A powerful reminder against slavery to anything or anyone other than our redeemer.

In the early Galatian churches the widespread misunderstanding of the Gospel was creating division among believers. Some of them were from a Jewish background and some of them were from a Gentile background. It was hard for those who had been brought up as Jews to accept that the Gospel places every believer on the same level. The Jewish law was providing a barrier to the fellowship of all who had been saved by trusting in the simple message that ‘Jesus died for our sins’.

In this passage, which is part of the apostle Paul’s corrective for the Galatian churches, he uses a very powerful illustration to put the relationships on the right footing. The illustration is about Abraham’s two wives Sarah and Hagar. Sarah was the free woman who had a son, Isaac, while Hagar was the slave woman who had a son called Ishmael. The Jewish background believers would have understood, from their knowledge of Scripture, that there was a big difference in the state of each of the two children.

The freewoman, Sarah, is likened to the heavenly Jerusalem which is the city of God to which every believer belongs and is free. The slavewoman, Hagar, is connected to Arabia and, in this illustration,  her offspring are not part of God’s kingdom because they are in slavery to the Law. Every child of God, no matter what their background or religious heritage, has been freed from slavery to the Law.

 

 

The horror of how he suffered helps us appreciate the why

 

This passage speaks of the suffering and salvation of our Lord Jesus … the ‘good news’. Even though recorded about 700 years before Christ came it’s as though these words were written at the foot of the cross. Jesus suffering only increased with his age ‘he was despised and we held him in low esteem’. His opponents were constantly looking for a way to kill him and eventually they succeeded. Even though completely innocent, Jesus did not reply to any of the charges brought against him.

The horror of how he suffered helps us appreciate the why. Two reasons are given here. The first is that it was because of us … ‘he was pierced for our transgressions’. The second is that it was God’s will that he suffer. It was the Lord who laid the iniquity of us all upon him. If we cannot accept the horror of the solution then we cannot accept the ‘horror’ of God’s love.

It is hard to see how any good could come to the suffering servant but we find that he will be raised up and highly exalted. It is not only the Father himself who is pleased but the Servant also and, as believers, we share in the ‘spoils’ of his victory.

 

 

 

God alone can satisfy the longing of our hearts and provide that joy which we desire. In the passage we find that the woman was so overjoyed at meeting Jesus she left her water jar behind. This was because she had found ‘living water’. It changed her relationship with others such that she wanted to tell them about Jesus.

When she comes to the men she says to them ‘come see a man who told me everything I have ever done’. This should not surprise us because she had found God’s grace in Jesus Christ and this had transformed her life. Jesus knew everything about her and yet he had not condemned her.

Jesus came to do the will of the Father in seeking and saving that which was lost. This was his ‘food’ as he explained to the disciples who had been thinking about physical hunger. Jesus knew that he would have to go to the cross but he also knew that he would rise again. This is why he came. The message brings great joy and people need to be pointed to Him.

 

 

 

Welcome news about the condition of others, their progress and steadfastness

Have you ever been in a situation where you have had to wait for some important news? If so, you will have some idea of how the apostle Paul felt as we see him in this passage. Many people in Thessalonica had been coming to faith in Jesus Christ but he had to leave the city prematurely. He was anxious for the new Thessalonian believers because he knew their faith would be tested.

When Paul could wait for news of the beloved new believers no longer he sent Timothy to go and check on their progress. He received wonderful news back and his anxiety turned to joy. He said that ‘now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord’. This is a beautiful picture of how a believer can be affected by the faith of others. However, it does not and must not stop there.

Paul doesn’t just want to see them again but he wants to supply what is lacking in their faith. Spiritual children must be growing in faith. The biggest danger for a new convert is ignorance. Increasing love is the setting in which God strengthens hearts to become ‘blameless and holy’ in His presence. What about those outside the church? The grace of the gospel is, through repentance and faith in Jesus, sufficient for every nation, tribe and tongue … everyone.

 

We must not forget that God has provided a perfect King and we must not fear His control of our lives.

 

In this passage, the Old Testament prophet, Samuel, speaks to the people after God had provided them with a visible king. Samuel reminds them not to forget that God had delivered them in the past from their enemies when they had called upon Him.

He then points out to them that they had done evil by asking for a king. By doing this they had rejected God, the one who had delivered them from their enemies. In spite of this terrible thing they had done, Samuel tells them not to fear because they are God’s people. He also gives them a stern warning that if they persist in doing evil both them and their king will perish.

This message points forward to something marvelous ……. Jesus has come as both God and King for all those who turn to Him and trust in what He has done at the cross. They are not to forget Him and they are not to fear because He is in control.

 

 

How do we deal with the age old problem of emptiness?

Emptiness is a problem which people have experienced throughout the ages. The whole idea of employment is to fill the hole which emptiness creates … but what about the emptiness of the heart. In this passage we find that the thing which can fill this emptiness is not from ourselves but comes from the one who provides us with true worship.

Here Jesus and his followers were passing through Samaria even though Samaritans did not get along with Jews because they had different places of worship. Neither Samaritan nor Jew had realized the emptiness of what they were worshiping until a Samaritan woman, who was also suffering from the emptiness of numerous broken relationships, is asked by Jesus for a drink.

Jesus’ request touches a deep seated need in the woman’s heart … her need for ‘living water’. The woman was looking for physical answers to a spiritual problem. She finds the answer to her emptiness, not in multiple ‘husbands’ or false worship, but in the one, Jesus himself, who has provided eternal life, the forgiveness of sins and fulfillment in the true worship of God.

 

 

Many people struggle with feelings of guilt but follow the wrong remedy for it

 

Guilt can have a paralyzing effect and the natural reaction is to try to do something ‘good’ to make up for the wrong …. to ‘earn’ forgiveness. The gospel way is entirely different. God justifies people (He declares them not guilty) through faith in Christ, without them having to earn it. How can God do this and remain just?  We find the answer in the last part of the passage.

Paul tells us that through the cross Jesus has made possible the offer of peace with God to all mankind. If God did not punish wrong He would not be just. Amazingly, His way of providing forgiveness for wrong, through the sacrifice of Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, demonstrates His ‘right-ness’,  justice and love..

 

Care is needed in comparisons so that Gospel truth is not obscured

 

There are ways of describing things that show their difference to other things which could be wrongly compared. In the case of an orange, for example, you could note its colour, texture, size, fragrance and taste. This would clearly distinguish it from everything else.

In this passage we see how the writer begins to expose a problem in the life of part of the early church. The problem was a very serious one. It was based on a misunderstanding of who Jesus was and is. The approach taken shows the difference between Jesus and other things which might be placed alongside him. In this case the angels.

The writer shows, by quoting from the Old Testament Scriptures, how vastly superior Jesus is to the angels. There was a great danger for them in placing too much emphasis on the wrong thing. It is only in and through what Jesus accomplished at the cross that a relationship with God can exist. This same message is vital today.

 

The Gospel places every believer on the same level, freely forgiven, and this is apart from the law … so what is the purpose of the law?

In this passage the apostle Paul uses a question to show that the law is not inherently bad. Also some parts of the law were only temporary. The problem comes when we misunderstand the purpose for which God has given it. The law is good, it comes from God, but, because of our indwelling sin, it can never make us right with God … we cannot obey the law perfectly. That is why we must receive the promise by faith in Christ Jesus. In this way we have His perfect right-ness, like wearing a spotless garment, which puts us in a right relationship with God. Forgiven and set free. The remainder of the chapter gives us more information about the purpose of the law. It is described as a ‘guardian’ or a ‘tutor’ to Christ by revealing our sin.

Further into this passage, the apostle Paul uses Abraham as an example of one whose faith was apart from the law. The application of this, in the context of Jewish and Gentile believers, is to show that they both have the same standing before God in their salvation through faith in Christ. They have the same promised inheritance that Jesus died for their sins. This inheritance doesn’t depend on keeping the Law because the Law wasn’t given until 430 years after the promise which was made to Abraham and received by faith.

 

 

It is not the works we do that make us ‘righteous’ but trusting in what has been done for us by another.

The Galatian churches were in danger of falling away from the Gospel and that is why the apostle Paul wrote to them. In this passage, Paul takes the Galatians back to the cross. He says in the second part of verse 1 ‘Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.’ Christ’s perfect sacrifice, then as well as now, is absolutely sufficient to atone for all our sins, making us righteous in God’s sight. Justification by faith in Christ does not permit any works of our own to, seemingly, merit salvation. He asks them this question: ‘Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law or by hearing with faith?’

This question should have caused the Galatians to reflect on how they came to know the Lord Jesus … that it wasn’t by anything they had done, deserved or merited in any way. Then Paul asks two questions together: ‘Are you so foolish?’ followed by:  ‘After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?’ The fact that there was a division among them pointed to what is here called ‘the flesh’. This is what happens when believers try to justify themselves instead of continuing to rely on what God has done for them in Christ.