Big Idea: It is better to live under grace than under the Law (legalism vs. Faith)
Big Question: What are you living under?
Text: Gal 4:1-7
Introduction
Looking over the horses in the stalls, the man studied and looked over the noble beasts that were at the auction that day. He walked up to them and gave them a decent once over then one in particular caught his eye. A big beautiful, Purebred Friesian Mare. The mare looked good, solid, it was a fine, fine horse. Eyes looked attentive though a little dull. The coat was glossy and good, and the gums checked out fine. It seemed to do all the things that a good horse would do, it whinnied, ate, socialized, the man didn’t understand why the horse was up for auction but he decided to buy her.
He didn’t know it but the mare was used to being locked it in a stall for most of her life. She had been let out only to work. Carrying loads, ploughing, and pulling of wagons and carts, but never really shown any care and often was burdened under a heavy load and hard labour. She had been living under a hard, hard rule. The owner, seeing that her usefulness was coming to an end, put her up for auction.
When the mare arrived at its new home, the new owner was a little puzzled. In the stall at the auction the horse looked great, but in the pasture, with all the fresh grass and hay, and other horses around, the mare seemed to shy away. She’d poke her head out and then head back towards her stall. The mare was content to stay in her stall and when she popped out, it was only for short periods of time. After a while, the new owner had it in his mind to lead the horse out to the pasture, to introduce her to what was waiting for her. When he tried to bridle the mare he figured it out. The mare’s eyes upon seeing the bridle, became alert with fear, the mare recoiled and the new owner realized that this horse was living under fear.
It had been so used to doing what it was supposed to and looking like she was supposed to, that when something better was offered, she clung to the old system that she was under.
It seems to me that this kind of goes with what we have been learning about as we walk through Galatians and work through our small group study. We can become Christians, but stay under the old systems of oppressive, heavy-handed rules that dominated our lives, or we can live under this new system; this life-giving, freeing Grace that we’ve been learning about. It’s kind of like the difference between living in the stall and living in the pasture, which do you think is more appealing? Paul outlines in our passage, three things that we can live UNDER and my question to you today is what are you living under?
Let’s open our Bibles as we continue today we will be looking at Galatians chapter 4 verses 1-7. In the pew Bible, you can find this on pg. 1153. Galatians is to the right of Corinthians, and to the left of Ephesians and Colossians. If you’re there say Amen. Could you please join me as we read out loud together.
Galatians 4
1 What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. 4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[a] Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
If we break this passage down, we can see that Paul is telling us that there are three ways that Christians can live, Under the Law, Under Christ, and Under the Spirit.
Our fine mare, was living under an old Law, a heavy set of rules and regulations that dragged her down. The horse, like the Jewish people of old, looked good, but she was no better than a slave.
Point 1 (1-3)
Under the Law we were Slaves
Explanation
Our first segment, verses 1-3, is a picture of a wealthy father who intends to turn over control of his wealth to his son when he reaches maturity. But as long as he is still a child, the son has to obey stewards over him. He is like a slave and is continually told what to do and what not to do. Guardians are in charge of him and even though he is the heir, he does not get full ownership until he has grown up.
This was the condition of Jews under the law. The law controlled them and ordered them around like slaves. They were in bondage to the elements of this world, the principles of the Jewish religion. They could see in the rituals of Judaism shadows and pictures of what was to come, but they weren’t able to grasp the amazing new covenant God had prepared for them.
The Law was steward over the people and if you remember what Pastor Neville said, The Law was a tutor, and protector for God’s people: Until the right time had come, the right time. . . In the fullness of time, Christ came to set us free. The Law or Mitzvah and its 613 laws were there to help guide the Jews, but there was always the shadow and the knowledge that something more was coming, they were waiting for the Messiah, but unfortunately missed him when he came.
The prophets wrote about how and when the Messiah, would come, but even though Jesus was right in front of them, they couldn’t see him for who he was. It’s kind of like the horse being stuck in the stall not realising that the door was wide open. Jesus said to them in John 5:39, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,” The Jews looked to the Law to provide their salvation, but that’s not what it was for. It’s like they had forgotten that Abraham was seen as righteous, not because he followed the Law because it wasn’t around at that point, but because he had faith and his belief we are told in Romans, was counted as righteousness.
Illustration
You see the Jews were kind of like the Irving family. K.C. Irving He was the entrepreneur who came from a little town, Bouchtouche, NB and became one of the wealthiest men in the world. Today, Irving is the “largest single land owner in NB, NS, and Maine as well as one of the largest foreign land owners in the U.S. During his life he had amassed a grand fortune, land, wealth, influence (they had a near monopoly on media in N.B.)
K.C. had three sons or heirs. Jack, J.K. and Arthur and they were in line to take over the fortune. Each managed a portion of the empire while K.C. was alive, but ownership was still K.C’s until his death in 1992 where the three sons were willed the company in three sections. Lumber, Oil and Paper., They had access to the fortune, they had a glimpse of what was coming, but until the time had come, they were under K.C., he was the owner, he was in charge.
Application
So there are people all around us, good Christians who are stuck living under an old rule, a way of life that is legalistic and enslaving. They see Christianity as oppressive, as holding them back. They live in fear of being found out, fear of people knowing that they are real, that they hurt, that they have things in their lives that they think, “boy if you knew what I was thinking, or what I was doing, or what I have done you’d want nothing to do with me”. And they in turn want nothing to do with people who they see as having junk in their lives.
Legalism tears them apart and they miss out on the joy and freedom that is found in Christ. The Law for Jews was their protection, their tutor, for Christians, living under Law is a choice, Christ gives an alternative that some choose not to take. They are still living under the law they are under a self-imposed legalistic system that looks at the outward appearance and not into the heart. True only God can truly know a man’s heart, but as followers of Christ, as emulators of His love on earth, shouldn’t we be trying to see our brother’s and sister’s hearts as well?
Living under this set of rules, this legalism is kind of like late night snacking, we have a choice while we are watching the tube at night. You know, you get hungry and want something to eat, but instead of peeling a carrot or cleaning off some celery sticks, you grab that bag of chips, or if you really like chips, you grab a can of Pringles. Legalism is the easy way out; it looks at the outside, the quick fix, appearances. Legalism is easier because you don’t have to think. And you don’t have to change. You just follow the rules. “Broad is the road that leads to destruction. But narrow is the path that leads to life. It’s easy to grab that bag of chips instead of a carrot, and for some reason, we all tend to gravitate towards the easier choices in life, but we all know that the carrot is better for us. The law leads to spiritual laziness, it’s like junkfood. It’s easier to live under a system that focuses on the outside and judges the book by the cover, but we all know that there’s always more on the inside. Even more than this, Being a Christian is hard. Freedom is hard. Leaving your mother and father and living for Christ is hard, kind of like stepping out of that stall would be hard for our mare. Are you brave enough to be free?
Christ came to set us free from legalism, and . . .
In verses 4-5 it says, But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons
Under Christ we were Freed (Gal 5:1)
If we jump ahead a little in Galatians to chapter 5, v. 1, we read 1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Paul is talking about the new Covenant or Contract that Christ was fulfilling.
Heb 8:13, says that By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear, does anyone remember vinyl, or 8-tracks? Few people use them because they are a cumbersome way to listen to music, you had to listen to a whole song etc, now with mp3’s, you can fast forward, rewind, skip, shuffle, the possibilities are almost endless. So why would people choose to live under the old covenant, when we have freedom, given by Christ? In Mathew 5, Jesus tells us that he did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. His coming took the 613 Laws of the Mitzvah and boiled them down to two. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.(Lk. 10:27). The offerings that the Jews were making to atone for their sins was forever made anachronistic or out-dated. They were no longer needed because Christ paid the debt that all the offerings could never fully pay.
The Law was an outward temporary solution to an eternal problem that only the blood of Christ could forever fix. It looked good from the outside, people acting all righteous, but on the inside, it led to death.
Illustration
Native hunters in the jungles of Africa have a clever way of trapping monkeys.
They slice a coconut in two, hollow it out, and in one half of the shell cut a hole just big enough for a monkey’s hand to pass through. Then they place an orange in the other coconut half before fastening together the two halves of the coconut shell. Finally, they secure the coconut to a tree with a rope, retreat into the jungle, and wait.
Sooner or later, an unsuspecting monkey swings by, smells the delicious orange, and discovers its location inside the coconut. The monkey then slips his hand through the small hole, grasp the orange, and tries to pull it through the hole. Of course, the orange won’t come out; it’s too big for the hole. To no avail the persistent monkey continues to pull and pull, never realizing the danger he is in.
While the monkey struggles with the orange, the hunters simply stroll in and capture the monkey by throwing a net over him. As long as the monkey keeps his fist wrapped around the orange, the monkey is trapped.
It’s too bad-the poor monkey could save its own life if it would let go of the orange. It rarely occurs to a monkey, however, that it can’t have both the orange and its freedom. That delicious orange becomes a deadly trap.
The orange is like the Law, it’s like legalism, we need to let go of it, it doesn’t fit with a life that is under Christ. Just like that orange is so appealing to the monkey, it looks good, it’s familiar, it’s easy to get but sometimes the easiest things aren’t always the best things. We can cheat on a test and get an A, but when the real world test of our knowledge comes along, the proof will be in the pudding. Jesus gives us freedom, as we let go of the orange, we see that there is a whole orchard of delicious fruit for us, we no longer have to hold on to sin, we no longer have to hold on to the outward appearances and legalism that the law has to offered, we are no longer trapped by it.
Application
Often Christians stop there though, they try to merge our first two points, they try to live under Law and they see their freedom from living under Christ as a ticket to do whatever they want. They have salvation, but there’s so much more that God has in store for us. The Christian’s joy and excitement at being set free can turn into a legalistic set of rules in and of itself. People get trapped into doing all that they can to try to please God. This is a natural thing, people by nature want to live under rules no matter what we may think. And if we don’t have enough rules, we will make our own. Christ condensed the Law into two, but we still add rules onto ourselves that make us feel comfortable, but don’t add to our faith or holiness. How many times does it say in scripture that “thou shalt not chew gum in church?” but growing up, you didn’t dare. Trying to please God is A noble pursuit to be sure, but God is pleased with us when we come to faith in Christ. He sees us as sons and daughters, we are adopted into His family and are co-heirs with Christ. We don’t have to earn God’s love because we already have it. How should that make you feel? Will that bring about a change in your life knowing that God sees you as a son? As a daughter?
Knowing that we have God’s love and acceptance is huge and I want to pause for a second to let that sink in. We don’t have to run around trying to please God, or others, we have to trust. We have to let Jesus sink into our lives, we have to realize that God sent the Holy Spirit, to live in us, in verse 6 it’s called the ‘spirit of his son’. We are able to participate in an intimate relationship with God at this point. And we are enabled by the Spirit, to have access to all that Christ had access to while he was on earth. The same spirit that resided in Christ, now resides in us as Christians. We can live under Christ, and I’m definitely not saying anything to the contrary. Faith in Christ and his death and resurrection are the only way to heaven. This gives us hope for the future, it confirms in us that we are going to reign with Christ who is seated at the right hand of a mighty and awesome God, forever.
What we tend to forget however, is that there is hope for right now! We don’t have to wait until we are with the father in heaven to experience what he has for us. We have 2 types of freedom in Christ, freedom from condemnation and freedom from ineffectiveness. We are able to live our life secure in the knowledge that we are positionally clean before God. He sees us, we are known by Him and He loves us. We are able serve and be effective for His purposes as well.
We are enabled to have the things of the spirit. Christ depended on the spirit throughout his ministry and that same spirit resides in the believer. Which brings me to my third and final point
6-7
Under the Spirit we are sons
Illustration
Connor, can you come up here for a second. I have asked Connor not to drink anything since last night. Are you thirsty? (yes) We become a Christian and there develops a thirst inside us. We see the things that Jesus did, we see freedom, we see miracles, the blind see, the deaf hear and the dead rise. But we don’t see this as much in Canada or North America very much. It’s kind of like this. . . So Connor you’re really thirsty right? I have this bottle of water here, would you like some? (yes). (splashing some water at Connor) there you go, You’ve got some water are ya good? (No). This is kind of like what a lot of people do when they get saved, they accept Christ as their saviour, and splash him on themselves, they soak in him a little. And a little bit of the spirit gets inside them, eventually if I splashed at Connor enough, some water would get in his mouth and he would get a little nourishment, but he’d still be pretty thirsty.
Now if Connor grabs the bottle and drinks, (connor drinks) The water in him will do amazing things, it will give him strength, nourishment, it will satisfy his thirst and empower him to do almost anything he wants to do today.
Hear me here. When Christ was at the well with the woman, he told her of a living water, the Spirit inside us can empower us to experience all of what God has for us here on earth. We are co-heirs with Christ and like Christ, we have access to all that he had access to from the Father by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 says that we are to be Filled with the spirit. In the previous verse, it is contrasting not being drunk on wine. When we are drunk, we lose control, we lose our inhibitions and are easily swayed and moved. And are usually swaying when we move . To contrast, the writer says to be filled instead with the holy spirit; to be led, to be swayed and not be inhibited in following his urgings.
A spirit filled person is full of joy, sure things happen, bad things, we live in a fallen world, but living by the spirit puts things into perspective, we see through clear eyes, not “beer goggles” so to speak. Spirit filled living is a life of gratitude at one’s surroundings and all the gifts God has given, it is humble and submissive and gracious. It is a life of grace.
Under the Spirit we are sons and daughters, we tend to try and complicate things. The Galatians were trying to have Jesus. . . and, Jesus and circumcision, Jesus and . .. the Law. I’d like to submit to you this morning that we can have, and in fact need Jesus, that’s it. We need to stop cluttering up our lives and our religion with all the and. We do it all the time, when we follow rules and not grace. Things like preferences, styles of music, hats in the sanctuary, a fallen person working at redemption and restoration. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to fill us, not just cover us, so that we can live this life of grace and peace that God offers us through Jesus his son, by the Holy Spirit. We need to make use of the grace available.
Application
We are sons and daughters of God, we are co-heirs with Christ. Being spirit-filled and living in and by grace sounds like such a subjective thing, but it is a subjective reality that is observable. We see this in Acts 6 in the life the seven chosen men chosen who were given ministry responsibilities in the early church, to feed and serve the widows among them. The apostles needed men who were known to be full of the Spirit and Wisdom. They showed Joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. They showed and lived grace.
We too can allow the spirit to take over our lives, to fill us, to guide and temper us. But we have to ask, and it comes at a cost. We have to be willing to let go. We have to let go of the superficial Christianity that for some reason, we try so hard to hold on to. And we may get hurt. We may be wronged, we may be exposed a little, emotionally or physically, but living in Grace, living by the Spirit, we will be empowered to see others for who they really are, to see people as important enough to God that he sent his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
And we can see ourselves as we really are, not what the world sees us as, or what Satan will try to make the mirror reflect. No, living by the Spirit helps us see ourselves as loved, no matter what, as important, as precious, as clean. We were born with a sinful nature, born with a selfish bent that separated us from God, and through Christ, by his spirit, we can be fully cleansed of that nature, we can be free from the need to sin, 1 thes, 5:23, May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our mare, the one from the beginning who was living in that box, weighed down and burdened. Would come to recognize that there was more to life with her new owner, when she let go and allowed herself to be led by him, she discovered that she was free. She had access to all the owner had, she was able to graze free among the herd that accepted her, she was not beaten anymore or weighed down with burdens too heavy to bear. She had come into a life of grace. A life of peace, and a life of freedom.
Where are you living today, are you under the Law? Are you living with a superficial faith that sees Christianity as just more rules? Are you living under Christ, knowing that you are saved and that you are going to heaven, but having that sprinkling of water, you know there’s something more and you thirst for it. I would like to invite you today to start living under grace? To find the peace and comfort and strength that comes from allowing the spirit to fill and take over your life. It can be scary, but giving up control often is. We serve a God who is mighty. Who loves us dearly and is close enough that we can call him Abba, Daddy.
I would encourage us to pray and to ask God to fill us, to lead us by His spirit and to help us to live Under Grace.
