Remember Your New Identity

We live in troublesome times today do we not?

Our culture is troubled in many ways one of which is individuals finding an identity or even changing identity like they change socks…so let me begin this morning by asking you a simple question...

Who or what are you identifying as this morning?

I really want you to stop and ponder that for just a moment.

Be careful how you answer that question because it could bring some devastating consequences.

I would venture to say that a good portion of you were immediately drawn to answer that question with some cultural jargon that could potentially place you on the “cancel culture” list.

Being placed on a cancel list is nothing new…it was happening in Paul’s day…in fact Paul’s identity had changed and now he was in danger of being canceled by believers who chose the wrong crowd.

We are continuing our study of Galatians 4 this morning and going deeper into what Pastor Matthew taught us last week…being identified as Children of God.

See when we answer the question of who or what we are identifying as this morning it should be the same every morning…

It is the only identity that matters…every person who has claimed Jesus Christ as Savior shares the same identity…in Christ...

In this section of our text, Paul puts on his pastoral clothes and lovingly challenges them to remember their identity because they were forsaking it to follow the Judaizers…the Judaizers were seeking to gain a following and “cancel” Paul in the process and creating a division between the believers in Galatia and Paul.

Main Point: Live Out Your New Identity as God’s Children.

If you’ve trusted Christ alone for your salvation, you are now no longer a slave to sin…you are a child of God.

Paul appeals to their personal relationship with God to remind them what makes them different in hopes they will not slip back into slavery.

A Child of God Knows the Freedom of God’s Grace (4:8-11)

Gal 4:8-11 “However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.”

Simply put, a Christian, a believer is someone who knows God.

Paul reminds them there was a time when they did not know God at all…they were unacquainted with the God of the Bible.

They were Gentiles who worshipped pagan gods and goddesses...

Since the Galatian people belonged to the Roman Kingdom they most likely worshipped the gods of the Romans before salvation.

In Lystra…temple to Zeus

In Iconium they worshipped the mother goddess Zizimene.

None of these were real gods, they were idols...

Bowing to these false gods and acting to appease them kept the Galatian people in bondage…bondage is the natural human condition.

There was a time when the Galatians were in bondage and didn’t even know they were in bondage.

v.9 …but now…like Pastor Matthew said last week…this is a great phrase you need to mark…it signifies something changed...

Through Paul’s preaching of the gospel of God’s free grace to them, they came to know God

As a Christian, you are someone who KNOWS God, not someone who KNOWS ABOUT God!

Christianity is not some philosophical school of learning

Being a believer means you have a relationship with God and your knowledge of him is always PERSONAL.

It is an intimate encounter with God the Father through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Although WHAT we know is an important of our faith, the most important aspect of our faith is WHOM we know!

But Paul doesn’t stop there…he goes on to say…rather to be known by God...

We can only get to know God, because He already knew us…personally…He personally revealed Himself to us...

God knew us long before we ever came to know him…God took the initiative to welcome us into His family…

Last week Pastor Matthew brought out the truth of us being adopted into God’s family...

Imagine a baby living in an orphanage and a man comes for visit…as he sees that baby living in her crib, he loves her so much he adopts her into his family…she grows up calling that man her father because he is the only father she has ever known…she knows him as her father ONLY because he first knew her as his daughter...

That is how God’s love is displayed for all his children.

We only become God’s children when we receive his free gift of grace…John 1:12

John 1:12 NASB95

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,

and when we do so, why would we ever want to go back to that orphanage.

Yet that is what the Galatian believers were doing…and Paul could not believe it.

They were stepping backwards into the idolatry of their pagan past…they had graduated to faith in Jesus, but heading back to spiritual kindergarten.

v.10 — they were following the rituals of OT Judaism…observe days and months and seasons and years

They were starting to follow the Jewish calendar rites as a matter of religious obligation…they were becoming like the Pharisees.

This is no better than paganism…if they wanted to practice external forms of religion they might as well pray to Zeus, read their horoscopes, offer sacrifices, hug a tree, etc.

Any religion that is based on observing special days is primitive and elementary because it reduces a relationship to a ritual.

Following God is a matter of duty than out of love…out of obligation instead of gratefulness.

Those who only attend church on Easter and Christmas, instead of living for Christ everyday, are guilty of reducing our faith to nothing more than ritualistic paganism…you might as well stay home!

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t observe those days, but there is a world of difference between the optional observance of special days and making it mandatory for justification.

God’s grace is free…once we know the freedom of that grace we are now children of God and we can never go back to spiritual slavery.

A Child of God Enjoys the Ministry of the Word (12-16)

Gal 4:12-16 “I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong; but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time; and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself. Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?”

The key to this section is found in verse 15…Gal 4:15 “Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.”

The Galatian believers counted themselves blessed when they first heard Paul preach the gospel to them…they were practically congratulating themselves on their good fortune to hear the gospel message that rescued them from slavery.

When Paul mentions his ailment here they knew what he was talking about…whatever that ailment was is unknown to us, but it was because of that ailment Paul visited Galatia and preached to them.

They were so glad to have heard the gospel they would have given their eyes to Paul to help him…this is hyperbole…in the ancient world a man’s eye was considered his most valuable possession…he is saying they would do anything for him…equivalent to our modern idiom “He would give you the shirt off his back”.

v 12 — Just as Paul has become free in Christ to live like a Gentile, so should they follow his example and live in Christ’s freedom…apart from bondage to the law.

Just think of how much Paul changed…(describe)

Paul now finds his new identity in Christ so he boldly calls the Galatians to do the same…he wants them to follow him as he follows Christ…

you have not wronged me…yet…the implication being that to follow the Judaizers now WOULD wrong him…why…it would deny the gospel!

Notice what Paul says about their attitude towards him when he first came to them.

It was a trial (severe testing) for them and Paul in some way…but they did not despise or loathe him.

Whatever this ailment was, it may have been visually repulsive…they could have easily been turned off by his appearance.

loathe = means to “spit out”… it was often the view of the ancients that deformities and diseases were signs of divine displeasure, or even demonic activity in the individual...spitting out was an ancient gesture used as a defense against sickness and other demonic threats...

If they thought someone was disfigured by a demon they would often spit at them.

The Galatians resisted the temptation to see Paul as someone demonically possessed because of sickness and instead received him as an angelic messenger…as Christ himself...

What that tells us is that they enjoyed Paul and his preaching of free grace and gladly accepted it, they loved him and his message…but now they were beginning to turn against him.

So Paul appeals to them with two questions

Where is that joy you once had?

Am I your enemy because I am telling you the truth?

See when the Galatians began turning on Paul, they were turning on God so Paul was left with questioning their conversion.

Implications:

As messengers of God’s Word, your pastors and elders are committed to never stray from teaching and preaching the truth.

As hearers of God’s Word we must never loose the desire to hear the truth of God’s Word.

As doers of God’s Word we must never shy away from responding joyfully to God’s Word even when it is hard to hear.

A Child of God is Transformed into the Life of God’s Son (17-20)

Gal 4:17-20 “They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them. But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner, and not only when I am present with you. My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you— but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.”

Here is something that is amazing when you love the Word of God…

The more you learn the Bible, the more you start to look like Jesus!

You think like He thinks…love what He loves…do what He does…suffers what He suffers.

The key to this section is verse 19...

Galatians 4:19 (NASB95)

My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you—

Paul and the Judaizers shared something in common…they wanted the Galatians to change.

The Judaizers wanted the Gentiles to become Jews which meant a larger following.

Paul wanted them to become like Christ.

Gal 4:17 “They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them.”

The Judaizers weren’t really interested in helping the Galatians, they were more interested in creating a division between them, the Jews, and Paul while gaining them to their own party.

Shut them out = of what?… they were trying to shut them out of the gospel and from the fellowship of other believers and influences contrary to their own…the Judaizers want to be the party in charge so they are doing everything they can to attack Paul and corrupt the gospel.

v. 18 — He wants them to develop good relationships within the gospel community…it is good to have sincere relationships that move us forward into Christlikeness…the Judaizers were far from being sincere.

v. 19 — Paul makes a pastoral appeal…return to the truth...

“my little children”… to remind them of his love for them.

“…again in labor”… Paul had already gone through the ordeal of their spiritual birth and what it took to convince them of the truth…to be saved out of their bondage to paganism…but because they were accepting false teaching, it was necessary for him to go through that difficult process of bringing them back to the truth.

“until Christ be formed in you” … they have not matured in their faith as they should have…if they did, they would not have been so quickly and easily bewitched as Paul says…

being conformed to Christ is a constant theme of Paul

Romans 8:29 NASB95

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

Philippians 3:21 NASB95

who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

Romans 13:14 NASB95

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Galatians 2:20 NASB95

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Paul is talking about their sanctification…now that you have new identity, there is progress to be made in living out that new identity.

Our sanctification is a progressive process of growth and change…there ought to be noticeable differences from the time we first came to Christ to where we are today.

The child of God is to grow up and better reflect Christ in the every day operations of life.

…not perfection, but progress…becoming a spiritual productive adult that contributes to the body so the whole at that is not swayed by every wind of doctrine.

Ephesians 4:13–14 NASB95

until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;

v. 20 — because this isn’t happening, Paul is perplexed about them…every pastor shares this experience with Paul… there is a far reaching implication of this portion of our text...

I want to say this as lovingly as I can, please understand that it is with great love for you and desire to see us all grow…what I am about to say is true not only for our church but for churches across our country.

I need to ask you a simple question that I pray will prod your heart.

I think the argument of this text allows me to ask this question...

I know in your heart of hearts you would want a pastor who challenges you to progress in your faith...

What keeps our church from being filled every Sunday?

If God’s children are to have a delight for His Word and that delight for His Word is used by the Holy Spirit to produces Christ-likeness in us, why do so many believers justify their absence from hearing the Word being taught and preached and from fellowship with his people?

What excuses can we make that are good enough to receive God’s approval for us NOT making progress in our faith?

What excuse would the Galatians have made…sorry God we didn’t know the Judaizers were full of hooey…

What excuse would you make…Sorry God I didn’t have time…I didn’t know the Bible said I shouldn’t think this way or talk this way or act this way.

Life Lessons

Celebrate the grace of God in your life by NOT going back to life choices that enslaved you.

Consider what changes you need to make in your daily routines of life to make sure you are feeding on His Word consistently.

Don’t settle for spiritual mediocrity.

Allow the Spirit of God to reveal the areas in your life that need addressed and apply the pattern of growth found in Ephesians 4:22-24. (Put Off/Changed Thinking/Put On)