Grace Abounds

A Sermon Series Through the Book of Galatians

“The Enemy of Freedom”

Galatians 4:21-5:12

Introduction

The enemy of Christian freedom is legalism. Legalism defined is “treating something that is good as something that is essential.” We preserve our freedom when everything is properly placed in our lives. What is essential to God is essential to us, everything else is kept in its place. The Christian has to resist placing things in too high a priority in their lives. When we allow legalism into our hearts or allow it stay there we begin to lose sight of what ultimately counts.

We will begin to insist that good things remain as ultimate things – eventually there are is no such thing as priority, everything is of equal importance, or what is really not that important becomes paramount. Churches can even begin to find their identity in these misplaced priorities, instead of finding their identity in Jesus.

The Appeal of Allegory (vv. 21-27)

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.”

Paul reaches back to the OT story of how Ishmael and Isaac were born. God had come to Abraham and promised him an heir when he was 86 and she was 76 years, old. Then another 10 years passed, and growing impatient he had a son with a servant girl named Hagar. Ultimately, the couple would have to wait twenty-five years before Isaac (the son of promise) would be born, and Abraham would be 100 years old. Paul uses this story as an allegory. This was a very common teaching practice with Jewish rabbis.

Allegory: “a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.” “Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory of the spiritual journey”

(v. 23) “the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise,” – For Ishmael to be born there was no need for miraculous intervention, “according to the flesh,” but for Isaac to be born, God had to miraculously intervene “born through promise,” because Sarah and Abraham were very old, and she had been barren her whole life. When Isaac was born Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 (Gen. 17:17; 21:5).

He says, “these women are two covenants,” Christians (Jews and Gentiles) are children of the promise as Isaac was. (v, 24) “One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.” Sinai is where God gave Moses the ten commandments, and the law.

From the law was born a nation under the law, and the law enslaved the people. In Paul’s allegory this is pictured as Hagar, the slave woman who gave birth to a son who was not the son God promised. “Ismael symbolizes those who have only natural birth and who trust in their own works. Isaac symbolizes those who have had spiritual birth because they have trusted in the work of Jesus Christ.”[1]

“One difference was their status in the eyes of the law. Although the boys had the same father, they each had a different mother. From their respective mothers they inherited two different legal standings. Ishmael’s mother was a slave, so he was born a slave. Isaac, on the other hand, was born free, the heir of a free woman.”[2]

(v. 26) “But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” – But this new birth, like Isaac’s had to be supernatural (from above), “the Galatians are the fulfillment of Isaiah’s promise in that they are Isaac-type children, for they represent the spiritually and supernaturally born children of Sarah.[3]

Think of how controversial this would have been to the Jewish teachers who were pushing the Galatians to observe the law – the law following Jews were Hagar and Ishmael, and the foreign Gentiles were Sarah and Isaac! The crucial question is, “Who is your mother?” (Hagar or Sarah) – that determines whether you are a slave or free.

Sarah and Abraham did not believe that God would give them a child (a lack of faith) so they decided to take the situation into their own hands, they came up with their own plan, and a child was born – but it was not the child of promise from God. When we try to please God by taking our own lives into our own hands, we do not trust that God will save us by grace (or keep His promise).

In Genesis 17:15 God comes back to Abraham and promises again that Sarah will have a son. But Abraham wants God to accept Ismael as his son, but God says no, “I will give you a son and you will name him Isaac.” “In effect Abraham says that they did not need a son because he and Sarah had already taken care of that problem. . .

Abraham began with faith, “and it was credited to him as righteousness,” but later faltered by not trusting that God would keep His promise and had a child with Hagar. The Galatians also began in faith by the Spirit and have lapsed into seeking “to be made complete by the flesh” (Gal. 3:3).”[4]

 In the eyes of God everyone is either an Ismael or an Isaac. Do we seek our salvation by trying to be a good person (some other means other than Jesus), or do we seek God’s grace through faith?

The Appeal to Be Rid of Legalism (vv. 28-31)

28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

If you are a slave, then you will always be a slave, unless you are redeemed. If you keep all of the law, you still remain a slave. Like a horse grinding grain in a circle – the harder you pull, the faster you go, you still remain in attached to the mill grinding grain. The law is a brutal master, when you have done everything, it whips you to keep on going. You have no means to be free from the law.

Since salvation comes by grace, then the church cannot tolerate graceless (legalism, self-righteous moralism) works. Legalism has no place in the church. Paul then gives them a solution to the false teachers being in their ear, “But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son,” – we must pray and cast out legalism from our hearts and our churches.

Salvation is by faith in Jesus alone; this is why all other religions, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Mormanism – are all slave religions. It is never about what we do for God; Christianity is about what God has done for us. You cannot become a child of God by being a slave (working your way into heaven) – He has to adopt you as His child by grace (redeem you through the cross). You must be born from above.

The Appeal to Live Free (5:1-13)

5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

The reason Christ died, rose again, endured the suffering and pain was so that a person could be free, “For freedom Christ has set you free,” later in 5:13 he says, “For you were called to freedom,” – The state that Jesus wants you to have is one of liberty. God’s grace is what frees us from sin, and it is grace that sustains us. When Paul cries out for God to answer his prayer, God responds back, “My grace is sufficient for you,” (2 Cor. 12:9). His grace is sufficient to save us, and to get us through this life. God’s grace has an effect upon us (freedom). We deprive ourselves of that freedom when we seek to be self-righteous.

2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

If you seek to be justified (made free from your sin) by keeping the law, then, “he is obligated to keep the whole law.” By not trusting in Christ’s work on the cross, a person is cut off from Christ, and that they have fallen away from the grace Jesus offers. Either go back to the law, (all of it), or have the gospel; you can’t have both. Fallen is from a word (ekpipto) that means to be separated or loosed from, it is to lose one’s grip of something.

(v. 4) When Paul says, “You are severed from Christ,” the same word and idea is used in Romans 7:2 “For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.” You are cut loose from Christ by your going back to works righteousness. Is this talking about losing your salvation? He is not talking about eternal security of the believer – but that grace and the law cannot be mixed together.

It deals with the freedom that comes from the assurance of our salvation. You are set free from the prison of, “have I done enough? And “Am I good enough?” Assurance of salvation is not possible if we think we must earn or even maintain our salvation by our efforts. If we keep ourselves saved by good living, how could we ever be sure we were being good enough to retain God’s favor?”[5]

Also, there is no spiritual growth for a person who began in receiving God’s grace through faith, but then turning back to self-righteous moralism. You stop relying on God’s grace and move to trusting your own self-effort – when that happens you stop growing spiritually.

 “Contrary to justifying grace, sanctifying grace is interruptible. Living by the flesh interferes with living by the Spirit, and living by the flesh may even involve doing the right things for the wrong reasons, or in the wrong way. For example, To witness to a person while trusting God to convict and convert him is to live by the Spirit. To witness with the intention of converting a person thorough our own knowledge of Scripture and powers of persuasion is to live by the flesh.”[6] When we try to live the Christian life in our own strength we forsake the grace of Christ.

(v. 5) “For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.” Everyone who has faith in Jesus has the righteousness of Christ. In heaven, we will be without sin. We eagerly await a time when we won’t have this battle raging within us. But for now, we wait and seek to be guided by the Spirit, and we seek the grace of God.

Also, while we wait, we are waiting eagerly for the arrival; we are not waiting with anxiety for the arrival. So we see three characteristics of a godly life – a life lived through the Spirit rather than the flesh, a life lived by faith rather than works, and a life lived in patient waiting rather than in anxiety and bondage to the law.

children waiting from dad to come home from work. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dVHjZFU7VRg

(v. 6) “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” If you have the love of Christ, you don’t need the law to tell you right from wrong. If you love a person then you won’t murder them, or commit adultery against them, or dishonor them, or steal their stuff. When you love with a Christ-like love, guided by the Spirit, you will naturally keep the law.[7]

Reject Those Who Hinder Your Walk With God (vv. 7-12)

7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

“You were running well.” When the Galatians accepted the false message, they disbelieved the truth. “Had they continued to believe God they would have continued to obey God, for obedience is the only possible evidence of a heart-belief in God. In the case of the Israelites their disobedience is said to be the evidence of their unbelief.

Hebrews 3:18-19 “And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” They didn’t believe that God would get them into the Promised Land. The disbelief led to disobedience. Abraham didn’t believe that God would provide a child, so he disobeyed and had a child another way.

“Who hindered you from obeying the truth?” Back in the 1990s every home had a house phone with a phone line. If you were talking with someone on the phone, another person could pick up a second phone in the house and listen, or “cut in”[8] on the conversation, “ok, Drew it’s time to say goodnight.” Someone is cutting in on the Galatians running with Christ, trying to trip them up, and pull them away from salvation by grace through faith. (v. 9) “A little leaven leavens the whole lump,”[9] – leaven in the Bible is a picture of corruption and sin. A little legalism if allowed to stay will grow and grow into much legalism.

Conclusion

Nothing can choke the heart and soul out of walking with God like legalism. Rigidity is the most certain sign that the Disciplines have spoiled. The disciplined person is the person who can live appropriately in life.

Consider the story of Hans the tailor. Because of his reputation, an influential entrepreneur visiting the city ordered a tailor-made suit. But when he came to pick up his suit, the customer found that one sleeve twisted that way and the other this way; one shoulder bulged out and the caved in. He pulled and managed to make his body fit. As he returned home on the bus, another passenger noticed his odd appearance and asked if Hans the tailor had the suit. Receiving an affirmative reply, the man remarked, “Amazing! I knew that Hans was a good tailor, but I had no idea he could make a suit fit so perfectly someone as deformed as you.”

Often that is just what we do in the church. We get some idea of what the Christian faith should look like: then we push and shove people in to the most grotesque configurations until they fit wonderfully! That is death. It is a wooden legalism which destroys the soul.

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[1] MacArthur, 124.

[2] Philip Graham Ryken, Reformed Expository Commentary, Galatians (Phillipsburg, New Jersey; P&R Publishing Company, 2005) 183.

[3] Jason C. Meyer, NAC Studies In Bible & Theology, The End of the Law: Mosaic Covenant in Pauline Theology (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman & Holman Publishing, 2009) 133.

[4] Meyer, 135.

[5] Timothy Keller, Galatians For You (United States; The Good Book Company, 2013) 134.

[6] MacArthur, 136.

[7] See also Romans 13:8-10

[8] Robertson, 310.

[9] 1 Cor. 5:6