Very forcefully Paul has just finished making the point that we are no longer slaves but children of God and since we are children of God, He has also made us heirs. This reveals the ultimate purpose of God sending His Son, of the Son putting on humanity and His sacrifice on the cross to set us free, was to make us all God’s children and heirs. This issues a challenge for us to continue living as children of the King celebrating our freedom and striving to resist any temptation to return to slavery. Now this is what presents such a huge problem. What we ought to do and what we actually do many times are not the same. As we have seen this is the exact problem that existed among the Galatian Christians. The Galatians are risking everything; they are in danger of throwing away their freedom in Christ and ultimately their salvation. The question that I wonder is, “How could they do this?” Paul in our text appeals to the Galatians on a very personal level. Let’s look at the argument Paul presented to encourage the Galatians to continue living as Children of the King.
I. We are Children of God.
A. Paul begins with addressing the Gentile Christians about their condition before Christ..
1. In their past they worshiped in the darkness of ignorance. Though they were well meaning, they were idolaters who did not know the true God.
2. Paul provided no details concerning the precise character of the Galatians’ former religious commitments.
3. Perhaps some of them were devotees of the various mystery religions that flourished in the Hellenistic cities of South Galatia. Others may have been devoted to the Roman Imperial cult or to the pagan deities of ancient Greece.
4. As a consequence of their darkened ignorance they were formerly “slaves,” just as the Jews had been slaves. The difference is that while the Jews were enslaved to the written code of the Law, the Gentiles were enslaved to idols that were nothing but pieces of metal, word or stone.
5. Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)—remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:11-12—NIV)
B. Paul very skillfully points out the fact that their situation should have changed drastically in Christ.
1. In Christ these Gentiles came to know the one true God and find salvation in his grace. Paul is quick to point out, however, that knowing God is not a one-way street. It is not as if we earn salvation by learning or knowing certain mystic secrets, as the Gnostics were later to teach.
2. Having left the dark ignorance of idolatry, these Gentile Christians wanted to “turn back.”
3. Notice something quite surprising here: when these people “turn back,” it is not to worship idols again. In this context they “turn back” when they submit to weak and miserable legalism.
4. From the Christian perspective, there is little difference between the pagan and the Jew. Both are on the same level, enslaved to “weak and miserable principles.”
5. The Galatian Christians, especially the former Gentile idolaters among them, apparently thought they would be stepping up to the next level above Christ when they accepted circumcision and other requirements of the law.
C. Paul is urging the Galatians not to fall into the religion of legalism but to rise above it and experience a relationship with God based on grace as His children.
1. We obtain salvation when we are introduced to God, and when He acknowledges us. It is the last part, being known by God that is really the most crucial.
2. The two Greeks words for “know” in verses 8 and 9 are synonyms meaning much the same thing, there is still a shade of difference in their meaning.
a. In verse 8 the word “know” reflects the Greek word (oida), which sometimes means merely that a fact has come within the scope of someone’s perception.
b. The word used in verse 9 is (ginōskō), which usually goes beyond mental perception to describe the forming of a relationship with someone through actual involvement with that person.
3. God has taken the initiative, making the move to get acquainted with us first.
4. Paul fears that his work with the Galatians will have been wasted if any of them choose to reject God’s love and give up their adoption as children.
II. We are members of the same family.
A. Verse twelve begins the most personal, earnestly emotional section of Paul’s letter. His urgent tone is reflected in the word “plead”.
1. Since Paul had so completely given his heart to them, why can they not return the favor to Paul?
2. In order to reach the Galatian people, Paul crossed cultural and religious barriers that were virtually unthinkable for a person who had grown up as a Jew.
3. As a result of an illness Paul was presented with an opportunity to present the Gospel to the Galatians.
4. Although Paul’s illness apparently presented some great difficulty to them the Galatians overlooked the issue and welcomed him royally as if he was an angel from God.
5. What had changed? When Paul first came to them they rejoiced and “congratulated themselves that this messenger of God had come with such good news.”
6. “I will take the witness stand,” said Paul, to testify officially and formally what their state of mind had been. They felt such love for Paul that they would have given him anything—even their very eyes.
B. What had now made Paul their enemy? The problem, as the Galatian Christians well knew, was that they had been won over by certain legalists who had followed Paul to Galatia.
1. Just like a modern-day cult, the Galatian legalists used isolation from the greater Christian community as their weapon.
2. The Galatians had earlier felt “zealous” for Paul, and in the good sense of the word this was fine. But now that Paul’s back was turned, their zeal was redirected to the legalists and was distorted by their corrupt motives.
3. Paul’s heart is broken and he pleads with them by reviewing the details of their past relationship.
4. Paul loves them as a father loves his children, they are a part of his family and he is puzzled by the choices they have made.
5. Paul’s frustration and love can be seen in the fact that he just does not know how to deal with the Galatians.
III. We are the free children of promise.
A. After all the arguments from both O.T. law and everyday life, Paul now prepares to make his final appeal.
1. Paul returns to Scripture one last time and make an allegorical interpretation of the Genesis account of Hagar and Sarah and the births of their sons.
2. At the age of 86 Abraham became the father of Ishmael (Genesis 16:16) and at the age of 100 he became the father of Isaac (Genesis 21:5).
3. Ishmael, “born in the ordinary way” (literally, “born according to flesh”), logically symbolizes all those who try to make it on their own. His birth “according to flesh” was not a sinful thing; it was merely an inadequate thing in contrast to the power of God.
4. Isaac, “born as the result of a promise,” logically symbolizes all those who cannot make it on their own and must rely on God’s gracious promises.
5. The two women and the two sons they bore can logically represent two great covenants of Scripture.
a. One covenant is that of Moses.
b. The other covenant is that of Abraham, the promise which found fulfillment in Christ.
6. On the one side are the legalists—those who lack faith in God and try to make it on their own. On the other side are the believers—those who know they cannot make it on their own and put all their trust in God.
7. The Gentile children of Ishmael are free in Christ, while the Jewish children of Isaac are in bondage through the Law. While the teachers of legalism in Galatia may have been arguing that Jews are free and Gentiles are cast out, Paul shows that exactly the opposite is true.
B. It is logical and reasonable to say that Christians belong with Isaac, while legalists belong with Ishmael.
1. We who know we cannot earn salvation by our own works must depend upon God’s promise of salvation by grace through faith. Like Abraham, we walk by faith; like Isaac, our very sonship is a product of God’s promise.
2. To say that God’s grace-children are “born by the power of the Spirit” is a reminder of the beginning of Paul’s arguments in 3:2–5. It was by faith, not by works of law, that the Galatians received the Holy Spirit.
3. Paul comes to the bottom line. Especially for those in Galatia who were so enamored with the Old Testament: what does that Scripture say? The slave woman and her son must go. This was a drastic action, apparently contrary to social custom and Abraham’s own preferences (Genesis 21:11), but that was the final outcome nevertheless.
4. The logical conclusion is that the legalists are rightly classed with Ishmael and are cast out; the believing Gentiles are rightly classed with Isaac and will inherit the blessings of freedom.
5. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” (Romans 9:7-9—NIV)
In his book, In the Heavenlies, Dr. Harry Ironside tells the story of an attempted assassination of Queen Elizabeth I. The woman who sought to do so dressed as a male page and secreted herself in the queen’s boudoir awaiting the convenient moment to stab the queen to death. She did not realize that the queen’s attendants would be very careful to search the rooms before Her Majesty was permitted to retire. They found the woman hidden among the gowns and brought her into the presence of the queen, taking from her the poignard she had hope to plant in the heart of the sovereign. She realized that, humanly speaking, her case was hopeless. She threw herself down on her knees and pleaded and begged the queen as a woman to have compassion on her, a woman, and to show her grace. Queen Elizabeth looked at her coldly and quietly said, "If I show you grace, what promise will you make for the future?" The woman looked up and said, "Grace that hath conditions, grace that is fettered by precautions, is not grace at all." Queen Elizabeth caught it in a moment and said, "You are right. I pardon you of my grace." And they led her away, a free woman. History tells us that from that moment Queen Elizabeth had no more faithful, devoted servant than that woman who had intended to take her life. That is exactly the way the grace of God works in the life of an individual--he or she becomes a faithful servant of God.
