THE LIFE OF LIBERTY

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  (Galatians 3:26)

Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty or give me death!”  He recognized there is no life apart from liberty.  This is true spiritually as well.  Jesus came to give us life and liberty.  He said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”  What is this truth?  Our Lord responds, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  Jesus came to give us life through a personal relationship with Him that sets us free from the shackles of sin and death.  Paul explains further concerning the life of liberty in Galatians 3:15-29.

This liberty is a promise of God (v.15-18).  The word, “promise” is used eight times in Galatians 3:15-29.  Specifically, this promise refers to God’s covenant with Abraham. God chose Abraham in sovereign grace, Abraham responded by faith, and God imputed righteousness (3:6).

Since the covenant preceded the law, the false teachers in Galatia said that the law replaced the covenant.  Paul counters this with an illustration from the secular world (v.15).  A contract between two cannot be negated later by someone not a party to the agreement.  Neither could it be argued the covenant was fulfilled when the law was given, because fulfillment was in Christ (v.16).   Abraham didn’t make the covenant and promises.  God did—unilaterally and unconditionally.

What is given by promise is not earned by obedience (v.17-18).  Like oil and water, they don’t mix.   The Greeks had a word for agreement between partners.  That is not the term used here. Salvation is based on God’s faithfulness, not ours.

If the law did not supersede the covenant of grace, then why was it given? That is presented in verses 19-22.   The law is a compass to show us how far we’ve strayed.  It is plumb line to show how crooked we are.  It is a thermometer to show how sick we are.  This is meant to drive us in desperation to Christ.  The expression, “confined all under sin” (v.22) means “lock up in jail.”  The law sentences us to death row, but that causes us to seek pardon.  We can’t escape, so we must have someone intervene.   Like a mirror, the law shows us we are dirty, but cannot cleanse us.

Children need supervision and a restricted area.  Baby-sitters and playpens set limits that are good for them.   We are put in protective custody (v.23).  We are given a tutor (v.24-25).  In the ancient world this was a slave in charge of minor.  He had moral supervision and was a strict disciplinarian.   This is what the law is to us.  The tutor’s task was finished when the child reached maturity.  The word, “sons” (v.26) means “of full age.”  Christians have outgrown the need of a playpen and baby-sitter.  Adulthood brings freedom from that.  Why would anyone want to return to infancy?

Instead, we are to “put on Christ” (v.27).  In Roman society, when youth came of age, they were given a special toga.  The child of God has laid aside the old garments of sin and put on a robe of righteousness.  In Christ, there is no distinction of skin color, social class, or sexual category (v.28).   The ground is level at the cross.  The Jews thought they were Abraham’s seed because of keeping the law. Paul says it is a relationship to Christ by faith that makes us heirs of Abraham’s promises (v.29).

Only Christ can free us from sin and death.  Call out to Him today!

GOD AND GOVERNMENT

“Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites.  And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes….”  (Deuteronomy 17:18-19)

Israel was meant to be a theocracy.  God would be their King.  He would deliver their laws, direct their governance, and defend them from their enemies.  This set them apart from all the other nations—which would become their problem, they would eventually want to be like the other nations.  All the other nations had a human king, so they would want one also.  The problem would be that they would want to emulate the other nations in their ways and worship as well.  There would be some good kings, who would lead the Jews, and even they had their flaws—and some more than others did.  Most of their kings would be depraved men leading degenerate people, and the downward spiral would remove the blessing of God and bring judgment instead.  Knowing that Israel would eventually clamor for a king, God told them the kind of king they would need.  In our republic, there is no king, but the principles here can help us determine the kind of government leaders we need, whether it be a president, senator, governor, mayor or judge.

Our leader must realize that God has ordained government to maintain a civil society (Deut.17:1-13).  Authority is meant to check anarchy.  The rule of law is meant to restrain fallen nature.  While the law cannot make us good, it can punish the bad and thereby hold it in check.  Government is to promote morality and punish evil—even capital punishment may be required.  Strict parameters are proscribed for this. 

• The government official must realize his accountability to God (Deut.17:14-20).  Ultimately, he or she will not be judged in the court of public opinion, but in heaven’s tribunal.  Several qualities are to mark the kind of leaders we should elect.
• We should seek God’s will for His choice rather than consider his personality or promises, both of which may be a masquerade (v.15a).
• He is not to be of foreign birth, but chosen from among his people (v.15b).  None can better sympathize with the citizens than one who has shared their experiences.
• The leader must not lean on human power, but on Divine protection to defend the nation (v.16).  This is not to say maintaining a strong national defense is wrong.  It is folly to fail in this.  Yet, that alone cannot protect us.  God must watch over us as we look on Him.
• Government officials must be people of character whose hearts are not drawn to immorality or captivated by greed (v.17).
• Knowing the Word of God and submitting to it will give the nation’s leaders the beacon of truth to guide them (v.18-20).

This is the kind of leader for which I am praying.  May God raise them up! 

HOW CAN A MAN BE RIGHTEOUS BEFORE GOD?

But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”  (Galatians 3:11)

Job asked the question, “How then can man be righteous before God?”  (25:4a)  Since the fall of man into sin with its attendant curse of death, people have sought the answer through works: making garments of fig leaves to cover shame as did Adam and Eve; offering the best produce as Cain did, rather than a blood sacrifice like his brother Abel; building the tower of Babel to try to reach heaven—and similar acts.  Every religious system proposes a “works” salvation:  Buddhism and Hinduism promote reincarnation—you do life until you get it right; Islam has its five pillars; Romanism sets forth the sacraments.  The cults—Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and such—have systems that require self-effort to please their deity.  Christianity differs from all religions.  The Word of God teaches that man is put right with God—not on the basis of what we do, but what Christ has done.  It is not through meeting a standard, but solely by faith in the standard met perfectly by Christ.

Paul speaks of this EXPERIENCE OF FAITH (Gal.3:1-5)  The key word is “suffered” in verse four.  It can be translated, “experienced.”  False teachers among the Galatian churches were saying that salvation was in believing in Jesus, PLUS keeping the law of Moses.  The Apostle reminds them of the experience they had in receiving Christ by faith.  He is shocked that they have turned from the Gospel of grace—as though someone had cast a spell on them.  The message was clearly presented and eagerly embraced at the first.  Now, error had settled like a cloud of confusion over their minds.

The Apostle then presents an EXAMPLE OF FAITH (Gal.3:6-9).  Since the legalists considered the writings of Moses paramount, Paul reaches into those texts and presents one of their heroes—Abraham—as an example of righteousness by faith.  It is clear that Abraham was justified before God by faith—God’s righteousness credited to his account.  Even his capacity to believe was an act of grace.  Read the account and you will see sovereign grace seeking a pagan man and calling him to salvation.  He was a lost sheep until the Shepherd took the initiative to seek Abraham.  Paul states that those who are children of Abraham are not those who are related genetically, but spiritually as well.

Paul drives the message home with an EXPOSITION OF FAITH (Gal.3:10-14).  Anticipating an argument from the false teachers that God’s dealings with Abraham were before the giving of the law, the Apostle appeals to the law itself.  He points out the law can curse us, but not cure us.  To break only one command is to be branded a law-breaker.  Salvation has ever been the way of faith.  Paul appeals not only to the law, but the prophets—as he quotes Habakkuk 2:4.  Since Jesus was not in debt—being sinless—He had the resources—perfect righteousness—to pay our debt in full.  He obeyed every law in His life and paid the penalty for every law-breaker in His death.

How can a man be righteous before God?  It is the gift of God by faith alone in Christ alone.  It is folly to try to meet an impossible standard.  Christ has done that for us!