Galatians Archives - Page 3 of 6

What is Man? (Advent #2) (CC Downtown)

Christ Church on December 20, 2024

PSALM 8

1 O Lord, our Lord,

How excellent is Your name in all the earth,

Who have set Your glory above the heavens!

2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants

You have ordained strength,

Because of Your enemies,

That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

4 What is man that You are mindful of him,

And the son of man that You visit him?

5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,

And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;

You have put all things under his feet,

7 All sheep and oxen—

Even the beasts of the field,

8 The birds of the air,

And the fish of the sea

That pass through the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord,

How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

Break Forth and Sing, O Barren

Christ Church on March 26, 2023

INTRODUCTION

There is a perennial temptation for the people of God to go back to slavery. After Israel was delivered from Pharaoh’s tyranny, they found that freedom had its costs. They had no food; they ran into giants. So they longed to return to Egypt where there was bread, meat, and at least the semblance of protection—those chariots, pretty fancy.

A similar temptation came upon the Galatian Christians. God had brought them the gospel of Jesus Christ through Paul. But the Judaizers showed up shortly after preaching a different gospel, one that would take the Galatians back to bondage (Galatians 5:1). These Judaizers did not deny that Christ was the Messiah. But they insisted that if a man would be saved, then he must be circumcised, and thus keep all of the laws of Moses.

The Galatian situation maps on to Israel’s situation in Moses’ day. For Israel, there was no going back to slavery in Egypt. Egypt was under the judgment of God. For the Galatians, there was no going back to Jerusalem’s Old Covenant with its sign of circumcision. Jerusalem was under the judgment of God. In our text, Paul develops an allegory to teach the Galatian Christians that through Christ they have been set free and must not turn back to a yoke of slavery.

The message is: You’re children of the free woman so live free.

THE TEXT

For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free (Gal. 4:22-31).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Let’s consider a survey of the text. Paul writes to those who desired to be under the law (v. 21), not sweet Christians who wanted to obey God, but those who thought they would really get right with God by circumcision and keeping the laws of Moses.

It is as if Paul questioned these people, “But what about Abraham’s two sons?” Ishmael came by a slave woman, Hagar; and Isaac by a free woman, Sarah (v. 22). These sons were not born in the same way. Ishmael was born after the flesh and Isaac by promise (v. 23). Isaac, of course was a natural or biological son of Abraham just as much as Ishmael. But Isaac’s birth came about by divine promise, not mere flesh or nature.

These things are an allegory; they are two covenants. Hagar corresponds to Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage (v. 24). Hagar also corresponds to the Jerusalem that existed in Paul’s day, a Jerusalem that was in bondage with her children (v. 25). Remember that Jerusalem was the city that killed the prophets and it was the city that killed the Son. It was the city which was soon to be leveled by the Romans in AD 70.

Paul contrasts the Jerusalem which then was with the Jerusalem which is above. That heavenly Jerusalem is free and mother of us all (v. 26). She is Sarah. Isaiah says that this heavenly Sarah-Covenant, though she was barren, will have many more children than Hagar (v. 27).

The Galatians needed to grasp that they were Isaac, children of the promise (v. 28). They were the Spirit-born son being persecuted by the merely flesh-born son (v. 29). But they did not need to fret. For Scripture had already said through the mouth of Sarah that the slave woman and her son would be cast out (v. 30). And we in the new covenant are not slave-born, but freeborn (v. 31). You’re children of the freewoman so live free.

NO MORE SCHOOLMARM

Being a freeborn child of the new covenant means that you are no longer under a schoolmarm (Galatians 3:24-25). Say goodbye to all of the tsk-tsking and wrist-slapping. And if you’re response to this good news is to say, “Great, no more studying for me. Let me prepare my spit balls,” then know all of the freemen around you in this New Covenant classroom are chuckling to themselves saying, “This guy has no idea what the Spirit of holiness is about to do to him. He may not be ready for freedom. But freedom is coming for him and it is about to do a number on him.” If you think it hurt when the schoolmarm grabbed you by the ear, just wait until the Spirit does it.

ENLARGE YOUR TENTS

Sarah’s children have to join their free mother in enlarging their tents. The spirit of the Judaizers was an constricting one. The Galatians Christians couldn’t get into their little tent. They had put a few man-made hurdles in the way. In the face of this, Paul quotes Isaiah, and here it is with context:

“Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited” (Isaiah 54:1-3)

Peter got caught up with the Judaizing spirit when he pulled back and away from the Gentiles (Galatians 2:12). But the spirit of the new covenant says, “We’re going to need more space.” We both anticipate the Gentiles pouring in and our hearts are enlarged and wide open toward them. We care not what language you speak, what color you are. We care not what mess you have been tangled up in. Come sinners poor and needy, bruised and broken by the fall.

HEIRS, NO MERE SERVANTS

We happily say with Paul that we are servants of Christ (Romans 1:1). Yet this same Paul says that we are no longer a servant, but a son (Galatians 4:7). The slave woman’s son would not be heir, but the children of the freewoman would be (Galatians 4:30). An heir inherits. And what does an heir inherit? All that the Father determines to give. Our Father has not left us without a word on the matter: “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things” (Romans 8:32)?

BORN AFTER THE SPIRIT, NOT JUST THE FLESH

We are members of the new covenant. Like the Galatian Christians, we are born after the Spirit, not merely the flesh (v. 29). The Galatians made the foolish mistake of beginning by the Spirit and then trying to proceed by the flesh, and they heard Paul’s dismay (Galatians 3:3). So let us learn the lesson.

Put no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3). You can’t get the job done by might or power. You are children of promise. You are children of gift. You are children of a barren woman, and an old one at that. We are supernaturally-wrought sons and daughters and members of a heavenly covenant and kingdom that is now at hand.

We must learn that sacred art of living in our flesh (for there is no other way for us to live) without living by our flesh. Plan by the Spirit. Confess sin by the Spirit. Make your resolutions by the Spirit. Provide for your families by the Spirit. Teach your children by the Spirit. Everything must be done by the work of the angels, by the wind that blows where it wills.

AND THIS THROUGH CHRIST

And you say, “But how do I get access to that power? I really do long for the Spirit to be poured out on my life. Where can I get more of this Living Water?” . . . Through Christ. He is the one in whom this new covenant—this Sarah covenant—is established. It was established in his blood, the blood of the new covenant. That blood-secured covenant is more solid than your fears.

You say, “But sometimes I feel like a slave.” The blood says you are free. “But sometimes I feel like a barren and lonely woman who wants to shrink her home.” The blood says enlarge your tent and enlarge your heart. You say, “I just don’t have the strength.” The blood that speaks a better word than that of Abel says, “Yes, yes, of course you don’t. You are born of the Spirit, and having begun by the Spirit, would you be now perfected by the flesh?” Of course you won’t. You will be perfected the same way all of the saints are, by the Spirit through Christ.

Christ has set you free. Christ will keep you free.

Justice, Liberty, & Love

Christ Church on September 11, 2022

INTRODUCTION

At first glance it may appear to us that justice, liberty, and love are three very distinct topics. But if we examine them in light of Scripture and a biblical worldview, we will discover that they are all addressing the same thing. Every virtue, every grace, is a manifestation of the gracious gift of the singular holiness of God. The integrated Christian life is therefore all of a piece.

THE TEXT

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. . .” (Galatians 5:13–23).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul begins by telling the Galatians that they have been called to liberty (v. 13). He immediately moves to tell them that they are not to use that liberty in the cause of self-indulgence (v. 13). Instead of serving the flesh, they are called to use their liberty to serve one another in love (v. 14). Why is this? Because the entire law is fulfilled in one phrase, which is to love your neighbor as yourself (v. 14). Paul is citing the second greatest commandment, identified as such by Jesus (Matt. 22:30), and which is taken from Lev. 19:18. But if instead of loving, they bite and devour each other, they need to take care that they don’t eat each other up (v. 15) . The thing that will enable them to avoid fulfilling these fleshly desires is what Paul calls walking in the Spirit (v. 16). The flesh and the Spirit are fundamentally at odds with one another, which prevents them from doing what they wanted to do (v. v. 17). But if they walk in the Spirit, they will not be under the condemnation of the law (v. 18). The works of the flesh are obvious (v. 19), and Paul then works through a litany of uncleanness (vv. 19-21). They range from all manner of sexual impurity and self-indulgence to thoughts of hostility and accusation. People who are like this are not going to inherit the kingdom (v. 21). The fruit of the Spirit, by way of contrast, is a unified whole of goodness—love, joy, peace, and so on. Or put another way, justice, liberty, and love (vv. 22-23).

AND SUCH LIKE

Scripture frequently gives us lists of virtues and vices. These lists should be taken with that phrase “and such like” kept in the front of our minds. The lists vary in their details, but the aroma coming off all of them is always the same.

Christian graces are described by Peter here (2 Pet. 1:5-8). Paul uses the language of fruit here in our text, but he also describes the fruit of the light in Eph. 5:9. And then in Romans 5:3-5, we see the same thing again.

Lists of clustered corruptions work the same way. Paul gives us one list in Romans (Rom. 1:29-32). And then he gives another list to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 6:9-10). And we have the list in our text. The lists never map on to one another exactly, but they all have the same kind of thing in common. It is as though a gifted writer was writing a series of articles on seedy dive bars around the country. They would all have the same feel, and the alleys behind them would all smell like urine.

This is why James tells us that if we break the law at just one point, we are guilty of breaking all of it (Jas. 2:10). The law of God is not a series of French pane windows, but is rather a plate glass window. It doesn’t matter that much where you put the hole—the window is broken. The law of God is personal, and is as unified as the character of the God it reflects. And lawlessness, the way of the flesh, is the anti-God frame of mind, and so it also is unified in that antipathy.

WHAT LIBERTY IS

Paul says in our text that we have been set free, we have been set at liberty. Now a popular (and wrongheaded) definition of liberty thinks it means doing as you like, whatever the consequences. But Paul here says that liberty is being set free to do as you ought.

Doing as you want is the way of the flesh, and it is characterized by two things. The first is that the flesh grabs at what it wants, and the second is that it accuses others for grabbing for what they want. Now when we grab, we wrong others by taking what is lawfully theirs. And when we have an accusative spirit, we wrong others by not following the scriptural requirements of due process. And what is due process? It is hearing both sides of story (Prov. 18:17). If the story is denied, it is requiring independent confirmation (Dt. 17:6). It is allowing the accused to face his accuser (Dt. 19:16)—no anonymous accusations. And if you are reading about anything on the Internet, all these standards go triple. It is to handle a matter justly, which is an outworking of love, which is how you are use your liberty.

TWO WORLDS

In a world ruled by the flesh, as Paul makes very plain here, you cannot have liberty, you cannot have justice, and you cannot have love. As well try to grow orchids above the Colorado tree line. And this is why the plan to achieve greater liberty for Americans by opening the floodgates of porn, by legalizing pot, by telling everybody to give absolute free rein to their feelings, by urging all the drones to live on handouts, and encouraging all narcissists to live inside their own heads, was a plan that was singularly ill-fated. An indulgent society hates liberty, hates justice, and hates love. All the “liberties” they want you to have are liberties that can be indulged in a six by eight prison cell.

The way of the Spirit establishes form and freedom together. Form without freedom is despotism and tyranny. Nobody wants that. But freedom without form falls apart. What is the sense of freeing a locomotive from its tracks, putting it in the middle of a marsh, and telling it to go wherever it wants?

REFORMATION AND REVIVAL

And this is why the deliverance of our country is not going to happen apart from a great movement of the Spirit. Unless a people are cleansed of their guilt, liberated from their lusts, and empowered to do what is right by their neighbor, they cannot live as a free people. As we are seeing around us, they cannot even value the idea of a free society. They want the slavery, they want the malice, they want the injustice.

So go back to the two lists in our text. The works of the flesh are manifest. The fruit of the Spirit, as we all recognize, is equally obvious. Now take the cover off your heart. Which list is more descriptive of what you see in there? If it is a cauldron of seething lusts, as it is in the case of many, turn to Christ. He is the Savior, and He can save to the uttermost.

Justice, Liberty, & Love (CCD)

Christ Church on September 11, 2022

THE TEXT

Justice, Liberty, & Love (King’s Cross)

Christ Church on September 11, 2022

INTRODUCTION

Justice, freedom, and love are the buzz words of our culture, but it is not at all clear that many of our neighbors know what these words mean. The Bible teaches that all three of these gifts originate in the Triune God and are only received and enjoyed through the Cross of Jesus.

THE TEXT

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

True liberty is the ability to love our neighbors, through serving them lawfully from the heart (Gal. 5:13-14). The opposite of liberty (slavery) destroys community, through biting and devouring, driven by lusts and envy (Gal. 5:15, cf. Js. 4:1-3). Those who walk in the Spirit are led by the Spirit and therefore free from the lust of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). There is a battle in true Christians, where they sometimes find themselves doing what they do not want to do (Gal. 5:17). But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the condemnation of the law (Gal. 5:18, cf. Rom. 8:1). You can tell you are under the condemnation of the law because you are enslaved to the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). The marks of true freedom are the fruit of the Spirit, against which the law can bring no charge (Gal. 5:22-23).

NEGATIVE V. POSITIVE JUSTICE

The Bible teaches that justice is primarily negative and punitive (Rom. 13:3). It is only positive in declaring innocence, affirming or praising the righteous (Rom. 13:3), but otherwise it condemns and punishes, executing God’s wrath (Rom. 13:4). Lady Justice is pictured in all the old paintings and statues as blind or blindfolded holding a set of scales in one hand and a sword in the other. Her job is simply to weigh out certain actions and demand equity – retribution and/or restitution that restores balance to the world, according to the law of God (cf. Ex. 22:1-15).

Related to the notion of justice is the notion of “rights,” and rights always imply obligations. If you have a right to life, everyone around you is obligated not to harm you. If you have a right to private property, everyone around you has an obligation not to take or damage what belongs to you. If you are a wife, you have a right to be provided for, and your husband is obligated to provide for you as himself (Eph. 5:29). Justice is called for when one of these obligations has been breached, defied, or severely neglected — eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life (Dt. 19:21). However, when someone claims they have a right to a job, education, health care, or welfare, the implication is that someone else is obligated to give it to them. But who? God has assigned the family government the ministry of health, welfare, and education. God has assigned the church government the ministry of worship in the word and sacraments. God has assigned the civil government the ministry of justice, punishing evil doers.

LOVE IS LIBERTY TO SERVE

The problem with coerced “love” from the state is like that demon-possessed guy in the tombs from the gospels – his name is Legion. First, the state is presuming to know how my resources are best used for the good of others. Second, the state is presuming to know how my neighbors will be best cared for and served. Third, the coercion of the state destroys the personalism of individuals freely giving and serving and receiving, reducing “love” to a merely material transaction or wealth transfer. Fourth, the automated provision of the state creates weak, irresponsible, immature, and ungrateful dependents. Fifth, the coercive automation of the state is massively inefficient. In all of these ways (and more), love and liberty are destroyed by the threatened violence of the state. True liberty is the room to exercise true wisdom and generosity with time and resources to care for the needs of your neighbors, and in particular, those entrusted to your care (Eph. 5:28-29, 6:4, 1 Tim. 5:8).

SINS & CRIMES

Many moderns confuse jurisdictions by conflating sins and crimes. Crimes are those acts that harm the person or property of others or are designated by God to corrupt society and therefore fall under the jurisdiction of the civil magistrates for punishment. Sins are those thoughts and acts that break fellowship with God and others, many of which fall under the jurisdiction of families and churches. True love, liberty, and justice occur when each jurisdiction submits to God’s assigned sphere. In a Christian civil order, all crimes would also be sins, but in most civil orders, there are a mix of crimes that may or may not be sins. So if the magistrate orders that meeting for worship is a crime, it would not be a sin to disobey that order (Dan. 3:18, Acts 5:29). But the other point is that not all sins are or should be crimes. So for example, covetousness is a sin and it may reveal itself in bad thoughts or words, but it isn’t a crime until it turns into overt theft or vandalism. The point is that Lady Justice deals with black and white actions, punishing evil doers upon the testimony of two or three witnesses, but she is not entrusted with matters of the heart, house rules, or matters of worship. When “justice” tries to meddle in those things assigned to the family or church, you don’t get love, liberty, or justice.

CONCLUSIONS

The greatest act of liberty ever performed was also the greatest act of love and justice: Jesus laid His life down freely as a ransom for sinners. No one took His life from Him, He laid it down freely (Jn. 10:18). And He had that freedom because it was obedience to His Father.

But the sinful heart of man always wants to get this backwards and upside down. The sinful, prideful heart of man wants to collapse and confuse justice, liberty, and love in order to remake the world according to its own wisdom, which always involves manipulation and coercion and demands that you must acquiesce to the demands of government thugs.

But justice only punishes or exonerates. That’s all it does. And that is what it did in the Cross. God’s perfect justice punished Jesus in our place, and then because our debts were fully paid, God’s justice exonerates all who trust in Him. That is a supreme manifestation of God’s love and liberty, but you cannot mix them up without confusing the gospel.

Those who receive this gospel really are set free, and the Spirit begins to lead them to love their neighbors freely and generously in imitation of Jesus in obedience. But slavery to the flesh is manifest and obvious. So which one are you? What characterizes your life? Is it the fruit of the Spirit or the works of the flesh? If it is the works of the flesh, then any demand for justice is only to have the law of God fall upon you with all of its fierce condemnation. But if it is the fruit of the Spirit, you are truly free, and you are a manifestation of the righteousness of God in Christ.