Letter to the Galatians -- Chapter 4
“What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Galatians 4:1-5).
God sent His Son to be born of a woman and to come under the Law in order to fulfill it for us all. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Upon Christ’s human and divine shoulders rests the Law and government; He put Himself under the Law in order to save us who have been condemned by the Law. He did not come to place us under a new and “better” Law; He made His true purpose very clear, “the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10).
The full brunt of the Law and wrath of God was placed upon Jesus Christ; He came to carry our burdens, temptations, and sin. God is a just God who punishes all sin, and this full punishment was placed upon His only Son. “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Without the punishment of sin there can be no forgiveness. To us forgiveness implies that punishment goes unfulfilled, and punishment implies that there is no forgiveness. As illogical as it may sound, forgiveness of sin and punishment of sin must both be fulfilled simultaneously, and this has happened in only one place: the Cross. All of the world’s sin was punished and forgiven in the Cross of Jesus Christ; Christ was punished and condemned for our sin, thereby forgiving all of us of our immeasurable debt.
Jesus Christ did not have it easy. We often fall into the error of thinking that because Jesus Christ was the Son of God, full God and full man, that by His divine nature He slid thru life and cannot truly empathize with what we go thru. This is completely false. “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3). It is for this reason that the full humanity of Christ is so important. If Jesus Christ was not full man along with full God then His life, obedience, and sacrifice would be meaningless because He would not have truly carried our burdens and sorrows. Instead of “taking the easy way out” He was tempted in every way that we ourselves are tempted, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Besides bearing the full brunt of human temptation He also carried our weaknesses, diseases, infirmities, and sin. “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:4, 6). Christ’s life was far from easy and if He had come above the Law then we would still be under the Law; but because He humbled Himself below the Law on our behalf He has now lifted us upon His shoulders above the Law.
“Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Galatians 4:6).
The question Paul asked the Galatians earlier in his epistle is very important, “Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?” (Galatians 3:2). Many in this day and age have very false understandings about the Holy Spirit, His role in our life, and how He comes to us. It is only thru the Word and Gospel promises that the Holy Spirit comes to us; the Spirit comes to us in faith. Many believe the Spirit must be sought out or asked for or worked for; this is a very erroneous view that we must not fall into. The Holy Spirit comes to all who believe thru the message of God’s Word in preaching, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, etc. The Holy Spirit within us however may be extremely hidden to our senses for God has chosen not to work in conspicuous ways. Faith by its very nature is being sure in what has not been revealed to us visibly or even experientially, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). Many falsely cling to tangible and visible manifestations of the Spirit in vain; they cling and hope in what they see and experience instead of hoping in the promises of God. This is a false faith that is not rooted in Jesus Christ and His Word but is rooted in a worldly “spiritual” experience. “Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds of the air” (Job 28:20-21). It is in Jesus Christ that all wisdom and understanding are hidden. “Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). We must remember that we are blessed because we cling to the Word of God in simple faith even despite the fact that we have not seen. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). We hope in God’s Word and promise in Jesus Christ thru all things, waiting patiently for it to be revealed in the next life. “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:24-25).
As followers of Christ our lives are now hidden in the unseen hope and promise of God thru Jesus Christ our Lord. “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:2-3). This hidden life is not sensational, but is humble and meek, full of inconspicuous and thankless service. “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26-28). “When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ‘You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet’” (John 13:12-14).
The fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in us is not something we need to experience thru boisterous tangible manifestations, it is something that simply needs to be believed. The Corinthians in Paul’s day were new and weak Christians who insisted that they have visible outward signs of the Holy Spirit, faith simply was not enough for them. “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready” (1 Corinthians 3:1-2). Paul proceeded to ask this simple question to the doubting Corinthians, “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). God’s Spirit lives in us thru faith, by means of God’s Word and promises; it comes thru the Gospel. This is something we need to simply believe regardless of what we have seen. Because we know Jesus Christ we know that God’s Spirit lives in us and we must not fall into the trap of the Corinthians who demanded a sensational experience as evidence of the Holy Spirit. It is in the ignoring of God’s Word, in contempt for His invisible promises, that we find men lacking the true Spirit of God. It is when men insist on some sort of experience or visible manifestation that they are despising the simple Word and promise of God. Ironically, this is a contempt and rejection of the very Spirit that they believe they are seeking so earnestly. In truth they do not seek the Spirit of God, but seek an experience and a tangible god of their own making; they are not content with what God has revealed and given them in the Cross of Jesus Christ. Let us pray that we ourselves don’t fall into this temptation, demanding from some “other” sign from God when we have His risen Son as all the proof we need. The love for the simple Word and promise of God is the work of God’s Spirit and is the sure sign that He abides within us. We have God’s sure Word and promise, what else do we need? “‘I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead’” (Luke 16:27-31).
We must not doubt the promises of God. This temptation to doubt looms the largest in the form of making our belief and faith a precondition to God’s grace. Many believe that they are forgiven because they have believed. How false! We were forgiven in Christ Jesus before we were born, it is simply faith that knows this and clings to it. We know that despite all of our doubting, unbelief, and lack of faith that Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and forgiveness can never be taken from us. No matter how much we fail or how much our flesh knocks us down, we know that God loved us in Christ Jesus and punished and forgave our sin on His Cross. Our certainty is not in our belief or in our faith (like so many mislead people believe); our certainty is in the Cross of Jesus Christ crucified for our sins 2000 years ago. This event has already happened and nothing can change it or undo it. I am not forgiven because I believe; I am forgiven and therefore I believe. We love, hope, and believe only because God loved and forgave us first in the Cross of Jesus Christ. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
“Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Galatians 4:6).
It is unfathomably reassuring that we have the Spirit of Christ crying out in prayer for us. Where we are helpless to know our needs and flounder in the cesspool of our flesh, the Spirit comes along and steps to the plate on our behalf. “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” (Romans 8:26). When the darkness of life surrounds us we know that all is not lost. “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10). No matter how bleak our situation may be we know that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus who is with us always. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4).
The loud clamoring of the devil, the world, and our flesh can never outcry the whisper of the Spirit of God. The faintest of groaning by the Spirit of God who has been given to us is far greater than all the deafening roars of hell itself. Let us pray that we silence the cries of our flesh and sinful nature in the promise that the Holy Spirit is praying, crying, and groaning to God in our stead.
We are weak. In this life even we who can do all things thru Christ Jesus our Lord are still weak. It is because of this weakness that we need the grace of Christ and the prayers of the Spirit daily. The devil wishes to trick us into thinking that we are good on our own after we have heard about Christ. Grace however is not a one time experience; it is a constant state that we are in thru the blood of Jesus Christ. Christianity is not about “God did His part, now you do yours”; it is instead about these simple yet awesome words: “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14). We need only to be still, the Lord will fight for us. What a powerful promise that we must not take for granted. This whole Christianity thing is not about “me” and what I have done or can do; it is about God fighting for mankind thru His Son Jesus Christ who was crucified for the forgiveness of all of our sins.
“So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?” (Galatians 4:7-9).
We are the heirs of God the Father, heirs of heaven itself. We share in the glory and riches of God Almighty, maker of all things, thru the blood of Jesus Christ crucified, and this we will have in the next life to come. The awesomeness of this inheritance that we have thru Jesus Christ cannot be overstated; it is far greater than all things that we have or experience in this life combined. In this hope and promise Paul rejoiced, eagerly awaiting the redemption of the body to come. He desired to be with Christ in eternal bliss and away from the miseries of this life, but he also realized that God had a purpose and mission for him on this earth. We too wait expectantly for the time when we will be relieved of the burdens of this life, but we also focus on the work God has given us here, today. We know without a shadow of a doubt that God keeps us in this life only as long as necessary and if we are here on this earth then He still has a purpose and plan for us, there are still lives for us to reach and touch. None of us is useless and we all serve God’s ultimate glory and purposes until He brings us Home to Him. “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me” (Philippians 1:20-26).
Paul always pointed to Christ and brought all thoughts, words, and actions back to Him. By the grace of God Paul realized that Jesus Christ is everything. He didn’t see Christ as a peripheral or simply some good example to for us to follow; He instead fully realized Christ as the whole Way, Truth, and Life. Every message of Paul’s ultimately points back to the work that Christ has done on our behalf, forgiving us our sins on the Cross before we were even born. Let us pray that we too are Christo-centric in all things, focusing every part of our life and being on Jesus Christ our Savior. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
The article of justification, the Truth of God’s sufficient grace in Jesus Christ crucified for the forgiveness of all of our sins, is the center of all Christian teaching. It is this one article that is the true “fundamental doctrine” of the true Church of Jesus Christ. Paul’s words illustrate this perfectly, “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Sadly the purity and truth of this doctrine is perverted in varying degrees in so many “Christian” churches. To lose this Truth is to lose Jesus Christ Himself and to fall into idolatry, worshiping and putting our faith and trust in anything but Jesus Christ 100%. This idolatry happens when we esteem any effort, will, choice, decision, or work of man as participating in our justification. We must realize that we are saved and forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ completely independent of anything in or from us. “Protestant theology has changed faith from an instrument apprehending God's grace into a good work for which man is responsible, whether it is a decision, an acceptance, or a feeling which man must produce and thus make himself worthy or acceptable to God. Such an understanding of faith is the result of an emphasis and insistence on faith out of its context. When faith is made the center-piece of God's justification, when it is presented as a condition to be fulfilled, or when it is demanded from the pulpit, a misconception of faith is created or strengthened” (Theodore Mueller). Even our faith is not something we do and we must not fall into the trap of making faith a precondition to God’s grace. If us believing and having faith is a precondition to Christ dying and forgiving us then we are all eternally lost. We do not put the trust of our forgiveness in our state of belief; we instead cling to forgiveness in the immutable and unwavering blood of Jesus Christ crucified. “If forgiveness were dependent on faith in the sense that God does not forgive until we believe, we would always have to be sure that we are believers before we could be sure that we are forgiven. We may not see how dangerous that is, until one of those moments of temptation and doubt comes to us in which we no longer know that we are believers. In such a time we will have no place to go unless we can say, ‘God has told me that in Christ He has forgiven the sins of the world. My faith or my unbelief, will neither make God’s Word true or untrue. He does not lie. He justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5). Even if I am the most ungodly, the most wicked man on earth, I know that He has justified and forgiven me. To that promise I will cling, even if my heart tells me that I am without faith, without love, without hope. I know that God is greater than my heart and knows all things (1 John 3:20). I believe in what my Savior taught, and trust it whether felt or not’” (Siegbert Becker).
“So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?” (Galatians 4:7-9).
Man either knows God thru Jesus Christ or he knows nothing of the true God. Men are born with a natural knowledge that there is a God but no man on his own knows who that God is and what His will is. Man takes his natural and flawed knowledge of God and applies his reason in order to conclude who God is. This reasoning leads all men down the same fundamental path: salvation by way of self. All religions in the world are fundamentally the same in that they all ultimately point within to some effort, work, will, decision, or merit inside of man as the key to becoming right with God. Apart from all of these stands the true Gospel of Jesus Christ which points men to the Cross for the undeserved forgiveness of our sins. The gift of God is not a religion, but grace and mercy thru His only Son’s suffering, death, and resurrection on our behalf.
Paul emphasizes very specifically that the true importance in his message was not that we know God, but rather that God knows us thru Jesus Christ. When all is said and done we do not rest on the fact that some knowledge of God makes us worthy; we instead bank all that we are and have on the fact that God knows us and has called us thru the blood of His only begotten Son.
Let us pray that by the grace of God we are strengthened daily by afflictions, trials, and tests of faith so that we are not among those without true root in Jesus Christ. “Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD, the man you teach from your law” (Psalm 94:12). Christ spoke very clearly that many would receive the seed of God’s Word in their life but lose it due to the troubles and temptations of the world. “The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful” (Matthew 13:20-22). The world of temptations and troubles around us is overwhelming and can easily make us cower in the weakness of our faith. How can people as weak as we are face all the worries, anxieties, and bombardments of this life? We can’t, but Christ already did so for us. We only remain in Christ thru the sufficient grace of God, and it is on this promise that we cling thru all things. Despite our failings the Lord God has lifted us up thru the love of His Son. “Unless the LORD had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death. When I said, ‘My foot is slipping,’ your love, O LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul” (Psalm 94:17-19).
“Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written: ‘Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband’” (Galatians 4:21-27).
Here Paul enters into figurative language in the sense that he takes the historical story of Abraham and his sons Ishmael and Isaac and turns it into an illustration of the Church. Ishmael was the first born son of Abraham and according to ancient practice was entitled to receive the inheritance of Abraham. Isaac however is shown to be the true heir; heir of the promise of God that thru him all nations would be blessed. God worked apart from the system of inheritance in order to show that His promises are apart from any merit or entitlement. “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Exodus 33:19). God does not work within the constraints of human systems, logic, or reasoning; He works according to His awesome undeserved mercy and grace. Faith came in order to destroy these systems of man, in order to be in opposition to the work and merit of man. “The Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works” (Roman 9:30-32). Jesus Christ Himself tells us this: “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:29). God does not want our empty merits and works, He only desires us to simply believe that He has justified us, horribly wicked men, by His free grace in Christ Jesus! “To the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:5).
Paul compares Hagar to the Law saying that she bore Abraham a descendent apart from the promise of God, a descendent who was destined to be the slave and servant of Isaac’s descendents. Those under the Law are therefore descendents of Hagar being slaves who are separated from the promise of God. This allegory of Paul’s is very powerful as it illustrates clearly that those who try to work and earn their way before God are nothing more than slaves who have rejected the unconditional promise of God in the Gospel Jesus Christ.
Sarah on the other hand represents not the earthly Jerusalem, which Paul states is under slavery to the Law, but the heavenly Jerusalem which consists of the descendents of Abraham according to the promise of God. These descendents are the heirs of the Gospel promise and are freed from the old covenant thru the blood of Jesus Christ. “The ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another...By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear” (Hebrews 8:6-7, 13). The first covenant showed us our sin and rejection of God while the new covenant is the free promise of grace thru Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection. “Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant” (Hebrews 9:15). Let us pray that we daily realize the freedom we have been undeservedly given thru the ransom paid by our beloved Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
“Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written: ‘Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband’” (Galatians 4:21-27).
Isaiah’s prophecy speaks to the fact that the “desolate woman” (Hagar who represents the covenant of the Law) will have far more children than the “barren woman” (Sarah who represents covenant of the Gospel). We find this fact to be true when we cast an observant eye towards the religions and churches of the world. The overwhelmingly vast majority of men seek to please God thru some act of their will and self, truly believing that He can be appeased by their efforts and works. “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).
The Church of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the free Church and new covenant that Sarah represents, is barren and forsaken. To our eyes the true Church has no appeal that draws us to it because the Church is centered on Jesus Christ who Himself is despised and rejected by men. “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men” (Isaiah 53:2-3). Despite this the true Church ultimately thrives in its meekness and weakness by the sufficient grace of Christ Jesus as it creates the only fruit that truly pleases the Father in heaven.
The complaint that arises when we hear the true Gospel is always, “Aren’t I to do something? Isn’t there something I need to do? Isn’t there something I contribute?” There is nothing that we do that can save us and all we contribute to the salvation equation is our sin. The Old Adam in us simply cannot understand that we have no control, no say, and no good contribution to our salvation. All that needs to be done has already been done on the Cross of Jesus Christ. “God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). R. Jungkuntz comments on these verses beautifully, “What is stated here by St. Paul means much more than merely that God has ‘provided and secured’ salvation for all men, so that it is now possible for them to be justified through faith. Rather, it means nothing less than that already before faith, without faith, they have been justified by God, declared righteous for Christ’s sake, their sins no longer imputed to them. Henceforth it can never be sin that damns a man, any man, but only the rejection of God’s act of justification. From God’s standpoint every sinner is a reconciled sinner.” Whether we believe it or not we have been sanctified and bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:29). It is no longer sin that condemns us (for we have all been forgiven in the Cross!) but only unbelief which rejects and tramples on the work of Jesus Christ crucified on our behalf. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Let us pray that we daily appreciate that because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ we are no longer under sin and condemnation. “There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
“Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? ‘Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son.’ Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman” (Galatians 4:28-31).
Jesus Himself responded to the Jews who claimed that they were Abraham’s sons by birthright, telling them that the true descendents of Abraham would recognize Him as the Christ. Many of the Jews in Christ’s day were prideful and arrogant about their lineage thinking that just because their human fathers came from a certain lineage that they were to receive special privileges. Jesus’ poignant words however struck to the heart of their arrogance. “Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire” (John 8:43-44).
As the children of Isaac, the children of the promise, we are destined to be persecuted by the children of Ishmael, the children of the Law. This fact is not a possibility, but a certainty. With the Truth of Christ’s Gospel comes the cross of persecution and suffering that we must bear because of it. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12). Simeon’s prophecy spoke of the division that would be caused by Jesus Christ, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).
It is because of Jesus Christ, His Person and teachings that pervade our life, that we are persecuted. If we confess the name of Christ boldly and truthfully we will suffer for it; however, if we do not confess the Jesus Christ of Scripture then we will not be hated by the world. Christ’s own words about the last times speak powerfully of this, “You will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:9-13). Oh how true His words are about this age we live in. Many feel that in America we are free from persecution as followers of Christ when in reality this is very false. “Christianity” has become a cultural movement in the United States and therefore those who are apart of “Christian culture” are relatively accepted and free from persecution, able to get by without a hitch in their comfortable life. However, this “Christian culture” is in reality far removed from true discipleship to Jesus Christ and the truth of His Gospel. Those who proclaim the unadulterated “hard truths” of God’s Law and Gospel will face true persecution even though it may often be subtle. These Truths will incur the hate of men and lead to persecution from the world. If our life is comfortable and we do not feel persecuted then it is worth asking ourselves, “Do I stand up for Jesus Christ before the world? Am I ashamed to be His disciple, acting like Peter on the night of Christ’s crucifixion?” Denying Jesus Christ does not have to be in the form of saying we “hate Him” or “don’t love Him,” but most often takes the form of silence in both word and action. Sometimes our silence in the face of opportunity speaks most loudly about our true devotion. “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26).
God sent His Son to be born of a woman and to come under the Law in order to fulfill it for us all. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Upon Christ’s human and divine shoulders rests the Law and government; He put Himself under the Law in order to save us who have been condemned by the Law. He did not come to place us under a new and “better” Law; He made His true purpose very clear, “the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10).
The full brunt of the Law and wrath of God was placed upon Jesus Christ; He came to carry our burdens, temptations, and sin. God is a just God who punishes all sin, and this full punishment was placed upon His only Son. “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Without the punishment of sin there can be no forgiveness. To us forgiveness implies that punishment goes unfulfilled, and punishment implies that there is no forgiveness. As illogical as it may sound, forgiveness of sin and punishment of sin must both be fulfilled simultaneously, and this has happened in only one place: the Cross. All of the world’s sin was punished and forgiven in the Cross of Jesus Christ; Christ was punished and condemned for our sin, thereby forgiving all of us of our immeasurable debt.
Jesus Christ did not have it easy. We often fall into the error of thinking that because Jesus Christ was the Son of God, full God and full man, that by His divine nature He slid thru life and cannot truly empathize with what we go thru. This is completely false. “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3). It is for this reason that the full humanity of Christ is so important. If Jesus Christ was not full man along with full God then His life, obedience, and sacrifice would be meaningless because He would not have truly carried our burdens and sorrows. Instead of “taking the easy way out” He was tempted in every way that we ourselves are tempted, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Besides bearing the full brunt of human temptation He also carried our weaknesses, diseases, infirmities, and sin. “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:4, 6). Christ’s life was far from easy and if He had come above the Law then we would still be under the Law; but because He humbled Himself below the Law on our behalf He has now lifted us upon His shoulders above the Law.
“Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Galatians 4:6).
The question Paul asked the Galatians earlier in his epistle is very important, “Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?” (Galatians 3:2). Many in this day and age have very false understandings about the Holy Spirit, His role in our life, and how He comes to us. It is only thru the Word and Gospel promises that the Holy Spirit comes to us; the Spirit comes to us in faith. Many believe the Spirit must be sought out or asked for or worked for; this is a very erroneous view that we must not fall into. The Holy Spirit comes to all who believe thru the message of God’s Word in preaching, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, etc. The Holy Spirit within us however may be extremely hidden to our senses for God has chosen not to work in conspicuous ways. Faith by its very nature is being sure in what has not been revealed to us visibly or even experientially, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). Many falsely cling to tangible and visible manifestations of the Spirit in vain; they cling and hope in what they see and experience instead of hoping in the promises of God. This is a false faith that is not rooted in Jesus Christ and His Word but is rooted in a worldly “spiritual” experience. “Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds of the air” (Job 28:20-21). It is in Jesus Christ that all wisdom and understanding are hidden. “Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). We must remember that we are blessed because we cling to the Word of God in simple faith even despite the fact that we have not seen. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). We hope in God’s Word and promise in Jesus Christ thru all things, waiting patiently for it to be revealed in the next life. “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:24-25).
As followers of Christ our lives are now hidden in the unseen hope and promise of God thru Jesus Christ our Lord. “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:2-3). This hidden life is not sensational, but is humble and meek, full of inconspicuous and thankless service. “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26-28). “When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ‘You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet’” (John 13:12-14).
The fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in us is not something we need to experience thru boisterous tangible manifestations, it is something that simply needs to be believed. The Corinthians in Paul’s day were new and weak Christians who insisted that they have visible outward signs of the Holy Spirit, faith simply was not enough for them. “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready” (1 Corinthians 3:1-2). Paul proceeded to ask this simple question to the doubting Corinthians, “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). God’s Spirit lives in us thru faith, by means of God’s Word and promises; it comes thru the Gospel. This is something we need to simply believe regardless of what we have seen. Because we know Jesus Christ we know that God’s Spirit lives in us and we must not fall into the trap of the Corinthians who demanded a sensational experience as evidence of the Holy Spirit. It is in the ignoring of God’s Word, in contempt for His invisible promises, that we find men lacking the true Spirit of God. It is when men insist on some sort of experience or visible manifestation that they are despising the simple Word and promise of God. Ironically, this is a contempt and rejection of the very Spirit that they believe they are seeking so earnestly. In truth they do not seek the Spirit of God, but seek an experience and a tangible god of their own making; they are not content with what God has revealed and given them in the Cross of Jesus Christ. Let us pray that we ourselves don’t fall into this temptation, demanding from some “other” sign from God when we have His risen Son as all the proof we need. The love for the simple Word and promise of God is the work of God’s Spirit and is the sure sign that He abides within us. We have God’s sure Word and promise, what else do we need? “‘I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead’” (Luke 16:27-31).
We must not doubt the promises of God. This temptation to doubt looms the largest in the form of making our belief and faith a precondition to God’s grace. Many believe that they are forgiven because they have believed. How false! We were forgiven in Christ Jesus before we were born, it is simply faith that knows this and clings to it. We know that despite all of our doubting, unbelief, and lack of faith that Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and forgiveness can never be taken from us. No matter how much we fail or how much our flesh knocks us down, we know that God loved us in Christ Jesus and punished and forgave our sin on His Cross. Our certainty is not in our belief or in our faith (like so many mislead people believe); our certainty is in the Cross of Jesus Christ crucified for our sins 2000 years ago. This event has already happened and nothing can change it or undo it. I am not forgiven because I believe; I am forgiven and therefore I believe. We love, hope, and believe only because God loved and forgave us first in the Cross of Jesus Christ. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
“Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Galatians 4:6).
It is unfathomably reassuring that we have the Spirit of Christ crying out in prayer for us. Where we are helpless to know our needs and flounder in the cesspool of our flesh, the Spirit comes along and steps to the plate on our behalf. “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” (Romans 8:26). When the darkness of life surrounds us we know that all is not lost. “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10). No matter how bleak our situation may be we know that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus who is with us always. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4).
The loud clamoring of the devil, the world, and our flesh can never outcry the whisper of the Spirit of God. The faintest of groaning by the Spirit of God who has been given to us is far greater than all the deafening roars of hell itself. Let us pray that we silence the cries of our flesh and sinful nature in the promise that the Holy Spirit is praying, crying, and groaning to God in our stead.
We are weak. In this life even we who can do all things thru Christ Jesus our Lord are still weak. It is because of this weakness that we need the grace of Christ and the prayers of the Spirit daily. The devil wishes to trick us into thinking that we are good on our own after we have heard about Christ. Grace however is not a one time experience; it is a constant state that we are in thru the blood of Jesus Christ. Christianity is not about “God did His part, now you do yours”; it is instead about these simple yet awesome words: “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14). We need only to be still, the Lord will fight for us. What a powerful promise that we must not take for granted. This whole Christianity thing is not about “me” and what I have done or can do; it is about God fighting for mankind thru His Son Jesus Christ who was crucified for the forgiveness of all of our sins.
“So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?” (Galatians 4:7-9).
We are the heirs of God the Father, heirs of heaven itself. We share in the glory and riches of God Almighty, maker of all things, thru the blood of Jesus Christ crucified, and this we will have in the next life to come. The awesomeness of this inheritance that we have thru Jesus Christ cannot be overstated; it is far greater than all things that we have or experience in this life combined. In this hope and promise Paul rejoiced, eagerly awaiting the redemption of the body to come. He desired to be with Christ in eternal bliss and away from the miseries of this life, but he also realized that God had a purpose and mission for him on this earth. We too wait expectantly for the time when we will be relieved of the burdens of this life, but we also focus on the work God has given us here, today. We know without a shadow of a doubt that God keeps us in this life only as long as necessary and if we are here on this earth then He still has a purpose and plan for us, there are still lives for us to reach and touch. None of us is useless and we all serve God’s ultimate glory and purposes until He brings us Home to Him. “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me” (Philippians 1:20-26).
Paul always pointed to Christ and brought all thoughts, words, and actions back to Him. By the grace of God Paul realized that Jesus Christ is everything. He didn’t see Christ as a peripheral or simply some good example to for us to follow; He instead fully realized Christ as the whole Way, Truth, and Life. Every message of Paul’s ultimately points back to the work that Christ has done on our behalf, forgiving us our sins on the Cross before we were even born. Let us pray that we too are Christo-centric in all things, focusing every part of our life and being on Jesus Christ our Savior. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
The article of justification, the Truth of God’s sufficient grace in Jesus Christ crucified for the forgiveness of all of our sins, is the center of all Christian teaching. It is this one article that is the true “fundamental doctrine” of the true Church of Jesus Christ. Paul’s words illustrate this perfectly, “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Sadly the purity and truth of this doctrine is perverted in varying degrees in so many “Christian” churches. To lose this Truth is to lose Jesus Christ Himself and to fall into idolatry, worshiping and putting our faith and trust in anything but Jesus Christ 100%. This idolatry happens when we esteem any effort, will, choice, decision, or work of man as participating in our justification. We must realize that we are saved and forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ completely independent of anything in or from us. “Protestant theology has changed faith from an instrument apprehending God's grace into a good work for which man is responsible, whether it is a decision, an acceptance, or a feeling which man must produce and thus make himself worthy or acceptable to God. Such an understanding of faith is the result of an emphasis and insistence on faith out of its context. When faith is made the center-piece of God's justification, when it is presented as a condition to be fulfilled, or when it is demanded from the pulpit, a misconception of faith is created or strengthened” (Theodore Mueller). Even our faith is not something we do and we must not fall into the trap of making faith a precondition to God’s grace. If us believing and having faith is a precondition to Christ dying and forgiving us then we are all eternally lost. We do not put the trust of our forgiveness in our state of belief; we instead cling to forgiveness in the immutable and unwavering blood of Jesus Christ crucified. “If forgiveness were dependent on faith in the sense that God does not forgive until we believe, we would always have to be sure that we are believers before we could be sure that we are forgiven. We may not see how dangerous that is, until one of those moments of temptation and doubt comes to us in which we no longer know that we are believers. In such a time we will have no place to go unless we can say, ‘God has told me that in Christ He has forgiven the sins of the world. My faith or my unbelief, will neither make God’s Word true or untrue. He does not lie. He justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5). Even if I am the most ungodly, the most wicked man on earth, I know that He has justified and forgiven me. To that promise I will cling, even if my heart tells me that I am without faith, without love, without hope. I know that God is greater than my heart and knows all things (1 John 3:20). I believe in what my Savior taught, and trust it whether felt or not’” (Siegbert Becker).
“So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?” (Galatians 4:7-9).
Man either knows God thru Jesus Christ or he knows nothing of the true God. Men are born with a natural knowledge that there is a God but no man on his own knows who that God is and what His will is. Man takes his natural and flawed knowledge of God and applies his reason in order to conclude who God is. This reasoning leads all men down the same fundamental path: salvation by way of self. All religions in the world are fundamentally the same in that they all ultimately point within to some effort, work, will, decision, or merit inside of man as the key to becoming right with God. Apart from all of these stands the true Gospel of Jesus Christ which points men to the Cross for the undeserved forgiveness of our sins. The gift of God is not a religion, but grace and mercy thru His only Son’s suffering, death, and resurrection on our behalf.
Paul emphasizes very specifically that the true importance in his message was not that we know God, but rather that God knows us thru Jesus Christ. When all is said and done we do not rest on the fact that some knowledge of God makes us worthy; we instead bank all that we are and have on the fact that God knows us and has called us thru the blood of His only begotten Son.
Let us pray that by the grace of God we are strengthened daily by afflictions, trials, and tests of faith so that we are not among those without true root in Jesus Christ. “Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD, the man you teach from your law” (Psalm 94:12). Christ spoke very clearly that many would receive the seed of God’s Word in their life but lose it due to the troubles and temptations of the world. “The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful” (Matthew 13:20-22). The world of temptations and troubles around us is overwhelming and can easily make us cower in the weakness of our faith. How can people as weak as we are face all the worries, anxieties, and bombardments of this life? We can’t, but Christ already did so for us. We only remain in Christ thru the sufficient grace of God, and it is on this promise that we cling thru all things. Despite our failings the Lord God has lifted us up thru the love of His Son. “Unless the LORD had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death. When I said, ‘My foot is slipping,’ your love, O LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul” (Psalm 94:17-19).
“Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written: ‘Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband’” (Galatians 4:21-27).
Here Paul enters into figurative language in the sense that he takes the historical story of Abraham and his sons Ishmael and Isaac and turns it into an illustration of the Church. Ishmael was the first born son of Abraham and according to ancient practice was entitled to receive the inheritance of Abraham. Isaac however is shown to be the true heir; heir of the promise of God that thru him all nations would be blessed. God worked apart from the system of inheritance in order to show that His promises are apart from any merit or entitlement. “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Exodus 33:19). God does not work within the constraints of human systems, logic, or reasoning; He works according to His awesome undeserved mercy and grace. Faith came in order to destroy these systems of man, in order to be in opposition to the work and merit of man. “The Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works” (Roman 9:30-32). Jesus Christ Himself tells us this: “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:29). God does not want our empty merits and works, He only desires us to simply believe that He has justified us, horribly wicked men, by His free grace in Christ Jesus! “To the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:5).
Paul compares Hagar to the Law saying that she bore Abraham a descendent apart from the promise of God, a descendent who was destined to be the slave and servant of Isaac’s descendents. Those under the Law are therefore descendents of Hagar being slaves who are separated from the promise of God. This allegory of Paul’s is very powerful as it illustrates clearly that those who try to work and earn their way before God are nothing more than slaves who have rejected the unconditional promise of God in the Gospel Jesus Christ.
Sarah on the other hand represents not the earthly Jerusalem, which Paul states is under slavery to the Law, but the heavenly Jerusalem which consists of the descendents of Abraham according to the promise of God. These descendents are the heirs of the Gospel promise and are freed from the old covenant thru the blood of Jesus Christ. “The ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another...By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear” (Hebrews 8:6-7, 13). The first covenant showed us our sin and rejection of God while the new covenant is the free promise of grace thru Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection. “Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant” (Hebrews 9:15). Let us pray that we daily realize the freedom we have been undeservedly given thru the ransom paid by our beloved Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
“Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written: ‘Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband’” (Galatians 4:21-27).
Isaiah’s prophecy speaks to the fact that the “desolate woman” (Hagar who represents the covenant of the Law) will have far more children than the “barren woman” (Sarah who represents covenant of the Gospel). We find this fact to be true when we cast an observant eye towards the religions and churches of the world. The overwhelmingly vast majority of men seek to please God thru some act of their will and self, truly believing that He can be appeased by their efforts and works. “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).
The Church of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the free Church and new covenant that Sarah represents, is barren and forsaken. To our eyes the true Church has no appeal that draws us to it because the Church is centered on Jesus Christ who Himself is despised and rejected by men. “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men” (Isaiah 53:2-3). Despite this the true Church ultimately thrives in its meekness and weakness by the sufficient grace of Christ Jesus as it creates the only fruit that truly pleases the Father in heaven.
The complaint that arises when we hear the true Gospel is always, “Aren’t I to do something? Isn’t there something I need to do? Isn’t there something I contribute?” There is nothing that we do that can save us and all we contribute to the salvation equation is our sin. The Old Adam in us simply cannot understand that we have no control, no say, and no good contribution to our salvation. All that needs to be done has already been done on the Cross of Jesus Christ. “God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). R. Jungkuntz comments on these verses beautifully, “What is stated here by St. Paul means much more than merely that God has ‘provided and secured’ salvation for all men, so that it is now possible for them to be justified through faith. Rather, it means nothing less than that already before faith, without faith, they have been justified by God, declared righteous for Christ’s sake, their sins no longer imputed to them. Henceforth it can never be sin that damns a man, any man, but only the rejection of God’s act of justification. From God’s standpoint every sinner is a reconciled sinner.” Whether we believe it or not we have been sanctified and bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:29). It is no longer sin that condemns us (for we have all been forgiven in the Cross!) but only unbelief which rejects and tramples on the work of Jesus Christ crucified on our behalf. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Let us pray that we daily appreciate that because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ we are no longer under sin and condemnation. “There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
“Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? ‘Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son.’ Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman” (Galatians 4:28-31).
Jesus Himself responded to the Jews who claimed that they were Abraham’s sons by birthright, telling them that the true descendents of Abraham would recognize Him as the Christ. Many of the Jews in Christ’s day were prideful and arrogant about their lineage thinking that just because their human fathers came from a certain lineage that they were to receive special privileges. Jesus’ poignant words however struck to the heart of their arrogance. “Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire” (John 8:43-44).
As the children of Isaac, the children of the promise, we are destined to be persecuted by the children of Ishmael, the children of the Law. This fact is not a possibility, but a certainty. With the Truth of Christ’s Gospel comes the cross of persecution and suffering that we must bear because of it. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12). Simeon’s prophecy spoke of the division that would be caused by Jesus Christ, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).
It is because of Jesus Christ, His Person and teachings that pervade our life, that we are persecuted. If we confess the name of Christ boldly and truthfully we will suffer for it; however, if we do not confess the Jesus Christ of Scripture then we will not be hated by the world. Christ’s own words about the last times speak powerfully of this, “You will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:9-13). Oh how true His words are about this age we live in. Many feel that in America we are free from persecution as followers of Christ when in reality this is very false. “Christianity” has become a cultural movement in the United States and therefore those who are apart of “Christian culture” are relatively accepted and free from persecution, able to get by without a hitch in their comfortable life. However, this “Christian culture” is in reality far removed from true discipleship to Jesus Christ and the truth of His Gospel. Those who proclaim the unadulterated “hard truths” of God’s Law and Gospel will face true persecution even though it may often be subtle. These Truths will incur the hate of men and lead to persecution from the world. If our life is comfortable and we do not feel persecuted then it is worth asking ourselves, “Do I stand up for Jesus Christ before the world? Am I ashamed to be His disciple, acting like Peter on the night of Christ’s crucifixion?” Denying Jesus Christ does not have to be in the form of saying we “hate Him” or “don’t love Him,” but most often takes the form of silence in both word and action. Sometimes our silence in the face of opportunity speaks most loudly about our true devotion. “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26).
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