Thoughts on Galatians 4:16

The Gospel is a very offensive message. And people need to be offended. People need to be confronted with the truth that they are, when compared to God’s standard for us, basically scumbags. Scripture tells us that we are estranged from the womb and are born speaking lies (Ps. 58:3). We need to be confronted with that truth and accept the fact that we are not “good people.” It is only then that we will be open to what Jesus has to offer. I love the way John Stott puts it in his book Basic Christianity: “Only when we have had the malady accurately diagnosed, shall we be willing to take the medicine” (Stott). Only when we realize we have a sickness (sin) will we be willing to take the appropriate medicine (Jesus).

The truth of our condition must always be spoken with one goal in mind: repentance and salvation. We are to speak the truth in love because we truly care about those who are sick and lost and want to see them made well. Stott puts it much better than I ever could: “This exposure of sin has only one purpose. It is to convince us of our need for Jesus Christ, and to prepare us for an understanding and an acceptance of what he offers. Faith is born of need. We shall never accept Christ unless we feel our need of Him.” He goes on: “Only when we have realized and admitted our sickness and it’s gravity, shall we admit our desperate need of the soul’s Physician” (Stott)

Thoughts on Galatians 4:15

In Scripture, the Christian life is sometimes described as a race (Heb. 12:1; 1 Cor. 9:24). When Christ draws people to himself, and they accept the wonderful gift of grace they are, in effect, entering into a race. Typically, we see two types of runners. The first type enters the race, darts for the starting line and sprints as fast as they possibly can thinking they have entered the 100 yard dash. They are not pleased when they stop at the 100 yard mark, gasping for air, only to realize that the race they have entered is a marathon. The second type of runner enters the race, goes and sits down on the grass to stretch his previously unused muscles, and stays there for years, thinking he’s not quite limber enough yet to start running. I fell into the second category. From the sound of verse 15, the Galatians fell into the first.

Paul is asking them “What the heck happened?” While he was among them they were so eager to serve the cause of Christ. Paul says “if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.” The Galatians had been sprinting, and now, exhausted, were taking advice on how to run this marathon from the Judaizers. They may as well have been taking advice from Hugh Hefner on monogamy.

Thoughts on Galatians 4:12

Paul exhorts the Galatians to be like him. His primary meaning here is that, like him, they should not live as slaves bound by the Mosaic law and ceremonial covenants and that they should enjoy the freedom of living by faith alone in Christ alone.

I think we can take something else away from this though. I think Paul is saying that it’s acceptable, in fact, it’s beneficial to have mentors. Of course Jesus is who we ultimately look to and measure everything against. But sometimes it really helps to see what Jesus teaches modeled in another man. Sometimes it’s hard to make the connection to what Scripture says and how to actually live it out. The Galatians were having a hard time reconciling faith alone in Christ alone because, like me, their pride (and the Judaizers) told them that there must be something they can do to earn their salvation. God used Paul as a mentor to them to show them how this concept is actually lived out in everyday life. Like the Galatians needed Paul to help steer them towards Jesus, we too need more mature, experienced, faithful, wise, humble, Jesus-loving men to help steer us toward Jesus and teach us how all of Scripture points toward him.

Thoughts on Galatians 4:8-11

Before the Galatians knew God, they worshiped other false gods of other religions and were slaves to the systems and sacrifices required by those religions. Man-made religions require our sacrifice in an effort to reach God and know Him. We become slaves to legalism in trying to always do one more thing so that we can be holy enough for God to notice us. What kinds of false god’s enslave us today? Is it the muscle car in the garage that we worship with our thoughts, time, and money? Is it our beloved sports teams whom we want to identify with by wearing the jersey or even dressing up as our favorite team’s mascot (Rom 1:21-23)? Is it our children, our spouse, our family, our friends? This is an important question.

Jesus, who by nature is God, frees us from slavery (Heb 2:14-15). Christianity is not about what we can do to reach God. It is about what God did to reach us. That is the fundamental difference between Christianity and all other religions.

Paul makes it clear that initially, we are known by God and not the other way around. There is nothing we can do on our own to know God. By His grace He chooses to reveal Himself to us and allow us to know Him. Hebrew 1:1-2 talks about God revealing Himself to us. Apart from that revelation we would know nothing about the true God.

Paul then questions them as to how they could possibly, after having known about the freedom that Christ offers, desire to go back again to being enslaved by man’s legalism. He tells them that is exactly what they are doing if they give in to the Judaizers insistence that they be circumcised. He says they will end up enslaved again, this time by the Mosaic law, specifically the cermonial laws of the Mosaic covenant. “To require Christians to follow such OT laws is to forfeit the gospel of justification by faith alone, in Christ alone.” (Gathercole)

Thoughts on Galatians 4:6

Because we are sons we receive the Holy Spirit. Notice it’s not because we go to church every Sunday, or because we helped that old lady across the street, or because we put a five in the offering plate, or because we pastor a church of 10,000 members, or because we wear a ONE bracelet or bought a (RED) product. We are not sons because of what we do. We could never do enough. We are sons because God chose to adopt us and sent Jesus to the orphanage to seal the deal. We are not sons because our hearts cry out “Abba Father!” rather we cry our “Abba Father!” because we are sons, and the Holy Spirit inside of us prompts us to do so.

The term “Abba” is key here. In the first-century AD “Abba” was the intimate Aramaic term used within Jewish families for “Dad.” Our God is an intimate God. He is our “Dad.” Most man-made religions portray a distant, out of touch god with whom there is no relationship. God Himself tells us that He desires a close familial relationship with His people and that He is able to have one. Anytime we are talking with God (which should be continually) we would do well to remember that He is “Abba”, He is “Dad.” We don’t need to use fancy “religious” words when we're talking with Him, in fact we’re told not to (Matt. 6:7). We need to talk to Him like we should talk to “Dad”, with respect, admiration, and the expectation that He will take care of us.

Thoughts on Galatians 4:5: Adoption

Jesus redeems us from the curse of the law (Gal 3:13). That term redeem means to gain possession of something in exchange for payment. What is paid and what is received? Verse 5 tells us. Jesus redeems us, he makes the payment for us. On the cross Jesus paid the price for all sin, past, present, and future (Heb 10:12). What do we gain? We gain sonship. We become children of God. We are adopted into the family of the Almighty. In Knowing God, J.I. Packer devotes an entire chapter to the idea of adoption. He says “were I asked to focus the New Testament message in three words, my proposal would be adoption through propitiation, and I do not expect ever to meet a richer or more pregnant summary of the gospel than that.” (Packer) He goes on to talk about the benefits of adoption: “First, the family relationship must be an abiding one, lasting forever. Perfect parents do not cast off their children. Christians may act the prodigal, but God will not cease to act the prodigal’s Father. Second, God will go out of His way to make His children feel His love for them and know their privilege and security as members of His family. Adopted children need assurance that they belong, and a perfect parent will not withhold it.” (Packer)

Thoughts on Galatians 4:1-3

As children we are under “guardians and managers.” For the Jew this would be the Mosaic Law. In 3:25 Paul speaks of the law as a guardian when he says, “now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.” As a minor, an heir has no say or right to the things his father had left him until the date pre-determined by the father. The minor does not get to set the date or determine what is left to him. He is at the mercy of his father. The same is true of us. We do not receive what the Father has set aside for us to receive until the time He has set aside. For some it happens sooner than others. For others still it does not happen at all. We are at the mercy of the merciful, gracious, just, perfect, loving God and I praise Him for that. I would much rather my fate be in the hands of a perfect God than in my own. I know that, apart from God, my heart is only evil continually (Gen 6:5), that I can do no good (Rom 3:10-12), and that, in God’s eyes, the things that I do that I think are righteous he equates with a bloody tampon (Isaiah 64:6). It’s obvious what my fate is apart from God stepping in and removing my heart of stone and replacing it with a heart that would desire Him. Let me restate that I am thankful that God does not leave my fate in my own hands.

When we are children (not yet redeemed by God’s grace) we are enslaved to the ways of the world. We will desire the world. We will follow the course of the world and all it’s evil spirits (Eph 2:1-3). We will be enslaved by the laws or systems that we follow until Jesus sets us free from the curse that enslaves us (Gal 3:13).