READ: Galatians 4:21
Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says?
- Have you ever "stood" for something, or defended something that you didn't completely understand?
- Was there ever a time when you finally "read the fine print" and realized you needed to make a change?
You cannot make people good by law:
and without good people you cannot have a good society.
That is why we must go on to think of the second thing:
of morality inside the individual.
C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity
watch a clip from sunday's message
READ: Galatians 3:23-25
Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed. Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.
- Have you ever felt like you simply weren't doing enough good things; like God was disappointed in you?
- Where do thoughts like this derive from?
- Why is it so difficult to allow the Spirit to lead (throwing in the rope)?
- Why do we hold on to rules and regulations?
- What's one way you can let God's Spirit lead in your life?
freedom is found once we've thrown in the rope
key ideas
1. Paul is now showing how to apply the fruit of the Spirit. If someone finds themselves in a struggle, there are two things needed:
- Gentleness to help them through
- Humility to keep oneself from being self-righteous and opening the door for similar struggles.
2. Walking with one another through our inevitable struggles is the means of carrying out the law of Christ (see Eccles. 4:9-12)
3. Pride and self-absorption are deceptions that keep us from unity.
4. The problem with comparing ourselves to others is that we can always find someone “worse” than us. But if we stop trying to be like and please everyone else, focusing instead on what we know is right, we’ll do well.
5. This is not a contradiction of verse two. We are called to support and encourage each other, and as such we are fully responsible for others as well as ourselves.
6. This verse speaks of the value of discipleship. In Greco-Roman society, teachers would be compensated individually by their pupils: sometimes monetarily, sometimes through food or shelter. The idea being that through this provision the teacher can give themselves fully to the task. Paul says it’s the same with the church.
7-8. Matthew 7:15-20 talks about how to identify a person’s Spirit. Jesus says, “you can identify people by their fruit; how they act.” Paul alludes to the same thing here: actions have consequences, things bare out what is planted. There is no use doing evil and hoping that God will make good out of it.
9. Endurance & persistence in doing good will bear fruit in time. The key is not to give up.
10. Take every opportunity to do good.
11. Paul seems to have dictated his letters (Rom 16:22; Col 4:18; 2 Thes 3:17) and then added his signature of authentication. In this case, he may have penned the entire epistle, or this closing for emphasis.
12. The motive for those requiring circumcision was twofold:
- to appear pious to others
- to avoid persecution from Jews
13. Hypocrisy characterizes those Judaizers who require circumcision, but do not keep the rest of the Law. They relish the requirement they impose on others.
14. Unlike the Judiazers who are ashamed of the message of the cross and avoid the persecution caused by it, Paul, himself, glories in it. Paul has died to the world (and so the Law) through faith in the cross of Christ.
15. Rules and rituals are meaningless if they do not produce new life (2 Cor 5:17; Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:5-11).
16. Peace and mercy are by- products of truth. One must first "walk according to this rule" (reliance on the cross), then comes peace & mercy on spiritual Israel.
17. The Judiazers made circumcision a mark of their religious zeal, while Paul asserts that his scars caused by persecution are the only outward marks he needs to verify his allegiance to Christ.
18. Paul asks that the favor of God (grace) be on his brothers. "Brethren" here denotes his ongoing affection for the Galatians
scripture
1 Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. 2 Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. 3 If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.
4 Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5 For we are each responsible for our own conduct.
6 Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.
7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. 9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.
11 Notice what large letters I use as I write these closing words in my own handwriting.
12 Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save. 13 And even those who advocate circumcision don’t keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples.
14 As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. 15 It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. 16 May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God.
17 From now on, don’t let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus.
18 Dear brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
word study
Overcome (prolambano) unanticipated; surprised.
Sin (paraptoma) a slip; lapse; error; transgression.
Godly (pneumatikos) of the spirit (of God), or (divinely) supernatural, regenerate.
Help (katartizo) repair, or adjust.
Burdens (baros) weight; figuratively, a load, abundance, authority.
Fooling (phrenapataō) to deceive any one's mind; delusional
Satisfaction (kauchēma) that of which one glories or can glory, matter or ground of glorying.
Compare (eis) unto, towards, among.
Conduct (phortion) figuratively: a task or service; burden.
Taught (katecheo) indoctrinated; to teach orally, to instruct.
Provide (koinōneō) to share with others; communicate, distribute, be partaker.
Misled (planao) to roam from safety, truth, or virtue.
Please (speirō) to sow, scatter, seed.
Everlasting (aionios) perpetual.
Life (zōē) the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animate.
Good (kalos) good (literally or morally), i.e. valuable or virtuous
Opportunity (kairos) occasion; set or proper time.
Good (agathos) useful, salutary, beneficial.
Everyone (pas) each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything
Especially (malista) most; in the greatest degree; particularly.
Force (anagkazō) to necessitate, compel, drive to, constrain; by force, threats, etc.
Look Good (euprosōpeō) to be of good countenance; to make a display
Boast (kauchaomai) to vaunt.
Claim (kauchaomai) to glory (whether with reason or without)
World (kosmos) orderly arrangement; natural order.
Crucified (stauroō) to impale on the cross; figuratively, to extinguish or subdue passion or selfishness
New creation (kainos ktisis) fresh. original formation; the thing created.
Amen (amen) surely; so be it