SERIES SUMMARY

As strange as it is, from the earliest days, the church struggled with understanding the Gospel—what the gospel is and how the gospel is lived out in daily life. In Paul’s day, there was a group called the Judaizers who taught that for Gentiles to become Christians, they first had to become Jews. It wasn’t enough to simply put your faith in Jesus; it was faith plus adherence to the Mosaic Law. However, the Good News of the gospel is that we are made right with God by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Anytime you add “plus anything,” you destroy the gospel. Galatians, “the letter that saved the church,” is all about clarifying the gospel and calling us to abandon any form of rule-based Christianity. It’s about how to live in and live out grace by the power of the Spirit. It’s about bearing the fruit of relating well to people so that we reflect the character of God in any circumstance.

SERMON SUMMARY  

Our “try hard” efforts to make ourselves right with God or somehow elicit entry into Heaven will fall short apart from the work of Christ. The beauty of the Gospel is that it is a free gift to be received, not a reward to be earned. Jesus has done the work. It is His work that is then applied to us. Any effort to earn salvation is a distortion of that Gospel and misses the heart of Jesus. Paul’s emphasis rests on the fact that we have been brought into the family of God and, therefore, are heirs of the promise of salvation. It is nothing we’ve done, but God’s grace to call us sons and daughters.

SERMON SCREENSHOTS & KEY POINTS 

Context: This is a dense passage. There’s a good bit of cultural and historical context that Paul and his audience understand, but we may not be so quick to grasp in 2024. So, let’s do some headwork. Prior to this letter, Paul had traveled to the churches in Galatia on one of his missionary journeys and shared the Gospel with them – salvation comes through faith in Jesus. However, at a later time, Jewish Christians would travel to Galatia and begin to add requirements to that original Gospel message while also speaking negatively of Paul. The scope of their “gospel” message was faith in Jesus AND obeying certain parts of the Mosaic Law – a blend of Old Covenant requirements with New Covenant teachings. When Paul hears that the Galatians have submitted themselves to this different gospel he passionately and frustratedly pens this letter. 

When I was a teenager, I served on a mission trip in which we were going door to door, having evangelistic conversations with people. I recall one of those conversations in particular with a middle-aged woman outside of her house. As we spoke, I asked her various questions and one specifically about salvation. She responded, “I know I would go to Heaven because I obey the 10 commandments.” I was somewhat shocked to hear someone claim such a feat. From there I shared from Galatians 3:11 – no one is justified by the works of the Law, but only by faith and tried to help her see the fruitless effort of achieving salvation through self-propelled obedience to rules. However, the conversation found itself in a dead end as she could not grasp the simple and shaking truth of the Gospel – faith is (and has always been) what is required.

Paul’s emphasis in our passage under study is just that – the law was never meant to bring salvation, but rather serve as a guide (guardian) until the time when Christ would come.

Paul’s argument: The Law cannot save you. Only faith in Christ is required.

Question: How then were people in the Old Testament made right with God?

Answer: Faith. Paul references Abraham to drive this home considering he was made righteous hundreds of years before Moses and the Law ever existed.

Question: Why did God give the Law?

Answer: The Law had a positive – it defined what sin was. But is also had a negative – it defined us as sinners.

Question: What was the purpose of the Law?

Answer: It was meant to guide the people of Israel as a temporary system (guardian) until the fulfillment of Christ’s coming, revealing their need for a true savior.

Conclusion of Paul’s argument: Our flesh seized the temporary guide itself, making works the very merit for salvation. This is slavery, not freedom since this is an impossible effort. Christ came under the law itself in order to fulfill the requirements of the Law and purchase us out of slavery so that through faith in Him we may be forgiven and be made part of God’s family through adoption.

A word on adoption: This word is unique to Paul and his writings, but Paul sees this as the profound reality of our faith in Jesus. Often, when we think about our salvation, we think about what was removed from us (our sin). Rarely do we think about our salvation in terms of what was given to us (status as a son or daughter). But the amazing thing about what Paul is saying here in Galatians 4 is not just that we have a legal status as a son or daughter but we have a very real experience. “The Spirit is sent into our hearts,” Paul says. Feelings do not determine truth, but truth should determine how we feel and what this verse emphasizes is that because we’ve been adopted, we can feel, in the very depths of our heart, the intimacy and presence of the Spirit. In fact, it is the Spirit’s work in our hearts that leads us to join in His own cry, calling out to God as Father. This is more than just theology. This is experiential. This is the hope that meets our sense of being forsaken and bestows on us not just status, but the very inheritance of Christ. What belongs to Him is also given to us. God sees us as He sees the Son.

*We are a church located in Greenville, South Carolina. Our vision is to see God transform us into a community of grace passionately pursuing life and mission with Jesus.