Paul used some interesting metaphors to help the Galatians understand the difference between the demands of the Old Testament Law and the grace found in Jesus Christ. He said the Law was like a guardian that kept people safe until they were able to inherit all God had for them in Christ. Like underage children with a legal guardian, people under the Law had to obey its rules until Jesus emancipated them. When they placed their faith in Jesus they became the children of God, and no longer were wards of the Law.

“When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” Galatians 3:4

The proof of this adoption was the Holy Spirit who came and filled the sons and daughters of God with his presence. It was the Spirit in them that enabled them to claim their inheritance in Christ.

“Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” Galatians 4:6-7

Abraham’s Two Sons

Paul used the two sons of Abraham as another illustration of the difference between law and grace. Abraham had his son Ishmael through his concubine Hagar, so Ishmael was his child, but he was not Abraham’s final heir. When Abraham’s wife Sarah gave birth to Isaac, that son became the heir God had in mind for Abraham.

Both boys received life from God and were children of Abraham, but in the end, the promises God made to Abraham only passed to Isaac.

People under the Law were like the son of the concubine; they were not able to lay hold of all that the Father had for them. People under Grace were like the son of the wife; they were born into all that God has for his children.

Mount Sinai and the New Jerusalem

Paul estended the illustration of the two wives and two sons further when he compared them to Mount Sinai and the heavenly city of God, the New Jerusalem.

Hagar was like Mount Sinai where the Law was given to Moses. The Law couldn’t make people part of the family of God, but it made them aware of the Father. The Law taught people to desire God and cry out to him for deliverance from their sins.

In Paul’s day, Jerusalem was still governed by the Law, but Jesus had come and introduced Grace, which superseded the Law. Those who accepted Jesus as their Savior entered the Kingdom of God, with the New Jerusalem as their future home. Abraham’s first wife Sarah, who gave birth to the son of promise, represented the New Jerusalem.

“Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” Galatians 4:25-26

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.” Galatians 4:31

Don’t Be Enslaved to the Law

The Judaizers wanted the Gentile believers to observe certain parts of the Law, especially the practice of circumcision. Circumcision was mandatory  in the Old Testament and God said it would be a sign of who belonged to him in every generation.

The Jews took this ritual very seriously because they saw how God regarded it.

• God threatened to kill Moses for failing to circumcise the son he had with his wife Zipporah as he returned to Egypt from Midian.
• Before Israel entered the Promised Land Joshua made sure every male among the twelve tribes was circumcised.
• Once Israel was established in Canaan, any Gentile who wished to join them and worship Jehovah underwent circumcision.
• No uncircumcised male could enter the temple precincts to make offerings or worship.
• Israel’s pagan enemies were often referred to as the “uncircumcised.”

But Paul had seen the Galatians saved without obeying the Law, simply by receiving Christ as their savior. The proof of their salvation was that the Holy Spirit immediately came to dwell in them – and he would not have come to live in them if something beyond faith was required of them.

“For in Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Galatians 5:6

Paul pointed out that if the Gentiles’ salvation depended on circumcision, then, logically, they were also obligated to keep every other part of the Mosaic Law. And if obeying the law could save them, Christ was not needed.

But no one could keep the whole law and Christ was needed to save law-breaking sinners from sin’s penalty of death.

Replacing the Old Sin Nature

Salvation received by faith alone was not a license to sin. The Lord didn’t save people and then leave them in their sinful, fleshly state. His Spirit worked to replace the old nature with the divine nature of Christ.

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not able to do whatever you want.” Galatians 5:16-17

Paul listed the traits of the flesh (or old sin nature) that God wanted to remove from his children.

“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21

People who used the freedom of forgiveness in Christ as a license to go on practicing these behaviors weren’t going to inherit the kingdom of God. They were not really his children, no matter what they claimed about their relationship with Christ.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21

The Spirit of Christ

Paul battled his own sin nature after he met Christ. It probably took all of the fourteen years he spent in Arabia and Tarsus for the proud Pharisee to become a submissive follower of Christ. But the Spirit eventually transformed Paul into the servant of God who endured extreme hardship for the sake of the Gospel.

When Paul listed the parts of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, he was speaking from his own experience of God at work in his heart. This is what he learned to be true of the indwelling Christ:

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

These character qualities gave Paul endurance and success in his work. Love, joy, peace and patience from the Spirit supplanted Paul’s old nature with its criticism, pride, anxiety, and impatience. The Pharisees trained Paul to bully people into submission; the Holy Spirit showed him how to lead people with wisdom, kindness, gentleness and self-control. He won countless souls thanks to his new, Christ-like nature.

You Reap What You Sow

Paul’s belief in the Christ-like character showed up in the way he encouraged believers to help each other.

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently . . . Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:1-2

This approach was a far cry from the methods of the Pharisees who so often arrested and punished people they didn’t agree with. Paul was now like Jesus: He was in the business of seeking and gently restoring lost people.

And Paul knew from experience that a proud, self-righteous person couldn’t help other people. Each member of the community needed to have a humble, sane evaluation of himself or herself.

“If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.” Galatians 6:3-5

Developing a Christ-like character was a long process and it required an investment of oneself. It was like sowing seeds and looking forward to a good harvest.

“Do not be deceived . . . [people] reap what they sow. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Galatians 6:7-10

Tomorrow we will see what the Church in Jerusalem decided to do about Gentile believers and whether they needed to be obedient to the Law.