Free As Sons

INTRODUCTION

series: Freedom Through Christ

today’s title: Free As Sons

Going to back up a couple of verses so that we don’t start in the middle of a sentence.

Our passage today will be Galatians 3:23-4:7

Main Idea: God has graciously adopted us, giving us the position of sons and the privileges of sonship.

I. The Doctrine of Salvation in Galatians

we are saved by grace through faith in Christ

A. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

vital to our Christian heritage… this word “alone” was a huge part of the Reformers mindset as they were teaching Christians the problems with how the Catholic Church had added all these things to the doctrine of salvation. Very similar to what the Judaizers were doing telling the Galatians that believing in Jesus was good but they still needed to be circumcised

grace alone (nothing you can do to get there, only a gift from God… that you don’t deserve)

faith alone (you must believe, it’s always been that way, even before the Law and before Jesus actually showed up on earth, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness

Christ alone… you can’t have faith in your parents, faith in your pastor, or faith in some idea like, “good people go to heaven and i’m more good than bad, so I’m probably good.”

God sets the terms for salvation. For some reason we like to think we should get to set the terms but it doesn’t work that way. And His terms are salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

The other 2 “doctrinal” words we will look are Justification and Adoption

B. Justification: We are right before God the judge.

before God the judge he says, “you are justified” “You are righteous” “you are not guilty anymore”

C. Adoption: We are loved by God the Father.

Both justification and adoption are gifts we receive from God through salvation.

You shouldn’t look at them as if its “justification vs. adoption”

they are not against each other as in… one is better than the other

and you don’t get one without the other.

Both are wonderful gifts of salvation.

Galatians 3:23–28 ESV

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

verse 23 - one verse earlier in vs. 22 (faith in Jesus) Faith - general vs. specific

salvation history - Abraham believed God’s promise, others in the OT believed God would be faithful to his covenant, and as time went on, God’s people had faith in God sending his Messiah. Now we know that Messiah is Jesus and our specific faith... alone...in him and his sacrificial, atoning death in our place gives us salvation

[read vs. 23-26 again]

Law as foundation with Gospel added vs. Gospel as foundation with Law added for a time

[read vs. 27-28 again]

Baptized into Christ

in a sense… baptism as an outward sign replacing the outward sign of circumcision. if the galatians had understood their salvation and inclusion into the Church through them being baptized in to Christ, they would not have been confused by the Judaizers when they told them they needed to be circumcised.

of course their baptism was not the means of their salvation, their salvation was by grace alone, through faith alone, in christ alone

but baptism is that FIRST step of obedience you make as a new believer unifying you with Christ and His Church

vs. 28 - Baptism as becoming part of the Church.

jew vs greek (huge hit to jews self-esteem)

slave vs. free (even the lowliest free person was more important than a slave)

male vs. female (this also would have been hugely counter-cultural)

EVERYONE is on equal ground.... absolutely NO room for racism in the Church

Galatians 3:29–4:3 ESV

29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. 1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.

Paul’s analogy - man - son - guardian - age - heir

The Law as guardian.... not that the law was the teacher and then it was replaced by Jesus the teacher..... the Law was leading the people TO Jesus!

heart problem

MRI shows it

surgery fixes it

the Law show us our problem, Christ fixes it!

The Law showed humanity’s sin problem....

so what did God do about it? He became the adoptive father

Galatians 4:4–5 ESV

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

two things God does in becoming the adoptive father

II. The Adoptive Father

A. God sent His Son so that we might receive the position of sons.

Adoption requires someone who comes at the right time.

planned time by God, not random

God’s people were longing for their Messiah

culturally the right time - Greek language was now common and practically universal making the spread of the Gospel easy as well as the fact that Rome had conquered most of the surrounding nations and had built roads for travel and commerce making it possible for the gospel to be spread around the world.

Adoption requires someone who possesses the right qualifications.

Jesus is divine - “God sent HIS son”

Jesus is human - “born of a woman”

Jesus is righteous - “born under the Law” --- the only one who could fulfill all of the Laws demands because He was divine and perfect.... humans couldn’t do it so they were left condemned. Jesus the perfect, divine-human did it in our place!

Adoption requires someone who has the right resolve.

Jesus came with a purpose. Read the gospels, Matthew, mark, luke and john… there was no uncertainty in Jesus’s mind about why he had come to earth. he came to redeem us!

Galatians 4:6–7 ESV

6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

so God sent His Son so that we might receive the position of sons.

and secondly,

B. God sent His Spirit so that we might experience the privileges of sonship.

first… check this out...

“Spirit of his Son into our hearts”

not just external, but internal

not circumcision

not a tattoo that says “I love Jesus”

not a cross necklace

INTO OUR HEARTS! the fulfilment of the NEW COVENANT (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

and now with the Spirit of God’s son in our hearts… 3 things:

We live with a new identity before God.

we are now clothed with Christ… the old is gone and the new has come… we are new creations

part of our new identity is the fact that we are now united in Christ as the Church - NO BARRIERS!

We enjoy intimacy with God.

we were held captive by God’s Law… because we couldn’t live up to it… the Law condemned us

but now Jesus has fulfilled the Law and we are not captivated by God’s love

such intimacy with God that we long for Him and yearn for him crying out ABBA Father! he is now approachable

this is huge! the judaizers were missing it. some of you are missing it. got the religious routine down… do all the right things… abstain from all the wrong things… but you have no intimacy with God. If you are a Christian, if you have received salvation, YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD!

finally....

We are guaranteed an inheritance from God.

vs. 7 -

we are not equal to Jesus but everything that belongs to Jesus belongs to us as co-heirs

good and bad - jesus suffered and we will share in his sufferings

good though because Romans 8:17 says that if we share in his sufferings we will also share in his glory!

are you a child of God?

are you still relying on your own efforts to save you?

become part of the family today and experience the joys of sonship!

CLOSING

I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God, I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood! Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod, For I'm part of the family, The Family of God.

pray.