WEBVTT 00:00:01.979 --> 00:00:04.759 Welcome to Life Group. We invite you to join 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:07.400 us in this verse -by -verse study through the 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:10.740 Word of God. In this lesson of Life Group, we're 00:00:10.740 --> 00:00:14.160 going to be looking at Galatians chapter 3. Let's 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:18.800 begin. O foolish Galatians! Paul begins with 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:21.539 saying foolish, and he's meaning here that they're 00:00:21.539 --> 00:00:24.579 just not using their mind or they're not comprehending. 00:00:24.899 --> 00:00:27.980 And he says, O foolish Galatians, who has cast 00:00:27.980 --> 00:00:31.710 an evil spell on you? This meaning that who has 00:00:31.710 --> 00:00:34.350 convinced you to believe their evil and false 00:00:34.350 --> 00:00:38.090 teachings? And continuing in verse 1, for the 00:00:38.090 --> 00:00:41.689 meaning of Jesus Christ's death was made as clear 00:00:41.689 --> 00:00:44.469 to you as if you had seen a picture of his death 00:00:44.469 --> 00:00:47.990 on the cross. He's saying that he has carefully 00:00:47.990 --> 00:00:51.630 and clearly explained to them what Jesus accomplished 00:00:51.630 --> 00:00:54.270 on the cross, and he feels like they should understand 00:00:54.270 --> 00:00:58.829 it by now. Verse 2, let me ask you this one question. 00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:01.979 Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the 00:01:01.979 --> 00:01:05.840 law of Moses? Of course not. You received the 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:08.299 Spirit because you believed the message you heard 00:01:08.299 --> 00:01:13.599 about Jesus. How foolish can you be? After starting 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:16.459 your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you 00:01:16.459 --> 00:01:19.120 now trying to become perfect by your own human 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:22.239 effort? The Galatians were deceived into thinking 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:25.840 that spiritual growth or maturity could be achieved 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:28.900 through works of the flesh. Instead of continued 00:01:28.900 --> 00:01:33.560 simple faith in Jesus and abiding in Jesus. Under 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:36.780 law, man is attempting to be righteous, to grow 00:01:36.780 --> 00:01:39.980 in righteousness, and to earn or deserve the 00:01:39.980 --> 00:01:42.739 kindness and favor of God. But we know under 00:01:42.739 --> 00:01:46.579 grace, man becomes completely righteous and enjoys 00:01:46.579 --> 00:01:49.459 the kindness and favor of God through believing 00:01:49.459 --> 00:01:53.819 and receiving. Verse 4. Have you experienced 00:01:53.819 --> 00:01:57.709 so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, 00:01:57.829 --> 00:02:01.870 was it? Here Paul is saying, have you had such 00:02:01.870 --> 00:02:04.870 wonderful spiritual experiences and is all this 00:02:04.870 --> 00:02:08.069 for nothing? And he's wondering if all these 00:02:08.069 --> 00:02:10.629 gifts of the Spirit they had received would not 00:02:10.629 --> 00:02:13.509 have lasting value since they were trying to 00:02:13.509 --> 00:02:18.729 live by the law instead of faith. Verse 5, I 00:02:18.729 --> 00:02:22.069 ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit? 00:02:22.460 --> 00:02:25.020 and work miracles among you because you obey 00:02:25.020 --> 00:02:29.000 the law? Of course not. It is because you believe 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:32.500 the message you heard about Christ. The Holy 00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:35.780 Spirit empowers us in response to our faith, 00:02:35.939 --> 00:02:39.539 and miracles take place according to our faith. 00:02:39.740 --> 00:02:42.460 But the Galatians have been deceived into thinking 00:02:42.460 --> 00:02:45.580 that real spiritual riches are obtained by pursuing 00:02:45.580 --> 00:02:50.389 God through a works relationship. Let's pick 00:02:50.389 --> 00:03:01.569 up in verse 6. Here we see that Abraham was declared 00:03:01.569 --> 00:03:05.110 righteous because of his faith. The law of Moses 00:03:05.110 --> 00:03:07.729 did not come into existence until approximately 00:03:07.729 --> 00:03:11.169 600 years after Abraham was counted righteous 00:03:11.169 --> 00:03:18.110 because of his faith. Verse 7. are those who 00:03:18.110 --> 00:03:21.870 put their faith in God, as opposed to trying 00:03:21.870 --> 00:03:24.229 to keep a set of rules, Paul is saying here. 00:03:24.669 --> 00:03:28.729 Verse 8, what's more, the scriptures looked forward 00:03:28.729 --> 00:03:31.909 to this time when God would declare the Gentiles 00:03:31.909 --> 00:03:35.689 to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed 00:03:35.689 --> 00:03:39.050 this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, 00:03:39.129 --> 00:03:43.159 all nations will be blessed through you. So all 00:03:43.159 --> 00:03:45.879 who put their faith in Christ share the same 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:49.139 blessing Abraham received because of his faith. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:53.180 So here we see Paul is describing that Abraham 00:03:53.180 --> 00:03:55.719 was declared righteous because of his faith. 00:03:55.879 --> 00:03:58.840 And now he's saying everyone can be declared 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:02.360 right with God and be qualified to receive the 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:05.840 same blessings God promised to Abraham and his 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:09.300 descendants all through faith. Picking up with 00:04:09.300 --> 00:04:29.839 verse 10. And when we start talking about a curse 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:32.620 being attached to the law, we have to go back 00:04:32.620 --> 00:04:37.600 to Deuteronomy 27 and 28. And Paul is referring 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:42.339 to this and telling, The people of Galatia, he's 00:04:42.339 --> 00:04:45.620 saying, since it is impossible for you to perfectly 00:04:45.620 --> 00:04:50.040 keep the law of Moses, and you still insist on 00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:52.600 trying to be right with God by keeping the rules, 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:55.639 instead of placing your confidence in the finished 00:04:55.639 --> 00:05:00.060 work of Jesus to justify you, you're subjecting 00:05:00.060 --> 00:05:04.959 yourself to the curses of breaking the law. And 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:08.560 here's a sample list of the curses of breaking 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:11.709 the law. Your towns and fields will not prosper. 00:05:11.949 --> 00:05:15.230 Your gardens will fail from lack of rain and 00:05:15.230 --> 00:05:19.189 insects. Your livestock will be stolen. You will 00:05:19.189 --> 00:05:23.089 live in poverty and lack. Your children will 00:05:23.089 --> 00:05:26.529 be taken away as slaves. You will be defeated 00:05:26.529 --> 00:05:30.850 and oppressed by your enemies. You will experience 00:05:30.850 --> 00:05:35.110 confusion, frustration, diseases, fever, plagues. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:39.500 inflammation, boils, tumors, madness, blindness, 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:45.300 and panic? Well, those are listed among the curses 00:05:45.300 --> 00:05:48.439 of the law. And Paul is telling the Galatians, 00:05:48.459 --> 00:05:51.139 if you want to live by the law, then you're going 00:05:51.139 --> 00:05:54.579 to subject yourself to the curses of the law. 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:59.839 Picking up in verse 11. So it is clear that no 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:03.779 one can be made right with God by trying to keep 00:06:03.779 --> 00:06:07.699 the law. For the scriptures say, it is through 00:06:07.699 --> 00:06:12.220 faith that a righteous person has life. This 00:06:12.220 --> 00:06:15.519 way of faith is very different from the way of 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:19.040 law, which says it is through obeying the law 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:24.519 that a person has life. Here we see that God 00:06:24.519 --> 00:06:27.660 never intended the law to be the way we find 00:06:27.660 --> 00:06:31.579 our approval before him. He knew we could never 00:06:31.579 --> 00:06:35.699 keep the law. So God instituted a system of sacrifice 00:06:35.699 --> 00:06:39.899 along with the law. And the entire sacrificial 00:06:39.899 --> 00:06:43.560 system looked forward to what Jesus would accomplish 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:49.740 on the cross for us. Picking up verse 13. But 00:06:49.740 --> 00:06:53.720 Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced 00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:59.300 by the law when he was hung on the cross. What 00:06:59.300 --> 00:07:02.569 an amazing verse. Here we find that... Jesus 00:07:02.569 --> 00:07:06.629 has redeemed us from the curse of the law. He 00:07:06.629 --> 00:07:10.389 bought us out and brought us out from being a 00:07:10.389 --> 00:07:15.110 slave to sin and from being subject to the curse 00:07:15.110 --> 00:07:18.990 of the law. So we see that Jesus has actually 00:07:18.990 --> 00:07:23.250 redeemed us from our towns and fields not prospering, 00:07:23.250 --> 00:07:26.009 our gardens failing, our livestock being stolen. 00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:29.439 From poverty and failure, from our children being 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:32.259 taken away as slaves, from being defeated and 00:07:32.259 --> 00:07:35.540 oppressed by our enemies. He's redeemed us from 00:07:35.540 --> 00:07:39.560 confusion, frustration, diseases, fever, plagues, 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:42.339 inflammation, boils, tumors, madness, blindness, 00:07:42.540 --> 00:07:47.240 panic, and so on. We are redeemed from the curses 00:07:47.240 --> 00:08:05.199 of the law. Let's continue in verse 13. Here 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:08.560 we see Jesus took the curse we deserved upon 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:12.959 himself on the cross. Our sins, the paycheck 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:17.379 of our sins, the curses deserved for our sins, 00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:22.199 Jesus took all of that upon himself on the cross. 00:08:23.480 --> 00:08:29.540 Verse 14. Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed 00:08:29.540 --> 00:08:34.279 the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised 00:08:34.279 --> 00:08:37.799 to Abraham. Here it just keeps getting better 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:41.320 and better. Not only did Jesus redeem us from 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:46.700 the curse, he also qualified us for the blessing. 00:08:47.700 --> 00:08:51.519 What are the blessings? Well, if we go back to 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:54.110 Deuteronomy, the blessings are... The Lord will 00:08:54.110 --> 00:08:57.370 guarantee his blessing over everything you do. 00:08:57.570 --> 00:09:01.009 You will be established as God's holy people. 00:09:01.269 --> 00:09:04.289 Everything you do will prosper. Your children 00:09:04.289 --> 00:09:07.210 will be blessed and prosper. Your gardens and 00:09:07.210 --> 00:09:10.370 livestock will prosper. You will always be on 00:09:10.370 --> 00:09:14.429 top. You will lend and not borrow. You will always 00:09:14.429 --> 00:09:18.629 have victory over your enemies. And he also includes 00:09:18.629 --> 00:09:22.389 the blessings of Abraham. What were the blessings 00:09:22.389 --> 00:09:25.750 of the... Blessings of Abraham. He told Abraham 00:09:25.750 --> 00:09:30.429 that he would bless him, that he would be a blessing, 00:09:30.590 --> 00:09:34.450 that the whole earth would be blessed through 00:09:34.450 --> 00:09:38.629 him. So in Christ, we receive those blessings, 00:09:38.669 --> 00:09:42.610 a promise that the Lord will bless us, that we 00:09:42.610 --> 00:09:46.350 will be a blessing to others, that the whole 00:09:46.350 --> 00:09:50.809 earth will be blessed through us. Continuing 00:09:50.809 --> 00:09:55.820 in verse 14. so that we who are believers might 00:09:55.820 --> 00:10:00.299 receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith. 00:10:00.679 --> 00:10:04.059 We know from Scripture that God, the Holy Spirit, 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:08.679 He's the one who takes the things of God, God's 00:10:08.679 --> 00:10:11.980 blessings, His grace gifts, His great and precious 00:10:11.980 --> 00:10:15.299 promises. The Holy Spirit takes those things 00:10:15.299 --> 00:10:20.899 and then He manifests them in our lives. According 00:10:20.899 --> 00:10:25.799 to our faith. Picking up in verse 15. Dear brothers 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:29.039 and sisters, here's an example from everyday 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:33.360 life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:36.799 irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case. 00:10:37.899 --> 00:10:41.320 Here Paul is talking about a covenant, and covenants 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:44.740 made between men stood firm once they were made, 00:10:44.919 --> 00:10:48.580 meaning no one could cancel them or add to them. 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:51.820 And Paul uses this example to communicate the 00:10:51.820 --> 00:10:55.559 idea of how much more serious it is when God 00:10:55.559 --> 00:11:00.480 makes the covenant. Verse 16, God gave the promise 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:04.320 to Abraham and his child. And notice that the 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:07.759 scripture doesn't say, to his children, as if 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:11.379 it meant many descendants. Rather, it says, to 00:11:11.379 --> 00:11:15.000 his child, and that, of course, means Christ. 00:11:15.950 --> 00:11:19.210 In your seed, all the nations of the earth shall 00:11:19.210 --> 00:11:22.590 be blessed because you have obeyed my voice. 00:11:24.090 --> 00:11:26.429 Paul is saying that this promise is referring 00:11:26.429 --> 00:11:30.409 to one specific descendant of Abraham. And to 00:11:30.409 --> 00:11:32.970 be clear, he's making sure you understand that 00:11:32.970 --> 00:11:37.350 it is Jesus who is that seed or that child. Verse 00:11:37.350 --> 00:11:41.529 17. This is what I'm trying to say. The agreement 00:11:41.529 --> 00:11:44.769 God made with Abraham. could not be canceled 00:11:44.769 --> 00:11:48.730 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. 00:11:49.169 --> 00:11:53.450 God would be breaking his promise. And we know 00:11:53.450 --> 00:11:57.190 God always keeps his promises. And God's promise 00:11:57.190 --> 00:12:00.870 to Abraham and Jesus were not canceled at Mount 00:12:00.870 --> 00:12:04.269 Sinai. The unchanging nature of God's covenant 00:12:04.269 --> 00:12:07.990 with Abraham is an important principle. It was 00:12:07.990 --> 00:12:10.750 a one -sided covenant that was promised forever. 00:12:11.419 --> 00:12:15.460 There were no ifs in Abraham's covenant. There 00:12:15.460 --> 00:12:19.080 are plenty of ifs in the covenant of Moses. The 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:21.700 Mosaic covenant was a two -sided covenant with 00:12:21.700 --> 00:12:25.460 both parties obligated to uphold it. This means 00:12:25.460 --> 00:12:28.639 that the promise of blessing stands eternally 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:32.460 to Abraham and his descendants. And the same 00:12:32.460 --> 00:12:36.179 promise of blessing, then, is available for everyone 00:12:36.179 --> 00:12:55.370 who puts their faith in Jesus. Verse 18. So here 00:12:55.370 --> 00:12:58.129 Paul is saying that if the inheritance offered 00:12:58.129 --> 00:13:01.710 to Abraham was on the basis of law, it might 00:13:01.710 --> 00:13:04.730 not be permanent, because it would depend on 00:13:04.730 --> 00:13:07.970 Abraham keeping the law. But since the inheritance 00:13:07.970 --> 00:13:11.659 was offered on the basis of promise, God's promise, 00:13:11.899 --> 00:13:16.559 it stands forever. Jews in Galatia were building 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:20.700 their case quoting Moses or the law, but Paul 00:13:20.700 --> 00:13:24.100 is responding by referring to Abraham and referring 00:13:24.100 --> 00:13:28.080 to the promise. The false teachers were appealing 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:30.799 to centuries of tradition and the proud history 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:34.299 of the law of Moses. Paul, though, is appealing 00:13:34.299 --> 00:13:37.159 to the grander covenant between God and Abraham, 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:42.460 which is centuries older. Verse 19, why then 00:13:42.460 --> 00:13:46.419 was the law given? Paul is saying this because 00:13:46.419 --> 00:13:48.960 understanding the purpose of the law helps us 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:53.899 embrace our freedom from it, from the law. Continuing 00:13:53.899 --> 00:13:57.700 in 19, it was given alongside the promise to 00:13:57.700 --> 00:14:01.059 show people their sins, but the law was designed 00:14:01.059 --> 00:14:04.059 to last only until the coming of the child who 00:14:04.059 --> 00:14:07.879 was promised. So here we see that the purpose 00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:11.559 of the law God's holy standard was given for 00:14:11.559 --> 00:14:15.500 three reasons. First, so that we would not destroy 00:14:15.500 --> 00:14:19.320 ourselves before Jesus came. Two, so we could 00:14:19.320 --> 00:14:22.779 recognize our inability to keep the rules. And 00:14:22.779 --> 00:14:26.059 three, so that we see our need for salvation. 00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:31.299 Continuing in verse 19, God gave his law through 00:14:31.299 --> 00:14:34.519 angels to Moses, who is the mediator between 00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:38.500 God and the people. Now, according to ancient 00:14:38.500 --> 00:14:41.639 Jewish tradition, the law was delivered to Moses 00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:45.360 on Mount Sinai by the hands of angels, and Moses 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:48.639 became the mediator between God and his people. 00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:53.440 Verse 20, Now a mediator is helpful if more than 00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:56.879 one party must reach an agreement, but God, who 00:14:56.879 --> 00:15:00.379 is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his 00:15:00.379 --> 00:15:04.710 promise to Abraham. So we see that the Israelites 00:15:04.710 --> 00:15:08.769 needed a mediator between them and God, but we 00:15:08.769 --> 00:15:12.370 don't need a mediator now. The law was a two 00:15:12.370 --> 00:15:15.970 -party agreement brought by mediators, but salvation 00:15:15.970 --> 00:15:20.289 in Jesus is by faith, and it's received by a 00:15:20.289 --> 00:15:25.049 promise. Verse 21. Is there a conflict then between 00:15:25.049 --> 00:15:28.950 God's law and God's promises? Absolutely not. 00:15:29.529 --> 00:15:32.450 If the law could give us new life, we could be 00:15:32.450 --> 00:15:36.269 made right with God by obeying it. Here we see 00:15:36.269 --> 00:15:40.409 that the law is not something evil opposing God's 00:15:40.409 --> 00:15:43.230 promise. The problem with the law is found in 00:15:43.230 --> 00:15:47.029 its inability to give righteousness since no 00:15:47.029 --> 00:15:51.429 one can keep it. Verse 22. But the scriptures 00:15:51.429 --> 00:15:55.649 declare that we are all prisoners of sin. And 00:15:55.649 --> 00:15:58.649 here Paul, he's painting a picture of imprisonment. 00:15:58.919 --> 00:16:03.139 like the bars of the cell or sin keeping us confined 00:16:03.139 --> 00:16:07.320 and condemned. And the law put us in prison because 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:10.179 it pointed out our sinful condition, all of our 00:16:10.179 --> 00:16:14.159 faults. The law cannot help us because it is 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:16.840 the law that put us in prison in the first place. 00:16:17.399 --> 00:16:22.220 Verse 22. So we receive God's promise of freedom 00:16:22.220 --> 00:16:27.149 only by believing in Jesus Christ. And here we 00:16:27.149 --> 00:16:29.730 see that only faith in the one who perfectly 00:16:29.730 --> 00:16:33.090 kept the law and took our punishment upon himself 00:16:33.090 --> 00:16:37.450 can free us from our imprisonment to sin. Picking 00:16:37.450 --> 00:16:41.129 up with verse 23. Before the way of faith in 00:16:41.129 --> 00:16:44.570 Christ was available to us, we were placed under 00:16:44.570 --> 00:16:48.049 guard by the law. We were kept in protective 00:16:48.049 --> 00:16:51.669 custody, so to speak, until the way of faith 00:16:51.669 --> 00:16:57.019 was revealed. Now Paul is showing us another 00:16:57.019 --> 00:17:01.500 way to see the law. He's saying that we could 00:17:01.500 --> 00:17:06.980 see it as guarding us under protective custody. 00:17:07.779 --> 00:17:10.200 Now what does it mean to be under protective 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:14.420 custody of the law? It meant that the law showed 00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:18.920 us the best way to live. It showed us what is 00:17:18.920 --> 00:17:23.809 right and wrong. It provided a foundation. for 00:17:23.809 --> 00:17:29.690 civil law verse 24 let me put it another way 00:17:29.690 --> 00:17:35.690 the law was our guardian until christ came it 00:17:35.690 --> 00:17:38.950 protected us until we could be made right with 00:17:38.950 --> 00:17:42.910 god through faith we need to understand that 00:17:42.910 --> 00:17:46.529 the ultimate purpose of the law is to bring people 00:17:46.529 --> 00:17:50.529 to jesus the messiah If someone presents the 00:17:50.529 --> 00:17:53.609 law in a way that does not ultimately point people 00:17:53.609 --> 00:17:57.130 to faith in Jesus, they're not presenting the 00:17:57.130 --> 00:18:03.470 law properly. Verse 25. And now that the way 00:18:03.470 --> 00:18:07.390 of faith has come, we no longer need the law 00:18:07.390 --> 00:18:12.049 as our guardian. Here Paul uses the illustration 00:18:12.049 --> 00:18:18.119 that the law is a personal guardian for us. And 00:18:18.119 --> 00:18:20.619 we need to understand that when we enter a relationship 00:18:20.619 --> 00:18:24.359 with God through faith, we no longer need a guardian 00:18:24.359 --> 00:18:28.339 over our lives and behavior. Though we remember 00:18:28.339 --> 00:18:32.220 what the guardian taught us, though we respect 00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:37.019 our guardian, the law, well, now we don't live 00:18:37.019 --> 00:18:41.279 under it anymore because we live under Jesus 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:47.150 by faith. Verse 26. For you are all children 00:18:47.150 --> 00:18:52.549 of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Now in 00:18:52.549 --> 00:18:55.549 traditional Jewish thinking, your standing before 00:18:55.549 --> 00:18:59.849 God was measured by your obedience to the law. 00:19:00.369 --> 00:19:03.650 And here Paul says that we can be considered 00:19:03.650 --> 00:19:08.829 sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Through 00:19:08.829 --> 00:19:13.220 faith alone. To be sons of God. means that we 00:19:13.220 --> 00:19:17.680 have a special relationship with God as a loving, 00:19:17.819 --> 00:19:21.980 caring Father. It is a place of closeness, a 00:19:21.980 --> 00:19:25.980 place of affection, a place of special care and 00:19:25.980 --> 00:19:31.640 attention. Verse 27, And all who have been united 00:19:31.640 --> 00:19:36.220 with Christ in baptism have put on the character 00:19:36.220 --> 00:19:41.549 of Christ. As believers, we've been baptized 00:19:41.549 --> 00:19:46.950 in Christ. We've been fully immersed and completely 00:19:46.950 --> 00:19:51.549 covered with Christ. Continuing in verse 27, 00:19:51.829 --> 00:19:58.529 Paul says it's like putting on new clothes. So 00:19:58.529 --> 00:20:01.009 we need to understand this. How we dress has 00:20:01.009 --> 00:20:06.269 an impact on how we think and act. How we dress 00:20:06.269 --> 00:20:10.670 also has an impact. on how we appear to other 00:20:10.670 --> 00:20:14.730 people. And Paul is saying our appropriate clothing 00:20:14.730 --> 00:20:20.450 for each day is to put on Christ. People should 00:20:20.450 --> 00:20:24.289 see that you belong to him just by looking at 00:20:24.289 --> 00:20:28.609 your life. See, we aren't simply associated with 00:20:28.609 --> 00:20:34.809 Jesus. We are identified in him. If he's a son 00:20:34.809 --> 00:20:40.089 of God, so are we. If he stands righteous before 00:20:40.089 --> 00:20:45.069 God the Father, so do we. If he has free access 00:20:45.069 --> 00:20:50.109 to the throne of God, so do we. If he has victory 00:20:50.109 --> 00:20:53.789 over spiritual powers and darkness, so do we. 00:20:54.369 --> 00:20:58.750 We aren't just associated with Jesus. We are 00:20:58.750 --> 00:21:05.940 in Jesus. Verse 28. There is no longer Jew or 00:21:05.940 --> 00:21:11.259 Gentile, slave or free, male and female, for 00:21:11.259 --> 00:21:17.420 you are all one in Christ Jesus. We need to understand 00:21:17.420 --> 00:21:19.880 that Jewish men during this time, when they woke 00:21:19.880 --> 00:21:22.039 up, they would thank God every day that they 00:21:22.039 --> 00:21:24.880 were not born a Gentile, that they weren't born 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:29.279 a slave, that they were not born a woman. And 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:32.460 now, Paul is saying, look, none of that matters 00:21:32.460 --> 00:21:36.200 anymore. It's not about being a Jew or a Gentile. 00:21:36.200 --> 00:21:38.079 It's not about being slave or free. It's not 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:41.019 about being a man or a woman. We are all one 00:21:41.019 --> 00:21:45.460 in Christ Jesus. All dividing lines have been 00:21:45.460 --> 00:21:50.279 erased. When we are identified with Christ, we 00:21:50.279 --> 00:21:56.480 are all one in Christ. Verse 29. And now that 00:21:56.480 --> 00:22:00.480 you belong to Christ, you are the true children 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:05.329 of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God's promise 00:22:05.329 --> 00:22:11.029 to Abraham belongs to you. Since all Christians 00:22:11.029 --> 00:22:15.549 belong to Jesus the Messiah, all Christians are 00:22:15.549 --> 00:22:19.150 spiritual descendants of Abraham and heirs of 00:22:19.150 --> 00:22:24.609 God's blessings and promises to Abraham. Thank 00:22:24.609 --> 00:22:27.390 you for joining us for Life Group. Allow God's 00:22:27.390 --> 00:22:30.410 Word to build your faith and transform your life.