Introduction:
When I was a young boy growing up I used to play games. I would join my cousins in the evening and we would play for what seemed like hours, pretending to be someone or something that we were not. It is said that the Hypocrite professes to be what he does not practice, while the Christian practices what he professes to be. Statistics reveal that in a normal congregation almost 50% of those who profess to be Christians have never really experienced a true relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words they are pretending (or assuming for whatever reason) to be something that they are not. To evaluate this scenario further, they are not practicing what they profess.
Illustration:
At age 13 my wife walked the aisle of the church she was attending. She was under conviction by the Holy Spirit to accept the Lord as her personal Savior. Something went wrong though. When she got to the front of the auditorium, she was greeted by someone that sat her down on the front pew had her fill out all the pertinent information and advised her to become a candidate for baptism. After fulfilling these obligations, she became a member of that church. What’s the problem? No one ever opened a Bible and explained to her what she needed to do to become a Christian. No one ever led her in a prayer to ask forgiveness of her sins. Three years would pass before someone at a youth camp would open their Bible to explain salvation and lead her in a prayer of faith.
I’m afraid that some people have went much farther and have never really known Christ in a heartfelt relationship. All they have ever had is an outward relationship with Him.
The Galatians were a people of Celtic descent. It is said that they were relics of a Gaulish invasion that swept across south-eastern Europe in the early part of the third century before Christ and then eventually poured into Asia Minor. Through all of this the Celtic tribes maintained their independence under their native princes until 100 years later they were subdued by the Romans. Their country was now nothing more than a province of the mighty Roman Empire
They were a people of strange character though. They were very intelligent people and accepted a lot of the Greek language and culture but at the same time retained much of their own native language and culture. They displayed the well-known traits of the Celtic nature. They were generous, impulsive, vehement in feeling and language; but vain, fickle, and quarrelsome. Caesar wrote of them, “The infirmity of the Gauls is that they are fickle in their resolves, fond of change, and not to be trusted”; and by Thierry they are characterized as thus: “Frank, impetuous, impressible, eminently intelligent, but at the same time extremely changeable, inconstant, fond of show, perpetually quarreling, the fruit of excessive vanity.”1 They were examples of the works of the flesh as they are described in Galatians 5:20.
The scary thing about reading this is that they were extremely close to what society is today.
The Galatians had been influenced by the great number of Jews that were settling in that area and had taken a lively interest in the affairs of the Jewish churches as far away as Jerusalem and Antioch.
Why were they turning away from the gospel of grace that Paul had taught them when he established the church? Simply put, they were like literally thousands of people today. Today we are trying to juggle living in the world with living for Christ and we have trouble deciding which one to put our trust in. For the Galatians, they were listening to the Judaizers concept of making it on your own. They were told that grace alone wasn’t enough. For people today, we are told that same lie. We are told that there are many doors to heaven. Jesus said in John 10:9, “I Am the door”, we are told that we can work our way to heaven, Jesus said in Eph. 2:9, “Not of works, lest any man should boast”, We are told that we just have to do good, God said in Isaiah 64:6, “…all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.
The Galatians knew what the promise of blessing was but they had so quickly come to a point in their life where they had rejected it. When Paul got wind of this he wrote to them and quickly revealed the concepts of the promise. It was time for the Galatians and it is time for us to renew the promise of blessing in our lives. We are each given the opportunity to either receive or renew the promise in our lives.
Notice the benefits of claiming the promise.
I. THOSE THAT HAVE RECEIVED CHRIST ARE “IN CHRIST” (Galatians 3:26-29)
A. We have our position restored. (V. 26)\
1. We are moved from the position of a slave to that of a son.
2. We are no longer a slave to this world and its desires, we are a child of God.
3. That position becomes effective as we begin to exercise our faith.
4. We are children of God In Christ and once we are there, there is only one thing that can remove us and that is our willful separation from Him.
B. We have our identity restored. (V. 27)
1. We are crucified with Him.
Galatians 2:20
20I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Romans 6:4-6
4Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
2. We identify with His death.
3. We identify with His burial.
4. We identify with His resurrection.
C. We have our equality restored. (V. 28)
1. The world may look up to you or it may look down on you but in Christ there is equality.
2. In the world there are the haves and the have nots and most of us believe it or not, fall into one of those categories.
3. In Christ people of all nations, all conditions, and all sexes receive the blessing of equality.
4. We are all made one in the Spirit.
a. We may perform different functions in the body of Christ but each function is equally essential.
b. Paul explains it by saying there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
5. In Christ race or nationality doesn’t matter, social status does not matter, gender does not matter. He stands ready to bless all those who will put their trust in Him and glorify Him.
D. We are children of the promise born of a royal birth blessed and forgiven because of the grace of God.
II. THOSE THAT HAVE RECEIVED CHRIST BECOME AN “HEIR” (Galatians 3:29-4:7)
A. When your name was written down in glory, you became eligible to be included in God’s will.
1. You don’t have to settle for just a portion of God’s blessing He wants you to have it all.
2. You don’t have to settle for just a portion of His love you get it all.
B. But some people have chosen to mix a little bit of God with the world and they are missing out on the rich blessings of God.
Illustration:
Chuck Swindoll said, The world system is committed to at least four major objectives, which I can summarize in four words: fortune, fame, power, pleasure. First and foremost: Fortune, money. The world system is driven by money; it feeds on materialism. Second: Fame. That is another word for popularity. Fame is the longing to be known, to be somebody in someone else’s eyes. Third: Power. This is having influence, maintaining control over individuals or groups or companies or whatever. It is the desire to manipulate and maneuver others to do something for one’s own benefit. Fourth: Pleasure. At its basic level, pleasure has to do with fulfilling one’s sensual desires. It’s the same mindset that’s behind the slogan: "If it feels good, do it."
C. As a child of God you are entitled to so much more than the shallow, temporal pleasures of the world
1. Your heavenly Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Psalm. 50:10. How’s that for FORTUNE.
2. Everybody in the world knows and uses His name. How’s that for FAME.
3. He created the earth and all the planets. How’s that for POWER.
4. He offers us peace that passes all understanding Philippians 4:7. How’s that for PLEASURE.
D. As a child of God we are heirs to all that God has. He wants to bless us now and forever more.
III. THOSE THAT HAVE RECEIVED CHRIST ARE MADE “FREE IN CHRIST” (Galatians 4:28-5:1)
A. Burdens are so hard to carry and it’s the invisible ones that really weigh you down.
B. The Promise and the blessing include lifting the burdens that no one else can see. Matthew 11:30 Jesus says, My yoke is easy, My burden is light lets trade (emphasis added)
C. What do you need to be free of today?
1. Is there something you’ve never turned over to God?
2. Is there a burden that’s too much to bear?
3. Is there anything separating you and God?
D. All the Galatians had to do was reach out and take back the freedom that the grace of God offered them and yet we see them struggling in bondage and misery.
E. It seems that Paul is crying out for us to choose freedom and then begging us to “Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free”.
John 8:36 “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall free indeed.”
IV. THOSE THAT HAVE RECEIVED CHRIST ARE URGED TO “WALK IN THE SPIRIT” (Galatians 5:16-26)
A. There seems to be a difference between Living in the Spirit and Walking in the Spirit. (V. 25)
1. Everyone that accepts the Lord has the Spirit living in them.
2. Not everyone that knows the Lord is walking in the Spirit.
3. The Galatians were certainly far from walking in the Spirit
4. I’m afraid church pews are filled with people that need to be walking in the Spirit.
B. Paul makes it clear that if one is not walking in the Spirit they are walking in the flesh.
C. The works of the flesh always surface and become evident.
1.Adultery
2.Fornication
3.Uncleanness
4.Lewdness
5.Idolatry
6.Sorcery (witchcraft, the occult)
7.Hatred
8.Contentions (argumentative)
9.Jealousies
10.Outburst of wrath (fits of rage)
11.Selfish ambitions (me first attitude)
12.Dissensions (complaining)
13.Heresies (creating factions)
14.Envy
15.Murders
16.Drunkeness
D. The works of the flesh were becoming evident in the Galatians. Paul said those that practice these things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (They are not practicing what they profess and are probably not saved by faith)
E. Paul said that Walking in the Spirit produced its own kind of fruit and this fruit is pleasing and to be desired.
1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Longsuffering (patience)
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self-control
F. Those that practice these can do so without any liability because they have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)
Application:
The offer to CLAIM THE PROMISE was extended to the Galatians and it is extended to you and me. Jesus said be careful what you sow. 8For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:8-10
Today would you draw near to God? Give Him all your heart, receive the blessing that comes with consecrated service to Him.
