WEBVTT 00:00:02.000 --> 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 --> 00:00:10.599 Word of God. In this session, we'll be looking 00:00:10.599 --> 00:00:14.640 at Galatians chapter 4, starting with verse 1. 00:00:15.140 --> 00:00:18.620 Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves 00:00:18.620 --> 00:00:21.300 an inheritance for his young children, those 00:00:21.300 --> 00:00:23.600 children are not much better off than slaves 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:27.120 until they grow up, even though they actually 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:31.329 own everything their father had. When we look 00:00:31.329 --> 00:00:35.329 back in this culture, we realize that when a 00:00:35.329 --> 00:00:39.149 boy is a child, he has less day -to -day freedom 00:00:39.149 --> 00:00:42.750 and authority than a high -ranking slave who 00:00:42.750 --> 00:00:46.770 is in the household. But he is destined to inherit 00:00:46.770 --> 00:00:50.810 everything, while the slave will inherit nothing. 00:00:51.689 --> 00:01:02.799 Verse 2. Their father said. Now in both Jewish 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:06.400 and Greek cultures, there were definite coming 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:08.980 -of -age ceremonies where a boy stopped being 00:01:08.980 --> 00:01:12.760 a child and started being a man with legal rights 00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:18.659 as an heir. But in Roman custom, there was no 00:01:18.659 --> 00:01:23.480 specific age when the son became a man. It happened 00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:27.670 when the father thought the boy was ready. A 00:01:27.670 --> 00:01:32.049 Roman child became an adult at the sacred family 00:01:32.049 --> 00:01:36.310 festival known as the Liberalia. Now, that's 00:01:36.310 --> 00:01:40.049 a festival that was held annually on the 17th 00:01:40.049 --> 00:01:43.209 of March. And at this time, the child was formally 00:01:43.209 --> 00:01:47.370 acknowledged as a son and an heir. During the 00:01:47.370 --> 00:01:51.969 highlight of the ceremony, his toga pretexta 00:01:51.969 --> 00:01:56.989 was replaced with a toga virilis. Now, togas 00:01:56.989 --> 00:02:02.129 represented status in Roman society. And the 00:02:02.129 --> 00:02:07.870 toga praetexta, it was a toga with a woven reddish 00:02:07.870 --> 00:02:11.949 -purple border. And that was worn by all free 00:02:11.949 --> 00:02:16.710 -born youth. The toga virilis was different. 00:02:16.770 --> 00:02:21.150 It was an undyed natural wool white toga worn 00:02:21.150 --> 00:02:24.810 by youth as a symbol of manhood and citizenship. 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:29.860 There was a Roman custom that on the day a boy 00:02:29.860 --> 00:02:35.300 or a girl grew up, the boy offered his ball and 00:02:35.300 --> 00:02:39.919 the girl her doll to Apollo to show that they 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:43.960 had put away childish things. Let's read verse 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:48.000 2 again. They have to obey their guardians until 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:52.840 they reach whatever age their father set. Now, 00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:55.460 we need to understand something. We are sons 00:02:55.460 --> 00:03:00.259 of God through faith in Christ Jesus. That's 00:03:00.259 --> 00:03:04.900 from Galatians 3, verse 26. And we are heirs 00:03:04.900 --> 00:03:10.280 according to the promise. Galatians 3, 29. The 00:03:10.280 --> 00:03:16.240 law was our guardian, our nanny. We see this 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:22.310 in Galatians 3, 24 and verses 25. The nanny watched 00:03:22.310 --> 00:03:28.430 over us when we were still children. And that's 00:03:28.430 --> 00:03:31.370 what these verses are talking about. They're 00:03:31.370 --> 00:03:36.430 a continuation from the end of Galatians chapter 00:03:36.430 --> 00:03:42.550 3. Now let's progress with verse 3. And that's 00:03:42.550 --> 00:03:46.490 the way it was with us before Christ came. We 00:03:46.490 --> 00:03:50.360 were like children. We were like slaves. to the 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:55.759 basic spiritual principles of this world. Now, 00:03:55.780 --> 00:04:01.099 basic spiritual principles. We could call this 00:04:01.099 --> 00:04:05.300 the ABCs of the universe. Before Christ, we were 00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:09.900 like young children, living like slaves to the 00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:14.840 ABCs of the universe. Basic spiritual principles. 00:04:15.979 --> 00:04:18.920 World religions and Jewish law are based on the 00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:23.040 principle of cause and effect. One may call it 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:26.959 karma, or you get what you deserve, or something 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:32.819 else. It rules nature and the minds of men. We 00:04:32.819 --> 00:04:35.699 live under the idea that we get what we deserve. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:40.079 When we are good, we deserve to receive good, 00:04:40.139 --> 00:04:43.560 and when we are bad, we deserve to receive bad. 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:49.180 Paul told the Galatians to go beyond the ABCs 00:04:49.180 --> 00:04:52.540 of the universe into an understanding of God's 00:04:52.540 --> 00:04:58.019 grace. Grace contradicts the ABCs of the universe 00:04:58.019 --> 00:05:01.420 because under grace, God does not deal with us 00:05:01.420 --> 00:05:07.259 on the basis of what we deserve. Going to verse 00:05:07.259 --> 00:05:12.879 4. But when the right time came, God sent his 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:18.930 son. Born of a woman, subject to the law. Now, 00:05:18.949 --> 00:05:22.649 what does it mean when it says, when the right 00:05:22.649 --> 00:05:26.269 time came? Well, this is the time when Roman 00:05:26.269 --> 00:05:29.870 civilization extended over most of the known 00:05:29.870 --> 00:05:33.629 world. Travel and commerce had become common. 00:05:33.990 --> 00:05:37.670 Great roads linked the empire of the Caesars. 00:05:37.850 --> 00:05:42.259 The Greek language was predominant. This was 00:05:42.259 --> 00:05:45.699 just the right time, a perfect time for the coming 00:05:45.699 --> 00:05:49.759 of Christ and the early expansion of Christianity. 00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:58.199 Verse 5. God sent him to buy freedom for us who 00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:03.600 were slaves to the law. And because Jesus is 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:08.160 God, he has the power and the resources to redeem 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:13.300 us. Because Jesus is man, he has the right and 00:06:13.300 --> 00:06:17.839 the ability to redeem us. He came to purchase 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:23.180 us out of the slave market from our bondage to 00:06:23.180 --> 00:06:28.459 sin and the elements of the world. Continuing 00:06:28.459 --> 00:06:33.560 with verse 5. So that he could adopt us as his 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:39.459 very own children. It would be enough that we 00:06:39.459 --> 00:06:44.100 were purchased out of the slave market, but God's 00:06:44.100 --> 00:06:47.779 work for us didn't end there. He elevated us 00:06:47.779 --> 00:06:54.160 to the positions of sons through adoption. Now, 00:06:54.180 --> 00:06:58.379 in Roman adoption, adopted sons were given absolute 00:06:58.379 --> 00:07:03.160 equal privileges in the family and equal inheritance 00:07:03.160 --> 00:07:07.209 rights. would naturally born children into the 00:07:07.209 --> 00:07:14.490 family so we receive the adoption of sons we 00:07:14.490 --> 00:07:17.949 did not recover it in this sense we gained something 00:07:17.949 --> 00:07:22.970 in jesus that is greater than what adam ever 00:07:22.970 --> 00:07:27.870 had adam was never adopted as a son of god in 00:07:27.870 --> 00:07:31.209 the way believers are redemption is more than 00:07:31.209 --> 00:07:35.240 just a restoration of what was lost with adam 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:40.560 we are granted more in jesus than adam ever had 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:46.939 verse 6 and because we are his children god has 00:07:46.939 --> 00:07:52.660 sent the spirit of his son into our hearts we 00:07:52.660 --> 00:07:55.339 we know that we are the sons of god by the witness 00:07:55.339 --> 00:07:59.500 of the holy spirit within us he sent his son 00:08:00.269 --> 00:08:04.589 So we could have the status of sonship. He sent 00:08:04.589 --> 00:08:09.370 his spirit. So we could experience. Sonship. 00:08:10.689 --> 00:08:15.290 Continuing in verse 6. Prompting us to call out. 00:08:15.889 --> 00:08:22.649 Abba. Father. Abba. Was the address. Of a small 00:08:22.649 --> 00:08:28.949 child. To his father. In verse 7 it says. Now. 00:08:29.470 --> 00:08:34.389 You are no longer a slave, but God's own child. 00:08:34.889 --> 00:08:39.370 And since you are his child, God has made you 00:08:39.370 --> 00:08:45.129 his heir. Do you see the progression that we 00:08:45.129 --> 00:08:49.529 have gone in these seven verses? We are set free 00:08:49.529 --> 00:08:54.870 from slavery. We are adopted into God's family 00:08:54.870 --> 00:09:00.029 and declared sons. And then... We are made heirs 00:09:00.029 --> 00:09:04.970 of God. Verse 8. Before you Gentiles knew God, 00:09:05.210 --> 00:09:08.970 you were slaves to so -called gods that do not 00:09:08.970 --> 00:09:12.850 even exist. This reminds me of a quote from the 00:09:12.850 --> 00:09:16.309 renowned philosopher Bob Dylan. He once profoundly 00:09:16.309 --> 00:09:19.350 said, you're going to have to serve somebody. 00:09:20.009 --> 00:09:23.210 And that's true, right? Everybody serves somebody. 00:09:24.040 --> 00:09:27.440 And bondage is natural when we do not know the 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:31.820 living God. Before God, we live for things and 00:09:31.820 --> 00:09:36.080 serve things as if they were our gods. Verse 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:39.840 9. So now that you know God, or should I say, 00:09:39.879 --> 00:09:43.220 now that God knows you, why do you want to go 00:09:43.220 --> 00:09:46.379 back again and become slaves once more to the 00:09:46.379 --> 00:09:49.519 weak and useless spiritual principles of this 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:52.929 world? You are trying to earn favor with God 00:09:52.929 --> 00:09:55.990 by observing certain days or months or seasons 00:09:55.990 --> 00:10:00.129 or years. And here Paul is saying that no days, 00:10:00.309 --> 00:10:03.350 months, seasons, or years are more holy than 00:10:03.350 --> 00:10:06.750 others. The Galatians were not turning to some 00:10:06.750 --> 00:10:10.850 new false doctrine. After receiving God's grace 00:10:10.850 --> 00:10:13.750 and experiencing freedom, they were turning back 00:10:13.750 --> 00:10:16.610 to works and submitting themselves back under 00:10:16.610 --> 00:10:20.720 the bondage of legalism. This is the default 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:24.940 of the human heart. Warren Wiersbe, a famous 00:10:24.940 --> 00:10:28.440 American pastor, Bible teacher, author, and radio 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:33.299 minister, once put it like this. One of the tragedies 00:10:33.299 --> 00:10:36.460 of legalism is that it gives the appearance of 00:10:36.460 --> 00:10:40.440 spiritual maturity when, in reality, it leads 00:10:40.440 --> 00:10:43.759 the believer back into a second childhood of 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:47.799 Christian experience. How true is that? Let's 00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:51.379 pick up reading in verse 11. I fear for you. 00:10:51.779 --> 00:10:55.179 Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing. 00:10:56.039 --> 00:11:00.019 And here Paul is saying that hard work, meaning 00:11:00.019 --> 00:11:03.440 that he labored to the point of exhaustion. And 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:07.399 here he's clearly expressing his concern that 00:11:07.399 --> 00:11:10.320 this attraction to legalism that they had would 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:13.559 mean that all this work among the Gentiles amounted 00:11:13.559 --> 00:11:16.460 to nothing. And it would just all end up being 00:11:16.460 --> 00:11:20.600 in vain. Verse 12. Dear brothers and sisters, 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:24.639 I plead with you to live as I do, in freedom 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:28.340 from these things. For I have become like you 00:11:28.340 --> 00:11:34.519 Gentiles, free from those laws. You and I, we 00:11:34.519 --> 00:11:37.620 can live in freedom, in relationship with God 00:11:37.620 --> 00:11:40.720 as a loving Father, because of what Jesus did 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:44.600 for us and who we are in Him. Or we can try to 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:47.990 please God by trying to keep the rules. living 00:11:47.990 --> 00:11:52.350 in bondage as slaves instead of sons. Choosing 00:11:52.350 --> 00:11:55.409 to live that way, though, makes the whole gospel 00:11:55.409 --> 00:12:00.350 in vain. Why choose to live as slaves when we 00:12:00.350 --> 00:12:03.950 can live as sons? Picking up with the end of 00:12:03.950 --> 00:12:07.429 verse 12. You did not mistreat me when I first 00:12:07.429 --> 00:12:10.529 preached to you. Surely you remember that I was 00:12:10.529 --> 00:12:13.190 sick when I first brought you the good news. 00:12:13.950 --> 00:12:17.549 But even though my condition tempted you to reject 00:12:17.549 --> 00:12:22.129 me, you did not despise me or turn me away. No, 00:12:22.210 --> 00:12:25.929 you took me in and cared for me as though I were 00:12:25.929 --> 00:12:29.570 an angel from God or even Christ Jesus himself. 00:12:31.110 --> 00:12:35.610 Now from Acts chapter 14 verses 19 through 20, 00:12:35.769 --> 00:12:39.669 we know that when Paul was on his first missionary 00:12:39.669 --> 00:12:43.759 journey in Lystra, which is south of Galatia 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:47.799 proper, Jews from Antioch and Iconium tried to 00:12:47.799 --> 00:12:51.799 execute him. His attackers gave him up for dead, 00:12:52.039 --> 00:12:56.860 yet he miraculously survived. Let's take a look 00:12:56.860 --> 00:13:00.360 at these verses in Acts 14 verses 19 through 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:04.419 20. Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium 00:13:04.419 --> 00:13:07.919 and won the crowds to their side. They stoned 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:10.710 Paul and dragged him out of town. thinking he 00:13:10.710 --> 00:13:13.970 was dead. But as the believers gathered around 00:13:13.970 --> 00:13:19.490 him, he got up and went back into town. We really 00:13:19.490 --> 00:13:22.009 don't know what type of physical issue brought 00:13:22.009 --> 00:13:25.929 Paul to Galatia, but some scholars suggest the 00:13:25.929 --> 00:13:29.090 issue could have resulted from the beating, whipping, 00:13:29.370 --> 00:13:32.929 and stoning he endured from the Jews and pagans 00:13:32.929 --> 00:13:37.320 who rejected the gospel message. Others suggest 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:41.820 malaria or eye problems. All we know for sure 00:13:41.820 --> 00:13:45.460 is that when Paul arrived in Galatia, he was 00:13:45.460 --> 00:13:49.279 in bad shape. The Galatians received Paul and 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:55.320 his message with great joy. Verse 15. Where is 00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:58.179 that joyful and grateful spirit you felt then? 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:01.919 I am sure you would have taken your own eyes 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:05.019 and given them to me if it had been possible. 00:14:06.570 --> 00:14:10.070 Now, the Galatians were so overjoyed by Paul's 00:14:10.070 --> 00:14:12.610 message of the gospel and so thankful for him 00:14:12.610 --> 00:14:16.009 for coming to him that they would have done anything 00:14:16.009 --> 00:14:22.990 to help him. Verse 16. Have I now become your 00:14:22.990 --> 00:14:27.370 enemy because I'm telling you the truth? See, 00:14:27.490 --> 00:14:31.259 the Judaizers came in after Paul. Teaching that 00:14:31.259 --> 00:14:34.720 Paul's message was not completely true and that 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:38.220 the Galatians had to become Jews and follow the 00:14:38.220 --> 00:14:40.700 law of Moses before they could become Christians. 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:45.200 And these false teachers convinced the Galatians 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:53.360 to view Paul as the enemy. Verse 17. Those false 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:57.379 teachers are so eager to win your favor, but 00:14:57.379 --> 00:15:00.769 their intentions are not good. They're trying 00:15:00.769 --> 00:15:03.990 to shut you off from me so that you will pay 00:15:03.990 --> 00:15:08.870 attention only to them. If someone is eager to 00:15:08.870 --> 00:15:12.549 do good things for you, that's all right. But 00:15:12.549 --> 00:15:16.889 let them do it all the time, not just when I'm 00:15:16.889 --> 00:15:21.350 with you. See, the motive of the false teachers 00:15:21.350 --> 00:15:25.149 was not to help the Galatians. Their ultimate 00:15:25.149 --> 00:15:28.230 motive was to undermine Paul and his message 00:15:28.230 --> 00:15:32.909 of God's grace for all people, Jews and Gentiles 00:15:32.909 --> 00:15:37.870 alike. Legalism may come wrapped in a cloak of 00:15:37.870 --> 00:15:41.710 love, but the end result is a life of bondage 00:15:41.710 --> 00:15:45.610 to guilt, shame, and condemnation. It renders 00:15:45.610 --> 00:15:48.669 a person ineffective for the kingdom of God. 00:15:49.549 --> 00:16:08.889 Verse 19 See, since Paul was the first one to 00:16:08.889 --> 00:16:12.789 bring the gospel to the Galatians, he metaphorically 00:16:12.789 --> 00:16:16.029 compares himself as a mother giving spiritual 00:16:16.029 --> 00:16:21.299 birth to the Galatians. But something unnatural 00:16:21.299 --> 00:16:24.360 has happened. Since the Galatians have turned 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:29.080 away from grace gift salvation to an impossible 00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:33.980 law works religion, Paul feels like he has to 00:16:33.980 --> 00:16:37.399 go back into labor a second time for the same 00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:41.279 spiritual children. He feels these labor pains 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:44.320 will continue not only until they get salvation 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:48.659 right, but until they become mature Christ followers. 00:16:50.350 --> 00:16:56.429 Verse 20, I wish I were with you right now so 00:16:56.429 --> 00:17:00.269 I could change my tone, but at this distance, 00:17:00.350 --> 00:17:05.549 I don't know how else to help you. Paul wished 00:17:05.549 --> 00:17:09.650 two things. First, that he was with the Galatians, 00:17:09.650 --> 00:17:12.829 and he wished that he did not need to speak to 00:17:12.829 --> 00:17:17.049 them in such strong words. But their danger of 00:17:17.049 --> 00:17:21.190 leaving the true gospel made strong words necessary. 00:17:23.269 --> 00:17:27.569 Verse 21. Tell me, you who want to live under 00:17:27.569 --> 00:17:31.630 the law, do you know what the law actually says? 00:17:33.529 --> 00:17:38.410 See, under the law is what you do for God that 00:17:38.410 --> 00:17:41.990 makes you right before him. But under the grace 00:17:41.990 --> 00:17:46.859 of God. That is what God has done for you in 00:17:46.859 --> 00:17:51.720 Jesus Christ that makes you right with him. Under 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:55.200 the law, the focus is on your own ability to 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:58.500 perform, but under the grace of God, the focus 00:17:58.500 --> 00:18:04.500 is on who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. Under 00:18:04.500 --> 00:18:08.059 the law, you find fig leaves like Adam and Eve 00:18:08.059 --> 00:18:12.650 to cover yourself or your wrongdoing. but under 00:18:12.650 --> 00:18:15.990 the grace of God, you receive Jesus's robe of 00:18:15.990 --> 00:18:20.529 righteousness earned through his sinless life. 00:18:20.910 --> 00:18:25.450 Let's read verse 21 again. Tell me, you who want 00:18:25.450 --> 00:18:28.509 to live under the law, do you know what the law 00:18:28.509 --> 00:18:33.210 actually says? Here, Paul refers to the scriptures 00:18:33.210 --> 00:18:36.950 again and again, and the legalists most likely 00:18:36.950 --> 00:18:39.910 presented themselves as the back -to -the -Bible 00:18:39.910 --> 00:18:43.779 bunch. But Paul shows us that they were not handling 00:18:43.779 --> 00:18:47.259 the Old Testament scriptures correctly, because 00:18:47.259 --> 00:18:50.579 a correct understanding of the law of Moses supports 00:18:50.579 --> 00:18:54.799 the true gospel. Now, through the remainder of 00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:58.519 chapter 4, Paul, he continues to provide scriptural 00:18:58.519 --> 00:19:02.839 evidence that grace and law cannot coexist, and 00:19:02.839 --> 00:19:05.799 he presents six significant contrasts from the 00:19:05.799 --> 00:19:09.299 story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar found in Genesis 00:19:09.299 --> 00:19:15.390 16. Let's look at verse 22. The scriptures say 00:19:15.390 --> 00:19:19.210 that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave 00:19:19.210 --> 00:19:24.670 wife and one from his freeborn wife. Now, the 00:19:24.670 --> 00:19:28.029 legalists who troubled the Galatians protested 00:19:28.029 --> 00:19:30.650 that they were children of Abraham and therefore 00:19:30.650 --> 00:19:34.930 blessed. Paul will admit that they are children 00:19:34.930 --> 00:19:38.650 of Abraham, but they forgot that Abraham had 00:19:38.650 --> 00:19:42.650 two sons. So the first contrast Paul draws between 00:19:42.650 --> 00:19:46.130 real Christianity and legalism is the contrast 00:19:46.130 --> 00:19:50.410 between freedom and slavery. One son of Abraham 00:19:50.410 --> 00:19:54.190 was born by a free woman, and one was born by 00:19:54.190 --> 00:19:58.410 a bondwoman. The real Christian life is marked 00:19:58.410 --> 00:20:04.029 by freedom. Verse 23. The son of the slave wife 00:20:04.029 --> 00:20:07.109 was born in a human attempt to bring about the 00:20:07.109 --> 00:20:10.819 fulfillment of God's promise. Now it often doesn't 00:20:10.819 --> 00:20:14.259 look like it, but legalism is living according 00:20:14.259 --> 00:20:18.299 to the flesh. It denies God's promise and tries 00:20:18.299 --> 00:20:20.720 to make your own way to God through the law. 00:20:20.940 --> 00:20:23.599 This is living like a descendant of Abraham. 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:29.539 But it is living like Ishmael. Verse 23. But 00:20:29.539 --> 00:20:32.720 the son of the freeborn wife was born as God's 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:53.970 own fulfillment of his promise. Now, this brings 00:20:53.970 --> 00:20:57.230 us to the second contrast, where Paul draws between 00:20:57.230 --> 00:21:01.839 Christianity and legalism. This is between the 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:05.039 work done by God's promised miracle and a work 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:08.759 done by the flesh. The real Christian life is 00:21:08.759 --> 00:21:11.920 connected to God's promised miracle and not the 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:17.319 flesh. Verse 24. These two women serve as an 00:21:17.319 --> 00:21:20.599 illustration of God's two covenants. The first 00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:23.960 woman, Hagar, presents Mount Sinai, where people 00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:28.650 received the law that enslaved them. A covenant, 00:21:28.750 --> 00:21:31.569 as we know, is a contract that sets the rules 00:21:31.569 --> 00:21:35.970 for our relationship with God. And Paul brought 00:21:35.970 --> 00:21:39.109 it right down to the issue confronting the Galatian 00:21:39.109 --> 00:21:42.569 Christians. The legalists wanted them to relate 00:21:42.569 --> 00:21:46.069 to God under one set of rules. And Paul wanted 00:21:46.069 --> 00:21:48.829 them to relate to God under the rules presented 00:21:48.829 --> 00:21:54.430 by the gospel. Verse 25. And now Jerusalem is 00:21:54.430 --> 00:21:58.160 just like Mount Sinai in Arabia. because she 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:01.019 and her children live in slavery to the law. 00:22:02.259 --> 00:22:05.599 The Mosaic Covenant from Mount Sinai gives birth 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:09.240 to bondage. Since it is all about what we must 00:22:09.240 --> 00:22:12.519 do for God to be accepted by Him, it doesn't 00:22:12.519 --> 00:22:17.440 set us free. In fact, it puts us on a perpetual 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:20.839 treadmill of having to prove ourselves and earn 00:22:20.839 --> 00:22:25.680 our way before God. Verse 26. But the other woman, 00:22:25.880 --> 00:22:30.160 Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:34.359 is the free woman, and she is our mother. So 00:22:34.359 --> 00:22:36.680 here we see the gospel covenant is associated 00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:41.140 with Jerusalem, with Mount Zion, but not the 00:22:41.140 --> 00:22:45.000 Mount Zion of this earth. Instead, it is associated 00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.660 with the Jerusalem above, God's own new Jerusalem 00:22:49.660 --> 00:22:54.819 in heaven. This covenant brings freedom. It is 00:22:54.819 --> 00:22:58.650 free. It is free because it recognizes that Jesus 00:22:58.650 --> 00:23:02.170 paid the price, and we don't have to pay it ourselves. 00:23:03.450 --> 00:23:06.470 So this brings us to the third contrast, and 00:23:06.470 --> 00:23:09.309 the third contrast Paul draws between Christianity 00:23:09.309 --> 00:23:12.730 and legalism is the contrast between heaven and 00:23:12.730 --> 00:23:17.490 earth. Real Christianity comes from heaven, not 00:23:17.490 --> 00:23:22.049 from earth. Picking up in verse 27, as Isaiah 00:23:22.049 --> 00:23:25.750 said, Rejoice, O childless woman! you who have 00:23:25.750 --> 00:23:29.150 never given birth, break into a joyful shout, 00:23:29.410 --> 00:23:34.269 you who have never been in labor. This phrase, 00:23:34.390 --> 00:23:38.450 rejoice, O childless woman, is referring to every 00:23:38.450 --> 00:23:41.509 birth under the gospel covenant. And it's basically 00:23:41.509 --> 00:23:44.410 saying that it is a miracle. It's a miracle process, 00:23:44.549 --> 00:23:49.269 like the fulfillment of the prophecy. Verse 27. 00:23:49.950 --> 00:23:52.470 For the desolate woman now has more children 00:23:52.470 --> 00:23:56.329 than the woman who lives with her husband. This 00:23:56.329 --> 00:23:59.029 phrase, the desolate woman now has more children, 00:23:59.190 --> 00:24:02.289 that was also a fulfillment of prophecy that 00:24:02.289 --> 00:24:06.529 there will be more Christians than Jews. This 00:24:06.529 --> 00:24:09.569 brings us to the fourth contrast that Paul draws 00:24:09.569 --> 00:24:12.890 between Christianity and legalism, and it is 00:24:12.890 --> 00:24:16.029 the contrast between many more and many, the 00:24:16.029 --> 00:24:19.369 abundance and glory of the new covenant. is shown 00:24:19.369 --> 00:24:22.190 by the fact that it would soon have many more 00:24:22.190 --> 00:24:26.890 followers than the old covenant. Verse 28. And 00:24:26.890 --> 00:24:29.450 you, dear brothers and sisters, are children 00:24:29.450 --> 00:24:35.029 of the promise, just like Isaac. So we see here 00:24:35.029 --> 00:24:37.829 that Christians don't identify with Ishmael. 00:24:37.970 --> 00:24:41.829 We identify with Isaac as children of the promise 00:24:41.829 --> 00:24:47.319 that was received by faith. Verse 29. But you 00:24:47.319 --> 00:24:49.960 are now being persecuted by those who want to 00:24:49.960 --> 00:24:53.460 keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born 00:24:53.460 --> 00:24:57.259 by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child 00:24:57.259 --> 00:25:01.640 born by the power of the Spirit. Ishmael and 00:25:01.640 --> 00:25:04.440 his descendants persecuted Isaac and his descendants. 00:25:05.059 --> 00:25:08.299 So we should not be surprised now that the people 00:25:08.299 --> 00:25:12.119 who follow God in the flesh often persecute those 00:25:12.119 --> 00:25:16.420 who follow God by faith in his promise. This 00:25:16.420 --> 00:25:19.559 brings us to the fifth contrast that Paul draws 00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:22.799 between Christianity and legalism, and that is 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:25.700 the contrast between being persecuted and being 00:25:25.700 --> 00:25:29.819 a persecutor. The persecution Christians face 00:25:29.819 --> 00:25:33.000 will not always be from the world. Persecution 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:36.039 also comes from half -brothers, you could say, 00:25:36.119 --> 00:25:40.140 that are lost religious church people. Verse 00:25:40.140 --> 00:25:44.000 30, But what do the Scriptures say about that? 00:25:47.890 --> 00:25:51.230 So we know that Sarah could live with Hagar and 00:25:51.230 --> 00:25:54.809 Ishmael until the son of promise was born. But 00:25:54.809 --> 00:25:58.769 once Isaac was born, then Hagar and Ishmael had 00:25:58.769 --> 00:26:02.630 to go. And in the same way, a person could relate 00:26:02.630 --> 00:26:05.369 to the law one way before the promise of the 00:26:05.369 --> 00:26:08.769 gospel was made clear in Jesus Christ. But now 00:26:08.769 --> 00:26:11.650 that it has been made clear, There is nothing 00:26:11.650 --> 00:26:15.069 to do but to cast out the bondwoman and her son, 00:26:15.349 --> 00:26:20.309 the law. Verse 30. For the son of the slave woman 00:26:20.309 --> 00:26:22.990 will not share the inheritance with the free 00:26:22.990 --> 00:26:27.930 woman's son. Law and grace cannot live together 00:26:27.930 --> 00:26:32.230 as principles for our Christian life. This brings 00:26:32.230 --> 00:26:35.970 us to our sixth contrast between Christianity 00:26:35.970 --> 00:26:40.569 and legalism. And here Paul contrasts between 00:26:40.569 --> 00:26:44.910 inheriting all and inheriting nothing. While 00:26:44.910 --> 00:26:48.549 the Isaacs of this world may be persecuted, they 00:26:48.549 --> 00:26:51.549 also have a glorious inheritance that the Ishmaels 00:26:51.549 --> 00:26:55.509 of this world would never know. We are now heirs 00:26:55.509 --> 00:26:58.750 of God through the principle of grace, not works. 00:26:59.450 --> 00:27:03.690 Verse 31. So dear brothers and sisters, we are 00:27:03.690 --> 00:27:06.630 not children of the slave woman. We are children 00:27:06.630 --> 00:27:10.660 of the free woman. And here for Paul, one of 00:27:10.660 --> 00:27:13.880 the great issues in this was freedom. He knew 00:27:13.880 --> 00:27:16.460 the bondage of trying to earn his own way before 00:27:16.460 --> 00:27:19.240 God because he had lived that way for decades. 00:27:19.619 --> 00:27:22.880 Now he knew the freedom of living as a son of 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:27.579 God, free in Jesus Christ. Thank you for joining 00:27:27.579 --> 00:27:30.460 us for Life Group. Allow God's Word to build 00:27:30.460 --> 00:27:32.700 your faith and transform your life.