Galatians 5:19-20 (Part 2)

Galatians 5:19-20 "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath..."
 
 

Last week, we contrasted the concepts works vs. fruit, determining that works carry the connotation of toil, sweat, and self-effort; whereas, fruit is a naturally or supernaturally occurring process, where the internal is manifested externally.
 
Ultimately, when a believer attempts, through religious behavior to make himself righteous, or he believes he is better because of something inherent in him, the lusts of the flesh will be apparent in his life. On the other hand, the believer, who understands what it means to be a true follower of God; understanding he is righteous and capable of pleasing God only because he accepted the righteous one of God; understanding that he is incapable within himself of producing behavior pleasing to God; understanding he must submit his life and allow the Holy Spirit to have his way, for this believer, the result will be the production of fruit in his life because what is on the inside- the Holy Spirit- will be allowed to be manifested outwardly.
 
Last week we covered: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, and witchcraft; this week, we will cover: hatred, variance, emulations, and wrath; in addition, we will mention a couple of the fruits of the Spirit, which provide a contrast to these lusts of the flesh.
 
Last week, the words we covered focused primarily on sexual sins; whereas, this week, the words will focus on social relationships: how we engage other people.
 
(1) Hatred- the word hatred describes: hostility, opposition, and enmity. God is love; Satan is hatred.
 
The interesting thing about many of these adjectives we will discuss today is that they are not overtly obvious; instead, they are hidden seeds sown in the heart; they germinate slowly, finally sprouting into disastrous consequences.
 
Jesus said: Matthew 5:21-28
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca (a term of reproach meaning senseless), shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool (stupid), shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."

Jesus is focusing upon what is taking place internally- in the heart of the believer. When you look at certain people, do you feel disdain and disgust towards them? Do you secretly wish that they were gone? How much better life would be if they would just go away...? I don't want to kill them; I just want them to go away.
 
Hatred, enmity, hostility, ill will, are all adjectives describing the heart of Cain who wiped the existence of his brother from the earth. Cain's sin began as hatred in the heart before it ever manifested outwardly as the first murder.
 
Love is the opposite of hate; love is the nature of God. Truthfully, we could say that all the subsequent fruit of the Spirit that will follow are simply more specific adjectives, which more clearly describe the loving nature of God.
 
Let's see how the Bible defines love:
 
1 Corinthians 13 "1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Charity (love) suffereth long, and is kind; charity (love) envieth not; charity (love)vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity (love)."
 
(2). Variance (KJV):  Discord (NIV)- lacking harmony, quarreling, disagreement, strife.
 
A good example here may be divorced relationships. Unfortunately, even the church is experiencing divorce at an alarming rate. Let's create a scenario. One spouse, for whatever reason, has an affair on the other spouse. They committed adultery, unbridled lust consumes them, repentance never takes place, and selfish divorce ensues. Now, in the partner, hatred begins to manifest in the heart, ill will, antagonism, hostility.
 
Then the sins of the heart begin to manifest into retaliatory actions; the other spouse commits adultery, fornication, full of all manner of unclean thoughts, all the while hatred growing every day.
 
Time passes, the court date arrives, the verdict is in, joint custody, split everything down the middle. The judge gives specific orders: hire a chain saw crew, everything is to be cut in half and make the lines straight, the flesh wants every bit it has coming. Cut the car, cut the house, line up the children and split them in half.
 
 The spouse did me wrong. They hurt me deep. I wasn't perfect, but I didn't deserve what they did, and now, they must feel it. Only, the offending spouse is not the one that feels it, they have moved on in their selfish little world: new spouse, new house, and new car.  Instead, it is the children who now experience the hatred, the discord, the hostility, the anger. The seed is carried by this wind of hatred and anger and sown in the heart of the child, lying dormant, the seeds wait; they wait to germinate. They spring forth when life spits again on them, it’s bound to happen, it’s just a matter of time, because life always spits on us at some point. Sadly, in this scenario, the child’s example is the selfishness of the parents rather than the selflessness of Christ, and the cycle ensues.
 
Back to the offended spouse, can you picture how this person feels? The very sight of the one who originally cheated evokes visceral anger, variance, or discord...whatever word you prefer, but the idea is that there is no harmony or joy.
 
Let's talk about the fruit of the Spirit called joy for a moment because this person needs some joy badly right now.
 
The word joy in the Greek describes calm delight or gladness. The question that begs to be asked is how, in the midst of this mess, could a person experience: calm, delight, and gladness? The answer is simple; joy is a fruit of the Spirit; joy is not manufactured by man; joy is what takes place when the believer allows Jesus to live His life through them. In order for this to take place, self must die so that Jesus can live; "I must decrease; He must increase.
 
John 15:1-13
The True Vine
1 “ I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit (Hebrews 12:6-11). 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “ I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
 
Love and Joy Perfected
 
9 “ As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
11 “ These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
 
People have been known to ask the question, but who are my friends Lord; who are my neighbors?
 (LK 10:23-36).
 
(3). Emulations (KJV): Jealousy (NIV)- envious and contentious rivalry.
 
 Cain's jealous envy over God accepting Abel’s sacrifice and rejecting his, initiated his hatred, resulting in a fit of rage, culminating with the murder of his brother. When you have been called and gifted, but see someone else with the opportunity you thought was yours, how do you respond? What do you hear in your heart when you see God place His anointing upon someone and use them; are you joyous or jealous; do you feel harmony or discord; is the root of your emotion: love or hate?
 
Love does not put itself forward; love desires that others do well; love realizes that it is not their kingdom; instead, it all belongs to God.
 
(4). Wrath (KJV):  Fits of rage (NIV)- these are not your normal little bouts of frustration.
 
Instead, these are flesh/sin driven fits of anger causing Christians to cuss, scream, bang, and throw; then the dust clears, the shoulders shrug, and the mind justifies, "It was them; they made me do it." No sir! It was you; it was your fruit; it was your flesh; it was your mirror. Something is wrong!
 
 What is the object of your faith? Have you been trusting in your Christian performance instead of remembering that access to grace comes through faith in the redemption plan of God...because that is faith in works sir/ ma'am, which will ultimately lead to failure.  Or better yet are you just refusing to submit to the Gospel message, and instead, holding on with all your might to SELF?

Galatians 5:19 & part of 20 (Part 1)

Galatians 5:19
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 idolatry, witchcraft…
 
 

Before we begin to look at the individual adjectives describing the flesh, I want to point out a couple concepts. First, consider the word works of the flesh. Ultimately, what is being contrasted in the rest of this chapter is the Spirit and the flesh, more specifically, the products from those two entities.
 
Think about the concept of these two words: fruit and works. Works denote the idea of toil and sweat and human effort, earning a right, a right to attain something as a reward, or payment for services rendered. Fruit, on the other hand, cannot be manufactured with human hands. Instead, it is a product that naturally occurs. It is manifested outwardly because it is contained inwardly. In other words, an apple tree produces apples because it is an apple tree internally.  Similarly, the fruit of the Spirit is manifested in people’s lives through a natural or shall I say a supernatural process. The point I am trying to make is that the fruit of the Spirit is not produced through self-effort. Instead, it is a supernatural process that takes place in the believer’s life when he allows the Holy Spirit to rule and reign. In the words of the mighty John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease!” (John 3:30) The essence of the Gospel teaches us that in order for resurrection power to be present, a crucifixion death must occur. What area of your life needs the cross applied to it so that the resurrection power (fruit of the Spirit) can be manifested in that area?
 
The word works is ergon in the Greek. From this Greek word, we have the English word ergonomics. The definition of ergonomics is human engineering.
 
Works in Christianity are not bad in themselves. Christians do produce good works. As we have discussed on multiple occasions, works become a problem when we begin to view our righteousness or grade how well we are doing with God based on human engineering (what I do and present before God- “Cain’s vegetables”[Genesis 4]). If the Christian were going to be honest with himself, he would admit that he has done this in his heart on numerous occasions: “Obviously, I am doing better than that Christian- look at what I do compared to them; I pray; I fast; I don’t cuss; I don’t drink, I raise two hands in church, they only raise one; I am in charge of two ministries, my husband fishes…” True righteousness is a person named Jesus. His righteousness is given to Christians based upon faith; an exchange took place; we received His righteousness; and He took our guilt, when He died in our place.
 
Unfortunately, Christians and sinners alike engineer products out of their sinful flesh. The unbeliever engineers these products because this is all he knows. The believer unknowingly engineers them because he attempts to clean himself through self- help, motivation, Christian disciplines, which all focus on self- performance. The cross should be an ever present reminder that humanity had nothing to offer God; instead, God offers Jesus to man. To the religious of heart this is offensive because he wants to be seen for his human engineering. Like a little toddler in diapers, he slings his “ba-ba” across the room and screams, “Look at me! Look at what I do for God!”
 
A while back I taught: Galatians 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
 
God’s promises were not manifesting the way Abraham and Sarah expected, through their slave Hagar, a child was produced, a child of the flesh, brought forth in their own strength and wisdom. In this Galatians passage, Paul explains that these two women, Sarah and Hagar, represent the two covenants, the old and the new, law and grace.
 
God told Abraham to cast both the woman and the lad (boy) out; Hagar and Ishmael had to go! So the woman is the Law and the son is the product of the Law. The presence of both intolerable to God's plan of future promise, the New Covenant, faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  And so it is for the Christian. God will not allow His children to function under the old system of legalism and self-performance. The Law that affects the New Testament believer is legalistic Christianity, synonymous with the (works) of the flesh, and the offspring of this union between Christian and law are the lusts of the flesh, which we will soon review.
 
If you go back to the beginning part of the passage, it states that these works of the flesh are manifest. The idea is that they are apparent or visible. This is important- so pay attention! The lust of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit can serve as a mirror in the lives of believers. A person can gauge whether they are walking in the Spirit versus the flesh by observing which fruit is being produced in their lives.
 
(1) Adultery- The obvious idea of adultery is when a man or woman has intercourse with someone else's spouse. In addition, there was an old Hebrew idiom (thought) that described a man being lured by a woman into idolatry. In other words, he was seduced to commit spiritual adultery on God (Proverbs 7). Sadly, this was the downfall of Solomon, the wisest man ever known, his insatiable appetite for women, resulting in his worship of their gods. If you review Revelation 17:3-6, you will see the spirit of false religion, a woman drunk with blood, drunk with the blood of the saints; for thousands of years, she has seduced men to commit spiritual adultery on God through false religion. Sadly, this includes much of the garbage we call Christianity on television today.
 
I would like to bring out one more point about adultery. Jesus said that when you look upon a woman with lustful intent you have committed adultery. In other words, it is not alright to have sex with people in your mind even though you’re not doing it physically. I am here to tell you that Jesus will give you victory in your thought life also if you will submit your thought life to Him, and apply the theology of the cross to that area of your life. How does this happen? Through the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, you can’t do it, you can’t quote it away, pray it away, or fast it away, the cross has to kill it. How does that happen? The believer realizes that he is helpless in himself, Jesus died to set him free, at the cross the victory was already won, faith in His work gives him access to grace, and fruit appears on the tree.
 
(2) Fornication-We get the English word fornication from the Greek word porneia. This word describes illicit sex of any kind: lesbianism, homosexuality, bestiality, incest. I am sure that people at this point are saying, "Dude I'm not that bad.  I have sex, but I mean come on man everybody has sex. And I only have sex with one person. We're not married, but we're engaged." People that know anything about God, but aren't living for him say that a lot now, "This is my fiancee." That means we do it (sex) but we are going to make it right one day. But that is the world's perception of what is acceptable- not God's! God says that the marriage bed is undefiled (Hebrews 13:4). God instituted the covenant of marriage in the garden. One man...one woman. When it is done God's way it is a covenant that has Him as the glue that holds it all together.
 
(3) Uncleanness-  This word describes sensual impurity. The NIV uses the word sexual immorality. This word includes the concept of people who live constantly with impure thoughts. Guys you know what I'm talking about. If you ever worked in the oilfield everything was always hyper-sexual. I remember, after I was a Christian I had a friend in Nursing school that I spent some time with. Invariably, if we would see a pretty girl he would say, "Boy I would like to see her naked.” This was all the time everywhere we went. And I'm not going to lie I was struggling with lust as a Christian because I did not know how to properly access grace. So he would say it...then I would say, "Shut up! Boy your crazy!" But the whole time my mind is struggling with the thought of it. The adultery of the mind Jesus spoke of could have been placed here also.
 
(4) Lasciviousness- other words that have been used in its place are debauchery, or wantonness. This word describes lawless behavior. In this sense, there is no regard for societal ethics. You could get the picture of a couple rednecks riding in the back of a truck “hooting and hollering”, drinking and littering, dipping and spitting...you get the picture. Also, a young man that doesn't care that a young lady's father has spoken to her about preserving herself for the right man that she will marry.  I am not worried about that- I want some sex, he thinks in his heart.
 

The word has also been used to describe impertinence. The definition of Impertinence = intrusive, rude, presumptuous in one’s actions. This could cover all levels of the spectrum from snubbing one’s nose at the cops and telling them off, to just being plain rude and crossing boundaries that are not yours to cross. In other words, telling people things about themselves that are hurtful and rude and ultimately are not going to help anything because it was done with the wrong spirit to begin with.
 
 

(5) Idolatry- idolatry can take multiple forms. We often envision graven images. But when you get to the bottom of what idols are and do, they take the place of and serve as God in a person's life. Instead of God being the focal point, these things become the focus.
 

(6) Witchcraft- The last word I want to cover is witchcraft. The Greek word is pharmakeia. Obviously, this is where we get the word pharmacy from. As a health care professional, I am certainly not saying that all medicines are bad and anyone who takes medicine is engaging in witchcraft. If that is the case my Nexium makes me a sorcerer. The idea here is the use of mind altering substances in the craft of magical spells or sorcery. This has been a practice sense ancient times. Drugs, alcohol, and mind altering substances used in conjunction with sexual acts have played a huge role in the world of the occult. Aleister Crowley the black magic occultist who was known for his own brand of magic called Thelema or Sex Magick heavily employed the use of mind altering drugs and all manners of fornication. Most people are saying, “Oooohhh gross, I wouldn’t do that.” Well, of course not. But do not think that there are not demon spirits associated with the misuse and abuse of drugs. You can lie to yourself all day long, but if you are in bondage this may be why. If you don’t believe me ask someone you know that has used cocaine whether or not they think a spirit of lust or sexuality is connected to that drug. And it is not only cocaine many drugs and even alcohol are this way.

We live in the midst of a medicated society and for many people their pills have become their gods. People want relief from the trauma of their past and the pain of their present. Unfortunately, many use drugs: narcotics, anxiolytics (Xanax/ Valium), and Anti- depressants to desensitize the hurt they feel. But Jesus wants to fulfill that role in the life of the Christian. Furthermore, when these drugs are misused and abused, they also desensitize the voice of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In the words of MIck Jagger, “They go running to the shelter of their mother’s little helper…. A little blue pill.” Help us Lord to run to you as our shelter (Psalm 61:3). Give your people a revelation of being protected under the shadow of your wings

(Psalms 17:8; 36:7; 63:7; 91:1).

Galatians 5:13-18

Galatians 5:13
For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
 
 

The word 'called' is describing an invitation offered to the Galatians, an invitation of liberty, freedom from the tyranny of sin, available to all upon faith in the finished work of Christ. However, it is imperative that the purpose of this liberty is not misunderstood resulting in misuse, liberty is not permission to live a life of sin, then simply excusing one's failures with the statement, "I'm forgiven by grace."
 
Paul's exhortation contradicts the thought of unrestrained sin through the use of the word occasion; militarily this term describes a base of operations from which an enemy mounts an attack. Paul also used this word in Romans 7:8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
 
In this Romans passage, sin used the commandment as a base of operations from which to mount its attack upon the believer; essentially, law is seen as giving strength to sin. In contrast, the Galatians passage describes the believer improperly using his new position of righteousness, purchased by Jesus, as a base of operations to live a sinful life while thinking in his mind, "It's ok because righteousness is based on my position-not my condition."
 
So liberty, given through grace, is not a license to sin, nor is it a “Swiffer” to clean up our sloppy mess every time we take another trip to feed at the sin trough; instead, it is an opportunity to serve others through love. The word serve describes a slave, previously in bondage to sin; new life of freedom awaits the Christian.  
 

Paul's concern is that the Galatians are leaving their first bondage of heathenism and entering a second bondage of legalism. Bondage of any sort will ultimately prevent the Christian from living their lives the way God intended. Godly slavery is when a person willingly emulates the life of Jesus, who selflessly laid Himself aside for the service of others. Ultimately, this verse serves as a transition point, moving the believer from knowledge to practice, reaching backward, it reminds us of liberty purchased, looking forward, it guides us towards a life of service that will bring others to Christ.
 

 Galatians 5:14
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
 
 

While the Judaizers are trying to bring the Galatians under the bondage of the Law, Paul explains that the essence of the Law is fulfilled in loving others. Jesus explained it this way: Matthew 22:37-40-- Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
 
Jesus accomplished both parts of the previous passage through His sacrificial offering, resulting in an illustration of selfless love towards God and sacrificial devotion towards man. Loving another the way one would love himself requires selflessness rather than selfishness, sacrificially -Jesus gave self for sinners-similarly believers serve God through giving themselves for others. Ultimately, this new life we have received results in us allowing Jesus to live His life through us, which strengthens struggling believers and leads unbelievers into a relationship with Christ. 
 
 

Galatians 5:15
But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
 
 

While we are not told exactly what was going on between the Galatian believers, it is obvious that there were factions within the congregation engaged in a bitter battle. Moving forward in the chapter reveals that the Galatian's actions towards one another were being produced from the source of their flesh rather than the Spirit of God; improper Christian faith produces improper Christian behavior.
 
Similar to our natural born families, church families will have disagreements; this is a natural part of Christian growth. Christian growth is stifled in the lives of believers who isolate themselves from the corporate body (church). Will you like everything that goes on in a church? Absolutely not!  But let me ask you this: When your daughter does something you disapprove of, do you go find another daughter, ignore her for 3 weeks, or refuse to fellowship with her? I hope not! Part of the process of growing in Christ is the realization that not everybody is at the same level in their walk, resulting in opportunities for disappointments and frustrations, providing an atmosphere for us all to grow through practicing selflessness and forgiveness.
 
 

Galatians 5:16
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
 

The idea of walking in the Spirit describes a believer allowing the Holy Spirit to rule and reign over their hearts; furthermore, in the context of this passage, the emphasis is on the way other people are treated along the journey of Christianity. The Holy Spirit is speaking clearly, "Treat others as Jesus treated you." Believers know right from wrong, the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives constantly communicates God's will to us. However, many times we ignore His voice, resulting in behavior that resembles our old man rather than the new man in Christ.
 
How do I walk in the Spirit? The answer is to know the scriptures, understand the plan of God, and reorder your life around that truth.
 
What do you mean? It goes back to Galatians 2:20 again. The old person you were died in Christ, through that process, you became a new creation with access to the presence and power of God, which changes people from the inside out. What the Spirit of God is reminding us about is the fact that the old person we were died in Christ, behaviors that were prevalent before, are to be replaced with the character of Jesus.
 
The term flesh in the Greek describes that physical part of man that is separated from the presence of God, adding the surrounding context, produces the idea that human flesh separate from God is tainted with sin and incapable on its own to produce persistent righteousness. Ultimately, if the believer will walk in the spirit, mindful of his new position in Christ, which provides access to grace, his behavior will begin to resemble Jesus as the memory of his old man’s responses fade away.
 
 

Galatians 5:17
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
 
 

There is an important theological concept in this passage. Once again, the flesh represents the physical person infected with sin, which is synonymous with the sinful nature. When the believer is born again, the sinful nature is not eradicated; instead, the relationship between the believer and the sinful nature dies (Romans 6:1-5). Then, once we see Jesus, we will become like He is, not Deity, but without a sinful nature (1 John 3:2).
 
Furthermore, upon salvation, the believer becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit; the presence of God literally comes to live on the inside of man. This produces a dichotomy (two opposing forces) within the believer. This idea should not be confused with something like demon possession. An unclean spirit and the Holy Spirit do not dwell in the same vessel. What we are discussing here is the fallen nature of man. When we are born again, there is not an exchange of natures, as previously mentioned, the relationship with the previous nature dies (Romans 6), and the born again believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature: 2 Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
 
The word partaker there is koinonos, which means to share or have fellowship.
 
Unfortunately, the devil knows how to do CPR on the dead sin natures of Christians who do not understand where to keep their faith anchored. Sin revives sin! And so a war ensues in this Christian's spirit the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit lusts against the flesh, and they are contrary to one another.
 
The word lust- means deep passion towards something, depending upon the context, the passion can be good or bad. For instance, the Spirit of God is passionate about only the things of God, and it is in contradiction towards anything sinful. The sinful nature of man, in its activated form, is contrary to the things of God. Ultimately, a battle is raging, and when the sinful nature is active, the believer usually succumbs to the desires of sin rather than the desires of God.
 
 

Galatians 5:18
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
 
 

If a believer is following the lead of the Holy Spirit, he will be led straight to the foot of the cross and constantly reminded, here victory was purchased! The Spirit of God will never lead the believer to a system of Law, rules, or regulations, guidance such as this results in bondage, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit is liberty-not bondage.

Galatians 5:1-12

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

The word 'liberty' describes freedom from bondage and tyranny. Our faith in Jesus' work on the cross has translated us from a place where we were previously bound and under the tyranny of sin. But in Christ, we have liberty. And the Apostle Paul is telling the Galatians to "stand fast" in that liberty. The idea of standing in that liberty describes a person persevering. In other words, no matter what you face whether it be trials, hardships or persecution, the charge is to persevere. Jesus paid a high price for our liberty. Now it is our job to stand fast and not be moved.

If a believer allows himself to be moved from this place of liberty, he will be moving back into bondage. For the Galatians, they never knew God previously. Therefore, they did not understand the Law. So what kind of bondage would they be going back into?

The Galatians were previously under the bondage of sin. They would have worshiped false gods and lived lives of moral failure. To be honest, they were not unlike we used to be. Paul is warning the Galatians that if they do not stand fast in the liberty that Jesus purchased then they will be willingly putting themselves under bondage. They will be trading in one form of bondage for another. They will have stepped away from the bondage of heathenism into liberty only to submit themselves under a new bondage called religion.

Sadly, this is the plight of many in the modern church including myself. I was saved from a life of sin. I woke up one day and sin no longer felt good. Instead, I was in a prison and could not get out. But hallelujah someone told me the good news of the gospel that Jesus died for sinners like me. And when I put my faith in him it was like the words from the old Charles Wesley hymn:

And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood. He died for me who caused His pain! For me? who Him to death pursued? Amazing love how can it be that thou my God should die for me?

Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature's night; thine eye diffused a quickening ray; I woke; my dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose went forth and followed thee.

Don't be entangled again to bondage Galatians. Don't be entangled again to bondage Christian. Stand fast in the liberty that Jesus purchased for you.

Galatians 5:2-3 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.

Paul was warning the Galatians that if they allowed themselves to be circumcised for righteousness' sake, then they are disconnecting from Christ. Overall, the idea an attempt to do something outward to become more righteous. If they embraced the Law, they would be indebted to the keeping of the whole Law. And since man cannot keep the whole Law, they would be under the Law's curse.

Jesus would not profit them at that point because the grace that Jesus purchased on the cross is not given to a person based on the doing of Law or performance. Instead, it is given based on faith.

Galatians 5:4 KJV

Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Galatians 5:4 NKJV

You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

Galatians 5:4 NIV

You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

Galatians 5:4 (NASB)

You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

I put all these different translations because I wanted you to be able to see the idea being communicated by the Holy Spirit. First, there is a word in the Greek text that describes the idea that Christ has become of no effect to a person who submits Himself to Law. But look at these verbs used by the other translations: estranged, severed and alienated. Christ has become of no affect because the person has been severed or separated from the supernatural grace that flows through faith in Christ.

The word in the Greek describing this process is apo and the idea is "away from." So because of faith in an improper object, Law rather than grace, the believer is moved to a place where they have been severed from Christ and fallen away from grace.

Now there are a few points we must clarify here: (1) For the Galatians, this is a matter of salvation. They are being told that God's plan includes Law. They are being introduced to another Jesus all together. This will result in a separation from the presence of God. (2) Most Christians in the modern church do not believe they have to keep the Law to be saved, but they are taught that they must perform better when they fail. So the answer to their sin problem is to try harder, pray harder, read more, get involved in more ministry, go to another Christian 12 step Bible study... And it is Law that severs from Christ and causes a falling from grace for daily Christian living.

Listen closely! I am not saying that all these people are going to Hell. I don't know if they ever placed their faith in Jesus properly for salvation or not. What I am saying is that if they are trying to live for God through Law, they are severed from the flow of grace that was purchased at Calvary and they are attempting to live for God in their own strength and that is why they are failing miserably.

One last point I want to make about this verse is that when you fail or sin, you do not fall from grace. When you fail or sin, as a Christian, you are supposed to fall into grace. Grace was purchased by Jesus for sinners. Grace is power from God so that we do not fail, but grace is there to forgive us when we do fail.

Galatians 5:5-6 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

This is the way the Gospel works. Righteousness is produced in the life of the believer through the Holy Spirit dispensing grace in our lives. But the Holy Spirit cannot dispense grace into the life of a person who has no access to grace. Access to grace is freely given to the one who has been declared righteous based on faith in the sacrifice of Jesus. You see when we speak of righteousness; we must be reminded that righteousness starts from a position before it can ever become a condition. In other words, if you want your life to show righteousness then you have to be in the righteous one. When you are in Christ, grace produces righteousness in your life and righteous acts flow through you.

It's not circumcision or un-circumcision that allows righteousness to be produced in our lives. Paul is letting us all know that something outward cannot make righteous; unfortunately, this is where most of the church lives. They are always attempting to do more or try harder to make themselves feel better. Instead, it is faith through love. When you were saved, what did you feel? You should have felt overwhelming joy because your burden of sin was removed. If you had any sense His love should have translated to overwhelming love toward the one who died to give you forgiveness. When we exhibit faith through that love, the result is grace and righteousness.

The opposite of love is fear towards God. When a person is not in right standing with God, he is motivated by fear instead of love. A person who is trying to live for God through Law is being motivated by fear rather than love. He is compelled by his fear to do more and try harder every time he fails. But he is never able to find peace because he is separated from the grace that produces righteousness. His attempt to live for God through Law places him in a perpetual curse because he is in a state of perpetual failure because victory requires grace from God.

Galatians 5:7-10 7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.

The tense of the verb ran describes the fact that the Galatians at one time were running the Christian race. When you add the word well, the idea is that they were running the race in an honorable or brave manner, but then someone hindered them.

The idea of the word hindered in the Greek is to cut into or to make an incision. So the overall idea is that the Galatians were doing an honorable and brave job of running the Christian race. They were on the right course, and then another runner cut in on them slowing down their progress.

I wonder how many Christians through the ages have been cut in on? Unfortunately, untold millions have been railroaded by a false gospel as the Galatians were. But it is important that we understand the enemy of our soul has multiple weapons in his arsenal. Yes, he has been known to use addictions, false religion, and family disruption.

But he will also use bitterness. I wonder how many stories are out there of believers who were running an honorable race and then they were cut in on? How many we're doing work for God and the Pastor decided that your service in that area was no longer needed? How did you feel? How did you respond?

Maybe you were married and serving God with your spouse and then they deceived you... they cheated on you. You thought you were running well. You loved God. And now a root of bitterness has cut in on your race. Your progression has been slowed. Will you finish the race child of God?

There are no excuses. Pastors make mistakes just as we do. Spouses are susceptible to the wiles of Satan just like everyone else. Friends and family members are also targets of the enemy’s destruction. In the name of Jesus who loved you and died to purchase your grace, make your move child of God! Move past that thing that has cut in front of you. Repent of your bitterness. Let it go! It will destroy your walk with God. It is slow and insidious, and you will awaken one day and realize you are not even in the race. I know it hurts! I know it is painful! But Jesus didn’t cause the pain. He died to give freedom from the pain.

So the false doctrine of the Judaizers has cut in on the Galatians and moved them away from the truth. When a person is disconnected from the "truth" of the Gospel and moved into a false gospel that teaches another way to victory other than the finished work of Christ, the result is stagnation and a getting off course.

Paul goes on to say that the one who had called them did not tell them to run this way. Then he speaks of a little leaven leavening the whole lump. Recently, we did a study on leaven when we taught the parables. Leavening is the process of fermentation. When yeast or bacteria is introduced into certain food and drink environments, the by- product is the production of carbon dioxide. This serves a purpose of aerating the product in which these organisms were introduced.

However, it is important to understand that when these organisms are introduced into this environment, there is no longer any control of the process. The whole batch becomes tainted and leavened- not just a portion. While it does not happen all at once, it is thoroughly accomplished all the same.

You may find one passage (and that is debatable) in the Bible where leaven is used in a positive fashion. Every other time, leaven is used to describe sin, or more specifically, false doctrine. Listen closely child of God. There are preachers especially on TBN that are preaching a false gospel. It is leaven, and it will insidiously spread throughout the entirety of who you are. It will begin to affect your ability to walk with God because it is false doctrine and it will cut in on your race. Do not get mad! Look at yourself. Look at your walk.  If you are walking in victory fine, turn me off. But if you are not, you better listen to what I am telling you, and you better turn the other person off.

Paul finishes this passage by saying he has confidence that if the Galatians will turn to the Lord that their minds will be set straight and they will get back in the race. Ultimately, the ones who have done this to the Galatians will bear their own judgment. Paul assures that it is coming.

You know just as these Judaizers have done wrong to the Galatians, many Christians have been wronged also. Paul's exhortation to us would be to get your mind right and focused on Christ and a proper presentation of the Gospel. Get back in the race. Let God handle the cleanup…people that do wrong, whether they call themselves Christians or not, will be dealt with by God. I don't know about you, but I don't have time to let those hurts cut in on my race...not if I ever want to hear those words, “Well done my good and faithful servant."

Galatians 5:11-12 And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. 12 I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off!

The word offense describes a stumbling block- something that is in the way and causes one to trip. The context of this passage compares and contrasts circumcision to the cross. If circumcision was being preached by Paul, then he would be accepted by those that were trying to hold onto the old way of doing things. But because he holds firm to the truth of the cross, it has become an offense or stumbling block.

When Paul says that he wishes that they would "cut themselves off", the Greek has the idea of mutilation. The idea is emasculation. There was an area in the region of Galatia where they worshiped the goddess Cybele. One of the ways that the heathen priests would show their selflessness and devotion to this goddess was to castrate themselves.

This is probably the harshest thing that Paul says in all his writings, but his concern is that the people are being led to drink poisonous doctrine. If cutting off the foreskin is going to make you more holy...why stop there? Go on amputate the whole thing. Mutilate yourself if that is what you think is going to bring you salvation.

For us today, maybe the statement should be...if fasting is going to bring you victory over that sin and 3 days without food and water didn't do the trick maybe you should try 2 weeks without food and water. Of course, the result will be physical death.

Galatians 4:21-31

Two Covenants

Galatians 4:21-22 "21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman."

We have talked a lot about Abraham and his offspring, and how his descendants became the nation of Israel. However, when we discuss that aspect of Abraham's life, we are focused upon the descendants that came forth from his son Isaac.

We have not spent any significant time lately discussing Abraham's other son Ishmael. When we take the time to study the life and decisions of Abraham, we learn that when things did not go the way that he expected regarding the promises God had given him, he took matters into his own hands. Without realizing what he was doing, Abraham produced a child of the flesh. There was no way that he could have known then what his actions would create.

Ultimately, as the millennia would pass the Ishmaelite’s were a disenfranchised people. The Jewish people had their God and their place in human history. Christianity had been birthed now for hundreds of years. Yet, there was this people group who seemed to be wandering aimlessly in the Arabia.

Then, just as Paul had warned approximately 600 years prior, the story goes that an angel appeared to a charismatic warrior named Mohammed, and gave him "revelation" about a god named Allah. However, it should be noted that there are sources, which explain that Allah was one of many deities that existed in the polytheistic religions of that area.

When someone tells you that Allah and Jehovah- the God of the Jews are one and the same, it is a lie...they are not one and the same. Mohammed was railroaded by a lying fallen angel. The story goes that it was the angel Gabriel. But an angel of God is not going to preach a gospel that is completely contrary to what God has said before.

Genesis 17:1-22

The Sign of the Covenant

1 When Abram was ninety- nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. 8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

9 And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11 and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. 13 He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.”

17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

19 Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.” 22 Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

The result of Islam is that the story is changed. It is no longer Isaac, but Ishmael that is the promised seed. But the problem is that the Jewish OT predates dates the Quran by thousands of years. In addition to changing who the promised seed was, the Muslim religion also changes the story about Jesus. They state that the real Jesus did not die on the cross. Instead, it was another man named Jesus. The result is that there is no recognition of the importance of the cross as the instrument of God's wrath poured out upon His Son to be the substitute sacrifice for our sin.

People attempt to convince us that Islam is a religion of peace hijacked by radicals, but the truth is that Mohammed was a radical. In the Hadith, which is a commentary of Mohammed's quotes compiled by his followers, Mohammed stated that with one drop of the martyr's blood all his sin is atoned. What this means is that if the martyr gives his life in the fight against the infidel, then his sin is forgiven. In this system, Jesus did not die for humanities’ sin. In this system, the martyr can die for his own sin.

I want to make something clear. Paul did not have all this information about Islam in mind when he wrote this analogy about Isaac and Ishmael because Christianity predates Islam by 600 years. So the religion of the Jews predates Islam by thousands of years and Christianity predates it by hundreds of years, but we're just supposed to buy the lie that Islam has a “holy” book of truth also when they completely changed the Jewish scriptures regarding the promised seed from Isaac to Ismael thousands of years later. And they disregard the atoning sacrifice of Jesus hundreds of years later.

People can call me what they want to call me, but someone is lying and trying to re- write history. Make your own determination. But I am sticking with the version that was documented first. All this was really a historical side note. Now, let's break down the passage.

Galatians 4:23-24 "But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar—"

So when we look at the passage, there is an obvious comparison and contrast taking place between Sarah and Hagar and the results of their offspring.

Hagar is known as the "bond woman"

Sarah is known as the "Free woman"

The story can be found in Genesis chapter ?. But we should quickly review the concept. I have taught on multiple occasions that God gave Abraham a promise in Genesis 12 where He instructed him to come out from his father's house. The result would be that Abraham would be the father of a great nation and that through his seed (Jesus) all nations of the earth would be blessed.

I wonder how many people listening to this sermon would raise their hand if asked..."Has God ever promised you something...or have you ever seen promises in His Word that you though were for you only to find that day after day and year after year they never come to pass?

The next question would be..."When that happened, did you attempt to change the circumstances yourself?"

You were in a financial bind and instead of waiting on God and changing your spending habits… going without because you did not have money to purchase, you went and got a payday loan...and another...and another.... Now, you are in such financial disarray you can barely stay afloat financially. If that is you, you produced an Ishmael.

There were things going on at the job that were causing pressure in your life. You were not able to get along with certain people. But God wants you to be able to get along with everyone so that you can be a witness to all paths you cross. He wanted you to trust Him for grace and stick it out because He teaches us things about ourselves in the midst of those trials. Contrary to popular opinion, it's not everybody else's fault. Matt has problems that God wants to deal with and in order for Him to point them out; He often has to place me in uncomfortable situations.

But I didn't like it so I high tailed it out of there and got me another job. You just created an Ishmael.

I'm a Christian and I am married, but my spouse gets on my nerves. She is not willing to let God change her so I'm going to get a divorce and marry someone who is more in tune with God. No sir! No ma'am! You’re the one that is not in tune with God. You want things your way. Your about to produce an Ishmael and the fallout will follow you for the rest of your life. Furthermore, chances are that the next one you marry will be worse than the one you previously had and the cycle may continue until you realize they weren’t the whole problem to begin with. The whole time God was trying to change you, but you were so focused on everyone else, you never grew up as a Christian.

You struggle with addictions. One preacher said that Jesus purchased your victory at the cross and now it is time to believe what the Word of God says. Another preacher says that God uses AA and self- help programs for people with addictions. If you walk into that, you are walking into Ishmael's camp and there is no freedom there. In that camp, there is only bondage.

Back to the story, Abraham became frustrated and weary waiting on God's promise. The result was that he and Sarah took matters into their own hands. Abraham made a child with their slave woman Hagar and she brought forth Ishmael...he was a child of the flesh. What do you mean by that? Ishmael was produced through Abraham and Sarah's wisdom and effort. When it appeared all hope was lost because Sarah was 90 and Abraham was 99, stress started to set in.

“We better hurry Abe and do something time is getting short. There is no hope in our situation. Maybe God wanted to do it this way.” God didn't want to do it that way. You took matters into your own hands.

When you and I attempt to walk in the flesh through our self-effort, through self-help, through man's wisdom, the result is bondage.

Whereas, when we walk according to the promise...faith in Christ, the result is freedom.

But let's look at the symbolism because Paul is telling us that these two births offer a good analogy of the two covenants.

Galatians 4:25-26  "for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all."

Mt. Sinai is the mountain upon which God gave Moses the 10 commandments (Law). Paul is saying that Hagar was a slave and in bondage. Furthermore, Abraham's attempt, through his own strength to bring forth God's plan resulted in bondage. Similar to the slave woman and her son, the current state of the natural Jerusalem at the time Paul was writing was in bondage to the Roman Empire.

But the Jerusalem that is above describes the heavenly Jerusalem that will one day be brought from heaven to reside in the new earth (Revelation 21:10). In this case, the New Jerusalem is seen as the place where God's presence and power dwells. This Jerusalem is seen as the place where the New Covenant was birthed. It is the place where the plan of God came from. And it is through this plan that we have been birthed into our new lives of freedom through Christ.

Galatians 4:27 For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children Than she who has a husband.”

Now it can get even more confusing if you do not realize that Paul is changing thoughts here. Before, he was using an analogy where Sarah and Hagar were contrasted. Now, he is quoting from Isaiah 54:1. When Isaiah spoke this prophecy, Israel was in bondage to Babylon. The Israel that was in bondage was barren. The promise was that there would be a day coming when Israel would be full of children. The time he was speaking of describes the Millennial Reign when Israel, as a nation, will have accepted Jesus as her messiah.

Galatians 4:28-31 "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free."

The flesh will always persecute the Spirit. In other words, people who are living under Law will come against and persecute those who are living according to the Spirit. The Judaisers were not living according to the Spirit. They were living under Law and bondage, and they were persecuting the Galatians for their attempt to live according to the Spirit.

Jewish tradition tells us that Ishmael began to persecute Isaac, and the scriptures tell us that Sarah told Abraham that the bond woman and the "boy" would have to go because the flesh and the Spirit cannot reside together.

God would tell His children today cast the flesh out of your life you cannot walk in the Spirit and the flesh at the same time. To live according to the Spirit means to trust every day and every moment that what Jesus accomplished on the cross gave us the adoption as sons, and now God's Spirit dwells in us. And God's Spirit is present to give us victory in every area of our lives.

The flesh or the children of the bondwoman would attempt to mix the two. In other words, they would say that it is ok for Psychology and Jesus to dwell together...that Jesus and programs can dwell together. But God said that the bond woman and the lad must go!

So I don't know what you have been mixing with your Jesus. But God's Word would say to you that if it is not faith in Jesus and what He provided through the cross then it needs to be sent out of the camp because the two of them cannot live together.

Galatians 4:8-20

Galatians 4:8-9 8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?

Like the rest of us, there was a time in the Galatian Christian's past when they had no real knowledge of the true God. It is certainly possible that someone may have told a story about something they heard regarding a man who died on a Roman cross and came back to life. But as far as a true convert to Christianity bearing witness to the facts that this same Jesus changed his life, Paul was the one who had shared Jesus with these people.

Therefore, before they knew Christ, they were in a similar situation that many of us in this room today were in. How amazing is it that so many of us were born and raised in homes where the name of Jesus was spoken of, yet, we no more had a true relationship with him anymore than these Galatians did?

The result for them and us is that we were serving false gods. To be specific, the Galatians would have literally served idols and false Gods such as Hermes and Zeus. It is likely that most of us may have never done such a thing. Nevertheless, we served those gods through our lifestyles. What I mean is that all false religion has one purpose...to pull humanity away from the one true God. In addition, all sin has one purpose...to pull humanity away from God.

Therefore, when we spent our time worshiping in bar rooms and paying our tithes to the god of drunkenness and lust by giving of our money to the cause, we were serving false gods just like the Galatians.

Paul reminds them that now they know God. Furthermore, they are known by God. The question is…are they really going to return to weak the weak and beggarly place they were before? Because if they continue down this path of false religion, they will lose access to the power of God and be reduced to conquered slaves. Consider this concept...what picture does the usage of the words weak and beggarly produce in your mind from a spiritual perspective?

Weak- asthenes- this is the same Greek word used to describe the impotent folk that were at the pool of Bethesda in John 5.

For those of you who were with us during that study, you should remember that the scripture told us that there was a multitude of impotent folk: lame, halt, and withered. It was a spiritual triage. It was a mass of people incapable of helping themselves. They were living under the time frame of Law.

They were not only physically crippled, but the picture being portrayed was that Jesus was ushering in the New Covenant, which would allow people to be able to walk right with God.

Beggarly- literally means to be a beggar. It describes someone who is destitute of prosperity and has been reduced to the position of a street beggar.

Paul is amazed at their decisions. Essentially, they are returning to a former life of bondage. He uses that word elements again. As we learned last week, this word describes first things...as in elementary school before higher levels of learning.

While they may not be returning to their former Pagan religions or the worship of idols, they are turning themselves over to a system of law through which God no longer works that time frame ended with Jesus.

Basically, the idea that you are left with is a crippled man incapable of accessing the help he needs and subsequently he is reduced to being a beggar.

Think about the progression that has taken place in Paul's communication. He has taken the Galatians down a path where he showed them that the Law's purpose was for Israel to carry them through to a certain point in Salvation History where the promised seed would be manifested. During that time-frame, Israel is seen as an immature child requiring nannies and tutors to guide and care for her because she is incapable of caring for herself. But now, in Christ, we have come to the age of maturity where we are able to access our inheritance. Spiritually speaking, the inheritance describes access to the Spirit of God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Because the God of glory has made His home in our hearts, we now have access to victory.

There is no devil in Hell that can supersede the power of the Holy Spirit. But! The Galatians have chosen to approach God in a way that He absolutely will not honor. If God releases grace in response to the Law, He would be contrary to His word, and He would cause confusion in His people because they would begin to think that they are rewarded based off what they do rather than faith in what He did.

Galatians 4:10-11 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.

Paul is specifically letting them know that what the Judaizers are teaching them is going to bring them under bondage. The last thought he gave in the previous verse was that the result of their new approach to God would ultimately lead to bondage. The word bondage is translated from the word doulos, which is the common Greek word for servant or slave.

Obviously, they were being brought back into a system that emphasized the OT feast days...such as Passover, Pentecost... But Paul is saying that the result will be bondage.

I need to take a moment here and speak of some things. There has been a movement recently in the Christian church where people are attempting to access grace through observing some of the old Jewish holidays or operating according to some of the old Jewish ways. One big thing has been the use of a prayer shawl. Now, I am quite certain that the prayer shawl has some wonderful imagery that explains in detail the covering that God desires to be for His people Israel. But let me say this, "Jesus is the fulfillment of the covering. I don't want to be covered with a prayer shawl. I am covered with the righteousness of Jesus.

While most of us listening to this study will not go back to the Jewish Law, there are other things that you must be concerned about. Churches across America do not preach the truth of the Gospel. Therefore, the people are left crippled beggars. When the church has no answers because the Pastor does not understand the finished work of Christ, the people are instructed to seek counsel elsewhere for their malady.

The church is embracing Psychology and self- help programs. The church has and painted these human derived answers with scripture in order to find help for the really "bad ones". No Jesus can deliver and heal all manner of disease. Don't misunderstand me. If I have counseled with a person repeatedly telling them the truth and they do not want the truth and instead they want Psychology, I will not stop them. I will let them know that it won't work, but maybe that is what they need in order to be convinced that Jesus really is the answer.

The problem I have is that most ministers now days don't even know the truth to tell the people to begin with, and the result is that the people are encouraged to return to the weak and beggarly elements of what human wisdom offers.

Galatians 4:12-14 12Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you. You have not injured me at all. 13 You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first. 14 And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

In the second part of the verse, Paul is reminding them of their time together and how well they treated him. At that time, he obviously had some type of infirmity. In actuality, it may have been because he was sick that he ended up in this place and was able to preach the Gospel to them. Paul points out that they received him and treated him as though he were an angel sent from God or Jesus Himself. In other words, they treated him well.

Ultimately, he wants them to know that they have not injured him. Thus far, they have treated him well, but he is concerned for their well-being.

What sticks out most to me is the fact that the great Apostle Paul also had to endure trials. However, even in the midst of a physical infirmity of some sort, he did what God called him to do. So Paul says that it was because of the infirmity that he preached to them the first time. I can't prove this, but I think it would be hilarious if it is what happened. The devil was trying to stop Paul. He was probably planning on going somewhere else and got sick. Instead, of just stopping and recuperating, he stopped and preached the Gospel.

I can assure you that there will be trials in the midst of our Christian walk. My prayer for all of us is that the trials of life will not stop us from accomplishing God’s will, instead, I pray that we will receive the grace that we need to continue on in the Father's will…to continue on and be a witness for the Kingdom of God.

Galatians 4:15-16 What then was the blessing you enjoyed? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?

Commentators and scholars are divided about this comment that Paul makes regarding the Galatians plucking out their eyes to give to him. Many have taught that the infirmity he was speaking of and the thorn in his side had to do with a visual ailment. However, there is no way to prove either of those theories.

The comment could also be describing the level of trust and acceptance that the Galatians at one time had towards Paul. The idea would have been that they cared and trusted him so much that they would have given him their most prize possessions (their eyes), and now they are turning against what he taught them. His concern was that he had become their enemy because he had told them the truth.

There is a very valuable lesson to be learned here. There is an aspect to being a Christian witness that is not always enviable. What I mean is that a big part of being a Christian witness is telling the truth even when it is uncomfortable. Sometimes telling the truth leads to a lack of popularity. We have to determine what is important in our lives. Is it more important for me to be a witness to the truth? Or do I prefer to be popular in the eyes of men?

Let me finish this thought by saying that I am not talking about purposefully offending people. There are times when we handle things in a harsh manner, because we know we are right, and the result is that the person is offended to the point they tune us out. Truthfully, sometimes God will work this way, but we need to be certain that it is the Spirit of God and not our flesh that is the driving force behind it.

Galatians 4:17-18 They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them. 18 But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present with you.

Zealous- to desire deeply, or be in pursuit of something. The word describes a level of passion associated with it.

Paul uses this word three times in these two verses. His point is that zeal is a good thing when a person is passionately pursuing something with Godly motives, but in the case of the Judaizers, their motives are impure. They desire to exclude the Galatians from the truth that Paul preaches, which leads to liberty and freedom. Furthermore, they want the Galatians to be zealous towards them and their teachings. This is a prime example of people operating in the lusts of the flesh rather than the fruit of the Spirit.

Most of the time when we teach on the lusts of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit, we discuss things like fornication and drunkenness because that is where most sinners saved by grace have come from and possibly have continued to struggle with to some extent after their conversion. However, false teaching is also a lust of the flesh...along with envy, jealousy, and division. The Judaizers are operating in all these sins.

The KJV translated zealously affect you. The idea is better communicated through the NKJV, which states zealously court you.

Court- special or devoted attention in order to win favor.

Even the word court is somewhat obsolete in our modern society because the idea of courting rarely exists anymore. At a time when things were more pure, if a young man wanted a young lady's attention, he would treat her with respect and show her special favor. This indicated his desire to hopefully one day know her more intimately.

Paul has explained that it is a good thing when someone zealously desires something or someone with pure motives, but the Judaizers are not pure. So they are over there courting you...making you feel special...you know the fun part of a relationship.

Galatians 4:19-20 My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, 20 I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.

Paul is saying that while they are over there romancing and winning you over through special attention, I am over here going through birth pains. Truthfully, there can be no better natural, human illustration of love than the pain of childbirth. True love can be revealed in it. There is no romance in the midst of birth pains. There is no flirting or the fluttering of eyelashes when a woman is giving birth to a baby. It is some of the most excruciating pain that a human being could ever endure. Yet, the result for that woman is pure joy when the baby has come forth.

This is the illustration that Paul is attempting to project. His motives are pure towards the Galatians. Unlike the Judaizers, Paul's only concern is that Jesus be produced in their lives. What he is experiencing is spiritually painful. But the reward will be worth the pain. What is the reward?

... Until Christ is formed in you.

The word formed in the Greek is morphe- where we get our word morph. The idea is where one thing is transformed into another.

Through this discourse, Paul is letting us know that when the true Gospel is properly presented, a transformation takes place in the life of the believer. The transformation is not necessarily a bigger bank account or nicer car. It is not necessarily a better job or house. Instead, it is a process where every day the Christian changes, morphs, or is transformed by the grace of God to look more like Jesus and less like himself.

Galatians 4:1-7

Last week we focused on the fact that the Law had a specific purpose within the framework of Salvation History. The Law acted as a warden and a nanny for Israel to carry them as a nation to the next phase of God’s plan, which climaxed in the manifestation of the Promised Seed (Jesus).

God has a redemption plan that has been in place since before the fall of man ever happened (1 Peter 1:18). As humans, we are usually very impatient and hurriedly desire to travel from point A to point B. God on the other hand, is long suffering because it is His desire that no one perish (2 Peter3:9). Therefore, He has taken His time to clearly communicate the plan of Salvation History through His Word and interaction with humanity through creating His own people (1 Peter 2:9). He accomplished this first through the creation of Israel out of Abraham, and He continues today through the church.

Through the illustration of a nanny, tutor, schoolmaster, or pedagogue, Paul explained that God’s people Israel existed in the midst of a time-frame of Salvation History where they had to be guided through this phase of God’s redemption plan.  In the verses we will cover next, he will continue with the thought of an immature child; however, the progression will describe a maturation process resulting in an adult son who is now able to receive his inheritance.

Galatians 4:1-2  1 Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, 2 but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.

Paul continues the idea from last week by describing Israel as an immature child of God requiring guidance and close supervision by servants who monitor their child’s activities. These servants attend to the daily functions of the child regarding more than just education. Some of these servants described in the original language speak of looking over all aspects of their lives including their financial matters also.

The word child in this passage describes an infant incapable of speech therefore; they are unable to attend to themselves. Theoretically, these children could be heirs to a vast fortune. However, they are currently at a place in their maturity that they cannot access those funds. They cannot enjoy the fruit of their inheritance because it is not the appointed time for them to be trusted with the inheritance. While they are actually heirs, at this point in their life, they have no more freedom than a servant. Using this as a Salvation History illustration, God's plan for humanity was not at the level of maturity during the time-frame of the Law so Israel, under the Law, is seen as a child incapable of making its own decisions. Therefore, the Law was given to act as a guide to carry the plan forward to the appointed time.

Galatians 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

The idea of the word elements- describes first things similar to the concept of elementary school being first before the next levels. Paul is saying that when humanity was under the elemental ways of things, we were all under bondage. Scholars agree that for the Jew Paul was obviously speaking of the Mosaic Law, but for the Gentile they were under the bondage of Pagan religions.

However, Paul has explained before that even the Gentiles had some form of law built within them. In the book of Romans, Paul explains that even for the Gentiles, their conscience speaks to them regarding right from wrong without even knowing the Law of God. Therefore, when they respond properly to what their conscience tells them, then they are also living according to a system of law.

Romans 2:13-15  13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience (1 Tim 4:2)also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.

In this sense, Gentiles then, and a Christian today, could create for themselves a system of legalism in an attempt to live a more “righteous” life rather than submitting to the covenant of grace that Jesus purchased for humanity through the giving of Himself for our sins.

I have had multiple discussions even with Pastors of churches that refuse to pay attention to what passages like this one are saying because they believe that the Law was only for Israel. They do not understand that when man's conscience begins to deal with him about right and wrong, his natural instinct is to establish laws and regulations in order to live right.

Nevertheless, both Jew and Gentile, in this stage of human history, were living under the elemental stages of God’s redemption plan. This resulted in bondage because at this point the liberating power of the Holy Spirit had not been given.

Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

There is an obvious contrasting of 2 time-frames taking place here. The Holy Spirit is pointing out the difference between elemental and fullness.

Elemental- first or preliminary

Fullness- completion

Humanity was under bondage during these earlier periods of Salvation History, but there was an appointed time for Jesus to come. There was a time of preparation before Jesus could come. Similarly, in our individual lives, there is a time of preparation before we are ready to receive Jesus. As sinners, sin usually has to have had its way in our lives in order for us to be convinced that it is not worth playing with. As Christians, we often have to travel a long journey of trying to live for God in our own strength before frustration convinces us that it is time to really submit.

God had to convince Israel and the Gentile world that it was time for Jesus. In a similar fashion, He continues to convince people through circumstances and His Word that Jesus is what they need.

At the time that Jesus was born:

  (1) The Roman Empire had constructed roads that made travel easy.

  (2) The Grecians had contributed a common language for the civilized world.

  (3) The Jews already believed in monotheism (one true God).

In other words, the world was prepared by God for humanity to receive the Messiah. It is important for us to understand that there was no mail service, no telegraph, and no internet. But because of the common language and the well-developed road system, it was an environment that was conducive to the spreading of the Gospel.

Jesus was born of a woman, which is consistent with the Gospels in the sense that He was born of a virgin. Mankind was helpless in the midst of his bondage. Sin was pervasive and the Law and conscience of man was not powerful enough to remove man from its grip.

But God became man during the time-frame of the Law with regards to Salvation History. Remember, the Law was given for transgressions until the seed would come. When the promised seed came, He did what man could not do... He kept the Law, which fulfilled the just requirements of the Father. You and I cannot keep the Law to completion. We need to quit trying to make ourselves righteous in the eyes of God by attempting to live through a set of rules.

Am I saying that it is okay to break the 10 commandments? Absolutely not! It is still a sin to kill, steal, and commit adultery. But righteousness is not found in keeping the Law. Right standing with God is through our position in Christ...the Law keeper. Now, in Him, grace flows, this gives strength to live right. So in Christ, we are not just given power to not commit adultery, but "in Christ", we are given power through grace not to lust in our hearts (Matt 5:27, 28).

…receive the adoption of sons. This terminology in the Greek literally means “Adult son placing”. The idea describes a coming of age where the person can be trusted with his inheritance.

This took place because He redeemed us from the Law. We have made mention of this on multiple occasions, but the Greek thought of redeemed is: to be purchased off the slave market through the payment of a ransom. Jesus was born of a woman under the time-frame of the Law. He lived a perfect life, which fulfilled the demands of the Law. Then He offered His sinless life as a ransom for sinful humanity. Because He had no sin, death had no hold on Him, and He resurrected from the dead. Furthermore, He ultimately ascended back to the Father. He is seated in heavenly places where there is no sin or Law. And the scripture says that we are seated in heavenly places in Him: Ephesians 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

 Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

The progression is that there is a maturing from a child to a son. The thought goes back to the idea of a child (infant) or one that is of an age where he cannot manage his affairs. Therefore, he has to be placed under tutors, guardians, and stewards.

Now, humanity has reached the point in Salvation History where things have changed. The changing factor in the equation is directly related to the Spirit of God. One of the points that I attempted to make as we spoke of Salvation History last week had to do with God's methodical approach to restoring His presence back to a place of intimacy with humanity.

Because of the cross and the removal of sin (Hebrews 10:1-20), we become the house of the Holy Spirit. The result is that we are reconnected to the Father through the Spirit. Once we are born again, the Spirit of God cries from our heart Abba father. This results in a level of intimacy that cannot exist between an adult an infant. GRACE IS FOR GROWN- UPS.

Jesus called the Father Abba in the garden:

Mark 14:33-36 And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; 34 And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. 35 And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

This term Abba was a name used by Jewish children to address their fathers. It was not a name used by the Jewish people in prayer because it described a level of familiarity and intimacy. To the Jewish mind, it would have been sacrilege to address God on such familiar terms. However, the reason they felt this way is because during their time-frame in Salvation History, the Holy Spirit did not live continuously on the inside of man (Ezekiel 36:25-27; Jeremiah 21:31; John 14:17). But now through faith in Jesus' sacrifice, the heart of man becomes the home of the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit of God within us cries Abba Father. He is letting us know we are home.

I do not know what kind of distress you are facing in your life right now. In the Mark passage we read, Jesus was facing the biggest trial of His life. His closest friends that He had poured everything into had fallen asleep when He needed them the most. It is an amazing thing how so often when we go through the greatest trials of our Christian lives, it seems as though we are all alone. But the truth is that we are not alone. We have access to Abba Father. The Holy Spirit is dwelling in you if you are a Christian. If that is you right now and you feel as though you are being overwhelmed by sorrow, grief or pain, let the Spirit of God on the inside cry out "Abba Father!"

Galatians 4:7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

All this time, the Judaizers are trying to convince the Galatian Christians that if they want to inherit the promises given to Abraham then they will have to come under the covenant that God made with Israel. But Paul is explaining that the Old Covenant was an inferior covenant that was brought in after the promise was given to Abraham. Furthermore, the purpose of that covenant was to carry humanity to a certain point in Salvation History where the Promised Seed would arrive.

The result of the Promised Seed and His sacrifice is a better covenant based on better promises (Hebrews 8:6). Once again in the New Covenant, the result is intimacy with God on a level that the OT Jew did not enjoy because the Holy Spirit was unable to indwell him on a persistent basis secondary to the fact that the old sacrificial system was unable to actually remove the debt of sin (Hebrews 10:4).

Now that the plan of God has "come of age" there is greater intimacy. As Paul explains, in the New Covenant, God views us as sons and heirs rather than infants under bondage to the power of sin or the Law. Now, in Christ, the Holy Spirit desires to guide us through this life. The idea should not be," Well I am a grown up now. Okay God thanks for the help. Thanks for telling me I do not need the tutors, stewards and guardians anymore. I will take it from here."

Instead, we have the wonderful privilege of intimate access to the presence of God. The Holy Spirit wants to walk with us and talk with us. He wants to give us counsel in all of our affairs. Unfortunately, along with freedom oftentimes comes a learning curve. Grace is for grown-ups. And many times when Christians attempt to live according to grace, they do not always want to hear what the Spirit of God is saying. Many times when the Spirit says something we do not want to hear, we ignore His voice. The problem with is that it is disobedience and sin, which results in a "hearing problem."

Have you ever seen a child get corrected and act as though he did not hear what the parent said? This is a similar concept. Except it is more like the child that has grown up and moved out that you have tried to speak wisdom into their lives, but they ignore your counsel. You cannot force them…they are an adult now. To some extent, you have to let them go and learn the process.

It is the same with grace. There is a process of learning how to live for God as a "grown up". In order for it to work, the believers must listen intently to hear his voice and when He speaks, we must obey.

What do you need direction about in your life right now? Have you invited God into the midst of those circumstances or have you not really asked His opinion for fear that He may tell you something contrary to what you want?

Galatians 3:19-29

Galatians 3:19 19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

The scriptures proclaim that God created His own special people Israel through one man named Abraham. Ultimately, the purpose of this nation was to bring forth the Messiah (anointed) one who would save the world from their sin.

We learned in the last passage we studied that the promise was given to Abraham's seed (1- Jesus) not seeds (many- Israel). We have also pointed out that through the process of time Israel became very arrogant about their relationship with God. It is true that they were His chosen people. However, they became very self-centered in their view of themselves. It was always God's intention to save whosoever will take a drink of the water of life (John 7:37-39). 

In other words, God has always had a progressive plan that would eventually include the salvation of the entirety of the human race. We must be careful that we do not become short sighted and self-righteous as Israel did. Religion blinds the spiritual eyes and man has a way of somehow believing that he or his denomination is right and everyone else is wrong. 

Furthermore, we have a tendency to notice when others are struggling in the faith and judge them unworthy because they are not where we are. We must be reminded that the journey of Christianity is a lifelong process that does not take place overnight. Once a person is saved and exposed to the truth of the Gospel, a process takes place where their "old man" dies daily in Christ, and their "new man" begins to look more like Jesus everyday through access to the power of the Holy Spirit. But remember what I said, "This journey is a process." It does not happen overnight. 

In a similar fashion, God's redemption plan has been a steady, methodical process of revelation. Thus far in Galatians, Paul has been seemingly deriding or bashing the Law of God. But it is important for us to realize that the Law of God is not the enemy of man- sin is. The Law had a purpose. What Paul is trying to explain at this point is that the Law's purpose for man has passed because grace has come through Jesus.

Now we have covered this on multiple occasions, but we must be ever vigilant to remember that it is possible for the modern day Christian to submit themselves under the "government" of law, which will frustrate rather than give access to the grace of God in their lives. Also, mentioned numerous times is the idea that grace is not just forgiveness from God; instead, grace is power from God purchased by Jesus on the cross. Therefore, if the Christian submits himself under law…trying to live for God according to rules and regulations, he will frustrate the power of God in his life, which will result in failure rather than victory. 

Let's get back to the idea that just as the individual Christian journey is a process so is the salvation history of God. I love the terminology "Salvation History". It reminds me that God is at work not only in my life and your life but that He has been at work in the lives of millions of people since the beginning of time. It reminds me that He has been at work in the midst of human history. Better yet, it reminds me that He holds human history in his hands. He is the author and we are the characters in the book. The plot is that man has made choices that have introduced poison into his midst resulting in a slow insidious death, but God has a plan, which will prevail because it is His narrative.

While it may seem as though Paul has been harsh on the Law, he will now remind us that the Law served its purpose in the midst of "Salvation History". If you will notice, there are two words in this verse that point to this concept... It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; the two words I speak of are: (added and till). The Law was added to act as a throttle against sin until the time when the seed (Jesus) would be revealed. In addition, it is important to understand that these words describe a temporary answer.

I introduced an idea last week that God has always had a remnant in the land. He has had a people throughout human history to which He has revealed Himself. At the point in salvation history that He created His own special nation of people, He gave them the Law (Deuteronomy 6:1-9). The Law provided them with instruction on what was expected from them in order for them to represent Him by living a life of separation so that the heathen nations around them would have a witness before their eyes that there was another way to live their lives. In this fashion, the Law was added for a period of time to clearly delineate what God expected of His people. Because there were people then and even now who truly want to live for God, the adding of the Law gave them a guideline for their behavior. However, once the manifestation of the seed (Jesus) was fulfilled, the purpose of the Law was complete.

A quick review of Salvation History reveals that there was a time of innocence where man was without sin and enjoyed intimate fellowship with God. Then the cataclysmic change of the fall occurred, which infected humanity with a disease called sin. This malady separated God's prize creation from Himself. 

The process of restoration began with a purging of wickedness from the earth, which started with the flood and was followed with a promise given to Abraham. Part of the promise was that God would make a nation out of Abraham, which would ultimately produce a seed that would bless the entirety of the world (Genesis 12). 

God created the nation Israel as He promised and through Israel He brought forth Jesus. Through The ministry of Jesus a new time-frame in Salvation History was birthed. The New Covenant...the church age has been in existence for 2000 years and we are rapidly moving towards the next pages in salvation history, which will be the rapture of the church.

Following the Rapture of the church will be the second coming of Jesus where evil will be defeated, and Satan will be cast into the bottomless pit for 1000 years. This will usher in the next phase of Salvation History known as the millennial reign of Christ. During this time-frame, Jesus will literally rule and reign on the earth and His throne will be in Jerusalem.

Galatians 3:20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.

The idea here is that oftentimes when there is negotiation between parties there is a mediator who acts as a go between for the two parties. In the old Covenant, the Law was mediated by Moses and throughout Israel's history God utilized angels as messengers to communicate His plans and purpose. In the New Covenant, God became man, and Jesus mediates between man and God (2 Timothy 2:5). 

Ultimately, in OT times there were mediators, which negotiated and there were sacrifices used to ratify or make binding those covenants. So I want us to consider the concept that Jesus, the eternal Son and Word who spoke the world into existence, became man and was the representative of heaven and earth between God and man. Ultimately, He made right what Adam made wrong, and then He offered His perfect life as a perfect sacrifice, which completed and ratified (made binding) the New Covenant. What is interesting is that in this covenant, man only has one part. His part is to believe. Certainly, obedience is one of the ways that man exhibits faith in God, but man's part is faith in God's covenant. If we travel back to the time in the OT when God sealed this covenant with Abraham, we find that Abraham could not have had an active role in the promise other than faith because he was asleep under a tree while God fulfilled the obligations of the covenant (Genesis 15:5-21; Hebrews 6:13-14).

Galatians 3:21-22 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

These two verses represent a common technique that Paul uses when he writes. He anticipates an argument that his enemies will make about his teaching and then he gives the answer to it. By doing this, he shuts their mouth before they open it. So the argument he expects the Judaizers to make is that Paul is claiming that God is confused and contradicting Himself. Instead, Paul's point is that the Law is merely a piece in the overall plan of Salvation History. The Law could not give righteousness to sinful man. It could communicate what righteousness looked like. However, in order for man to truly be made righteous, there would have to be a nature change. In the New Covenant, when we place our faith in Jesus, the "old man" we were dies in Christ and a "new man" is resurrected. Through faith in Jesus Christ and what He did for us on the cross, God is able to impart His righteousness to us, which results in a nature change.

So the Law served its purpose in its place in salvation history. However, its purpose was not to produce true righteousness in the lives of God's people. Some things that it did do: it throttled sin, it revealed sin, and it revealed God's holiness. In addition, Paul is about to explain that it acted as a warden and a nanny or disciplinarian until grace came, but ultimately, it was intended to reveal to Israel their need for Jesus because they could not keep the Law. 

Galatians 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

A comparison in the Greek of the words "22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin" in verse 22 to the words "shut up" in this verse, reveal the idea of imprisonment or being under the direction of a warden. Interestingly, in both cases, it is the same exact Greek word it was just translated into English two different ways by the translators. So the idea here is that sin imprisoned man and before grace came through Christ, the Law served as a warden, specifically, for Israel to carry humanity to the next phase of Salvation History. A modern day illustration would be that our society has laws and the citizens are expected to follow those laws. The laws provide an understanding of what is right and wrong. However, many times people choose to break the law and there are repercussions resulting in imprisonment where a person is placed under the control of a warden. In a similar since, God had requirements for His people Israel. There were certain behaviors that the other nations were partaking in that disgusted Him, and He was unwilling to allow His people to live their lives that way. The Law clearly communicated His desire for their behavior and when they went their own way, they were disciplined. In this sense, they were imprisoned or corralled until the promise came.

Galatians 3:24-25 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

In addition to the Law acting as a warden, it also acted as a schoolmaster for Israel. It is important to take notice of the pronouns "we" used in this verse and the previous verse. In these verses Paul is referring to the Jews. Don’t misunderstand what I am saying everything that Paul is saying applies to the Galatians and us for that matter, but the point is that the Judaizers are trying to get the Galatians to live for God in a way that was never intended for Gentiles. Furthermore, at this point, it is now outdated for the Jews. In the next verses, he will use the pronoun "you" describing the Galatians. Once again, the Law’s purpose was in relation to His nation Israel during a specific time in Salvation History.

Let’s finish the analogy of a schoolmaster. The word in the Greek is pedagogue. There is no exact word in the English to describe this word. The idea is somewhat similar to our version of a nanny. 

Pedagogues were servant/ slaves whose purpose was to closely monitor the child throughout their maturation (development). They were responsible to correct, discipline and attend to the matters of their education. While they did not actually educate, they were overseers of that process. 

In this analogy, the idea is that God had created His own special people to whom He revealed Himself. The giving of the Law was intended to act as a temporary guardian or nanny to protect and preserve His people from the ravages of sin until the coming of the promised seed.

Galatians 3:26-27 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Here we see Paul referring to the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham. By using the pronoun ye (you), he is referring to the Gentile Galatians. Through the fulfillment of the New Covenant, God has restored relationship with all humanity in Christ. Ultimately, sin had separated God from the presence of His prize creation. Now, through our new birth in Christ, we have been clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. We have put Him on- He is our cloak of righteousness.

Galatians 3:28-29 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

The result of our new birth in Christ, the putting on of His righteousness, and our right standing with God has produced equality amongst man. In other words, in God's eyes we are all equal because of the cross. In Christ, we are all His people. The product of a healthy vertical relationship with God results in a proper horizontal relationship with man. There is an entire discipline of philosophy that is devoted to the concept of ethics.

Ethics- that branch of philosophy that deals with the rightness and wrongness of human behavior. It deals with the goodness and badness of motives and the results of such actions.

However, true ethics cannot take place without conversion and submission to the Gospel. Mankind can put on an act and oftentimes deceive society...politicians do it all the time because humanity left to themselves incapable of exhibiting pure ethics towards their fellow man. While the Law communicated God’s ethical standards, it did not give man the strength he needed to accomplish God’s standards.

However, conversion in Christ writes the Law of God on the heart of the believer (Jeremiah 31:31; Ezekiel 36:25-27). How is the Law written on our hearts? The Law is written on our hearts because the author of the Law, the Spirit of God, has come to live on the inside of the believer. For the believer, there is an opportunity for true ethical behavior to take place because the Holy Spirit through the Word discerns and reveals to us the motives of our hearts.

Hebrews 4:12 12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Galatians 3:10-19

Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is  guilty of all.

Deuteronomy 27:26 “Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out. Then all the people shall say, Amen!” 

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The essence of what God is communicating through Paul is that there is a curse connected to the Law. The Law demands perfection. Because man is imperfect, he is incapable of keeping God's Law completely. Even if you do almost everything right, under the Law, you are guilty if you fail in one point. Almost is not good enough according to the Law.

Now, we cannot exhaust the purposes of the Law of God in this study. However, we should clarify some things. The Law communicates God's character to humanity. Humanity communicates through language and God communicates to us through His Word. He gave the Law to His people Israel so that they would know what was expected of them from Him. And as we see in the Deuteronomy passage, there was no accepting failure.

If you do a thorough study of the Old Testament, you will become aware of the fact that there was a system called "Levitical Law." Within the Levitical Law, there were sacrifices offered to pay the penalty for the people's failure regarding the keeping of the whole Law.

The sacrifices were a continual reminder of the severity of sin. The continual shedding of blood and killing of innocent animals to assuage the people's guilt should have been a humbling reminder that man left to himself could not please God because he could not live true to the character and demands of God according to His Law.

The Law required that individuals offer sacrifices for their individual sins (Leviticus chapters 1-5). In addition, the Law demanded an annual process of sacrifice to pay for the whole nation's sins (Leviticus ch. 16).

Once per year on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would first offer sacrifice for his own sin, then he would bring the blood of the sacrifice on the other side of the veil and sprinkle it before and upon the Mercy Seat, which would allow the sins of Israel to be forgiven for the next year. I want us to look more closely at two concepts regarding this process.

First, if you look at a picture of the Ark of the Covenant, you will notice the cherubim on top of the Mercy Seat. The cherubim represent the presence and holiness of God. If you pay close attention to the positioning of the cherubim, you will see that they are facing one another, but more importantly, they are facing down with their eyes peering upon the Mercy Seat. Think about this… these angels who represent the holiness of God are peering down. What was contained within the Mercy Seat? The 10 commandments, which was the Law of God was inside the Ark of the Covenant. In essence you could say that theses angels were looking upon the broken Law of God because the people were incapable of keeping the Law to perfection.

Leviticus 16:15-16  15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: 16 And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

The two concepts I want to focus upon regarding the curse of the broken Law are these:

  (1) Before the blood was applied, the top of the Ark was a place of judgement because the presence of God looked towards the Law and saw that it was broken. But Paul explains that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Mercy Seat.

Romans 3:25 "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;..."

The Mercy Seat was the cover over the Ark of the Covenant. It was located within the Holy of Holies. If you read the end of Exodus and this passage in Leviticus, you learn that the presence of God would meet with Moses in this spot between the cherubim.

It is important to mention that this procedure only took place once per year. If you go back and read Leviticus 16, you will learn that only the High Priest was allowed to go behind the veil, and he was only allowed to go once per year.  Ultimately, the point I want to make is that access to the presence of God was very limited at this point in salvation history.

The next important aspect of this passage is related to the sprinkling of the blood upon the Mercy Seat and the meaning of the word propitiation. Once the blood was applied, the angels no longer looked upon the broken Law; instead, they looked upon the blood of the sacrifice.

The word propitiation- was used in ancient Greek times to describe the process of assuaging the wrath of the gods. Obviously, Paul did not believe in multiple gods He was evoking a different idea that God's wrath was against humanity because of sin, but through faith in the blood of Jesus that wrath is assuaged, appeased, or done away with.

But there is another idea of great importance occurring with this word propitiation. The word for propitiation in the Greek is hilasterion. Interestingly, this is the word used by the translators of the Septuagint for the word "Mercy Seat".

The Septuagint was a Greek translation of the OT scriptures. The Septuagint was used during the times of Paul and the other disciples. After the Hellenization of the civilized world (the spreading of Grecian culture and language during and after Alexander the Great's conquests), many of the Jewish people began through assimilation to speak the Greek language.  Therefore a translation of the Hebrew OT was produced in Greek so that the Jews that were reading and speaking Greek would have access to the OT scriptures. The important point is, in the Greek, the word hilasterion that Paul used in Romans where it was translated into English as propitiation is the same word that was used in the Septuagint in Leviticus 16 where it speaks of the Mercy Seat.

Let's take a moment to bring all this information together. Before Jesus, mankind was guilty. Like the Mercy Seat, when God looked upon us, He saw the broken Law. However, once we responded to the Gospel through faith, the place of judgment became the place of mercy because God no longer sees the broken Law instead He sees the blood of Jesus.

  (2) The second thought I want to address has to do with man's ability to enter the presence of God. As we will see in a couple of verses, Paul will contrast the curse from the promise of Abraham. Ultimately, the promise of Abraham results in justification, which allows the Holy Spirit's presence to live in the heart of man rather than in the Holy of Holies where there was limited access.

The ability of the curse to be removed occurred when the veil was ripped. I say the ability to be removed because until each person chooses Jesus for himself through faith, the curse remains. Matthew 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

Because of Jesus, you are justified (innocent). Because you are justified, you have access to the presence of God. You are no longer under the curse. You have become a partaker of the promise given to Abraham.

Galatians 3:11,12 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. Galatians 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

This verse is used three different times in the NT. It is used here, in Romans 1:17, and in Hebrews 10:38. However, the New Testament writers are quoting its use from the book of Habakkuk where it was first written by God in the OT: Habakkuk 2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him:but the just shall live by his faith.

With this verse Paul is informing the Galatians and all who will follow Jesus that the way to live one's life for God is not through the performing of works or living according to law or rules; instead, it has always been God's plan to justify the guilty, and in turn, they live out their lives through faith.

We have to make an important point clear before we move forward. Too often, NT Christians view this passage as not pertaining to them because it refers to the Law which speaks of the OT.

However, it is important for us to understand that there are two ways that God will judge man. He will judge man "In Christ" or He will judge man under the Law. The interesting thing is that a Christian can be born again, but willingly subject himself under the government of law. In other words, law and grace both exist today you could consider these entities as governments or the authorities under which people submit themselves.

So you could have a person who is born again, but does not live their daily lives under the government of grace. Instead, they live according to a system of law. They judge their position with God based upon their performance rather than the performance of Jesus. The result is that they are constantly striving to do more because they never understand the concept of resting in the finished work of Christ. When a Christian understands what it means to rest in Christ, he no longer views his standing with God based on his failures or accomplishments. Instead, he views his standing with God based on the accomplishments of Christ.

This Christian is submitting himself under the government of grace. He understands that he is just...righteous...innocent in the eyes of God not because of what he has or will ever do, but because of what Jesus did. The result of living under this government is that there is a never ending supply of grace; whereas, under the government of law, there is a lack of grace because it is being frustrated as the believer attempts to live for God through law rather than faith.

It was this phrase in the Romans 1:17 verse that transformed Martin Luther's life. I'm not talking about Martin Luther King. I'm talking about Martin Luther the protestant reformer. He lived during the 1500's. He was sent to the University of Erfurt in Germany at the age of 13 where he earned baccalaureate and Master's degrees in the shortest amount of time allowed by the university. He excelled at debating and became known as the “philosopher.”

His life was transformed one day as he was traveling on foot to Erfurt in the midst of a thunderstorm. As he was fighting the storm, a bolt of lightning struck near his feet. He cried out to St. Anne to save him and said that he would devote his life to being a monk.

He strove to be the greatest monk he could be. He willingly lived a life of asceticism by fasting, sleeping in bone chilling cold, and brutal flagellation. But he continued under a cloud of guilt. His Instructors had taught him that the meaning of the verse in Romans 1:17 was that God was the righteous and He was the punisher of all sinners.

A quote that he made during this time in his life was: "When it is touched by the passing of inundation of the eternal, the soul feels and drinks nothing but eternal punishment.”

But something continued to draw him back to the verse in Romans 1:17 and ultimately he came to the conclusion that no one but the righteous could live by faith. Ultimately, he received  a revelation that the righteous live by a gift from God, which is given based on faith. This was his resulting quote after that revelation:

"Here I felt as though I had been entirely born again and had entered paradise itself through the gates that had been flung open."

Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Once again there was a curse connected to the Law because man was incapable of keeping the Law. But the scripture explains that Jesus did not transgress the Law. Nevertheless, he was hung on the "tree".

Deuteronomy 21:22-23 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: 23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

In the OT, when someone would commit a sin worthy of death, they would often be stoned then hung on the tree over night for all to see. These people were considered cursed in the eyes of God. But the innocent Jesus became a curse in our place so that we could be redeemed from the curse of the Law.

The word redeemed -means to be bought back through a ransom. So we were purchased back through the blood of Jesus. This word was used in the Greek to describe being bought off the slave market. The idea is that humanity was enslaved by sin and Jesus, through the shedding of his blood, purchased us off the slave market of sin. Through Him becoming a curse, we were redeemed from the curse of the Law.

Galatians 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Here Paul is contrasting the promise of Abraham from the curse of the Law. The curse left man guilty and separated from the presence of God. But the promise of Abraham has positioned man to have the Spirit of God live on the inside of him.

Galatians 3:15-18  15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. 16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

The word "confirmeth" in this passage is similar to the word ratified in our legislative system. Once a law is ratified, it becomes binding.

The idea of what Paul is saying is that the promise was "ratified" or confirmed when God spoke it to Abraham, which was 430 years before the Law was given. The answer is no the Law does not dis-annul (to make of no effect) the promise that was given before to Abraham.

Paul further makes his point by saying that the promise was to the "seed" singular (Christ) not to "seeds" plural (nation) of Israel.

Galatians 3:1-9

Galatians 3:1 "1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?"

There are 3 main parts to this passage that when studied they begin to offer insight into the text.

(1) Foolish- the idea of this word in the Greek is that it is unintelligent. Furthermore, it has the idea of operating only from the senses. So Paul is telling the Galatians that their response to the message of the Judaizers is unintelligent and based upon emotional sensuality.

(2) Bewitched- the idea behind this word is literally that someone has cast a spell upon them. The context of this word according to one Greek scholar is that it was often used in association with the "evil eye" as in the occult or witchcraft. I have discussed on numerous occasions the concept of Satan, fallen angels and demon spirits constantly attempting to pervert the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether or not the Judaizers knew they were working for the devil or not does not matter, they were perverting the Gospel. And the result was that it was putting the Galatians under a "spell."

I wish that I could emphasize this point enough, but when the believer is brought under false teaching, which changes the object of that person's faith, the result is that God's grace is frustrated and strength is given to the sin nature. When "the sin" revives in the life of the believer, it gives the forces of evil an open door to wreak havoc in those people's lives.

It is important to remember the "evil eye" because the next concept we are about to discuss out of this verse is associated with the concept of vision also.

(3) ...before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? Paul said before your eyes, the cross was evidently set forth. The concept that is being translated from the Greek comes from the word prographe. This word has the idea of public visualization as in a public document, placard, or even a painting that has been exposed for all to see.

So let's follow the progression of what Paul has said. He said to the Galatians that they were fools because they have responded to another gospel in an unintelligent manner. Paul preached the truth of the Gospel to them, which had been given to him by revelation through Jesus Himself. We have already discussed the idea of revelation before, but it describes something that was previously hidden- being uncovered. So Paul's message allowed the Galatians to see the truth with spiritual eyes, but the Judaizers have come and the Galatians are being moved by their natural senses including their vision.

But in reality, without knowing it, they have been brought under the spell of the "evil eye". Through their acceptance of a false gospel, the forces of evil have been given permission to bring confusion in their midst. Paul brings their minds and spiritual eyes back to the public "painting" that was produced for them when the Gospel was preached to them by him. The result of that painting was that Jesus was crucified. Now, get a hold of that child of God! The Judaizers are saying, "you must be circumcised." And Paul is saying, "Do you see this painting of the cross? If you want to talk about the removal and destruction of flesh, look at this. If circumcision fixes the problem then what is this?"

And the question we must ask ourselves is, "How will the rules of a preacher or the rules I make for myself accomplish something greater than what Jesus accomplished for me on the cross?" It's the same concept child of God. We are told to make ourselves right by what we do or do not do and Jesus is standing there with His nail scarred hands asking, “If you could do it...why would I have done this?" And I am not talking about salvation or eternal life right now. Most of us understand that only Jesus is the gate to eternal life. I am talking about righteous living. We bring ourselves under a spell of what looks like holiness when we make rules for righteous living. Jesus made us righteous! Stay connected to the vine through faith in Him and what He accomplished on the cross and experience supernatural grace. Grace gives power for holy living today.

Galatians 3:2-5  2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. 5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Remember, we are talking about holy living. Paul has brought all this to their attention. And now he will focus specifically on the Law and flesh versus the Spirit of God. The way he does this is that he asks the Galatians (4) specific questions:

(1) ...Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 

So how did you receive the Spirit of God? When He made your heart His home, was it because you followed the Law and got circumcised or was it because you believed the word of truth that was preached?

 To the modern Christian...what was it that caused the Spirit to make His home in your heart? Was it because you read enough Bible one day? You may have been reading the Bible and learned that Jesus was the answer for your sin and put your faith in that truth, which invited the Holy Spirit in, but that is not what I am talking about. I am talking about countless Christians attempting to please God through what they do. Reading enough, praying enough, going to church enough... Thinking if they will only do more, they will be right with God and then their guilt will leave.

 No! Paul said you’re not guilty because you believed the right thing! Your faith in Jesus allows you to be accepted by the Father. Now, with proper faith, go do proper works.

(2)... having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Ultimately, the question asked is, " You received the Spirit of God through faith and now you are going to be made perfect (accomplished / finished) in the flesh? So through the hands, rules, or traditions of men you are going to be produced into what God is looking for?"

(3) Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

You have received much criticism and experienced much tribulation over your decision to follow Jesus. And now you are going to turn your faith towards something else? If you do, all your suffering for Jesus was meaningless and pointless.

(4) 5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

What do you suppose moves the hand of God? Do you suppose it is what you do? Or is it because of your response to the truth?

 In other words, Paul is saying, “You have experienced the moving of the Spirit in your lives...how did that happen? Is it because you believed the Gospel and now you are in covenant relationship with God. Or is it because you got circumcised and did all the right stuff?”

I will probably make some Christian mad when I say this, but it is a pet peeve of mine. Every time someone announces a gathering of Christians for some function...whether it is a conference, skit, or even a concert, everyone is instructed to fast and pray so that souls will be saved. And then after the event we count all the cards and we say, "1000 or 100 got saved." Is that what we really think? Where are they on Sunday? Did they go to church? Are they really saved?

Please do not misunderstand me. I believe that all these things we do: concerts, skits, gatherings can sow seed [if the Gospel is presented!]. And it is certainly possible that they did get saved, but just because they filled out a card does not mean they were saved. I do believe that if they filled out a card then a seed was at least planted.

Also, I believe in fasting and prayer, but as Paul was asking, I am also asking, “Do we believe that the Holy Spirit moves and operates in our midst because we prayed and fasted as though we did enough for Him to show up? Do we honestly believe that He does not want to show up and profoundly affect the lives of sinners? So if He wants to show up what makes Him show up? Well let's look at what Paul said:

5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Paul is telling us that the Spirit moves through the hearing of faith. Two last points to make about this verse then I will stop:

   (1) It is faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified (which is the covenant God offered by the way) that gives us access to the Spirit of God. I don't care how much you fast, pray, go to church, quote scripture, read your Bible, or witness...those things we do are very important for our understanding God, but they are not what moves the Spirit of God.

   (2) Secondly, He shows up when the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His cross is preached. You preach the truth of the Gospel, and the Holy Spirit will show up whether you fasted or not.

Trust me God wants people saved more than we do. Too often, in the church, we are trying to work up a lather to get the Spirit moving. Then the preacher preaches some works based message or some prosperity driven garbage and there is nothing but emotionalism. Why...you ask? It's because the Gospel of Jesus Crist and Him crucified wasn't preached. Preach the Gospel preacher! Move your little self out of the way! And watch God show up!

Galatians 3:6-9 6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

So Paul has made it clear that it is not Law, but reception of the Gospel that causes the Holy Spirit to do His part...whatever part you need Him to do at that moment. Now, he uses "faithful Abraham as an example of the faithful ones that God is looking for. We do not have time to properly teach this concept here, but let me say this, “If you think Abraham was faithful in the sense that he never did anything wrong...you would be wrong."

Abraham lacked faith in many circumstances. He lied about his wife Sarai on more than one occasion to save his own life. He went to foreign lands that God did not tell him to go in the midst of a famine. Through a work of the (flesh) he produced a son with another woman that eventually resulted in Islam. No, Abraham had his share of mishaps.

So what made Abraham faithful in the eyes of God? What made Abraham faithful in the eyes of God is the same thing that made Abraham righteous in the eyes of God. It was Abraham's faith that made him righteous in the eyes of God.

The next question that begs to be asked is what did Abraham believe God about that resulted in his righteousness? People try to have faith about a lot of different things. They even try to have faith about a lot of Godly things. In other words, I am probably talking to an audience that contains multiple parents... Christian parents to be specific. And most of you believe God (exhibiting faith in God) that your children will grow up and be a Christian. By the way I commend you for your faith in God for your child, but does that faith for that result make you righteous in the eyes of God?

The answer is...absolutely not! Only faith in one thing can produce righteousness. The only object of faith that can produce righteousness in the life of the believer is faith in the fact that God became flesh and dwelled with us, lived a perfect life keeping the Law of God, which made right what Adam had done wrong (Romans 5). Then He offered that perfect life as a sacrifice to God to pay the penalty for our sin and guilt. Because He was without sin, the Father accepted the sacrifice, and now, when we place our faith in His payment for our sin, an exchange takes place. He took our guilt and shame by putting it on Himself. And in return, He gave us His righteousness.

So the next question that should be asked if we are thinkers is...how could Abraham, who lived 2000 years before Jesus have placed his faith in Jesus to be made righteous in the eyes of God?

God gave a promise to Abraham in : Genesis 12:3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Where God says in the all families will be blessed, He was speaking of the fact that through Abraham's offspring would one day come the Messiah (Savior of the world- Jesus) Paul will explain this in greater detail later in Galatians 3. But for the next few minutes, I want to take you on a journey through the scriptures that will explain how God revealed to Abraham 2000 years before Jesus was born that Jesus was God's answer to bless all the families of the earth with salvation from their sin.

First reconsider this verse in the passage we are reviewing now: 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

So we are told that God preached the Gospel to Abraham through the scriptures in advance. This means that at some point God explained that righteousness would come by faith. However, that still does not prove that Abraham's faith was in Jesus.

The next place I would like to take you to is in the book of John: John 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

So Jesus tells us that Abraham was able to see his day and he rejoiced over it. The word for rejoice describes great joy and excitement. So far we have been told that the Gospel about justification or (righteousness) was preached to Abraham before Jesus was ever born...2000 years before to be exact. Furthermore, at some point the message became so clear that it was as though Abraham could see it. As a matter of fact, Jesus told us he did. Not only did God preach the message to him, but I believe God also gave Abraham an illustration of the Gospel message. I have thought about this for some time and I am convinced that the illustration came from the story in Genesis 22. Before you go and read what I am talking about, I want you to consider a few concepts from that chapter:

 (1) Abraham was instructed to take his only son up on a mountain top and sacrifice him. In reality Abraham had 2 sons, but God only recognized one. But more importantly this statement God gave Abraham reminds me of John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 (2) Isaac [the lad] Abraham's son carried wood up a mountain just like Jesus did.

 (3) Isaac, like Jesus, walked up that mountain as a willing sacrifice.

 (4) Many scholars believe that Mt. Moriah (where Abraham brought Isaac to be sacrificed) is the same mountain that Calvary's hill was located on, which is the hill that Jesus was crucified on.

 (5) Lastly, God provided a sacrifice at the last minute before Abraham killed Isaac. I cannot prove it but I believe that it was right there that God revealed to Abraham that he did not have to sacrifice his son because God would one day sacrifice His own Son, who would also be the seed of Abraham.