Sermon for 6/19/22 "Christ Is All We Need"

Galatians 3:23-29

This morning I'll be reading Galatians chapter 3 verses 23 through 29. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Galatians 3:23-29 These verses are part of the letter written to the Galatians by Paul,,, where he's explaining why faith in Christ is greater than the law. Galatians 3:23–29 (HCSB) 23 Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. 24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. 25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ like a garment. 28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise. God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------- With today being Father’s Day,,, we all have someone to thank today.

Many of you have a father to thank for making sure that you come to church each Sunday.

And it might even be someone that became a father figure for us that showed us the Christian way to live and guided us each Sunday as they showed us by their actions the Christian way of life.

And we can all thank our Heavenly Father for everything that He has done for us,,, and continues to do for us going forward.

So for all of you this morning,,, Happy Fathers Day!

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Last Sunday we looked at John 16:12-15,,, and we learned about the “Spirit of Truth”,,, and how its time for us to rejoice that we have the Holy Spirit in our life,,, because we have Jesus’ word,,, that He will never mislead us!

We may need to work on our ability to listen,,, but the Holy Spirit will always guide us to where we need to be.

We have the words of Jesus to convince us,,, just as it was meant to convince the disciples then,,, that,,, “He is the Spirit of Truth”!

This means you can be sure that when the Holy Spirit nudges your heart to do something,,, it is the right thing to do.

When He puts a thought into your mind,,, it is a right idea.

When He guides your spirit,,, He knows something you don’t,,, and He’s trying to lead you on the best possible path through the obstacles in your life.

He is always the Spirit of Truth,,, and as the Spirit of Truth,,, you can rely on the fact that He will never mislead you.

We must learn to trust the Holy Spirit’s leadership and do what He instructs us to do.

For Him to help us,,, it requires our ears,,, our hearts,,, our trust,,, and our obedience.

So,,, It’s time to put aside our fears and objections,,, and begin to let Him do His job,,, like Jesus told us about,,, so many years,,, ago!

This morning we are going to look at these verses in Galatians and see how they will help us in our walk with God this week.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 23 says: 23 Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.

The “faith” that Paul is talking about,,, is the Christian faith.

This came to be by the death,,, burial,,, resurrection,,, and ascension,,, of our Lord and Savior,,, Jesus Christ,,, and the preaching of the gospel at Pentecost.

Before that time,,, the Jews were kept under guard as if they were in a prison,,, or,,, in custody.

They were fenced in by the law’s requirements,,, and since they could not fulfill these,,, they were restricted to the way of faith for salvation.

My Believer’s Bible Commentary says,,, the people under law were thus confined until the glorious news of deliverance from the bondage of the law was announced in the gospel.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 24 and 25 say: 24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. 25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

The Holman Christian Bible uses the word “guardian”,,, the King James uses the word “schoolmaster”,,, but according to my Bible Knowledge commentary the Greek word that this is translated from,,, “paidagogos” is hard to fully describe in the English language,,, because it means more than a guardian,,, more than a schoolmaster,,,

They were a slave that was assigned to take care of a son from age 6 or 7 until they reached puberty.

These slaves were severe disciplinarians and were charged with guarding the children from the evils of society and giving them moral training.

This was like the Law’s function until Christ came and people could be justified by faith in Him.

It is better then to understand that the Law did not lead us to Christ but that it was the disciplinarian until Christ came.

Paul is saying,,, the reign of Law has ended,,, for faith in Christ has delivered believers from the protective custody of the prison and the harsh discipline of the pedagogue.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 26 and 27 say: 26 for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ like a garment.

Paul had been looking at Israel as a nation while explaining about the law,,, but now he turns to the Gentile believers.

Under the dispensation of Law, as seen in verse 24, the Law was a discipling pedagogue, and those under its supervision were regarded as children.

However,,, now that Christ had come,,, the Galatian believers were adult sons through faith and were no longer under a Jewish slave-guardian.

The exalted position of “sons of God” is explained in verse 27 to involve a living union with Christ brought about by being baptized into Christ.

This is the baptism of (or in) the Holy Spirit,,, which according to Paul (1 Cor. 12:12–13) joins all believers to Christ and unites them within the church,,, which is spoken of as being,,, Christ’s body.

This union with Him means being,,, clothed with Christ.

In the Roman society,,, when a youth came of age,,, he was given a special toga,,, which admitted him to the full rights of the family and state and indicated he was a grown-up son.

So the Galatian believers,,, like the youth that has come of age and put on the special toga,,, had laid aside the old garments of the Law,,, and had put on Christ’s robe of righteousness,,, which grants full acceptance before God.

So now that they have the new way of life,,, and a better way of life,,, who would want to go back to the old law,,, and the old ways?

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 28 says: 28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Christians,,, are all one in Christ Jesus.

Since all believers became one with each other,,, human distinctions lose their significance.

None is spiritually superior over another,,, in another words,,,

a believing Jew is not more privileged before God than a believing Gentile;

a believing slave does not rank higher than a believing free person;

a believing man is not superior to a believing woman.

Some Jewish men pray,,, still today,,, “I thank God that Thou hast not made me a Gentile, a slave, or a woman.”

But Paul cut across these distinctions,,, and stated that they do not exist in the body of Christ so far as spiritual privilege and position are concerned.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 29 says: 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.

Believers in Christ are Abraham’s seed.

As Paul has previously stated,,, in verses 16 and 19,,, Christ is the Seed of Abraham; -- therefore being in Christ makes a believer a part of that seed,,, and a heir of the promise to Abraham.

Of course when you have any discussion of the seed of Abraham,,, you must remember his natural seed,,, the descendants of Jacob in the 12 tribes of Israel.

Within this natural seed there is a believing remnant of Jews who will one day inherit the Abrahamic promises directed specifically to them (cf. Rom. 9:6, 8).

But there is also the spiritual seed of Abraham who are not Jews.

These are the Gentiles who believe and become Abraham’s spiritual seed.

They inherit the promise of justification by faith like Paul is writing about here.

This is where we become a part of that family of God like Paul is talking about.

----------------------------------------------------------- So we can see from these verses that Jesus is all that we need.

And we can take advantage of this benefit,,, because of the faith,,, of the father of Israel,,, Abraham.

Jesus is all we need,,, but we can trace the roots through Abraham.

He wasn’t chosen because he was better than anyone else,,, or better educated than anyone else,,, or more religious than anyone else,,, but he was chosen because God knew what he would be capable of.

And that faith that Abraham had,,, was credited to him as righteousness.

Romans 4:3 says: “For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.”

Abraham believed God even though he hadn’t seen the promises of God come through.

He believed,,, even though he couldn’t see.

----------------------------------------------------------- We must do the same.

We must trust God,,, even when we cannot see the results or have any idea how they will be fulfilled.

We may be going through hard times right now that just don’t seem fair,,, or too hard,,, or for too long,,, but no matter what it is,,, we must learn to trust God,,, and He will get us through,,, even though we can’t see the way!

Christ is all that we need,,, and faith gives us access.

And it’s all available because of fathers that have come before us.

Fathers that have shown us the way,,, and continue to guide us today,,, as we study Gods word,,, and learn more each day.

----------------------------------------------------------- So as we go our separate ways this week,,, remember these verses,,, remember that “Christ is all we need”,,, and it was made available to us,,, by the fathers love,,, that came,,, before us. ----------------------------------------------------------- Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------