The Privilege of Adoption into the God's Family
Book of Galatians Chapter 4 Verses 1 through 20
Our lesson does a great job of presenting the truth of Faith and the Grace of God and being adopted into the family of God.
All our lessons have been good this quarter.
I may go a little bit differently today as I usually do.
We know some churches of Galatia were teaching that a person could be saved by the Law, the Law being the Laws of Moses.
You know that title itself should tell us that the law was lacking.
The Bible is best stated as the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
These churches had allowed some Judaizers to come in with a false teaching and they had turned from the teaching of "faith" by the Apostle Paul.
They now felt they could be saved by being good, doing their best, and being religious.
Being religious means people who have given themselves to religion and are so influenced by it that they are different from the world.
Christianity means we are a follower of the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith!
Christianity is a personal experience with our Savior!
We should all do our best to be good according to the Word of God.
We all should be faithful in worshipping God and in a good church.
We must not think this is the means of our salvation!
The Bible is very clear and forceful, that doing these things does not save a person!
When we get alone with God, “are we” speaking to Him as a maturing Christian or as a baby Christian?
He knows what we are and none of us can be perfect until we meet Jesus when He returns, and He will return!
If we ever want to get to Heaven, we had better know that we must be perfect, and perfection only comes with a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!
Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
In the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, He explained the big difference in just obeying the Law and the truth of God.
There is a big difference between obedience and holiness!
The big difference in being a Christian is, “we do not need a written list of laws because we have the Holy Spirit living within us” and He will put His laws in our minds and write them down in our hearts.
Heb 10:15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
Heb 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
Heb 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 10:18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
In the Lord Jesus Christ, we have the perfect conception of love, and this is what He wants from us.
*****Gal 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Under Roman law, a child was an infant until they were seven years old and were a child until they reached the age of twenty-five.
During this time a bondservant would be the one to teach that child or be responsible for taking that child to the tutors or a schoolmaster.
During this time, these children “had no say so in the affairs of their father” even though they were heirs to whatever their father owned.
In this, they were no different from a bondservant who would never be an heir.
Only after maturity does this person become a true heir and then lord of that property of his father.
Even if that father no longer lived that guardian or governor would direct that heir until he reached the proper age, and the heir had no power to make those decisions concerning his inheritance.
The father could and would determine that period of time before that heir had the authority over his own inheritance!
We can see that even though this son was an heir and a future lord, he was no more than a slave until that time set by his father.
Caesar had ruled that under the Gallic tribes of Galatia, the father had sole power of life and death over his wife and children.
*****Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
There was a time when the entire world was under bondage to one nation, or another as described in the Book of Daniel.
Daniel 2 Verses 37 through 44.
To the Jews, this bondage meant the sacrifices, the rituals, and the sacrifices of the Old Testament that directed all the facets of Jewish life.
It meant philosophy and the traditions of men, and their teachings.
It meant the ordinances, rules, and regulations of men, including the oral law.
It meant all the laws of the Old Testament.
It was impossible to keep all those old laws.
Act 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
All things of religion will choke the life out of Christianity if we allow it!
The elements, of the world mean the things of this world that we use to get right with God and try to secure the favor of God.
This also includes anything we can use to justify ourselves to God, anything we can do through our own efforts, and we will never get close to God doing these things.
But there came a time when God decided it was time to change the things that brought us under bondage to this world.
*****Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
The fullness of time here represents the time that our Heavenly Father decided to begin the Church Age and end the Age of the Law as the schoolmaster.
The Age of Grace began.
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
We can say the fullness of time is the time appointed by God and was foretold by the true Prophets of God.
We should know by now that Jehovah God is in control of all the things in this world.
This world lives every day under the providence of God!
God's preserving and governing of all, by means of second causes.
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the glue that holds His creation together!
When the first part of our Savior's work was completed, He went back to His throne in Heaven until the Church Age reaches its fulfillment and then He will return.
Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Heb 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
There should be no doubt that we are in these last days.
The Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth to deliver this world from sin!
This was His sole purpose, and He completed that work.
Today Jesus Christ walks “in our bodies” until He returns to Redeem us.
Jesus was not some angel!
The first coming of Christ was not by chance!
Jesus Christ came in the timing set aside by God the Father!
He did not come one day early, and He did not leave one day late. He is always on time!
Jesus Christ was born of a particular person, at a particular time, in a particular way, and under a particular system, the Law.
Jesus was subject to the same system in which He came to save all the world from it.
The world had been specially prepared for His first coming!
The Law had done its work.
The world was full of spiritually starved people ready for a change.
The world was at peace under Roman rule.
The world was under the Greek language making communication possible no matter where you went.
The Romans had built roads everywhere making travel easier.
God's messenger, John the Baptist, was in place.
Mar 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
Mar 1:2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Mar 1:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Why did Jesus come? He came to redeem God's people!
God's people are all those who have "faith" in the work of Jesus Christ!
Every believer becomes the adopted sons and daughters of God!
*****Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Gal 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
When we trust in the work of Christ for our salvation we receive the Holy Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit.
Paul asked these Galatians: Gal 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
These people knew they had never felt the presence of the Holy Spirit until they heard the preaching of the Apostle Paul.
Because we have the Spirit of Jesus living within us, God looks upon us as His sons and daughters.
What is the first thing we should do?
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
We cannot allow the remnants of our past to influence our new life!
That unclean thing is what is called an idol.
As we come out from the world we begin to meet our true family, the family of God.
As we have learned earlier, the Holy Spirit is somewhat like a downpayment on our eternal life, until Christ returns to take us home.
We become heirs and sons because of our faith in Jesus Christ and the Grace of our heavenly Father!
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Then the last time will be the day of the Rapture of the Church, the end of the Church Age.
Chapters 2 and 3 and the first verse in Chapter 4 of the Book of Revelation.
The word adoption means to place us as God's sons and daughters, and He will never release us back into this wicked world.
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
For many days now, we will be telling ourselves we just want to go home.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
We are no longer servants to this sinful world.
*****Gal 4:8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
I believe every one of us agrees with this verse.
There is no God but Jehovah who can change one thing on this earth!
When we look back on our old lives before our faith in Jesus, most of us do not like who or what we were.
We may have had knowledge of God, but we did not know Him in a personal way, and this is what God wants from us, a personal relationship.
We did not know life until we met Jesus!
We served the false gods of this world until we met Jesus!
Many of us worshipped that almighty dollar because the things of this world are only idols.
Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
We were in bondage to the things of this world.
Now we know better so, why in the world would we ever want to go back into that lost world?
*****Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
It is a privilege to know the truth of God, a privilege we had better not abuse.
We should also understand that God knew us before we were even born on this earth.
In some places in the Bible, it shows that God talks to us while we are in the womb of our mothers.
God will not do for one that He will not do for another! Only He knows what is best for us.
It is a humbling fact, that God cared enough to send someone to us to tell us about Jesus and the Gospel.
There is nothing in this world that can give life.
Heb 7:18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
Heb 7:19 For the law made nothing perfect, “but the bringing in of a better hope did”; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
The Apostle Paul is not condemning the observance of these things but teaching them that God will never justify them for observing these days.
Bondage to these things forfeits the liberty of the Gospel!
We are not bound to observe any ritual of any church.
The only things Jesus said for us are Baptism and the Lord's Supper, but even these things cannot justify us.
We do these things because our Lord did these things, and He said to follow Him.
So, we follow Him in Baptism, and we partake of the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Him.
Paul knew that these churches in Galatia were about to turn back to the Law and Paul was doing His best to tell them how foolish this was.
Every religion in this world is a religion of works!
People trying to please their god making these religions, religions of works.
The only thing that pleases God is "faith" in the work of His Son for our salvation!
Once we decide that we need to do something to make God love us, we are headed for trouble.
Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Heb 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
We are walking a dangerous path when we turn our backs on God!
When we speak to some in the church who seem to be losing their faith, we must remember they are still our brothers and sisters in Christ and the children of God.
*****Gal 4:12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.
Paul has not been too harsh to these churches because they are still family notice the word brethren.
This is an example for us all. Our own Pastor preaches hard, and some may not always agree with the message, but we had better remember that he is a minister of God called to preach the messages God has given him by the Holy Spirit.
He is also a brother in Christ who is in the same family as all God's children.
If He does not preach God's message, then he will answer to God.
If we do not listen to that message and apply it to our lives, Jesus may remind us of that when we meet Him in the clouds.
Every message is real when it matches what God has said in the Scriptures.
We do not have to abide by any message that goes against the Word of God!
Paul was being criticized for his messages of truth when it was the Judaizers who had the false message.
Even now Paul did not treat them as his enemies.
Paul assured them that they had not injured him, they had only injured themselves.
God gives us this time after our salvation to earn rewards given to us when we get to Heaven.
These rewards are far more than the promised Mansion and eternal life.
We can even be blessed as we witness for the Lord Jesus Christ here on earth.
God has all these things in mind when He sends a message to our Pastor for him to preach to us.
*****Gal 4:13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.
Gal 4:14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
Gal 4:15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.
Gal 4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
Even on a bad day when our pastor is feeling bad, he will always give us the truth of God!
Our Pastor is never ever our enemy!
Paul had a physical affliction that bothered him from time to time and he asked the Lord to remove it, and the Lord said to him, "My Grace Is sufficient" for it to overcome your weakness.
When a true man of God is preaching full of the Holy Spirit, God's power to him will overcome all his deficiencies.
It is the message that is important, not the physical condition of that man of God!
When Paul first came to these people he was welcomed with open arms.
It was the legalism of the Judaizers that made things change.
This is what a false message does. It will cause friction in that body of believers.
Many a church has split for these same things.
1Ti 5:17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
Tit 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
Tit 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
Tit 3:10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
Tit 3:11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.
Verse 15 also hints to us that the physical problem that Paul had was with his eyes.
The people who reject the truth of Jesus Christ are outside the church.
We are not to hate them, but we must know this fact and witness to them if we are able.
Notice it said if you have witnessed to them at least twice then you are not obligated to go that person a third time but someone else can go.
It was the Judaizers who were religionists who were Paul's true enemy and the enemies of the Church!
*****Gal 4:17 They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.
Gal 4:18 But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.
Notice Paul did not mention names. Everyone present knew who Paul was referring to.
Gal 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
All those who pervert the Gospel of Jesus Christ are false teachers!
We must always be on guard and reject false preachers and teachers.
These Judaizers were very zealous in their work, trying their best to reconvert as many of the Jews as they could and convert any Gentile to Judaism who listened to them.
They did not care if they got saved or not.
Their goal was to stop Christianity in its tracks.
Most of the world is trying to do the same today but this is impossible!
The very first thing they will try to do is to discredit that Pastor (preacher) who teaches the truth.
False teachers try to focus people on the law, work, effort, rituals, sacrifice, and rules.
False teachers reject the Grace of God.
Today false teachers claim some imaginary powers that they do not have and work for the money they can get from those who trust them.
Today God does all healing without the help of some mediator.
The power of healing belongs to God Himself and He does this work through prayers!
The true preacher seeks to focus people on this Almighty God who gave us a plan for salvation.
It is His plan and there is no other plan than His that will work!
God's plan works only through the Lord Jesus Christ. These are His conditions, and we must not question His plan!
The Lord Jesus said: Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Jesus also said: Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Those who deny the truth of Jesus Christ are all antichrists!
2Jn 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
2Jn 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
*****Gal 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
Gal 4:20 I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.
We as a church should welcome those Evangelist and Missionaries who preach the truth and in our church our Pastor makes this selection, and this is the way it should be in every Gospel church.
There is only one Gospel!
The true preacher seeks only to help believers.
The true preacher considers all believers as his dear children.
The true preacher will guard the church from error.
The true preacher’s heart is tender and warm, protecting and providing for the church.
Most people think of a growing church as one that adds many new members, but the truth is a growing church is a church growing in its relationship with Jesus Christ and His Heavenly Father who becomes our ABBA Father
Nothing else in this world is more important than our relationship with our Savior.
These are the same ones who are God's children!
Amen.
