The Epistle to the Galatians
The Epistle to the Galatians
By Richard St.James
Bible 1611.Com / Old Paths Baptist Mission © 2025
Chapter four:
Verse
one: “Now I say, That the heir, as long as
he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant,
though he be lord of all;”
This heir here, is
none other, but Jesus Christ. Further,
the heir, is coming to claim, what is
rightfully HIS, thus “he shall come.”
This is prophesied, in the book of Micah,
and what is prophesied will certainly become
HISTORY:
Micah 1:15: “Yet will I
bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah:
he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.”
What we have here, is a
complete affirmation of the promise of God,
that the Son of God is coming to establish
the Kingdom of Heaven on this earth, in
Israel: “he shall come”:
“And, behold, the
glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the
east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters:
and the earth shined with his glory.”
[Ezekiel 43:2]
Now, the HEIR came to
this earth, as a servant to die on the cross
of Calvary, for all our sins:
Philippians 2:7-8:
“But made himself of no reputation, and took upon
him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men:
And being found in
fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
The Heir and the
Joint-heirs:
Now friend, pause
here, momentarily, while we are here, in this
passage of the Scripture. For a
question now, arises inside of me. Are
you now, ready for this? My question to you, is
this:
Have you ever
put your trust in
Jesus Christ’s precious BLOOD to cover
your SIN?
If, you have put your
trust in Jesus Christ, then you
have already been made a “joint-heir” with
Jesus Christ to eternal glory. This
promise of being a “joint-heir” has
already been verified to be true, according to the
Epistle to the Romans, chapter eight, verse
seventeen, which see:
“And
if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ; if
so be that we suffer with him, that we
may be also glorified together.”
[Romans 8:17]
What we have already
learned, in chapter two, verse twenty, now, becomes
experientially, alive to us:
“I am crucified with
Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I…”
So, we must die, so
that, we may live. And if we live, then, we will
suffer with HIM.
So, then, if we suffer
with him, we will be glorified with HIM.
Thus, we see here, that
all those in Christ will all be made
heirs, and made heirs to the hope of eternal
life.
Now, we see this truth
being now, confirmed in the Epistle to Titus,
chapter three, verse seven:
“That being justified
by his grace, we should be made heirs according to
the hope of eternal life.”
[Titus 3:7]
The Son of God,
[WHO is God manifest in the flesh] stepped
out of Heaven’s Glory for a set time [33 ½
years] to become a servant, and to endure
the cross, so that HE might save lost men,
who were all bound in the chains of sin. And
because of SIN, they were all destined to go
to a prison, called the Devil’s Hell.
Revelation 20:6:
“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the
first resurrection: on such the second death hath no
power, but they shall be priests of God and of
Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”
We shall reign!
Amen!
Verse two: “But
is under tutors and governors until the time
appointed of the father.”
There is something in the
BOOK of God, that is called; the process of time,
[See Exodus 2:23]. And there is
something here, that also, indicates that there is a
set time for everything under the sun.
To see this, we must go to the book of
Ecclesiastes:
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:
“To every thing
there is a season, and a time to every purpose
under the heaven:
A time to be born, and
a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck
up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a
time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to
build up;
A time to weep, and a
time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away
stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time
to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a
time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast
away;
A time to rend, and a
time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to
speak;
A time to love, and a
time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”
Now, God appoints
times, and the duration of these
times. For instance, the Kingdom of Heaven
has a set time to begin very soon.
We see the verity of this in Psalms,
one-hundred-two:
Psalm 102:13: “Thou
shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for
the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.”
Question: What about
your [or mine] set time? Hint! We,
already saw, what was in those verses, in the book
of Ecclesiastes. Both, your life,
and my life, have an appointed time.
Indeed, our days on earth are numbered:
Job 7:1: “Is there not
an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his
days also like the days of an hireling?”
Thus, it behooves
us to not misunderstand the grace of God,
and the importance of believing, on the Lord
Jesus Christ, in order, to be saved, from the
wrath of God to be soon revealed.
We have this straitly,
said to us, by the Spirit of God, in the book
of the Acts of the Apostles, in chapter
sixteen, verse thirty-one:
“And they said,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved, and thy house.” [Acts 16:31]
HEED!
Verse
three: “Even so we, when we were children, were
in bondage under the elements of the world:”
Now, this whole thing is
figurative. The children here,
represent all those, who lived, before the
atonement, which atonement for our sins
was accomplished at the cross of Calvary. And
this bondage, under the elements of
the world, represents our
bondage to sin.
The House of Bondage:
All men were held in
this bondage to sin [from 4004 B.C. to 33 A.D.!]
We were all held to our grief, in this house of
bondage. In similitude, we were all
held captive to sin, just as the Hebrew
nation was held captive, as bondmen in Egypt, in the
Second Book of Moses called Exodus:
Exodus 13:3: “And
Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in
which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of
bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought
you out from this place: there shall no
leavened bread be eaten.”
It is only by the very
strength of the Son of God, even Jesus Christ,
by whom we can escape this bondage to sin,
through the blood atonement, which was
accomplished at the cross of Calvary.
Verse
four: “But when the fulness of the time was come,
God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under
the law.”
Take stock of this
phrase, the fulness of the time. We
all live, within time, and only, God lives,
outside of time. We have a time to
live, and then, we die.
Ecclesiastes 3:1: “To
every thing there is a season, and a time to
every purpose under the heaven:”
So, God sets the timer to
move the seasons to their set ends: Tick, tock,
tick…and then, it is finished. It
is DONE! The passing of TIME will always show,
how things will come to pass.
God Sends the Prophets at a Set Time:
God sends HIS
prophets.
The Old Testament prophets, that God sent,
prophesied of a fulness of the time, that
was to come. And when the
fulness of time came, “the grace that should
come,” there ushered in a so great
explosion of GRACE, and this, because of
“the glory that should follow.”
The prophets now,
saw this grace coming to us, yet
they, themselves did not experience this grace:
“that not unto themselves.”
This is, shown to us, in
the First Epistle of Peter, chapter one,
verses ten, through twelve:
“Of which salvation
the prophets have inquired and searched diligently,
who prophesied of the grace that should come unto
you:
Searching what, or
what manner of time the spirit of Christ which was
in them did signify, when it testified beforehand
the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should
follow.
Unto whom it was
revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they
did minister the things, which are now reported unto
you by them that have preached the gospel unto you
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which
things the angels desire to look into.”
[1 Peter 1:10-12]
The prophets saw
this explosion of GRACE, that was coming to
us!
We are now, all living in
the time, when the “grace” of God has greatly
abounded, for now, nearly two thousand years.
What do we have, here?
We have here, a dispensation of the
grace of God. Look at
it, in the Epistle to the Galatians:
“If ye have
heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which
is given me to you-ward:” [Ephesians 3:2].
We really need to
understand the importance of connecting time,
with God’s propensity to distribute different
things to different peoples, at different times, in
order, to bring things to God’s desired end.
Thus, we have here, this
word, which is found in the word of God
[The Bible] called dispensations.
Observe: The fulness
of time is a dispensation.
We are now, ready to
read, in the Epistle to the Ephesians,
chapter one, verse ten, and see this connection
of time to the dispensations:
“That in the
dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are
in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:”
[Ephesians 1:10]
Notice: The real
important thing to learn here, is that the things
that are different … are not the things, that
are the same. For instance, in this
“present time,” [which is the
dispensation of grace] in the church age,
is a different time, and a different
dispensation, from that, which is of “the
world to come” [which is the Millennium].
[Notice: There are
different dispensations to learn here that are
revealed throughout the BOOK of God].
Jesus Christ made a
demarcation [or a division] Himself, concerning
dispensations in the Gospel according to
Luke, in chapter eighteen, now see:
“Who shall not receive
manifold more in this present time, and in the world
to come life everlasting.” [Luke
18:30]
So when, the fulness
of the time was come, God sent forth his Son,
Jesus Christ, on a MISSION to earth, to be the
Lamb of God.
Verse
five:
“To redeem
them that were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons.”
Jesus Christ redeemed
us. More than that:
1.
He purchased us to save us
from the condemnation of HELL fire.
2.
He liberated us.
3.
He rescued us from the
captivity of the Devil.
4.
He broke the bondage of sin
for us.
5.
He set the captives free.
6.
He redeemed us from the curse of the
Law.
The mission was to
redeem mankind, and all the
creation, from the curse of the Law.
[Please refer, back to chapter three, verse
twenty-two, for the comments concerning the curse.]
Jesus Christ
Redeemed Us from Death:
David testifies,
in Psalm 49:15: “But God will redeem my soul from
the power of the grave: for he shall receive me.
Selah.”
And concerning Israel, in
Hosea 13:14: “I will ransom them from the power
of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O
death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy
destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine
eyes.”
Jesus Christ Redeemed
Us from all Iniquity:
Titus 2:14: “Who gave
himself for us, that he might redeem us from all
iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works.”
We certainly are a
people, that have received the
adoption of sons, for a very special purpose.
This purpose is for us, to be a people,
zealous of good works, and to be set apart from
the world, so that we might walk
circumspectly in the works that the LORD has
already prepared for us.
Remember, what we
commented on, earlier [in chapter three,
verse eight].
The good works
observed, in the Christian’s life, result
from the workmanship of Jesus Christ, that is
on the inside of the believer, and therefore,
these good works are not the believer’s
own works. This little nugget is
found in the Epistle to the Ephesians:
Ephesians 2:10: “For we are
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
works, which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them.”
Now, let us finish with our
verse, [verse five]: “…that we might
receive the adoption of sons.”
The First Instance:
This word: adoption
only appears five times in the Bible.
We will touch each of these instances.
The first one is here, in verse five, and
then, the next four instances, will be given in
verse six.
Verse
six: “And because ye are sons, God hath sent
forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father.”
The Second Instance:
We have the
Spirit of adoption, mentioned in the Epistle
to the Romans:
Romans 8:15: “For ye have
not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the Spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”
In verse five, we had
already learned, that we are now, the adopted
sons of God. But however, we were
not, naturally, the children of God.
And why, is this so? Well, we were,
because of our Adamic nature, the
children of the Devil, until God,
supernaturally, intervened, on our behalf, by
translating us into the kingdom of his dear
Son. We read about this supernatural
operation, in the Epistle to the
Colossians, in chapter one, verse thirteen:
“Who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness, and hath translated
us into the kingdom of his dear Son:”
[Colossians 1:13].
Presently,
there are only two families existing in the
whole world. And these two families include
everyone, that who have lived, from 33 A.D. to 2025
A.D.!
Now everyone, that is
alive on this planet, are either in one, or the
other, of these two families. These two
families are:
1.
The children of the Devil.
2.
The children of God.
The proof text for
this, is found in the First Epistle of John,
chapter three, verse ten:
“In this the children
of God are manifest, and the
children of the devil: whosoever doeth not
righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth
not his brother.” [1 John 3:10]
The Third Instance:
Go to the Epistle to
the Ephesians, chapter one, verse five, and see
how our adoption occurred in action:
“Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his
will,” [Ephesians 1:5].
Observation: To adopt
someone, who is not your natural own, is now,
an extraordinarily beautiful thing. What
God has done, in effect, was to receive us,
to Himself, as His very own, in spite of our past
connection to our original father.
Jesus Christ, without any
hesitation, identifies for us, this
father, in the Gospel, according to John,
in chapter eight, verse forty-four:
“Ye are of your
father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye
will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in
him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own:
for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
[John 8:44]
Being born of the
Spirit has resulted in us, being adopted
by God…to be the children of God. This
transaction occurred, when God sent forth the
Spirit of his Son into our hearts.
Now we cry:
Abba, Father. And, it even gets better
than this. We are now, sealed, by the
Spirit, in this new relationship of
Christ in you.
Now, see for the promise
of this, to the believer in Jesus Christ, in the
Second Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter one,
verse twenty-two:
“Who hath also sealed
us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our
hearts.” [2 Corinthians 1:22]
In the Old Testament, the only adoption that God ever consummated was to adopt a whole nation of people.
The Fourth Instance:
This nation, that
was adopted, was Israel, according to the
Epistle to the Romans, chapter nine, verse four:
“Who are Israelites;
to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the
glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law,
and the service of God, and the promises;”
[Romans 9:4]
But, starting with the
accension of Jesus Christ at Pentecost, the Holy
Ghost, began the ministration of the adoption of
sons. And thus, the only part of our
tri-part being left waiting, for the adoption,
is our physical bodies.
The Fifth Instance:
Read the Epistle to
the Romans, chapter eight, verse twenty-three:
“And not only they,
but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of
the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit,
the redemption of our body.”
[Romans 8:23]
Our adoption will
then, be complete, in the great fly-away,
that is very imminent! [1 Thessalonians
4: 16-17] Amen!
Verse seven: “Wherefore thou
art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then
an heir of God through Christ.”
Remember, [while we
were, in verse three of this chapter] we were
told by the Holy Ghost, through the Apostle Paul,
that we were once children, that were under
the tutelage, or the authority of the
LAW of God.
But, once we are born
again, or born of the Spirit, our
status was changed. We are now, no
longer the servants, under the LAW.
Remember, Jesus Christ
fulfilled the LAW for us. See for all
this, the Gospel according to Luke:
Luke 24:44: “And he
said unto them, These are the words which I
spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all
things must be fulfilled, which were written in the
law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in
the psalms, concerning me.”
This whole thing, can be
likened, to us being, for a time,
children, under the authority of our
parents, until we were grown up [or mature].
And upon our moving
out of their house, we were no more under their
authority, or jurisdiction. We
were no more children [or servants], and now, we
were able [legally] to receive the heirdom.
Note: I realize, the
preceding is not a perfect illustration. For we are
the sons, and the daughters, from our
physical birth, and are under the authority our
earthly parents, but because of our age we
could not receive the heirdom, until
were of legal age.
Bottom-line: If we are a
son, then we are, through Christ,
an heir of God. Recall this:
Being a Christian, means being in
Christ, and because, Jesus Christ has already
fulfilled the LAW, it means, we ourselves, are
longer under the bondage, or the servitude
of the LAW.
Verse
eight: “Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye
did service unto them which by nature are no gods.”
We knew not God,
because we were dead, in our trespasses, and our
sins. We were, all helplessly locked
into listening, to that different drummer!
Now, that drummer was the
Devil, himself.
We will find that, the
Book of God has nailed it down this way,
in the Epistle to the Ephesians, chapter two:
“And you hath he
quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Wherein in time past
ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience:” [Ephesians 2:1-2].
We, therefore, served the
Devil, and all his minions. We were the
children of disobedience. This is sad,
but it is true.
Verse
nine: “But now, after that ye have known God, or
rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the
weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire
again to be in bondage?”
Christian,
keep looking forward, with your hands always
on the plow, always driving forward, in your
walk, in the field of your
life.
You received
Jesus, through the justification by faith!
Therefore: “Watch ye, stand fast in
the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” [1
Corinthians 16:13]
Remember, now, what
Jesus said to a certain man found in the
Gospel according to Luke:
Luke 9:62: “And Jesus
said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the
plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of
God.”
What do we learn now,
here?
Lesson: We are not to
go back to the servitude of the Law!
Warning: DO NOT BACKSLIDE!
Verse
ten: “Ye observe days, and months, and times, and
years.”
Now, the Jewish nation
was commanded by the LORD to observe days,
and months, and times, and years. We see
this, in the Scripture, in the Fifth book of
Moses, called Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy 16:13-16:
“Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven
days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and
thy wine:
And thou shalt rejoice
in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter,
and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the
Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the
widow, that are within thy gates.
Seven days shalt thou
keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the
place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD
thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and
in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou
shalt surely rejoice.
Three times in a year
shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God
in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of
unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in
the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear
before the LORD empty:”
This is of the LAW of God
for Israel, as a nation. So, the
keeping of the Law was, what Israel, as a
nation, was supposed TO DO, while they
were waiting for their Messiah to come. But
what happened? They were so busy in their
doings that they could not recognize Jesus
Christ, when HE did come into
the world to shed His blood on Calvary’s cross.
Thus, their Messiah, their Savior, died, and
was buried, and was raised from the
dead, in the midst, of national blindness.
Israel was blinded! A lesson to learn:
UNBELIEF will kill you.
Lesson: Unbelief always brings TROUBLE:
With Israel blinded in
unbelief, their branch was
removed, and the wild branch of
the Gentiles was then, graffed into their place
in the olive tree. We see this truth
explained, in the Epistle to the Romans,
chapter eleven, verse seventeen:
“And if some of the
branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive
tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them
partakest of the root and fatness of the olive
tree;” [Romans 11:17]
The important thing to
note here, is this: Things had changed.
Jesus Christ had come, and Jesus Christ had
fulfilled the LAW. And, He fulfilled
the Law, for us, [Gentiles]. And Jesus
Christ, did all the WORK!
Therefore, we do not
work, for the work has already been done for us.
We are kept saved by the power of God in
this age called the Church:
1 Peter 1:5: “Who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Salvation is by
justification by faith, only, in this present
dispensation.
Verse
eleven: “I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed
upon you labour in vain.”
Now, it is possible to
receive the gospel, in vain. Read what
Paul wrote, in his Second Epistle to the
Corinthians, in chapter six, verse one:
“We then, as
workers together with him, beseech you
also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.”
[2 Corinthians 6:1]
Here is an observation:
Paul fears that these Galatian believers
were falling from GRACE into the
servitude, or the bondage of the Law
of Moses.
Now, keep this in mind,
Paul had labored in the preaching of the grace of
God, and of the faith of Jesus Christ [2
Peter 3:18] in the winning of their souls.
So, what is Paul’s goal
for these believers? It is this: He wants them
now to grow in grace, so that he might
rejoice over them in the day of Christ:
Philippians 2:16:
“Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice
in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain,
neither laboured in vain.”
Paul, now fears, that
he may have run his race for them, in vain.
Verse
twelve: “Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am;
for I am as ye are: ye have not
injured me at all.”
Paul is now,
condescending to them. He is deliberately
humbling himself, on reason, for a very
noble purpose. And, this noble purpose
was for…to woo them back to grace, and to
deliver them from the precipice of the servitude
to the Law of God.
The counsel
of the Spirit of God, in this
situation, is this. If one is to win over
someone back, to the direction for their good,
then one needs, first, to be not be high-minded,
but fear. Fear for them!
“Be not highminded,
but fear:” [Romans 11:20b]
Verse
thirteen: “Ye know how through infirmity of the
flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.”
When, we bear in
ourselves an infirmity in the flesh, humility
will come. With humility, it will
be easier for us, to esteem someone else
better than ourself. It follows, that the
Spirit-filled Christian is to have this mind,
that exhibits the lowliness of mind.
This lowliness of mind is now, identified, as
having the mind of Jesus Christ, as it is
found in the Epistle to the Philippians:
“Let nothing
be done through strife or vainglory; but in
lowliness of mind let
each esteem other better than themselves.
Look not every man on
his own things, but every man also on the things of
others.
Let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”
[Philippians 2:3-5].
For, if, we can have,
this, as our frame of mind, we will find
ourselves already armed with a spirit
of compassion. This compassion will enable us
to truly minister to the needs of
others.
Now, consider in the
Scripture, WHO this is talking about: It is
Jesus Christ! See HIM, in the book of
Hebrews:
Hebrews 5:2: “Who can
have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that
are out of the way; for that he himself also is
compassed with infirmity.”
This compassion makes
you, more usable, both, to God, and to man.
It is no less, than Jesus
Christ Himself, when He was here, on this earth,
nearly two thousand years ago. He also, was
compassed with infirmity.
Conclusion: Having been
beset with an infirmity, may be shown to be a
blessing.
Verse
fourteen: “And my temptation which was in my
flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me
as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.”
Paul had an infirmity.
Paul’s infirmity was in his flesh.
Now, in the
Second Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter
twelve, we will find something very strange there.
Note: The lost people
of this world cannot understand the logic of the
words of the Spirit of God. But, we will
find the following: The Christian can experience a
supernatural pleasure [or joy]
amidst his afflictions.
Look at this example.
The Apostle Paul [in verses four through twelve]
testifies of taking pleasure, when he was
afflicted with infirmities. We now, will
read:
2 Corinthians 12:4-10:
“How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard
unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man
to utter.
Of such an one will I
glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine
infirmities.
For though I would
desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will
say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any
man should think of me above that which he seeth me
to be, or that he heareth of me.
And lest I should be
exalted above measure through the abundance of the
revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the
flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I
should be exalted above measure.
For this thing I
besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from
me.
And he said unto me,
My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is
made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will
I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me.
Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for
Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I
strong.”
Our lesson to learn
here, is this: We, as the believers in
Jesus Christ, need to learn to glory in our
infirmities, and to not be caught up in the
glorification of ourselves [or in our flesh].
May the power of
Christ rest upon all of us, so that we all might
be made useful, as the ministers of
Christ to others, and, this all, to the
glory of God, and Jesus Christ!
Verse
fifteen: “Where is then the blessedness ye spake
of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been
possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes,
and have given them to me.”
Paul is now, calling for
them to remember their first love for him,
and how they, first, received from him,
the Gospel of the Grace of God.
Verse
sixteen: “Am I therefore become your enemy,
because I tell you the truth?”
These brethren,
who are identified in the book of the Acts of the
Apostles, in chapter fifteen, have thrown,
so-to-speak, a wrench into the works, and
have messed everything up in all the
churches of Galatia.
These brethren, who
were the Pharisees, which believed,
were saying: That it was needful
to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the
Law of Moses [Acts 15:5]. These
brethren were teaching a faith, and works
salvation. Error, Error! And yet, these
Jewish believers, were said, to be all
zealous of the Law.
Now, being zealous
is not good thing, if it is
connected to a false gospel.
These zealots [the
faith and works evangelists] had many
faithful disciples. This is seen right up
to the time of verse twenty, of the book of the
Acts of the Apostles, chapter twenty-one.
Read for these zealots, in verse
twenty:
“And when they heard
it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto
him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews
there are which believe; and they are all zealous of
the law:” [Acts 21:20].
This is the precursor,
to what we see today in the 21st
century, in the vast multitude of so-called
Christian churches.
The following
denominations adhere to the necessity of a “faith
and works” salvation:
- The Methodist
Church
- The Orthodox,
[Greek, Coptic, Ukrainian] Church
- The Episcopal
Church
- The Anglican
Church
- The Catholic
Church
- The Church of God
- The Assemblies of
God Church
- The Pentecostal
Church
- The Vineyard
Church
- The Christian
Church
- The Church of
Christ
- The
Congregational Church
- The Church of
Nazarene
- The Mennonite
Church
- The Seventh Day
Adventist Church
- The Quaker
Church
- The Wesleyan
Church
- The Amish
Church
All these above
denominations believe, you can lose your
salvation. This is why,
they teach, that you must work, to stay saved,
or you will lose your salvation.
Verse
seventeen: “They zealously affect you, but
not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might
affect them.”
Being Zealous can cut
two ways:
Now brethren, we ought
always, to be fired up,
so-to-speak, for the
Word of life, and not be the
middle-of-the-road Christians. It will
dampen, or make lukewarm, our relationship
with Jesus Christ.
Notice: The trait:
zealous is like having a doubled-edged
sword. It can cut either way!
One can be zealous
in teaching heresies, or to be zealous
in doing evil, like Ahab was, above all
that were before him, as found in the First
Book of the Kings:
1 Kings 16:30: “And
Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the
LORD above all that were before him.”
However, these zealous
brethren here, who were zealous
for the Law of Moses, [These being, the
brethren of the book of the Acts of the
Apostles, chapter fifteen], that came up from
Jerusalem to Galatia, poisoned [or evilly
affected] all these Galatian believers in
Jesus Christ by spooking them back into the
bondage of the Law.
Verse
eighteen: “But it is good to be zealously
affected always in a good thing, and
not only when I am present with you.”
We ought, therefore, to
be zealous for the ONE, Jesus Christ, WHO is
the Word of LIFE given to us:
“That which was from
the beginning, which we have heard, which we have
seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and
our hands have handled, of
the Word of life;” [1 John 1:1]
Attention
Christian:
1.
We ought to be fervently in
love with Jesus Christ, rather to be, lukewarm in
our love for Him.
2.
And something else, it is good for
us to be zealous in our love for the word
of life, which is both, Jesus Christ, and the
BOOK:
“Holding forth the
word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of
Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither
laboured in vain.” [Philippians
2:16]
3.
And finally, we [that is, all
of us, who are in Christ] ought to be zealous of
good works:
Titus 2:14: “Who gave
himself for us, that he might redeem us from all
iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works.”
Verse nineteen: “My
little children, of whom I travail in birth again
until
Christ be
formed in you,”
Paul calls them his
children. For he has a passionate love for
them. You are my precious children!
It was Paul who had begotten all these
believers in Galatia, as well as in
Corinth. See this in the Epistle of
First Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 4:15:
“For though ye have ten thousand instructors in
Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in
Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the
gospel.”
Christ be Formed in
You:
Next, we have something
here, in this verse, verse nineteen, that is going
to be formed. What does this
mean for: Christ to be formed in you?
First, we will need to go back to the First Book
of Moses, called Genesis.
Man is Formed into a
Tri-Part Being.
“And the LORD God
formed man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and
man became a living soul.
And the LORD God
planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put
the man whom he had formed.”
[Genesis 2:7-8]
Adam was the first
man, that was created by
God. He was formed from the dust of the
ground. Adam was designed to live
forever by God, and to have a long line of
descendants enjoying living in a perfect
world.
BUT, the first
Adam, sinned. And when he
sinned, he died [His spirit died].
DEATH was now, in the world.
And, because, we all
came from Adam, we, therefore, all die.
This is crystal clear, as seen, in the First
Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter fifteen,
verse twenty-two:
“For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
[1 Corinthians 15:22]
The Last Adam, Now Comes on the Scene:
Here it is in a
nutshell, and it is all laid out for us all to
see, just a little further down in the same
chapter of the First Epistle to the
Corinthians. We will read from there,
starting with verse forty-five, and then,
through to verse forty-nine:
“And so it is written,
The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last
Adam was made a quickening spirit.
Howbeit that was
not first which is spiritual, but that which is
natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
The first man is
of the earth, earthy: the second man is the
Lord from heaven.
As is the
earthy, such are they also that are earthy:
and as is the heavenly, such are they
also that are heavenly.
And as we have borne
the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the
image of the heavenly.” [1
Corinthians 15:45-49]
When
Christ is formed in you, is when we
will bear the image of the heavenly.
So, it is
a process,
and this process, is built upon an
event.
The Event:
The event is the
birth of the new creature in CHRIST.
This event is seen, in the Second Epistle to the
Corinthians, chapter five, verse seventeen:
“Therefore if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all things are
become new.” [2 Corinthians 5:17]
The Process:
This process
involves the sanctification of the new
creature in CHRIST. This is seen, in the
Second Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter
three, verse eighteen:
“But we all, with open
face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,
are changed into the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
[2 Corinthians 3:18]
The final goal for
the Christian, [predestination] is to be
conformed to the image of his Son, and this,
according to the Epistle to the Romans:
Romans 8:29: “For whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren.”
Verse
twenty: “I desire to be present with you now, and
to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.”
What the word of God
shows us, here, is this. Paul is willing to
spend, and to be spent, for these saints, and
that is so obvious, as is found in these following
verses:
“Behold, the third time I am
ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome
to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the
children ought not to lay up for the parents, but
the parents for the children.
And I will very gladly spend
and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I
love you, the less I be loved.” [2 Corinthians
12:14-15]
Furthermore, we see, that
the Apostle Paul desires to be with them, so,
that he might have opportunity to plead with them
face to face, that they would put all their
hope, faith, and trust into Jesus Christ’s
finished work [of the cross], rather than
on the meager earthly rewards derived from
trusting in their own works, which are the works
of the Law.
Verse
twenty-one: “Tell me, ye that desire to be under
the law, do ye not hear the law?”
Paul is now, asking them:
Why live your whole life under the bondage of the
schoolmaster? Graduate now, and
see the liberty, that there is in this so
great salvation of Jesus Christ:
2 Corinthians 3:17:
“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
Paul now, pleads with
them, to desire the FREEDOM from the
servitude of the LAW. For there is
LIBERTY, only in Jesus Christ!
Verse
twenty-two: “For it is written, that Abraham had
two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a
freewoman.”
A figurative
narrative now, comes into view, in this epistle.
We will have here, what is called an allegory.
Now, an allegory
has a principal subject, which is described
by another subject, that resembles it.
Here we go!
Now, there are only
two families that are extant in this old world.
The first family is characteristically been
found to be plagued with bondage, or
servitude, and in the end, with death.
The second family
is observed to be blessed with joy,
peace, and liberty. Note: Keep in mind,
both families have originated from the same
father, which is Abraham:
Verse twenty-three:
“But he who was of the
bondwoman was born after the flesh;
but he of
the freewoman was by promise.”
Now, this is all
recorded, in the First Book of Moses, called
Genesis, chapters sixteen, and seventeen,
which see.
Hagar is the bondwoman.
She is an Egyptian, and Egypt, is
shown, in the Bible, to be a type of the world.
So, what is born of her, is after the flesh.
They, that are born after the flesh, cannot
please God.
You ask me, who
said this? Well, God says this, about all
those, that are after the flesh, in the
Epistle to the Romans, chapter eight, verse
eight:
“So then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God.”
[Romans 8:8]
So, if you are a member
of this first family, you are at war with
God. We will have more to say on this,
when we get to chapter five, verse seventeen.
Next, we will look at
this freewoman. Her children are
the children, that came by promise. Now
note this, virtually every time you see this word
promise showing up in the word of God
[The Bible], it is God, WHO is the ONE making the
promises. For instance, it was THE LORD,
who promised THE LAND to Abraham, Issac, and
Jacob. [See Genesis 12:1-3]
Lock it in,
here! It is God, WHO gives the promise of
life, which is in Jesus Christ, to all
those, who will believe on the LORD Jesus
Christ, according to the Second Epistle to Titus:
“Paul, an apostle of
Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the
promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,”
[2 Titus 1:1].
Realize this: This
promise of life has come to all of us, who
are in the body of Christ, which promise
has been revealed, by the Holy Ghost, in the
Epistle to the Ephesians:
“That the Gentiles
should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and
partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel”
[Ephesians 3:6].
The middle wall of
partition has been taken down between the Jew,
and the Gentile, according to the BOOK of GOD in the
Epistle to the Ephesians:
“For he is our peace, who
hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle
wall of partition between us;” [Ephesians
2:14].
This promise of
life is ETERNAL LIFE, as shown, in the First
Epistle of John:
1 John 2:25: “And this
is the promise that he hath promised us, even
eternal life.”
Verse
twenty-four: “Which things are an allegory: for
these are the two covenants; the one from the mount
Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.”
The Covenant of Mount
Sinai:
The first covenant
was established by God, whereby God, set
apart one nation of people, from all the other
nations…to be a peculiar treasure to enjoy
for HIMSELF.
In the Second Book of
Moses, called Exodus, chapter nineteen, verse
four and five, we see this covenant coming
into view, in the giving of the LAW, which is
also, has been identified, as the SCHOOLMASTER,
here, in the Epistle to the Galatians.
Now, please notice this.
This covenant was conditioned upon
Israel keeping the LAW of GOD, that GOD gave to
them:
“Ye have seen what I
did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on
eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
Now therefore, if ye
will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant,
then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above
all people: for all the earth is mine:”
[Exodus 19:4-5].
Now, this first
covenant was, then, placed into the
ark of the covenant of the LORD to continually
live within the midst of the people of this
covenant. View this, in the First
Book of the Kings:
1 Kings 8:21: “And I
have set there a place for the ark, wherein is
the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our
fathers, when he brought them out of the land of
Egypt.”
A subset of this
covenant is yet, another covenant.
It is called the covenant of salt. This
covenant was made between the LORD, and David,
concerning the perpetuity of the kingdom,
which is a precursor to the Kingdom
of Heaven in the Millenium. The
Second of Book of Chronicles has the record
for this covenant of salt:
2 Chronicles 13:5:
“Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel
gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever,
even to him and to his sons by a
covenant of salt?”
The conclusion:
This Agar [or Hagar, in Genesis 16:1]
allegorically represents THE LAW,
which, mind you, no man could ever perfectly
keep. Offend, just once, in just
one point of this LAW, and you are COOKED:
James 2:10: “For
whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend
in one point, he is guilty of all.”
GUILTY
Man Failed the Test:
All men have miserably failed the test given
by the Schoolmaster. The inditement:
For all have sinned.
This is so plainly written, in the
Epistle to the Romans:
Romans 3:23: “For all
have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
Only ONE has passed
the Test:
Jesus Christ is the only
one, that has ever passed the test that was
given by the Schoolmaster. The rest of us
have miserably failed! Test, complete!
The grade has now been recorded, in the
books, according to the book of the
Revelation of Jesus Christ:
Revelation 20:12b: “…and the
dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their works.”
There is only ONE, with
a perfect score, which testimony of
the Spirit is found in the Epistle to the
Hebrews:
Hebrews 4:15: “For we
have not an high priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all
points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin.”
The schoolmaster
has now, been satisfied!!!
Verse
twenty-five: “For this Agar is mount Sinai in
Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and
is in bondage with her children.”
Now, this first
covenant, is called Agar. And
Agar is identified as a schoolmaster.
And, this schoolmaster has all the do’s,
and all the don’ts, listed within a document,
called a covenant.
Finally, in the
process of time, we will see this, Agar,
along with all her children, keeping all the
lost men of this world, under the bondage
of the Schoolmaster. This Agar,
and her children, are giving thumbs down to
the GRACE of GOD that is found in Jesus Christ.
Please note: In this
allegory, we will see the following truths:
1.
We have two covenants, one of
bondage, and the other, of liberty.
2.
The bondage is of the LAW,
and is figuratively, called a Schoolmaster.
3.
Agar serves, in type, as a
bondwoman.
4.
Ishmael serves, in type, as a
child of the bondwoman.
5.
We find a certain mountain is
inferior to a certain city.
6.
This mountain is
Mount Sinai, and this city is Jerusalem.
7.
Jerusalem here, represents the
new Jerusalem of the third Heaven,
which is now, prepared as a bride to Jesus
Christ.
8.
Sarah represents the Freewoman.
9.
Issac represents the son of the
freewoman.
10. Issac
is, in type, a freeman.
11. This
freeman is free, because he is set
free IN CHRIST.
12.
Therefore, the Christian [Christ in you] is not
under the LAW.
Verse
twenty-six: “But Jerusalem which is above is
free, which is the mother of us all.”
Again, this
Jerusalem is the new Jerusalem in Heaven.
Turn to the BOOK of God, to see her, in the
Revelation of Jesus Christ, chapter
twenty-one, verse two:
“And I John saw the
holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out
of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband.” [Revelation 21:2]
This holy city,
called, new Jerusalem, is the church of
the first born, that is found, in the Epistle
to the Hebrews:
“To the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are
written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and
to the spirits of just men made perfect,”
[Hebrews 12:23].
All freemen will
populate, this beautiful city, which will be
the utopia everyone has sought for, ever
since Adam sinned, and brought DEATH into this
world. Here it is in the book of the Psalms:
Psalm 48:2: “Beautiful for
situation, the joy of the whole earth, is
mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the
city of the great King.”
Being born of the
Spirit, indeed releases one from the bondage
to the LAW, to be made a freeman in Jesus
Christ!
Verse
twenty-seven: “For it is written, Rejoice,
thou barren that bearest not; break forth and
cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath
many more children than she which hath an husband.”
What has been
prophesied by the prophet of God, will
most certainly be fulfilled. It is
found written in the book of Isaiah, in
chapter fifty-four, the following:
“Sing, O barren, thou
that didst not bear; break forth into
singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not
travail with child: for more are the children
of the desolate than the children of the married
wife, saith the LORD.” [Isaiah
54:1]
The freewoman was
desolate. Another way to say it…she was
barren. This freewoman was
barren of child.
Now, Sarah was this
freewoman. Sarai, as recorded in the
First Book of Moses called Genesis, was
barren [or desolate]:
Genesis 11:30: “But
Sarai was barren; she had no child.”
In chapter sixteen, it is
again, restated:
Genesis 16:1: “Now
Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had
an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was
Hagar.”
Now here, is located, the
prophetic promise made by God, in chapter
seventeen:
Genesis 17:16: “And I
will bless her, and give thee a son also of her:
yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother
of nations; kings of people shall be of her.”
All doubt shall now
disappear, for we have this, that is said
in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians:
“For all the promises of God
in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the
glory of God by us.” [2 Corinthians 1:20]
Now, visualize, what
follows:
Genesis 17:17: “Then
Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in
his heart, Shall a child be born unto him
that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that
is ninety years old, bear?”
It
is here, in verse seventeen, where Abraham, now asks
the question, [And, the answer, was naturally
impossible] concerning the possibility of
Sarah becoming a mother at the age of
ninety.
Sarah now, laughs
at this impossibility, in the next chapter:
Genesis 18:10-12: “And
he said, I will certainly return unto thee according
to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall
have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent
door, which was behind him.
Now Abraham and Sarah
were old and well stricken in age;
and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner
of women.
Therefore Sarah
laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old
shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
And the LORD said unto
Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I
of a surety bear a child, which am old?”
[Genesis 18:10-13]
But the Barren did
Bear a Son:
Genesis 17:19: “And
God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son
indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I
will establish my covenant with him for an
everlasting covenant, and with his seed after
him.”
Question:
Can the desolate indeed, produce
fruit?
Well, to find out, read
our next verse, verse fourteen:
“Is any thing too hard
for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return
unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah
shall have a son.” [Genesis 18:14]
Luke 1:37: “For with
God nothing shall be impossible.”
Luke 18:27: “And he said,
The things which are impossible with men are
possible with God.”
But, the barren,
indeed, has brought forth, [from her dead
womb, even in her old age], a whole
nation of people, literally Israel.
[Note: See, also, the
comments made for the word “seed” in this
commentary, in chapter three, verses sixteen,
nineteen, and twenty-nine].
For Sarah, God
intervened, and a miracle was performed.
Therefore, sing ye, O
barren!
Verse
twenty-eight: “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was,
are the children of promise.”
The Children of
Promise:
Now, the children of
promise all came from the freewoman, and
they will never come from the bondwoman.
Though, Ishmael was a son of Abraham, he was not
a child of promise. And, why is
this, so? Well, Ismael did not have the
freewoman, as his mother.
Now, this is all lined
out for us to understand by the Spirit of God
in the Epistle to the Romans, chapter nine:
Romans 9:7-9:
“Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham,
are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy
seed be called.
That is, They which
are the children of the flesh, these are not
the children of God: but the children of the promise
are counted for the seed.
For this is the
word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara
shall have a son.”
Conclusion:
The children of promise, therefore, are from
Abraham’s seed through Issac.
And not only is this true, but all the believers
in Jesus Christ, for the last two thousand
years, share this very same lineage, spiritually.
[Remember, according to
verse twenty-four, the Holy Ghost is teaching us
these truths, through the use, of allegory.
Summary: The believers
in Jesus Christ [the body of Christ] are the
spiritual children of promise, because they
resemble the literal children of promise
from Issac, which is Israel. Therefore,
the of body of Christ, which is the church,
is shown to be, also, in type, the children of
promise.
Verse
twenty-nine: “But as then he that was born after
the flesh persecuted him that was born after
the Spirit, even so it is now.”
The allegory, now
continues. Ishmael, who was born of the
bondwoman, was the one, that was
born, after the flesh. And he, who was
born, after the flesh, naturally hates the
son of the freewoman. This is a basic
fact of life: The flesh, which is
carnal, is shown, to hate God.
Now, the Scripture is
very clear on this. We can see this
enmity [between the flesh and the Spirit]
playing out, or explained, in the Epistle to
the Romans, which see:
Romans 8:7-9: “Because
the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it
is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can
be.
So then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit
of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
The Haters of God:
We all come into this
world, born of the flesh. And what
born of the flesh, is not good! For the
flesh, is at enmity with God. We,
from birth, naturally are the haters of God,
just as BOOK says, in the Epistle to the
Romans. We are:
“Backbiters, haters of
God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil
things, disobedient to parents,”
[Romans 1:30].
Now, the truth hurts,
does it not! Go ahead, put that one
into your bonnet!
Verse
thirty: “Nevertheless what saith the scripture?
Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of
the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the
freewoman.”
What saith the
scripture?
Remember, first,
and this is foremost: The Bible is the
Scripture, and the Scripture are the
words of God.
Second: The Scripture
is TRUTH. Thy word is TRUTH.
John 17:17:
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is
truth.”
The Scripture saith;
Cast them both out, the bondwoman, and
her son. For you, Galatians, were
born of the Spirit, and have been saved
by the blood of the Lamb of God. And why?
Because, you called upon the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, through faith in His Name.
No works were involved in your salvation,
except for the work of ONE…on Calvary’s Cross…the
Son of God.
Now this thing, is so
very, very clear, that even a child can comprehend
it. And, guess what? It is all available for
everyone to see for themselves, in the BOOK.
Open your eyes, and see this truth again,
concerning salvation. It is justification by
faith ALONE, as it plainly states, in the
Epistle to the Ephesians:
Ephesians 2:8-9: “For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any
man should boast.”
Keeping
the LAW has neither saved, nor kept
anyone saved, from 33 A.D. to 2025 A.D.
Verse
thirty-one: “So then, brethren, we are not
children of the bondwoman, but of the free.”
The bottom line is this:
The believer of Jesus Christ, in this age,
is someone, who has been placed, by the Holy Ghost,
into Jesus Christ’s body, which is the church.
He is, therefore, made to be one, born free,
and a spiritual child of promise.
The Change of the
Guard:
The
directive from the LORD is:
“Study to shew thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
[2 Timothy 2:15]
We are to study
the BIBLE, and rightly divide the BIBLE, and
believe the BIBLE. We are never to
use the Bible to prove some preconceived
doctrine. Rather, we are to submit to
the BOOK, and let the BOOK teach us, the Spirit of
God’s doctrine.
The BOOK will always take
you, by the logic of faith, to this common
understanding, that God has required different
things, from different peoples, and at different
times, concerning salvation. And
this, all down through the ages,
beginning with the creation of Adam and Eve.
Before the Law:
The Old Testament
saints [before the giving of the Law] were
saved, conditionally:
1.
By being moved with fear to
believe God. This was by the operation of
faith.
2.
By their obeying the
commands of the LORD [which involved works].
Justification by
Faith and Works:
This is shown, as
recorded by the Spirit of God, in the
Epistle to the Hebrews, and in the First Book
of Moses called Genesis, concerning Noah:
Hebrews 11:7: “By
faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen
as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the
saving of his house; by the which he condemned the
world, and became heir of the righteousness which is
by faith.”
Genesis 6:22: “Thus
did Noah; according to all that God commanded him,
so did he.”
Noah built an ark, by
faith. The ark was his work.
Under the Law:
The Old Testament saints [after the giving of
the Law] were saved, conditionally:
1.
By their turning to the LORD with
all their heart, and with all their soul, and with
all their might. This is by faith.
2.
And then, by keeping the law of
Moses [which involves works].
Justification by Faith without Works:
This is the revelation
given to the Apostle Paul, through the Holy Ghost,
in the Epistle to Ephesians:
Ephesians 2:8-9: “For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any
man should boast.”
Saved by Grace Through
Faith:
After the revelation
of the mysteries were given to Paul, all the
New Testament church age saints were saved,
unconditionally. And, this salvation
was accomplished by their simply believing in
their heart, on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Proof Text:
Acts 16:30-31: “And
brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to
be saved?
And they said, Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
Men not noting
this change of the guard has resulted in
their spiritual blindness, which blindness causes
them to totally miss the arrival of salvation by
GRACE, which is the justification by faith.
Therefore, these same
men, remain today, stuck in the mire of the
gospel of the circumcision, i.e., a faith and
works heresy.
We are now,
ready for our next chapter.
Next - Galatians Chapter Five
Friend
If you
know the Bible Is True,
And you
never received
Jesus
Christ as your personal Lord and Savior...
And you
want to come to Him for Salvation now ... Then:
1. Admit
... To God that you are a Sinner...
Deserving Hell Fire...
2. Believe ... that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God...
Who died on the Cross for
You! ...
3. Repent! ... Ask
Him to Forgive You of Your Sin...
4. Receive Him... By
Asking Him to come into Your Heart...
And You
Will Receive the Gift of Eternal Life!
Born of God! You
Are in The Narrow Way ... To HEAVEN!