Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Okay, you guys can open your Bibles now to Galatians.
[00:00:08] We're still in chapter three, but we'll make it to chapter four today.
[00:00:14] So Galatians. So we've been doing an inductive Bible study of Galatians. So we'll just review like we do, so we can kind of remember where we're at, because, you know, we're going through it so slow, slowly. We don't want to kind of lose our way and forget what we've talked about already.
[00:00:32] But what is an inductive Bible study? How do we do it?
[00:00:53] Yeah.
[00:00:55] So reductive Bible study is basically like study the Bible from the inside outward.
[00:01:02] Yes, very good.
[00:01:05] That's right. So we want to study the immediate context and work outward and just kind of understand it all together, because obviously the immediate context helps. If you just read a sentence, you don't know what it's about. But the Bible really is just one big unified book, one big unified story. So. And it's all inspired by the same God.
[00:01:27] So we do believe that the whole Bible does help us understand each individual part.
[00:01:33] So that's what we've been at least trying to do in Galatians. I think we've. We've done it decently well. What have we gone through in Galatians? What is this book about? The purpose of it?
[00:01:49] Justification through faith alone.
[00:01:51] Justification through faith alone. Okay. Yeah.
[00:01:55] Why is that the topic?
[00:01:57] Why is he writing about that?
[00:02:02] Because the church has become very legalistic. Yeah, the church is legalistic. How have they become legalistic? What are they doing?
[00:02:11] Requiring circumcision. That's right.
[00:02:14] So that's the background. Do you guys remember what are some of the ways that Paul kind of sets the tone in the book? What is he talking about, specifically? The first two chapters.
[00:02:31] What's he kind of doing in there?
[00:02:39] Or to ask another way, why, according to Paul, why should they listen to him?
[00:02:48] Yeah. Because God came to him.
[00:02:57] Yeah. Yeah. So he has personally been given the gospel from the risen Lord. He's been made an apostle.
[00:03:05] And he even kind of tells us about how he was preaching the gospel well before he had spoken to any other apostle. And yet when he did speak to other apostles, they all confirmed that he is teaching truly what the gospel is.
[00:03:22] He's probably doing this because as an apostle who wasn't with Jesus during his earthly life, he probably got a lot of questions, a lot of people were skeptical about him. And so he wanted to remind him of all of that, how he's not preaching his own message. He didn't make this up.
[00:03:42] And he spent two chapters doing that before he really got into the topic of justification. And that's what we've been really looking at in chapter three was just, okay, now that I've got all this background stuff and I've established the legitimacy of my ministry.
[00:03:58] Here we go.
[00:04:00] And so that's what he's been doing. He's talked about Abraham a lot and his example and how we are children of Abraham through faith, because he was through faith. And this promise made to Abraham was greater than the law. Does anyone remember why the promise to Abraham is greater than the law?
[00:04:26] There's more than one answer. Yeah. Because the law was given to Moses and Moses gave it to the Israelites and then promises. Jessica, you're right. Intermediary. Yeah, that's right.
[00:04:41] Yeah. So it was directly promised to Abraham rather than having an intermediary communicate the law to the people.
[00:04:51] What's another reason?
[00:05:13] Well, what came first?
[00:05:21] The promise. Right.
[00:05:23] The promised Abraham came before the law.
[00:05:27] And yet, even back when the promise was given to Abraham, the Bible says that he believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. You could also say he believed God and he was justified.
[00:05:39] It's the same idea. So what Paul is saying is he was justified hundreds of years before the law was given to Israel.
[00:05:47] So we can't say that the law was ever justified.
[00:05:51] There's always belief in this promise.
[00:05:54] And even now we would say the same thing. It's belief in the promise, except that the promise has been clearly revealed in Christ. So we don't say we believe in a promise. We believe in Christ because he was the fulfillment of that promise.
[00:06:09] So, yeah, that's kind of what we've been doing. And so now we're in chapter three, verse 26.
[00:06:16] And I'll read what we're going to cover today, but I'm going to start in verse 23, just so we can kind of get a little more context to remind us.
[00:06:25] Paul says now, before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. And here's where our section starts. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
[00:06:51] There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ. Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring. Heirs according to the promise.
[00:07:06] I mean, that the heir, as long as he is a child is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way, we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fulness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts. Crying abba, father, so you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God.
[00:07:49] Okay, so we'll start in verse 26 and just kind of work through.
[00:07:54] He says, for in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith.
[00:07:59] So I just want to start with a reflection. So I want you to think, and I'd love to hear what you guys are thinking.
[00:08:06] What does it mean to you to be called, if you believe in Christ, what does it mean for you to be called a son or daughter of God?
[00:08:44] I'm sorry.
[00:08:47] You're more than just a creature, right?
[00:08:52] Yeah, that's. That's good.
[00:08:56] It's more intimate, Right.
[00:08:59] Closer. Mm.
[00:09:05] I think it really puts a lot of weight on, like, how much he loves us, that he's like, you know, supreme Creator of the universe, and yet he still wants to have this relationship with you. Yeah, yeah. And he goes, you know, out of his way, so to speak, to adopt you into his own family.
[00:09:36] Right. I mean, we probably all know many people that are either adopted or do adopt as adults.
[00:09:46] And, I mean, just one commonality I've seen in all of this is just the incredible love by adoptive parents, because they rarely ever think this is just an adopted son or daughter. No, they love them like their own, like they really are. We're born of them with the exact same love.
[00:10:07] I think that's a beautiful way to describe how God adopts those through faith, as a son or daughter.
[00:10:21] Yeah. So I would just encourage you guys to think about that.
[00:10:28] I mean, this is a paraphrase, but a guy named J.I. packer, when he was alive, said something along the lines of, if you want to know the heart of a Christian or how well someone truly understands the Gospel, ask what do they make of being called a child of God, really? Do you think? It's really important, and it's really near the heart of God to think about that.
[00:10:57] All right, verse 27, he continues saying, for as many of you as were baptized into Christ, put on Christ.
[00:11:04] Okay, I don't think he's mentioned baptism in this book.
[00:11:09] Why do you think he brings to their minds baptism in this context?
[00:11:20] Why Baptism?
[00:11:54] Yeah, that's right.
[00:11:56] It is the physical marker.
[00:12:01] It physically marks off the church from the rest of the world.
[00:12:05] That's why we require you to be baptized, to join the church.
[00:12:12] What else? I know many of you have been baptized.
[00:12:17] Why do you think he brings it to their minds?
[00:12:31] Do you ever think about your baptism?
[00:12:33] If you have been baptized, do you ever think about it?
[00:12:39] Do you think that's something we're supposed to think about?
[00:12:43] I think that answers.
[00:12:45] Obviously I'm leading to an answer there, because Paul brings it up here. You should think about it. But why?
[00:13:00] I mean, I think he's doing it right here. He wants them to remember that they've been baptized because it reminds them first that they are unified to Christ, they are in union with Him. You guys, hopefully. Remember, I've mentioned this phrase, union with Christ many times in this book.
[00:13:20] I think it should be considered the heart of salvation, like the very center part.
[00:13:26] The thing that is what really saves a sinner is when he or she is unified to Christ.
[00:13:34] And that is clearly shown in baptism. How is it shown in baptism?
[00:13:39] Union with Christ.
[00:13:48] Yeah.
[00:13:55] Yeah, that's true. That's true. Does anybody know what we customarily say when somebody is immersed and raised back up? At least here, and it's said in many churches there are different customs.
[00:14:11] What does the guy say when he's dipping someone down, buried with Christ and raised to walk? Right.
[00:14:23] So the whole thing is you are dying with Christ and being raised to a new life with Him.
[00:14:31] So all the way through the whole time, it's depicting your union with him, that he has accomplished the work, he has fulfilled the law, he has died and risen to life. And so you die and raised to a new life in him, having been justified and credited with his righteousness and given his eternal life and counted as a brother, a fellow child of the Father. All of those things are depicted there.
[00:15:03] Baptism also depicts putting on Christ in the place of your clothing in Adam, your sinful nature is washed away by, or in that act.
[00:15:18] It's the visual pinnacle of salvation.
[00:15:22] You are physically seeing what it looks like, you know, so to speak, of the heart. When someone is saved, they are washed and raised to a new life.
[00:15:32] Someone is shown to be completely new through Baptism.
[00:15:36] So if you've been saved by Christ through faith, then you're wearing his righteousness always.
[00:15:44] You are living this new life. And so Paul wants to bring this to mind to remind them that they are not under the law. They're not wearing the clothing of Adam. No, they have put on Christ. They're unified to him, and that's crucial.
[00:16:03] And he goes on to continue to explain this idea by saying, there is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
[00:16:17] What is he saying here?
[00:16:19] What's the main idea of that verse?
[00:16:27] Yeah, we're all united in Christ.
[00:16:29] I didn't actually think about it when we prayed through Psalm 133, but we kind of see that this is the beautiful fruit of the Gospel is having unity and life forevermore, as the. The psalmist wrote.
[00:16:44] So there's this unity, there's this commonality. No matter what different parts of the world people come from or how different they might be, all of that is kind of washed away, not to irrelevant, but to say that we have all become one in Christ.
[00:17:03] Now I want to ask, how does justification by faith alone, that doctrine, how does that encourage unity? How does that help us to be unified?
[00:17:25] Well, it's not about our works and what we can do. It's about what Christ did.
[00:17:33] Yeah. So it's not about us, it's about Him. That's something we can unify in.
[00:17:43] Yeah, yeah. Everything outward is clearly made to be secondary because inwardly you've been justified not by anything you've done, not by any aspect of your personality.
[00:18:00] This always makes me think of this guy I was good friends with at church. I became friends with him at my church in Stillwater, where Ryan came from too.
[00:18:12] And we just came from the most different places ever. And even then, like, standing next to each other, we looked so different, as he would have a long goatee and a pink mohawk. And he just came. He was just like a death metal guy. Like, he came from just like a completely different world from me. And yet we became friends and stood together and sang the same songs. And all of this because it wasn't where we came from that got us there. It was the work of Christ and faith in him that put us there next to each other.
[00:18:47] So all of those outward differences were secondary. They didn't matter because of what Christ did.
[00:19:01] Now, I do want to be clear. I. We are just saying they're secondary. It's not that male and female doesn't exist. Some people probably try to say that it's not that, you know, the ethnicity of Jews and Greeks are irrelevant. You know, we're not saying like any things like that don't matter. We're just saying that they are secondary. It is not a reason to divide. We don't divide the church based on outward things like your status in society when, you know, we get that from slave and free, or your ethnicity, Jew and Greek, or your gender, male and female. None of those things should divide the church.
[00:19:41] We want to be unified despite any differences in those areas.
[00:19:46] He goes on in verse 29 to say, and if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring.
[00:19:53] So this is kind of just a summary conclusion of the argument. If you're Christ, you know, if you've put on him, you belong to him, then you are Abraham's offspring. Remember, he was talking about Abraham and his offspring before.
[00:20:08] But just to review, can anyone remind us how belonging to Christ also makes you Abraham's offspring?
[00:20:34] Does anybody remember when we talked about Abraham's offspring?
[00:20:59] So verse 16, it says the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. Who is the offspring?
[00:21:09] Christ is the offspring. And he kind of makes a point that he thinks the ultimate fulfillment of that is a singular offspring, singular person.
[00:21:19] But at the same time, offspring does mean a group of people.
[00:21:23] And so what he's saying is Abraham's promise to have a great nation, many sons and daughters, is fulfilled through Christ. Ultimately, though, he was made into the nation of Israel, and there are many offsprings from that. What he is trying to show is that really through Christ, all the people of faith are the offspring of Abraham. All people who have faith in Christ, the offspring of Abraham, become adopted into that family.
[00:21:57] So that's what he's saying, having faith in Christ, you're adopted into the family of God.
[00:22:04] And the family of God is one to one with Abraham's offspring. That's kind of just how the Bible's referring to it, because all people from Abraham are considered Israel.
[00:22:17] But as we see, it's not just blood. It's revealed that really Abraham's offspring come through faith not by physical birth and not by physical practices like circumcision, which is the topic of the book, the problem that they were having.
[00:22:36] He's saying, you don't have to obey the law and be circumcised to be Abraham's offspring.
[00:22:45] You are Abraham's offspring by putting on Christ.
[00:22:48] So that's kind of his big summary statement at the end of this chapter.
[00:22:54] And then right after that, he calls them heirs according to the promise. It's kind of how he closes that chapter. What is an heir?
[00:23:08] A relative or offspring. What is. You know, what is it? Canote. What's. Yeah, like they're gonna. After you die, they're gonna get their stuff.
[00:23:17] Yeah, yeah. And heir is. Is an offspring that will inherit something.
[00:23:26] So they are heirs according to the promise. The promise is what.
[00:23:43] What's the promise given to Abraham?
[00:23:46] What does God promise Abraham?
[00:23:49] There are three things we kind of summarize it with.
[00:23:57] All nations will be blessed through you.
[00:24:00] Yeah. So one of the three promises is of a blessing. You will be a blessing to the nations. Right?
[00:24:12] Yeah, yeah. A people.
[00:24:15] Right.
[00:24:16] Or he'll be made into a great nation. There will be many. A big people. What's the other one?
[00:24:31] The third one is land, the promised land, A place where God dwells with the many people of the nations that are blessed through Abraham, the sons and daughters. As sons and daughters of Abraham, you inherit the land, you inherit the nation. You inherit the blessing promised because Jesus won it for you.
[00:24:56] But if you remain without faith and a living faith like Abraham had, then you are not an heir to the promise, but an heir to curses and to eternal death. And so this is what the good news is. You must come and understand the gospel. You must believe in Christ and be adopted into the family of God through faith.
[00:25:18] That's what every person needs.
[00:25:22] All nations are blessed through this promise because through faith, they can be grafted in and adopted and considered part of true Israel.
[00:25:32] That's why he's kind of saying, saying. And then he jumps right into this topic of heirs in the next chapter, chapter four, verse one. I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is an owner of everything.
[00:25:48] In what ways would a child be no different from a household slave?
[00:25:54] I think that's interesting.
[00:25:58] He's saying a child is no different than, like, the household slave that they would have had at this time.
[00:26:15] Yeah, I'm sorry.
[00:26:19] Yeah. They still have to work.
[00:26:23] They don't really have.
[00:26:25] Like, a child doesn't really have freedom to go elsewhere.
[00:26:31] He might be an owner of everything, but he hasn't really attained those things which he owns by blood.
[00:26:41] What changes then that differentiates the grown heir from a slave? Well, he becomes the outright owner of the riches and the possessions of his father.
[00:26:52] That's the difference. As he grows, he eventually does inherit the land, the money, the wealth, the things.
[00:27:03] But as a child, he's not different.
[00:27:07] And as well. Verse 2, he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.
[00:27:15] So here Paul is further describing how a child heir is not different from a slave. He's under the authority of a manager.
[00:27:24] Verse 3. In the same way, we also. So he. Now he's kind of explaining why am I talking about heirs and children and slaves?
[00:27:33] In the same way, we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. Let's unpack that. Who is the we?
[00:27:45] Who is we?
[00:28:02] Christians.
[00:28:05] Yeah. I think in a sense it's true of all people, but I think he is specifically thinking of Christians, both Jews and Gentiles.
[00:28:13] So when we Jewish and Gentile Christians were children, we were enslaved to elementary principles of this world. What do you think the elementary principles of this world are?
[00:28:26] What does that mean?
[00:28:32] Any guesses?
[00:28:51] No one wants to guess.
[00:28:53] It is kind of difficult.
[00:28:55] It's debated.
[00:28:58] So in Greek, the words that are strung together here usually refer to, like, actually usually refer to physical elements like earth, wind and fire, like those actual elements of the world.
[00:29:15] Some argue that it refers to angelic or demonic principles. Principles is a term often used for those spiritual beings.
[00:29:23] But I think in context that feels a little out of place, a little out of nowhere to assume it. He's talking about angels and demons enslaving us when we're children.
[00:29:33] I don't think that's what he's saying. I think it's referring to physical elements, but he's doing it metaphorically.
[00:29:41] So I think he wants us to think about how this whole world, even basic physical elements like the ground and the air and water are enslaved to sin.
[00:29:54] And I think this fits the context you guys might remember. In chapter three, verse 22, Paul writes the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, which he was just saying it was God's will. And the Bible tells us and shows us how everything created is enslaved to sin.
[00:30:13] Before Christ, even God's people were imprisoned by sin and enslaved to the basic elements of the earth, to life and death.
[00:30:26] Then the law helped them, but the law could not free them from that.
[00:30:33] It helped, but they were still enslaved in the same way.
[00:30:39] We also see in this verse, he says, when we are children, you might remember just a couple of weeks ago, maybe even last week. I can't remember how we split it all up, but he's talking about those custodians that were over children to teach them. And what he was trying to show was that the law was like a teacher or a babysitter for the people of God. While they were immature. But once Christ came, the people of God grew in maturity. It was more fully realized. God's plan.
[00:31:14] And so what he's saying is, before Christ came, when we were children in redemptive context, still awaiting the offspring of Abraham to come, and we were enslaved to sin, he's saying, this is why we needed the law to help us. But now, through Christ, you can be freed of that slavery to sin.
[00:31:38] You don't have to be trapped in chains to the basic sinful, sinfully stained elements of the world.
[00:31:48] That's what, that's kind of what his, I guess, analogy is trying to say.
[00:31:54] Verse four, he says, but when the fullness of time had come.
[00:31:58] Does anybody know what that phrase means before I jump forward? When the fullness of time had come.
[00:32:04] He's just saying when the appointed time, whenever, when it. When, when it's ready, when the child has grown, when he is mature, when the plan was ready. He says God sent forth his son born of woman, born under the law.
[00:32:22] Okay, so there are two things he tells us about the son. First, he says, Jesus was born of a woman.
[00:32:30] How important is that detail and why?
[00:32:56] Yeah, so he was a man. And this is very important because he must have been truly man to fulfill the law, like, you know, the way that we ought to.
[00:33:16] If, you know, God is always fulfilling the law, you could say, because he is perfect.
[00:33:23] But when he puts on flesh, then he is standing in our stead.
[00:33:30] It also says he was born under the law.
[00:33:33] Well, this is also important. He was under the requirements of the law, but he upheld them.
[00:33:40] And since he is truly man, he didn't just do them, but he did them as one of us.
[00:33:48] And since he is truly God, his accomplishments of them can be credited to others through faith.
[00:33:55] And so he's not just kind of throwing in these phrases. He wants us to see that Jesus putting on flesh is crucial to all of this. And him being born under the law is crucial. He's not just destroying the law, he's showing that Jesus, he fulfilled it.
[00:34:13] And by fulfilling it, that righteousness can be credited to you through faith.
[00:34:19] So that's. And, you know, for the sake of time, we'll stop there. But I just want us to think about how important that is, that no other way could we be freed from slavery to the elementary principles of this world, but by the perfect God putting on flesh and doing it in our stead, that through faith and union with him, we can be considered to have accomplished the law perfectly through him, that perfection is credited to your account.
[00:34:56] And that is a wonderful and gracious thing.
[00:35:01] Let's pray.
[00:35:03] Father, we thank you for your word and that we can be justified through faith.
[00:35:10] Lord, we want to ask that you would help us to see the beauty of the church today and its wonderful unity that is only possible because of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Lord, help us to think about how that is true as we rub shoulders and talk to people that might be very different than us today. And, Lord, may that just be little reminders of your grace, that you love people from all the nations, that the promise you gave to Abraham fulfilled in your son, truly was a blessing to people from all over the world.
[00:35:47] And we praise you for this and pray in your son's name. Amen.
