Sunday School Lessons

NOVEMBER 26, 2023

PRACTICAL INJUNCTIONS (PART I)

INTRODUCTION:

1. In the verses which are before us, and down through Verse 10 of the sixth chapter, the Apostle gives various practical instructions which are based in the previous discussions.
2. Having previously dealt with the subject of freedom from the law, both the bondage of the ceremonial law, and the curse of the moral law, Paul felt it necessary to stress that liberty does not mean license.
3. It may well be that the Judaizers were charging that Paul’s rejection of the law as a means of salvation would lead to lawlessness. Then too, the presence of leftover pagan vices in the lives of the formerly chiefly pagan Galatians may have contributed to this necessity as well.
4. Christian liberty does not encourage antinomianism or promote lawlessness.

I. THE APOSTLE CAUTIONS AGAINST THE ABUSE OF LIBERTY. (VERSE 13) There is within men the ten- dency to misapprehend the meaning of religious truth, however plainly the truth is set forth. This tendency is never more obvious than it is respecting the doctrine of Christian liberty. Strange as it may seem, many whose teachings are a misapplication and abuse of Christian liberty will use portions of the Galatian Epistle to support their views and practices.

A. CHRISTIAN LIBERTY IS A STATE INTO WHICH WE ARE CALLED AS CHRISTIAN. “For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty.”
1. Christian liberty is part of our Christian calling.
2. To be “called unto liberty” is to be called into a state of freedom that is quite incompatible with subjection to the institutions of the Mosaic Law. Their conscience is delivered from the yoke of bondage.
3. Their obedience even to the Divine law is not in the mercenary spirit of a slave but from the generous spirit of a son.

B. CHRISTIAN LIBERTY AS HERE STATED AND DEFENDED, BY NO MEANS RELAXES OUR OBLIGATION TO RELIGIOUS AND MORAL DUTY.
1. We are not saved by good works, but we are saved unto good works. (Eph. 2:8-10)
2. We are saved from the curse of the law, but not from our obligation to walk uprightly. Jesus perfectly obeyed the moral law, and we ought to walk even as He walked. (Heb. 4:15; John 8:46; I John 2:3-6)
3. Christ, rather than freeing us form religious and moral obligation, has furnished us the strongest motive as well as the most powerful encouragement to avoid sin in all its forms, and to cultivate holiness both in temper and conduct. (I Pet. 1:15)
4. Christian liberty is a blessed state into which we are called, but we must beware of using it as an occasion of the flesh. “Flesh” here obviously signifies the depraved inclinations which are natural to men in their present state, which, though subdued, are by no means extinguished even in the regenerate. We must not give occasion to fleshly desires. (Rom. 13:14) We most certainly are not to abuse our blessed liberty so as to make it an excuse for sin. That would be to make Christ Himself the minister of sin. (Ch. 3:17)

II. THE APOSTLE EXHORTS THEM TO SERVE ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE, AND GIVES THE PROPER MOTIVATION FOR DOING SO. (VERSES 13c-15)

A. HE INSTRUCTS THE GALATIANS, INSTEAD OF MAKING AN OSTENTATIOUS DISPLAY OF THEIR LIBERTY, TO SERVE ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE. (VERSE 13c)
1. Instead of making an ostentatious display of liberty, the Apostle exhorts the Galatians, those among them who were spiritual (Ch. 6:1) to serve one another in love.
2. Nothing better demonstrates true Christian liberty than when those who are “free from the law” so far as being subjected to slavish obedience to it, with hearts full of love for God and man fulfill the great intent of the law.

B. HE ENFORCES HIS EXHORTATION BY TWO STRONG MOTIVES. (VERSES 14, 15)
1. First, he asserts that love is the fulfillment of the law. (Verse 14)
a) “The law” here clearly does not signify the Mosaic (ceremonial) law, but the law by which Christians are to regulate themselves. (I Tim. 1:5; James 1:25; 2:8)
b) He says, “By love serve one another,” for love is the sum and substance of the law to which we are subject. (See Lev. 19:18) When he says, “All the law” the obvious meaning is that the whole of the law respecting our neighbor is fulfilled by love. The law also, of course, requires love to God as well. (See Matt. 22:37-40) The point here is fully illustrated in the Roman Epistle. (Rom. 13:9)

2. A second motive he gives by declaring the evil consequences of an opposite temper and conduct. (Verse 15)
a) To allow the flesh to take occasion of their liberty so as to produce strife and debate would be disastrous. “But if you bite and devour one another, see that ye be not consumed one of another.” The language is highly figurative, but the point is well made. The new views of the Judaizers were contentious, and certain to produce disputings, raising foolish and unlearned questions that gender strife.
b) Paul’s great concern was certainly for the individual believers, but more so for the churches, that they be not consumed with bitterness and strife. How strikingly his cause for concern has been illustrated in the history of the church in every age. Strifes and debates have prevented edification within, and conversions without.
c) Let us be exceedingly careful in avoiding situations of strive, “lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

III. THE APOSTLE EXHORTS TO WALK IN THE SPIRIT AS THE BEST MEANS OF HAVING DOMINION OVER THE FLESH. (VERSES 16-18)
A. IT IS OUR DUTY AND INTEREST IN OUR STRUGGLE AGAINST SIN TO ALWAYS WALK IN THE SPIRIT, SO AS NOT TO ALLOW ANY PROVISION FOR THE FLESH. (VERSE 16)
1. By the Spirit here may be meant either the Holy Spirit Himself Who dwells in the hearts of those He has renewed and sanctified, for He does guide and assist them in the way of duty; or it may be that gracious principle which He implants in the souls of His people and which wars against the flesh, which is that corrupt principle which re- mains in them. (See Rom. 7:21-23) Either way, it is the Holy Spirit Who has renewed us after the inward man, and it is His leading that the renewed nature seeks to follow. (See Rom.8:1-4)
2. The Apostle gives us this one general rule, which, if duly observed, would be the most sovereign remedy against the prevalence of corruption in us, and that is to walk in the Spirit. “This I say, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.”
3. Note, the best antidote against the poison of sin is to walk in the Spirit; to be in pursuit of spiritual things; to mind the things of the soul more than the things of the body (the carnal part of our being); to commit ourselves to the guidance of the Word, wherein the Holy Spirit makes known the will of God concerning us.
4. Not only is this our best means of preservation from the lusts of our flesh, it gives good evidence that we are truly Christians. (Verse 18)

B. THERE IS IN EVERY ONE A STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT. (VERSE 17)
1. The flesh, the carnal and corrupt part of us, lusts (strives and struggles) against the spirit. It opposes all of the motions of the Spirit, and resists every thing that is spiritual.
2. On the other hand, the spirit, the renewed part of us wars against the flesh, and opposes it, so that we cannot do the things that we would. The principle of grace in us will not suffer us to do all the evil which our corrupt nature would prompt us to do. Neither can we do all the good that we would by reason of the opposing carnal nature. (See Rom. 7:15, 19)
3. In a renewed man, where there is something of a good principle, there is a struggle between the old nature and the new nature. We must ever remember with which we identify. (See Rom. 7:20-22)

C. IT IS BY OBEDIENCE TO THE SPIRIT’S LEADING THAT WE PROVE OUR LIBERATION FROM BONDAGE. (VERSE 18)
1. As the Apostle has repeatedly shown, being under law spells defeat, bondage, curse, spiritual impotence.
(Ch. 3:11-13, 21-23, 25; 4:3, 24, 25; 5:1)
2. Spiritual leading is not the Spirit’s gift to a select few. Clearly, those who are led by the Spirit are the same as those who walk in the Spirit. (Verses 16, 18) They are those who have been set free (Verse 1), who belong to Christ. (Ch. 3:9)
3. Those who are being led by the Spirit are those who are sanctified, and being sanctified. This is the constant influence which the Spirit of God exercises within the hearts of God’s children. (See again Rom. 8:1-14)

IV. THE APOSTLE CONTRASTS THE WORKS OF THE FLESH WITH THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.
(VERSES 19-23) He makes the two lists, first the works of the flesh, and second, the fruit of the Spirit, in explanation of the conflict in Verse 17.

A. VARIOUS WAYS IN WHICH THE LUST OF THE FLESH MANIFESTS ITSELF ARE HERE SET FORTH. (VERSES 19-21) There are four groups in Paul’s list of manifest vices.
1. Sexual sins: Sins which violate the Seventh Commandment. These are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, by which are meant not only the gross acts of these sins, but thoughts, words and actions that may tend towards the great transgression. The Greek words include harlotry, prostitution, moral impurity, wantonness, and sexual vices of all kinds which prevailed in heathenism.
2. Religious sins: Sins which are against the First and Second Commandments. Idolatry (Greek eidolateria) is the worship of idols. Witchcraft (Greek pharmakia, from pharmakon, a drug; the ministering of drugs). Sorcerers monopolized the word in their magical arts, using it in connection with idolatry.
3. Personal relations: Sins against our neighbors, and which violate the royal law of brotherly love. These are hatred (enmity, hostility), variance (contention), emulation (jealousy), wrath (raging anger), strife (selfish rivalry), sedition (dissension), heresies (party factions based in dissenting opinions), envyings, and murders.
4. Sins against ourselves: drunkenness and revelings, and such like. NOTE THE STRONG WARNING! “…of the which I tell you…they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.” (Verse 21b)

B. IN CONTRAST TO THE WORKS OF THE FLESH WE HAVE PLACED THE SPONTANEOUS PRODUCT OF THE SPIRIT. (VERSES 22, 23)
1. It is only by means of the Spirit that the flesh can be conquered. It is the good that expels the evil.
2. In the fruit of the Spirit we have the free, voluntary, and grateful responses of a soul that has been made free. This is the natural expression of the new life.
3. True believers are known by the fruit they bear. An evil tree cannot produce good fruit, but neither can a good tree produce evil fruit.

V. THE APOSTLE ADDS GREAT INCENTIVES FOR EVERY BELIEVER TO MANIFEST THESE VIRTUES, AND THE MEANS BY WHICH WE CAN DO SO. (VERSES 24-26)

A. AGAINST SUCH THINGS THERE IS NO LAW. (VERSE 24)

B. THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN CHRIST JESUS HAVE CRUCIFIED THE FLESH WITH ITS PASSIONS AND DESIRES. (VERSE 25)

C. IF WE LIVE IN THE SPIRIT, BY THE SPIRIT LET US ALSO WALK. (VERSE 25)

D. THE GRACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT BY WHICH WE ARE ABLE TO WALK OUGHT TO PREVENT ANY BOASTING WHICH ONLY PROVOKES OTHERS AND CREATES ENVY. (VERSE 26)

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

THE APOSTLE’S EARNEST REASONING AND WARNING (PART III)

INTRODUCTION:

In this section of the epistle (Ch. 4:8-5:12) the Apostle tries to reason with the Galatians respecting the present crisis, and warns of the dire consequences should they allow themselves to be seduced by false teachers.

I. HE WARNS OF THE BONDAGE TO WHICH THEY WOULD BE SUBJECTING THEMSELVES. (CH. 4:8-11)

II. HE POINTS OUT THAT THE CHANGE IN THEM IS TOTALLY WITHOUT REASON. (CH. 4:12-16)

III. HE EXPOSES THE ACTIONS OF HIS OPPONENTS AS BASE AND UNWORTHY. (CH. 4:17-20)

IV. HE ATTEMPTS BY WAY OF AN ALLEGORY TO ENLIGHTEN THOSE WHO WOULD BE UNDER LAW OF WHAT THEY WERE GETTING THEMSELVES INTO. (CH. 4:21-31) The Apostle was a master at turning his adversaries’ weapons on themselves, which seems to be the case here. The Judaizers attached great import- ance to their fleshly ties to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and no doubt dwelt much on circumcision being the seal of the covenant. Thus, they saw uncircumcised men as strangers to the covenant of promise, regardless of their faith in Christ as the Messiah. Any connection they had to Abraham in their eyes was like that of Ishmael, not Isaac. Paul therefore used this practical illustration (Verses 22-27), showing that believers in Christ are the true children of promise with Isaac. It was these unbelieving Judaizers who were the “Ishmaelites,” as it were. The practical truth illustrated by this allegory is plainly stated: “So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond woman, but of the free.” (Ch. 4:31) They must therefore stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ had made them free.

V. THE APOSTLE WARNS THAT THE COURSE THEY WERE TAKING WAS AN IMPLICIT RENUNCIA- TION OF THEIR CHRISTIAN FAITH, AND A FORFEITURE OF ITS BLESSINGS. (VERSES 1-6)

A. THEY WERE IN DANGER OF FORFEITING THEIR GLORIOUS LIBERTY BY CHRIST, AND REVERTING BACK INTO THEIR FORMER BONDAGE. (VERSE 1)

1. He had described the former bondage by a variety of examples. (Ch. 3:24; 4:1-3; 8-11)
2. Under the Gospel we are brought into a state of liberty, wherein we are freed from the yoke of the ceremonial law and from the curse of the moral law. We are no longer tied to the observance of one (Ch. 2:14), nor to the rigors of the other. (Ch. 3:10)
3. We owe this liberty to Jesus Christ. It is He who has made us free. Christ has “redeemed us from the curse of the law” (Ch. 3:13), and He has “blotted out the handwriting of ordinances…and taken it out of the way.”
(Col. 2:14)
4. It is therefore our duty to “stand fast in this liberty.”

B. THEIR REVERTING BACK WAS A CONTRADICTION OF THEIR FAITH, AND A FORFEITURE OF THEIR WONDROUS ADVANTAGES BY CHRIST. (VERSES 2-4)

1. The Apostle is very emphatic about what he is here saying. Notice how he doubles down: “Behold I Paul say unto you,” (Verse 2) and then again, “I testify unto you.” (Verse 3)
2. Well he should be clear and emphatic, seeing that what he says is so solemn and powerful: “If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.”
a) By this he does not mean that those who are circumcised cannot be saved or have any benefit in Christ. That would be to exclude all Old Testament saints, not to mention himself, Timothy, perhaps all of the apostles, etc. He means not mere circumcision.
b) He speaks of circumcision as a religious rite seen as necessary to one’s salvation, as the Judaizers imposed it. “Except they were circumcised and kept the Law of Moses they could not be saved.” (Acts 15:1)

3. Note the dire consequences, should they accept and follow the teachings of the false teachers, who taught that ceremonial rights and obedience to the moral law must be added to faith in Christ.
a) Christ would profit them nothing. (Verse 2) Either Christ is all in all, or He is nothing at all.
b) They would be debtors to the whole law. (Verse 3) If one is to be justified by obedience to the moral law, he must produce perfect obedience to the whole law. (Ch. 3:10; Deut. 27:26)
c) Christ would then become of no effect to them. (Verse 4a; Rom. 4:15) To go about to establish one’s own righteousness is to reject the righteousness of God which is by faith. (See Rom. 9:31, 32; 10:3; Phil. 3:9)
d) They would then have fallen from grace. (Verse 4b) Having renounced and abandoned that way of justification which God had established, which is essentially what they were doing, they laid themselves under an impossi- bility of being justified in His sight.

4. By being circumcised they renounced their Christianity, cutting themselves off from all the advantage by Christ. This was the chief reason why they should steadfastly adhere to the doctrine of the Gospel, and not suffer them- selves to be brought under the yoke of bondage.
a) Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost, yet there are multitudes whom He will profit nothing.
b) All who build their hopes on anything else than His blood and righteousness do forfeit all hope in Him Who alone can save sinners. (Acts 4:12)

C. THE ONLY HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR BOTH THE CIRCUMCISION AND THE UNCIRCUM- CISION IS BY FAITH THROUGH THE OPERATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WITHIN. (VERSE 5)
1. Some think that by “we” he speaks of himself and all other Jews who were turned form Judaism to Christianity. Others think that he means “we Christians,” whether Jew or gentile, who have truly embraced Christ.
2. It is by the guidance and direction of the Spirit; and through the operation of the Spirit that all believers “wait for the hope of righteousness,” that is, hope for righteousness, i.e. hope to be made righteous before God.
3. Some understand “the hope of righteous” to mean the “crown of righteousness.” However, his argument all along has been concerning righteousness itself, and this seems more likely.

D. UNDER THE GOSPEL DISPENSATION THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JEW AND GENTILE, FOR THERE IS BUT ONE WAY OF SALVATION FOR THEM BOTH. (VERSE 6)

1. The design of the new covenant institution was to abolish the difference between Jew and Gentile. (Eph. 2:14-16)
2. Both Jews and Gentiles are justified by faith, without the works of the law. Yet, this faith is not idle and inactive, but such faith as worketh by love, both toward God and men, in obedience to the commandments of God.
(Matt. 22:37-40)

VI. THE APOSTLE OFFERS ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS IN HOPES TO CAUSE SERIOUS THOUGHT. (VERSES 7-12)

A. THEY HAD TURNED BACK FROM A COURSE THEY HAD BEGUN WELL. (VERSE 7) “…who did hinder you?” or literally, “who did drive you back?”

1. That faith of which the Apostle had just spoken was once their faith, and according to their profession of it, the course of their life had been redirected, and they had run the course very well.
2. But, they had been hindered in the race; they had been made to swerve from the true course, making them disobedient to the truth. (See I Cor. 9:24; Heb. 12:1)
3. Many that set out to follow Christ seem to run well for a while, but either they begin to tire, or to turn out of the way. It is a fair question to ask, one which they need to consider: “Who (or what) did hinder you?”

B. THE INFLUENCE WHICH HAD PERSUADED THEM TO CHANGE COURSE WAS NOT THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST. (VERSE 8)

1. It was not through the persuasion of Christ that they came to the opinion that circumcision, and adherence to the Law of Moses were necessary to salvation.
2. This new opinion into which seducers had misled them came not from God, who had called them out of darkness into His marvelous light.

C. THE EVIL INTO WHICH THEY HAD BEEN SEDUCED WAS INFECTIOUS AND DANGEROUS. (VS. 9)

1. “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” The Apostle, like His Lord, made use of this proverbial expression to show the infectious nature of sin, and as in this case, doctrinal error.
2. With respect to individuals, those who err in any doctrine of the faith seldom continue sound as to other points.
3. The danger that this deadly infection would spread to others was very real, and a matter of grave concern to Paul.

D. THE APOSTLE STILL HAD CONFIDENCE THAT THEY SHOULD HOLD TO THE FAITH IN SPITE OF THE EFFORT BY FALSE TEACHERS TO CAUSE THEM TO ERR. (VERSE 10)

1. His confidence was based in the hope that they were true children of grace, in which case, the Lord Himself would keep them from falling. “I have confidence in you through the Lord.” He was confident that through the grace of God they would be kept form wandering.
2. He was also confident that those who were endeavoring to seduce and pervert them, God should reward accord- ing to their evil deeds. “But he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.” (See II Pet. 2:1)

E. HE SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT REGARDING ANY SUGGESTION THAT HE WAS A PREACHER OF CIRCUMCISION. (VERSE 11)

1. It should seem that these false teachers had asserted that Paul himself preached circumcision. Perhaps they referred to Paul’s having Timothy circumcised, not distinguishing between what he did as of liberty, and to avoid offence of the Jews, and what they pressed as a necessity for salvation.
2. To disprove this assertion, he simply asks this question: “Why do I yet suffer persecution?” The great persecu- tion that he suffered continuously at the hands of the Jews was because he was as one who had apostatized from their religion.
3. If he had yielded to the Jews in this, then the offence of the cross would have ceased. They would not have taken so much offence against the doctrine of Christianity as they did.
a) It was the preaching of the cross that was to the Jews a stumblingblock. (I Cor.1:23)
b) The doctrine of justification only by faith in Christ crucified was to the Jews highly offensive, because there- by the whole frame of the legal administration was set aside as no longer in force.
c) Had Paul and others recanted on this matter, and agreed that circumcision and the works of the law were not set aside, the offence of the cross would have been removed.

F. HE WISHES THAT THOSE WHO WERE TROUBLING THE GALATIANS MIGHT BE “CUT OFF.” (VERSE 12)

1. He had expressed the certainty that God would usher them into judgment. (Verse 10) Here he wishes it might be sooner rather than later.
2. This wish stems not from hatred, but from his jealousy over the Galatian converts, and his desire for God’s glory.

JUNE 25, 2023

THE APOSTLE’S EARNEST REASONING AND WARNINGS (PART II)

INTRODUCTION:

1. The reason why the Galatian Epistle has been called “the battle cry of the Reformation,” is because in it the Apostle quite convincingly proves the doctrine of justification by faith alone, without the works of the law.
2. Paul’s powerful arguments have thus far been presented in the forms of a defense. We have considered his powerful defense of himself and his office. (Ch. 1:11-2:21); and his defense of his doctrine (Ch. 3:1-4:7).
3. On the basis of his solid defense of the truth, the Apostle earnestly reasons with the Galatians, and warns them of the dangers of listening to false teachers. (Ch. 4:8-5:12)

I. THE APOSTLE WARNED THAT THEY WERE IN DANGER OF SUBJECTING THEMSELVES TO BONDAGE SIMILAR TO THAT FROM WHICH THEY HAD BEEN DELIVERED. (VERSES 8-11)

II. THE APOSTLE POINTS OUT THAT SINCE THEIR CONVERSION, NOTHING HAD OCCURRED THAT SHOULD CHANGE THEIR FEELINGS TOWARD HIMSELF OR HIS DOCTRINE. (VERSES 12-16)

III. THE APOSTLE EXPOSES THE UNWORTHY ACTS OF THE JUDAIZING TEACHERS. (VERSES 17-20) In the preceding verses, he had endeavored to rekindle the affection that the Galatians once had for him, by showing how fondly he recalled their kind regards, and if he ever had deserved their esteem, he had done nothing to become unworthy of it. He now proceeds to expose the base acts of the false teachers, who had deliberately tried to under- mine their love for him, and seduce them from the true Christian doctrine, as he had taught it to them.

A. THE JUDAIZERS WERE ZEALOUSLY COURTING THE GALATIAN CHRISTIANS, BUT NOT FOR ANY COMMENDABLE PURPOSE. (VERSE 17)

1. These Judaizing teachers pretended the warmest attachment to the Galatian converts, and sought to ingratiate themselves with them, but there was nothing honorable about their motives.
2. Ostensibly, the Judaizers were deeply concerned for them. “They zealously affect you.” But Paul saw through them, and discerned dishonorable intentions.
3. Their real object was to exclude the Galatians, to shut them out from all influence except their own, particularly to isolate them from any effect Paul might have on them.
4. Paul exposes the real motive of these false teachers. “They would exclude you that ye might affect them.” They wanted to isolate the Galatian believers so that they would zealously court them.

B. IT IS GOOD TO BE ZEALOUSLY AFFECTED BY GOOD MEN IN A GOOD THING. (VERSES 17-20)

1. Paul had himself been the object of their whole soul’s attention and affection in a good thing. He had himself courted their favor, if you will, and had won it in a good cause. They had been won to Christ by him and his gospel, which resulted in their being zealously affected to him as well.
2. It had been good had they remained zealously affected to Paul and his gospel even in his absence. “It is good to be zealously affected…not only when I am present with you.”
3. That was the trouble. Their attachment to Paul had lost its warmth. Their zeal for the truth had subsided. Their loyalty was in the process of being transferred from Paul to the proponents of dangerous error. Everything was fine as long as Paul was present with them. But once he was gone, and the false teachers had arrived, the alienation of affection had begun, and that, to their own hurt.

C. THE APOSTLE EXPRESSES HIS DEEP ANXIETY FOR THEM AND HIS WISH TO BE PRESENT WITH THEM. (VERSES 19, 20)

1. He expresses his great anxiety for the Galatians in terms particularly touching. “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.” (Verse 19)

a) They had been brought into the faith through his instrumentality. He had been as their mother in travail, as it were, in bringing them to faith in Christ.
b) Now, seeing that they are still unsettled in their faith, he must yet travail as a mother giving birth, until he can know that Christ is truly formed in them. The phrase is very expressive. When one becomes a true Christian, Christ is formed in him.
c) Folks who are not settled in their faith, but are wishy-washy and changeable, give cause to question whether they are truly born of God. Zion must continue in travail for them, until there is evidence that Christ is formed in them, that a true child is brought forth. (Isa. 66:7)

2. Paul felt restricted and limited by the fact of his separation from them. He was confined to writing, which was not subject to tone or inflexion. Neither could there be any dialogue. (Verse 20)

a) It is striking that Paul, even though writing by divine inspiration, felt disadvantaged by the restrictions of time and space. They could not read the sorrow written on his face, or hear the tender love in his voice.
b) He had no choice but to reprove and rebuke them, and say, “O foolish Galatians,” but were he present, he could change the tone of his voice as he spoke.
c) Let us be so concerned as we speak God’s truth, that our tone and countenance not express hatred or bitterness, but rather love and tenderness.

IV. THE APOSTLE GIVES AN INSTRUCTIVE ALLEGORY. (VERSES 21-31)

A. THE PURPOSE OF THE ALLEGORY WAS TO GIVE UNDERSTANDING TO THOSE WHO WOULD BE UNDER THE LAW. (VERSE 21)
1. He asks the Galatians who desire to be under the law, (the Mosaic institutions) do ye not hear (understand) what the law (the books of Moses) is saying?”
2. The notions about the law which the Judaizing teachers had instilled into the minds of the Galatian converts were false, therefore their attachments to the law was formed on these false notions.
3. The best way of weaning them from their attachment to the law was to show them that such a yoke was not fraught with safety and honor, but instead with danger and disgrace.
4. This the Apostle does by a reference to a piece of Jewish history which affords a striking emblematic representation of the truth on this subject, and which had already been used by the prophet Isaiah. (Isa. 54:1)

B. THE ALLEGORY. (VERSES 22, 23)

1. “For it is written…” this does not mean that what follows is written in so many words in any of the books of the Old Testament, but that the facts here stated are related there.
2. “Abraham had two sons…” Abraham had a number of sons besides Isaac and Ishmael, but it is these, and to the circumstances of their birth, their conduct, history, and fate that the Apostle wishes to relate.
3. “The one by a bond woman, and the other by a freewoman…”

a) Ishmael was the son of Hagar, a female slave.
b) Isaac was the son of Sarah, a freewoman.

4. “He who was of the bond woman was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise.”

a) Ishmael was born according to the ordinary course of nature.
b) Isaac was born in consequence of a peculiar interference of heaven, made known ‘by promise.”

5. These are the facts of the history which make for an allegory.

C. THE ALLEGORY EXPLAINED. (VERSES 24-27)

1. When he says, “which things are an allegory,” he is not implying that the factual record (Verses 22, 23) was intended merely to provide analogy.

a) God has given us such accounts not only to teach us what happened in the past, but also to enable us to apply the lessons of the past to our present situation.
b) Such things, then, are true as history, and valuable as graphic illustrations for teaching.
c) As John Brown explains it, Paul, in saying that such things are an allegory, is acknowledging that the prophet Isaiah had used them in that way. Thus, he adds the quotation from Isaiah 54:1. (Verse 27)

2. Paul explains that these two, Agar and Sarah, are the two covenants, that is, they were intended to typify and prefigure the two different dispensations of the covenant. Or, as William Hendrickson puts it, “These two women are (that is represented) two covenants, two distinct affirmations of God’s one and only covenant of grace…these two were: the covenant with Abraham (Ch. 3:8, 16-18) and the covenant of Sinai.” (Ch. 3:19, 24)

a) Agar represented that which was given from Mt. Sinai, and “which gendereth to bondage.” (Verse 24)

(1) Though it was a dispensation of grace, its purpose was to bring souls into a state of bondage, that is, to a realization of their condition as slaves to their sins.
(2) It became to the Jews even more so a cause of bondage through their mistaken notion as to its design.
(3) “For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia” (Mount Sinai was then called Agar by the Arabians) “and it answereth to Jerusalem that now is, and is in bondage with her children.” (Verse 25) That is, she justly represents the present state of the Jews, who adhering to that covenant remain in bondage.

b) Sarah, on the other hand, was intended to prefigure Jerusalem which is above, that is, the state of Christians under a new and better dispensation of the covenant, which is free from both the curse of the moral law, and the bondage of the ceremonial law, and which is the mother of us all, both Jews and Gentiles. (Verse 26)

3. To this greater freedom and enlargement of the church under the Gospel dispensation, which it typified by Sarah the mother of the promised seed, the Apostle refers the words of the prophet Isaiah. It was Isaiah who first made allegorical use of these historic figures in this manner. (Verse 27, Isa. 54:1)

D. THE ALLEGORY EXTENDED. (VERSES 28-31)

1. The Apostle applies the history thus explained to the present case. (Verse 28)

a) “Now we…as Isaac…are the children of promise.” We, who trust in Christ for justification, become the spiritual, though not the natural, seed of Abraham.
b) Isaac was the child of promise, for in Isaac would the seed by called. (Rom. 9:7, 8)

2. The persecution that Christians would suffer at the hands of the Jews was also prefigured in the type. (Verse 2;
Gen. 21:8, 9) That Paul was thinking particularly of this incident, the next verse strongly indicates.
3. Although the Judaizers would hate and persecute them, yet it would be Judaism that would sink and perish with her children, while Christianity should flourish and last forever. (Verse 30; Gen. 21:10)
4. The happy condition of all who are trusting to Christ alone for their salvation is beautifully portrayed in the Apostle’s summation of this allegory. “So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.” (Verse 31)

MARCH 26, 2023

THE APOSTLE’S DEFENSE OF HIS DOCTRINE (PART III)

INTRODUCTION:

1. In the first chapter Paul had referred to the teachings of the Judaizers as “another gospel,” and those who declared such a gospel were accursed of God.
2. Chapter 3 begins with expressions of astonishment and dismay on the part of Paul that the Galatians had become enthralled with these teachers who were promoting a false gospel.
3. In this chapter and part of the next we have Paul’s defense of his doctrine, the true doctrine of the Gospel.

I. THE APOSTLE’S ASTONISHMENT AND DISPLEASURE OVER THE CHANGE IN THE GALATIANS. (VERSE 1)

II. THE APOSTLE’S STRONG ARGUMENTS PROVING THE FALSEHOOD OF THE NEW DOCTRINE, AND CONFIRMING THE TRUTH OF THE DOCTRINE HE HAD TAUGHT. (VERSES 2-9)

III. THE APOSTLE SHOWS THAT JUSTIFICATION BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW IS IMPOSSIBLE, AND THAT, FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS. (VERSES 10-14)

IV. THE APOSTLE STRESSES THAT FREE JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH IS A DIVINE COVENANT ARRANGEMENT, WHICH CANNOT BE DISANNULLED BY THE LAW WHICH CAME LONG AFTER. (VERSES 15-22)

A. THE FACT OF THE COVENANT STATED AND PROVED. (VERSES 15-18)

B. THE DESIGN AND MODE OF THE GIVING OF THE LAW EXPLAINED. (VERSES 19, 20)

C. THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW NOT CONTRARY, BUT RATHER SUBSERVIENT TO THE PROMISE. (VERSES 21, 22)

1. The conclusion drawn by the Apostle to the previous statements with respect to the design of the law he, in typical fashion, puts in the form of a question. “Is the law then against the promise of God?” Then follows the immediate answer, “God forbid,” or “by no means.” (Verse 21a)
2. As the law was by no means against the promise, it was altogether unfitted to serve the purpose of the promise. In order for the law to fulfill the purpose of the promise, it would needs be able to give to guilty sinners pardon and life. Since the very reverse is the case, it could not have been given to take the place of the promise. (Verse 21b)
3. If such a law was given, (which, of course, was not so), then, says the Apostle, “righteousness (justification) would have been by the law,” or rather, “by law.”
4. Calvin notes, “The law would be opposed to the promise if it had the power of justifying, for there would be two opposite methods of justification. But Paul refuses that power to the law, so that the contradiction is removed.”
5. So far from that, “the Scriptures hath concluded all under sin,” i.e. “all guilty.” Thus the Scriptures, i.e. the Old Testament Scriptures have concluded or shut up “all,” both Jews and gentiles, “under sin,” i.e. the guilt and condemnation of sin. (Verse 22a; Rom.3:19)
6. The Scriptures have shut up all under sin and guilt, “that (so that) the promise (promised blessing)…might be given to them that believe.” (Verse 22b)

V. THE APOSTLE EXPLAINS WHAT THE STATE OF THE CHURCH WAS UNDER LAW, AND WHAT IT IS AFTER FAITH HAS COME. (VERSES 23-29)

A. THE STATE OF THE CHURCH UNDER LAW BEFORE FAITH IS COME. (VERSE 23, 24)

1. “Before faith came.” What is meant by the coming of faith? (Verse 23a)

a) Strictly speaking, it is not the coming of Jesus Christ, as some understand it, making “before faith came” as synonymous with “till the Seed should come.”
b) Neither is it to be understood as meaning the system or order of things in which faith is the means of justification. Abraham was justified by faith, as were all believers form the revelation of the first promise. (Gen. 3:15)
c) The phrase literally rendered is “before THE FAITH came,” meaning “before the faith of Christ came,” i.e. before the Christian revelation was given.

2. Before this faith came we were kept in custody under law, being locked up with a view to the faith that was to be revealed. (Verse 23)

a) God’s moral law filled their hearts with a sense of guilt and inadequacy. They were obliged to keep it, yet unable to do so. But, even then there was a way of escape provided by God Himself, namely, trust in God’s promise concerning the Seed, which offers free pardon and salvation without money and without price.
(Gen. 3:15; 22:18; 49:10; Isa. 1:18; 55:1, etc.) Sadly, most of the Jews failed to believe, and went about to establish their own righteousness. (Rom. 9:31-33; 10:3, 4)
b) As to the manner in which the strict custody of the law could be a means of leading a formerly self- righteous Pharisee to faith in Christ, Paul’s own testimony says it best. (Phil. 3:5-9)
c) It was not only the Jews, but also Gentiles who were “kept under law.” In fact, the Galatians, for the greater part, were Gentile believers. The moral law is written upon the heart of every man. (Rom. 2:14, 15) Man’s guilt and the need to somehow atone for his sins is the great motivating force behind innumerable false religions in the world.
d) These Galatian believers, whether Jew or Gentile, “before faith came, were kept under law,” as were we all.

3. Therefore, the law served as their custodian to conduct them to Christ, that by faith they might be justified. (Verse 24)

a) The original calls the law our “pedagogue” (schoolmaster), but the word then had more the meaning of a slave in whose custody the slave owner’s boys were placed so that this trusted servant might conduct them to and from school, and might, in fact, watch over their conduct throughout the day.
b) This servant was, accordingly, and escort (attendant) and also a disciplinarian. The discipline was often such that it would cause those placed under his guardianship to yearn for the day of their freedom.
c) That was exactly the function the law had performed. (Verses 19, 22, 23)
d) Thus, it is the preaching of the law with its holy demand, and the severe punishment to which transgressors are subjected, that conducts the sinner to Christ for salvation.

B. THE STATE OF THE CHURCH ONCE CONDUCTED TO FAITH IN CHRIST. (VERSES 25-29)

1. “But, after that faith has come…” After the Gospel revelation has come, and has been received; “…we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” (Verse 25)

a) These words seem not only a statement of fact, but of the reason for it. It is as if Paul had said, “We are no longer, and we no longer need to be under a custodian.”
b) The time comes when the boy is no longer a mere child. The discipline of childhood is no longer necessary. The Judaizers were insistent upon continuing the tutelage of the law, ignoring the fact that the object had been reached, Christ Himself had arrived, and trust in Him had been established. Those who had embraced Him by this true and living faith had attained to majority and freedom.

2. This new-found freedom in Christ has nothing to do with race or former religion. (Verse 26)

a) Paul emphasizes that the Galatians, whether Jew or Gentile were no longer immature children, but rather, in Christ Jesus they were mature (literally) “sons,” even, “sons of God.”
b) They now had all the rights and privileges implied in that term, which state and condition had come about through faith.

3. In vital union with Christ all believers, Gentiles as well as Jews, are immediately sons of God. (Verse 27)

a) In Verse 26, he says that all who are “in Christ” are rightful sons of God. Therefore, being in Christ is all that matters.
b) In Verse 27 he speaks of this union as putting on Christ by being baptized into Christ. This “being baptized into Christ” clearly means more than being baptized in water, for not all who have been baptized in water have “put on Christ.” This baptism refers not to the picture, but rather to what is being pictured. (Rom. 6:3-6; Col. 2:12, 13)

4. The rights of sonship and the joy of union with Christ are the privilege of all believers regardless of their nationality, background, religion, social status, gender, etc. (Verse 28)

a) All are alike blessed in Christ.
b) Nothing but our connection with Jesus Christ accounts for our acceptance with God, and all religious privileges.
c) This fact marks a great difference between both Judaism, and Paganism.

(1) In Judaism there was a great difference between Jews and Greeks.
(2) Among the pagans slaves were excluded, plus there were differences based on gender and social status.

5. Paul again stresses the fact that belonging to the seed of Abraham is not determined by natural descent, but by faith in the promise made to Abraham. (Verse 29)

a) Abraham is called ‘the father of the faithful.” This includes all believers as being his spiritual seed.
b) Throughout the whole world, the Lord recognizes one, and only one, nation as His own, namely the nation of believers. (I Pet. 2:9)