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Um, but, uh, I love the book of Galatians. Um, it’s my favorite book in the Bible. I don’t think, uh, anywhere else, it’s laid out as as simple for as long of a period of time as an entire book. Um, Paul just lays it out there. Um, and he just lays out the gospel of grace. Um, and the fact that works. Um, and legalism and religious living don’t get you anywhere. And he just lays it out there. And I love the book of Galatians because it’s simple. Um, it’s practical. Um, and it’s it’s clear. His message is clear. Um, Galatians 614 is my favorite verse in all the Bible. Uh, may it never be that I would boast in anything but the cross of Christ crucified, by which I was crucified to the world and the world to me. Um, in the end, the only thing I have in life is the cross. It’s the only thing that I have to boast in my physical abilities. Um, my my status, my good things. Anything that I can do is nothing compared to Christ. Um, that’s found in the book of Galatians. Um, but, um, Paul is writing the book just to kind of catch you guys up on where we’re at. Um, he’s writing the book. Um, which most, most of the time, Paul writes a letter to the church. The reason he’s writing is false. Teaching had come into the church. Um, and people had started believing, um, uh, things that were contrary to the gospel.
And so he goes after, um, the false teaching that had crept into the church. Um, the, uh, he had gone in, um, twice on missionary journeys, and he planted churches and he taught them the gospel. But then a false teaching came in. Um, the Judaizers, um, is what they’re referred to as. Um, they came in and they told these, uh, um, Christian converts. They told them, yes, Jesus is enough for some of it. But in order to really attain salvation, now you need to live out the Jewish law, the mosaic law, the law set forth in the Old Testament, and then you’ll really be a Christian. Um, Jesus is good for, you know, about 65, 70% maybe. But that last, that last 35, 30%, that’s up to you. You’re going to have to do that. Um, and they were like, oh, okay. Yes. Now they started doing things particularly the main, um, teaching that they taught is that in order to be a real Christian, you needed to be circumcised. Um, and so they were they were getting circumcised because they thought that was needed. And Paul says, no. Paul threw out the whole book. Just kind of goes after this idea that Jesus is only sufficient for some of your salvation. The rest of it is dependent on you. He just goes at that like a pinata on Cinco de Mayo.
He just wails on that thing and just beats it, um, till there’s nothing left of it. Um, and shows us that the gospel is grace alone. Um, faith alone works are not a part of it anywhere. And he just dismantles the idea that you need to earn or work, um, to get anywhere. Um, so that that’s kind of where we’ve been. Um, he he attacks it pretty bluntly. Um, he attacks it pretty straightforwardly. He doesn’t hold punches usually. Um, a lot of times when Paul’s writing, he’ll write a little more tender than he writes to the Galatians. With the Galatians, he’s a little more, um, blunt. He says things like any gospel other than the gospel that I preach to you, um, is cursed. It’s anathema. It’s damned to hell it’s unredeemable. Um, if it’s a gospel, anything other than the gospel that I preach, which is the gospel of grace, not the gospel of works. Um, he says, by the works of the flesh, no one will be justified. Um, if indeed you can earn your salvation. Christ died needlessly. So he was telling the Galatians that by their lifestyle, what they were choosing to live and follow, um, was, uh, was diminishing what Christ did on the cross, um, which is a pretty severe accusation. Um, so we’re going to pick it up today in chapter 12, and I have no idea. Here’s the remote. I’m telling you, it is just one of those weekends.
So I’m going to before we jump into the scripture, um, while you’re turning, we’re going to be in Galatians chapter four and verse 12. Um, I’m just going to pray, um, for myself and for you guys, uh, to be able to deal with me today. Um, God, uh, um, Lord, I thank you that I am, um, insufficient. And I am inadequate. Um, but, uh, that, um, you can use those things. Lord, I just ask that you would, uh, um, call my heart. Give me focus. Give me clarity. Lord, help me to, uh, um, to speak the words that you want me to say. Lord, I just pray that, uh, you would use this message, um, to, uh, to affect our lives. Lord, everyone here, myself included, God, that we would see what your word says and that we would see where our life doesn’t match up and we would change our our lives to match up to that God. Um, just be with us now as we dive into your word. God bless our time together in Jesus name. All right. So, um, Galatians chapter four, verse 12. Um, last week we looked at, uh, the first part of chapter four, and Jared showed us how, um, the law, um, is our tutor. Um, and it gives the picture of a child who lived under, um, under, uh, a royalty would have a tutor that would train them up in the ways.
And they were to be subject to that tutor, um, throughout their childhood. But then, um, as they grew up, then they would come old enough and they were no longer under that child. And that’s what Grace does for us, um, is we were under the law. But the time has come now. We’re no longer under the law, but under grace. And now Paul goes ahead and starts in chapter four and verse 12 and he says, I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. And at first, uh, read um, that’s kind of one of those passages that you’re like, wait, what? Um, because he says, be like me because I’m like you. Uh, and that doesn’t necessarily make a whole lot of sense when you just read it. But when you think about it and you process it, um, it’s a perfect picture of of freedom from the law and freedom of religious rules. Um, Paul was a Jew. Um, so he was under the Jewish law. And if you read in Philippians chapter three, um, he lived the Jewish law better than anybody. Um, he was, uh, the top dog as far as that goes. Um, but he was under the Jewish law, uh, when he met Christ on the road to Damascus and and, um, accepted him and was, uh, was saved. He was no longer under that law, but then he was under grace.
The Galatians, being Gentiles were never under the Jewish law. Um, they they had no, um, tie to the Jewish law or need to follow and live by the Jewish law. But after they were saved, the Judaizers came in and they felt the need to be under the law. And Paul is saying, look, be like me, because I once was under the law, but now I’m free like you were. So the Galatians had made this, this mistake and flip in their head, um, and Paul calls him out on it. In Galatians three three he says, are you foolish? Having begun by the spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? And so he tells them again, be like me, because I’m like you were. You were free from the law. And now that you’re still free from the law and saved, you want to get back under the law. And that doesn’t make any sense. Um, and I think a lot of times for me personally, whenever I read, um. It’s quick for, and I don’t know if you’re this way, but I read like of the disciples when they doubt and Jesus is like, oh, you of little faith. It’s like, yeah, what is wrong with you guys? You’re walking with Jesus. Why would you doubt, um, or in this case, the Galatians? Like, yeah, why would you go back to being under the law when you’re free? That doesn’t make any sense.
Um, and usually about the time I finish my thought or in the middle of my thought, the Holy Spirit kind of comes up and smacks me on the back of my head and he’s like, hey, um, that’s you, dummy. What are you doing? Like, pull your head out of your butt and think about it. You’re the one that’s doing this. That’s why I’m writing this. Um, and so many times, I mean, I know, I know all the all the verses about salvation by grace alone. I know, you know, Isaiah 64 six, Ephesians 289, Titus three five, Galatians 216, on and on and on. The list goes about salvation by grace, and my works are not sufficient or worth anything. Isaiah says, they’re filthy rags. They’re worthless. But then I set myself up a list of rules that I need to follow to make sure that God is happy with me. And then when I screw up and somebody cuts me off in traffic and I yell at him and I scream at him because obviously me yelling and screaming through my windshield and closed doors is gonna gonna affect their driving. They’re going to be a better driver. I scream and I yell at them and I get angry, but then I feel bad. So then I go home and I got to do something to make up for yelling at the person on the road.
So then I have to. And it does me no good. And I find myself, even though I know I’m free from the law, and I know I’m free from from living a set of rules. And I no longer need to to worry about, um, following guidelines to be saved. I still go back to that list, my list, my checklist. Am I doing these things? Should I do this? Oh, I messed up on that. I need to to make up for it. But first John one nine says, if you confess your sins, he’s faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It doesn’t say, if you confess your sins and then do three good things to make up for every one bad thing that you’ve done, then he will be faithful to forgive you. It says confess, and he’s faithful to forgive. I don’t need to work to do it. These Galatians were going back to this method of working and earning. Sometimes what’s effective for me when I read is instead of reading, um, reading the name that’s in the text, I just kind of put my name in it and think, oh, foolish Richie. Having begun by grace. Are you now being perfected by the law? And I think when you have a tendency to do that, um, when you take the time to do that, it makes the, makes the verse hit home a little bit more and you start to realize, um, that it’s a little bit more impactful than maybe you thought it was when you first read through it.
So Paul continues to attack them. This this idea of of law versus grace. Um, but Paul, um, in in most of his letters, pretty much all of his letters. Um, the thing I like about reading the epistles of Paul, one of the things is, um, he anticipates any rebuttal that might be made and any argument counterargument that might come up. And he goes ahead and answers the questions that would arise before they can even be asked. Um, this was back in the day before texting and email, so communication wasn’t instant. Um, it just wasn’t a phone call conversation. They didn’t sit all the church leaders down around a conference call, and Paul didn’t sit there on speakerphone and, okay, lay it out. And then they asked their questions and then he responded. So he, in his letters, goes ahead and has to anticipate and think ahead. And okay, if this is my point, what are going to be the arguments against this or that they’re going to try and bring up? And he goes ahead and and answers all those. And it’s just it’s brilliant. I mean, Paul was one of the smartest people. I think that I’ve read about. I don’t know, I don’t do much reading. So there’s probably a lot smarter out there.
But he’s definitely one of the smarter people, definitely smarter than I am. Um, but he writes to the Galatians, this dismantling of the legal system that they’re living under, this religious system that they’re living under, rather. Um, and he anticipates the fact that as he’s writing this, they’re probably going to take this back to the Judaizers, who are telling them they need to live under this system. And the Judaizers are going to say, well, yeah, of course he’s telling you that he’s upset because now you’re not listening to him, you’re listening to us. So you just can ignore that and don’t worry about that letter. So in the next few verses, Paul gets kind of intimate, um, with the Galatians, and he lets him know that he’s not writing them out of jealousy or anything like that, but he’s writing to them out of out of love and out of a close knit relationship that they have with each other. Um, so the next part of chapter of verse 12, um, says that, uh, you did me no wrong. You know that it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.
Have I then become your enemy by telling you, excuse me? By telling you the truth? They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth. Until Christ is formed in you. I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. So he tells them in verse 12, he says, you’ve done me no wrong. You haven’t personally offended me. I’m not writing this attacking you personally. I’m writing this because what you’re believing isn’t the truth, and eternity is in the balance. And you need to understand the truth of the gospel. Paul’s concerned with the unity of the body. Um, so he wants to make sure that that him and the Galatians are on the same page here. The church in Galatia was spread out, and he wanted to make sure that throughout the region. Um, they they were all, um, unified. Um, if you read the Epistles of Paul, there’s, uh, several occasions where he calls the church for unity. Be of one mind. Um, be unified. Um, in Philippians. Um, he tells them to be of one mind in Ephesians.
Um, multiple times. He tells them to maintain their unity. Um, but if you read in Philippians he says, um, be of one mind putting away your selfish desires and your selfish ambitions and selfish motives, don’t do anything out of selfishness. And that’s what Paul’s kind of calling the attention to the church to. He’s I’m not writing you this out of my selfish motives to attack you. I’m writing this to you because you’re not believing what God’s Word says. You’re not believing the truth of the gospel of grace, and you’re putting yourself under a law and a legal system that doesn’t get you anywhere. And eternity is in the balance here. That’s why I’m writing you. And if I can be honest with you, there’s been, uh, been a lot of times in my six years in ministry, um, which isn’t that long of a time to, to be in ministry. But, um, in that short time, there’s been a lot of times, um, where I’ve taught, uh, and preached out of a selfish motive. Um, I’ll think, oh, this is exactly what this person needs to hear. And I’m going to I’m just going to nail it and they’re going to hear it, and they are going to just completely change their life. This is going to be the message that they point back to as the turning point in their life. And it’s going to be so awesome.
And I and I’m, I’m going to I’m going to do that. I’m going to just pinpoint it right for them. And I’ll pretend like I’m talking to everybody, but really I’m just right there. I’m talking to you and they know it and it’s going to be great. Um. But, uh, nine times out of ten, when I did that, the person that I intended to aim the message at never even showed up. Um, which is probably a good thing. Um, but every time that I did that, I can point back to those as being some of the worst, worst lessons and just bombs, um, that I’ve dropped just terrible. Um, because I was coming at it from a selfish motive and and wanting to see them. See that I was right. And I’ve been telling them that they were they needed to change. And now, you know, you can see from and I it was wrong. And I had to confess that and ask forgiveness from God. Um, and move on from that. But Paul, Paul being a lot smarter than me, um, isn’t writing from a selfish motive. He’s writing out of love and compassion for them. Um, he reminds them of his connection to them. If you read in acts chapter 16 and in chapter 18 is when Paul makes, um, his two visits to Galatia to start the the churches there, um, in acts chapter, uh, um, 18 is actually where he probably meets up with Timothy, um, who he wrote first and second Timothy to.
Um, he refers to Timothy as, uh, his true child and faith, which means Paul was probably the one that that shared the gospel with Timothy. And Timothy accepted it. Uh, and so Paul shares with them, look, I have a connection with you. I’ve been there. I know you guys. I, I’ve I’ve walked the streets with you. I’ve talked with you. I’ve been in your homes. Um, and he shares with them, and he reminds them, I’m coming to you as a friend. And Paul being being Jewish and being formally under the law was familiar with the Old Testament. And he knew that in Proverbs chapter 27, verses five and six says, better is open rebuke than hidden love, and faithful are the words of a friend. Paul knew that what he was trying to tell the Galatians was painful and it might hurt. But coming from someone they loved and someone they knew they needed to hear it. Paul knows that how you say things. Might hurt. Um, but it’s needed. And how we say things is just as important as what we say. Sometimes the things that we need to hear the most as people are the things we want to hear the least. And on the same hand, the things that we need to say the most are the things we want to say the least. And the way that you approach someone has all the difference in the world.
If you yell and scream that you’re an alcoholic and you have to change now, it’s probably going to have a lot less of an effect. As if you sit them down and you know I love you. I’m your friend. But I think he might be an alcoholic. And I think we need to get some help with this. Coming to someone that’s having an issue in love and respect. Um, goes a lot further than just yelling and screaming to get your point across. I grew up in a family. I have four siblings. I have three older and one younger, two brothers, two sisters. And, uh. Um, the way that you can win an argument is just be louder for longer. Um, and that’s how to get people to to trust you. Um, and that’s, that’s how people will convince and know that you’re right. Um, so, uh, and it’s something that I’ve been working on, and it was really pointed out to me when I moved out here. Um, and that the louder you are and the longer you yell doesn’t make you more right, it makes you a bigger idiot and a bigger fool most of the time. Um, and so I tend to when somebody disagrees with me, I just instantly. Okay, I go from, all right, we’re talking, oh, there’s a disagreement. And now I’m up here and like, let’s go.
I’m getting my boxing gloves on. Like, I’m ready to just knock down, drag out, get win this argument. Um, but that’s not the way to win an argument. Um, Ephesians 415 says to speak the truth in love. If you’re trying to convince someone that the religious system that they believe in is incorrect and false, the best tactic probably isn’t to yell and scream at them. And tell them that they’re wrong. So many, so many times we take verses like speak the truth and love and we, we just let’s end it at speak the truth. I’m just going to tell you like it is. I’m not going to hold back. And we we kind of tend to glorify that. And people tend to to think that that’s a great quality. Well I just tell it like it is. Okay. That’s great. But you have no love when you’re telling me like it is. So I don’t care. I’m angry at you because you didn’t tell me the truth in love. You just told me the truth. There’s a loving way and an unloving way to say everything. And if you’re like Paul and you’re trying to show someone. What you’re believing isn’t what God’s Word says. That’s not the real gospel. The real gospel is grace. It’s faith in grace, and it’s not of your works. Then. You need to share that with them in a loving manner. You can’t attack and you can’t accuse and you can’t point fingers.
Your tone says just as much as the words that you say when you say it. You might have all the good intentions in the world, but if you aren’t speaking the truth and love. The wound that Proverbs says a friend might cause might really end up being more of a scar than just a wound. And it might scar that person, and it might not just shut off them from listening to you, but it might shut them off from listening to anybody that has anything to say similar to what you said, because they were offended when you said it first. And so Paul reminds them, look, these people are going to try and tell you that I don’t love you, that I don’t care that I’m just writing this out of anger. Um, they’re going to tell you that I didn’t give you the whole story. And if I really loved you, I would have given you the whole story that what Jesus did is only good for, um, a certain amount of your salvation. And now you need to earn it. Um, and so just ignore it. And Paul says, look, I love you. I’m your friend. They even are. They’re so close that, um, at one point, they would have gouged their eyes out for Paul. Um. It’s never. Paul mentions it several times in his letters that he has a thorn in the flesh is what it’s referred to as.
He has some type of an ailment. Um, most people are under the impression that it’s bad eyes from from different contexts and from different things that we know about. Paul. Um, and so the Galatians were willing to rip their eyes out and give them to Paul. Um, because they loved him so much. And now he’s saying, am I your enemy? Because I’m telling you the truth in the gospel, you think that I’m your enemy? I’m I’m your friend. You were willing to rip your eyes out for me. He uses endearing language. Um, he calls them brothers. He calls them beloved. Um, he calls them dear children. Uh, he wants them to know that he. He loves them and he cares for them. And that’s why the message that he has to share, as blunt and harsh as it may be, is needed for them because he loves them and he cares about them. So he lets him know that he cares, and he lets him know that he loves, and he lets him know that he’s here for them. He’s not here to prove a point and be loud or longer. He’s here so that the grace of God can can be enjoyed fully, that freedom from religious rules can be experienced. So he lets them know I love you. And this is the truth. I’m telling you this out of love. And he goes on in verse 21.
And so he kind of takes this little break where he reminds him, I love you. I’m your friend. And this is the truth. And he comes back to just laying down the hammer. Um, and verse 21 says, tell me, you who desire to be under the law. Do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman, but the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically. These are two covenants, one for Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery. She is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, rejoice, O barren one who does not bear, break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor for the for the children of the desolate one, will be more than those of the one who has a husband. Now you brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the spirit. So also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.
So, brothers, we are not children of the slave, but of the free woman. And so this is kind of the the crux of chapter four. This is the last chunk of chapter four. And this is this is really the pinnacle of it. This is where he makes his point. And it’s all about your identity and where you identify. Are you identifying with the son of the slave woman or the son of the free woman? Um, and so he tells them, okay, you’re gonna you’re gonna follow the Jewish law, you’re gonna you’re gonna follow the law. Go back and read the law. Go back and read the law of Moses, the books of Moses, and see what they say. Um, they were drawing a line and saying, okay, this is this is one thing, and then this is another. Um, and they’re they don’t really relate. And this doesn’t teach the same as this. Um, and we do that today with the Old and New Testament. We say, okay, well, Old Testament is more just stories, but what it teaches doesn’t really apply to us. Um, so let’s just read the New Testament. Um, or vice versa. Um, and people will only focus on the Old Testament, not the New Testament. Um, but what Jared showed us last week and what we’ve seen is that it doesn’t matter if it’s old or New Testament.
It’s all one story with an overarching theme of God’s redemptive plan. The Old Testament does not contradict or work against the New Testament, and vice versa. The Old Testament shows us the law of grace, that we’re free from the law. And he tells us here that it’s an analogy between Abraham if you’re Jewish, you look to Abraham as the patriarch. He’s the head of the whole Jewish nation. And, um, so if Abraham, if Paul can use the story of Abraham to then point these people to grace, then that’s what he’s going to use. And he’s done it multiple times already in this book. Um, and the story that he’s talking about here, um, is, uh, God promises Abraham three things, um, throughout his, his life, um, he promises, uh, Abraham a land for his people to dwell in. He promises him, um, the seed that many nations would come from him. And he promises him a blessing that through him all the nations of the world would be blessed. He promises him those three things. Um, and, uh, in Genesis chapter 15, verse one, um, is when God promises Abraham that seed and he says, after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision. Fear not, Abram, I am your shield. Your reward shall be great. But Abraham said, oh Lord God, what will you give me? For I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus.
And Abram said, behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him. This man shall not be your heir. Your very own son shall be your heir. And he brought him outside and said, look toward heaven and the number of the stars, if you are able to number them. Then he said to him, so shall your offspring be. So God promises Abraham that the seed will come, the seed will come. And Abraham says, I don’t have any children. So it’s going to be my relative who still lives in Damascus. And God says, no, I’m going to give you, give you a son. And through you your descendants are going to be numerous to the point where you can’t even number them. So then in Genesis 16, um, Abraham, if you read the story and Abraham, uh, later, God changes his name to Abraham. So Abraham and Abraham, um, are one and the same. Um, but, uh, Abraham is around 99, um, at this point, um, and his wife is around 89. Um, so childbearing years are pretty well behind them. Um, and so Abraham in, uh, 16, um, Sarah, his wife Sarah, who’s later named name is changed to, uh, Sarah. Um, Sarah. Sarah said to Abraham, behold, now the Lord has prevented me from bearing children.
Go into my servant. It may be that I shall obtain children by her. And Abraham listened to the voice of Sarah. And after Abraham, uh, had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abraham’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, his servant, and gave her to Abraham. Her, um, her husband as a wife. And Hagar bore Abram a son. And Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar Hagar bore. Ishmael. Um, so Abraham, Abraham, and Sarah are well past, um, childbearing years. Um, for all the mothers out there, um, if you can imagine trying to be a 90, um, around 90 years old, um, and having children, um, that’s what Sarah was looking at. And so she’s saying, yeah, there’s no way it ain’t happening. Um, so let’s do this. Since God promised us this, um. But it’s not going to work. Um, let’s help God, and I’ll give you my slave. Um, and then you can have a child through her, and that will fulfill God’s promise. Um, but if you read in Genesis 1716 through 19 and then again in 21, two through three, um, we see, um, it says, this is speaking of Sarah. This is God talking, says I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations. Kings of peoples shall come from her. Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is 90 years old, bear a child? And so Abraham sees no way this is even going to be possible.
Um, and uh, and then in verse 18, um, Abraham said to God, oh, that Ishmael may live before you. God says, no, but Sarah, your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. And then in 21, um, verse two and three, uh, we see and it says, and Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son, uh, who was born to him whom Sarah bore him. Isaac. So Abraham has the first son, um, under the from the slave woman. Uh, because, uh, in his age, uh, him and Sarah didn’t see a way that it would be possible to have a son. So they went ahead and helped God out. And he had a son with, uh, Hagar the slave. Uh, but then God says, no, that’s not the son of blessing. I’m going to give you a son, and it’s going to be through Sarah, your wife, even though you’re both beyond the years of childbearing. And I’m going to give you this son, uh, through him.
And that’s the one that I’m going to bless. So then later, he. Has another son named Isaac through the free woman who is Sarah, and Paul says that this is a perfect analogy between the law and grace. And the connection can be made kind of like this. So God promises Abraham to have a son. God promises us that he will provide salvation. Abraham doesn’t believe God can provide a son. So through the flesh with Hagar, he tries to fulfill God’s promise by his own means. And he has a son by his own means, um, to fulfill God’s promise. We don’t believe that God can provide a way of salvation. So through the flesh, with obedience to the law, we try to fulfill God’s promise by our own means. God doesn’t bless Abraham’s attempt. To fulfill his promise of a son through his flesh and through his own own doing. And on the same hand, God doesn’t bless our attempt to fulfill God’s promise of salvation through our flesh and through our working and through our deeds, and following a religious system. But what God does is God provides Abraham a fulfillment of his promise. Through divine intervention. Without Abraham’s own doing. God provides us a way of salvation by divine intervention. Apart from our own means, without us being able to do anything about it. And the connection that Paul makes is is clear. Abraham tried to to help God fulfill a promise that God made because he didn’t trust in God.
You’re not trusting in God for your salvation, even though God has promised that his salvation is enough for you and you’re trying to help God save you. And it doesn’t work like that. If you talk to anybody that’s been a lifeguard or if you are a lifeguard. Um. The person who tries to save someone who’s drowning. When the person who’s drowning tries to help save themself. Um, it’s more dangerous for the person rescuing them because they’re flailing and they can tend to pull the person trying to rescue them down. And so when you try and save yourself, uh, while you’re drowning, it’s the same as trying to save yourself, uh, for for eternity and trying to earn your salvation. It just doesn’t work. It tends to make it harder on those around you. Um, and so. So Paul makes this connection to show them that, look, this Old Testament law that they’re that these Judaizers are trying to to make you live by doesn’t work. It’s not it’s not the same. God gave you a promise, a freedom from the law and freedom and being under grace. And you no longer have to identify with the slave woman but identify with the free. And so Paul asks the question, where is your identity? Do you want to identify with slavery or with freedom? Do you want to identify with the law or with grace? The law and living a religious life.
Has no way to liberate. Living a religious life and living by the law can only shackle and chain and imprison. When you live under the under a workspace law following checklist. To earn salvation. There is no peace, there’s no freedom, and there’s no rest in that. Legalism and trying to live the law will lead you to one of two things. There’s one of two places you end up by living this system, and both of them are a prison. Um, just a different type. The first one is you’re either going to end up self-righteous and you’re going to look down on those around you. Um, you’re going to, to, to see how good you are and how bad everyone else is. Um, and you’re going going to become self-righteous. And as a result, you’re in your own you created your own prison because in your self-righteousness, you know that you can’t slip up at any point in any way, because then all of everything that you’ve worked so hard to earn, everything that you’ve worked so hard to achieve, as far as your moral standing in the church or the community, your status will collapse. And so you live in a prison of, I can’t mess up, I can’t mess up, I can’t mess up. I’m the best, I can’t mess up and you’re trapped. So you’re either going to follow that path, or you’re going to follow the path that leads to despair, and you’re going to realize, I’ve messed up too much and I can’t do anything about it.
I’m never going to be as good as the Joneses down the street. I’m never going to be as good as this person, and you get trapped in a box of despair and you realize that you can’t live up to the law and you can’t do it, and you’re not good enough. And you’re in a prison. The law cannot free. Cannot liberate. Living a religious life can only lead to shackles and chains. Grace. On the other hand. Is where we find liberty. It’s where we find freedom. Freedom in the cross of Christ says that I have no need to measure up because he did. I have no checklist to keep. I have no scales of good and bad to keep balanced. I only have to rest in the shadow of the cross of Christ. Under grace, you no longer feel the pressure of wondering if you’re good enough, or if you’ve made a mistake or fallen or slipped under grace. You can cry out, I’m not good enough. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve fallen. I’ve slipped. But all of those shortcomings. Been nailed to the cross of Christ. I’m free. I am free. The cross of Christ is where all my shortcomings were nailed. And he says to Telestai, it has been finished that sin debt is paid in full because of what Christ has done on the cross.
You’re free, church, you’re free. Don’t go back to living a life of bondage under the law that only leads to self-righteousness and despair and prison and shackles. Live in freedom. Christ is paid for your freedom with his life. Your freedom cost God his life. Live in that freedom. Live in that freedom. Verse 31 says, so, brothers, we’re not children of this slave. Praise God. We’re children of the free woman. We are free under grace. It’s not by anything that we can do. There’s no ratio of Jesus did 70. You need to do 30. No, 6040. No, 5050. It’s all been done in Christ on the cross. It’s done. We are free. Our identity is no longer under the law, but under freedom. God gives us a new identity. He changes us. Galatians four four Jared read it this morning. We looked at it last week. God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons, so that we might receive a new identity. And because you are sons with a new identity, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ABBA, father, you have a new identity. You’re the son and daughter of God. Second Corinthians 517 says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. You are a new creation. You have a new identity through Christ. No longer do you need to identify with slavery and bondage of the law. Romans 816 the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may be also glorified with him, we are made heirs. We are new. We have a new identity. Don’t worry about the identity of the law and your shortcomings, because the law is there to show you that you have shortcomings. It’s not there to save you from those shortcomings. When you look at the law, you say, I can’t do it. Even in Jesus’s ministry, the rich young ruler comes and he says, what must I do to inherit the kingdom? And Jesus says, uh, you know, obey the law and the commandments. He says, I have obeyed all of them, uh, to the letter better than anybody else. And Jesus says, okay, um, then go and sell everything that you have and give it to the poor and follow me. And he says, okay, well, never mind. I like my checklist better because I can gauge where I’m at. And he doesn’t want to live this give the sacrifice. We can look at the law and we can think that we’re doing okay because we’ve checked off a lot of boxes, but it all comes short.
Unless you’re willing to to follow Christ and live in that freedom. Christ has given us a new identity Christ has given us. A new. Start a fresh start. All of the the shortcomings and all of the things that we’ve done in the past that we’re ashamed of, that we don’t want anybody to know about, that we don’t talk about. And we sweep under the rug and we hide in a closet and keep them there. Christ says all those things don’t matter because I’ve died and paid for those. And you are free from the bondage of the shame of those shortcomings. Christ says all of your list of accomplishments and being a good person. All of those. Are gone. You’re free from trying to achieve. And you’re under grace. Philippians three, Paul goes through and lists and says, look, I’ve done it all. I’ve lived the good life. I followed the checklist better than anybody. My ancestry, my heritage is better than anybody. If anybody has ever at any point been able to show what they’ve done by the law and count it as good, it was me. But I throw it all away for the sake of Christ. That I might know him. And the power of his resurrection. I don’t know where you’re at today. I don’t know where your identity is. I don’t know if you identify yourself with the slave woman, you’re still living under the law in hopes that you might one day earn favor from God.
I don’t know if you’re like the Galatian church and you’ve identified yourself with Christ, but you’re falling back to living under the law and trying to to maintain your salvation and maintain God’s good standing with you, which is impossible. God’s love doesn’t change, and it never fails. You don’t have to keep doing good to earn, to maintain your salvation. Once you’re saved, you’re saved. I don’t know where you’re at. I don’t know if you’re like Paul and you’re living in the freedom of grace. And if you are, praise the Lord for that. But this is what I do know is the the invitation to change your identity. Is open to all. Romans 116 says, For I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for is the power of salvation to all. We believe to everyone who believes. To the Jew first. And also to the Gentile. The invitation to change your identity from slave to free is open to everyone. And everything that was needed for it can be found in Christ alone on his cross. You don’t need to earn your freedom. You don’t need to work for it. You’re not an indentured servant trying to earn your freedom and working to a deadline. You’re free. You’re free from the chains of religious rules. In Christ paid for that freedom with his life.