Following Directions - Gospel Freedom in Galatians - November 10 Readings: Galatians 4:21-27

 

Gospel Freedom in Galatians  

Background: What was the key issue in the early church? Race. Culture. Issues that are still with us today. The church at its inception on Pentecost was essentially 100% Jewish and the Apostles and the church in Jerusalem seemed content to keep it that way. Then God called a Pharisee named Saul to salvation and set him aside as an Apostle to the Gentiles. Over the next 30 years, the church became primarily Gentile with a Jewish minority, and many Jews fought it. 

Galatians was Paul's first letter, written at the end of his first missionary journey when Gentiles began to come to Christ in droves. A group, sometimes called Judaizers and sometimes the circumcision party, opposed the inclusion of Gentiles in the church. If they were to be part of the church, they needed to become Jewish - follow the law and Jewish rituals. Paul fought them tooth and nail his entire ministry. The gospel was for the whole world. 

Galatians is a powerful argument for a gospel free from the works of the law. 

As often as time allows, the reader is encouraged to read the entire book - it will not take more than a few minutes. Each day we will work our way through the book passage by passage. 

Today's Reading:  Galatians 1-6  Focus Passage - Galatians 4:21-27

Tell me, you who want to be under the law, don’t you hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman. 23 But the one by the slave was born as a result of the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born through promise. 24 These things are being taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery—this is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,

 

Rejoice, childless woman,

unable to give birth.

Burst into song and shout,

you who are not in labor,

for the children of the desolate woman will be many,

more numerous than those

of the woman who has a husband.

Through the Bible Readings: Ezekiel 27-28, Hebrews 1–2, Psalm 119:161–168, Proverbs27:17–18 

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Devotional: Following Directions   

I have a pretty good sense of direction - at least I flatter myself that I do - but I hate when I take a wrong turn.  There is something deep inside me that reacts viscerally to having to backtrack or detour or recalculate a new route. Even when I think I know the way I often use my GPS to keep me on track. 

While Paul certainly didn't know GPS and likely had little experience with maps, he was concerned that the Galatians did not understand the directions God was giving in the Old Testament. He continued to challenge those who were returning from faith in Christ to dependence on the flesh and the power of the Law. Here, in verse 21, he asks whether those who wanted to be under the law had actually heard what the law was saying. There is a direction and flow in the Bible, and they were missing it. 

He uses the two children of Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac, as illustrations of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. As Ishmael came first, so did the Old Covenant (testament is a synonym of covenant). Isaac came next, as did the New Covenant. Ishmael's birth was accomplished by human wisdom and the power of the flesh, symbolic of the works of the flesh and the deeds of the law. Isaac's birth was accomplished by God's power, as the New Covenant is accomplished completely by the work of Christ. Ishmael came through a slave woman and leads to slavery while Isaac was the child of promise. 

The point of all this? God gave directions to his people. Yes, they had to go to Mt. Sinai, but they didn't stay there. They left and went to Jerusalem, to the Promised Land.  The Old Covenant was not the end all and be all of God's revelation, but a waypoint on the path to God's final revelation - Jesus Christ. He is the fullness of God and in him is all we need. 

Heading from the New Covenant back to the Old is the wrong direction. The Old Testament pointed to Christ and showed us the way to him. Christ is not the guide to the law, the law is the guide to bring us to Christ. He is the fulfillment of Old Testament truth, the culmination of all that it teaches. Paul looked at those who were leaving Christ to go back to Judaism, back to the law, back to the works of the flesh, and said, "You took a wrong turn, fellas." 

Father, help me to stay on the right road, the path of Christ, relying on him for my salvation and for the power to live the Christian life every day. 

Think and Pray:

Are you living under the grace of God every day? 

Are you following the directions of the Old Testament to look to Christ?