Galatians 4

Intro

Good morning church. We are in week 4 of continuing our journey through the book of Galatians.

To summarize where we are at currently, we have learned that Paul had brought the Gospel message of Jesus Christ to the area of Galatia. Many Gentiles found their new freedom in life based on nothing more than:

Repenting. Believing. Following.

Paul preached Jesus crucified for their sins, buried, and resurrected from the grave.

Romans 10:8–10 NLT

8 In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

This is the simple Gospel that Paul preached. While it is not said directly in Scripture, scholars believe that it was anywhere from a couple of months to about 2 years after Paul had shared this message of freedom that the religious leaders came in.

This is how the enemy works sometimes. Sometimes the enemy will come in right away and try to steal what God is doing in your life. Sometimes he lays low and waits for an opportunity.

Just my theory is maybe he waits a little while so he can take out more than just you. I have seen this take place over the years. Someone comes to Jesus and they begin to bring their friends and family. A few months down the road the enemy takes them out and not too long after the friends and family go to. None are serving Jesus now.

Church, this is why we should not veer to the left nor the right when it comes to the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus + Nothing = Freedom

Paul’s Shift

Turn with me to Galatians chapter 4. We are going to continue to dive deeper into this letter. One thing we will notice right away is a shift in tone from Paul. The first three chapters Paul has a more stern tone towards the Galatians. To me it is almost like a fatherly tone. A stern tone.

Let’s see if you pick up on this new tone as we read through our text today.

Galatians 4:1–7 NLT

1 Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. 2 They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 3 And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. 4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

Here is a sad reality church. Many Christians are not living in true freedom today because they still believe that they need to earn the favor and love of God. Therefore they are living beneath their spiritual privileges.

What Paul is explaining to the Galatians is they were slaves to the Law. They had to live by the Law in order to receive the inheritance.

Sometimes when a parent leaves and inheritance for their children and they pass before that child is of certain age, they put stipulations onto the inheritance. There are rules and regulations they need to follow in order to obtain what their parents left behind.

If they do not adhere to those rules, they do not obtain the inheritance. One mistake and they are out of the family will. Therefore they are a slave even though it all belongs to them.

Paul is explaining that we are no longer enslaved to the Law and live a life in fear of losing our inheritance set forth by the Father. He reminds the people of Galatia and to us today, that once we accepted the Gospel of Jesus and we believe in the work of the cross, we change positions.

Slaves —> children

This church is a change of identity. We are under the New Covenant that Jesus established between mankind and the Father. There are three parts of covenant that still applies.

Covenant = Protection. Provision. Identity.

Paul is saying that we have a new identity in Christ Jesus. Don’t miss this church. Identity is HUGE in our walk with Christ.

I had someone ask me the other day, “How do I handle being a pastor and all that comes with it?” Carrying around others hurts, habits, and hang ups isn’t easy. This is why pastoring isn’t a job…it is a calling.

I can only be a pastor because I know who I am in Christ. My identity isn’t even in the title pastor. It is in Christ.

Even when I mess up and fail. It doesn’t make me less of a child of God. In fact, when I mess up…God loving comes in and corrects me because I am His child.

Proverbs 3:12 NLT

12 For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.

Knowing your identity in Christ gives you the confidence to live out God’s calling, fulfill His purpose, and keep walking with Him—even when you fail.

When you accept Christ, you move positions from being a slave to sin to a child of God. You no longer live in fear of losing your inheritance, but live in a freedom knowing that no matter how bad you mess up, you can always come home.

God’s love for you is not based on what you do. He doesn’t love you any less. Does this mean we can do whatever we want? No. We will get into that next week in chapter 5.

I will reiterate the words of Paul:

Romans 12:1–2 NLT

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Backwards is Dangerous

As you read through chapter 4 you can hear a shift in Paul’s tone. There is a shift from the fierce confrontation of Chapter 2 to this warm, wounded, and deeply pastoral heart of Chapter 4.

Paul cared for those he led. So much so he warned them about going back to religion…which is a form of bondage.

Galatians 4:8–12 NLT

8 Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. 9 So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? 10 You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years. 11 I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing. 12 Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you Gentiles—free from those laws. You did not mistreat me when I first preached to you.

As a pastor my heart grieves for two things when it comes to leading people. First it grieves when someone who accepts Christ and follows with passion and zeal, fall so quickly and just leave Him. But it also grieves when someone comes to Christ and then they are told they must follow all these rules and regulations in order to maintain their relationship with Christ.

Performance based Christianity is bondage

I remember once I was in a church service where I was denied communion simply because I was not a member of their church and did not attend regularly.

The communion table was denied because I failed to perform. Hear the heart of this pastor this morning church…if you have confessed with your mouth Jesus is Lord and you believe that He died and rose again for your sins, the table is always open.

God doesn’t banish us from the table because we messed up. God doesn’t allow us to eat because we failed.

I heard a pastor speaking this past week on how we get the notion that we earn God’s love and favor.

I did something good on Monday, God moves closer

I read my bible and prayed on Tuesday, God is even closer

Wednesday I volunteered, God loves me even more

Thursday I Pastor called and needed something and I did it, man I really feel loved by God

Friday I visited someone and prayed with them, I am on fire now!

Saturday I messed up and cussed, watched something I shouldn’t, lost my temper, this or that…God hates me, God’s disappointed in me, God can’t use me, God banished me from the table!

Church this is dangerous theology! This is dangerous because it leads back to the very bondage that Jesus Christ had died and bled to set you FREE from!

The danger with performance based religion is you lose the joy of your salvation and you begin to serve God out of fear rather than love.

Here is the result:

When you serve God out of fear, you lose your identity

Your identity is not rooted in what you do or don’t do. It is rooted in Christ Jesus and the redemptive work on the cross.

God is not trying to improve your behavior; He is forming Christ within you. When Christ is the root, the fruit will naturally begin to bear as we will see next week in chapter 5.

Paul’s Closing Illustration

Paul gives an illustration as he closes out this chapter.

Galatians 4:21–23 NLT

21 Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. 23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.

As Paul closes Galatians 4, he uses the story of Abraham’s two sons as a powerful illustration of two different ways of relating to God.

Ishmael, born to Hagar the slave woman, represents life under the Law—human effort, self-reliance, and trying to obtain God’s promises through the flesh.

Isaac, born to Sarah, represents life under God’s promise—receiving by faith what only God can provide through His grace.

Paul reminds the Galatians that just as Isaac’s birth was a miracle, our salvation is also a work of God’s grace, not something we can earn through religious performance or obedience to the Law.

Paul’s message is clear: believers must not return to the bondage of the Law after being set free by Christ.

In fact Paul says to do what Abraham did:

Galatians 4:30 NLT

30 But what do the Scriptures say about that? “Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”

Get rid of the religiosity. Cast it out. Banish it from your walk with Christ.

The Law was never intended to save; it only revealed our need for a Savior. To live under the Law is to place confidence in human effort rather than God’s promise, producing fear, frustration, and spiritual slavery.

But those who belong to Christ are children of the free woman, heirs of God’s promises, and recipients of His grace.

Galatians 4:31 NASB95

31 So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman.

Therefore, we must reject every attempt to earn what God has already given through Christ and live daily in the freedom, joy, and assurance that come from faith in Him.

The greatest tragedy of bondage is not that it chains a sinner—it convinces a son to live like a slave.

Closing

Stand with me this morning.

Paul’s message can be summarized in three truths:

1. You have been adopted.

You are no longer a slave.

2. You have been redeemed.

Christ paid the price for your freedom.

3. You must choose freedom daily.

Do not return to the chains Christ broke.

Closing Challenge: Are you living like a slave trying to earn God’s love, or like a son resting in the finished work of Christ?

Altar Call:

For those trapped in legalism.

For those struggling with condemnation.

For those needing assurance of their identity as children of God.

Christ did not save us merely to forgive us; He saved us to adopt us, mature us, and teach us to live in the freedom of sons and daughters of God.