Where we are in Galatians

Pastor Juliet Lyons recaps the journey so far. Paul planted clusters of churches across Galatia on his first missionary journey, and less than a year later he heard that Jewish Christians, the Judaizers, were telling these new believers that Jesus was not enough and that they also had to keep the Jewish ceremonies and festivals. Because Galatians was one long letter, she backs up to Galatians 3:28: if you are Christ's, you are Abraham's offspring and heirs according to the promise. In Genesis 15 God found Abram, a pagan in a pagan land, and said, "Fear not, I am your shield, your very great reward." All Abram had to do was say amen, and it was counted to him as righteousness, long before the twelve tribes, circumcision, or the festivals.

Are you a slave or are you free?

Many Christians know in their heads that only Jesus breaks the chain of sin, but how many live that way? The way we live says a lot about what we believe to be true about ourselves: who we let speak into our lives, what jobs we pursue, what priorities we set, what activities we engage in.

The law was a glorified babysitter

Galatians 4:1–3 says an heir who is still a child is no different from a slave, living under guardians and managers until the time set by his father. Pastor Juliet pictures the babysitters she and Max rely on for date nights: the kids know the rules, but the babysitter makes sure they are kept. The law was a guardian for a time. True freedom comes when children know not just the rules but the heart behind them and the promise that follows them, and can be trusted on their own.

Adoption and Abba

In the fullness of time God sent His Son to redeem those under the law so that they might receive adoption as sons. It was always God's plan to remove the babysitter, not to abolish the law but to fulfill it and bring His children to maturity. Pastor Juliet describes her son Levi standing at the top of the stairs calling "Dada" until Max answers, then leaping into his father's arms with his identity confirmed. Verse 6 says God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying "Abba, Father." We have the right to call God Abba only because Christ in us calls Him Abba, and the Father recognizes His Son's voice.

Paul's heart for them

From verse 12 Paul's tone softens. He calls them brothers, reminds them he once lived under the law like the Judaizers and has become like them, and asks them to remember their first love. When he first came to Galatia he was physically ill yet they received him like an angel and would have plucked out their own eyes for him. In verse 19 he calls them "my little children," the only time he does so in any letter, and says he is in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in them.

Hagar and Sarah

Paul turns to allegory, using a true story to carry a deeper meaning. Sarah, the free woman, received the promise and represents salvation by faith and grace. Hagar, the slave woman and Sarah's Egyptian surrogate, represents the enslaving power of the law, which is never satisfied. Pastor Juliet asks how often we start in faith like Sarah, then grow impatient with God's timing and try to pull the promise together in our own strength like Hagar, and then wonder why there are consequences. We are children of the free woman.

How do you know you're free?

Pastor Juliet closes by asking whether we still carry strongholds that make us feel we must perform, please, and work for acceptance. Do you know God's Word in your heart, God's heart behind His Word, and the promises of heaven? Living free requires sacrifice, patience, and dying to the flesh daily. It looks easier to live bound up, but that road ends outside the inheritance. God created His children to be more mature than the babysitter, with the Spirit of the Son inside them crying Abba, Father, enabling them to do everything they are called to do.