Category: Uncategorized

Galatians 5:16-26 ESV
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Today’s text is one of the most popular from the book of Galatians. Portions of it are probably read and preached more than any other in the book. But I am glad I did not decide just to jump into this text. I’m glad we have been hanging out in the whole book of Galatians for the past five months. Along the way we have discovered the historical and cultural context in which these words were first applied.

This context is going to help us see more clearly what Paul is saying, and to whom and how it applied in the first century. That knowledge will also help us put the text in practice here in the 21st century.

In summary, that context is this: Paul had been responsible for planting the churches of the Galatian region of the Roman province of Asia Minor. After he went on to plant more churches elsewhere, some false teachers came into those churches and promoted a new way of looking at Christianity. Paul called those false teachers “troublers” and that is exactly what they did – they caused trouble.

They taught that once you come to Christ by faith you then need to add something called “the works of the law” to that faith. Apparently the “works of the law” included circumcision, Jewish dietary restrictions, and strict obedience to the Mosaic laws as interpreted by these teachers.

So let me now venture a definition of the Galatian heresy based on what we have seen so far in Paul’s letter. It appears that the troublers were certain that anyone coming to Christ by faith were going to need some extra help living the life they have committed themselves to. So, they offer this advice: “if you want to live the Christian life, and please God, and succeed at being a believer, you need to add these “works of the law.” They are the secret ingredient that will help you produce the godly character you know God expects.

If you go to the average Christian bookstore you will find lots of books that claim to have the secret of living the Christian life. It is something we all want. That real desire in Christians is something the troublers were exploiting.

But there was a problem with that philosophy. It wasn’t working. It is apparent from verse 26 that the Galatian heresy was producing a bunch of people who could not even get along with each other, much less witness to their neighbours about Christ. The ones who seemed to be following the works of the law were becoming conceited about it. Proverbs 16:18 says “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

The ones who didn’t have their act together envied those who looked like they did, and everybody was making everyone else miserable. You didn’t want to plan your next conference at Galatia. It was not the place anyone wanted to be.

So what went wrong: Paul had another word he used for the “works of the law” He calls them “the works of the flesh” (19). And he says in Galatians 5:17 “the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other (NIV says they are in conflict with each other), to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

So he was telling them that there was a war going on inside of them. Every time they decided to do something good in their own power, their sinful nature turned it into something evil. Every Christian has this war going on inside him.

So, no matter who you are, whether you are saved or not, whether you have been raised in a Christian home or not, whether you are home schooled or not, whether you went to Bible college or not… If you are trying to live the Christian life in your own strength you are going to produce the works of the flesh (19-21).

This is serious, because the only way the world is going to know that we Christians have found the Answer in Christ is that we manifest the fruit of the Spirit. If we are operating out of the flesh, we will produce what the flesh produces. That is not a good résumé.

The solution is what Paul commanded the Galatians to do here. If you remember from last week, Paul had told the Galatians that they were on self-destruct mode. He said “But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.” The NIV translates this well, because it picks up the continuous aspect: “If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”

So Paul’s solution (in verse 16) is for them to walk by the Spirit. That means letting the Holy Spirit be the controlling power in their motivations, and the deciding influence in their actions. That is being led by the Spirit (18), which is passive.

It being passive makes it harder for us because it involves letting the Holy Spirit take control and do what God wants to do in our lives, not what we want to do, and it means doing what God wants to do in his way, not our way.

But that is the only way we are going to produce the Spirit’s fruit, instead of our own fruit. Jesus said “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8). He also said “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (15:5 ).

That reinforces the idea that Paul is getting across to the Galatians. Fruit bearing is passive: God wants to grow the fruit on us.

The zillion dollar question is “how?” How do we stop operating out of the flesh, and passively allow God to change us so that we manifest the fruit of the spirit instead of the works of the flesh? We have to understand that the Christian life is just that. It is a life, not just a decision. Lots of people make a decision to invite Christ into their lives and then never cultivate that life. They keep on living out of the flesh; they never walk by the Spirit. Those people are not saved, because their decision for Christ was not a repentance.

True repentance is what Paul described here, and the reason why the Galatians were having the problems that they were having is that they had missed true repentance. In verse 24 he says “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Paul had experienced that true repentance. He said in Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” That’s the kind of life he is calling on the Galatians to live.

But again, the question is “how?” Once we have truly repented of living life our way, and submitted to the Holy Spirit, how do we know that the desires and passions we now have are coming from the Holy Spirit, and not our flesh?

One clue is the question Paul asked in Galatians 3:5 “Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?” Here Paul reveals how God chooses to work. Through his word he motivates us to do his will. But how is that different than what the Judaizers were saying? The difference is the one who initiates the change.

LORD, we want to know more about how to live the life where the Holy Spirit has control, and produces the fruit of the Spirit. Teach us how to live lives that have been crucified, surrendered completely to your will and your control. Teach us to hear your word and respond to it in faith. Forgive us for trying to live the Christian life in our own strength, under our own power, and by our own planning. Use us Oh Lord. Bear fruit from our branches. In the name of Jesus, who is the Vine. Amen

Galatians 5:1-15 ESV

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. 7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! 13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

We have been examining the book of Galatians for several months now. Today we begin the fifth month, and the fifth chapter. Paul was very angry when he wrote Galatians. He was angry because he had planted the churches in the Galatian region by preaching the gospel of grace, and, after he left, some troublers came into those churches and started preaching a different gospel.

The troublers considered their teaching sort of a “gospel plus.” But Paul recognized that it was a “gospel minus.” They considered their teaching a way of taking Christianity to the next level, but Paul considered it a rejection of the gospel, and a return to a yoke of slavery.

Up until this point Paul has been expressing his exasperation with the Galatians for having been deceived and going along with this substitute gospel. And he has been arguing the case against the Judaizer heresy by showing that it opposes what he taught them, and it doesn’t fit with what the Bible says about salvation – Old Testament or New.

Up until this point Paul hasn’t been making many demands, but that changes here. In the space of one verse he gives two commands (a positive one and a negative one). It is as if he is saying, “alright now, it’s time for you to make your choice.” The Gospel forces us to make a choice.

But he doesn’t want to leave it at that, because he’s afraid that the Galatians would make the wrong choice. He has to convince them that if he is right, and salvation is by grace alone, then there is no other option. Choosing to go along with the Judaizers is choosing to be lost, not saved at all. There is no such thing as a legalistic Christian.

So what Paul does in this section of chapter 5 is put the two choices on the board, so to speak. He compares them so that the Galatians can actually see what they are choosing. In verse 1 he says it’s a choice between freedom and slavery. In verse 2 the choice is Christ or circumcision. In verse 4 the choice is grace or law.

In verse 7 he says it’s a choice between keeping on running and being hindered. False doctrine had created a stumbling block which prevented the Galatians from living the Christian life.

In verse 9 the choice is purity or contamination. Paul says some leaven has gotten into their lump, and it has contaminated the whole thing.

In verse 11 the choice has affected how they see the cross of Christ. If it is the only means of getting right with God, it is an honour. But if I can do something to gain merit for myself or redeem myself, the cross is an offense.

What is the means of sanctification? It is either the Holy Spirit (v.5), or the Flesh (v.13).

In verse 7 he says it’s a choice between keeping on running and being hindered. False doctrine had created a stumbling block which prevented the Galatians from living the Christian life.

In verse 9 the choice is purity or contamination. Paul says some leaven has gotten into their lump, and it has contaminated the whole thing.

In verse 11 the choice has affected how they see the cross of Christ. If it is the only means of getting right with God, it is an honour. But if I can do something to gain merit for myself or redeem myself, the cross is an offense.

What is the means of sanctification? It is either the Holy Spirit (v.5), or the Flesh (v.13).

What are the results of submitting to slavery. We can see that in what Paul said about the Galatians here.

First, slavery leads to disorder. Paul said that the troublers had unsettled the Galatians (12).

Second, slavery is defection. Paul said that the Galatians had fallen from grace (4). They had professed faith, but failed to persevere in it.

Third, slavery leads to disobedience. The Galatians were no longer obeying the truth (7). Ironically, when you choose to make obedience the basis of your “Christian” life, you can no longer obey God. The basis of the Christian life is faith.
Fourth, slavery leads to spiritual decapitation. Christ is the head of his body. Choosing slavery severs you from Christ (4).

Fifth, slavery makes Christ a disadvantage. What Christ has done for us is the only advantage a Christian has. To live by works is to make Christ’s death work against you! That’s why Paul told the Galatians that if they let themselves be circumcised, Christ would be no advantage to them (2).

Sixth, slavery is like taking your life on a spiritual detour. The Galatians were offered freedom, but then started using that freedom as an opportunity for the flesh (13).

Seventh, slavery creates enormous debt. Paul said that making that choice leads to an obligation to keep the whole law (3).

Finally, slavery leads to devouring. The Galatians had already begun biting and devouring one another (15). If you define yourself by what you do, you will compare yourself with others, and criticize and complain about them. It is not a pretty image, but it is accurate.

Now let’s look again at what Paul said in verse 1, and we will focus first on that positive command “stand firm.” Someone who is standing firm is ready for the storms of life, because she has a solid foundation under her. She does not have to rescue herself. All she has to do is put her faith in the foundation under her, and she will be alright.

So Paul is telling the Galatians, “Oh, foolish Galatians! I gave you the right foundation. Stand firm in it!”

What does standing in freedom look like? Paul had told the Corinthians “faith, hope, and love abide” (1 Corinthians 13:13). To abide is to remain, to stand firm. A person who is trusting in God and not himself for his salvation is going to manifest these three character traits.

We see that here in Galatians 5. Instead of by works the believer is to live by faith (5), he will produce works, but that will be faith working (6).
Instead of despairing because he cannot do it all himself, the believer eagerly waits for the hope of righteousness (5).

Instead of biting and devouring others, the believer serves others through love (13). Love is his means of demonstrating his faith (6). And love actually helps him do what his slave counterpart cannot do: fulfill the law (14).

LORD, we are challenged by what we have read and studied today. We confess to you that – all too often we have tried to live the Christian life on our own terms, to fulfill the law the best way we know how. We know that is wrong. Only one person could fulfill your law.

But we also know that he did. By his sinless life and sacrificial death Christ bought our freedom. We are free! We ask you today to help us to stand firm in that freedom. Help us not to get entangled in any kind of bondage. Enable us to live by faith, to wait eagerly for our hope, and to manifest our faith by serving one another through love. In Jesus’ name. Amen

1 Corinthians 14:6-12 ESV
“Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7 If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? 8 And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? 9 So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, 11 but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. 12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.”

In this series I have been highlighting Paul’s commands to the churches that are of a particular structure. The structure is called continuous active imperative. These are commands for the church to (positively) keep doing what it is supposed to be doing, or (negatively) to stop doing what it is not supposed to be doing. The command in today’s text is in verse 12, where Paul encourages the Corinthians to keep striving to excel in building up the church.

The context of this command is chapters 12-14 of 1 Corinthians.

Let me try to summarize what Paul is saying in these three chapters.

Chapter 12 is about Spiritual Gifts. He says there are going to be all kinds of gifts manifested when we gather together, because the body of Christ is made up of many different members, with many different ministries assigned to them by the head (Christ) and empowered by the Holy Spirit. He does encourage the whole church to earnestly desire the higher gifts, which are the ones which build up the most members of the body.

Chapter 13 is the love chapter. Here Paul encourages all ministry to be done out of love, otherwise it counts for nothing.

In Chapter 14 Paul addresses some examples where it appears the Corinthians are not doing that, so spiritual gifts are becoming a problem. They were being abused, and the result was chaos rather than order.

Now I want to summarize chapter 14 with a little more detail. This is the chapter in which our text for today is found, so it is important to put as much flesh on it as possible.

All of the problems that Paul was dealing with in chapter 14 have to do with speaking in church, that is, with manifesting spiritual gifts which involve public speaking in the assembly. He identifies three specific problems:

1) too many people were “speaking in tongues” instead of prophesying;

2) too many people were speaking all at once, which was leading to confusion;

3) some of the women of the congregation were speaking, and, for some reason that too was causing disorder.

I want to comment on each of these problems, and I want to talk about the simplest problem first, then go to the ones that are more complex. The simplest problem Paul mentioned was that everybody was jumping up to speak all at once, and the result was chaos. People didn’t know who to listen to, and very little edification was getting done. It was a free-for-all, and probably resembled a competition to see who could gain the most listeners. The confusion was being caused by a good thing: the Corinthians were eager to share. Paul encouraged them to be considerate of one another and limit the number of people who speak, and have only one person speak at a time. Be considerate. Problem solved.

Another problem that Paul brought up in 1 Corinthian 14 is that some of the women of Corinth were speaking at the assemblies, and that was adding to the disorder. Some people believe that God has only ordained men to speak in church services, but I do not think that is the case. I have already shared how Gal. 3:28 shows that all Christians have the same status before God. Also, Joel 2:28-29 predicted a new era of the Holy Spirit’s ministry would include prophesying by both “sons and daughters.” That new era began at Pentecost.

So why is Paul preventing the women to speak here? Verses 34-35 hold the key.

First, I draw your attention to the last part of verse 25, where Paul says “it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.” Now, one problem is that Paul had already given instruction for the wives of the congregation in chapter 11. He tells them that they should cover their heads with a veil if they want to pray or prophecy. Praying and prophesying are kinds of speaking. Those kinds of speaking do not appear to be shameful. Perhaps what Paul meant was that the Corinthian society saw it as a shameful thing for its women to speak in public. He didn’t say it to the Thessalonians, Ephesians, or even the Romans. But apparently it was a problem in Corinth so Paul orders them not to have their women preach in public.

Paul says that the women are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission as the law also says. The problem is that there is absolutely no Old Testament commandment against women speaking. But there were plenty of laws in Corinth against women speaking. Paul seems to be saying that the women in Corinth should not speak in public because it is illegal.

In fact, history tells us that there was only one class of women who dared to speak in public in 1st century Corinth: the professional prostitutes. These were also the only Corinthian women of marriageable age who dared to appear in public without a veil.

The particular issue that appears to be the problem at Corinth is that wives are interrupting the worship to ask questions of their husbands. This is understandable, because in the first century women were not educated. There was apt to be a great deal of what was being said that the women did not understand. Their zeal to know was commendable, but it was causing confusion in the assembly, which is exactly the problem that Paul was addressing. Paul’s solution was “let them ask their husbands at home.”

As if I have not stirred up enough controversy, I want to go now to the problem that took up the most space in chapter 14: the problem of too many people “speaking in tongues.”

To understand Paul’s advice here we have to ask three questions. First, “What was “speaking in tongues?” I realize that there is a whole theological tradition that suggests that “speaking in tongues” is some kind of supernatural language that God gives believers to edify themselves with.

But I suggest that the problem in First Century Corinth was simply this: people were coming to worship services and giving their messages in languages that most of the other worshippers did not know.

Paul’s solution to the problem is found in verse 28 “But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.”
He tells the tongues speakers the same thing he told the women, and for the same reason. The wives questioning their husbands was causing distraction and not edifying anyone. The tongues speaking (without a translation) was doing the same thing. So Paul says “stop doing that.” The goal of all the manifestations of the Holy spirit is to edify the body of Christ. If what you are doing is not achieving that goal, you have no business doing it.

I want to conclude by going back to verse 12, where Paul encourages the Corinthians to keep striving to excel in building up the church. That is the BIG IDEA that Paul is trying to get across in chapters 12-14. May we never forget that. We need to constantly evaluate ourselves to see if the things we are doing when we meet together are actually building up the body. If First century Corinth could have problems – even after being founded by Paul himself – then we have no reason to assume that 21st century Takanini is immune.
_________
LORD, before we say anything in church, help us to ask ourselves “will this help the people who hear it?” If it will not help, give us the consideration and love to keep our mouths shut!” Amen.

photo by Jachin Mandeno

You have reached the Newsletter of Jeff and Penny Vann, missionaries with Advent Christian General Conference, currently serving in New Zealand as pastors-at-large with the Advent Christian Conference of New Zealand (ACCONZ). We serve as teaching pastors at Takanini Church of Christ, and Christian LIFE Church, Takanini, Auckland.

Our friend and fellow pastor David Burge fell asleep in Christ on July 4th. David had a disease that he knew was likely to take him in the prime of his life. Before the leukaemia started taking up his time, he had the chance to step back from the busyness of life and concentrate on the things that were important to him. But even those months he had, are not enough. It is unfair that we have to say goodbye to David at all. Our only consolation is that we are not saying goodbye for good. We are only saying goodbye for now.

Dave’s funeral was held on Saturday, July 10 at a local Baptist Church. Hundreds joined us as we gave tribute to this man of God. The message Jeff shared focused on the resurrection of believers, and is available on his web log: http://jeffersonvann.blogspot.com/2010/07/in-honour-of-david-burge-1968-2010.html

photo by Jachin Mandeno

God’s timing is so awesome. While preparing for Dave’s funeral, I (Penny)had a sudden thought that I had better resend my cell phone numbers to my sister so in case something happened Stateside she could contact me. For whatever reason the email was delayed a couple of days. She got the numbers one morning and had to use them THAT afternoon to tell me of my dad’s heart attack. She called back an hour later to tell me he had died. It was 12:30pm here when the call came and I was at the airport ticket in hand 4 hours later. I flew back to Connecticut for his funeral. But, while in the States, I was able to visit Connie in Massachusetts, and be there for the birth of our newest grandson.

Simon Dean Shaw was born on July 22nd, 7lb. 5oz, and 22 in. He and his parents (Steve and Connie) are doing fine.

3 days after returning to New Zealand, Penny taught a one-day seminar on the Old Testament. The insights she shared helped us all to see the big picture of God working through thousands of years of history to bring about his purpose of calling the nations to himself.

photo by Jachin Mandeno

Our short trip to the South Island took place August 10-13. We visited some friends we met while Jeff was in seminary. One of the highlights was a trip to a lamb farm, where we saw thousands of newly born lambs.

See a video of the lambs: http://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B8QUBWMDoi-tNjBhODg1ODEtYzljZi00OGFkLWJkZWEtZDY1ZWI4OTE3ZjQz&hl=en

Life in New Zealand (A Yankee’s perspective). It has been winter here. Winter in Auckland is NOT like winter in New England. The grass is still green and I have not seen one flake of snow. It mostly rains and is rather a raw cold. So we go to coffee shops
to chase the dampness away. Coffee shops act as the local social hang out. The other thing one notices here is most Kiwi’s don’t have central heating in their homes. They rely more on space heaters or wood/coal stoves for their heat. The reasoning is, “why heat a room you are not in?” They also keep the rooms cooler than most American homes. The idea is if your cold put on a jumper (sweater). It is actually not a bad idea, and one I grew up with in the 70’s during the oil embargo.
I often feel like I am trying to speak two dialects at the same time. I (Penny), being from New England, don’t have to try as hard as Jeff does having the “eh?” and “wicked” already down and being used to people dropping their “R”s. There are still differences, like a jumper-sweater, a pinafore-jumper, supper-night-time snack, while tea or dinner-supper, you get the picture. This with idiomatic differences is enough to keep us on our toes.

Please Pray:

1) For Penny’s family as they face the loss of her father.
2) For David Burge’s family as they adjust to life without him.
3) For The Takanini church that they make wise plans for present and future ministry.
4) For Penny and Jeff, that they continue to serve the LORD in New Zealand.

Galatians 4:21-31 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she 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, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.” 28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

We have been meditating on Paul’s letter to the Galatians for the past few months. Paul was dealing with a problem that had developed not only in the Galatian region, but in many places where new Gentile churches had been established. A group of people from Jerusalem had infiltrated these Gentile churches and suggested an alternative to the Gospel of salvation by grace that Paul preached. Their alternative involved trusting in Jesus for their salvation, AND following the Jewish customs and traditions.

This problem was not unique to the first century AD. For two thousand years the Church of Jesus Christ has had to constantly re-evaluate and reform itself because human traditions keep crowding themselves into its doctrines and practices.
We have depended upon the Bible as God’s standard for what it means to be the Church. Each successive generation has had to re-look at the Bible to see if we have added some new human traditions and crowded out the simple truth of the gospel.

Fortunately today the Bible is not hidden from us. We no longer have to depend on professional clergy to tell us what the Bible says, or to interpret its message for us. Those of us who speak English have dozens of well-prepared Bible translations available for us to read. We even have access to the original languages in which the Bible was written. Nothing keeps us from getting a clear message from God, and responding to that message in faith.
Nothing, that is, except laziness or presuming that we already understand the Bible!

Today’s text offers us an opportunity not just to re-examine the Bible, but to re-examine ourselves, and the choice that we have made that puts us in this church building today. Paul was writing to people who claimed to be true Christians, but he argued that they had substituted the true faith that they had received for a false faith, a faith in both Christ and themselves.
As we examine Paul’s argument in Galatians 4:21-31, we need to be asking ourselves what choice we have made as well.

Here is the story that Paul was alluding to in today’s text. In Genesis 15 God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, but he was childless.
Genesis 16:2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
Genesis 16:15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

Now let us pick up the story 14 years later:
Genesis 17:15-19 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 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.
It turns out that Abraham was wrong to go behind God’s back and do his miracle for him. I think this is the point that Paul is making: We are in danger of asking God to bless us with salvation, then taking the task back on ourselves.

God offers us something supernatural – something only he can do. He has an Isaac in store for us. We assess our situation, and, like Abraham and Sarah, we decide God needs a little help. After all, God helps those who help themselves, right?
Actually, that’s one of those statements that lots of people quote, but it is not in the Bible. The truth is, God can only help those who realize that they cannot help themselves. Having Ishmael was the wrong choice. It was, in biblical terms, “of the flesh.”

Having introduced faith to the Gentile Galatians, he also introduced to them the power that would enable them to live out their salvation. Paul asks them in Gal. 3:3 “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” And that is exactly what the Judaisers wanted. They wanted to replace the Holy Spirit with the Mosaic Law as the means of sanctification.
But it doesn’t work that way. Paul says in Galatians 3:21-22 “… if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”

Paul asks the Galatians to think of two places: Mt. Sinai in Arabia or the heavenly Jerusalem. He is trying to get them to see for themselves that only one choice leads to true freedom.

The people at Sinai had the same choice.

Exodus 24:3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.”

They should have said, “We cannot follow the rules, we put ourselves at your mercy and trust in your grace.”

If freedom is going to come to us, it is going to be the work of heaven, not our work.

So Paul quotes Genesis 21:10 where God orders Abraham to expel Hagar because Ishmael will not share in Isaac’s inheritance. Hagar is called “the slave woman.”
Paul has been using this allegory to point out that the Galatians have a simple choice. If they want to inherit the blessings of Abraham they will have to make the choice Abraham did. They have to take God on his terms, not their terms.

Now, you and I have to make the same choice. We can decide to do our best, and hope that God accepts it. That is the choice of Hagar, of Ishmael, of the letter, of Sinai, it is a choice to enslave ourselves.
Or, we can take God on his terms. We can say, God, I cannot do it myself. I trust in Christ and his finished work on the cross. I trust in your Holy Spirit to guide me in the Christian walk. And I trust in You, heavenly Father, to bring me into the inheritance you have planned for me.