This week I want you to think of a kid at Christmas who
opens all his gifts, but misses one. Will he be happy? You say, “That all
depends on whether he knows that there’s one more! If he does, he probably
won’t.” I think you are right!!
This week we embark on a new series entitled, “Freedom”. It
is, of course, the continuation of our study of Galatians, but as is the case
in all of Paul’s writings, the suffix always follows the prefix and Paul’s
prefix is always what Jesus has done for us. In other words, if you think that
the goal of Paul’s writings is to encourage you to buckle down and start
obeying commands, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Paul doesn’t suffer shipwrecks,
thermal exposure, starvation, curses, arrests, and floggings to encourage
Christians to start wearing their W.W.J.D. bracelets and live up to them. He
endures all that he does because he’s passionately in love with Jesus. He’s mesmerized
by Him and he wants others to share that same passion.
Recently I heard a man say that there are two ditches into
which every Christian can fall – the ditch of law or legalism and the ditch of
grace. Now by the “ditch of grace” I believe he means lawlessness, but even so,
Paul would prefer the latter far more than the former. You know why? Because, he
knows that if you don’t apprehend the prefix, i.e. the finished work of Christ,
there’s absolutely no way you are any better off than the Pharisees or anyone
else who are in the ditch of trusting in their own accomplishments.
At Christmas I read some of Spurgeon’s sermons preached to
Christians. Listen to this:
It is painful to remember that,
to a certain degree…we do not hear the voice of God as we ought. There are
gentle motions of the Holy Spirit in the soul which are unheeded by us. There
are whispers of divine command and heavenly love which are alike unobserved by
our leaden intellects…there are matters within which we ought to have seen,
corruptions which have made headway unnoticed; sweet affections which are being
blighted like flowers in the frost…glimpses of the divine face which might be
perceived if we did not wall up the windows of our soul. As we think about
this, we are humbled in the deepest self-abasement. How we must adore the grace
of God as we learn…our ignorance was foreknown by God…yet He has been pleased
to deal with us in a way of mercy! Admire the marvelous sovereign grace which
could have chosen us in the sight of all this! Wonder at the price that was
paid for us when Christ knew what we should be! He who hung upon the cross
foresaw us as unbelieving, backsliding, cold of heart, indifferent, lax in
prayer, and yet He said, “I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your
Savior…O redemption, how you shine with amazing brilliance when we think how
black we are! O Holy Spirit, give us henceforth the hearing ear, the
understanding heart.”
That’s exactly what Paul’s talking about in Sunday’s text –
Galatians 3:26-4:7. In this passage Paul begins to set forth how we can live as
sons of God. But unlike the false teachers of every age, Paul never decouples
his prescriptions for living as sons from the finished work of Christ. On the
contrary, without Christ’s finished work, there can be no godly second
imperative.
In this text Paul sets forth the necessary cause of all holy
living. We will explore that “cause” and what that “cause” provides to any
believer this Sunday.
In preparation for Sunday’s message, you may wish to
consider the following:
- What were the Distaff Gospels?
- What does Paul mean in 3:26, 4:5-7 when he calls Christians “sons”?
- How does the NIV render 4:5?
- In what way is 4:6 one of the most satisfying verses in the Bible?
- What amazing similarity is there between 4:4 and 4:6?
- Why does God do two sendings? Isn’t one enough?
- What’s the purpose of sending the Spirit into our hearts?
- What’s the product(s) He brings to us?
- What does, “Crying, Abba! Father!” mean to you?
- What is the key to living a holy life?
