Sons of God by Faith in Christ Alone

Transcript

GR 1157
07/11/1999
Sons of God by Faith in Christ Only
Galatians 4:1-5
Gil Rugh


Paul’s letter to the Galatians, and the fourth chapter. There are no issues so important, or on a level of importance, as those issues which relate to the matter of our salvation. How can a person have their sins forgiven? How can a person be brought into a right relationship with the Eternal God? How can a person settle for time and eternity his eternal destiny?

Many people think, well, there are a variety of ways. You have to keep an open mind. There are many roads, there are many religions, but they all believe in the same God, and they’ll ultimately end up in heaven.

I remember traveling to the cemetery as part of a funeral service, I was riding in the funeral car with one of the personnel from the funeral home, and we got into a conversation about life, and life after death. I asked how much he thought about death, dealing with it all the time. And in the course of our conversation, he said, “Oh, I think there are many roads, but they’ll all end up in heaven.” I said, “That’s interesting, because we’re driving down the road to the cemetery, and you tell me that it wouldn’t have mattered which road I had gotten on, or which direction I was going, I would have still arrived at this cemetery.” “Well, no, that wouldn’t happen.” “Well, what makes you think you’re going to get to heaven traveling any which direction on any road?” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the father but by me.”

Now, many people believe that indeed Jesus Christ is the way and you must believe in Him if you are to be saved. That is true, but that may only be a partial truth. What is important is that you understand that you must believe in Jesus Christ and in Him alone for your salvation.

In the book of Galatians, Paul is dealing with this problem. He had carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the region of Galatia, the various cities in that area, and established churches there. Teachers had come in after he had left, called Judaizers, who were teaching that indeed you must believe in Jesus Christ for salvation, but you must also believe and keep the Mosaic Law.

Turn back to the book of Acts, if you would, chapter 15. Acts, chapter 15, records the Jerusalem Council. A council held at Jerusalem to deal with the problem of the Judaizers, the very issue that Paul is now dealing with in his letter to the Galatians. I want to just remind us of the issues involved.

In verse 1 of Acts, chapter 15, “Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’” These would be men we would call Judaizers. They are Jews who believed not only that salvation was by faith in Christ, but by faith in Christ plus keeping the Mosaic Law.

Look at verse 5, “But some of the sect of Pharisees who had believed.” So you note here, these are Pharisees who had professed faith in Jesus Christ. And that would have been a serious matter at this time. It put them out of the mainstream of Judaism, could have subject, subjected them to persecution, but they had taken that step. They claimed to believe.

They “stood up, saying, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them, and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.’” They are holding out for the position that, yes, you need to believe in Christ. We have too. And we have suffered, perhaps, for that stand for faith in Christ, but that is not enough. You must also keep the Law of Moses.

Come over to Galatians, chapter 1. That’s a subtle position, and confusing, because it sounds like when a person says, “I believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior,” you say well, any other differences we have are minor. But when we come to Galatians, chapter 1, Paul says in verse 6, “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is not really another.”
Paul says, the message you are believing is of a totally different kind than what I preach.
Furthermore, he says in verse 8, if “even we or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, he is to be accursed,” condemned to hell.

So you see something of the seriousness of the issue. A person says, “Yes, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior, and you must believe in Him for salvation.” We say, “Well, I’m glad you’re a Christian and on your way to heaven. Praise the Lord.” You don’t know enough yet. Perhaps they believe you need to keep the Mosaic Law in addition. Perhaps they think you need to keep the Ten Commandments in addition to your faith. Perhaps they think you need to be baptized in addition to your faith, in order to be saved. Any additions of any kind are not a minor deviation. They are an error with eternal consequences and significance.

That is why Paul is working his way so meticulously and carefully through the issues in the book of Galatians. Eternal destiny is the issue that we are dealing with. Paul has demonstrated clearly that the Mosaic Law was never a way of salvation. The nation Israel, from the time that God gave the Law to Moses at Mt. Sinai, never experienced salvation by keeping the Mosaic Law. It was never a way of salvation. The points that Paul has been making in chapter 3, and repeatedly making, is that the Law was of temporary duration, intended only to govern the conduct of the nation Israel until Christ came.

Look in chapter 3, verse 24, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ.” And you remember those words “to lead us” do not appear in the Greek text. “The Law has become our tutor to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The Law served as a pedagogue, an overseer, a disciplinarian, to keep Israel, if you will, under its authority, to guides its conduct until Christ came. So, it wasn’t a way of salvation, and it was of temporary duration. “Now that faith has come,” verse 25, “we are no longer under a tutor.” Another way to say that is now that Christ has come, the Law’s role is over and done and finished.

Paul made four points at the end of chapter 3 that will lead us into chapter 4. Let me just remind you of those. In verse 26 of chapter 3, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” There is only one way of salvation, that is by faith in Christ.

Number 2, in verse 28, it’s the baptism of the Spirit . . . verse 27, I’m sorry. The baptism of the Spirit places us into the body of Christ. “By one Spirit we have been baptized into one body,” 1 Corinthians 12:13 says. “All of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ.”

Number 3, there is only one body to which believers belong, verse 28. Doesn’t matter whether you’re a Jew or a Greek, whether you’re a slave or a master, whether you’re a man or a woman, there is one body. And all who have believed into Christ have been placed by the Spirit in this one body. This does not mean that the roles and different, ah, differences that exist, such as between a master and a slave, a man and a woman, a Jew and a Gentile, do not continue in many ways, but it does mean in Christ your participation in the body of Christ is not determined by such things. We enter the body by faith and we all become part of the same body, even though we do not all have the same roles and responsibilities to carry out in that same body.

And number 4, verse 29, those who belong to Christ inherit the promise. “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.” And Abraham’s descendants have both Jews and Gentiles, and both will inherit the promise of justification by faith that was given in the Abrahamic Covenant to both Jews and non-Jews alike.

Now there are also certain promises and provisions given in the Abrahamic Covenant that pertain only to physical descendants of Abraham, and they will be realized in Jews who also have the faith of Abraham. But the salvation promise of justification by faith encompasses all who believe.

Paul continues this same emphasis as we move into chapter 4. In fact, chapter 4 begins, verse 1, “Now I say,” which indicates this is further clarification and elaboration, explanation, on what he was talking about in verse 23 to 29 of chapter 3. You’ll note the word “heir” at the end of verse 29. “Heirs according to promise. Now I say, as long as the heir is a child.” So carrying over that picture of the heir, being an heir of Abraham, an heir of what God has promised. He’s going to give an analogy to further carry out the picture that he is developing. And so, in verses 1-3, he’s going to talk about this picture and its significance, and then in verse 4, the realization of the sonship as carried out in Jesus Christ.

Let’s look at verse 1 together. “Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything.” This is making a similar point to what was made in verses 23-25 of chapter 3. The picture is of someone under the authority of someone else. In verse 23 of chapter 3, “Before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law”; verse 24, “The Law has become our tutor [our pedagogue] to lead us to Christ [or until Christ],” but now we are sons, we no longer are under the tutor.

Now we’re going to have the same picture with, a little variation. Here you have a child, a young boy. He is heir to the family fortune, heir to all his father has, but as a young child he lives under the rules and authority and control of others. And in that sense he’s different, he’s no different than anyone else. He’s no different than the slaves in the family. So, he might say, look, someday I’m going to own all of this. But the slave who has control over him would have to say, yes, but now you will do what I tell you. Why? He’s in a child, he’s in a state of immaturity. He is heir, but during the time of his childhood, his immaturity, he functions under the rules and authority of others, just like the slaves of the household do.

So, verse 2 says, “But he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.” That’s a similar picture to the tutor in chapter 3, verse 24. “The Law has become our tutor.” Remember the pedagogue was not the teacher but the authority, the disciplinarian in that young child’s life. Sometimes he would be responsible to take him to the teacher.

Now here is the picture: guardians, managers. These are probably those who have responsibility for the property and, ah, that which the young man will inherit. It’s not his yet. It’s under guardians and managers. They have authority over it. They determine what his allowance will be. They determine his use of certain things. And so on. Why? He’s not at the age of inheritance yet. “Until the date set by the father.” In other words, the time. The father said when he is 21 he will inherit his inheritance, he will have full access to it.

You know, it’s like some of you, buy a car when one of your kids are moving toward, ah, those years. Maybe it’s been a family vehicle you’re keeping for them. And you tell them, “When you turn (whatever the age is, 16) that will be yours and you’ll have free use of it.” They can go out. They can walk around it. They can look at it. They may be able to sit in it, but they can’t drive it anywhere. Now they may have an older brother or sister who takes it out and drives it, and they may say to them, “That’s going to be my car.” Yeah, but right now you can’t drive it. Which is what? Not the appointed time, yet. Ah, simple, clear illustration.

So, verse 3, “So also we,” so here’s the application of this simple, clear illustration. “So also we,” and you want to note this word “we.” When Paul used it in the book of Galatians, he’s talking about the Jews. Himself and other Jews. “So also we,” we Jews.

Look back in chapter 2, verse 15, Paul’s disagreement with Peter here. And you note in the middle of verse 14, “If you being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?” This thinking is behind what Paul’s, approach to the Judaizers is. So he uses repeatedly the Jews as an example, because if the Jews couldn’t be saved under the Law, if the Jews needed redeemed from the curse and domination of the Law, what sense does it make to try to tell the Gentiles they got to come live under the Law? When the Jews, who lived under the Law, needed redeemed from being under the Law. So, in verse 15 of chapter 2, “We Jews by nature, and not sinners from among the Gentiles.” Even we have believed in Christ Jesus.

So, that distinction’s carried over in chapter 3, verse 23, “Before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law.” Well, that “we” there refers to the Jews. The Gentiles never did live under the Mosaic Law. The Mosaic Law was given to the nation Israel, and they lived under the authority of the Mosaic Law. Other nations of the earth did not.

So, in chapter 4, verse 3, when Paul says so then ‘while we were children,” he’s talking about we Jews. We “were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.”

Now he’s going to make the point here is being under the Law was a time of immaturity and childhood for the nation Israel, a time of bondage to the Mosaic Law, servitude, slavery kind of life. ‘While we were children.” Again, the picture is of immaturity. Like verse 24 of chapter 3 was, “The Law has become our tutor unto Christ.” The picture was, when you were under the Law, you were a minor. It was a time of childhood, of immaturity. “We were held in bondage.” The word for servitude, bondage, slavery. “Under the elemental things of the world.” This word ‘element,” appears 7 times in the New Testament. It means the basic principals, the foundational elements. It could be used in a setting like we would the ABC’s, is often the illustration given. We say, “Well, those are the ABC’s.” What do we mean? Those are the basic, beginning things.

It’s used in 2 Peter, chapter 3, twice, verse 10 and verse 12, and there it refers to the elements of this physical world that will be burned up with fire in the final remaking of this world. The elements of this world, all the basic ingredients of it, destroyed by fire.

The other 5 uses of the word “elements” in the New Testament all refer to the Mosaic Law. Look in chapter 4 here, in the context, we were held, when we were children, we “were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.” Now look up in chapter 3, verse 23, “But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law.” Same expression “under,” under the Law, under the elemental things.

Down in chapter 4, verse 5, “So that He might redeem those who were under the Law.” He uses this interchangeably. “Under the elemental things, under the Law,” those are the people to be redeemed, those are the people to be set free. Also, look down in chapter 4, verse 9, “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things,” there’s our word again, “to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years.” See what he’s talking about? Those things that were the staples, if you will, of the Mosaic Law: observing certain days, certain months, certain seasons, certain years. And you want to go back under that kind of servitude, to be enslaved to the elemental things, the elements, the basics, the Law.

Now he calls it in verse 3, “the elemental things of the world.” We’re not going into all the variations on, ah, how people have interpreted this passage. I’m just giving you the right view so you can discard all the rest. You know, some people think the elemental things, those are the spirits that are at work behind the world. And I read some great preaching on this, just wasn’t good interpretation because of the context.

“The elemental things of the world” are talking about the basic elements relating to this earth. For example, we just read in verse 10, these elemental things involve “observing days, months, seasons and years.” They’re all things related to the physical, tangible, functioning in this world: Observe this day, observe this season, set aside this time, so on.

This same expression, “the elemental things of the world” is used by Paul in Colossians. Turn over to Colossians. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Colossians, chapter 2, verse 8, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world.” I think in the context of Colossians, he’s talking about the same thing as in Galatians. “The elementary principles of the world” is a reference to the Mosaic Law, and its instructions concerning certain responsibilities in the physical realm that Israel had as an earthly nation. That’s contrasted with what is according to Christ.

Come down, look at verse 16, “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or Sabbath days.” You see, these are things relating to this world, things that were dealt with in the Mosaic Law. Food and drink and the restrictions that the Law had on that. Festivals, new moons, seasons, Sabbath days, not only the weekly Sabbath, but the different feast Sabbaths that were required of Israel.

Come down to verse 20 of Colossians 2, “If you have died with Christ, to the elementary principles of the world.” There’s the expression again. “Why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as “do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with the using)--in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?”

See, these all refer to things that are perishable, things in the physical realm. They’re of the world. So it’s not worldly, as we sometimes think of it as not being spiritual, but just things related to this physical world. Hebrews, chapter 9, verse 1 uses an expression. It says, it talks about this earthly sanctuary referring to the Old Testament Tabernacle. And the word there is the word “worldly,” the worldly sanctuary. It was a sanctuary related to this world, this earth, the physical realm. Hebrews, chapter 5, verse 12, also refers to the “elementary things.” And in Hebrews chapter 5, verse 12, I think the reference there is also to the Mosaic Law. And you need someone to teach you the elementary principles all over again. These Jews didn’t even understand the Mosaic Law and its purposes and intention and proper functioning. They were priding themselves on being more mature when they were really less.

Come back to Galatians, chapter 4. So the rules and regulations of the Mosaic Law are viewed as a time of Israel’s childhood or immaturity. Now this is important because the Judaizers are presenting the Mosaic Law as a higher level. It brings you to greater maturity. It’s an advance, if you will. Paul is saying the Mosaic Law related to a time of immaturity and childhood, a time when you were limited and under the control of that Law. You hadn’t entered into the adulthood of sonship that God had planned and prepared.

So, when we come to Galatians 4, verse 4, when the, “But when the fullness of time time came. But when the fullness of the time came.” And in verses 4 and 5 we’re going to have a tremendous statement of God’s work of redemption compressed concisely into 2 verses. And these 2 verses say very clearly what the plan of God is in redemption.

“When the fullness of time came.” Now there were many things in the world that people often connect to this: the Roman Empire with its road system facilitated carrying the gospel throughout the Empire; the Greek language was the language of the world, so one language enabled you to go to different places and communicate; and all those things certainly were in the plan of God. But what he is referring to here is what was talked about at the end of verse 2. “He is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.” At the time God had ordained in His sovereign plan, Christ came. That’s the point that he’s making. The time was full, was ripe, because it was the time that God had appointed for this to take place.

It was the time for them, the end of verse 5, to “receive the adoption as sons,” to be placed with the full prerogatives of sonship.

“In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son.” The tremendous significance of this is seen in the persons involved. One commentator put it this way, “God no less sent His Son, no less.” You have the Eternal God acting to send His Son. As the gospel of John says, “His only begotten Son,” His totally unique Son. Something of the awesome significance of this driven home that it is God sending His Son.

And this is the time appointed. Got to keep this in mind because there will be no going back. That’s what these Galatians need to understand.

“God sent forth His Son.” Now the pre-existence of Christ may be implied here. It’s clearly taught in other passages, like Philippians 2, Colossians, chapter 1, verses 15 and 16, and other passages. It may be implied here, but that’s not the point being made. The point is that God is sending His Son. The fact that Christ is the Son of God, His deity is presented, would be part and parcel of what is taking place. But the uniqueness of the event. But it’s the identity of this Son with us and with the Jewish nation that is drawn out here. God sent His Son, “Born of a woman, born under the Law.” So how did God send His Son? He sent Him born of a woman. He sent Him born under the Law. That expression, “Born of a woman,” some have taken this to be a statement of the virgin birth because that’s unique. He was born of a woman. But that cannot be the case. This is a normal Jewish expression for human birth. What it stresses is His humanness.

Back in the book of Job in the Old Testament, in Job chapter 14, verse 1, “Man, born of a woman, is short lived and full of turmoil.” Well, man born of a woman is just stating man in his humanness has a short life and it’s a life filled with turmoil. In Matthew chapter 11, verse 11, Jesus, referring to John the Baptist, said, ‘Among those born of women, there is none greater than John the Baptist.” Well, he wasn’t saying John the Baptist was virgin born. He’s talking about among human beings. So, to be born of a woman is another way to refer to the humanity of Christ.

What we are saying here is God’s Son has been born into the human race. He has become identified with humanity. Hebrews chapter 2 says that because it was God’s intention to redeem people from the human race, Christ took upon Himself humanity. He did not become an angel, because was not God’s intention to provide redemption for angels, Hebrews chapter 2. So, He was born of a woman, stressing His identification with us as a human being. He was “born under the Law.” He was not only a man, He was a Jewish man. As such He’s born under the authority of the Mosaic Law. And that becomes crucial because He’s going to provide redemption for not just the human race, but also for the Jews who lived under the authority and obligation and bondage of the Law.

And Paul wants to stress that connection because he’s showing that those who lived under the Law needed redemption. So living under the Law cannot be necessary for redemption because when you’re under the Law you need redemption. So, the whole argument of the Jewish Judaizers is foolishness. Why did they need to believe in Christ, these Pharisees who believed in Acts chapter 15, verse 5. If being under the Law brought deliverance, they needed deliverance because they were under the Law.

He was born under the Law. Why? Verse 5, “So that.” There’s two purpose statements in verse 5. You note we have it in English with the word “that.” “That.” “In order that.” “In order that He might redeem those under the Law.” “In order . . . that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

Verse 4 emphasized what we would call Christology. The person of Christ. He is deity, He is God’s Son. He is humanity, He was born of a woman. He is Jewish, born under the Law.

Now we turn to what we would call Soteriology, the Biblical doctrine of salvation. The Greek word for salvation, soterios. “So that He might redeem,” the purpose of God in sending His Son was to redeem. So God sent forth His Son, verse 5, that He might redeem. Gives you the connection. Why did Christ come? To redeem. “So that He might redeem those who were under the Law.” He’s talking about Jews here. The Romans didn’t live under the Mosaic Law. The Gentiles did not live under the Mosaic Law. The Jews lived under the Mosaic Law.

So keep in mind his reasoning here. Does this mean Gentiles weren’t redeemed? No. But the issue here is do you have to become a Jew, convert to Judaism, believe in Christ and also be circumcised and submit yourselves to the Law to be saved or to become mature in Christ? So, his point is the Jews who were under the Law needed a Savior to come and redeem them from the curse of the Law and from its authority in their lives. Back up to chapter 3, verse 13. This is the last time the word redeemed has been used in Galatians. You jump from verse 13 to chapter 4, verse 5 for those two uses of redeemed.

Chapter 3, verse 13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law.” Again, Paul there is talking about Jews because they were under the curse of the Law because they lived under its authority. “Having become a curse for us, in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to Gentiles.” So, that provision that He would make for redemption would not only encompass Israel under the Law, but would also provide for Gentiles. But the point that he is making is Jews under the Law needed redeemed. So, why would Jews under the Law who needed redeemed now try to say Gentiles have to come get under the Law, when the Jews under the Law needed redeemed out from under its curse. It makes no sense.

So, they were redeemed from the curse of the Law, and in chapter 3, verse 23-25, which we’ve already looked at, they were redeemed from the authority of the Law. Same point that’s made down in the opening verses of chapter 4. Those under the Law were under managers, under guardians, that was an immature state. So, the Jews needed redeemed from the Law’s curse, they needed redeemed from the Law’s authority.

So, God sent forth His Son so that He might redeem those who are under the Law, “that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Two purposes expressed in God sending His Son, and one builds on the other. He redeemed believing Jews so that they might be placed as sons. They couldn’t enter into the fullness of their position as sons until they were set free from the bondage and obligation to the Law. This is the time, date set by the Father, in verse 2.

To receive the adoption as sons is to be placed with the full rights of sonship. So, he was a son when he was a child, but he hadn’t been placed with all the rights and prerogatives of sonship. He was under the authority. So, Israel is called God’s son in the Old Testament, but didn’t have all the rights and prerogatives that came with sonship. That was a time of immaturity. But God sent His Son that He might redeem those who were under the Law, so that they might enter into all the fullness of the prerogatives of adult sonship.

This work of adoption is founded in God’s work of election in Eternity Past. Turn over a few pages to the book of Ephesians, just after Galatians. Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 4, refers to the fact that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. And that word “to chose” is the world “election.” Then you note in verse 5, “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself.” So it was God’s purpose and plan in Eternity Past that we be placed with the full prerogative and rights of sonship in Jesus Christ. That was a provision made for Israel, that’s a provision made for Gentiles. Same provision with the same Savior. To one it was focused on those who lived under the Mosaic Law, to the non-Jews, those who did not live under the Mosaic Law, but all sinners, all condemned, all in need of redemption from sin, forgiveness, cleansing and new life.

Now, that being the case, how can the Judaizers come and say, “You have to submit yourself to the Mosaic Law. Believing in Christ is fine, but you need . . .” Well, why? When you were under the Mosaic Law you needed redeemed. You see it’s a time of immaturity. They’re confused.

I was watching one of our grandchildren. When he goes outside he likes to get on his tricycle, and it’s a nice little tricycle. And he takes off down the driveway, and he can really scoot. It’s great! You know, when I was a kid I had a tricycle. I can hardly remember it, but I did. But you know, I have never even thought of saying to Marilyn, “You know, Marilyn, we ought to go to Omaha for dinner. We’ll take Austin’s trike.” Well, what do you mean? Yeah, he thinks it’s great. To him it’s the best way to get around. That’s all right for a little kid, but never dawned on me that that’s what I want to go back to.

That’s the way it is with the Mosaic Law. Christ has come. There is the fullness in Him. You don’t go back to babyhood. You don’t go back to childhood. You can’t! Some of us who are adults, at least in age, sometimes think, “Wouldn’t it be nice to be a kid again?” Well, there are certain things. Usually that comes when we have some pressures, trials that have come. You think, “I just wish I could be a kid again and not be responsible.”

When you stop and think about it, do you want your parents telling you to get to school, leaning on you to do your homework, hollering at you because you spilt the milk? I love being an adult. I spilt the milk, I say, “Why don’t they make these cartons so they stand up?” Poor kid spills the milk, you say, “You got to learn to be careful!” I like being an adult! You know, the freedom’s great. You know, I say to Marilyn, “Let’s get in the car and drive down and get a Coke.” Your 6 year old says, “I’m going down to get a Coke,” you say, “Like fun, you are!” Who wants to go back being a kid. And besides, you can’t! It’s just not possible.

Well, you understand, Jesus Christ has come. God has drawn the line. The time has been appointed. There’s maturity in Him. Who wants to be a kid? There’s the full freedom and the full rights and prerogatives of sonship, and you want to tell me I have to keep the Ten Commandments to be pleasing to God, to be saved, to grow in Christ? I’ve been set free of this. I am an adult son. There are responsibilities in that sonship, but one of them is not to keep the Law. The Law was for a time of immaturity, childhood.

Let me walk through a few of these points with you before we close. We said: Number 1: Israel time under the Law was a time of immaturity and bondage. They go together. Israel’s time under the Law was a time of immaturity and bondage. That’s what’s covered in the first 3 verses of chapter 4. They were like a child. “Like children,” verse 3. In bondage, that you lived under the authority of others as a child. Under the Law you lived under its authority.

Now there’s nothing wrong with the Law. Romans 7 says the Law is perfect and holy and righteous. You could have a perfect tricycle. It’s great! It’s ideal! It’s been made right in every way. But it’s still a tricycle. You don’t say there’s something wrong with the tricycle because it can’t take you along like your car does. That’s the way the Law. We’re not saying the Law was flawed in that it was unholy, or there was something wrong with the Law itself. No. But you understand God’s intention with the Law. It was given for a time of immaturity, the childhood state of Israel.

Number 2: God, at the appointed time, in His sovereign plan sent His Son. Verse 4. God, at the appointed time in His sovereign plan, sent His Son. The purpose of the Law is over. It’s done.

Number 3: In verse 4, Christ was divine, human and Jewish. See something of His person here. God sent His Son, He’s divine; born of a woman, He’s human; born under the Law, He’s Jewish.

Number 4: Christ was sent to redeem those under the Law, verse 5. Don’t just generalize this. He came to redeem those under the Law. But didn’t He came to redeem everyone? Yes, but He came to redeem those under the Law. The point and the argument here, is you have to see those under the Law needed redemption, just like those who weren’t under the Law. So, being under the Law doesn’t move you along, is not progress. Christ came to redeem those who were under the Law.

And number 5: He came to provide full sonship to believing Israel, verse 5. “That we might receive the adoption as sons,” talking to Israel. Now these blessings we, as Gentiles, have received? Sure. But focusing on the Jews to show that you don’t bring Gentiles under the Law because Christ came to redeem those of you who were under the Law so that you might be placed as sons. How did that happen? Well, back in chapter 3, verse 26, “For you were all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” Why would you come, as a Jew, and tell me, as a Gentile, I need to submit myself to the Law in addition to believe in Christ, when the Law was for the state of the childhood, immaturity of Israel, and I am come into the fullness of adult sonship in Christ? Why would I go back to live as a four year old? Why would I get out of my car to take a tricycle? I mean, it’s just foolishness.

It’s important that we, as God’s people, understand the importance of a proper, clear, correct understanding of God’s word. Both doctrinal error that infiltrates the Church comes as a mixture of truth and error, and by not being careful we become confused. And when we become confused, then we lose our way. Then we lose our way, then the purity of the word of God is lost. And the issue here is of such importance, Paul says it’s a matter of heaven and hell.

We must be clear. How are you saved? By faith in Christ alone. How do you grow, as we’ll get into when we get into chapters 5 and 6? By faith in Christ alone. Would you begin by the Spirit and then continue by the Law? Absolutely not!

So, praise God, it’s His intention that we enjoy the fullness of the prerogatives of sonship. We’ve been placed as sons. How’s that happen? By being redeemed by Christ. How did that happen? By placing your faith in Him, then you are a son, as he’ll go on to say in verses 6 and 7.

Have the joy and privilege of calling God Sovereign, enjoying all that He has provided you in Christ. Are you a son of God? Have you been redeemed by faith in Christ? Do you think anything else is necessary for salvation? Baptism? Keeping the Ten Commandments? Belonging to a church? Giving your money? Taking communion? On we go.

“Oh, yes, but that’s not major because I do believe with you that we need to believe . . .” Wait! That’s major! Is the different between being a son of God and being the enemy of God, it is the difference of being on your way to heaven and being on your way to hell.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Father, for a glorious and totally gracious salvation. A salvation which You have provided in the person and work of Your Son, Jesus Christ, the One whom You sent to redeem. You sent by having Him be born of a woman, be born under the Law, that He might redeem those under the Law and place those believing Jews into the full rights and prerogatives of sonship. And Lord that is a glorious and marvelous hope to us Gentiles, that through faith in Christ we too can become sons of God, be redeemed from the penalty and power of sin, and enjoy the full blessing of being sons of God. Lord, I pray that we might examine our hearts carefully, that we might be sure that we have believed in Him alone. I pray that we, as a church, might count these truths precious, important, and worthy of our most careful consideration. We thank you for our, the provision of Christ, and in Him, all blessings. We pray in His name, amen.