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by Sandy Shaw
We are reading and studying Galatians Chapter 3 verse 21 and moving on into Chapter 4. Paul is writing to believers in Jesus Christ who are facing that temptation which comes to us all - to compromise - to change what God has given us through Jesus Christ - to use that morsel of pride that might have remained within - and try to work our passage to heaven or to be regarded as righteous in the eyes of God, in some way, by what we do or achieve.
The law had imprisoned, and there were those who had come into Galatia seeking to re-imprison liberated released believers in Jesus Christ - and Paul takes time to explain.
Verse 26 is so clear - a clear trumpet sound. You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ - and Paul gives his reasons - you were baptised into Christ - and you have been clothed with Christ.
So we no longer need the law to be righteous in the eyes of God. There is no Jew or Greek - slave or free - male or female - you are all one in Christ. Now this is radical.
Greeks - non Jews - us Gentiles - slaves and landowners - men and women - when we come to Christ - and are baptised and clothed with Christ - we are ONE!
It is like wearing a robe of righteousness - you cannot see what is underneath my robe. That robe is Jesus Christ, and when I come to worship you cannot tell if I am a slave or a employer - a Jew or a Gentile. Remember what Paul WAS! Remember what some of the Corinthian believers were, but when they were clothed in Christ all that disappeared.
If you belong to Jesus Christ then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs of the promise.
Paul develops this in Chapter 4. If I am a child of God, all the riches and millions which belong to me - are looked after by others - guardians and trustees. If father says I can handle the riches when I Amos 18 or 21, then I have to wait until then until father considers me to become responsible.
When we were under the law we were like children or slaves - BUT at the right time God sent His Son - born of a woman - born under the law - to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
And God sent His sons the Holy Spirit. We are no longer slaves but sons, and when you become a son you become an heir to everything God has for you.
We have looked at how Jesus gives us PEACE - MY PEACE I give to you. We have looked at how Jesus sets us FREE. So why would anyone want to return to rules and rituals and regulations?
Having been set free the father trusted the maturing and mature son. The law was like a child minder - to look after you - to keep you safe - to bring you up properly - until that day when you met Jesus Christ and you were set free.
You became a child of God - slaves and Gentiles and females - were one with any other category in life - in society - for the first time in centuries.
That is what Jesus Christ, the Son of God can do and no one else can do all this.
How do we apply this today to these troubled lands around our world – or perhaps within our families!
“Gracious God, as we worship You, in the name of Jesus, we intercede for lands and nations where there is trouble and pain – and for homes where there is heartache.” Amen.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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