Text: Galatians 3:26-29, Title: In Other Words, Date/Place: NRBC, 3/11/07, PM
Opening illustration: “The summit of this pass, according to observations made by the State geological survey, is fourteen hundred and seventy-two feet above the sea. Pacheco Peak, on the south side of the pass, is two thousand eight hundred and forty-five feet high, sharp, and capped with trachyte. It forms an excellent landmark for the San Joaquin and San Jose valleys for a great distance; and I have frequently seen it from the summit of El Capitan and Sentinel Dome, Yosemite. Mt. Hamilton, north of the pass, and easily reached from the town of San Jose, is two thousand four hundred and forty-eight feet in height. San Carlos Peak, some distance to the south, is nearly five thousand feet high, and is about the highest point on the Monte Diablo range.
After we were fairly over the summit of the pass, and had reached an open hill-brow, a scene of peerless grandeur burst suddenly upon us. At our feet, basking in sungold, lay the Great Central Plain of California, bounded by the mountains on which we stood, and by the lofty, snow-capped Sierra Nevada; all in grandest simplicity, clear and bright as a new outspread map” – John Muir
A. Background to passage: Review the occasion for Galatians. If Paul’s arguments were viewed as a landscape from somewhere other than S. GA; this would be the highest mountain peak in his theological argument that stretches from the middle of chapter two through chapter four. This is Paul’s summary statement; his “I’ve said all this to say…” statement. He shows the believers, those “in Christ,” at Galatia and us the privileges granted us by God through Christ by faith. Even though he doesn’t end his argument here, he ties it up in a neat little package filled with deep meaning for the saints, and with well-rounded opposition to the Judaizers.
B. Main thought: In this text we will see three truths about who we are in Christ by faith
A. Full Sonship (v. 26)
1. Flowing from his argument that the law was a prison warden and a strict disciplinarian, Paul says that you are now sons of God. This term is only used in Galatians two other times, and both times it refers to Christ. This is amazing! Paul says that by faith in Christ, you become the family of God, the child of a loving Heavenly Father, a joint-heir to all that the Father owns with Jesus. Paul says, you are no longer under your tutor; you are free. In fact, not only free, but now a full heir. God has adopted you, and conferred upon you the status of a son with all the rights and privileges thereof. He notes that “all” of you are sons that are “in Christ.”
2. John 1:12, 1 John 3:1,
3. Illustration: A scrap book that once belonged to Britain’s Queen Victoria is now up for auction, and the current high bid is £53,400 (101,117.42 dollars). One of the bidders is hoping to prove royal heritage through a hair that belonged to Victoria contained in the memorabilia.
4. You cannot come into the family of God by being good enough, having the right genealogy, or practicing the right religion. You must come by faith in the Father’s provision in Christ. It is all about the relationship that as a lost individual you don’t have, but as a saint you do have. And it is a gift of grace, a pronouncement, an authority, and a covenant of promise never to be earned, maintained, or taken away. It is a great error to teach or say that God is the father of all men, for this is not true. He is the creator of all; all men have the image of God, but redemptively, He is only the Father to those who know the Son; those who are “in Christ.” You must be born into the family of God to have Him as your father. You must be born-again or God will not be your Father, but your judge. But once you are, you become heir to all things, blessed with all spiritual blessings, given access to all spiritual resources, secure eternally in the love of your new Father. Don’t go back to the prison with the tutor. I don’t get this in my heart, and I don’t think most of us do. So pray that God would speak to our spirit’s about the wonder and awe that really comes with being the king’s kid.
B. Full Union, Identification, & Adornment (v. 27)
1. Then Paul brings up baptism for the first and only time in the letter. And of course, he is not saying, “don’t be circumcised, be baptized.” In fact the baptism that he is referring to here is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which occurs upon belief. He says here that when one is baptized into union with Christ, he or she puts on Christ like a garment. And even though he is referring to the moment that you are saved, the language he uses is very much from the ceremonial water baptism rite, which symbolizes and pictures our coming to Christ. And it is very much in view here, because it demonstrates outwardly with water baptism what has already happened inwardly with Spirit baptism. He says, as sons, you are also in union, fully identified with, and adorned with Christ.
2. Eph 4:5, Rom 6:3-4, 1 Cor 12:13, Isa 61:10, Rom 13:14, Eph 4:24, Col 3:10,
3. Illustration: Baptism in the NT invariably implies a radical personal commitment involving a decisive no to one’s former life, and an equally emphatic yes to Jesus Christ, Describe the baptismal ritual in the ten steps in NAC p. 280-1, “The Happy Hypocrite." It is a story about a man who was born with an awful facial deformity. He grew up alone and lonely. When reaching adulthood, he decided to move from his town to begin a new life. On his way he discovered a beautiful mask that fit his making him look handsome. At first the mask was uncomfortable and he was afraid that people would find out who he really was, but he continued to wear the mask everyday. In his new hometown, he made many friends and fell in love. But one day a wicked woman from his old home came to his town and discovered this man’s true identity. In front of his friends and fiancé, she forced him to remove his mask. When he removed the mask, it revealed a handsome face. His face had conformed to the mask.
4. Spirit baptism occurs when you believe. Every Christian has been baptized with the Spirit of God. There is no second blessing or later baptism. In our context of these verses, this is what gives believers the common bond, not circumcision, water baptism, church membership, or anything else. Water baptism in the NT and for us was much more than a formality, or just a means of entrance into the church roll. It was hugely significant in the life of the church and of the believer. We should do our best to attribute to baptism its proper significance. As Spirit and water baptized believers we should live our lives with newness of Spirit, putting on Christ consciously every day, as He actually already is. There should be a clean break in our lives with sin, and an active plan to kill what remains. We should be constantly conforming ourselves to Christ, his ways, his will, his lordship, his character, and his love.
C. Full Equality Before God (v. 28)
1. This is a verse that has been ripped screaming and bleeding out of its original context to support political and ideological movements like the radical feminist movement that has gripped our country. But in its context its real meaning is found. Remember that Paul is speaking of how an individual obtains justification (right standing) from God. He is also following the comment on baptism where every new believer is baptized the same way, receives the same white robe, and hand of fellowship from the church regardless of their station in life. Before God in Christ there is no distinction as to how people get saved—Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female. Think about it; Paul could not consistently argue for one thing here and another there. He stated that he did not cease to become a Jew when he believed, nor free person, nor a man. He never tried overtly to abolish Judaism, but to fulfill it; never to abolish slavery, but to encourage slaves to serve righteously, and he never tried to abolish the differences between men and women, in fact, he went back to creation and created order on a number of occasions.
2. Illustration: General Robert E. Lee was a devout follower of Jesus Christ. Although he was raised in the south where prejudice was a daily way of life, Lee seldom practiced it or revealed it in his life. Although his family owned slaves at one juncture, the slaves were always treated with respect and dignity. It is said that soon after the end of the Civil War, he visited a church in Washington, D.C., a city that had often heaped scorn on Lee throughout the war for his loyalty to the slave-owning states of the Confederacy. During the communion service Lee slowly made his way to the front of the church where he knelt beside a black man. After the service had ended, an onlooker approached Lee and said to him, “How could you do that?” Lee replied, “My friend, all ground is level beneath the cross.”
3. You can see that we must interpret scripture within its context. That is crucial to getting the right meaning. When we rip scriptures out of context to use them to accomplish our own agenda, we are putting words in the mouth of God. If you are going quote verses, make sure they really say what you are quoting them to say. Secondly, the ground is level at the foot of the cross. There is only one narrow road of repentance and faith in Christ alone that we all must come. All people have the same value and worth before God—all sinners, all races, all genders, all religions. And once they come through the waters of baptism putting on that new robe, having been washing in the soul-cleansing blood that flows from Immanuel’s veins, we are to treat them as equals.
A. Closing illustration: Membership has its privileges…cards in wallet, entitlements.
B. V. 29—If Christ’s, then Abraham’s; if Abraham’s, then an heir to all the promises and covenants, in fact, a son or daughter to God Himself. And if you are an son, if you have full sonship, not under a tutor, we stand together as one body having been baptized into Christ, unified to declare the infinite perfections of our King and fellow-heir.
C. Questions and Answers
Additional Notes
• SO WHAT???
