"Am I. .
.become your enemy because I tell you the truth?"
This was the
penetrating question that Paul posed to the churches in
Galatia. But they turned their ears from his mouth. They
did not want to hear the Apostle tell them that they
were mixing GRACE with the LAW. They would not recognize
their failures of "returning to the weak and beggarly
elements" of the Law. They appeared to Paul to want to
be in bondage again. How could that be? They were
observing–of all things--days, and months, and times,
and years.
It not only broke
Paul’s heart, it made him very angry! He challenged
them! "You who want to be under the Law again–listen to
what that Law says!" was his declaration. They were
foolish people wanting to forsake the grace of Jesus
Christ for Moses’ binding commandments.
It was then that Paul
reviewed for them concerning Abraham and his two
sons–Isaac and Ishmael. One son was the "promised seed,"
born of Sarah. She was an old woman–a miracle
conception, gestation, and birth. His name was Isaac. HE
WAS A CHILD OF FAITH! The other was born of human
reasoning–a disobedient thought, a fleshly conception.
Her name was Hagar. She was an Egyptian girl–young and
fertile. The child’s name was Ishmael–a son of the
unbelief.
Each woman represented
a covenant–a testimony, a promise. Hagar was a reminder
of the LAW given on Mount Sinai. It spoke of bondage and
deep servitude. While Sarah bearing Isaac, spoke of
freedom and obedience. Isaac was the child of God’s
promise–the beginning of a countless "seed"-- more than
the sands of the sea and the stars lacing the heavens.
The Messiah was in his loins!
The fact was that
Hagar’s future grandchildren would persecute Sarah’s.
Sad to say Paul’s words are true today. We see it in the
rivalry and prospect of wars and conflicts in the middle
East. We read about it in the papers every day
(Galatians 4:29).
Paul reminded his
Galatians converts how they used to know Jesus Christ in
liberty and freedom. They used to be free from laws and
rules they now sought to maintain their salvation.
Instead of being "free" in the grace in which they had
been called, they had turned to the weak and beggarly
elements of observances. They used to know the freedom
of Christ–but they had tied their own spiritual hands
with Moses’ law and their ritual rules. Paul questioned
them, "Why oh WHY do you desire to be in bondage again?"
He was baffled. They had returned to observing "days,"
and "months," and "times," and "years" (4:10). He was at
a loss to know what to do, except to teach them all over
again. But–would they listen?
The solution to the
whole "law" versus "grace" problem was to do exactly as
Sarah had done in her day. It is the only thing to do
when sin enters the home. "Cast out the bondwoman and
her son!" Otherwise, the son of the bondwoman would be
an heir with the son of the freewoman. It was as simple
as that! The Galatian Christians, whether they wanted to
believe it or not, were not the children of the
bondwoman. They were the children of the free woman!
Paul’s major fear was that he had labored among them in
vain. All that missionary effort gone down the drain
because the Judaizers had infiltrated the church! How
often today, a false doctrine will gain a foothold in a
church that used to be a strong and bold for the truth.
How soon the climate of churches change with the
charismatic, forty days of promises, and
seeker-friendly, approach to churches today. BE CAREFUL
THAT WE ARE NOT OVERTAKEN IN A FAULT! It is so easy to
do. (Galatians 6:1) (ysw)
"MY TIMES–HIS
HANDS"
(Psalm
31:15)
So
often we have to drop our little plans
and our
human maneuvering
to look
up and realize that HE IS GOD! –absolutely!
Gong
along in confidence of the flesh,
we are
stopped by His mighty Hand.
Stopped
by tragedy, by loss, by betrayal,
and
made to realize what a small thing is OUR TIMES,
REGULATED BY HIS GREAT HAND.
