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Galloping through Galatians - Part 4/6
What does it mean to be a child of God rather than a slave to religious rules? In this thought-provoking exploration of Galatians chapters 3 and 4, we dive into Paul's passionate defense of freedom in Christ against those trying to enslave believers to religious legalism.
Paul's message to the Galatians strikes at the heart of our spiritual identity. "You are all sons of God through faith," he declares, establishing that our primary defining characteristic isn't ethnicity, social status, or gender, but our relationship with God. This relationship through Christ transcends all earthly distinctions, making us co-heirs with Jesus of the promises made to Abraham.
The central question emerges with startling clarity: If you're already a son and heir by adoption through Christ, why would you willingly return to slavery? Paul's frustration is palpable as he watches believers abandon the freedom Christ purchased for them, choosing instead to be defined by religious rule-keeping. Using powerful metaphors and the allegory of Sarah and Hagar, he illustrates how living by faith produces freedom while religious performance creates bondage.
This message remains profoundly relevant today. How often do our well-intentioned traditions quietly transform into binding laws? When do our personal convictions become standards we impose on others? Paul's warning echoes across centuries: attempting to earn righteousness through religious observance is spiritually equivalent to idolatry – both get you nowhere.
Perhaps most liberating is Paul's reminder that our redemption doesn't depend on us "doing everything we can" before God "makes up the difference." Christ's sacrifice was complete and sufficient. We are children of the free woman by faith, not children of the slave woman through law-keeping.
Join us as we explore this transformative message about where true spiritual freedom is found, and why trading sonship for slavery is a tragically unnecessary choice.
Okay, I think we're about ready to get started.
Speaker 1:I hope we are. It is that time. According to the clock on the wall, there's many people that sit in the back. Sometimes I start to wonder if I have BO or something. I did take a shower this week, this week. Happy, okay, I'm not even going to go there.
Speaker 1:Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there. Hope you have had, and will continue to have, a great Mother's Day. My mom passed away 12 years ago, so I haven't had a mom for Mother's Day in a long time, but I have stand-ins. My mother-in-law and Martha West is my other mother. You may have heard me refer to her in that way. She was at the funeral, at my mom's funeral. I told her that she reminded me a lot of my mom and she said well, I'll be your mother, so from that point forward, she's been my other mother. Did she remind you of your father Moving on? It is a beautiful day, though. It is a very nice sunny day.
Speaker 1:All right, we're going to do, after your break last week, we're going to sprint to the finish here this week, next week and the week after, and then we're done. So we're going to get through Galatians here, and the title of this week's lesson is Sons or Slaves. But first name the galloping actor and his companion. Okay, what did you say? Hapalong Cassidy? Well, he's not in here, Sorry, roy Rogers. No, why don't we wait until the pictures come up? We can start guessing. This is like taking a test before I've even passed out the test, yet you know writing answers down, as I said.
Speaker 1:Now the guy on the right is who? John Wayne. This is from the movie the Searchers, which is, if you've never seen it, one of the top five movies of all time. You should watch it. Who's on the left there? His companion? What's that? I don't want to know what he said, don't know. Oh, my goodness. Who here has ever seen the searchers before? Oh, few of you have. Jack, you've never seen the searchers. Oh, my goodness, sit down with your dad and watch it. Make claire sit down with you and watch it. It's a fantastic movie.
Speaker 1:Jeffrey hunter was his, was the other searcher, died young, had some medical issues and died very young. Maybe known him best as Captain Pike in Star Trek, do you remember? Remember he's in the wheelchair? Now they've got this. This always cracked me up.
Speaker 1:Here's Star Trek. They've got these fantastic matter anti-matter propulsion systems. They can beam people down, beam me up, scotty. They've got these phasers and poor Captain Pike is stuck in this wheelchair that all he can do is go boop boop. You would think they'd come up with something better than that, but that's all he's got. Bo that, but that's all he's got. Boop boop. That's just the way how he communicates. Had to be there, I guess. Okay.
Speaker 1:Oh, there's John Wayne again on the right. Who's that on the left with him? What's that? Ward Bond, very good, yes, that's Ward Bond. This is also from the Searchers. There's Ward Bond again. He appeared in over 20 movies with John Wayne. They were best friends and you know Ward Bond was a decent actor. But if he hadn't known John Wayne, I'm not sure we would know who Ward Bond was.
Speaker 1:Now here's John Wayne again. Who's that on the right? Ricky Nelson Very good, all the girls, ricky Nelson. This is from Rio Bravo. This one I did there. That was from Rio Bravo too. Who's seen Rio Bravo? It's not the greatest movie. The plot is kind of stupid, but it's got a lot of good action in it, you know. And Ricky Nelson sings a couple of songs. Walter Brennan right. Nobody ever tells me nothing. There's Ricky Nelson, when he had the Garden Party song, right, 1974-ish, right, something like that. Okay, google Ricky Nelson, claire, you'll go.
Speaker 1:Ah, all right, let's talk about a few examples of sons who became slaves, or vice versa, the other way around, as Yogi Berra would say. Yogi Berra, you know who? Yogi Berra was Not the cartoon, that's Yogi Berra. Yogi Berra, the Yankees catcher, who had all these malapropisms, right, like, nobody ever goes there anymore. He was talking about a restaurant. Nobody ever goes there anymore, it's too crowded. You know, when you come to the fork in the road, take it. You know that was him.
Speaker 1:Ben-hur. Here's another great movie. Who has ever seen Ben-Hur, the original, 1915. Well, it's not even the original, it's a remake. But Charlton Heston yeah, there he is on the left. Charlton Heston plays a guy who ends up going to prison for a crime he didn't commit, kind of like the A-am, except BA wasn't with him. He ends up on a slave galley. The galley gets remember that the general unlocks him and he saves the general after the and then gets adopted as the general's son.
Speaker 1:How about Joseph? He was a son who became a slave and then is restored to his sonship with his dad. He was dead essentially in his dad's eyes, and then comes back to life again. The story of Joseph and then the prodigal son. Remember, when he comes back, what his dad says my son, who was dead, is alive again. Right, he wanted to come back as a slave, as a servant, and the father said no, you're a son. So let's do just a bit of review here. See, it only took five minutes to have a bit of fun. I can get on to the serious stuff.
Speaker 1:Right, let's read chapter 3 of Galatians, verses 23 through 29. 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, 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. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is no male or female. You are all one in Christ Jesus, all right, so you are sons, he says.
Speaker 1:He tells the Galatians here who are primarily who. What are they? Gentiles. He says you are sons by faith in Jesus Christ. Sons of whom? He says you are sons by faith in Jesus Christ, sons of whom.
Speaker 1:The answer is on the outline. What does it say? Sons of God, first of all right. And as sons of God, he says all other distinctions are unimportant. As a son of God, every other distinction among you are unimportant. As a son of God, every other distinction among you is unimportant. You are sons of God and you are brothers and sisters in Christ. Those no longer define us. Whether you're slave or free, whether you're Jew or Gentile, whether you are male or female. You are no longer defined by that. You are defined by the fact that you are a son of God. Does that make sense? That is your most distinguishing feature. You are also sons of somebody said it over here, was it you, randy? What did you say? Sons of Abraham.
Speaker 1:Now, who are the sons of Abraham? Before Christ came? The children of Israel, the Jews? Right, they were the children of Abraham. Paul says you also are now a son of Abraham, and you also, because you're a son of Abraham, you are a co-heir of the promises that God made to Abraham, fulfilled through Jesus Christ. It's not groundbreaking, is it? You guys all understand that.
Speaker 1:So if our relationship to God, what is our relationship to him? We are his children, right? If our relationship to God comes through faith in Jesus and this is kind of Paul's point to the Gentiles if that's what we are, if we're sons through faith in Jesus, what better relationship or what improved relationship can there be by making ourselves slaves to the law of Moses? What advantage is there to you, if you're a Gentile, to say, okay, I'll go back and I'll start obeying the law of Moses? Is there any advantage to be gained there? No, obviously not. You cannot improve on being a son. You cannot improve on already being part of the family, and that's also true of not just the law of Moses, but any so-called law. What is the advantage? There is none. There is none. The best thing you can be is part of God's family, and there is no improvement on that. Does that make sense? Okay, so let's move on then to chapter 4, verses 1 through 7. And again, this is the English Standard version I'm using.
Speaker 1:Had to get a drink of coffee from my grampy cup. None of you have a grampy cup. She came over and visited yesterday. She brought her mom and dad with her, you know, and her brother. She was awful spicy yesterday. She did not. She was like she wanted me to sit down and so she's, like you know, hit you. It's like two years old man. That's what she wants. Don't let that cute curly hair fool you. Is that right? Something about the age?
Speaker 1:I mean that the heir and this is Paul, I mean that the heir H-E-I-R. 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 H-E-I-R. So Paul uses an illustration that I think we can all understand here. Certainly his listeners did. He says a child has no more rights than a slave.
Speaker 1:Now I could ask Jack and Claire this Do your parents treat you like slaves? No, not at all. No, okay, good answer. Good answer yes, sitting beside mom, dad can reach you. Good answer he is subject. He says he's subject to guardians and managers. Somebody's going to be.
Speaker 1:If you're a kid, somebody's watching over you, right? Somebody's telling you what to do and what not to do. They have to right. If you've got a, if you especially a little kid, you got to watch them like a hawk, because that kid's going to get into all sorts of stuff, and even when they get older, you got to watch them night and day because they're doing stuff. So until you are free, until you're an adult, you've got somebody watching over the things that you do, to tell you what you can do and what you can't do.
Speaker 1:Now he applies this illustration to God's people and he says we were slaves under the law until set free by Christ. We who who was under the law of Moses, the Jews were right, but the Gentiles, he says, were also set free by the same sacrifice that Christ made on the cross. They were also set free. So here's a rhetorical question. What is a rhetorical question? Now, that question was not rhetorical. There's no answer. I think there is an answer, but I don't expect it's so obvious. I don't expect you to say it. Everybody knows the answer, right, is that right, teacher? Oh, you don't know. Okay, I was never very good at math. I was okay at math with the one plus one stuff. When they started putting letters in there, I said that's English. What's I got to do with putting letters in there? I said that's English. What's I got to do with math? You know? Here's the rhetorical question If you are a son and an heir by adoption through Christ, which we are, why would you want to become a slave?
Speaker 1:Why would you want to go back to becoming a slave, having someone over you telling you what to do and say? Why would you want to go back to that by observing the law, from which there is no further redemption? Christ died on the cross to free people. He, as he said, he has completed the law, he has fulfilled the law. Why would I want to go back under that? There's not going to be a second Jesus to come and redeem you from the law again. Oh yeah, he's putting it to the Gentiles here saying listen, answer these questions. Why would you want to do this? There's no advantage to it. Does that make sense? Verses 8 through 11.
Speaker 1:He says formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months, and seasons and years. I am afraid I may have labored in vain over you. Okay, let's stop here for a minute. You were enslaved to those who, by nature, are not gods. To whom were the Gentiles enslaved before they came to know God? What's that?
Speaker 1:Idols, idols, idols. When they worshipped idols, what did they do, do you know? Yeah, they sacrificed to them. There were certain things you had to do If you're going to be, and they referred to them as cults. But if you're going to be, if you are going to dedicate yourself to the cult of Diana or Hermes or whoever, you have to do certain things. You have to sacrifice to them. You have to observe certain feasts, certain days, certain months. So what weak and worthless elementary principles of the world were they turning back to? That very stuff?
Speaker 1:Here's the thing. Here's the shocking answer by attempting to obtain righteousness through observing the law of Moses, which is what these people from James were telling him to do you have to be circumcised. Remember, these people from James were telling him to do you have to be circumcised. Remember, tempting to obtain righteousness through keeping the law is the same as being slave to man-made laws of idolatry. Wow, wow. He equates those. He says they're the same. Trying to obtain righteousness through observing the law of Moses is the same as trying to obtain righteousness by worshiping an idol. Wow, both of them get you nowhere. Both of them get you nowhere. Hmm, how do we do that? Or do we do that? Okay, I'll ask it again. How do we do that? Okay, I'll ask it again. How do we do that specifically? How do we in 2025, or do we attempt to obtain our own righteousness? Look, he's talking about here.
Speaker 1:You observe special days and months. Are there special days that some folks observe Certain seasons, that they observe Mother's Day? You can deal with that on the way home. Rigo, you must do this. You must observe this. You must observe this feast. Remember, back under the old law of Moses, they had lots of different feasts, didn't they? Lots of them, including the Passover. If you're going to observe those things because you think that makes you righteous, then you're not any different from the idol worshipers who observe certain things, certain days and weeks and months, and they think that makes them righteous. Do we do the same thing? That's what I'm asking. Yes, lonnie, go ahead, help me here, as you're talking about 2025, I'm just thinking different days.
Speaker 1:So Easter and Christmas. If you don't go to church on those days, aren't you going to hell. Yes, absolutely 100%. Preach, brother, preach. In fact, you better go to Christmas Eve service too, just to make sure, and Easter sunrise just to make sure, right? I'm being facetious. You understand Now?
Speaker 1:Paul says elsewhere that some people count some days more holy than others, and he says that's up to you, that's your business, but don't bind that on me, because God didn't bind that on you. You chose to do that. If you want to observe Christmas as a day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, that's perfectly fine, that's your business. But don't tell me I have to do it too. Don't tell me that between Fat Tuesday it's total coincidence, I'm standing here, okay. Fat Tuesday it's total coincidence, I'm standing here, okay, I'll back up that.
Speaker 1:Between Fat Tuesday and what is it? Good Friday? Is that, when Lent is observed, that I must do certain things during that period. If you choose to do that, that's your business. Don't bind it on me. This is how tradition becomes law. This is how tradition becomes law. Okay, this is how tradition becomes law.
Speaker 1:The things that I do, or the things that we do because we think it's a good idea, very quickly becomes. This is the way you must do it, or what happens, lonnie, you're going straight to hell. Right? It's dangerous territory. It is very dangerous territory because it puts us in the same shoes as the folks who were going to the Gentiles and telling them you must do these things Instead of relying on Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. Now, suddenly, I've started to insert myself into the redemption process and now my redemption depends on me. And that's dangerous, because if my redemption depends on me, as Paul said earlier, as we looked at then, why did Christ go to the cross If I could do it myself? And that is the trap that these Gentiles are falling into, and it's a trap that we still fall into today, because it is very attractive to think that I am able to redeem myself if I will do certain things, that I am the one who is redeeming myself. I'll tell you this certain things that I am the one who is redeeming myself, I'll tell you this.
Speaker 1:I said before good people that taught me as I was growing up loved Jesus, loved the church, wanted to do what was right. But I'm convinced there's some things I was taught as a kid that just are not correct. One of them was this, and I remember this, I can hear the words being said. One of them was this, and I remember this. I can hear the words being said you have to do everything you can, everything you possibly can. You have to do everything you can, and then God will make up the difference. You ever heard that before? This was taught to me.
Speaker 1:I think that's wrong. God's already paid the price through his son. My redemption does not depend on me. You do everything you can and then God will make it. Well, what if I don't do everything I can? Name the person who does everything they can. I haven't done everything I can already today. So if I don't do everything I can, is God not going to make up the difference? That's the implication. I'm done, I'm finished, I'm through, I'm kaput. Well, maybe I can still get in through the fool hole. It's dangerous ground, but we fall into it very quickly. All right, I've beat that horse to death. Let's move on.
Speaker 1:Chapter 4, verses 12 through 20. Brothers, I entreat you become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. You know. 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. Now we don't know what that was. They knew that, whatever the ailment was that kept him in Galatia, they knew We'll see here later it apparently had something to do with his vision. 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. So the implication is he had some sight issue that was going on.
Speaker 1:Have I then become your enemy 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. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? Have you ever felt that way before? Somebody feels that you're their enemy for telling them the truth. Is the truth always easy to tell somebody? No, it isn't. It isn't.
Speaker 1:I had a kid and I call him a kid. He was probably 20 or so in my class when I was teaching at Kent Tusk Nice kid, pleasant kid. He failed every exam that I gave. Okay, this poor kid and my exams were not that hard, they were. They dumbed them down. I mean I'll admit they were not that this kid got an F on every one. And I mean there are those marginal Fs that maybe if you have mercy you can bump up to a D minus. These were not. I mean this was more grace than I could give to get him to a passing grade. And I had him stay after class after one of these tests and I had him come up and talk to me and I said, listen. I said, are you studying for these tests? Yeah, I'm studying. He was really disappointed. I said, well, look, there's only so much I can do as a teacher. I said, listen, drop date is coming up. There was a date at which you could drop the class and not have it count against you. And I said, listen, drop date is coming up. I would seriously think about dropping this class if I was you. So it won't count against you. He was not happy with that advice, but he took it. He dropped the class because he was going to get an F.
Speaker 1:Telling the truth to somebody is. I could have just said oh, you'll do better on the next one. He was not going to do better on the next one, okay, if you're a teacher, you know the student. It on the next one, okay, if you're a teacher, you know the student. It's just not going to happen. It's not easy to tell people the truth.
Speaker 1:Paul says I'm going to tell you the truth, whether it hurts or not, and I'm not trying to hurt you, but I want you to understand. This is the way it is. You're falling into a trap. He says become as I am, for I also have become as you are. What is he talking about there? I have become as you are. Become as I am, for I have also become as you are. What do you think he means by that? A child of God, okay, okay, those are not bad answers Not what I'm looking for, but those are not bad answers. You might want to drop this class. Become as I am, because I have become as you are.
Speaker 1:What's Paul been talking to them about? The law. I am no longer bound by the law. I have become like you. I want you to become like me. Don't fall into the trap of following the law, because I know that following the law does not result in righteousness.
Speaker 1:That's what he's talking about. That is what you were going to say, right on the tip of your tongue, right? I mean you were starting to speak and I talked over you. I'm sorry, the tip of your tongue, right? I mean I just you were starting to speak and I talked over you, I'm sorry. What, then, has become of your blessedness? Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?
Speaker 1:Don't listen to these people. I am telling you the truth. Don't get mad at me for telling you the way it is. Don't get mad at me for telling you the way it is. Don't get mad at me for telling you the way it is. When people get mad at you because you tell them something, what's the first thing that they do? Right, I should have put it up there.
Speaker 1:Have you ever seen the original Planet of the Apes? Okay, roddy McDowell was in. That wasn't. He Wouldn't recognize him. Charlton Heston was in it too. Okay, Jack and Claire, all you other young people, watch the original Planet of the Apes. It's really, really good.
Speaker 1:There's a scene there where the three elders are listening to Charlton Heston tell them something they don't want to hear. Do you remember what they do? One covers his eyes, one covers his ears, one covers his mouth. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. And they hated him for it. They hated him for telling them the truth, and that's what Paul says.
Speaker 1:Don't hate me for telling you the truth. This is not easy for me to say, but you're not going to get any more righteousness by following the law, and their abandonment of his teachings is seen by Paul as a personal affront to him. I sacrificed myself to come and see you and to stay with you, despite my whatever this disability was, and to continue to preach to you, and the fact that they're trying to start following this law, which didn't cover them and had been taken away at the cross, had been fulfilled at the cross. He says that you're falling away from the love that you had for me and you're showing disrespect for the gospel that I preached to you. Remember the gospel we talked about? What is the gospel message? Jesus Christ was the Messiah right, and his death, burial and resurrection is what makes us children of God. You accept those things. That's the gospel.
Speaker 1:They want to make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out that you may make much of them. The they he's talking about are those who came from James, from Jerusalem, and told them that circumcision, and probably other parts of the old Mosaic law too, were necessary before you can have access to God's promise. To Abraham through Christ. He says no, that's not right. They're making a big deal about you, but not for a good reason. They're paying a lot of attention to you, they're flattering you, but not for a good reason.
Speaker 1:Now there are some pitfalls in allowing others to set a law for you. Right, people will set out their own law for you. You have to follow this, and this is what was happening with these Gentiles. You must do these things in order to be righteous. You have to do this stuff. In addition to believing in Jesus, you have to do a bunch of other stuff. That's dangerous for a couple of reasons here. First of all, if you follow their rules whatever their rules happen to be that brings them glory. I set those people straight, right. I set them straight why he was a sinner. His feet were both. Both feet were planted firmly and hell, and I was able to grab him and bring him out. People like that, people like to be to pat themselves on the back and say what a great job they've done. Because I guarantee you, if the Gentiles follow this rule that's being laid down to them about circumcision, it's not going to stop there. There's going to be lots more rules in addition.
Speaker 1:You know, this has been a theme that I have pounded on for a while, and we went through this when I talked about the history of the Churches of Christ, disciples of Christ and others associated with our particular movement. No creed but the Bible. That was one of the chants, one of the mottos that they would have. No creed but the Bible, right? The other one was speak where the Bible speaks and silent where the Bible is silent. Those are great creeds, great mottos, if you can keep them. But we can't. We can't, and I'll guarantee you, every organization has its own written excuse me. Well, some have written creeds in addition to that, but unwritten rules that you must follow. Or else you must follow, or else you must follow, or else, and they're traditions which have become law. I told you this before I was not allowed to wear shorts as a kid, right, I had to wear jeans all the time, or slacks if you're going to church, because jeans were not appropriate.
Speaker 1:In church there was no written rule. There was nothing above the door as you entered the building that said that there was nothing there, but everybody knew. That's the way it is. You break that rule and you're going to hear about it. I just want to come in and sing praises to Jesus. Sorry, can't let you in like that. Is that in the book anywhere? No, but it is as much a law as a law can be. When I was growing up, we love to set rules for other people and then find a way around them ourselves.
Speaker 1:Another pitfall you become a slave to that person. How? Because they will interpret the rules that they give to you and their traditions inevitably become your laws, and that's what they're about to fall into there in Galatia. And then this they will affirm you as a brother and consider you faithful and righteous only insofar as you follow their rules. We don't have Wednesday night Bible class here. We used to, but the number kept dwindling down to the point where there was hardly anybody there. And because it was ineffective to do that that's the way I'll put it. It was ineffective, we were not reaching people, we discontinued it.
Speaker 1:There has not been a hue and cry from people to reinstate that, by the way, but we wait a minute. We always had class on Wednesday night. How can you not do that? Well, you're one step from apostasy, my friend. And that church down there is unfaithful. Unfaithful to what? To your tradition, to your rule, to your idea. They will affirm you as righteous and faithful only to the extent that you follow their particular tradition.
Speaker 1:If you deviate from the tradition, why you people are going straight to hell. That is dangerous. That is absolutely 100% dangerous, and it is no different than what these Judaizers were doing, coming from James in Jerusalem. It is the same, and I get mad about it and I get worked up about it, because I see it happen and I see the people doing it and the people hearing it being completely blind to it. I don't see it, I don't hear it. I am righteous myself because I go on Wednesday night and you don't, baloney. Nonsense, nonsense. That's just one example. I could do lots of others as well, but I think you get the point. I hope you get the point. A couple minutes yet. Can we get through 10 verses? Sure, we can Speed reader. Here we go. Tell me yeah, I'm a lawyer, I can talk fast, right? Tell me, you who desire to be under the law? Do you not listen to the law?
Speaker 1:For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman, the other 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 the promise. Do you remember this story? God made a promise to Abraham, right? And the promise was I'm going to bless the world through your seed. Here's my promise to you. Abraham got a little antsy and Sarah got a little antsy, and they're getting old and nothing's happening. And so they said hey, let's help God out, let's make this promise happen, right? So they took Sarah's handmaid, her slave Hagar, and said you sleep with Abraham, we'll have a kid. And we'll say that's the kid of the promise. And Paul is saying here no, that was the son of the flesh. That was not God's promise to you. You tried to do that yourself. And eventually Sarah becomes pregnant, right, and has Isaac.
Speaker 1:Now, this may be interpreted allegorically these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. She is Hagar. What happened on Mount Sinai? We got for slavery. She is Hagar. What happened on Mount Sinai? We got the law. Yes, very good, moses got the law. He says you want to know what? She is? Hagar? The works of the flesh. She represents the law. She is Hagar.
Speaker 1:Now, hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, which is where you had your sacrifices, this is where you worshiped at the temple. For she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem, above the Jerusalem, through Christ, through faith in Christ, 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 children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.
Speaker 1: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. 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.
Speaker 1:That may be kind of confusing to you. What he's saying is this you ain't going to get to heaven by following the law. There's no more righteousness that comes by following the law. You are righteous by faith in Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham way way back. Does that make sense? The Gentiles are like Isaac. The Gentiles are like Isaac and are being persecuted for their relationship of faith by those who prefer their relationship with the flesh. If you want to follow the circumcision crowd, that's your business. You're not going anywhere with it. We are sons of the free woman by faith in Christ, not the slave woman, which is the obedience to the law. We are sons of the free woman by faith in Christ, not the slave woman, which is the obedience to the law. He is using lots of illustrations to pound home the same point to them so that they can't miss it. There is no benefit to observing the law.
Speaker 1:All right, next week. Now look at Jethro on the left there. Look at those. Look at those high waters he's wearing. Okay, that's what we used to call them growing up. They're high waters. How high do those high waters have to be before they're shorts that's my question above your knees? Okay, knickers, knickers. All right, next week we're going to do chapter five and then the following week we're going to do chapter six. Then we're going to wrap this thing up. Okay, questions, comments. I get a little passionate about this subject because it is something that has affected me. What was taught to me as a kid, although taught with good motives, has screwed up my thinking about Jesus for many years, and I don't want other people to be saddled with that baggage. Is what I'm saying. All right, we will see you all next week. Study, chapter 5. Be ready to answer lots of questions and if you flunk, I'll say well, maybe you want to go over to Jeff's class? All right, you've been a good class. Happy Mother's Day.