All right, Galatians 4.31 to
5.13. So then, brethren, we are not
children of the bondwoman, but of the free. Stand fast, therefore,
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul,
say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole
law. Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are
fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait
for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision availeth or amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith that worketh by love. You did run well. Who did hinder
you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion comes
not of him that called you. That is, this is not of God,
this move and this motive and this persuasion you're under.
This persuasion comes not of him that called you. A little
leaven leaveneth the whole up. I have confidence in you through
the Lord that you will be none otherwise minded. But he that
troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, If I yet preach
circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense
of the cross ceased. I would that they were even cut
off. which trouble you. For, brethren,
you have been called under liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion
to the flesh, but by love serve one another. May I read verse
1 again? Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. Be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Now these exhortations that we
have read this morning are much more powerful and have much more
meaning when we see the fact that they flow from or they are
connected to what has gone before or has been written before. And
this is another place in the scripture where the division
of chapter does not mean that there is a completely new subject
that has been taken up. It does not mean that there is
a new and different subject that is commenced. Now concerning
the two women and their sons, and their respective condition,
bondage and freedom, we've had a lot to say and a lot to learn
about that. Now, the connection here is very
clear. When we drop back, as we did,
to the last verse of chapter four, and that verse sums up
the allegory. This is the summation of all
that there is included And that is meant by the allegory. And it concludes the question
that the apostle had begun with, tell me, you that desire to be
under the law, are you hearing the law then? He gave an account
of the circumstances of Abraham's family. Two sons by two different
wives, representing the two different covenants, one under liberty
and the other under bondage. One cast out and the other the
true and the promised heir of the house of Abraham. In fact,
we've already seen that there are two applications that have
been made from this. back in chapter 4. The first
one is in verse 28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was,
are the children of promise. There's another one that I read
in verse 31, and we read it twice. Two women, one's barren, and
then one woman, one's barren, but then having children in abundance
by the power and the work and the providence of God. Now the
statement in chapter 4 and verse 31 is definite. It is definitive. It is very important. It is conclusive,
it is final, and it is absolute. So then we, brethren. Now, the we are not all individuals. Not every single individual,
not even every individual that is associated with or is contracted
into a church membership. We are the children of God. They that believe, they that
are Abraham's true seed, and they that are justified in and
by Christ. We are not children of the bondwoman. That is, we're not merely fleshly,
and we're not in bondage. We are children of the free woman,
which he called the Jerusalem which is above, which is the
mother of us all. Now, the we here, therefore,
in this context, are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, children
of promise, children of grace, born of God, the elect, chosen
in Christ, spiritual children of Abraham, and spiritual brothers
unto Isaac, as Isaac was promised long before he was ever born. Years and years before he was
actually born, Isaac was promised unto Abraham and Sarah. Now, corresponding to that, we
were promised eternal life in Christ before the foundation
of the world and were chosen in him. And when Paul comes to
Galatians, we notice that he likens Isaac's birth to being
a work of the Spirit in chapter 4 and verse 29. But let's give
a little bit more attention to chapter 4 and 31 as the lead-in
to chapter 5 and following. As stated, It is the conclusion
drawn from the allegorized events in the history, the family, and
the house of Abraham. So then, brethren, we are not
children of the bondwoman. We are not children of Hagar
and are not children under that covenant of bondage. We are of
the free, of the free woman, of the free promise, of the free
grace and the freedom of the covenant. Now as to the flesh,
all mankind without exception is descended from Adam and from
Eve, no matter the country, the nationality, or the ethnicity,
Paul says in Acts 17 and verse 26 that God has made of one blood
all men for to dwell upon the face of the earth. One blood,
Adam and of Eve. Then, as to nationality and races
and nation, all are descended from Noah's three sons and their
wives. After the great flood, they reproduced
again and began to fill up the earth. Those three sons are Shem
and Ham and Japheth, and you can see that in Genesis chapter
10. And all nationalities and all
countries and people are descended out of one of the three sons
of Noah and his wife. Now, as to their spiritual or
moral state, they are either children of Hagar or children
of Sarah. That is, they are either flesh
or promised. They are either bond or free. They are either leaning upon
the law and seeking their justification by it, or they're walking in
the faith of Christ and resting upon him. And this basically
is confirmed to the professors of Christianity, that either
they are in bondage to the law or they are in the freedom and
the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by the free promise
of everlasting life. They're living by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us, who
glory in his cross, not in anything but the death of our Lord. We
have no confidence in the flesh, Paul said, and he was willing
to count all that he had been and trusted in as dung in Philippians,
the third chapter. We're not children of the bondwoman,
but we are the children of the free woman. And here, I think,
is as clear a contrast as can be given or as is needed. And it is not to the woman directly
and personally but it is to that which they represent in the allegory,
based upon their relationship unto Abraham and the sons that
they respectively birthed unto him by their union. Hagar, remember,
was a slave. She was a house servant. She
was a bondwoman who worked in the house under the direction
of Sarah. And when she had a son, he was
born into her condition in bondage. And that's typical, says Paul,
of the covenant that was given at Mount Sinai that genders unto
bondage and begets fleshly children, not spiritual children. For that
covenant at Sinai never begets spiritual children unto grace
and unto God. On the other hand, there is Sarah
who is called a free wife or the free woman. And her son was
born not by the power or energy of the flesh, but by promise. And her son is typical of the
covenant of grace. Jerusalem which is above, which
is our mother, born of the Spirit, if you will. And therefore, so
then, brethren, we're not children of the born woman, but of the
free. And we have the article there,
the free woman, not an indefinite one, but of the free woman. Therefore, of faith and of grace
and of spirit and that from above. And the emphasis is definitely
upon free. We are children of the free woman
and that determines our condition as the free children of God. Now this is carried over into
chapter 5 as we saw and as we read and in chapter 5 there is
very strong exhortation from the Apostle Paul. He says we
are children of the free woman, of the free Jerusalem, Therefore,
stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. We are children of the free woman. Therefore, stand fast. Hold to it. Contend for it. Give it not up, that liberty
that Christ has purchased for us. This is the way it is in
the King James Version. This is a little bit difficult
here, chapter 5, verse 1 of Galatians, and the commentators are not
agreed, not on the thought, but on the actual order of the words
as they are in the Greek, though the sense is the same. For example,
some follow this order in the words of the Scripture. The freedom
Christ freed us for, therefore stand fast, in the liberty. Others have it, it was under
freedom that Christ set us free. Keep standing firm in that liberty. Others, to liberty did Christ
free us, stand therefore. We can see that all of them come
down to one the same meaning. So be that as it may, Christ
has gained for us a freedom. He has gained for us a freedom
out of our bondage. He has become to us a precious
liberator, a divine liberty, whereby we both live and and
we walk under a covenant of liberty. What that liberty consists of,
we will try to consider soon in our study. But for now, consider
the last part of the exhortation in verse 1, chapter 5. And be not entangled again in
or with a yoke of bondage. All right, look at the flow of
thought. We're not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
Christ has purchased for us a freedom, therefore stand fast in that
freedom and he adds, be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage. And that word bondage is equivalent
to slavery. Slavery, be not entangled again
in a yoke of slavery. And then there is that word Again,
again. Here is that word again another
time as we looked at it in an earlier study. Be not subject
unto bondage. Give not up your liberty. Do not lose or exchange your
gospel liberty for a heavy yoke of bondage for which there is
no peace and freedom. Now consider this. This liberty
is both precious and authentic. It is precious to the children
of God, and it is an authentic liberty. It is the greatest liberty
that one might ever know. And it was gained for us not
by our fight or overthrowing something or the devil or sin,
but it was gained for us by Christ Jesus. He liberated us. He did
so by redeeming us from the curse of the law. And I think the picture
here of redemption is always this. One, going down into what
they used to call the slave market in that day and in that time. Going down into the slave market
there, inspecting the slave and settling upon one. buying them
out of their bondage, perhaps from a very cruel master. And it was his will or liberty,
if he desired, to set that slave free or to make him his own slave. but he could buy that slave and
he could set him at free, having purchased for him his liberty. So Paul says to them, stand fast
and resist the yoke. Turn away from such as would
draw you under another entanglement or a yoke of bondage, perhaps
using a promise of freedom for a lot of those who would bring
people into bondage Promise them freedom, and yet it turns out
to be very cruel religious bonding. From such turn away. Stand very
firm. Refuse the yoke. Cherish that
gospel liberty. Count it the greatest freedom
of all. For even a prisoner or a slave
can be the Lord's free man. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and 22. You may lock up one, but he still
can be the Lord's free man. And in that day there were many
that were slaves of all kind of nation. But they could be
the Lord's freemen if the grace of God was at work in their heart
now look at the second verse of Galatians chapter 5 behold
I Paul Say unto you that if you be circumcised Christ shall profit
you nothing Let's take a look at this verse and dissect it
a little bit first of all the opening word is is emphatic. Behold. When you see that in
the scripture, it means to listen. It means to give ear. It means
to perk up. It means to consider. It literally
means hear this. Hear what is about to be said. Behold, I, Paul, declare unto
you. Notice that. I, Paul, speaking
not as a private individual, But I, Paul, the apostle of the
Lord Jesus Christ, using the authority as an apostle bestowed
upon him by Christ, he says to them, I do solemnly declare unto
you this, that if you be circumcised, and he means for justification
or for salvation or righteousness, if you be circumcised, If you
receive circumcision, if you submit unto it by those that
constrain or that would compel you to be circumcised, chapter
6 and verse 12, they desire the glory in your flesh, Galatians
6 and 13. Paul said, then I declare this
unto you, Christ shall profit you nothing. Now, it's not ordinary
circumcision practiced among the Jews and others, but circumcision
connected to salvation and justification and annexed unto Christ. I agree
with something I found written in the commentary of William
Perkin, in his commentary on this great book, quote, circumcision
here must be considered according to the circumstances of the time,
unquote. That is, we must understand what
was meant by it, why they did it, what they attached to it
in that day, in that historical setting, and in that context,
so that Perkins and Gill and every sound expositor understood
that, that we take it in its historical setting as it was. That Paul is not speaking here
of what I might call, what else, mere secular circumcision. He's not talking about cultural
circumcision from that standpoint or on some other account to be
done. Or is he speaking about the mere
surgical procedure itself? But in the context, Paul is clearly
speaking of the opinion and the use that those men would make
of it in that day and that time. What was in the mind of those
false teachers, Judaizers, Paul called them slashers, of those
slashers of that time who were without a doubt Jews. which they
expressed and insisted on. What was in their mind? Why did
they want to bind circumcision upon the Gentile converts? Well, you have it twice in Acts
15, in that great council in Jerusalem, you have it there
in verse 5, that it was needful to circumcise them in order that
they might be saved. They must be circumcised and
keep the law of Moses. So they declared it a necessary
part of salvation and they annexed it or connected it unto Christ. Christ, yeah, but Christ plus
circumcision. They declared it necessary. So
Paul's response was, If any of you are getting yourself circumcised
as a part of your justifying righteousness before God, then
Christ is become of no profit or value to such a one at all. They are like Ishmael. They are
cast out from the covenant of grace and obligated to keep every
demand and command of the law. Now as you know from studying
the scripture that you trusted mightily in his fleshly circumcision
as his justification and righteousness before God and he trusted in
his descent from Abraham. They were known, the Jews were,
as the circumcision, and the Gentiles were known as the uncircumcision,
and you find it right here in this book, chapter 2, verse 7
and verse 8. In Acts 10, 45, they of the circumcision. That refers to
the Jew. In Acts 11 and 3, some condemned
the apostle Peter for going into men uncircumcised and eating
with them, and that would be the Gentile at the house of Cornelia. So let's note the progression.
in the influence of the false teachers upon the Galatians. First, they corrupted the gospel. You have that in chapter 1 and
verse 6 and verse 7. But there should be some that
trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. Yet there is not another gospel. So this is the first thing They
began, they perverted the gospel. Then they began to draw those
Galatians, some of them, they began to draw them to observing
parts of the ceremonial law. And you find that in Galatians
4 and chapter Ten. You observe months, days, times,
and years. Those are parts of the ceremonial
law that died with our Lord at the cross. And then, the gospel
perverts would go all the way, and they urge upon them the necessity
of circumcision in addition to Christ for justification, which
Paul says cancels all profit. that they thought they had by
Christ. Now back in Galatians chapter
2 verse 3 and 4, Paul tells them of his experience and of the
case of Titus. That he went up to Jerusalem
and he carried with him Titus. And in Jerusalem, Paul declared
the gospel that he was preaching out in the boonies. And some
believe that they might have urged Paul to have Titus circumcised
the Jewish brethren. Now, he carried Titus with him
and he went to Jerusalem. Now, Titus was a Gentile. Titus
had been a heathen. That's how he would be classified. And here he is with Paul in Jerusalem. So they might have urged Paul,
for the sake of brotherly unity and for a concession unto the
Jew, why not have him circumcised as Paul did with Timothy in Acts
chapter 16. Then there's something very amazing
about Paul in Acts 21. 20 through 24, as he observed
some of the ceremonial law, won't take the time to turn there.
And some think that Paul might have conceded for the sake of
the Jewish brethren. However, one thing made that
an impossibility. Verse 4. because of false brethren
who had sneaked in secretly to spy out our liberty, which we
have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. And notice, that was chapter
2, notice they were false brethren. They were pseudo brethren and
teachers. They were not Christian brethren.
They were not even weak and ignorant. Christian brethren, not believers,
but Jews fully wedded unto the law. Gil called them sly, artful,
designing men." Paul called them spies. who had hidden their intent. That's what spies do, do they
not? Spies enter in and they hide
or cloak their intent, but they watch and they inspect to insidious
intent while they are spying. A sentinel who is there to gather
information for an enemy is the description of a spy. They have
come in order that they might innocuously infiltrate, to learn
secrets, and that with an evil intent. And finally, able to
so undermine as to take over and to overthrow, but for a while
pretending that they fit in and that they are part of what is
going on. Now, what liberty exactly Does
Paul mean? Is he talking about civil liberty,
that which we might have from the government? Is he talking
about personal liberty? Is he talking about ecclesiastical
liberty, liberty that the churches might have? Paul connects this
liberty directly to the Lord Jesus Christ, which we have in
Christ Jesus. It is ours. It is our liberty. It is our present and cherished
possession and was secured by us by our Lord in his death and
suffering upon the cross. This liberty is a precious thing.
It gives peace of mind. It gives release and relief and
peace under the conscience and so forth. In short, the liberty
which Paul means is the true Christian and gospel liberty. That's the liberty that they
have and that he would have them contend for. Now the false teachers
saw Paul ignoring circumcision in the case of Titus. Here he
was in the company of a former heathen, a Gentile, an uncircumcised,
and they saw Paul ignoring making little of circumcision and also
other parts of the ceremonial law. Peter did that down at Antioch
for a while, you'll find that in chapter 2 of Galatians as
well. Something else, the Christians
at that time had begun to meet on the first day of the week
as well as the Sabbath day that was the Jewish Sabbath. They
freely mingled with one another and they ate with the Gentile.
They ate those things that were under the ceremonial law considered
unclean and forbidden. They had lessened esteem for
the temple and for its ceremonies and its services. They were weaned
from the tradition of the elders that the Jews so kept, and they
applied to Christ as their great high priest. They considered
Christ their great high priest, not the Levitical priest. They
looked unto Christ as their great high priest and not Aaron. And
they counted Christ greater than Moses and angels and Aaron and
such like. And this they saw Paul doing. But the false teachers wanted
to bring them into bondage. They wanted to bring them, even
the believing Gentile, even the ceremonial law, they would bring
them under, which they were never under or subject to as Gentiles
by nationality, unless they had become a proselyte to Judaism. And then they threw themselves
into Judaism and under the law and circumcision and the whole
lot. Now the Jews considered their
circumcision after the manner of Abraham and the command of
Moses, the main thing in their religion. It was a main thing.
Some have called it the initiatory rite. On the eighth day, the
Jewish men were circumcised. R-I-T-E. That rite. So, let's go back to Galatians
5 and verse 3. And another reason to stand fast
in the liberty which Christ has procured. And that's this, that
anyone who submits to circumcision as a part of their salvation
is by that same act obligated, a debtor, is bound to keep the
whole law. And before we consider how and
why this is so, I read in William Perkins' commentary and why circumcision
must be considered according to the circumstance of the time
that there are three periods or three ways in which we consider
this act of circumcision. Number one we go all the way
back to its original institution and that would be in Genesis
chapter 17 when God came to Abraham made a covenant with him and
gave him to be circumcised and all of they that were in his
house it is called in Acts 7 verse And verse 8, the covenant of
circumcision by Stephen, the covenant of circumcision. Now let me hasten to say it had
peculiar significance under Abraham and it is called in regard to
him, in Romans 4 and verse 11, the sign of circumcision, a seal
of the righteousness of the faith which he had, that he might be
the father of many, but also of all of them that believe. And by the way, We know that
Abraham believed and was justified before he was given the right
of circumcision. Romans 4, 9-12 makes that very
clear. That Abraham was a justified
man before God gave him the ordinance of circumcision. He was justified
by faith. Genesis 15 and 6, before either
the law was given or circumcision was instituted. So we look at
it in that light. Secondly, we look at circumcision
after the death of Christ our Lord, appeared until from the
death of Christ about 70 AD, when it was by the death of Christ
what one called a dead ceremony. It died with Christ as the ceremonial
law, but as Perkins wrote, During this period, it was sometimes
allowed as a thing indifferent," unquote. And yet, not as having
any saving benefit or justifying power or spiritual advantage. There was no spiritual advantage
in circumcision after the death of Christ and it lost its original
significance but a better circumcision came in its place and that's
the circumcision of the heart that we read about in Colossians
2 and 11 and Romans chapter 2 and verse 29, that the real circumcision
is not that of the flesh, but that of the heart. For Galatians
5 and 6 said, in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision or uncircumcision
avails, that is, means anything. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision
in Christ means anything, has any significance. But faith,
which works by love. Now there is neither advantage
by it, and there is not disadvantage for being without it. It cannot
justify, it cannot affect, our union with Christ, it cannot
bestow righteousness, and it cannot make any more spiritual
if they submit unto it. But then we come to a third period
with regard on the circumcision. And that is when the gospel spread
largely and mainly among the Gentile. Many of them believed. Many of them were called and
converted. And there, the Judaizers and
the false teachers came at them with a knife. because they had
confessed religion and come into Christianity. And then, as one
expositor put it, circumcision, quote, was a deadly ceremony
and ceased to be indifferent, unquote, when applied unto a
Gentile. It became a perversion of the
gospel and a chain of bondage. It became a lie. It became a
deception, if any took it, for the reason to become righteous
in the sight of God. Now, for better understanding
of this, a deception. For the better understanding,
we ought to judge the matter by the view again which the false
teachers held of this ancient rite. Why did they urge it upon
the Gentiles? For what purpose, what reason,
what intent did they urge it upon them? Well, to bring them
in bondage, albeit unbeknownst unto them. But they would make
it a part of the saving process. They made it a part of salvation,
and they joined it to Christ. And again, I refer you to Acts
chapter 15, verse 1 and verse 5, in both places. They insisted
it was necessary to salvation. Their contention was, without
it, apart from it, even with Christ, there is no salvation. Now this Paul shows, nullifies
Christ and becomes causes one to abandon the grace of God. You're falling from grace, he
said, verse 4. I agree with John Eady. The statement
has nothing to do with the perseverance or the apostasy of the true saints
of God, and there's no good proof text unto that end. but that
one who seeks to be justified by the law and merit and works
or nationality has in effect abandoned grace altogether, has
been driven off of the course of grace. Now this issue, as
a point of contention, it faded away, circumcision did, when
the Jews were cut off and the Gentiles were predominantly members
of the church. And the issue then ceased, but
not the principle. The issue it might have ceased,
but the principle did not. It is continuing to this day.
The issues are different, but the contention is still the same. There are still those with their
exceptions. There are still those who say
to us, except you be baptized, except you join our particular
church, except you pray through, except you speak in tongue, except
you hold out until the end, you cannot be saved. So those exceptions
are with us unto this day. There are still those who will
load you down with heavy burdens. and grievous to be born, Matthew
23, 4. Others will lay upon you their
many touch knots, taste knots, and handle knots, Colossians
2 and 21. And many will subject you to
ordinances and even unto human tradition that have no authority
in and by the Holy Scripture. One of the great controversies
in Christianity is over the matter of Christian liberty. This battle
has raged from early time and rages now and will not end while
the world stands. The two positions are at variant. Here's one side over here calling
the other side a legalist. This side is calling that side
an antinomian. And so there is that constant
fight between those that might be called legalists and those
that might be called antinomians, disregarding all and every law. But then there are those who
have that right and true knowledge and understand their liberty
in Christ and its value. I would say, before we close,
that just about any cult that you can mention is a form of
bondage. It's a form of control. Some
totally, absolutely, control the person in every aspect, even
who they marry and such like. It is a bondage. Think of Jim Jones and the guy
in the jungle, if you might. And so Paul says to us, stand
fast in liberty. We see liberty vanishing. in
our country civilly as well as spiritually. And yet, you know,
their people, it's so easy to put them in bondage. Just tell
them, this is for your good. This will give you security.
One of our early founding fathers said, he that gives up his freedom
for security will soon have neither. And that certainly is true. You
give up your liberty and the promise of security, and the
first thing you know, you're in abject bondage and you have
neither one. But the liberty that is in Christ
is our most precious. Let us stand fast. Let us understand
that this liberty was purchased by the death and the suffering
of Christ. What liberty is this? from the
law, from its curse, from sin, from its dominion. He's made
us free. He set us free that we are the
free people of God in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now
there are two exhortations in this chapter. Do not use your
liberty as an occasion of the flesh. We have that down in verse
13. Do not use your liberty as an
occasion of the flesh, but to serve one another in love. May the Lord take these things
and bless them to us and to our understanding. As far as I know,
lest I pray further, our study of this is closed. This is the
last one on the great allegory, and it puts it in proper perspective.