The lutheransermons's Podcast

Study of Galatians Part 14 - Galatians 5:7-12

 Last week, we heard Paul saying, so strongly and clearly, “You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace” (Galatians 5:4). (See again all of Galatians 5:1-6, too.) If we think that our salvation depends upon our keeping the laws of God well enough, then we are “obligated to keep the whole law,” and that is a command impossible for us to do (Galatians 5:3). Only Jesus could and did do what we cannot do, in our place, for our salvation. We have faith and trust in Him alone and His saving work.

Paul continued to emphasize these same ideas in Galatians 5:7. He pictured the Christian life as a kind of race. The Galatians had been “running well” in trusting Jesus. “Who,” literally, “cut in on you” and thus “hindered” you from following “the truth” in Jesus? Paul asked. He reminded the Galatians that these ideas about circumcision and other laws did not come from the Lord, Who had called them now to faith in Christ Jesus, through the Word of God, the Good News brought by Paul and others (Galatians 5:8).

In fact, Paul said, the ideas about the law were like “a little leaven that leavens the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9). “Leaven” is the yeast, the ingredient that makes bread rise, when one is baking. In the Old Testament, God was about to rescue His people from slavery in Egypt, and told them not to put yeast in their bread because they would not have time to wait around for their bread to rise, but would need to leave Egypt very quickly. Every year after, then, God’s people would celebrate “Passover” and eat only unleavened bread at that time. (See Exodus 12-13, and especially Exodus 12:39 and 13:6-9.)

In the New Testament, the Passover remembrance was no longer required, but replaced by Jesus with the miracle of Christ’s “Real Presence” in the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion) where unleavened bread is still used by many churches, following what Jesus did and taught. (See, for example, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.)

Also in the New Testament, the mention of “leaven” almost always refers to something bad or evil, that can have a evil influence. See, for example, Matthew 16:11-12, where Jesus warned, “Beware of the leaven of the of the Pharisees and Sadducees,” and His disciples realized that He was talking about the false “teachings” of these religious leaders. See also Paul’s quotation of the same passage in a different context, but with the same warning about “the leaven of malice and evil” instead of “sincerity and truth,” in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8. 

In Galatians 5:9, Paul was warning about the evil influence of the false teachings about all the legal requirements the Galatians still needed to fulfill. These requirements were pulling them away from Jesus Himself and His grace for them. Paul expressed “confidence in the Lord,” though, in Galatians 5:10, that the Galatians would finally listen to his “view” and not that of the most prominent false teacher.

Apparently, from what Paul added in Galatians  5:11, the false teachers were also claiming that Paul was deceiving the Galatians and actually still preached about the need for circumcision and following the old Jewish laws, at least at times. Paul denied that by asking the simple question: If I actually agree with these false teachers, why am I still being persecuted by them and by other Jewish leaders. Why are they so opposed to me? What really offended them, he said, was my preaching “of the cross” - the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross, as the promised Savior, the Messiah, to pay for all sins.

The Greek word for “offense” is the word from which we get the English word, “scandal.” It meant a “snare” or “trap” (Psalm 69:22) or something over which one could stumble and fall - a “stumbling block.” See 1 Corinthians 1:23, where Paul wrote, “We preach Christ crucified, a “stumbling block” to Jews (who, instead of being built on Jesus and trusting Him, are offended by Him and stumble over Him and reject Him as the Savior).

Read also Romans 9:31-10:4, where Paul quotes the Old Testament, describing the Promised Savior, Jesus, as “a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense.” Jesus is “Righteousness for everyone who believes” in Him; but too many people, including many Jews, rejected Him and tried to pursue laws and rules “that would lead to righteousness” and wanted to “establish their own” righteousness by their own goodness and obedience to laws. “Christ,” however, “is the end of the law” as a means of salvation, because no one can keep the law well enough all the time.

In Galatians 5:12, Paul spoke very strongly against those who were “unsettling” the Galatians by pulling them away from trust in Christ Jesus and His saving work on the cross and pushing them toward their own efforts to save themselves by being circumcised and trying to follow many other rules - a plan that would never work.

In fact, Paul said, probably with sarcasm, that he almost wished that those insisting on circumcising people, would emasculate, castrate, themselves in the process. He likely used such strong language because there was a pagan cult that originated in Galatia, where people who worshipped the false goddess Cybele would emasculate themselves. Ordinary Galatians would know of this cult and how senseless and useless such “mutilation of the flesh” really was. (See Philippians 3:2-3.)

Likewise, circumcision was worthless and useless, along with following other such rules, as a means to reach salvation. Trusting Christ and His cross and His mighty resurrection for them - that was enough.

We will stop here for today. Next week, we will hear about the proper place for trying to do good in our lives. If we have time, we will talk about how many churches and groups still today are pushing a salvation by works similar to what Paul was fighting against. Keep reading and studying the Word and hearing above all about “Christ crucified” for you and me.

Sermon for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost - September 4, 2022

Sermon for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Jeremiah 23:16-29

Hebrews 11:17-31, 12:1-3

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon originally delivered August 18, 2013

Preparing for Worship - September 4, 2022

The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 1, describing how blessed the person is who who walks, stands, and sits in his life in the way and Word of the Lord. He is like a healthy tree, nourished and watered by the Lord and producing fruit. In contrast are the wicked, who sin and scoff and are like worthless chaff and will not stand in the day of judgment.

In the Old Testament lesson, Deuteronomy 30:15-20, the Lord also set before His people the way of life and good, and the way of death and evil. God has already called His chosen people and commanded them to love Him and walk in His ways and His commandments. If their hearts turn away, though, and they are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, they shall surely perish. The way of life is rather in loving the Lord their God, obeying Him and His voice and holding fast to Him, for He is their life.

The Gospel lesson is from Luke 14:25-35. Jesus asks the crowds of people around Him to count the cost of following Him. He gives them “hard sayings” (John 6:60). Are they willing to “hate” everything else - in the sense of loving Jesus first and foremost, even it means “bearing crosses” on His behalf and renouncing all things and following Him to the “finish”? Are they willing to be “salt” (and “light”) to others and be “useful” for their Lord?

The Epistle lesson is a practical application of what the Gospel and other readings are talking about. Paul is in prison in Rome, suffering (bearing a cross) because he is a follower of Christ. Even there, he writes letters and is useful in encouraging fellow believers with the Word of God. He writes to Philemon, a Christian and a leader in the church in Colossi and sends back to him a runaway slave of his, Onesimus (whose name means “useful”) who has now become a Christian. Paul asks Philemon to treat Onesimus not as a slave, but as a “beloved brother” in Christ, and indirectly, is asking Philemon to consider freeing him and letting him return to Paul and the church in Rome, where he could be very “useful” for the Lord, in being spiritual “salt” and “light” to other people and “refresh people’s hearts in Christ.” What do you think Philemon did? What can you do to be “useful” as a Christian and be “salt” and “light’ to others? (See Matthew 5:13-16.)

Study of Galatians Part 13 - Galatians 5:1-6

Last week, we heard Paul using events from Genesis, a part of the Book of the Law, to explain that the family line of promise would run only through Abraham and Sarah’s son, Isaac, and not through a son, Ishmael, born against God’s will, through Abraham and Hagar. The coming Savior of the world, Jesus, would be a descendant only of Isaac, as God had promised (Galatians 4:21-31). The emphasis and hope are upon the promises of God and not upon the ability of people to follow and obey God’s laws.

See a similar emphasis in Hebrews 12:18-24, in the New Testament. The coming of the Old Testament Law and the Old Covenant was a fearful event, even though the Law was important (Hebrews 12:18-21). The coming of Jesus and the New Covenant was a joyful event, because it ultimately brought Jesus as the “Mediator” between God and man. Jesus shed His “sprinkled blood” on the cross to make payment for all our sins; and through His perfect life and death for us, we are counted “as the righteous made perfect” through Him, by faith in Him, according to the promises of God (Hebrews 12:22-24). (See the description of Jesus as the Mediator for us and for all, in 1 Timothy 2:1-6, as well.) Our own efforts to keep the Law are not part our being saved, as Paul has been emphasizing throughout his letter to the Galatians.    

Here is one more related comment on the idea of using an “allegory” (Galatians 4:23-26). This is the only example of the use of an “allegory” in the Scriptures, and Paul did this as the Holy Spirit inspired him to write this. Paul did not question the truth and reliability of the Old Testament events in Genesis and made only the application God intended, with support from other Scriptures.

Unfortunately, later interpreters of the Bible began to find all sorts of other “allegories” in the Old Testament and even in the New Testament and drifted far away from what the Scriptures actually taught. Parts of the Bible became more like Aesop’s fables. Stories, true or not in their view, simply became a way of making a point they wanted to make about our lives and what we should be doing. Many church leaders condemned this kind of use of allegorical interpretation, and conservative Lutheran churches have always been against this, too. So, be very cautious, when people start talking about other allegories in the Bible.    

Let’s go back, then, to Galatians 5:1, where Paul makes his application of all that he has been saying to the situation with the Galatians. He wrote, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore” in that truth, “and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Paul was talking, as the Scriptures do in many other places, about the freedom from the condemnation that our sins and failures bring to us.

See, for example, John 8:31-36. Jesus said, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). Everyone, including Jews and us, are slaves of sins on our own, and cannot free ourselves. We can only be free from the condemnation of sin if Jesus, the Son of God, forgives us and sets us free, by His saving work. (John 8:31-36).

See also Romans 8:1-4. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Paul said this earlier in Galatians 3:10-14. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” taking the curse of sin upon Himself and giving us the blessings promised to Abraham, so long ago (Galatians 3:13-14).

All this is accomplished for us already through Jesus, and we are blessed with these gifts as we are simply brought to faith in Jesus and continue to trust in Him, through God’s Holy Spirit. What Paul did not want is that the Galatians would believe the false teaching that they needed to do additional things themselves to be saved - especially to be circumcised. For then they would be slaves again to many more laws and rule of the Old Covenant and new rules that Jews had made up for themselves.

Paul said it very bluntly in Galatians 5:2-4, “If you accept circumcision” as a necessary act on your part for salvation, then “Christ will be of no advantage to you.” For then you would be “obligated to keep the whole law” and “are severed from Christ” and “have fallen away from grace” - the grace of God that can never be earned by our efforts. In effect, you would be saying to Jesus, “You have not done enough to save me, Jesus. I must get circumcised and do many, many other things to earn or merit salvation for myself. Then I will be truly saved, by my additional efforts in obeying these laws.”

Paul already warned about this in Galatians 2:21. He did not want to “nullify the grace of God” by saying that Jesus had failed to do what he needed to do to save us. “For if righteousness were through (our keeping of) the law” - through circumcision and all sorts of other laws and rules - “then Christ died for no purpose.”

We would be saying that Jesus did not do enough for us. We would be saying that we have to add to what He did and thus help pay for our sins ourselves. Then, we would be trusting Jesus, plus ourselves and our efforts for salvation - and what we do would be the crucial part of our ultimate salvation. And we would always be wondering, “Have I done enough? What if I have missed some things? What more must I do?” And we would be left with uncertainty about whether we really are saved or not.    

This is the opposite of what the Scriptures say regarding our salvation. Read John 3:16-18. Listen to Ephesians 2:1-10. Note that there is not a word about our efforts contributing to our salvation by our keeping all of God’s laws. Good works are mentioned in Ephesians 2:10, but they are a response to God’s already completed saving work, and we will talk about that in weeks to come.

We can be certain about our salvation and eternal future - not based on our efforts, but entirely upon Jesus and His saving work for us. Read 1 John 5:11-13. Finally, read Galatians 5:5-6. Through the working of God’s Holy Spirit, we live “by faith” in Jesus and “eagerly wait” for the fulfillment of all God’s promises in Him (Galatians 5:5).     

If we are in Christ, by faith and His love, it does not matter whether we are circumcised or not (Galatians 5:6). It is Christ who makes the difference for us. Paul is not saying that if baby boys are circumcised for hygienic purposes that they are cut off from Christ. Paul had been circumcised as an infant himself, while he still followed Judaism. Paul had even encouraged a Gentile, Timothy, to be circumcised, simply because it would be easier for him to be accepted and get a fair hearing when he witnessed to Jewish people (Acts 16:1-5). In none of these cases, though, were people required to be circumcised for their personal salvation; nor was it ever taught that people must be circumcised or to follow other such rules in order to be earn or complete their salvation.      

This is the key. Christ has already done enough to save us, as we simply trust in Him. We do not need to add anything to what He has done or do further works to earn our salvation. We have certainty, not in ourselves and our efforts in any way, but in Christ Jesus our Savior alone. Read Romans 3:21-24 and 27-28, in closing.

Sermon for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost - August 28, 2022

Sermon for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Genesis 15:1-6

Hebrews 11:1-6 

Luke 12:22-34

Sermon originally delivered August 11, 2013

Preparing for Worship - August 28, 2022

The readings this week cover many topics, but we notice often a call for humility before God and with one another. In the very short Psalm, Psalm 131, David seeks to be humble before the Lord, not with a haughty heart and eyes. Though he is king, he does not focus on things “too great or marvelous for him,” but hopes in the Lord always, and calls us to do the same. A nursing child can be very fussy, but David seeks the Lord’s help to be like a “weaned child,” calmed and quieted” in his soul.

The Old Testament lesson is from Proverbs 25:2-10. Proverbs give us wise advice.  We are encouraged to be humble before a king or other “great” people and especially before God, who keeps many things “concealed” that we would never fully understand. We are better off, when there is trouble, first to deal with others, one-to-one, and care about them and not reveal their secrets in a public way, as Jesus also teaches in Matthew 18:15-18.

The Epistle lesson, Hebrews 13:1-17, also gives us much advice about living with “brotherly love” toward others, in the various situations we face in life, and with care for the needy, too. The Lord will be our “Helper” and “will not leave or forsake us.” We are to respect our spiritual leaders, and they are reminded to speak the Word of God to us and “strengthen us with God’s grace” and “watch over our souls.” Above all, we are to remember Jesus Christ, who is “the same, yesterday and today and forever,” and who suffered and died for us, that we might have our sins forgiven “through His own blood.” We “continually praise His Name,” as we await the eternal “city that is to come” in heaven.

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 14:1-14, Jesus shows mercy to a man who is ill and heals him in his time of need, even though it is the Sabbath Day. The Pharisees want to condemn Him for breaking their legalistic rules about the Sabbath, but they remain silent, knowing that they do not always follow their own rules. Jesus also taught a parable about being humble and not always pushing for a place of honor. “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” God is the one who finally humbles and exalts, in His own wisdom. Jesus teaches about doing good also to those who “cannot repay you,” like the “poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” God calls all people to faith in Him and cares about all.

Study of Galatians Part 12 - Galatians 4:21-5:1

Last week, we heard of Paul’s very personal concern for the Galatian Christians. The Lord had opened their hearts to believe in the Good News of Jesus as Savior and to being so kind and helpful to Paul, even with the bodily ailment he had. Paul was very concerned, though, that people had quickly turned to “a different Gospel” (Galatians 1:6-7) which was enslaving them in trying to follow laws and regulations from which Christ Jesus had freed them and making them think they must follow these rules in order to have salvation (Galatians 4:8-20).

Paul went on to challenge the Galatians by asking them if they had really ever “listened to the law,” and if they really wanted to be slaves under that law (Galatians 4:21). Paul took the Galatians to what had been written in Genesis 16, 17:15-21, 18:9-15, and 21:1-21. (Remember that for the Jews, Moses was the great lawgiver and that his five books at the beginning of the Old Testament were the most important parts and the summary and essence of all the rest of the Jewish Scriptures, the Old Testament. So, Paul was taking an important part of what Moses had written, as inspired by God, and asking the Galatians to look at that.)

Turn to Genesis 16. We find out that Abraham and his wife, Sarah, as good and faithful to God as they were, were at times not so good and so faithful. God had clearly promised Abraham a son of his own in Genesis 12 and 15, but Abraham and Sarah became tired of waiting upon God. Sarah told Abraham to go to her Egyptian servant, Hagar, and have a child by her. Abraham did so, and a child, Ishmael, was born.

This was clearly against God’s plan of one man and one woman in a lifelong commitment of marriage. It was clearly also Abraham and Sarah taking things into their own hands instead of trusting God and His plans. Trouble then began right away when they sinned, as Hagar had contempt for Sarah for being barren, and Sarah treated her very harshly in return, and she tried to run away. There was trouble between Abraham and Sarah over all this too (Genesis 16:1-6).

The angel of the Lord sent Hagar back to Sarah and said that her son, Ishmael, would have many of his own descendants; but he would be “a wild donkey of a man,” and many conflicts would follow. Ishmael laughed in contempt of Isaac when he was born, too (Genesis 16:9-15, 21:9). (This trouble did happen, as the Arab nations trace themselves back to Ishmael; and Mohammed said in the Koran that Ishmael was the true child God had spoken of, and that Mohammed was his descendant and the true prophet of God. What conflict there has been, since, between Jews and Arabs, and between Islam and Christianity and others.)

This passage and others (see Genesis 12:10-20, for example) indicate that Abraham was not acceptable to God because he followed the will of God well enough. He failed miserably, at times. He could only be “counted righteous” by faith in God’s mercy and forgiveness and the ultimate Child of Promise, Jesus, and what He would come and do for him and for the world.

Remember how Paul had earlier quoted also from the Book of the Law, Deuteronomy 27:26, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” That would include Abraham (and you and me, too, as being under a curse, for we are all imperfect sinners). So Paul said, “now it is evident that no one is justified before God by keeping the law” (Galatians 3:10-11). Help could only come through Christ and what He did for us all.

Yet as we read on in Genesis 17:15-21, and Genesis 18:10-15, both Abraham and Sarah laughed when some years later God came again and promised that they would have a son, Isaac, born of the two of them, who would be the child promised, the child of the covenant. Abraham still wanted to bring up the birth of Ishmael: “Abraham said to God, ‘Oh that Ishmael might live before you!’” But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him” (Genesis 17:18-19). Then, in Genesis 21:8-20, Hagar and Ishmael were sent away. God protected them and Ishmael married an Egyptian, but he was not the child of promise.

Go back now to Galatians 4:22-23. Paul summarizes these events in this way: “It is written (in the law of God) that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh” (by the human will and choice of Sarah and Abraham and Hagar) “while the son of the free woman was born through promise” ( by Abraham and Sarah, but through the promise and miracle of God).

Then we have a word that is used only here in the whole Bible: “Now this may be interpreted“ ‘allegorically’” (Galatians 4:24). This is a literal rendering of the actual Greek word. It is a combination of two Greek words: “allos,” which means “other,” and the word “agoreuo,” which means “to speak in a place of public assembly,” an “agora,” a marketplace. What Paul was saying is something “other” than what the literal words say, but with an application that “corresponds with,” is in line with them (Galatians 4:25) and does not change the literal meaning. 

The two women represent or typify two covenants. The slave woman, Hagar, represented the old covenant of Mount Sinai, which imposed the Law upon people and kept them enslaved to that law, “imprisoned” and “under a guardian,” as Paul had said earlier (Galatians 3:22-24, 4:24-25).

The city of Jerusalem at the time of Paul was wrapped up in that slavery to the many laws and rules of Judaism. The city was focused on human effort and activity, like the human effort that produced Ishmael. Paul knew and lived in that slavery himself, until he was set free by Christ.

In contrast, the child of Sarah, Isaac, came through the promises and working of God. This represents the “Jerusalem above,” the freedom of those who are children of God, not by their own efforts, but by the working of God Himself, who are “born according to the Spirit of God” (Galatians 4:23,26,28.29). It is the children of the free woman who will inherit the promises of God - those who live in the freedom and love of Christ the Savior. The children of the slave woman will lose out, because they are still living in slavery to themselves and their own attempts to earn God’s favor by their works (Galatians 4:30, 31, and 5:1).

Paul added two more thoughts. He quoted an Old Testament passage, Isaiah 54:1, which predicted the fall of Jerusalem in future days. God’s people would look like barren Sarah at that time, waiting for deliverance. As Sarah was finally blessed with a child, so God’s people would be blessed through the promises of God and be free people again, by God’s work and mercy. There would be times of persecution where the Jews of old Jerusalem and the law would persecute the free children of God, in Christ, “as it is now,” Paul added (Galatians 4:27-29). But Christ has set us free, and we will be free and hopeful people, in Him, as He helps us avoid the “yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

This is a long, hard presentation in just a few verses. We’ll have a few more comments next week and then move on to Galatians 5, where Paul emphasizes again how important what he is saying really is for us all.

Sermon for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost - August 21, 2022

Sermon for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:

Ezekiel 36:25-27

Colossians 2:6-9, 12-14, 16-19

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon originally delivered August 4, 2013

Preparing for Worship - August 21, 2022

The Psalm is Psalm 50, written by Asaph, a Levite working with music and song before the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem. Asaph is inspired to speak of God the Lord summoning His people for judgment. There are “faithful ones.” But He will not accept the offerings of others, who think they are earning God’s favor by what they do for God. He does not need their animal sacrifices, as He is the owner of all things. Rather, He wishes that they “glorify Him” and offer “sacrifices of thanksgiving” in gratefulness for God’s “deliverance” of them in times of trouble, when they call upon Him” in faith.

The Old Testament lesson is Isaiah 66:18-23. God predicts a time when “His glory will be declared among the nations,” and people will come in faith to Him from “all nations,” no matter their “languages.” This will be the greatest “offering” to Him, as they worship Him forever in “the new heavens and the new earth that He makes for them.” (See the fulfillment of prophecy like this in Revelation 21:1-8.)

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 13:22-30, someone asks Jesus, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” Jesus simply says that the important thing is “to enter through the narrow door.” There are not many roads and doors that lead to heaven. In another place Jesus said, “I am the door of the sheep… I am the door. If anyone enters by me he will be saved” (John 10:7,9). Jesus also said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Many people will lose out because they do not trust in Jesus and they wait too long to come to faith, until the door is already shut. Sadly, Jesus predicts that many of His fellow Jews will resist and reject Jesus as the Savior. On the other hand, many people from every direction, from all over the world, will come to faith in Jesus.

The Epistle lesson is from Hebrews 12:4-24 (25-29), written at a time when persecution of Christians was increasing and temptations to leave behind the faith were many. As a father needs to discipline his children at times, so the Lord needs to discipline us, “for our good,” and to help us, so that we can “lift our drooping hands and strengthen our weak knees” and follow in the way of “the grace of God” in Christ. We are not motivated by fearful sights and sounds and Words of Law, as at Mount Sinai long ago. Rather, we are motivated by the hope of “the heavenly Jerusalem” through the saving work of “Jesus, the Mediator of a New Covenant,” and “the sprinkled blood” of Jesus, shed at the cross, that speaks of God’s love and forgiveness. We may be “shaken” by trials in this life, but we keep listening to our Lord and “are grateful for receiving an (eternal) kingdom that cannot be shaken” and “keep worshiping our Lord Jesus with reverence and awe.”

Study of Galatians Part 11 - Galatians 4:8-20

Last week, we heard Paul saying again that God’s Law has important functions, but that we can never be saved by trying to do what it says well enough. That is an impossible task, except for Jesus, who did it all perfectly in our place. Now, no matter who we are, we can be “Abraham’s (spiritual) offspring, heirs” of eternal life, and “sons,” children of God, “through God” and “by faith” in what he has done for us through the saving work of His Son, Jesus Christ. All this is ours, personally, “through faith” that God gives us, through His Word and promises and the gift of baptism (Galatians 3:23-4:7).

Beginning with Galatians 4:8, Paul reminded the Galatians of what they had been before they “came to know God.” They had been “enslaved” to false ideas and to what are “not gods,” though they thought they were gods. (Read, for example, Acts 14:6-18, where Paul had earlier gone to Lystra, in Galatia, and had preached the “Gospel” of Jesus and also healed a man “crippled from birth.” The people were so amazed that they thought Barnabas was the god, Zeus, and Paul was the god, Hermes, as “the chief speaker.” Even the “priest of Zeus” wanted to offer sacrifices to them, as gods. Paul had to try to convince them that he was an ordinary man, but was proclaiming the One True "living God who made all things.”)

In Galatians 4:9, Paul reminded the Galatians of how they “had come to know God” - or as Paul said, “rather, to be known by God.” (See how Paul says something similar in 1 Corinthians 8:2-3 and in 1 Corinthians 13:12.) He is emphasizing that the Galatians had come to true faith in Jesus; but that did not happen by their own work or effort. God Himself had known them and loved them and brought them to that faith in Him, by His grace.

Skip ahead to Galatians 4:12-15. Paul also reminded the Galatians of how open and kind and helpful they had been in accepting him and his good news in Christ, even though he had “a bodily ailment” when he was “preaching the Gospel to them at first.” We don’t know exactly what this bodily ailment was. Some think that Paul had malaria and needed time to recuperate in the better climate of Galatia and so came there to preach, even in his weakness.  Others think that Paul had eye problems and that is why Galatians 4:15 says that the people would have been willing, if it were possible and would help, to gouge their eyes out and give them to Paul to use. Still others point to Acts 14:15-23, where Paul was stoned and left for dead by crowds stirred up by Jewish enemies of Paul. It was surely a miracle that Paul could still get up and go on with his ministry in Galatia, though he must have looked very bruised and beaten. He was a living example of what he was preaching, “encouraging the people to continue in the faith” in Jesus, even though there might be “many tribulations” in their lives before “entering the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:20-22).

Whatever the situation, Paul writes to the Galatians in Galatians 4:14, “Though my condition was a trial for you, you did not scorn or despise me, but you received me as an angel of God,” as His messenger, almost as if Christ Jesus Himself was speaking to them. The people had “felt so blessed” to hear this Good News of salvation earned by Jesus and given to them by God’s grace through faith.

Because of all this, Paul was surprised and “perplexed” (Galatians 4:20) that the Galatians had so quickly listened to the false teachers who came by. These teachers were clever, as “they made much of” the Galatians and must have flattered them, but “for no good purpose” (Galatians 4:17). They were offering new ideas, but actually taking away the Galatians’ freedom and hope in Christ alone and enslaving them in another way, not a slavery to unreal Greek and Roman gods, but slavery to worldly Jewish rules and regulations which the Judaizers, the false teachers, said they must follow if they really wanted to be saved (Galatians 4:9).

Paul knew exactly what this meant, because he had been enslaved to these sorts of Jewish laws and rules himself, before he became a Christian. Circumcision was absolutely required for all males. The Sabbath Day, sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, had to be followed strictly, with no work allowed and many other limitations. Festivals like Passover and the Day of Atonement had to be followed. There were years like the year of Jubilee and on and on.

That is what Paul was referring to when he said, “You observe days and months and seasons and years” (Galatians 4:10). He said to the Galatians, “Brothers, I entreat you, became as I am” - free from all these rules and regulations as a necessary means for obtaining salvation (Galatians 4:12). Paul had Christ Jesus as His Savior, and that was enough.

Paul was afraid that he might have “labored over the Galatians in vain.” That is why he had to tell the Galatians “the truth” again and again in this letter, even if he seemed like an “enemy” of some.  (Galatians 4:11-14).. Christ Jesus’ completed work was enough for salvation. Paul wanted the Galatians to be sure about that key truth again. He knew that only God could bring faith and new life to people, so that they become “His little children.”

But Paul also wished that he could be an instrument by which “Christ might be formed" more strongly in the Galatians and in other people, too (Galatians 4:19). That would happen by God’s Word and promises, centered in Jesus, though, and not by Jewish rules and regulations.

Next week, we will hear of another example of the difference between Gospel promises and Jewish law; and we will think about what an “allegory” really is. The Lord’s continued blessings.