Life Project Blog

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Galatians 5:1-6

Paul continues into the fifth chapter making his case for two distinct covenants.  He opens with the statement that Christ has set us free and then moves into an exhortation for us to remain free in Christ, and never to go back again to slavery under the Law. He states it so very clearly in verse 2: “mark my words…” Entering into the Law will do no good, carrying the sign of an already fulfilled covenant will do no good.  Stronger still, he tells us that if we seek to reenter the Law, we will be “alienated from Christ” and “fallen away from grace.”   Quite frankly, it seems incomprehensible to me that anyone can read these words and be confused about their meaning.

In the final line, he comes to the crux: 

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

Galatians 5:7-12

The Galatians had gotten off to a good start, but somewhere along the path, somebody “cut in” to divert them to a different path; this kind of teaching is not from God.  Paul’s reference to yeast goes back to the Old Testament imagery of yeast as sin, thus a little sin makes its way through the entire group.  Then, Paul seems to be saying that he is confident that the Galatians will not listen to them anymore, yet he still isn’t quite finished with his rant…

He points out that these false teachers will pay the price for their actions, and lest anyone should think that Paul was behind these teachings, he reminds them that if he were teaching circumcision, the Jewish authorities wouldn’t still be persecuting him. Finally, he makes one more statement.  It seems to me that Paul has tried several methods to make his case against the teaching of first becoming a Jew, and then and only then receiving Christ.  He has chided, reasoned, encouraged and exhorted.  In case anyone hadn’t gotten the point yet he has one more thing to say, this time of a rather personal nature.

You might ask why it is that Paul is so passionate about this issue.  Why did he go to such lengths and give the Galatians such a chewing out?

You’re free to disagree with me of course, but I think that the answer is really simple.  When someone adds to, or subtracts from the Gospel, that person is perverting the Gospel.  Since the Gospel is the “power of God to salvation,” this kind of perversion undermines the very eternal purpose of God. As a consequence, it is not merely a different interpretation or a differing opinion; it is rebellion against God all over again.  Its source, as Paul has clearly stated, is not God.  With that in mind, let’s ask ourselves who or what the source might be, if it isn’t God.  Could it be a simple misunderstanding, or would it really come from a more sinister origin?

I’ll let you be the judge of that one, but I would add one more question: Who stands to gain by perverting the “power of God to salvation”?   

Jude gives us a typical greeting in the first 2 verses, telling us who is writing and extending his good wishes in love to his recipients.  Then he quickly moves to his purpose for writing:

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

Jude 3-4

Although he wanted to write to them about the salvation we share in Christ, events have intervened. Notice the words he uses here, he felt “compelled” to write them to “urge” them to “contend” for the faith; words that imply a crisis of some sort. “Contend” comes from a word that would normally be used in either a military or athletic contest.  Yes, there would seem to be a crisis at hand.

That faith he wants them to contend for is the faith that was “once for all” entrusted to “God’s holy people.”

This statement is reminiscent of John’s “as you have heard from the beginning” the message of faith had been given to them by others when they came to believe the gospel; it does not change.  You could say that Jude isn’t going for any of the present-day notions of progressive revelation wherein the message changes or evolves over time. The gospel is the gospel, once and for all time.

There seems to have been certain people who have come within the church who have ideas about changing the message. We can clearly see two things from verse 4: These people wish to abuse the liberty we have in Christ, to engage in immoral practices, and to deny Christ.  At this point, they sound quite a bit like “antichrist” in 1 and 2 John, and you will recall that they were Gnostics.

There is always a tension between liberty and going too far.  We have a great freedom in Christ, since the Law is gone and His laws are “written on their hearts.”  Can you have one “law” and I another− scholars have debated this for centuries:  What really is the difference between “liberty” and “license”? In verse 4 it would appear that one field of conflict was that of sexual practices, one that will be repeated in the verses that follow, and one that is very much under discussion in our day.  Where is that line?

In recent centuries within Western culture, that line was well-defined with lists of things you mustn’t do: “Don’t smoke or chew or go with girls who do” is one of the more amusing of these. I prefer another approach: Does an action glorify God? Does it build up His Kingdom, or will it tear the Kingdom apart? Apparently, Jude felt strongly that the Kingdom was in jeopardy; and that is his purpose for writing this letter.

What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”  So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

Galatians 4:1-7

Sonship! I’m not really sure that is a proper English word, spell check doesn’t like it, that’s for sure, but I must admit that it works for Paul’s message to the Galatians.  These seven verses sum up his argument in a way that is so simple and so uncomplicated that anyone who gets lost in discussions of covenants and laws and patriarchs can’t miss. For once, I really like the “new” NIV rendering; they nailed it.

Check out Paul’s use of metaphors here; a son who is destined to inherit the entire estate of his fathers. An heir not only to a great estate and great wealth, but heir to a great title, yet the son is not of age.  His life is privileged, yes, but he must follow the orders of everyone from his parents, to the “upper servants.” In a way, he is like a slave, for even though he holds within himself the potential of command and power, he is still subject to those around him, and his father isn’t putting up with any nonsense. Before Jesus came, “we” lived according to the “elemental spiritual forces of this world,” sin, death, form, ritual, lusts and law that produce condemnation: Them Jesus came. By the time He had completed His work on this earth, everything had changed. We had been redeemed from “slavery” to those elemental forces and were set free, as though an earthly heir had reached the age of majority. Now, we have achieved “sonship” as God’s children, co-heirs with the Son to everything. We are the children of God, and as such we have inherited eternal life and co-dominion with Christ, and all of this is made possible by the fact that the old ways are now gone for good.  Yes, we are used to thinking about this in terms of our sins and guilt, but there is another dimension to it that Paul has been addressing for three chapters now that we, like some of the Galatians, often forget or overlook.  The very Law is also gone, for it has been made obsolete and useless, its time has passed.

Now, as you think about these things, it would be very easy to think of them in Jewish terms, for they were God’s chosen ones under the Law, but if you are thinking in Jewish terms, you’ve missed something profoundly important.  Paul isn’t writing to Jews in this letter, he is writing to the Galatians, and they were never Jewish, they were Gentiles. Think about that for a while; consider the theological ramifications of that fact…  There is no Jew, there is no Gentile…

That can only be true if the Law was buried with Christ in death’s tomb.

Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

Galatians 3:22-25

Having stated his case, Paul is now moving to the climax of his letter in this section that begins with 3:22 and continues through 4:7. You’ll see his tone change from frustration to concern as we go, but first, you’ll see the grandeur of what it means to be in Christ.

In these three verses, note that Paul is giving an explanation of the role that the Law played as a “guardian.”  That’s an interesting way to explain it, don’t you think? A “guardian” isn’t a permanent arrangement, for when the ‘child’ is grown, he or she moves into a new time in their lives.  When the time came, God sent Jesus to His people, and Jesus changed everything; their older “arrangement” was ended and a new one began in the form of a new covenant.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:26-29

Look at the result of this New Covenant−  Wow, how many old traditionalist teachings can you slay in one little passage?

Oh, sorry about that last bit…

Everything is new in Christ!  All of us are now children of God, not just the physical relations of Abraham.  Now that we have been baptized into Christ, we have been clothed with Christ.  We have been baptized into Christ, haven’t we…?  There is neither Jew nor Gentile… for the former “arrangements” that created the separation is gone. There is neither slave nor free, for that was also a huge divider of people; we are now one no matter what our station in earthly life might be.  Ready for this next one?  Are you sure about that…?

There is now no male and female, and don’t waste a moment of your time listening to the old-fashioned culture taught as though it was from the Bible, for it is not from the Bible. In God’s eyes, there is no particular distinction between the sexes, because we are one in Christ. “If you belong to Christ” comes next and is a conditional statement.  That is where the new dividing line is; some are “in Christ” and some are not.  That’s why we are called to reach out to those who are not, so that they can receive these awesome blessings… thus reaching out is an act of amazing love.  If we belong to Christ, then we are Abraham’s seed for the purpose of His Covenant promises.

Funny isn’t it, that some who belong to Christ still want to run back to the Law?

Let’s see where Paul takes it from here…