Freedom’s Measure (2015)-2

FREEDOM’S MEASURE-part 2—Galatians 4:19—5:6

OR...CAST OFF THE YOKE

Paul exhorted the Galatian Christians to prioritize their freedom in Christ.

Christians should measure their freedom in Christ.

But if you do not know what freedom is then you cannot prioritize it!...So...

How can Christians measure their freedom?

5 measures of personal freedom.

We had discovered previously that Freedom is measured by your...

1. FORMATION(:19-20)

2—Freedom is measured by your...

PROMISE(:21-28)

Explanation:(:21-28) Covenant

:21—“Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?”

There are within the church those who have succumbed to the spell of “law” to the exclusion of their accepted freedom in Christ. It is to the advantage of such brothers in Christ, that they actually “hear” what “the law” speaks & thus comprehend what it does.

It is very easy to spout doctrine without knowing(or even desiring to know) the reach & fullness of it’s implications & ramifications. In this such venture into the realm of ‘creedalism’ full bore. Something Southern Baptists have wrestled with for many years is refining & proffering their Baptist Faith & Message(1925, 1963, 2000), wanting to separate ourselves doctrinally(from false doctrine) yet at the same time abhorring & avoiding creedalism.

This scenario is engaged so that relationship to God in Christ takes precedence, being directly tied to reliance upon Scripture as God’s inerrant & canonized word, as opposed to prioritizing ad hoc adherence to behaviors & appearances divorced from relationship with Jesus. Which the reality of behaviors & appearances will manifest themselves upon one’s devotion to God in Christ & bolstered thru His word.

Js. 1:22-25—“But be doers of the word, & not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word & not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, & immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty & continues in it, & is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

Those who are specifically “under the law” would reference Jews, who received their objective law from God Himself by the mediation of angels to the man Moses.

Gal. 3:23-25—“But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”

However Gentiles may also live under “the law” but only in the sense that their “law” though subjectively derived—though some was & is actually received from demonic influence & command—is still a standardized set of guidelines by which they live. In such Gentiles made & make determinations of right & wrong. Their law being subjective bypasses & denies God’s will & righteousness.

“Desire” either keeps us enslaved or frees us.

“Desire”(See :20—“Like to”)—yelw—Present Active Participle—To will, have in mind, intend.

“Under”—upo—Preposition—1) By, under. Strong—a primary preposition; under, i.e. (with the genitive case) of place--Beneath, or with verbs (the agency or means)--Through); (with the accusative case) of place whither--Underneath or where--Below or time when--At).

“Law”—nomov—

“Hear”—akouw—1)To be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf; 2)To hear; 3)To hear something. Strong—a primary verb; To hear(in various senses).

:22—“For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.”

The Scripture records the events to which Paul makes reference. The events described are found in Gen. chapters 16-18, & 21. Particularly 16:1-3; 17:15-21; 18:9-15; 21:1-7, 8-14.

Abraham’s first son Ishmael was born of Sarai’s ‘handmaid’ at Sarai’s request. Sarai, seeing she was barren, yet knowing God’s promise of children thru whom the world would be blessed(Gen. 15:1-21), gave Hagar to her own husband Abram as “a wife”(Gen. 15:3). Thus both Abram & Sarai surrendered to flesh(subjective “law”) in attempting to bring about(interpret) God’s will. This they did without trust in God to see the fulfillment of His promise to them.

[See :23, “according to the flesh”]

“Bondwoman”—Hagar—Egyptian maid bore Ishmael

“Freewoman”—Sarai(Sarah)—Abraham’s wife bore Isaac

“Bondwoman/Bondmaid/Maid servant/Slave”(See :23)—paidiskh—1)A young girl, a damsel; 2)A maidservant, a young female slave. Strong—A girl, i.e. specifically--A female slave or servant. RWP—Feminine diminutive of paiv, boy or slave. Common word for damsel which came to be used for female slave or maidservant (Lk. 12:45) or doorkeeper. Used 13X.

“Freewoman/Free woman”(See :26)—eleuyerov—1) Freeborn—1a) in a civil sense--One who is not a slave, 1b) Of one who ceases to be a slave, freed, manumitted; 2) Free, exempt, unrestrained, not bound by an obligation; 3) in an ethical sense--Free from the yoke of the Mosaic Law. Strong—Unrestrained(to go at pleasure), i.e. (as a citizen)Not a slave (whether freeborn or manumitted), or (genitive case)--Exempt(from obligation or liability).