Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:07 Hi, and welcome to the unveiling. I'm Tim, one of the hosts, and along with Andrey and Mark, we are three guys discussing the one true gospel. We hope you're encouraged by this episode. Let's dive right in. Hello and welcome or welcome back to the unveiling. Here we are again. It's episode 60 this week. This is gonna be Galatians the fifth part in this series that we have no idea how long it's gonna run. Mark suggested last week, our children may finish this series, <laugh>, but, uh, we are going to pick up where we left off last week. We're gonna pick up in chapter four, starting at verse one. And I'm gonna just go ahead and read that guys and start the conversation with as little prelude as possible. How's that?
Speaker 2 00:00:57 Sounds great.
Speaker 1 00:00:59 So starting at verse one, what I'm saying is that as long as an air is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate, the air is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But 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, 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.
Speaker 2 00:01:51 Can I, uh, throw a little quick thing in here just on Paul's first forward words. There, he says what I am saying. So by doing that, what he's doing here, he's a, he's explaining what he has already said in chapter three from last week 23. He's just going into further depth. When he said last week, and now I'm hearkening back to it, he said, before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. So here's Paul, another paragraph down, picking up from there expounding on that what I'm saying is this, he's, he's, as I said, hearkening back to what he had just said, and now he's gonna go into greater depth on it. So you wanna take it, uh, from there, aj?
Speaker 3 00:02:53 Yeah, mark. I think the, again, if you see the, um, Galatians like from the beginning, in fact, most of the Paul's letters are full of contrast. You know, light and darkness, right? Death and life and bondage and freedom. So here also we see another contrast. So here, the first part of this is, uh, little, um, I would say, you know, little, not very clear because, you know, he refers to a, an a as long as he's a child, does not differ from a slave. So I believe it is referring to the people under the law, right? Not the born again Christians. And it is referring to those who are under the old covenant and not under the new covenant. So under the old covenant, even though the people who knew God, who trusted in him, right, they were still under bondage because they were still under the law.
Speaker 3 00:03:46 And it says, you know, he compares the believers, so to speak, under the whole covenant before the law, Jesus Christ came as the children. And even though their ears because of their faith, but they're still like a child, and child is no longer, he says, you know, there's not much of a difference between a small child and a slave, because they really do not, cannot do everything a grownup son does. But it says, you know, when the fullness of time came, God sent his only son born of government. So after law, Jesus Christ came right? You know, when we trusted in him, we are not like children or like slaves, but he, we immediately become the grownup son of God. So that is our privilege. And that's why it says, you know, because your sons God has, and the spirit of his Son into your hearts crying upper Father.
Speaker 3 00:04:38 I think here the difference again is in the whole testament they had the Holy Spirit coming over the believers. But, um, it really did not indwell. He did not really indwell them. But here, you know, the spirit of God in involves us and then we are able to cry out other father. So I think the, the, you know, highlight is, uh, verse seven, therefore, you're no longer a slave but a son. And if a son, then you are air of God through Jesus Christ. So the immediate implication of, uh, knowing Christ is we are sons. And before knowing Lord Jesus Christ, it says, you know, you're no longer a slave. Everybody who is under the law is a slave. And once you become born again, put your faith in Lord Jesus Christ, you're no longer a slave but a son. And if you're a son, you're an heir, meaning that everything God has, you inherit that.
Speaker 2 00:05:35 And I would add to that. So especially back in this culture, especially wealthy people, they had sons and daughters, but they also had slaves that were considered part of that household. And the point that Paul's making is under the law, even though these are sons of their own blood, they have no more rights and privileges, and they will inherit no more than a slave would, a slave's not going to inherit once their master dies. And, and a, a young child's not going to, uh, inherit until they reach the age of the time that the father has set for them to inherit. And, and Paul quotes that, you'll see that as we go on, when the time had come and, uh, that God set, when that time fully came and Christ came, that's when we became children. So he, he's making that, uh, just how the law has got us, got us locked up in custody.
Speaker 2 00:06:35 And even though we are children, we're underage children who can't inherit anything. And one of the things that I'm gonna kinda bring back, one of AJ's, one of his ajs that I love, but under the law, God is not our father, but he's our master. And, and we're more like slaves cuz we don't have the rights of a, of a, of a, what would you call it? A vested son who's reached that full age of inheriting Christ has made God our father and even our daddy. And now we're inherit, we're his inheriting children. So as if we don't ever come out from under that law, we can't inherit. Now, we're still children and I believe we're still saved, but you can't come into your full inheritance as long as you have the law. That would be, see, I know we've, we've had the conversation and, and some people on the legalistic side might say, or well, some people might say that, uh, that, that Paul's talking about, if you don't come under the law, you're not even saved. I wouldn't say that because Paul is saying they're still children, they're just not mature children to where they can inherit everything that Christ bought for us. We may still, um, inherit salvation, but if so, what do you think about that guys? What I just said there? Do you think that's true?
Speaker 3 00:07:58 Yeah. Yeah. I think, mark, I think here the clear demarcation is right in verse four, but when the fullness of time had come, God sent his son, born of a woman, woman born under the law. So it is referring to the time before Christ and after Christ, right? So before Christ are after Christ, people are saved the same way. Only when beli by belief, you know, like Abraham or like David, you know, the whole, uh, you know, the Hall of Faith, all the people mentioned in the Hall of Faith, they were under the law, but they still were saved by faith. So I think what it is saying is, you know, believers under the law, they didn't have the full rights as a son because they were still under the law, right? David, even though he is a believer in the living God, he still didn't have the full freedom and the rights that we have.
Speaker 3 00:08:49 So I think the clear demarcation here is when Lord Jesus Christ came and after Lord Jesus Christ came, before he came, they were everybody's under the law. And some of them were, uh, saved by faith in the living God, right? At the time, they didn't know the law, Jesus Christ, but they believed in God the Father Jehovah. And then they were saved by faith in Him. Uh, but they were still under the law, right? But after Lord Jesus Christ came right? So now when we put our faith in Lord Jesus Christ, there is no more being a child, we immediately become the sons of God. But I think the point I wanted to make is it's not like, you know, before salvation after salvation, because clearly he's saying that he's referring to an era. He's not referring to a sinner. So before the law, after the law, you know, if you don't put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ or the living God, you'll be perishing. So I think here clearly the demarcation is verse four, wonderfulness of time came God sent his son. So that is when Jesus came after the crucifixion, after the cross, you know, the law was crucified, uh, nailed to the cross. And then, you know, the curtain was torn into two, and we are no longer under the law. Christ is end of the law unto righteousness. So I think it is kind of talking about post pre and post to, uh, Lord Jesus Christ. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:10:14 I find that the analogy between the trustees and the, and the guardians and the law is very interesting. I won't go into a bunch of, uh, the Jewish laws around adoption and age and, and airship, but if you look at just, if you just compare the two directly, the law is a set of rules that you're supposed to live by. The trustees are the ones running your life. They're telling you what to do, when to do it. They're, they're managing everything in your name. You, you have no power over them. So it's the power, the law has no power over us. It's just a set of rules and guidelines that we're supposed to live by. And the trustees may have power over the estate, but they don't have power over you. They just give you, here's what you have to live by. And some of that came from the Father by way of the will or whatnot. And, uh, you know, it's a, it's a very interesting analogy he picked up because, you know, the more you dig into it, the more things kind of come to light about why this works so well.
Speaker 2 00:11:15 Yeah. And you know what, this reminds me a lot of this whole illustration, analogy, metaphor, whatever word you want to use of inheriting in children and a will and all that, it reminds me a lot of the parable of the lost sons, where you had two sons there and one came. He was, they were both sons of the father and the one was given grace and the other was out slaving in the fields trying to obey every rule. And I think this is a great, I think a great proof that, that even here when Paul's talking about the underage son, he still is a son of the father. He's still saved because when the father in the, in the, in the law, in the parable of the prodigal sons, what does he say to the eldest son who is trying to live by works and slaving in the fields?
Speaker 2 00:12:09 He said, don't you know, you're always with me and everything I have is yours. Yeah. So I just think that's a nice, they they really work well together. Uh, when you think about that, that, uh, adding the law is a really bad thing because it keeps you from inheriting all that Christ died to bring you, it keeps you from walking in freedom, freedom from guilt and condemnation, your own self-imposed, and that from others around you and from the devil speaking in your ear, whispering, trying to condemn you for your failures and sins. So, um, it's a, it's a great illustration.
Speaker 3 00:12:50 Yeah. You know, like I said, you know, uh, the first, uh, four verses or five verses are a little not very clear, you know, open to interpretation. But I think the takeaway from here is for us, we are the sons of God, right? We are no longer slaves. I think verse seven is a takeaway. Therefore, you're no longer the slave but a son. And if you're a son, you are an Arab of God. So that means all that Christ, Chas is our snow.
Speaker 2 00:13:16 What's interesting about this, this, uh, illustration here is that the Pharisees, you know, the ju the the people that were living by Judaism, by the law, and in nowadays I would say too, they've got it 180 degrees backwards because they believe that it's one's ability to adhere to the law and the absence of sin in your life that shows one to, that shows one to be mature in Christ. And Paula saying, no, that's not it. The one who is mature and of age and inherits is the one who's come out from under the law and completely trusted in Christ.
Speaker 3 00:13:56 That's an awesome point, mark. Yeah. Yeah. They line, like you said, you know, like the faith justification by faith is the basics. They think it's kindergarten and then going back and trying to keep the law is maturity and graduation. It's totally opposite.
Speaker 2 00:14:12 And that reminds me of awesome Hebrews 1 16 6, where, where Paul says, therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from from the dead. Acts from dead. What, what is, uh, K J V C? The Dead Works
Speaker 3 00:14:35 Works.
Speaker 2 00:14:35 Yeah. From the Dead Works and of faith in God. So that's the basic foundation where you're supposed to start from, you're supposed to repent of the law, of your own ability by your flesh to earn your righteousness and move on to maturity. And, and there's even a lesser maturity than that. And that's when you stay under the law because then you're like a baby. Really <laugh>. But ma maturity is, is really understanding that you're not under law, but under, under grace, under faith in Christ. Yeah. And we're supposed to move onto that to the deeper things of our inheritance. And when we, when like the writer of Hebrews is saying, look, I shouldn't have to keep reminding you that you're no longer under law, and this is what Paul's doing with Galatians and why he's probably so upset. It's like, I taught you all this stuff. You saw, you saw signs and wonders as I preached. The spirit came on you, you believed, and now I'm having to repeat myself completely again, just like the writer of Hebrews said, he said, I shouldn't have to keep teaching these elementary teachings about repenting from the law and putting your faith in Christ. So that's a, I think those two work together well as well.
Speaker 3 00:15:51 Yeah. Since I met mentioned Hebrews and, uh, maturity real quick again, I think for clarification, uh, there are a couple of, uh, awesome verse here. Hebrews chapter five, 12 and 13, for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the articles of God. And you come to need milk and not solid food. And verse 13, for everyone who protects only of milk is unskilled, unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he's a babe. So it's saying, you know, the word of righteousness, the gospel is also called the word of righteousness. So basically the gospel says, you know, in the gospel, a righteousness from God is revealed as a gift. So people who are mature, they understand that righteousness is a gift we receive by faith. But people who are not mature and who are still babes, they think that righteousness is something we achieve through obedience to the law.
Speaker 1 00:16:51 All right. The extroverts do help shed light on what we're discussing here in Galatians, but I wanna remind you, we're in Galatians, so I'd like to you to bring us kind of back to that book unless you guys have anything else to say about that. Cuz I think basically what this has done is emphasized that our salvation and adoption as God's children is not something we can earn, but is a gift of God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Right?
Speaker 2 00:17:19 Amen.
Speaker 1 00:17:20 So let's move ahead to the next section cuz this is a real, this is a head turner for the, when he starts off, that was what his point was, is our salvation and getting out from under the law and being freed. All of a sudden now he's like, he remembers, oh yeah, I'm, I'm supposed to be disciplining these, these Galatians cuz this next section is him going and what are you guys thinking? <laugh> all over again. So, um, in fact he does that for like the next 12 verses. I'm just gonna go through this a little bit at a time, guys. Um, sure. And we'll kind of take a break here and there. So starting, uh, back in at verse eight, formally when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God or rather are known by God, how is it that you are turning back to those weak in miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. So that, that's why I jumped in where I did ij. Cuz it seems like it tied in very well with what you were just talking about. So here he is like, oh yeah, by the way, um, you guys are doing this stuff and we need to talk about that.
Speaker 2 00:18:38 A a great insight I read this week by Matthew Henry, which you guys hear me quote a lot on this, uh, on this podcast because I, I really love his insight into scripture. And what I love about it is that the, he lived over 300 years ago and yet he got it. He had a revelation of the one true gospel. And, um, what he said is, and, and what kind of bouncing off of what Paul just said here, he's like, I can't believe you're returning to these things that you were before you received the good news of Christ and and relied solely on him. Matthew Henry goes on to further point out that Paul could have understood and kind of seen that if it was the, the Jews who would have a problem with coming to Christ and not adding the law because they'd lived their entire lives under the law generation after generation, century after century, the Jews had been under the law.
Speaker 2 00:19:42 So Paul could have understood where they might have more trouble with relying on Christ alone. But he's saying to the Galatians, you guys were never under the law. And now after putting faith in Christ, you're gonna add the law. Well what craziness is that <laugh>, you know, that makes no sense whatsoever. Whatsoever. And that's something I think modern day Christians don't understand. Was it in the fir in the first place? The old covenant was never given to all mankind. It was given to the nation of Israel. It was for them. The Gentiles were never, they were never meant to follow the law and they weren't allowed to even follow the law unless they converted formally to Judaism. So that, that's just something to really understand. And it always comes back to what is the role of the law. The role of the law, which Paul teaches over and over again is to bring us to Christ, to show us that we're sinners, convict us of that and show us our need for his savior. And Paul's saying, you were never under that law. Why now after you received the spirit and miracles and Christ joy, so much so that you suffered persecution for this gospel. Now after all this, why would you bring the law in that you were never under in the first place? I could see the Jews doing that. But why you,
Speaker 1 00:21:08 One of the things inherent about any religion is they each have a set of rules of behaviors, of, uh, things that they need to follow. While by gentiles, by their very nature, were never believers in Yahweh and never under the law, the Jewish law, cause they weren't Jews, uh, they had all these other gods or whatnot that they worshiped or followed or practiced in. And you know, he, he says right up front and he says, you were slaves to those who by their very nature were not Gods <laugh>. You know, so it's, he agreed, he you were never in a law. What are you doing? But now you know God or or rather are known by God. That's a huge difference because back then the gods didn't know you. You knew them. The, you know, the, all the other pantheon of God's weren't personal and individual to you. All they wanted from you was your worship. You know, he ends up with asking, do you wish to be enslaved by that all over again?
Speaker 2 00:22:08 I don't know if it's comforting or disturbing to see that the same thing the church struggles with now, they were struggling with 2000 years ago, but I just guess it shows mankind's, uh, nature, his heart that doesn't change. We're made a certain way and we all are tempted by the same things. And, uh, people nowadays, I think back then, the key thing was they thought the law, even once Christ came, they thought the law was part of the gospel. And people nowadays still think the law is part of the gospel. That's why in most churches you go to, you hear the law preached and yet they wrap it in Christian, in a Christian veneer, they'll give some honor to Christ, usually at, in the scripture they read or at the beginning and the end. But then the rest is about what you have to do. The law is not part of the gospel. It's a servant to the gospel, which is something I've said for years. And something that I recently found out, Matthew Henry said three years ago that the law is subservient to the gospel. It's a servant to bring men to that promise that was given to Abraham, the covenant of grace fulfilled in Christ.
Speaker 3 00:23:24 Yeah, real quick, I dunno if you guys relate to this verse 10. You observe days and months and seasons and years, you know, coming from India, you know, it's a very common thing. They have some days which are auspicious, which are holy and some are bad days, some bad times, good times. So they're very particular about, um, following these, you know, good days and doing some works if you have to start a company or if you have to marry, you know, they need to find a good day, which is auspicious, they call it. So I think here in that reference, you know, it is, uh, not necessarily the law that is referring to like Tim, you mentioned, he's also referring to this gods, which are no gods, right? So they have this practice, okay, Friday is good, or Tuesday is bad, that kind of stuff. So I think people even after knowing Christ, they're going back and, you know, still being in Bondish to, uh, okay, this is a good day, right? Even here, Friday is the 13th. I don't know how many people think that, uh, Friday the 13th is bad. But we as believers, we don't have that any day is a good day for us. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Speaker 1 00:24:35 I don't know, aj, we still work for a living. I think Mondays are pretty rough <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:24:41 Well,
Speaker 2 00:24:41 You know, aj, I I I would, I would disagree with you that it's more like this in India than here because especially in different denominations, there are people ca from the Catholic, uh, you know, faith that will not eat fish on Friday or you know, you've got one day Thursday, you've got the, the, you've got lt, you've got all these things. And I'm not saying these things are bad, just like that. The do Jews had the Passover Feast of Tabernacles. Yeah. They had all these special times and special foods and rituals to do. And there's nothing wrong with you doing those as long as you're not making them a part of the gospel. As long as you're not making them a rule that you have to do, or you're somehow less or less blessed. You know, Lana, if I wanna celebrate the Passover, which is a beautiful picture of Christ, the blood of the lamb on the doorpost, uh, saving us from the destroyer, um, that's wonderful and that's beautiful. But when all of a sudden that becomes part of what you have to do for salvation or sanctification or to be an obedient Christian, then that's sin that's wrong. And that's what Paul's talking about here.
Speaker 1 00:25:59 But how many Christians do you know that live for God on Sunday and live for themselves the rest of the week?
Speaker 2 00:26:05 There's another one. Keep the Sabbath. It has to be on Sunday. Or if you're a certain denomination or religion has to be on Saturday. No, it doesn't. You know, and and Jesus even said that, uh, man was not created for the Sabbath. Sabbath was created for man. And Jesus said, I'm the Lord of the Sabbath. So as long as you're in Christ, you are in the Lord of the Sabbath. You don't have to, you know.
Speaker 3 00:26:31 Yep.
Speaker 1 00:26:32 So should we move forward a little bit further?
Speaker 2 00:26:35 Sure.
Speaker 1 00:26:36 All right. Picking up at verse 12. I plead with you, brothers and sisters become like me. For I became like you. You did me no wrong, as you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. And even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as a as if I were Christ Jesus himself. Where then is your blessings of me. Now I can testify that if you could have done so, you would've torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth. So this was a little bit of confusing to me. Uh, does, do either of you have some background on that part about where I only preached the gospel to you because I was ill?
Speaker 2 00:27:25 There are, I've heard of many different theories. Nobody knows for sure because Paul doesn't go into great specifics. Some of the theories I heard were that, uh, because they used the saying, uh, you would've torn your eyes out and given to them me, uh, given them to me. If you could have done so. They say, oh, Paul's illness was bad eyesight, you know, but that could just be a colloquialism, a saying that, you know, like saying, I would've given you my left arm, or, you know, it should, it could have just been a saying there we don't know that others have said, um, uh, William Ramsey said that he thought it was Paul had epilepsy and, and at the time, epilepsy was scorned because it made you ceremonially unclean as a Jew. And so, um, he would've seen as like being a sinful person or whatever.
Speaker 2 00:28:17 And he says, uh, that they didn't treat him with contempt or scorn. And then I heard someone else say that they thought that the thorn in his side, this illness, well here they say illness in another place. They say a thorn in Paul said, I have a thorn in my side. It was the weight and it was concern for the church. You know, cuz he, he said that he always struggled, uh, just with, you know, the weight beside all the persecutions he went through. He had the constant pressure and weight of caring so much. And this is a great, great, uh, example of that here. That he so loved these galatians that he, later on he says, he says that, I don't wanna get too far. He said that he's in the pains of childbirth, he's in pain because of what's happening to the Galatians. I'm turning back to the law. So those are three theories I've heard, and there may be more. We don't know if it's a literal illness, uh, or not. This one would seem to lean that way. But what do you think, uh, Jay, have you heard those theories as well?
Speaker 3 00:29:18 Yeah, I did. I did. But I think thi Tim's question was, you know, why would he preach gospel because he's sick or something like that. So I think, uh, new k jv, you know, it is rendered, uh, I think it provides a little more insight verse starting, it says, you know, that because of physical infirmity, I preach the gospel to you at the first. So I'm thinking maybe, you know, he, he was physically informal, like physically sick, and he could not travel long. Maybe Galatians are closer to him. So he went and preached to them at first. So it appears like that. But again, you know, there's no way of telling it.
Speaker 2 00:29:56 Or he could have gotten sick while he was there in Galatia on his missionary journey. And like you said, he couldn't, he didn't have the strength to go on. Yeah. And that put him there with them and they took care of him. And in the meantime, he lived his life with them and preached every day probably, I would think.
Speaker 3 00:30:12 Yeah. It's because of his physical informity he preached to them first. That's what it's saying. It's not saying I preached the gospel because of physical informity, but at the first of the keyboard looks like
Speaker 1 00:30:23 This is why we use different translations to read things because they bring out different points or state things differently and maybe bring some things to life. Now that wasn't a particularly important point, but it always made me wonder. Yeah. But I think what I'm, uh, getting, I'm gonna key on, and then maybe you guys can bounce off of it, is where then is your blessing of me. Now, I, I can testify that if, if you could have done so, you would've torn out your eyes and given 'em to me, have I now become your enemy by telling the truth. These are, these Galatians whom he taught are now coming back at him because of the people who are influencing their church. We've mentioned before, the the, uh, jus and they're telling Paul that they need to follow the law to be able to be saved. And, and, uh, you're so they're accusing him. They're literally, you know, he's like, you're my an you're, you're acting like my enemies now what, what happened? Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:31:18 There's a wide swing there. They held him in such esteem that it was, if he was an angel of God or even Christ himself, and now, you know, they're getting poisoned against them. I, this is kind of a, just a, shows you how much gossip and, and badmouthing and things can affect people. And let's not forget these were new Christians. They were not grounded and rooted, and maybe they didn't even, it was a new church, so maybe they didn't even have a strong leadership yet. So they were getting, you know, they were swayed like a, like a giant boat with a little rudder going in the other direction now.
Speaker 3 00:31:55 Yeah. I also noticed, you know, not only in other lives, in our own lives in our legalism can make us really mean. Oh yeah. So when, uh, uh, when they received grace, you know, they were full of love, but when they received the legalistic preaching, they turned around and started being mean to Paul. You know? Yeah. I think that's what might have happened.
Speaker 2 00:32:17 Yeah, that's a great point because, you know, when Paul was preaching the gospel, he wasn't telling them, he wasn't badmouthing the judaizers or telling them, you know, telling lies about 'em, or, but, but when the Judaizers preached part of their law was to put him down. So it just kind of shows you, you a fruit of the gospel. No fruit of the law. Yeah. Law always divides people. And I think that's what was great about last chapter, the last paragraph of three where Paul says that in Christ there is no longer Jew or Gentile, no longer slave or free male or female because the cross grace unites people. It doesn't separate 'em, the law does.
Speaker 1 00:33:03 Well, having said that, he doesn't, uh, put down the judaizers. He, he kind of fires a shot back here as we progress through this portion of it.
Speaker 2 00:33:12 He does get strong with him, Tim, but that's in self-defense. Yes. That wasn't part of his gospel that he preached,
Speaker 1 00:33:18 You know? No, I agree with that completely, but I just wanted to preface this with that <laugh>. Yeah, I agree with that. So starting in verse 17, he says, those people who are zealous to win you over, but for no good, what they want is to alienate you from us so that you may have zeal for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you, my dear children from whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. How I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you. So basically, you know, better, you know what I taught you, and these people aren't looking to point you to God. They're looking to point you at themselves.
Speaker 3 00:34:07 Yeah, totally. Yeah. One word that struck me is my little children for whom my labor to birth in birth until Christ dis formed in you. So in order for the, again, I think we always say that, you know, in order for Christ character to form in us and to manifest more of our law, Jesus Christ, we have to get out from under the law. Christ is end of law and to righteousness. And, uh, in Romans chapter seven says, you know, even therefore, brothering, you are delivered from the law and you're dead to the law so that you may be married to another so that you can bear fruit to God. So bearing this fruit of the spirit will never happen under the law. And, uh, one of the key, uh, traits or manifestations of being under the law is it's not necessarily, you know, trying hard to keep the law but actually condemning people. You condemn yourself and you turn around and condemn others. That is a main, uh, way the law manifests. So that's what, you know, if you are condemning people and condemning yourself, you can never bear the fruit of the spirit.
Speaker 2 00:35:17 I think that's why the more legalistic a church is, the more they condemn the world. Yeah. It's like you're, you're, you, you, you brought this up before Tim, about when that terrible hurricane hit New Orleans, and you hear all these legalistic fire and brimstone, you know, they're not gospel preachers. They're not preaching the good news, just railing at the world saying, oh, God sent a hurricane because of your sin and all that. That's the fruit of the law condemnation. And that's not what the church is called to preach. One of my, one of my favorite a IJMs is that when you go to a church, whether you're visiting or whether it's your own church, if they're preaching Christ, if everything is about him, they're preaching the gospel. It's a Christian Church. If it's about you and what you must do, then that's not the gospel. And, and I would just say, pray about that.
Speaker 2 00:36:14 I personally wouldn't walk, I'd get up and run out of there because they're, they're just putting you back in slavery just as the judaizers were doing to the Galatians here. And how serious did Paul get in his response to that? It's not a minor issue to sit under legalistic preaching that's gonna affect your rela who your, your knowledge of God, your relationship with others, you know, it's gonna make you judgmental and just everything AJ just said. So I love that litmus test. If, if your pastor is preaching Christ, awesome, if he's preaching what you have to do, if he's condemning the world for what they do or don't do, that's not the gospel. And that is of no benefit to us. As you can just read this book of Galatians and find out it's, it, it alienates you from God. Uh, Christ becomes of little effect in your life. Uh, grace, what is, was it? You've fallen away from grace, you've become a slave, you've become an immature child under a guardian or cruel taskmaster. Nothing good comes from putting yourself under the law, even though to some it's counterintuitive. You know, that's not maturity.
Speaker 1 00:37:27 Now, I know timisms aren't near as, uh, popular as a jism <laugh>, but I have said for years and years and years, stop getting mad at the world for acting like the world. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we're not here to change the world by changing their behavior. Right. We're here to preach Jesus Christ and him crucified. That's the only true hope for the world. We're not gonna change them by giving them more rules and more things to try and change their behavior. The only thing that's gonna change them is their coming to the realization that Jesus is the only answer.
Speaker 2 00:38:03 Yeah. Well, one of, one of my mark isms, Tim, I'm probably the only one <laugh>, is that even let's say you have a pastor who's a legalistic pastor, pastor screaming at the world, even if he's the most, let's just say he's so eloquent, so intelligent, such a great debater, and, and using logic, let's say he could convince the world that their sinners and sin is wrong, they still would have no power to do anything to, to get that, that out of their lives. They don't have the Holy Spirit, they don't have Christ, they have not been made the new, uh, creation. Uh, they're, they have not died to the law. They couldn't do anything about it. So why waste all that energy pastors and trying to convince the world that what they're doing is wrong? Yeah. Without Christ, they have no power to do anything. But if you preach Christ and they come to Christ and are given the spirit, the spirit's gonna make them new creations and is gonna work in their lives.
Speaker 2 00:39:05 Yeah. So it's just such a feu, futile, uh, endeavor. And, and why would you wanna bring that message when we have the glorious gospel of God's grace, that God loved the world so much that he sent the most valuable thing he had, he sacri sacrificed for them the life of his son. Even when you're at your worst, it, it, it makes no sense. I don't know why people flock to the law, it's just because that's a way that seems right to a person. It seems right to follow rules, you know, but it, it, it doesn't, as Paul said, it gives you no power to overcome central indulgences. You have no power to overcome sin. In fact, staying under the law makes you a slave to sin over and over. He says that, yeah.
Speaker 3 00:39:52 I want to quickly, you know, back up what you both said with the scripture. You know, it's a beautiful scripture, right? So we feel like, you know, we have to go to the world and believe us and convince them of their sin. But here in Second Corinthians chapter, um, uh, five and, uh, verse 18 and 19, eight clearly says, you know, what is the gospel? We preach to the Gentiles, right? Not to the believers. Now all things are of God. Verse 18, chapter second Corinthians, chapter five, verse 18. Now, all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. And what that, what is that ministry? That is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself and not imputing the trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Speaker 3 00:40:47 So this is a gospel. We preach to the world that God is not counting your sins against you, and he has reconciled you to himself through Jesus Christ. And now he wants you to be reconciled to him because reconciliation is a two-party thing, right? So even between wife and husband, if they are, if they have some differences, one of the parties may want to reconcile. But if the other party doesn't want to reconcile, the reconciliation does not happen here also, you know, he's saying, you know, this is a thing. You know, God is not counting. He has taken care of your sins on the cross, and he has already reconciled to himself in Lord Jesus Christ. Now you reconcile to God and in verse 20, now, then we are ambassadors of Christ as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconcile to God. That is a gospel.
Speaker 2 00:41:44 You, you used the really, I like a, a way you put it, aj, how some people are, they spend all their time to con trying to convince sinner, uh, uh, believers of their sin. You're not a believer if you haven't already been convinced that you had a sin Problem. One John one says that if you, if you say you're without sin, you may God out to be a liar. And the truth is not in you. Why try to convince a believer of their sin? They're not a believer if they weren't already convinced at some point and turned to Christ.
Speaker 1 00:42:18 And too many, too many people use that verse to say, even as a Christian, you're still a sinner. And that's not true.
Speaker 2 00:42:25 And you need to keep confessing them. Yeah. Which is, we've already disprove that many times over. Uh, but what, what the pastor should be doing and what Christians, especially nowadays, but always need to be convinced of, isn't their sin but their righteousness. Am I right on that Aunt Jay?
Speaker 3 00:42:42 Yep. Yep.
Speaker 2 00:42:44 That's what we have. More trouble believing that we're the righteousness of God, that we're new creations, will believe that we're sinners and that we're guilty and condemned all day long. But we need to be convinced that Christ took care of that more than enough.
Speaker 1 00:42:59 Well, you know, I started tonight's episode with you guys thinking maybe we'll get all the way through the chapter, but I don't think we're gonna get there tonight. So we're gonna save, uh, the story of Hagar and Sarah, uh, for next episode. That's your free look at what's coming up.
Speaker 2 00:43:16 Tim, you excuse me. You really thought we were gonna get through this chapter, <laugh>, if I was a betting man, I would've bet everything I owned we wouldn't <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:43:24 <laugh>. Yeah, I was, uh, I wasn't gonna put you on the spot like that, <laugh>. All right. So I think, like I said, this is where we're gonna stop tonight. So I do want to give you guys a chance to wrap up, uh, from tonight's conversation before we leave. So aj
Speaker 3 00:43:41 Yeah, I think for me, the key takeaway from this portion of the scripture is we are no longer slaves, but where the sons of God and his son gets inheritance by default. I think nowadays, you know, people are always billionaires for whatever reason, not giving their inheritance to their children <laugh> and making them work hard. But our God is not like that. So, um, his son, we are sons. We are not slaves. And because we are sons, we get our inheritance by default. So everything the Lord Jesus has accomplished, right? Everything he did accomplish by, uh, shutting his blood on the cross and dying for us, and, uh, securing and procuring this inheritance for us, this inheritance is freely available to us and rest of the lives we just, and through all eternity, we are simply we'll be, explore, exploring this inheritance and enjoying more and more of it each day. So there is much land in, uh, like it says, right? You know, there's much land to be possessed, even though we have all the land, we have not discovered all the riches and we have not enjoyed it. So our life is about discovering the richest in Christ, the unsearchable, richest in Christ tender, enjoying them more and more with each passing day.
Speaker 2 00:44:59 And I'll take it from there with my, uh, kind of closing remark. Um, just once again, restating, I love this book. It's, it's one of my favorite books. And I know it was one of Martin Luthers that was the main reason along with Romans, that there was a refer Reformation, which was a rediscovery of the one true gospel. And I just wanna encourage people that we always say, don't take our word for it. This book is awesome. Read it over and over, over again. Chew on every little line like it's your favorite food and, and just, and just soak in everything it's got to say. Cuz I, I just don't see how a person could come to understand this book and not understand the one true gospel. Paul is just so clear, and he's so directly dealing with the issues and the issue of the law, what its role is, and what the gospel is.
Speaker 2 00:45:57 And it's, I just love just the way this pinpoints. Um, so clearly it makes you wonder why people, uh, miss it. So that's my encouragement soak this book in a lot of great commentaries out there to easily findable on the web, AJ said, and I just think it really, this, this chapter, but the whole book of Galatians really supports that when you are under the law, the best you can ever be, the most you can ever be as a slave, or I, I'll put it an immature, underage child who inherits nothing. That's my, you know, paraphrase. But AJ said, the most you can be under the law is a slave, the least you're going to be under grace. The gospel in Christ is a child in heir of God. What a beautiful, beautiful truth. Now, that's not AJ's truth. Uh, it's Paul, but he put it even better than Paul, right? AJ
Speaker 1 00:46:56 <laugh>. Well, mark, you stole my ending and I'm glad it's okay. I, I disproves we're on the same page with each other as, as we hopefully are with Paul. Uh, and the only thing I will encourage people is if you, if you have found the one true gospel, if you have found grace and you keep your eyes on Jesus, don't, don't listen. Just because someone says, oh, I'm a pastor for 30 years and I know what I'm talking about. And you may hold this person in high esteem. If they're not preaching the gospel, find somebody else, don't stay. It's not gonna help you. It's not gonna behoove you. Um, so that's my thought for everybody who's listening today, and I would like to encourage you all to, uh, respond in comment or voicemail or email. We'd love to hear from you. We'll gladly take any questions, comments. And with that, I'm going to wish everybody a blessed day and we'll talk to you again the next time.
Speaker 1 00:48:01 Tim, again, thanks for listening today. We hope you were blessed by today's message. If so, we encourage you to subscribe and share our podcast with your friends and family. Our entire catalog of episodes can be found on our website at www.theunveiledgospel.com. Or you can listen and subscribe on most popular podcast apps. If you have any feedback or questions, you can send us an email to the unveiled gospel yahoo.com. You can reach out to us on our Facebook page, the Unveiling Podcast, or you can leave a question or comment on our listener line at 3 5 2 3 9 8 0 0 8 9. Maybe you'll hear yourself on a future episode. That's it for today. As always, God bless and we will talk to you the next time.
