STUDY IN GALATIANS
SESSION 6
GALATIANS 3:26-4:20
1) Verse 26ff - St. Paul now Addresses the Galatians as “Adult Christians”
a) The Law is no longer our Judge or our Tutor
b) God is now our Father
c) We are now His Grown Children
d) But this relationship is found in the fact that we are “in Christ!” and in no other fact
e) Not UNIVERSALISM
i) God is Creator of All
ii) God is Father of Our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ
iii) God is Father of all those who are “in (eis = into or wrapped up in) Christ”
f) Baptism in itself does NOT make us a Christian _ as in some modern day erroneous teaching
i) We are saved by faith in Jesus Christ
(1) Personal faith leading to Baptism
(2) Personal faith expressed in parental faith in baptism and later confirmed by individual personal faith
ii) Baptism is the outward and visible sign of such personal commitment wherein we have “clothed ourselves with Jesus Christ”
g) In this faith relationship that brings us into being adopted children of God the Father through the auspices and work of God the Son we are all equal before God
i) neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus
ii) does not mean that all are equal in life and gifts
iii) means - in Salvation all are equal in Christ Jesus within the family of God where we belong to God in Christ and to each other as members of the same family
iv) obvious racial, cultural, sexual distinctions do not put up a barrier to equality in fellowship
Martin Luther states the issue thusly, “There is much imparity among men in the world. And it is a good thing. If the woman would change places with the man, if the son would change places with the father, the servant with the master, nothing but confusion would result. In Christ, however, all are equal. We all have one and the same Gospel, "one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all," one Christ and Savior of all. The Christ of Peter, Paul, and all the saints is our Christ. Paul can always be depended on to add the conditional clause, "In Christ Jesus." If we lose sight of Christ, we lose out.
h) Because we are “in Christ” we are also offspring of Abraham in a spiritual sense
i) Salvation by faith in Jesus
ii) Abraham’s Righteousness is in his faith and trust in God
iii) Christ is “the Seed” of Abraham”
iv) As brothers and sisters of Jesus we too are “seed of Abraham”
v) Remember the debate in St John 8:31-59 and in 58 “Before Abraham was, I AM!”
vi) John Calvin says, “The conclusion rests on this argument, that Christ is the blessed seed, in whom, as we have said, all the children of Abraham are united. He proves this by the universal offer of the inheritance to them all, from which it follows, that the promise includes them among the children. It deserves notice, that, wherever faith is mentioned, it is always his relation to the promise.”
2) St. Paul now brings it all together in 4:1 – 7
a) Child is an heir but no different than a slave while a child and subject to guardians and trustees
b) So when we were children we were under the basic principles of the world – stoichea = elements
c) IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME God sent His Son born of a woman under the law to redeem us and offer to humanity FULL RIGHTS AS ADULT SONS OF GOD!
d) The sustaining force is the Holy Spirit who provides the link between us and the Father to give us full rights as heirs
3) Verses 4:8ff - St. Paul’s Loving Care for the Galatians now pours out
a) The Galatians had been slaves to things that are not God’s at all
i) They had worshipped idols
ii) They had followed religious routines and procedures in order to gain some sense of being
b) Then they met Almighty God in Jesus Christ
i) Meeting and knowing Jesus gives a knowledge and love of the Father
ii) St. John 14:9 Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father”
c) Has Paul wasted his time as they now seem to want to fall back into that from which they were raised
d) It is necessary to understand the relationship of Law and Christ. Longenecker points out, “He (St. Paul) speaks of the Old Covenant as a bondage and a slavery, but only in relation to the liberty found in Christ Jesus.” He is not belittling the Law but only seeing its insignificance in relation to Faith in Jesus Christ!
4) Verses 12ff – The relationship between St. Paul and the Galatians
a) Paul had become one of their community in order to lead them to Christ
b) He had developed some sort of unsightly infirmity yet the Galatians were not revolted by him – possibly some sort of eye ailment (The Galatians would have torn out their eyes and given them to him – other possibilities were excruciating headaches or bedazzlement lasting from the time of his conversion)
c) Rather they listened to the Gospel (Good News) he preached to them
d) Pleading with them as a friend he asks, “Have I now become your enemy for telling you the truth?”
i) The truth is hard to swallow
ii) But True Love and True Friendship comes in the telling of the truth in a loving manner
5) Verses 17ff – Paul contrasts the Selfish wishes of the Judaisers with His desire in the Love of Christ
a) Judaisers wish
i) To alienate them from Paul
ii) Want the Galatians to be zealous for them
b) St. Paul wishes:
i) Calls the Galatians, “My little children.”
ii) The Galatians to be zealous for Christ – always and not just when he is with them
iii) His love pours out in their need to return to Christ
iv) Paul is willing to suffer with them again if he could only be there for them
v) He is perplexed (stands in doubt) is feeling strongly for them
Next Session
Galatians 4:21-31
