Galatians 4:1-11 "From Slaves to Sons" What does it mean to be a Christian? How do you think about yourself? What is it that characterizes the Christian life? I recently spoke with a man who grew up in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. The Missouri Synod is very good at preaching justification by faith alone, so I have no doubt that the preaching in that church was quite solid on that point. But this man made it to age 30 believing that he would go to heaven because he was a good person. Somehow the official doctrine of the church never made it into his heart. What about you? I stand up here Sunday after Sunday and preach that salvation is all of God that you have been united to Christ, and that our justification, adoption, sanctification are all in him. What are you hearing? Paul's concern in Galatians is not only for the "official teaching"-- but is also for what is sinking into the hearts and minds of the church. Today we come to the end of part 1 of Paul's letter to the Galatians. This is the conclusion of Paul's rebuke. It started with Paul's sudden onslaught in 1:6 "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel" Paul has been adamant that any "Christ PLUS" is in fact a different gospel. Jesus plus Moses is bad news. We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ and not by works of the law. The only way to begin the Christian life is by faith in Jesus. And the only way to continue the Christian life is by faith in Jesus. It is not as though you begin by faith and then are made perfect by works! Rather the whole of the Christian life is by faith. 1. The Son and the Sons (4:1-5) Last time we saw that Israel was the son of God in his minority. Israel was the son of God but was no better than a slave, because as a minor, Israel was under the law. The law served as a paedogogue a disciplinarian whose job was to enforce the father's rules. Israel, the son of God, was under the authority of a servant, because he was still immature and not ready to exercise the authority of a son. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons Israel, the son of God, was never going to grow up. The law was a disciplinarian. But the law could make nothing perfect. The law could not give life it could not make anything mature. And so God sent his Son. We saw this in Hebrews as well. The eternal Son of God became the eschatological son of God. The Son who was in the beginning with God the first Son, now became the last Son. In the beginning God created Adam as his son who was supposed to resemble the eternal Son. But Adam, the created son, failed, and did not resemble the eternal Son. And Israel, the infant son, never grew up. But when the fullness of time had come in other words, when the appointed time came the time when the Son of God was to enter his inheritance God sent his Son. God sent the only person who could bring humanity to maturity. He sent his Son. And Paul uses two descriptions of this sending: 1. born of woman this phrase is a common Jewish way of saying "human" It is Paul's way of saying, he is a true son of Adam but it is also an echo of Genesis 3:15 the seed of the woman will crush the head of the seed of the serpent. God had promised that the seed of the woman would triumph and so the Son of God must be born of woman. But it is not enough that Jesus be born of woman. Because Jesus is not only the seed of the woman, the eschatological Adam, he is also the true Israel therefore he must be 2. born under the law I asked you last time that if when you were a child, you had a faithful paedogogue, a disciplinarian who had been pretty strict with you, and now you had grown up, would you allow that paedogogue to continue beating you? Of course not! Let's say, you were the father the one who had employed the paedogogue, would you allow him to beat you? The very thought is absurd. God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law. Was the eternal Son of God in need of a paedogogue? No. But, if the eternal Son of God was to become the eschatological Son of God, and bring us into his inheritance, then the eternal Son would have to be born under the law. The owner of everything had to be brought under the power of a slave. We confess this regularly in the Nicene Creed "Who for us and for our salvation, came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man." But how often do we stop and marvel at this?! The one who is God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not created is also the one who humbled himself to be born of woman, born under the law. Why? Why did the eternal Son of God need to be born of woman, born under the law? 5 to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. In 3:14 we saw Paul use a double purpose statement so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. Here in 4:5 Paul does the same thing. We could translate it in parallel: That he might redeem those under the law, that we might receive the adoption/sonship And once again these are not two separate benefits but the second flows from the first. The only way for God to redeem those under the law was for him to send his Son to be born under the law. The law held all Israel under the curse. Remember that the curse we are dealing with here is the curse of the law. Paul is not yet dealing with the Gentiles directly. Paul is saying that Israel the son of God is under the law, under the curse of the law. In order for the blessing of Abraham to come to the Gentiles, someone needs to deal with the curse of the law (3:13-14) That is precise what Jesus did. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. He became a curse for us, by being hanged on a tree. In that way, Jesus took the curse of the law upon himself. And when Jesus redeems those under the law when he redeems Israel, then the blessing of Abraham comes to the Gentiles. In other words, "we" receive adoption as sons. The "we" being all those who believe in Jesus. Paul has just established that in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female. There is no place for "we" and "you" in Christ. The distinguishing marks of the Christian are faith and baptism. For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. And the key to our identity as Christians is that we are sons. This term "adoption" or "sonship" is a uniquely Pauline term. Paul uses it to refer to Israel's status in the OT (Romans 9:4), the Christian's present status (Romans 8:15), as well as the future resurrection of the body (Romans 8:23). In Ephesians 1:5 he uses the term to refer to our whole relationship to God in Christ. But since Paul conceives of the whole of redemptive history in terms of the Father/Son relation, it is not surprising that he uses the language of adoption. God's purpose in redemption is to bring his son into the promised inheritance. And so in the fullness of time (which is the same as "the date set by his father"), Jesus came as the son who enters into his inheritance. 2. The Spirit of the Son (4:6-7) So you are now sons of God, through faith in Jesus Christ. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. At the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3, the Father poured out his Spirit upon the Son, declaring, "this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." At the resurrection of Jesus, as Paul tells us in Romans 1, Jesus was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness. And on the day of Pentecost, as Peter tells us in Acts 2, Jesus poured out his Spirit upon his church. We rightly talk about the death and resurrection of Jesus as being one package. But we often forget that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is part of the same package. Paul has already told us that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (3:13-14) Now we hear that not only did God send his Son to redeem us, God has also sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. And it is the Holy Spirit who prompts us to call God "Abba, Father." The Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God. Notice that the Spirit is called "the Spirit of his Son." This is the same Spirit who was poured out upon Jesus in his baptism. The Holy Spirit equipped and empowered Jesus as the Son of God and that same Spirit the Spirit of the Son now indwells us. And because we have the same Spirit, we too cry out "Abba, Father!" The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead the third person of the Trinity and he is the one who unites us to the Son even as he is the one who united the Father and the Son in their eternal bond as Father and Son. And so if the Spirit of his Son dwells in you, then you also are a son. You are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. You are no longer a slave. You have been adopted. You have been made a part of the family of God, and you are now an heir. 3. How Can Sons Return to Slavery? (4:8-11) This is the heart and soul of Paul's objection to the Judaizers. If you are sons of God, then you cannot go back to slavery. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? (8-9) Paul concludes his rebuke by speaking to the Gentile Christians. In verse 3 he had spoken of that time when we [Jews] were children, how we were "enslaved to the elementary principles of the world." Now, in speaking to Gentile Christians he says that they were once "enslaved to those that by nature are not gods." Verse 8 plainly identifies his audience as those who were enslaved to paganism. Jews were enslaved by the Law; Gentiles were enslaved by pagan gods. Now, you Gentile Christian, now that you have come to know the true God or rather, Paul says, to be known by God (Paul wants them to always remember that salvation is by grace!), how can you now turn back again to slavery? This is quite remarkable. Because what are the Galatian Gentiles turning to? The Law. Moses. As Paul puts it in verse 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years! (The Jewish calendar) Paul is saying that Moses is no better than paganism. If you turn from paganism to Moses, you are no better off than if you stayed in paganism. Now that Jesus has come, Moses has been rendered obsolete. If you are in Christ, then you are a son of God. He is the son who has grown up and entered into the inheritance. And if you are in him, then you too share in the inheritance. To return to the Mosaic law to live under the Mosaic covenant would be to go back to slavery. Conclusion Probably most of us are not tempted to go back to Judaism. What then does Paul's rebuke to the Galatians say to us? First, Paul rejects legalism the idea that God accepts you because of anything in you. God accepts you he declares you righteous because of Jesus Christ. You cannot win God's favor. God is pleased with you because Jesus Christ has taken the curse of the law upon himself, and so now the blessing of Abraham comes to you who believe in Jesus. Second, Paul rejects nomism nomism is the idea that now that you are justified by faith, it is up to you to come to maturity. Paul says that this is ridiculous, because Jesus is the Son of God who has come to maturity and you are now in him.. And if you are in Christ, then you have reached maturity-- the presence of the Spirit of the Son in you demonstrates that you are sons. If Jesus has received the inheritance, then all those who are in Jesus are fellow heirs with him. And third, the implication of all of this is that you are not under the law. As mature sons you are not bound you are not enslaved by all the OT rules. Certainly as wise sons of your heavenly Father, you are to live lives that reflect his wisdom. Those who are led by the Spirit will lead Spirit-filled lives you will bear the fruit of the Spirit, This is why the NT does not have a "statute-based" ethic. As grown-up children of God, you should live holy lives because of who you are as sons, not as slaves.