Christ + Something = Nothing

gal 5:1-6 Christ + something = nothing

I’d like to begin this morning by reading a letter.

Dear Pastor,

I need some advice from you regarding some elements of God’s law and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is: how do I tell? I have tried asking but most women take offense.
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor to the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states that he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there degrees of abomination?
7. Leviticus 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20 or is there some wiggle room there?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Leviticus 19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Leviticus 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Leviticus 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton-polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them (Lev 24:10-16)? Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws (Lev 20:14)?

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.

That was from Garry Will’s What Jesus Meant.

Kind of humorous and absurd, but in reality, those are really good questions. One of those great theological questions for the past 2000 years has been Are Christians bound by the Law of Moses? If so, how do we determine which ones to follow and then how do we go about following them?

The answer to that question is: No; Christians are not bound by the Law of Moses. Christians are not to follow any of the commands in the Law of Moses. Fortunately for us, Paul answered this very question nearly 2000 years ago in his letter to the Galatians and God preserved that text for us in the Scriptures. Turn there with me in your Bibles. We will be in chapter 5 this morning as we brought chapter 4 to a close last week.

Now honest readers of Galatians are probably concerned at this point as you have noted that Paul does not seem to be in favor of the law. The natural response to this is typically:

So you’re saying no law? Paul, are you really an antinomian? It sure sounds like it. It sure sounds like you are against the Law. Then how are we to conduct ourselves? By what rule? We need some kind of religious structure by which to pattern our lives. What is going to make people be good? We need some kind of rules to keep people in check. How are we to define our morals if not by law? How will we define sin if not by that which transgresses the law?

Paul is going to deal with that in today’s text and continue to deal with it through the next several weeks as he transitions from the theological foundation to the exhortation and application.

Now before we jump into chapter 5, I want to remind you that last week we looked at Paul’s allegory in which he compared:

2 Sons	Ishmael	Isaac
2 Types of Birth	Of the flesh	Of the promise
2 Mothers	Slave woman	Free woman
2 Covenants	Old	New
2 Mountains	Sinai	Zion (Heb 12)
2 Jerusalems	Old/earthly	New/Heavenly
Status in Paul’s day	Slavery	Free
	Persecutor	Persecuted
2 Results	Cast out	Receive inheritance

With that understanding of the Old Covenant being slavery and the New Covenant being freedom, Paul moves right into Galatians 5.

 ¹ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

 ² Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. ³ Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. ⁴ You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

So Paul says

 ¹ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Again, here Paul is referring to covenants. Everything he just unpacked in the last part of chapter 4 should be in view as Paul speaks of slavery and freedom.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Christ came to set the captives free. He came to redeem his people from slavery. This is patterned after the Exodus. Paul keeps drawing from the Exodus account and shows that first century Jerusalem had become a spiritual Egypt spiritually enslaving God’s people under the OC.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. In Christ we are free. Free from the Law. Free from condemnation.

STAND FIRM THEN.

This is a phrase used in the NT nearly 20 times, “Stand firm.” The idea is stand firm in the FAITH. Many people who read the scriptures without considering the context or audience relevance see this phrase as a proof that one can lose his salvation. However, if you consider the context it has to do with the 40 year transition period from age to age and is an exhortation to stand firm in the faith, and don’t be swayed to go back to slavery of the Law.

We don’t have Judaizers throwing the law in our face so we don’t relate to the difficulties these first century readers were facing. But Paul told them, STAND FIRM and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. And if you do a search on stand firm on www.biblegateway.com, you will find that the context typically points to standing firm to the end in reference to the end of the OC age.

Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened by a yoke of slavery.

He infers that the Law was slavery, calling it a burden and he uses the term yoke. Now, these words may sound familiar. Jesus used these words also saying in Matt 11:29-30 ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

EGGS? Now, I have to say, I have learned so many new words since I started reading the bible. I first heard that and thought, “What does eggs have to do with this? Is he talking about eggs over easy? What does this mean?”

DEFINE. Think of yoke as a beam of wood or some other material that goes across the back of 2 animals as an apparatus that can drag a plow behind it and accomplish work. Imagine that concept with another human. Now if you think about being yoked together with another individual, you hope they are the same height and have the same strength and work ethic as you. In other words it would be unfavorable to be yoked with someone far weaker and lazier; the whole burden would be upon you. You would carry the load. That would be a burden and a heavy yoke, like the Law.

JESUS’ YOKE. If you were yoked to Jesus on the other hand, not in a physical sense, but in a spiritual sense, he carries the whole load, he does all the work. His yoke is easy and his burden is light.

Paul is speaking to Galatian believers who have already experienced this light burden, this easy yoke of Jesus. He tells them it is for freedom that Christ has set us free from the yoke of the Law. Stand firm then and do not be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. The law is slavery and burdensome. Do not put yourselves under that burdensome yoke.

 ² Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.

MARK MY WORDS. That is something you say when you REALLY want to make a point. This is indeed a powerful point. If you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. WHAT!?!?! We can’t do bits and pieces of the Law on top of faith? What’s wrong with that? Isn’t it like extra credit?

NO! Paul declares emphatically. If you add to the finished work of Jesus you rob yourself of its value. Paul is essentially saying

Christ + something = nothing. Christ + anything = nothing.

You EITHER believe OR you rely on works of the Law. You cannot do both.

You EITHER operate in the flesh OR you operate in the Spirit. You can’t do both.

Either Christ or Law. You cannot add to the work of Jesus Christ. Christ alone is sufficient.

HEART TRANSPLANT. Imagine if you had a heart transplant – a very intricate and specialized surgery that requires the work of a professional expert. So after a successful surgery, you wake up and look the surgeon in the eyes and say, “Well, looks like you did a pretty good job, well, perfect work, how about handing me that scalpel so I can get back in there and add to the surgery.” The surgery is complete. You can’t give yourself a heart transplant. He did for you what you couldn’t do for yourself at all. And after it’s all done you want to get in there and try to add to the work? Go ahead, here’s the scalpel, cut away. So you slice open and you nick an artery and you’re gone – you pass out, you bleed to death. His surgery is now of no value to you.

Adding circumcision or any work of the Law makes the perfect work of Christ of no value to you.

Christ + something = nothing. Christ + anything = nothing.

³ Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.

AGAIN? What does he mean again? I think he is referring to the fact that he already mentioned in chapter 3:10 cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything that is written in the book of the law. So he has already declared the unity of the Law.

THE LAW IS A UNIT. You cannot arbitrarily divide the Law in any way shape or form. A lot of people like to try to trichotomize the Law into these 3 divisions of moral law, ceremonial law and civil law. But the Law doesn’t do that to itself but always speaks of itself as a unit. Further, neither Jesus, nor his apostles, nor anywhere else in the NT do we find a division of the Law into different parts. The Law is a unit.

THE LAW IS ALL OR NOTHING. You cannot just do part of the Law. If you want to be circumcised, you must obey the whole thing. You can’t follow part of the Law. If you want to start following the Law, you just obligated yourself to following the entirety of it. The law is all or nothing.

MURDER? But you might say, “Don’t we follow certain laws like: Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Don’t we follow those laws?” Nope. So you’re saying it’s okay to murder? Nope. So we obey the commandment in the Law that says do not murder? Nope.

SPEED LIMITS. This morning I was driving down 29 where the speed limit is 35 MPH. I’m obeying the speed limit on 29. So you say, well, then you’re also obeying the speed limit on Williams Drive because it also says 35 MPH. So I guess according to that logic I am obeying the speed limits of every street across the planet that has a speed limit of 35 mph.

But where is my gaze fixed? Upon the sign posted on the road I’m driving on. I don’t care what any other speed limit sign says.

I’m on the narrow road that leads to life, grace through faith. If while upon this narrow road I happen to be abiding by the same laws posted on the broad road that leads to destruction, so be it. My gaze is not fixed upon the signs posted on that road. My gaze is fixed upon Christ.

OTHER RELIGIONS. Do you realize how many different religions there are? I hear people say all religions are the same. They all pretty much teach the same things. There is some truth in that. Religion typically seeks to find purpose and meaning in life through knowing and pleasing God. And you will find that most religions have a lot of overlap in certain moral aspects. In other words, there aren’t a lot of religions out there that condone murder or adultery or theft. Most religions recognize those as wrong. So let’s say that Buddhism recognizes murder as wrong. Am I now following Buddhism since I’m not murdering? Jehovah’s Witnesses recognize murder as wrong, as do Mormons. So am I following those religions too?

What I am saying is just because Judaism (aka the Law) says do not murder or do not steal or do not commit adultery, that doesn’t mean that I’m following a part of Judaism by not murdering or cheating or stealing any more than I’m following a part of any other religion by not doing those things. To say that we follow part of the Law as Christians would be similar to saying we follow part of Buddhism and part of Hinduism and part of Confucionism.

So believers are not bound by the Law of Moses at all, not by the so called ceremonial aspects, or by the so called civil aspects, or by the so called moral aspects. Believers are not under the Law of Moses. Not one part. To follow one part means you have to follow the WHOLE THING. The Law is a unit.

So verse 2 says it’s not Christ AND circumcision. It’s Christ OR circumcision.

And if you pick circumcision, it’s not JUST circumcision. It’s circumcision AND the rest of the Law.

You cannot add to the work of Christ. Christ and Christ alone. Christ + something = nothing. Christ + anything = nothing.

⁴ You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

Notice what Paul says here. You who are trying to be justified by the Law have been alienated from Christ.

Alienate: to turn away, transfer or divert.

In other words, if you are reverting back to the Law than you are no longer in Christ – you’re in Adam. If you want to be in Christ, then faith alone is the way.

You cannot have faith in Christ and obedience to the Law. Obedience to the law is alienation from Christ. It’s turning away from Christ. It is falling away from grace.

TWO OPTIONS: by grace through faith or by works through law. If you pick works of the Law, you have fallen away from grace.

These 2 modes are mutually exclusive. You can’t mingle the two together. They are like oil and water. The flesh mode is in opposition to the spirit mode.

⁵ For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.

NOT YET RIGHTEOUS? Now the first thing I want to point out with this verse is that here Paul makes it sound like righteousness was not yet a reality but that which they were still hoping for. And that is because it wasn’t yet a reality and they were still hoping for it. But what about all of those verses that seem to indicate that they were righteous already? Didn’t Jesus already die on the cross for sins and shed his blood?

ALREADY/NOT YET. Now that is where we find what most scholars refer to as the “already-not yet tension.” You will find that the NT declares certain things to be…already. Then you will find those same things to be…not yet. For example, we already read in Gal 3:26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Are sons…already. Yet Paul, the same author says in Romans 8:23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons. So already sons, not yet sons.

We find examples of this throughout the NT. Already redeemed, not yet redeemed. Already sanctified, not yet sanctified. Already new creation, not yet new creation.

So the already / not yet framework is in the Scriptures and this corresponds with the transition from covenant to covenant. The NT was written between 30 & 70 AD during the time of transition from the Mosaic Age, the OC age and the Messianic Age, the NC age. The New Covenant was already inaugurated but not yet consummated.

So bring that framework into Gal 5:5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.

Thus, with the shedding of the blood of Jesus through faith they were already righteous by declaration. And they were awaiting the destruction of the Temple and the passing away of the old order that would fully usher in the New Age and the full reality of righteousness.

2 Peter 3 in speaking of the destruction of the old order – the passing away of the elementary principles of the world and the coming of the new order speaks of the new creation as the home of righteousness - the righteousness for which the audience of Gal 5:5 were hoping for through the spirit by faith.

So we dealt with verse 4 & 5 individually, but now I want us to look at them as a unit. Now, I want you to notice 2 things here: 1) the switch in pronouns, 2) the contrast.

⁴ You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.

VERSE 4	VERSE 5
YOU	WE
SEEKING RIGHTEOUSNESS IN LAW	AWAIT RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH
ALIENATED FROM CHRIST	IN CHRIST
(FLESH)	SPIRIT
FALLEN AWAY FROM GRACE	BY GRACE

⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law, you have been alienated from Christ. We, however, are in Christ. And in Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. Feast days – no value. Sabbath – no value. Dietary laws – no value. Nothing you do to observe the law has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

For those who struggle with Paul’s apparent antinomianism and long for the answer of that great question, how then do we live? By what rule do we conduct our lives, here lies the answer: faith expressing itself through love.

So while the Law of Moses may say do not murder I don’t follow the Law of Moses. Does that mean I murder? Absolutely not. Well, why not? Because that’s not faith expressing itself through love.

So while the Law of Moses may say do not commit adultery I don’t follow the Law of Moses. So do I commit adultery? Absolutely not. Well, why not? Because that’s not faith expressing itself through love.

So while the Law of Moses may say do not wear clothing woven of 2 different kinds of material, I don’t follow the Law of Moses. So do I wear clothing woven of 2 different kinds of material? Absolutely. Why? Because that’s faith expressing itself through love.

This is the moral code of the Christian. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Live out that faith by loving God and loving your neighbor.

It is not a new law by which we will be condemned if we fail. But it is the guiding principle of our lives as it is the royal law.

It is not a burdensome yoke of slavery as was the 600 + commandments of the OC. It is freedom – freedom to live and to love.

Who’s your... mommy?

gal 4:21-31 who’s your daddy mommy?

Abraham is known in the Bible as God’s friend. The Bible mentions Abraham by name over 200 times. The NT mentions Abraham by name around 70 times. He is indeed a key figure in the Bible. And Abraham has an intriguing story. God made a covenant with Abraham. God promised him blessings, numerous descendants and to give his descendants an inheritance.

This was an interesting promise; it seemed problematic because Abraham’s wife Sarah was barren. She was unable to have children. This is a sticky situation. We have an almighty God promising to give Abraham something (numerous descendants) in a situation that seemed impossible to deliver. My wife can’t seem to have children. Yet, God promised to give me numerous descendants so I have to have a child somehow.

We read in Gen 16:1-4 ¹ Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; ² so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”

   Abram agreed to what Sarai said. ³ So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. ⁴ He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.

This child was named Ishmael. Ishmael was a child that was born out of human effort – he was of the flesh. God made a promise to Abraham. Abraham knew that what God promised was an impossibility with his wife Sarah, so with Sarah’s prompting, they sought in their own strength to bring about descendents. They were operating in the realm of the natural, not the supernatural.

Time passed and God visited Abraham and Sarah and told them explicitly that Sarah will have a son.

We read in Gen 21:1-10  ¹ Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. ² Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. ³ Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. ⁴ When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. ⁵ Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

So Abraham has 2 sons: Ishmael and Isaac.

 ⁶ Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” ⁷ And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

 ⁸ The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. ⁹ But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, ¹⁰ and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

So after Abraham and Hagar brought forth Ishmael as a work of the flesh, his wife brought forth Isaac as a supernatural, miraculous work of God according to His promise. The son according to the flesh mocked or persecuted the son of the promise and so it was declared that the son according to the flesh should be cast out along with his mother and that he would not receive the inheritance with the free son.

While this is a foundational story, necessary to understand the rest of the Bible, and a fun story to read, it’s like a transformer; there is more than meets the eye. Paul is going to let us in on the deeper meaning to this story.

Open with me to Galatians 4. We now look at the last portion of chapter 4, verse 21-31. This is my favorite section in the entire book of Galatians and one of my favorites in the entire Bible. Let’s look together at the text, it is printed right there in the bulletin. This morning I am reading from the updated NIV.

Gal 4:21-31 ²¹ Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? ²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. ²³ His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.

 ²⁴ These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. ²⁵ Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷ For it is written:

   “Be glad, barren woman, you who never bore a child; shout for joy and cry aloud, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”

 ²⁸ Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. ²⁹ At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. ³⁰ But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” ³¹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

Let’s unpack this.

²¹ Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? Okay, foolish Galatians whom I love deeply. You want to be under the law. Let’s just see what the Law says, as if cursed is everyone…wasn’t enough.

²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, that has been the discussion – children of Abraham. That was the hot topic of the first century. Who are the children of Abraham? Is it those who are ethnic descendants of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, or those who believe? Both are claiming that they are the children of Abraham. Who is correct? The Scripture says Abraham had 2 sons one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. So even if someone was one of Abraham’s sons, it doesn’t mean anything – he could be the slave child. One of his sons was a free child, the other a slave child. So a better question than are you a child of Abraham is which child are you? You’re a son of Abraham? Which son? And in this case, the ever popular question, “Who’s your daddy?” takes a back seat to the question, “Who’s your mommy?” The slave woman or the free woman? Hagar or Sarah?

²³ His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise. Paul’s entire discussion has been contrasting the works of the flesh and the promise of the spirit. Paul shows here the correlation between that discussion and these two sons of Abraham. Ishmael was born according to the flesh, human effort. Isaac was born according to God’s promise. Ishmael was born in the natural way, Isaac in the supernatural way. All Paul has done so far is say what I have already said. He has drawn the attention of his audience to this story that they were probably all very familiar with. Paul is about to show that there is more to this story than meets the eye.

 ²⁴ These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants.

Key words. Lock them in your mind. One woman represents the OC – the Law of Moses, the other woman represents the NC in Christ. One woman was a slave, the other woman was free. Based on what Paul has said about the Law so far, which woman do you think represents which covenant? According to Paul, the OC, the Law, was a time of slavery. He is using this allegory, this story about Abraham’s 2 wives to drive this point home that the OC was slavery and the New Covenant is freedom. He continues…

One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. The Law of Moses was given at Mount Sinai. That covenant, represented by Hagar, the slave woman, brings forth children of slavery, children who are to be slaves. He says explicitly here, that Hagar, the slave woman, stands for the Old Covenant and that covenant produces slaves. He continues…

²⁵ Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai Hagar, who represents the OC also stands for a mountain – Mt Sinai from whence the OC came. However, Sarah represents the NC and by implication also stands for a mountain – Mt Zion. Let’s look at a parallel passage in Heb 12.

Hebrews 12:18-29  ¹⁸ You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; ¹⁹ to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, ²⁰ because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” ²¹ The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.” He is describing Mt Sinai in the giving of the OC –the same thing Paul does in Gal 4. He is saying you haven’t come to Sinai…

 ²² But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, ²³ to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

 ²⁵ See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? ²⁶ At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” ²⁷ The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

 ²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our “God is a consuming fire.”

The point of looking at that passage was to see explicitly what Paul only implies in Galatians. The women represent 2 covenants. Sarah NC, Hagar OC. He shows how Hagar corresponds, therefore to Mt Sinai, but doesn’t say which mountain Sarah corresponds to.

In Heb 12, we see that it is Mt Zion aka the Heavenly Jerusalem aka the church aka the kingdom.

So far Paul has contrasted

Women	Slave	Free
Sons	Ishmael - of flesh	Isaac- of promise
Covenants	Old	New
Mountains	Sinai	Zion

He is about to contrast 2 Jerusalems – the Old earthly Jerusalem and the New heavenly Jerusalem.

²⁵ Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, Now we have to remember context and audience relevance. Paul didn’t write this yesterday in 2011. The present city of Jerusalem does not mean the city of Jerusalem in 2011, but present city of Jerusalem in Paul’s day – the Old Jerusalem that corresponded to the Old Covenant – it was the “present Jerusalem” that corresponded to the “present evil age” that Paul spoke of in the opening of his letter. It was the Old Earthly Jerusalem.

It was the same Jerusalem to whom Jesus said the following words.

Matt 23:37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. The Old Earthly Jerusalem, still the present Jerusalem for Paul was a city of bloodshed marked by iniquity – killed the prophets, stoned those sent to her and were about to kill the Author of life.

Paul’s present Jerusalem was the same great city spoken of in Rev 11:8.

Rev 11: 8 Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified.

The great city where the Lord was crucified is none other than the Jerusalem of Paul’s day. That was his present Jerusalem. Look what this text says of that present Jerusalem. It was figuratively called Sodom and Egypt. Sodom was a city that was destroyed by God for its wickedness. Egypt was a nation that enslaved God’s people. Jerusalem in Paul’s day, the Jerusalem that still existed in 50 AD had become Egypt – spiritually speaking. The then-present Jerusalem was spiritually enslaving God’s people.

²⁵ Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. That Old Jerusalem was a Jerusalem in slavery with her children.

²⁶ But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. In contrast to the slavery of Old earthly Jerusalem, Paul speaks of the freedom of the new heavenly Jerusalem, the Jerusalem that is above, which is the same as the Heavenly Jerusalem we just read about in Heb 12 and it is the same as the New Jerusalem in Rev 21.

Revelation 21 ¹ Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

 ⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

 ⁶ He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. ⁷ Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. ⁸ But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

 ⁹ One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” ¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. (the Heavenly Jerusalem – the Jerusalem that is above) ¹¹ It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. ¹² It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. ¹³ There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. ¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

 ¹⁵ The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. ¹⁶ The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. ¹⁷ The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. ¹⁸ The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. ¹⁹ The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰ the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. ²¹ The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.

 ²² I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. ²⁵ On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. ²⁶ The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. ²⁷ Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

So again, the New Heavenly Jerusalem from above is described in the Scriptures as the bride of Christ and in terms of beauty, in poetic and symbolic terms – beautiful and precious stones – jasper, emerald, sapphire, gold, pearls, it is the city of God where righteousness dwells.

We, who embrace the Messiah are a part of that New Jerusalem, the Heavenly Jerusalem, the Jerusalem that is above. She is free and she is the mother of believers.

The women represent 2 covenants. They are mothers of slave and free. The OC was slavery. The NC is freedom. They correspond to 2 Jerusalems. OC with Old Jerusalem from below of the flesh. NC with New Jerusalem from above. We who believe are children of the New Jerusalem, from the Jerusalem that is above, the Heavenly Jerusalem.

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

The Jerusalem that is above in Gal 4:26 is the Heavenly Jerusalem from Heb 12 and the New Jerusalem from Rev 21. It is also spoken of in the passage Paul quotes next in Gal 4:27. He continues…

²⁷ For it is written: “Be glad, barren woman, you who never bore a child; shout for joy and cry aloud, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”

Paul is quoting Isaiah 54. The first thing I want you to note about this text is its original context. What comes right before 54? 53. What is Isaiah 53 about? Jesus paying the penalty for sins. This passage is right after that. If you continue reading you read that which is parallel to Rev 21.

Isaiah 54:1-14 ¹ “Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD. ² “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. ³ For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.  ⁴ “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. ⁵ For your Maker is your husband— the LORD Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. ⁶ The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit— a wife who married young, only to be rejected,” says your God. ⁷ “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. ⁸ In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.  ⁹ “To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. ¹⁰ Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” (sounds like Heb 12) says the LORD, who has compassion on you. ¹¹ “Afflicted city, (Jerusalem) lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli. ¹² I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. ¹³ All your children will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their peace. ¹⁴ In righteousness you will be established (sounds like Rev 21).

This is all connected – it’s all part of the gospel Paul preached.

• Jesus pays for sins (Is 53)
• in Him, God recreates Jerusalem to be a delight adorned in beauty and righteousness.
• He casts out the Old Jerusalem and dwells amongst the New Jerusalem
• clothed in His glory, basking in His presence.

So this text from Isaiah 54:1 was written in 700 BC over 100 years before the Babylonians destroyed Judah and took the Jews into captivity. It originally had prophetic implications about that time. Remember how the OC had type/shadow fulfillments of Abrahamic promises. Numerous descendants. But according to OC, God brought enemies to destroy descendants and decrease them. So Jerusalem here is personified as a woman (not foreign – bride of Christ) and she is called a barren woman. She is seen to not bring forth children. Her children are cut off because of her sins. So Jerusalem (barren woman in captivity to Babylon) shout for joy because you will return from captivity and in your new found freedom will have numerous descendants. That was manifest in a physical way when God destroyed Babylon at the hands of the Medes and Cyrus the Persian let God’s people go back to their land and they were fruitful and increased and multiplied. But just as the physical land as an inheritance wasn’t the ultimate fulfillment of inheritance, there was more to this text. Paul points out that it ultimately corresponds to these two groups in the first century – these 2 groups who are children of these 2 women – slave and free. So in other words, you, New Jerusalem, who are currently in bondage to spiritual Sodom, Egypt Babylon, you who are being persecuted and killed by the children of the other woman, you feel like your people are being decreased and cut off and that you will never be fruitful and increase and multiply. It seems like the children of the flesh are. However, in the same way that God destroyed physical Babylon and increased physical Israel 600 years prior, he was about to destroy spiritual Babylon and increase spiritual Israel as he was about to bring Rome against the children of the flesh, destroying them. Then, the children of the Spirit, the children of the free woman, the children of the New Jerusalem would increase and multiply and be as numerous as the sand on the sea because her children are not limited to ethnicity but would be of every tongue and tribe and nation. In other words, Paul, by the time of his death in around 68 AD had already traveled to the ends of the oikumene the Roman empire/ inhabited earth and had preached the gospel. The good news was spreading. Eventually people would sail across the Atlantic and bring the gospel to this nation and look at how many descendants of Abraham span the breadth of the earth. Indeed the meek have inherited the earth. Indeed Abrahams descendants are numerous as they are not limited to the children of the flesh, but rather, it was through Isaac that his offspring would be reckoned. We belong to the free woman. That free woman seemed to be barren, but she broke forth and cried with shouts of joy as her descendants multiplied and now span the earth.

Back to Galatians 4:28 Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. ²⁹ At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. At that time – in the days of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac, the son of the flesh persecuted the son of the Spirit. Ishmael mocked Isaac and persecuted him. (Gen 21:9)

It is the same now. Now in 50 AD the children of the flesh (ethnic Jews) are persecuting the children of the Spirit (believers). There was strong persecution from the Jews toward believers.

³⁰ But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” Now Paul quotes Gen 21:10 when Sarah saw Ishmael persecuting Isaac and said get rid of Hagar and Ishmael for Ishmael will not share in the inheritance with Isaac. Get rid of the slave woman and her son. For the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.

Do you see what Paul is saying here? The same thing Jesus said (we’ll look at that in a minute).

Get rid of the slave woman. What did the slave woman represent? Paul said these women represent 2 covenants. The slave woman represented the OC. So Paul is saying Get rid of the OC.

Not only that, but get rid of the slave woman and her son. Who is her son? The son of the flesh. This corresponds to apostate ethnic unbelieving Israel. In other words, not only get rid of the OC, but get rid of Israel according to the flesh.

For the slave woman’s son (Israel according to the flesh – apostate ethnic Israel) will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.

In other words, the inheritance will be given to those of the New Covenant and those of the OC will not share in it – in fact, get rid of that covenant and its people – CAST THEM OUT!

Jesus said the same thing in Matt 21:33-43 ³³ “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. ³⁴ When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. ³⁵ “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷ Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. ³⁸ “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰ “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”  ⁴¹ “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”  ⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:  “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?  ⁴³ “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

You children of the flesh (children of OC) will not receive the inheritance but be cast out while the inheritance is given to the children of promise, those of the NC.

Matt 8:5-12 ⁵ When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ⁶ “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”  ⁷ Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”  ⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”  ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. ¹¹ I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹² But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

You children of the flesh (children of OC) will not receive the inheritance but be cast out while the inheritance is given to the children of promise, those of the NC.

(both 70 AD)

It is the same thing Paul is saying here by way of allegory. Gal 4:30 But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” The inheritance will be given to those of the New Covenant and those of the OC will not share in it – in fact, get rid of that covenant and its people.

³¹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. Therefore (based on everything Paul just unpacked) brothers and sisters – those in Galatia who believe are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman. What do the women represent? The 2 covenants. We, believers, are not children of the OC but we are children of the NC; we are free and thus share in the inheritance – the kingdom belongs to believers.

Paul contrasts:

2 Sons	Ishmael	Isaac
2 Types of Birth	Of the flesh	Of the promise
2 Mothers	Slave woman	Free woman
2 Covenants	Old	New
2 Mountains	Sinai	Zion (Heb 12)
2 Jerusalems	Old/earthly	New/Heavenly
Status in Paul’s day	Slavery	Free
	Persecutor	Persecuted
2 Results	Cast out	Receive inheritance

So yeah, Galatians, the Judaizers are interested in ensuring that you are sons of Abraham. But which kind? There’s 2: one of the slave woman and one of the free woman. The Judaizers belong to the order of Ishmael – sons of the slave woman, sons of the OC. They were about to get cast out and not share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son. Come back to your senses and partake in the order of Isaac, the son of the free woman who will receive the inheritance.

Again, we are in Paul’s theological section. It is in the last part of Paul’s letter that he moves to life application. Thus, in our text at hand, we don’t find Paul telling the Galatians or us to do anything only to believe something. Paul always bases his practical application on his theology. We will find those things in chapters 5 and 6. However, in our text at hand we find theological precepts that will change our worldview. Understanding the theology in the text will determine what we believe and what we believe affects how we behave.

The major theological implications in our text at hand have to do with the way we view the church, the way we view who we are and when we are in history.

I am convinced that today a lot of people have a wrong view of the church.

Many don’t see the church as the New Jerusalem and are looking off into the future for some physical terrain to literally come down out of the sky to encompass the planet. God’s redemptive work and his dealings aren’t pertaining to dirt and rocks but to people. The New Jerusalem isn’t new terrain, but a new people – a new people called by a new name, a name meaning little Christs.

The church is the New Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem from above, the Jerusalem created to be a delight, a people with whom God is pleased because we are clothed in Christ and when God looks upon the new Jerusalem, he sees Christ, his son with whom he is well pleased. The Jerusalem of God is no longer those who kill the prophets and stone those sent to her or the ones who said crucify him, we have no king but Caesar, Caesar is Lord, but the Jerusalem of God is now a people who claim Christ is King; He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

So I believe the first wrong view of the church today is failing to see the church for who she is, the glorious New Jerusalem.

Further, many today erroneously see the church as a parenthesis in God’s plan. Many today believe that God isn’t done with Israel according to the flesh and so they look at the events of 1948 and say God is bringing His people back to the Land just as He promised and one of these days he is going to reestablish them as chief among peoples and there will be a rebuilt temple and a reconstitution of the animal sacrifices because God’s ultimate plan is with Israel according to the flesh and since they rejected Jesus as king, He decided to do the church thing for a while until he returns to the original plan which is encompassed in that ethnic people. So people wrongly see the church as plan B, as a parenthetical period. They will say we are just a parenthesis.

HOWEVER we just read that Israel according to the flesh under the law was the parenthesis. Promises were given to Abraham, then 430 years later the Law was given. In 70 AD that covenant came to an end and the promises given to Abraham found their ultimate fulfillment in the NC in Christ. It was the OC and its children that were the parenthetical period in God’s plan.

We, the church, in Christ are a part of the ultimate fulfillment in God’s purpose and plan. We are the apple of His eye.

Let’s not be like the multitude who have erroneous views of the church; where necessary, let’s adjust our view of the church to match what the Scriptures say about the church. The church is the body and bride of Christ, the true children of God; the church is the heavenly Jerusalem to whom belong the kingdom.