Galatians: Which race?

“Can I play with you?” Billy asked the group of children at the park.

“Sure! Here are the rules.” Susie spent the next five minutes going over the game kids were playing. Billy’s eyes glazed over and he wandered off to check out the circle slide.

Even children surround themselves with regulations.

But Paul had some other ideas:

“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.”[1]

We could summarize the book of Galatians with this verse. Paul is pleading with his readers to reject the slavery of rules and embrace the freedom Christ intended for his own.

In this chapter, Paul is working up to impassioned proclamation. In verse 5, he reminds his reader that trusting in rules separates us from Christ.

“The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”[2]

But we trust regulations, don’t we? We want to have a share in our own salvation, to contribute to our redemption. Somehow, regulations are easier than relationships. We want to show that we are worth saving.

Relationships mean we have to trust others while rules mean we trust the rules.

But freedom comes in relationship, not in rules. We are not worthy of saving on our own. We need relationship with Christ, not a pack of rules to provide how admirable we really are in obeying laws.

Paul begged his new Galatian churches to grip their new freedom. “You, my brothers, were called to be free.”[3]

Journal about these questions:

Read Gal. 5. How would Paul define freedom?

What did the “yoke of slavery” (v 1) look like for you?

Where are you in the “race” that Paul describes in v. 7? Are you running in freedom or trusting in rules?

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[1] Gal 5:1

[2] Gal 5:6

[3] Gal 5:13

Galatians: the birthright

Nick thought he was a slave at age 14, forced to work weekends and summers in his father’s small business. He learned skills he didn’t want to know, sweating when he wanted to play. He left for college glad to be free.

But a few years later, his father offered him a partnership in the business. This time it was his choice, and he returned to a position that now offered some financial security and great opportunity.

There’s a difference between a servant and son. Nick was always a son but saw himself as a teenage servant for awhile, with no choices and no opportunities.

In Galatians 4:1-20, Paul questioned why the Galatian Christians would shuck their birthright for a servant situation.

“…before you knew God personally, you were enslaved to so-called gods…,”[1] Paul declared.

But now, he continued, you are choosing to go back into slavery. Those who offer only a pack of rules and traditions are luring you to become servants.

Why would these false teachers do that?

Paul explained: “They want to shut you out of the free world of God's grace so that you will always depend on them for approval and direction, making them feel important.”[2]

Paul pleaded with the people to remember their position as children, not slaves. “If you are a child, you're also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.”[3]

Consider these questions in your journal:

Have you seen situations where people return to the comfort of servanthood?

What does Paul see as the advantages of a child of God, as opposed to a servant?

Have you ever struggled with the lure of rules and traditions? What would Paul say to you?

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[1] Gal 4:8

[2] Gal 4:17

[3] Gal 4:7

Galatians: Grafted in

Once in Arizona I saw a tree growing oranges, grapefruit and lemons. How did that work? You can’t grow one of those orange-grapefruit-lemon trees from seed. Someone had grafted grapefruit and lemon branches onto an orange tree.

Grafting is an amazing way to give new life and Paul used that imagery in the third chapter of Galatians.

Galatians were grafting in the wrong teachings and Paul challenged them. Because they were considering a return to Jewish law, Paul gave them correct Jewish teaching in this chapter.

God made promises to Abraham that still apply to Abraham’s offspring. Followers of Jesus are grafted in, like a new limb onto a tree, and made part of God’s contract with Abraham. The law had not yet been given when that first happened, yet Abraham received God’s blessing – not because he kept the law but because he believed God.

The law came later, with Moses. When the law was given, we were all put in jail until Christ paid the price for us. When the law code was published, lawbreaking became clear. No one had an excuse now. We were guilty by the law.

Jesus died in our place so that the promises made to Abraham are also available to us. We receive the blessing of God as an inheritance, not because of our efforts but because of God’s grace.

Paul wrote to the Galatians to remind them that they did not need to earn God’s grace through following the law. In choosing to follow Jesus, they were grafted in to the tree of life. They were declared children of Abraham and therefore heirs of the promise.

Consider journaling on these questions:

Are you an heir of God’s promises? Why has God allowed you to enjoy blessings? What are examples of God’s grace?

Reincarnation license?

Maybe you thought the San Francisco city council was the ultimate government nanny but you’d be wrong in that. Check out the Chinese, who have now decided that no Buddhist monk can return from the dead by way of reincarnation, except with government approval.

I can’t make this up. Something about "giving to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" comes to mind here....

Ben Witherington has a brilliant analysis. Take a look.

Guarding the temple

Jack’s background didn’t hinder him much anymore because he’d found God. Well, it wasn’t an awful background anyway because he’d found God as a boy and really hadn’t done much wrong before that. You know, kids will be kids.

He’d gone through the ranks at his church. He’d written a spiritual resume once, just out of curiosity. He had done nearly every job in the church and knew his spiritual gifts, because he’d done the questionnaire in Sunday school.

His witnessing plan was to let his light shine. He had no moral issues. His youthful longings were behind him now. He didn’t even speed, so that his values could witness to the state patrol as he drove by.

When the committee was formed to clarify worship rules, Jack was there. He did not want to sanctuary desecrated. The rules – er, guidelines – were printed in the bulletin so there would be no misunderstandings.

· No loud noises in the sanctuary.

· No food or drinks. (He scowled when his daughter Sarah asked whether communion counted or not.)

· No magazine reading during the sermon.

· Babies crying longer than 45 seconds needed to be taken out.

· No talking during the hymns.

· The offering must be in an envelope, to preserve privacy.

· Kids must not be in the sanctuary without an adult present.

· Adults were defined as over 21.

· Teenagers must not question their fathers on bulletin rules.

Actually, Jack didn’t put that last one in but Sarah kept pestering him about the biblical basis for his rules, er, guidelines - and he didn’t have time to look up any verses. He was busy crafting the rules – er, guidelines. Besides, he didn’t know where to look. What, Leviticus?

Jack was frustrated when attendance at church began to slide. What was with people’s priorities anyway? You have to make sacrifices. He had, after all.

Sarah had come back from a youth conference and asked him how close he felt to God. He e-mailed her his church resume to illustrate. When she asked him the last time he’d talked to an unbeliever, he sent her the bulletin rules – er, guidelines. She just didn’t get it. Neither did unbelievers, for that matter. Once they got their priorities right, they’d be in church and needed those rules – er, guidelines.

A Pharisee: devout, moral, value-centered, above and beyond the law.

John Newton said, “The closer you get to God, the harder you are on yourself and easy on other people. The farther you are from God, the easier you are on self and harder on others.”

Jesus told a parable about “some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.” (Luke 18:9)

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Luke 18:14