Slavery or Freedom-Galatians 4:21-31

2010-05-16 00:00:00

Created by: 66

Audio version of the Message:{mp3}/galatians/galatians_4b_toh{/mp3}Galatians 4:21-31Key Verse: 4:31    “So, brothers, we are not children of the slave, but of the free woman.”

Galatians has been called “The Magna Carta of Christian Liberty/Spiritual Freedom;” Paul’s “fighting letter;” “a polemical (disputing) Epistle,” the best defense/explanation of “justification (salvation) by faith” (not by works); it’s a diatribe (thunderous verbal attack) and polemic (controversy, attack, refutation, argument) against the deadliness, godlessness, and sheer evil of legalism; and it sharply contrasts the irreconcilable difference between slavery and freedom, which is the theme of today’s sermon: Slavery or Freedom.

Concisely, Galatians was written to help slaves find freedom—to help the slaves of religion (not “sin”) to find true freedom in Christ. For to Paul, there are only 2 kinds of people in the world, which today’s passage will contrast:

• Slaves/Freedom
• Live under law/Live by faith in Christ
• Live in religious bondage/Live in spiritual freedom
• Legalistic/Liberty

What are some definitions of legalism?Dictionary: Strict, literal, or excessive conformity/adherence to the law (rather than its spirit) or to a religious or moral code. Scot McKnight: Legalism is any practice or belief that is added to the gospel that compromises the sufficiency of Christ as Savior and jeopardizes the adequacy of the Spirit in moral guidance. Legalism then is the charge against you or me, often sensed at the deepest level, that we are not accepted by God in Christ and indwellt by the Holy Spirit. (Jesus Creed blog, 2010)Tim Keller:  Legalism means you’re never sure of yourself; you’re always dogged by a sense of guilt and inadequacy, or else you need to feel superior. (Galatians, 2003)Jim Cook:   Legalism needs losers to make the winners look good. (5/9/2010)

Why does Paul write an entire epistle of Galatians against just 1 topic, legalism? Martin Luther said, “Religion is the default mode of the human heart.” This means that even after we become Christians, even after we accept Christ and know that we’re saved only by grace through faith in Christ, our default is not to Christ, not to faith, not to grace, but to legalism & religion. Even without realizing it, we reduce faith in Jesus to a list of rules or traditions. (Attending church, meetings, conferences, keeping church traditions, reading the Bible, how often we pray, witness, serve, etc, etc)  We evaluate our own spiritual standing/maturity/progress (and the spiritual standing/maturity/ progress of others) by what we (or they) do or don’t do for God, rather than by what God has done for us in Christ. Therefore, we Christians are in constant danger of forgetting to live only by faith and choosing instead to go right back under the law. How do we overcome such subtle, deadly legalism? The only weapon against legalism is the gospel. That’s why Luther said in his commentary on Galatians that, “(The gospel) is the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consist. Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well (the gospel), teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually.” 1 That’s what we’re trying to do in our study of Galatians.

In today’s passage, 4:21-31 (regarded as 1 of the most difficult passages in Galatians & in the NT), Paul continues his (rather complicated biblical but important) argument against living by the law or legalism in 3 parts: the historical situation (21-23); the allegorical interpretation (24-27); the practical application (28,31)

1. THE HISTORICAL SITUATION (21-23)

The fundamental spiritual difference between the 2 sons:• One son was born by proxy, the other by promise.• One came by works; the other came by faith.• One was a slave; the other was free.Ishmael & Isaac represent 2 entirely different approaches to religion:• Law against grace.• Flesh against Spirit.• Self-reliance (trusting one’s own efforts) against diving dependence (living by faith).

2. THE ALLEGORICAL (figurative) INTERPRETATION (24-27)

An allegory is a story in which specific people, places and events stand for deep spiritual truths. (Pilgrim’s Progress—names like Christian, Faithful, & Hopeful; places like Doubting Castle, Hill of Difficulty. Paul Bunyun was telling a story to make a spiritual point.) Paul’s allegorical interpretation (24) was based squarely on the facts of the historical situation (22,23). In the eyes of God everyone is either an Ishmael or an Isaac.

Though the analogy is complex, the 2 mothers (Hagar & Sarah), with their 2 sons (Ishmael & Isaac), stand for 2 covenants (a covenant of works and a covenant of grace), which correspond to 2 cities (the present Jerusalem and the Jerusalem above). Thus, there are 2 mothers, 2 sons, 2 covenants, 2 cities and two families. This chart helps illustrate the allegory (showing the difference between spiritual slavery and spiritual freedom):Slavery/FreedomHagar—a slave woman/Sarah—a free womanIshmael—born according to the flesh/Isaac—born through God’s promiseThe Sinai covenant of law/The covenant of promise(the principle of works)/(based on faith)The present Jerusalem (=Judaism)/The Jerusalem above (=the Church)The children of the present Jerusalem (=legalists)/The children of the Jerusalem above (=Christians)Righteousness by Law/Righteousness by Faith

Whenever Paul thought about the joy of freedom in Christ, he burst into song (27; Isa 54:1).

3. THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION (28-31)

Paul wanted the Galatians to see that by the promise of God, they were free sons & daughters of Sarah (28).

One implication of belonging to God’s family is persecution (29). The Gentiles who came to faith in Christ were oppressed by the Judaizers, who would not let them live by God’s free grace. Persecution is 1 way to tell the difference between true and false religion. Persecution is the opposition Christians face for doing God’s will. By contrast, it is false religion that always does the persecuting. Often, the most serious persecution comes from people who claim to be religious, biblical. Martin Luther said, “If someone does not want to endure persecution from Ishmael, let him not claim that he is a Christian.”

Why do slaves persecute the free children of God? Because the gospel is more threatening to religious people than irreligious people. Religious people are touchy & nervous about their status with God/people; this makes them hostile to the gospel, which insists that their best deeds are useless before God. If my self-image is based on justification by Christ, we’re not critical of people who differ with us, but if my self-image is based on justification by works, we persecute! John Stott said, “The persecution of the true church is not always by the world, but by our half-brothers, religious people, the nominal church…the greatest enemies of evangelical faith today are not unbelievers, but the church, the establishment, the hierarchy.” (p127)

Quoting Sarah (30), Paul was saying the Galatians needed to drive the Judaizers and their legalism right out of the church. By trying to place Gentiles under the law, they proved that they themselves were actually slaves. If salvation comes by grace, then the church cannot tolerate salvation by works. Freedom in Christ can be preserved only by abolishing bondage to the law. Thus, we must stand firm against legalism in the church. We should ask God to cast every last trace of legalism from our hearts.  Christianity is not a list of “dos and don’ts.” It’s the good news about salvation for sinners through Jesus Christ. This is why we can’t be saved through any other religion except true biblical Christianity. Adding any works to faith can never save because ultimately works are about what we do for God, not about what God has done for us in Christ.

A final (abridged) quote by Luther: “Those who try to achieve their own righteousness are slaves, who will never receive the inheritance even though they work themselves to death with their great effort; for they are trying, contrary to the will of God, to achieve by their own works what God wants to grant to believers by sheer grace for Christ’s sake.” “So, brothers, we are not children of the slave, but of the free woman” (31).

Just how radical is the gospel of free grace? The basic teaching is that the gospel not only makes absolutely anyone a child of God, but that the most proud, moral and religiously “able” often are the ones left out of God’s family. The gospel reverses the world’s values, abolishes all our categories. In Luke 15, it is the good, moral, religious older son who is the slave, not the bad, immoral, irreligious son. It is not the freestyle Galatian Christians who are the slaves, but the inflexible, legalistic Jewish leaders.

Real life practical issues: How we regard faith, obedience, people’s opinion, troubles, repentance. “Why are you angry?”

1 “The law is divine and holy. Let the law have his glory, but yet no law, be it never so divine and holy, ought to teach me that I am justified, and shall live through it. I grant it may teach me that I ought to love God and my neighbour; also to live in chastity, soberness, patience, etc., but it ought not to show me, how I should be delivered from sin, the devil, death, and hell.

Here I must take counsel of the gospel. I must hearken to the gospel, which teacheth me, not what I ought to do, (for that is the proper office of the law,) but what Jesus Christ the Son of God hath done for me : to wit, that He suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death. The gospel willeth me to receive this, and to believe it. And this is the truth of the gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consisteth.

Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually.”

– Martin Luther, Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (Philadelphia: Smith, English & Co., 1860), 206.2 Ronald Y.K. Fung, The Epistle to the Galatians, 1988, 213

Primary References:Tim Keller, Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, 2003John Stott, The Message of Galatians, 1968Philip Ryken, Galatians, the Gospel of Free Grace, 2005