred in our lives. We are now a new member of the community of faith that the Bible refers to as the body of Christ as followers of Jesus.

And as part of the community of faith called the body of Christ, Paul explains that followers of Jesus have clothed yourselves with Christ. But what does Paul mean when he says that we have clothed yourselves with Christ? Now Paul is not talking about going to the mall the buy some Jesus clothes. Instead, Paul is using a metaphor to reveal the reality that as a result of placing our confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel, followers of Jesus will begin to take on the characteristics of Jesus as they live in a right relationship with Him.

As a result of placing our confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel, followers of Jesus experience God’s transformational activity in their lives as they begin to reveal and reflect Christ in their character and conduct as part of the community of faith called the body of Christ. And the access to experience God’s transformational activity as part of the community of faith called the body of Christ is the same for all of humanity. We see Paul reveal this reality as he concludes this section of his letter in verse 28:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.

In these verses, we see Paul reveal for us the reality that regardless of one’s cultural background; regardless of one’s socioeconomic background; regardless of one’s gender; we all become reconciled and restored to the relationship with God that they were created for as part of the family of God the same way. Regardless of one’s cultural background; regardless of one’s socioeconomic background; regardless of one’s gender; we all receive the opportunity to experience forgiveness and the fulfillment of God’s promise to humanity the same way. And that way is not through religion or religious activity. That way is by placing our confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. And because of that reality we are to vote no on religion because religion confines and can only guide us to see our need for Christ.

So are you exhausted as a result of trying to escape the prison of selfishness and rebellion through religion? Because, as we have seen today, religion can only imprison us in the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God. Every religion that has ever been devised can guide us to see the desperate situation that we are in as a result of the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God. But that is all religion can do. All religion can do is to guide us to the reality that there is nothing we can do for God in order to rescue us and make us right with God. All religion can do is guide us to see our need for a rescuer. But religion does not provide that rescuer that can deliver us from the destructive power of selfishness and rebellion that is within us.

Only Jesus Christ can rescue us. It is only when we place our confident trust in what God has done for us that we can be rescued from the destructive power of the selfishness and rebellion that resides within us and experience the forgiveness and relationship with God that we were created for.

So, how have you been casting your ballot? How have you been voting?

Vote No On Religion Because Religion Confines and Can Only Guide Us To See Our Need for Christ...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter in the New Testament of our Bibles called the book of Galatians. Yesterday, we saw a man named Paul explain that the Law was given so that we would be perfectly positioned to receive God’s promise of rescue from selfishness and rebellion as a result of placing our confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. The Law and Old Testament imprison us in our selfishness and rebellion so that we would be in a position to entrust ourselves with compete confidence not in what we do for God, but in what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. Today, we see Paul unpack this for us in Galatians 3:23:

But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.

When Paul uses the phrase, but before faith came, he is referring to the time in history before Jesus Christ entered humanity. Before Jesus came to earth, Paul explains that we were kept in custody under the Law. In other words the Law was placed over the Jewish people and held them in custody. Now a natural question that arises here is “why would God use the Law and the Jewish religious system as the means by which He would confine them or hold them in custody? I mean why would God take away someone’s freedom like that?”

And maybe I have just described your view of God and religion. Maybe for you God is like the cop around the corner waiting to bust you because you violated one of His rules. God and religion is about confining and restricting your freedom. So, is that who God is and what God is about?

We see Paul answer these questions by explaining that the Jewish people were held in custody under the Law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. You see, the Law and the Jewish religious system were not used by God to keep the Jewish people in custody in order to rob them of their freedom. Instead the Law and the Jewish religious system were used by God to point the Jewish people to something, which was to the faith that was later to be revealed. Now this word revealed here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to cause something to be fully known.

The Apostle Paul’s point here is that the Law and the Jewish religious system was used to point the Jewish people to the day in history when Jesus Christ would come to earth and make fully known God’s message of rescue through the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel that would result in freedom from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God. Paul then hammers this point home to the members of the churches of Galatia, beginning in Galatians 3:24:

Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Now to fully grasp the significance of what Paul is saying here, we first need to wrap our minds around what Paul means when he says that the Law has become our tutor to Christ. In the Jewish culture of the Apostle Paul’s day, this word was used to describe a person, who was normally a slave, that functioned as a custodian and who would guide a young and free Jewish person to and from school and who would provide guidance and direction and be in charge of the free child when it came to their conduct or behavior. In our culture today, the word tutor would more aptly describe how a bus driver functions.

Now, let’s ask ourselves a question: As a teenager, did you enjoy riding the bus to and from school? Teenagers who ride the bus now, do you enjoy riding the bus to school? Or would you rather walk or better yet, drive your own car to school? Now, I don’t know about you, but I didn’t enjoy riding the bus; I would have much rather had the freedom to drive to school in my own car. I despised riding the bus to school. I would have rather walked than ride the bus to school. I mean on the bus, there were all these rules: rules on where to sit, how to sit. And there was little or no freedom. No choice of music; no choice of who rode on the bus with you; and very little choice when it come to who sat next to you on the bus.

The closer and closer that I inched to my sixteenth birthday, the more desperate I became to be freed from the bus driver and her rules. The closer and closer I inched toward my sixteenth birthday, the more desperately I desired a better option than the bus and the bus driver. The closer and closer that I inched to my sixteenth birthday, the more desperate I became to be rescued from my desperate situation on the bus and my relationship with the bus driver.

My time on the bus with the bus driver led me to desperately desire the freedom that would come with my license and a car. And when I turned sixteen and had the opportunity to get my license and a car, I jumped on that opportunity. I responded to the opportunity to have another option when it came to how I would get to school. And I rejoiced in the freedom that I received from the bus and the rules of the bus driver when I received my license and car.

Paul’s point here is that in the same way, the Law and Jewish religious system served to reveal the desperate situation that the Jewish people were in. Just like that bus driver, the Law and the Jewish religious system guided, directed and oversaw the conduct of the Jewish people. Just like that bus and the bus driver, the Law and the Jewish religious system guided and directed them to look at the desperate situation that they were in as they tried to do things for God in order to be in a right relationship with God. Just like that bus and the bus driver, the Law and the Jewish religious system guided the Jewish people to look for a better option that would rescue them from the desperate situation that they were in as a result of being guilty of having a huge problem with God.

And that better option, as Paul reveals in these verses was to be justified by faith. That better option was to be declared not guilty of having a huge problem with God as a result of placing one’s confident trust in what Christ had done for them through His life, death, and resurrection. And that is exactly why Jesus had come. And since Christ had come to earth and made fully known God’s message of rescue through the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel, humanity was no longer under a tutor. They were longer in need of someone to guide and direct them to a time in the future, because that future had come.

God had fulfilled His promise to Abraham and sent His Son Jesus, who entered into humanity and allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. God had provided the opportunity for all humanity to receive the forgiveness of sin and enter into the relationship with God that they were created for by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

For those who placed their confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel, they would receive the freedom that comes from being rescued from selfishness and rebellion. And for those who had placed their confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel, Paul explains that you are all sons of God through faith in Christ. Those who placed their confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel would no longer be outsiders when it came to their relationship with God. Instead they would be insiders who had been reconciled and restored to the relationship with God that they were created for as part of the family of God.

And it is here that we see the Apostle Paul reveal for us another timeless reason why we are to vote no on religion. And that timeless reason is this: We are to vote no on religion because religion confines and can only guide us to see our need for Christ. You see, whether it the religion of legalism or the religion of license, every religious system can only confine us. Religion can only imprison us in the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God. Every religion that has ever been devised can guide us to see the desperate situation that we are in as a result of the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God.

But that is all religion can do. All religion can do is to confine us and lock us up under the destructive power of the selfishness and rebellion that resides within us. All religion can do is to guide us to the reality that there is nothing we can do for God in order to rescue us and make us right with God. All religion can do is guide us to see our need for a rescuer.

But religion does not provide that rescuer that can deliver us from the destructive power of selfishness and rebellion that is within us. Only Jesus Christ can rescue us. It is only when we place our confident trust in what God has done for us that we can be rescued from the destructive power of the selfishness and rebellion that resides within us and experience the forgiveness and relationship with God that we were created for.

Friday, we will see Paul unpack this reality for us…

Feeling Confined and Imprisoned?

During this election season, we have been looking at a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament in our Bibles called the Book of Galatians. And just as it was for the members of the churches of Galatia, we discovered that, every day, we cast a ballot in an election for one of two candidates. Either we cast a ballot to vote to live our life as a religious-centered person; or we cast a ballot to live our life as a gospel-centered person.

Either we choose to live our day to day lives as a gospel-centered person whose life is driven to respond to what God has done for us through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection by placing our confident trust in Jesus and following His message and teachings by faith as Lord and Leader. Or, we choose to live our day to day lives as a religious centered person who follows one of two different forms of religion.

This week, I would like for us to pick up where we left off last week. And as we jump back into this New Testament letter, we see Paul continue to provide evidence to prove that religion does not make us right with God. And it is in the evidence that Paul provides that we will discover another timeless reason why we are to vote no on religion. So let’s look at the evidence together, beginning in Galatians 3:21:

Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Paul begins this section of his letter by responding to a potential objection by the members of the churches of Galatia: “Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God?” Now this objection, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “Does the Law, or the first five books in our Bibles today, contradict God’s promises? If the Law, as we talked about last week, reveals and provokes the selfishness and rebellion that resides within us, then doesn’t the Law actually oppose God and His promise to rescue from selfishness and rebellion? So, isn’t the problem the Law and not us?”  Paul responds to this objection with the strongest negative response that is possible in the language that this letter was originally written in.

Paul then provides two reasons why the Law is not in opposition to and does not contradict the promises of God. First, in the second half of verse 21, Paul explains that if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. Now to understand the point that Paul is making here, we first need to define some terms.

When Paul states that if a law had been given, he is not simply referring to the first five books in our Bibles today; instead, Paul is referring to any list of rules or things that one could do for God in order to be right with God. The phrase to impart life literally means to cause to live and refers to one experiencing eternal life in relationship with God. As we have talked about already in this series, when you see the word righteousness in the Bible, a simple and accurate definition of this 50 cent word is the quality or state of being right with God.

What Paul is saying here is “If any list of rules could have been given to you that would result in you being able to do things for God in order to experience eternal life with God, then a right relationship with God would be have been based on what you did for God. So the issue is not in the Law or any other list of rules when it comes to experiencing a right relationship with God. The Law does not contradict the Promises of God”.

Second, in verse 22, Paul explains that “Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” But what does that mean? This phrase has shut up, literally means to confine or imprison. The word sin refers to the destructive and evil power of selfishness and rebellion that causes us to do things that hurt God and others. So what Paul is saying here is that the message and teachings of the Law and the Old Testament imprison us in the selfishness and rebellion that is within us.

Once again, Paul here is revealing for us the reality that the function of the Law and the Old Testament was never to provide us rescue from selfishness and rebellion; the Law and the Old Testament were given to reveal our need to be rescued from selfishness and rebellion. The Law was given to confine and lock everything up under the destructive and evil power of the selfishness and rebellion that resides within us.

Now a natural question that arises here is “Why would God give us the Law and the Old Testament if its function was to confine us and lock us up under the power of the very selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God? If that question is running through your mind, we see Paul provide the answer to that question by explaining that the reason why the Law confines us and locks everything under the destructive and evil power of selfishness and rebellion within us is so that the promise by faith in Christ might be given to those who believe.

In other words, the Law was given so that we would be perfectly positioned to receive God’s promise of rescue from selfishness and rebellion as a result of placing our confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. The Law and Old Testament imprison us in our selfishness and rebellion so that we would be in a position to entrust ourselves with compete confidence not in what we do for God, but in what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.

Tomorrow, we will see Paul unpack this for us…

Are You Perfect??

This week, we have been looking at a section of a letter recorded for us in the Bible called the book of Galatians. Wednesday, we saw Paul reveal the reality that Jesus Christ chose to do what humanity refused to do so that all humanity, whether Jew or Gentile, would have the opportunity to be declared not guilty of having a problem with God as a result of placing our confident trust in what God has done for us through His life, death, and resurrection. The gospel centered life that trusts in Jesus perfection to rescue us from our selfishness and rebellion does what a religious centered life could never do, which is to meet God’s standard of perfection.

You see, when we trust in Jesus as Lord and Leader, a great exchange takes place. We receive Jesus perfect righteousness and Jesus takes our selfishness and rebellion. Today, we see Paul provide an illustration to unpack this truth in verse 15:

Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man's covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.

Now to understand the illustration that Paul provides us, we first need to define some terms. When Paul refers to a man’s covenant, he is referring to a person’s last will and testament. The word ratified means to validate or to make legally binding. When Paul uses the phrase to set aside or add conditions, this phrase conveys the sense of invalidating or modifying the conditions of something. With these definitions in mind, this illustration, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “From a human standpoint, even though it is only a person’s last will and testament, once that will has been made legally binding, you are not allowed to invalidate the will later. Once a will has been validated, another person can’t’ come later and modify or add conditions to the will. The promises made in that will are binding and cannot be changed”. Paul then takes this illustration that involving humanity and applies the illustration as an analogy to God’s activity with humanity in verses 16-18:

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ. What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.

Paul points the members of the churches of Galatia, and us today, to a section of a letter in our Bibles called the book of Genesis. In Genesis 22, we see Abraham demonstrate his faithfulness to God by not withholding his only son Isaac from God. In Genesis 22:18, we see God respond to Abraham’s demonstration of faithfulness by saying the following:

"In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

Paul takes God’s words to Abraham and points out that all the nations of the earth would be blessed not because of Abraham’s descendants corporately. The Jewish people and what they did for God by keeping the Law was not what was going to bless the nations of the earth. Instead, God’s promise to Abraham was that all the nations would be blessed because of a single descendant of Abraham. And that descendant, Paul reminds the readers of this letter, is Jesus Christ.

Paul then hammers his point home in verses 17-18. Four hundred and thirty years after God promised Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through Jesus Christ, in Exodus 20, the Jewish people received the Law. And since God had previously entered into a binding and valid covenant with Abraham as the Father of the Jewish people, the Law would not make void or cause God’s promise to lose its power of effectiveness. The Law and the religious centered lifestyle that followed did not invalidate God’s promise that flowed from the faith of Abraham. Paul’s point is that God’s way has always been the way of faith; God’s way has always been a gospel centered way. God’s way has never been about religion or a religious centered way that follows a list of rules for God.

But that raises a question doesn’t it? That raises the question “then why even give the Law?” Maybe that question just popped into your mind? If so, I have some good news. And that good news is that you are not the first person to ask that question. We see that question asked and answered in verses 19-20. Let’s look at it together:

Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one.

First we see Paul ask the question: Why the Law then? Paul then answers the question by saying that the Law was “added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.” But what does that mean? Paul here is revealing for us the reality that the Law was given to reveal and provoke the selfishness and rebellion in us. The Law was not given to provide justification; the Bible was given to reveal our condemnation. The Law was given to reveal the selfishness and rebellion that resides within us and to provoke that selfishness and rebellion so that it can be exposed for all to see.

Have you ever noticed that you do not have to teach anyone to be selfish or rebellious? We do not take a class on how to be selfish and rebellious. Yet, while we do not have to teach anyone how to be selfish and rebellious, how do we know we are selfish and rebellious. We know that we are selfish and rebellious when we are told that we cannot do something. A rule that tells us that we cannot do something provokes within us a desire to selfishly rebel against that rule doesn’t it? God gave us the Law because that is what the Law does; the Law reveals and provokes the selfishness and rebellion within us that we need to be rescued from.

In addition, Paul explains that the Law was ordered by God to be proclaimed to man by angels and was given to the Jewish people by Moses, who served as a mediator, or an intermediary, between God and humanity. But what does Paul means when he says “Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one.”? To understand what Paul is talking about here, we first need to understand the role that a mediator plays. A mediator is an intermediary between two parties that tries to broker an agreement between parties. Once an agreement is reached between two parties, then both parties have to keep the agreement for the agreement to be effective.

Now with that in mind, remember in verse 10, when Paul quoted Deuteronomy 27:26, where the Jewish people entered into a covenant commitment to God as His people by agreeing that, to live in a right relationship with God, that God required them to be perfectly obedient to all of God’s commands. Now, did the Jewish people keep their end of the agreement? No, they failed to keep their end of the agreement. The agreement to try to live a religious centered life only revealed their inability to do things for God by keeping a list of rules in order to be right with God.

However, as Paul reminds the members of the churches of Galatia, a gospel centered life that is based on confident trust in what God has done through Christ for us does not involve two parties forming an agreement. Instead, God’s promise through Jesus was incumbent on God’s activity and grace alone, which made it superior in its effectiveness. Because the timeless reality is that a right relationship with a perfect God requires perfection. And because of that reality, we are to vote no on religion because religion requires a perfection that no one possesses.

So here is the question: Are you perfect? Because a religious centered lifestyle requires a perfection that no one possesses.