Children of Faith

Wrong Turns

The highlight for this week was our practice hike.

Carried the full load of what we will take on our longer hike this summer.

The experience of carrying a pack is much different than hiking without one. You add 20 lbs to your weight which your body notices everytime you leap, or step up on to something, your centre of balance shifts, you can’t fit under and through narrow spaces as easily, there is a clunkiness about your dexterity because you can’t quite trust that you know how your body will react to a climb or a leap...so you are walking more carefully. And of course, it is just more tiring overall.

The first half was pretty steady but the second half was a bit of an obstacle course - blown down logs to decide whether to go over or under.

Bogs & streams where we had to either ford or balance on stones & logs

places where the path disappeared altogether and we had to string along by just looking for the next orange trail marker and hope for the best.

It was on the way back that we ran into some trouble.

The first clue was that as we approached a fallen log bridge someone had written - in black sharpie marker - on the orange trail marker “Chaos Ahead...stay left”.

A bit of an ominious sign...but we were doing our best to follow the orange markers and as we kept finding them we thought we were doing well.

After a good deal of hard walking in what was accurately a chaotic path we came to an opening....the stream bed where we had first entered that part of the forest.

When I checked the gps we discovered that we had walked in one enormous circle!

Having to re-enter the woods to find the right path this time (with the gps) we could see there were trail markers heading in two directions...perhaps one was an old trail?? But one thing was sure - it was not the one that would get us to our destination!

The Spirit IS the GPS

This kind of wandering off course is exactly what Paul is - very forcefully - warning the Galatian church about in our text today.

You see - he had arrived in Galatia with a wonderful message - that Christ had fulfilled the law in his death and resurrection and that all the effort to reach a relationship with God through perfect obediance to the law of Moses had been fulfilled in Him so that whoever put their trust in Jesus as Messiah would be included in the people of God.

And that meant everyone! Jews & Gentiles - because the marker of the presence of God and the people of God was the Spirit that he gave to all who believed.

The people of Galatia recieved this news with joy and the church there experienced God’s presence among them and unity between Jews and Gentiles all of whom had God’s Spirit.

But it wasn’t long before some of the Jewish believers said: “Hey! wait a minute! God entrusted us with a WAY that He was going to meet with us. God is Holy - you cannot be the people of God without the signs, the law, the markers of belonging to God’s people that have been passed down through thousands of years of Jewish history....to be the real people of God you must become a Jew (at least ceremonially through circumcision and law keeping).

SO....to use my backpacking illustration...Paul is trying to say to the new believers. Jesus has taken the weight of sin. He’s lifted the heavy pack of law keeping from your back - he’s given you fresh energy for the work of God through the Spirit - he’s made a straight path to a relationship with Him.

But the Judaizers have come to Galatia saying: Nope! The trail is this way. The markers are there, though overgrown. You’ll need to carry your own pack...and Paul can see that they are trying to lead them back around that old trail that only goes in circles...that for generations Israel has tried to walk and failed because they could not sustain the full righteousness of the law on their own.

So...as we come to Galatians 3 Paul is very angry about this shift from freedom to law and has some very strong opinions about it!

“You witless Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Messiah Jesus was portrayed on the cross before your very eyes! There’s just one thing I want to know from you. Did you recieve the Spirit by doing works of Torah, or by hearing and believing? You are so witless: You began with the Spirit, and now you’re ending with the flesh? Did you really suffer so much for nothing - if indeed it is going to be for nothing? The one who gives you the Spirit and performs powerful deeds among you - does he do this through your performance of Torah, or through hearing and believing?” - Galatians 3:1-5

So clearly - this is no small wrong turn in Pauls opinion. He sees this regression into law as very foolish.

Torah was the centre of the relationship with God and His people the Jews.

THE CROSS

Paul is saying there is a new centre - and that is the cross. “Messiah Jesus was portrayed on the cross before your very eyes!”

Whether they had witnessed it or those who brought the gospel message had just clearly painted a picture of the cross as the central point of this new life with God Paul felt that should have been very obvious to them that no other reference point was needed.

Matthew records this historic moment in his gospel:

Matthew 27:50–51 ESV

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

Clearly, this was not your average martyr. His death prompted immediate shifts in the heavenlies and on earth - among them the spontaneous tearing of the temple curtain.… from top to bottom...which indicates that the “hands” that tore it came from above and not below. God had acted decisively in that moment to remove the barrier between his presence and his people....

....this is the immediate effect of the cross.

This is why Paul says the cross is the central point of the new people of God.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

In identifying with the cross of Jesus - Paul has been transformed by faith so that his life is now animated by the life of Jesus within Him. It’s as though the person he was is dead and a new person - full of the spirit of Jesus is alive (though it is still him - just utterly transformed.)

In Romans Paul described this experience of transformation - which each new believer testified to through baptism -

Romans 6:3–11 ESV

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

The law was trying to deal with sin by identifying it. But by God’s grace Jesus has put sin to death so that is power over us is broken as we remain in Him.

These Galatian believers had already experienced all this. They had already entered the people of God first through faith and then, symbolically, by the act of baptism for all to see - my old self is dead. My new life is in Christ.

A powerful statement of allegiance to Christ in a time where many gods were competeing for attention.

The Spirit is Witness

Paul says there is a second witness of their inclusion as God’s people - the Spirit.

Galatians 3:2–5 ESV

Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—

Paul reminds them - you were already accepted by God! You had the Spirit within you to prove it! You saw the Spirit work in you and through you - even performing miracles that only God can do. You don’t need the law of Moses to prove you belong to God - he already lives in you!

The Spirit is a gift. It cannot be earned or manipulated. It isn’t the product of right living. It is a mark of inclusion in Christ through faith that empowers right living.

This was especially important for the Gentile believers. That the Spirit on them and the Spirit on Jewish beleivers represented an equal acceptance into God’s family. There is no first and second tier Christians. Jews don’t get bonus points. The Spirit is a mark of the family and both received it through faith in Jesus.

Paul feels so strongly on this point that he will take this debate back to Jerusalem to the other apostles to make sure there is clarity and unity on this point. Here is Peter’s statement based on all that they have witnessed as each travelled through the region seeing Gentiles come to faith in Jesus.

Jerusalem Council:

Acts 15:6–10 ESV

The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

Abraham’s Children

So Jews and Gentiles are all in the family....

But what then of God’s promises to Abraham? Is God abandonning his people? Paul will address this too in verse 6:

“It’s like Abraham. ‘He believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.’ So you know that it’s people of faith who are children of Abraham. The Bible foresaw that God would justify the nations by faith, so it announced the gospel to Abraham in advance, when it declared that ‘the nations will be blessed in you.’ So you see: the people of faith are blessed along with faithful Abraham.” (Galatians 3:6-9)

Where the Judaizers ascribed circumcision as the key marker of the children of Abraham - a mark of the biological, genetic connection to the actual descendants of Abraham to whom the promise was made....

Paul says the real marker of Abraham was faith in God.

And to some degree you probably could argue that for some - certainly Abraham - circumcision was an act of faith...but the engine of the act was the belief that God would do the impossible - not the ritualistic act itself.

John the Baptiser alluded to this is when the Pharisees and Sadducees self-righteously confused their biological lineage with God’s favor.

Matthew 3:7–11 ESV

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John says...God called Abraham from no where and chose to bless him and his descendants. He can do that again. He can choose anyone from anywhere to be Abrahams children - what he’s after is a relationship. So repentance - a turning back towards God - is the starting place for the new people of God....

and John references that one will come to baptize by the Holy Spirit.

Pauls incredulousness over the Galatian’s behaviour is because he KNOWS they all KNOW this! That the baptism of the Holy Spirit that they have experienced is the sign of their faith in Jesus and inclusion in that family of faith that began with Abraham.

For Paul - all those with faith in Jesus are now Abraham’s children.

Cursebreaker

“Because, you see, those who belong to the “works-of-the-law” camp are under a curse! Yes, that’s what the Bible says: “Cursed is everyone who doesn’t stick fast by everything written in the book of the law, to perform it.” But, because nobody is justified before God in the law, it’s clear that “the righteous shall live by faith.” The law, however is not by faith: rathar, “the one who does them shall live in them.” The Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the law, by becoming a curse on our behalf, as the Bible says: “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” This was so that the blessing of Abraham could flow through to the nations in King Jesus - and so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit, through faith.” Galatians 3:10-14

This weighty text is heavy with Old Testament references which was probably more obvious to the Jewish Galatian hearers than to us and a proper explanation would be too much for right now so I’ll attempt to summarize.

Paul is referencing the Covenant that God makes with Israel with Moses as his mediator. The books of Exodus and Deuteronomy describe God’s rescue of the Israelites from Egypt through powerful miracles. How he extended special grace to them as a people because of his promises to Abraham. He taught them how to rely on his faithfullness and he gave them specific laws that represented his nature of justice and love - trying to map for them a way to live distinctly from the other people around them who didn’t have a relationship with YHWH and as a result lived violently and selfishly.

As Moses’ time leading the Israelites comes to a close and they are about to head into the land God promised he would give them to live in there is a very formal exchange - in Deuteronomy chapters 27 & 28 where the people formally enter into this Covenant. It’s almost like a marriage.

By Moses’ instructions half of the tribes stand on Mt Gerizim and half on Mt Ebal - two prominant hills overlooking the land. There are a list of blessings and a list of curses spoken over this valley. From Mt Gerizim the tribes pronouce all the blessing God has promised to bring if they obey Him fully. In response Those on Mt. Ebal reiterate that if they do not obey him (and the specific items are listed) then they will be cursed. Blessing and cursing - you choose.

Moses sums it up by saying: Deut 30:11-20

Deuteronomy 30:11–20 ESV

“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Among the specific curses that Israel answers “amen” to is the one Paul references here: “Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.”

Paul’s argument is that - if you want the Israel deal - if you want a relationship to God by that Covenant then you need to perfectly obey every aspect of the law. Your heart cannot stray one bit from God and your actions must align with His will in everyway....otherwise you become subject to the curse as this Covenant agreed upon.

Paul, and the entire history of Israel testify that no one has been able to perfectly keep the law. And so everyone was subject to the curse…

...and so all of the suffering of Israel for generations was a reflection of not being under the protection of God’s blessing because of their resistance to his law.

So Paul warns...you cannot recieve God’s blessing by the law. You’ll only get the curse part b/c our hearts need a transformation.

But he also says: To break the power of the curse Jesus absorbed that curse. He absorbed all the suffering and consequences of life far from God in his body on the cross. He absorbed it in his spirit - as he cried: “My God, my God why have you forsaken me.” He became the cursed one, representative of all of Israel - though he hadn’t sinned as they had. Paul says the sight of him hanging on the cross IS the sign of his cursebearing.

But he took the curse to his death...and destroyed it. Replacing it with a pathway to relationship with God through faith in him.

But, he warns, you can’t turn backwards to reclaim the Old Covenant....there’s no life there anymore.

Life now....is by the Spirit through faith in Jesus.

CONCLUSION:

Draw the picture

Mt Gerizim - those who obey the covenant

Mt Ebal - those who disobeyed the covenant

The cross

Those who enter from outside of relationship with YHWH

All enter from different points but become a new people in Messiah Jesus. This is the new boundary line.

To be in Christ

The SPirit of CHrist in YOU.

CONCLUSION:

If there is one thing Paul would want us to know from Galatians it is that the new people God is calling are a people of faith. It doesn’t matter where they started from.

With the cross as the center anyone who comes to Him are a new people. We are united in Christ - the old divisions broken down. A new family is formed. And we meet at the same table...

This table reminds us of that.… that there are no divisions in Christ.

Maybe the things that cause division for us are different today - but the priniciple is the same. If you are in Christ - you are my sister, my brother - we are one family.

As we enter into a time of prayer take a minute to reflect on whether there is anyone you need to restore a relationship with. Extend grace to as you have had grace extended to you.

Take the bread - it is his body broken for you.

The cup - his blood poured out for the salvation of many.

And remember that by faith in the Lord Jesus - our Saviour, our cursebreaker - we are one family...an ongoing fulfillment of God’s blessing that started with Abraham....

....and by the witness of his Spirit that lives in you...go from here as a blessing to the nations.