Refuge Under God’s Wings
Ruth 2
Refuge Under God’s Wings
Ruth 2
Ruth 1:20: Do not call me Naomi [which means “sweet”]; call me Mara [which means “bitter”], for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?
Main Idea: By faith let us seek and find refuge under God’s wings.
I. Ruth’s Faith
Ruth’s faith is in contrast to those around her:
Her ethnic heritage
Naomi
General Israelite culture during the time of the Judges
Evidence of Ruth’s Faith:
Ruth’s faith responds to God’s Word
Ruth’s faith leads to action
Ruth’s faith is seen in her godly character
Leviticus 19:9-10: When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.
Faith in Yahweh does not mean being lazy and waiting around for him to act. Ruth tries to make the very best of her situation that she can, trusting God to be good to her as she does so.
~ Tony Merida, Ruth for You
Ruth 3:11: And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.
Proverbs 31:10: An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.
Ruth 2:12: The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!
II. Boaz’s Favor
Ruth 2:1: Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
Ruth 2:10: Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”
Ruth 2:13: Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”
Boaz’s favor is generous:
He instructs her to stay in his field (2:8)
He instructs her to stay with his young women servants (2:8)
He invites her to drink from what the men have drawn from the well (2:9)
He warns his workers against sexual harassment (2:9)
He includes her in the meal for his servants (2:14)
He provides more than she could eat (2:14)
He gives her wine, not just water (2:14)
He gives permission to “glean among the sheaves” (2:15)
He tells the servants to “pull out bundles for her” (2:16)
Jesus, in his kindness, has sought the outcast, has given us refuge, has fed us at his table, and has become our Redeemer.
~ Tony Merida, Ruth for You
III. Naomi’s Fortune
Ruth 2:20: May he [that is, Boaz] be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!
Ruth 2:3: So she [Ruth] set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech.
By excessively attributing Ruth’s good fortune to chance, he [the author] forces the reader to sit up and take notice, to ask questions concerning the significance of everything that is transpiring . . . . In reality he is screaming, ‘See the hand of God at work here!’ The same hand that had sent the famine (1:1) and later provided food (1:6) is the hand that brought Naomi and Ruth to Bethlehem precisely at the beginning of the harvest (1:22) and has now guided Ruth to that portion of the field belonging specifically to Boaz
~ Daniel Block, Ruth
This is not some impersonal fate or destiny at work here. This is not an accident. It is nothing less than the hand of a personal, loving God who is always working quietly and continuously through the ordinary things of life to bring His blessing to His people.
Ruth 2:10: Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”
Ruth is a picture of how we should respond to God’s undeserved, generous grace.
• She recognizes that she is in need.
• She recognizes that she is undeserving.
• She responds with humility and gratitude as she accepts his gracious provision.
So let us fall on our faces, bow before the Lord, confess our unworthiness, take refuge under the wings of God, and be astonished at his grace.
~ John Piper, Ruth: Under the Wings of God
Famine and Faith
Ruth 1
Famine and Faith
Ruth 1
Main Idea: In a world of sin and suffering, God has visited us with steadfast love, grace, and provision.
I. A World of Death (1:1-6)
The Book of Ruth takes place during the time of the “judges” of Israel. The repeated refrain of Judges indicates the spiritual climate in Israel: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Jdg. 21:25).
The names and places in Ruth are filled with irony:
Bethlehem means “house of bread,” but is experiencing famine (cf. Deut. 28:22-24; 32:23-24)
Elimelech means “my God is King,” but acts contrary
Naomi means “pleasant” or “sweet,” but she will soon identify as “bitter” (1:20)
Mahlon (“weak”) and Chilion (“frail”) live up to their namesake, dying in Moab
Though geographically close to Bethlehem, Elimelech’s decision to move his family to Moab is deeply problematic. Moab was infamous to the Israelites, all for bad reasons:
They are the descendants of an incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughter (Gen. 19:30-38)
The King of Moab hired Balaam to curse Israel (Num 22), and some Moabites seduced Israel to false worship and sexual immorality (Num 25)
They worshipped false gods (Chemosh) and offered child sacrifice (2 Kings 3:26-27)
What began as a plan to “sojourn” turned into 10 years of pain, suffering, and death. However, God graciously allows Naomi to hear the good news that the Lord had “visited” his people (cf. Lk. 1:68, 77-79) with food in Bethlehem. In an act of “repentance,” she decides to return home (cf. Lk. 15:17-18; Rom. 2:4).
II. A Daughter of Faith (1:7-18)
From her place of misery and bitterness, and because of the bleak prospects for these Moabite women in Bethlehem, Naomi tries to convince Orpah and Ruth to “return” to Moab, where they would likely have a better chance of security and a future family. She asks the Lord to deal “kindly” with these women (Heb. ‘hesed’)
If you want to see what natural, human love, at its best looks like, look at Orpah. If you want to see what supernatural steadfast love looks like, look at Ruth.
~ John Carpenter, “Ruth’s Prequel to the Christmas Story”
While Naomi asks the Lord to bless Ruth with his steadfast, covenantal love, it is actually Ruth who is a picture of God’s hesed love for Naomi. In this commitment to her mother-in-law, she is making a profession of faith in Yahweh, turning to him in conversion.
[Ruth’s decision] is all the more amazing after Naomi’s grim description of their future with her. Ruth stays with her in spite of an apparently hopeless future of widowhood and childlessness. Naomi painted the future black and Ruth took her hand and walked into it with her.
~ John Piper, “Ruth: Sweet and Bitter Providence”
III. A God of Grace (1:19-22)
As Naomi and Ruth return to the small town of Bethlehem, the town is “stirred” at Naomi’s appearance. She requests to be called ‘Mara’ (lit. ‘bitter;’ cf. Ex. 15:22-24). Her posture toward the Lord is a mixed bag:
Positively, she has returned to the Promised Land and is taking her lament directly to the Lord, sure of his existence and sovereignty.
Negatively, she can only see her lack and “emptiness” from a place of self-absorption. She does not have eyes to see that she has not actually returned empty, but has a reminder of God’s faithfulness in Ruth’s presence
Naomi may have come back home in faith, but hers is a flawed faith. Unable to see human causation in Israel’s famine and in her own trials, the woman the neighbors greet is a bitter old woman. She does indeed ascribe sovereignty to God, but this is a sovereignty without grace, an omnipotent power without compassion, a judicial will without mercy.
~ Daniel Block, Judges, Ruth
This chapter ends with a beacon of light as we are told is the “beginning of barley harvest” in Bethlehem. Despite Israel’s sin and rebellion, the Lord has graciously provided bread and “filling” in place of “emptiness.”
Whereas Elimelech left the place of famine to seek a false blessing in Moab, Jesus Christ left the glories of heaven to bring us a true blessing on earth. Elimelech and Naomi sent themselves into exile from the land of promise, trying to build their own kingdom rather than waiting for God to do it; Jesus, though, went into exile from his Father’s presence so that he might rescue us from our own kingdom-building and grant us a true and living future in his kingdom. The God who empties us and strips away, however painfully, those precious things in which we are trusting knows what it is to be stripped of all of his possessions, left alone and abandoned by his friends, and hung empty on a cross. Every tear of loss that God inflicts on us is a tear whose cost he himself understands.
~ Iain M. Duguid, Esther and Ruth
Sowing in the Field of the Spirit
Galatians 6:6-18
Sowing in the field of the spirit
Galatians 6:6-18
Main Idea: Reaping the grace, peace, and mercy of God, only comes by sowing in the field of the Spirit.
I. Sowing and Nourishing (6:6-10)
A. The How-To Guide (6:7-8)
Genesis 8:22: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
Sow the right seed
Sow good seed
Some Christians sow to the flesh every day and wonder why they do not reap holiness. Holiness is a harvest; whether we reap it or not depends almost entirely on what and where we sow.
~ John Stott
The Christian has only two fields in which he can sow, that of his own flesh and that of the Spirit.
3. Sow abundantly
B. The reward (6:9-10)
II. Where are you boasting? (6:11-18)
A. Gospel Clarity (6:11-14)
Christianity vs. ‘Churchianity’
Mark 7:6-7: “And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
If we could have been forgiven by our own good works, by being circumcised and keeping the law, we may be quite sure that there would have been no cross. Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say to us, ‘I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your death I am dying.’ Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.
~ John Stott
Galatians 6:3: For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
The world is not our treasure, Christ is.
B. New Creation (6:15-18)
Restore, Bear, and Carry
Galatians 6:1-5
Restore, Bear, and Carry
Galatians 6:1-5
Sensationalism
Mysticism
Idealism
Individualism
Self-reliance
Main Idea: Jesus calls us to love one another by restoring the broken, bearing one another’s burdens, and carrying our load.
I. Gently Restore the Broken (6:1)
Galatians 6:1: Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
James 5:19–20: My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Fleshly means of restoration will only lead to further degradation.
Spiritual means of restoration will lead to clarity and worship.
Matthew 23:25–26: [They would] clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
Galatians 6:1: Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
We need help to see the back of our heads.
II. Humbly Bear One Another’s Burdens (6:2-3)
Galatians 6:2: Bear one another’s burdens. And so fulfill the law of Christ.
Matthew 23:3–4: For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
As you have been so bewitched and fascinated that you want burdens to rest upon you, here are burdens for you: ‘Carry the burdens of one another.’ And, as you want law, here is a law for you: ‘So fulfill the law of Christ.’
– Charles Spurgeon
Galatians 6:3: For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Be alert to the burdens of others and devote yourself to making them lighter.
John 15:12–13: This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
We need help carrying pianos.
III. Contently Carry Your Own Load (6:4-5)
Galatians 6:4–5: But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.
We carry our backpacks by God’s grace.
Isaiah 53:4–6: Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there, by faith, I received my sight and now I am happy all the days.
Keeping in Step with the Spirit
Galatians 5:16-25
Keeping in Step with the Spirit
Galatians 5:16:25
Main Idea: Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
I. What does it mean to “live by the Spirit”?
The basic answer is that it means to be converted, to be born again by the Spirit of God. Conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the hearer that enables them to understand the gospel as true and that draws them to respond by placing their faith in Christ. One knows they are converted, or made alive by the Spirit, because they have a different orientation to the Father.
The change that happens to a person who is converted is beautifully illustrated in Armand Nicholi’s description C.S. Lewis’s conversion:
It happened when he was thirty-one years old. The change revolutionized his life, infused his mind with purpose and meaning, and dramatically increased his productivity; it also radically altered his values, his image of himself, and his relationships to others. This experience not only turned Lewis around, but turned him outward —from a focus on himself to a focus on others. Even his temperament changed. People who knew him before and after his conversion write about his becoming more settled, with an inner quietness and tranquility. A buoyant cheerfulness replaced his pessimism and despair. On the last days before he died, those who were with Lewis spoke of his “cheerfulness” and “calmness.”
~ Armand M Nicholi
To be converted is to experience this kind of transformation. To “live by the Spirit” means to have been made alive by the Spirit, to the gospel, for faith in Christ Jesus, and sonship from God as our Father. Paul’s argument is that “since you live by the Spirit,” how can you entertain going back to the things that were killing you?
II. What does it mean to “keep in step with the Spirit?”
A. Keeping in step with the Spirit means crucifying our “flesh.”
Paul elaborates on what he means by “the flesh” across all his letters. In the broadest terms, it is “what we are by nature and inheritance, our fallen condition… our ‘lower nature’” (John Stott). It is our “sinful nature… the sin-desiring aspect of our whole being as opposed to the God-desiring aspect. The [flesh] is our sinful heart” (Tim Keller).
In this passage, Paul describes “the flesh” as a jumble of conflicting “over-desires” that produce a set of sexual, spiritual, social, and psychological dysfunctions that not only disintegrate human society, they damn human souls.
Nor is this some new doctrine, but rather an elaboration on Jesus’s own teaching on what is required to be His disciple.
Matthew 16:24-25: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”
In order for us to not use our freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, we must crucify our flesh. If we don’t crucify it, it will gain the upper hand and we will fall short of serving one another in love.
B. Keeping in step with the Spirit means pursuing the fruit of the Spirit
The parallelism of Paul’s logic is obvious. In the same way that giving into the “over-desires” of the flesh results in a life marked by the “works of the flesh,” so the life actively yielded to the “over-desires” of the Spirit produces the “fruit of the Spirit.” This is what it means to “walk by the Spirit.”
This is not some new doctrine. Rather it is an explanation of what Jesus meant when He talked about Himself being the vine and we being the branches. The only way branches bear fruit is by staying connected to the vine. So it is here.
Nor does the metaphor of “fruit” imply passivity on our part as though if we just sit around long enough fruit will spontaneously appear. In Jesus’s metaphor, passive non-fruit bearing is a good way to find one’s self “pruned!”
The gospel calls us to “walk” and “follow,” to “live” and “fight,” to “hold on” and “stand fast.” We are not called to do less than we did in our former days, but rather to do more. The life we once lived in the flesh compelled us to do sinful things for useless reasons. The gospel calls us to do holy things for better reasons, namely, that we might serve one another in love and so fulfill the law of Christ.
III. What should we expect as we strive to “keep in step with the Spirit?”
1. Resistance in those parts of our life where our “flesh” still leads.
Paul minces no words here. “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.” Your flesh is the out-and-out enemy of the Spirit. It will do everything it can to stop you from doing what the Spirit wants you to do.
Resistance is insidious. Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. It will perjure, fabricate, falsify; seduce, bully, cajole. Resistance is protean. It will assume any form, if that's what it takes to deceive you. It will reason with you like a lawyer or jam a nine-millimeter in your face like a stickup man. Resistance has no conscience. It will pledge anything to get a deal, then double-cross you as soon as your back is turned. If you take Resistance at its word, you deserve everything you get. Resistance is always lying… It cannot be reasoned with. It understands nothing but power. It is an engine of destruction, programmed from the factory with one object only: to prevent us from doing our work… Resistance’s goal is not to wound or disable. Resistance aims to kill. Its target is the epicenter of our being: our genius, our soul, the unique and priceless gift we were put on earth to give and that no one else has but us. Resistance means business. When we fight it, we are in a war to the death.
~ Steven Pressfield
If this is what it feels like to you as you fight to crucify your flesh, take heart. This is exactly how Paul describes it is going to feel. You are on the right track!
2. Pruning for the sake of fruitfulness.
If you belong to Christ, you will bear fruit. One of two things will happen in your life: Either you will lean into what it means to be a follower of Christ and begin killing the stuff that has been killing you. Or the Father will start pruning you.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are committed to making each of us who belong to Jesus abundantly fruitful. Jesus said that “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:8)
This is not a threat. This is a gift!! It is proof positive that you belong to Jesus! He who began a good work in us will complete it right up until the Day Christ returns. That is very good news, even though it stings from time to time.
3. Community for support along the way
The typical state of human relations “under the Law” and driven by the “over-desires” of the flesh are competitive (biting, devouring, consuming - 5:15) and combative (conceited, provoking, envying - 5:26) When we are led by the flesh, it is not only our personal lives that fall into disarray. All of our other relationships get polluted too.
When we are led by the Spirit, we can finally learn to live and love as we were created to. We see the flavor of community that develops when we use our freedom to serve one another in love in what follows this passage:
We help each other recover from and get past our transgressions and missteps.
We bear one another’s burdens while building strength to bear our own so as to not unduly burden others.
We share good things with others as they share good things with us.
Each and all find themselves “doing good to everyone, and especially those who are of the household of faith.” (6:10)
In this kind of gospel culture, people find the power they need to crucify the flesh and they discover the strength they need to bear the fruit of the Spirit. In this kind of gospel culture, biting and devouring give way to serving one another in love; provoking and envying one another are replaced by supporting and sharing with one another; the works of the flesh decrease and the fruit of the Spirit increases.
Gospel Freedom
Galatians 5:1-15
Gospel Freedom
Galatians 5:1-15
Main Idea: Christ has exchanged the enslaving yoke of the law for his freeing yoke of faith working through love.
I. Freedom From Law-Reliance (5:1-6)
Though Christ has set us free positionally, there is a warning here that we can “lose” this freedom practically. It is possible, through adopting a “law-relying” posture (“if you accept circumcision…”), to lose the freedom won for us and instead be loaded down with a “yoke of slavery” (cf. Rom. 2:25; Jas. 2:10).
There is no middle ground between Christian righteousness and works-righteousness. There is no other alternative to Christian righteousness but works righteousness; if you do not build your confidence on the work of Christ you must build your confidence on your own work.
~ Martin Luther, Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians
Paul reminds us once more that salvation is not something we “work” for but rather something we “wait for,” “through the Spirit, by faith” (5:5). While the penalty and power of sin have been dealt with at the cross, the presence of sin remains until our “hope of righteousness” is fully revealed.
When we are freed from the “yoke of slavery” of obligation to the law (“circumcision”) and our enslavement to sin (“uncircumcision”; cf. Jn. 8:34), we then take on the “yoke of Christ,” tethering and obligating us to him.
Matthew 11:28–30: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
When we imagine freedom as only negative freedom – freedom from constraint, hands-off liberty to choose what I want – then our so-called freedom is actually inclined to captivity. When freedom is mere voluntariness, without further orientation or goals, then my choice is just another means by which I’m trying to look for satisfaction. Insofar as I keep choosing to try and find that satisfaction in finite things – whether it’s sex or adoration or beauty or power – I’m going to get caught in a cycle where I’m more and more disappointed in those things and more and more dependent on those things. I keep choosing things with diminishing returns, and when that becomes habitual, and eventually necessary, then I forfeit my ability to choose. The thing has me now.
~ James K.A. Smith, On the Road with Saint Augustine
II. Freedom For Loving Service (5:7-15)
Paul shifts from warning about losing our freedom to warning about abusing our freedom.
1. Gospel freedom does not mean freedom to believe whatever you want; gospel freedom means we cling to the “offense” (lit. ‘scandal’) of the cross (5:7-12).
Rather than preaching for the “approval of man” (cf. 1:10), Paul was committed to preaching “Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” (1 Cor. 1:23).
The good news of Christ crucified is still a ‘scandal,’ grievously offensive to the pride of men. It tells them that they are sinners, rebels, under the wrath and condemnation of God, that they can do nothing to save themselves or secure their salvation, and that only through Christ crucified can they be saved. If we preach this gospel, we shall arouse ridicule and opposition. Only if we ‘preach circumcision’, the merits and the sufficiency of man, shall we escape persecution and become popular.
~ John Stott, The Message of Galatians: Only One Way
2. Gospel freedom does not mean freedom to live however you want; gospel freedom means “through love we serve one another” (5:13-15).
The paradox of gospel freedom is that we are freed to be “servants” (lit. ‘slaves’) of one another, just as Christ became a “servant” on our behalf (cf. Phil. 2:6-7). The whole law is “fulfilled” by this loving service, embracing a life empowered by the Spirit of true obedience, keeping the law in its proper place.
If freedom is going to be more than mere freedom from, if freedom is the power of freedom for, then I have to trade autonomy for a different kind of dependence. Coming to the end of myself is the realization that I’m dependent on someone other than myself if I’m ever to be truly free… It is the posture of dependence that liberates, a reliance that releases. Once you’ve realized you need someone not you, you also look at constraint differently. What used to look like walls hemming you in start to look like scaffolding holding you together. If freedom used to look like the no-obligation bliss of self-actualization, once the unfettered freedom has become its own bondage, you look at obligations as a restraint that give you a purpose, a center, the rebar of identity... The paradox (or irony) – especially to those of us conditioned by the myth of autonomy, who can imagine freedom only as freedom from, is that the gracious infusion of freedom comes wrapped in the gift constraint, the gift of the law, a command that calls us into being.
~ James K.A. Smith, On the Road with Saint Augustine
Freedom & Slavery
Galatians 4:21-5:1
Freedom & Slavery
Galatians 4:21-5:1
Main Idea: We must patiently stand firm in the freedom of grace, resisting the slavery of self-sufficiency.
I. Two Sons (4:21-23)
Paul returns once more to Abraham, this time contrasting his two sons Ishmael and Isaac. He wants to distinguish between the manner of their births; Ishmael was born naturally “according to the flesh” (cf. Gen. 16) while Isaac was born supernaturally “through promise” (cf. Gen. 21).
The difference between these two manners of birth showcases two different ways of relating to God; Ishmael’s birth was an example of trying to procure God’s blessing through our own strength, seeking to accomplish the Lord’s work by the way of the flesh. Isaac’s supernatural birth was entirely the work of God, showcasing his divine grace and faithfulness to his promises.
From the very beginning there was a fundamental spiritual difference between the two sons. One son was born by proxy, the other by promise. One came by works; the other came by faith. One was a slave; the other was free. Thus Ishmael and Isaac represent two entirely different approaches to religion: law against grace, flesh against Spirit, self-reliance against divine dependence.
~ Philip Ryken, Galatians
II. Two Covenants (4:24-28)
Paul then makes an “allegorical” (or ‘typological’) case between Hagar and Sarah, using this historical account to show the difference between salvation by “works of the law” vs. salvation by grace.
Hagar allegorically represents (4:24-25):
Mt. Sinai & the Mosaic Covenant (cf. Ex. 24:3; Deut. 5:27)
Present Jerusalem (cf. Mt. 3:7-9, John 8:31ff)
Enslavement
The law is the most rigorous master in the world, no wise man would love its service; for after all you have done, the law never gives you a “Thank you,” for it, but says, “Go on, sir, go on!” The poor sinner trying to be saved by law is like a blind horse going round and round a mill, and never getting a step further, but only being whipped continually; yea, the faster he goes, the more work he does, the more he is tired, so much the worse for him. The better legalist a man is, the more sure he is of being damned; the more holy a man is, if he trust to his works, the more he may rest assured of his own final rejection and eternal portion with Pharisees. Hagar was a slave; Ishmael, moral and good as he was, was nothing but a slave, and never could be more. Not all the works he ever rendered to his father could make him a free-born son.
~ Charles Spurgoen, “Allegories of Sarah & Hagar”
Sarah allegorically represents (4:26-28):
The New Covenant (cf. Eze. 36:22-27, Jer. 31:33-34)
The Jerusalem “above” (cf. Col. 3:1-3, Heb. 12:18-24)
Freedom
Paul quotes Isaiah 54:1, a promise given to the “barren” Israelites in the Babylonian exile. He rejoices that the “new Jerusalem” to come will have far more children than the old Jerusalem could contain. This promise is now being fulfilled in the church, filled with both Jews and Gentiles of faith, the true “offspring” and inheritors of the promises to Abraham.
III. Two Implications (4:29-5:1)
We should expect opposition (4:29-30; cf. Gen. 21:9)
The persecution of the true church, of Christian believers who trace their spiritual descent from Abraham, is not always by the world, who are strangers unrelated to us, but by our half-brothers, religious people, the nominal church. It has always been so. The Lord Jesus was bitterly opposed, rejected, mocked and condemned by His own nation. The fiercest opponents of the apostle Paul, who dogged his footsteps and stirred up strife against him, were the official church, the Jews... Isaac is always mocked and persecuted by Ishmael.
~ John Stott, The Message of Galatians: Only One Way
2. We must stand firm in freedom as children of promise (4:31-5:1)
The great disaster of Abraham’s life was that he used Hagar to get what he thought God wanted for him; the great achievement of his life was what God did for him apart from any programs or plans that he put into action. The lesson of that old piece of history is clear enough: the moment we begin manipulating lives in order to get control of circumstances, we become enslaved in our own plans, tangled up in our own red tape, and have to live with grievous, unintended consequences… The life of freedom is a life of receiving, of believing, of accepting, of hoping. Because God freely keeps his promises, we are free to trust.
~ Eugene Peterson, Traveling Light: Galatians and the Free Life in Christ
Do You Remember the Time?
Galatians 4:8-20
Do You Remember the Time?
Galatians 4:8-20
Main Idea: The safeguard to falling away is to remember where you strayed.
I. Remember Who You Were (4:8-11)
Our knowing of God will rise and fall depending on many things. But God’s knowing of us is absolutely fixed and solid.
~ Tim Keller, Galatians for You
The Ten Commandments weren’t given to give us life, but to tell us how to live the life that God has given.
- Doug Ponder
II. Remember How You Began (4:12c-20)
Most of us can provide personal illustrations of how God worked in our lives or the lives around us through mistakes, ‘disasters,’ troubles, and thwarted plans, often far more than through our deliberate actions and goals.
~ Tim Keller, Galatians for You
A window into the apostle’s heart also appears as he calls the Galatians his ‘little children.’ We might read Paul’s letter to the Galatians and think that he is quite angry and only interested in right doctrine, in orthodoxy, and cares little, if anything, for the people. Such a conclusion, however, would be a severe misreading of the letter. Paul was deeply concerned for the Galatians. He is like a concerned parent who sees his child in imminent danger. His passion is driven by love and concern for the people, not simply a detached veneration of doctrinal orthodoxy. This is the source of his agitation, but it is ultimately evidence of Paul’s great concern and love for the Galatians.
~ J.V. Fesko, Galatians
III. Remember What I Became (4:12)
As Christians we are hesitant to say, ‘Be like me.’ Naturally all of us think of our many faults. I don't want someone to imitate me in everything! But isn't it also true that if Christ has changed us, that we can and should call upon people to imitate us? If we are following Christ, it is right and proper to call on others to follow Christ as we are (cf. Eph 4:32-5:2). Indeed, God typically uses others to draw us after Christ, so that we love him more. Most of us were converted through the life and words of a Christian we admired. Or, we have grown spiritually through a believer who has invested in our lives. Are you living in a way that you are a godly influence on others?
~ Tom Schreiner, Galatians
One of the marks of a legalistic, works-righteous mindset is that it is inflexible, and obsessed with details. Such a person wants the converts to dress and act “just like us”. Paul, on the other hand, is a model of someone who truly comes close to and enters into the lives of the people he is seeking to reach—just as Christ did in His incarnation.
~ Tim Keller, Galatians for You
Slaves to Sons
Galatians 3:23-4:7
Slaves to Sons
Galatians 3:23-4:7
What is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God as Father… If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.
~ J.I. Packer, Knowing God
Main Idea: Though once slaves, we have been adopted by the Father, redeemed in the Son, and filled with the Spirit.
I. A New Identity (3:23-28)
The jurisdiction and administration of the law as a “guardian” has ended at the coming of Christ. Now, God’s people experience union and incorporation into Christ, receiving “sonship” through faith. Paul identifies three massive barriers that exist between humanity (racial, social, and gender) that are now subordinate to being “one in Christ Jesus” (3:28). These social and biological distinctions are not eliminated or irrelevant, but they are put in their proper place.
Many take offense at using the masculine word ‘sons’ to refer to all Christians, male and female. Some would prefer to translate v. 26 ‘you are all children of God.’ But if we are too quick to correct the biblical language, we miss the revolutionary nature of what Paul is saying. In most ancient cultures, daughters could not inherit property. Therefore, ‘son’ meant “legal heir,” which was a status forbidden to women. But the gospel tells us that we are all sons of God in Christ. We are all heirs. Similarly, the Bible describes all Christians together, including men, as the ‘bride of Christ’ (Rev. 21:2) … Men are part of his Son’s bride; and women are His sons, His heirs. If we don’t let Paul call Christian women ‘sons of God,’ we miss how radical and how wonderful a claim this is.
~ Tim Keller, Galatians For You
Our union with Christ is pictured and signified through being plunged into Christ in baptism (cf. Rom. 6:3-6, Col. 2:12) and being “clothed” in Christ (cf. Eph. 4:24, Col. 3:10).
II. A New Inheritance (3:29-4:5)
All who are in Christ are “heirs’ according to the promise given to Abraham. Issues of inheritance deal with past, present, and future realities.
A. Our Past (3:29-4:3)
B. Our Present (4:4-5)
Despite our desperation situation, God, in his divine sovereignty, was always working out his plan for our redemption: at the “fullness of time” (cf. Mk. 1:15, Eph. 1:10), he “sent forth his Son” to “redeem” us from our enslavement “under the law” so that we might receive “adoption as sons.” He did this by taking the “curse of the law” upon himself (3:13) so he could liberate us from bondage.
Adoption, by its very nature, is an art of free kindness to the person adopted… God adopts us out of free love, not because our character and record show us worthy to bear his name, but despite the fact that they show the very opposite. We are not fit for a place in God’s family; the idea of his loving and exalting us sinners as he loves and has exalted the Lord Jesus sounds ludicrous and wild – yet that, and nothing less than that – is what our adoption means.
~ J.I. Packer, Knowing God
C. Our Future (3:29)
As all the promises of God find their “yes and amen” in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20), these promises are now rightfully also ours through our union with Christ (Rom. 8:16-17, Eph. 1:3). All that belongs to Christ also belongs to us who are in Christ.
III. A New Intimacy (4:6-7)
God has not only “sent forth his Son” to secure the position of our adoption, but he has also “sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts” (4:6) in order that we might experience the privileges of adoption.
John 14:16, 18: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever… I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
The Spirit makes the heart of Christ real to us: not just heard, but seen; not just seen, but felt; not just felt, but enjoyed. The Spirit takes what we read in the Bible and believe on paper about Jesus’ heart and moves it from theory to reality, from doctrine to experience. It is one thing, as a child, to be told your father loves you. You believe him. You take him at his word. But it is another thing, unutterably more real, to be swept up in his embrace, to feel the warmth, to hear his beating heart within his chest, to instantly know the protective grip of his arms. It’s one thing to hear he loves you; it’s another thing to feel his love. That is the glorious work of the Spirit.
~ Dane Ortlund, Gentle & Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers
Rather than being held captive by the law, the indwelling Holy Spirit has given us intimate access to the Father. No Jewish person dared address God as ‘Abba’ until the coming of Christ (Mk. 14:36), and we now have this same access to cry out in our desperation to our Heavenly Father (cf. Rom. 8:15).
The Law and the Gospel
Galatians 3:15-25
The Law and the gospel
galatians 3:15-25
Main Idea: Christ is the fulfillment of all God’s covenant promises, giving life to those of faith.
I. The Priority of the Promise (3:15-18)
Paul continues to confront the Judaizers by appealing to a “lesser to greater” argument regarding man-made covenants (or wills). Just as there are human examples of unalterable, irrevocable, and unchanging promises being ratified, how much more is this true of the promises of God?
God’s promise… was free and unconditional. As we might say, there were ‘no strings attached.’ There were no works to do, no laws to obey, no merit to establish, no conditions to fulfill. God simply said, ‘I will give you a seed. To your seed I will give the land, and in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed.’ His promise was like a will, freely giving the inheritance to a future generation. And like a human will, this divine promise is unalterable. It is still in force today, for it has never been rescinded. God does not make promises in order to break them. He has never annulled or modified His will.
~ John Stott, The Message of Galatians: Only One Way
God’s covenant promise came to Abraham (Gen. 12, 15) before he had done anything righteous, before the sign of circumcision (Gen. 17), and 430 years before the law was given to Moses (Ex. 20). Rather than the Mosaic Law “annulling” God’s covenant promise given freely to Abraham, it is built on the foundation of what came before.
II. The Purpose of the Law (3:19-25)
Paul now addresses two obvious questions that have been building throughout Galatians:
Question #1 (3:19): “Why then the law?”
Paul’s emphasis in this passage is the role of the Law in revealing and illuminating “transgressions” and sin. The law “increases trespasses” (Rom. 5:20), reveals “sin” to be “sinful” (Rom. 3:20, 7:7, 13), and “arouses” our “sinful passions” (Rom. 7:5). The law contributes to God’s plan of redemption by showing us our need for salvation and grace (cf. Ex. 20:18-19).
Question #2 (3:21): “Is the law then contrary to the promises of God?”
The law is not contrary to the promises given to Abraham, but instead serves a complimentary role. The Judaizers taught that obedience to the law “gave them life” and “justification” (Rom. 9:30-32; 10:3) rather than realizing it was built on the promise of grace (Gen. 15:7, Ex. 20:2).
Paul uses two analogies to illustrate his point. The law is like a:
Prison Guard (3:22-23), imprisoning and holding everything “in custody”
Guardian / Tutor (3:24), a “disciplinarian” until children reach maturity
Not until the law has bruised and smitten us will we admit our need of the gospel to bind up our wounds. Not until the law has arrested and imprisoned us will we pine for Christ to set us free. Not until the law has condemned and killed us will we call upon Christ for justification and life. Not until the law has driven us to despair of ourselves will we ever believe in Jesus. Not until the law has humbled us even to hell will we turn to the gospel to raise us to heaven.
~ John Stott, The Message of Galatians: Only One Way
III. The Person of Christ
Christ is not only the fulfillment of the promised ‘seed’ of Abraham (Gal. 3:16), he is also the fulfillment of all the covenant promises of God. 2 Corinthians 1:20: “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.”
Genesis 3:15: God graciously promises an “offspring of the woman” who would bring redemption by decisively crushing the serpent’s head
Noahic Covenant: God graciously promises never to destroy the earth again and recommissions humanity as his image bearers and representatives on earth
Abrahamic Covenant: God graciously promises that all the families of the earth would be blessed through the offspring of Abraham, and they will be given a land of rest
Mosaic Covenant: God graciously calls Israel to be his “Son,” a Kingdom of Priests who will showcase his glory to the nations through the Law, and establishes the sacrificial system to showcase the atonement of sins
Davidic Covenant: God graciously promises a “son of David” will reign faithfully over God’s people forever