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Galatians 4 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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0:00So, we're going to start into Galatians
0:024. And just [music] to recap,
0:05we have been seeing that Paul's entire
0:09equation
0:11for the Galatians
0:12is the law didn't give you [music] the
0:15spirit. The law's purpose was to be a
0:19schoolmaster [music] who disciplined and
0:21brought you to a place where faith could
0:23be formed in you,
0:25but ultimately where Christ could be
0:28formed in you, where you could receive
0:30the spirit.
0:31And the predestination,
0:34the predestined [music]
0:35promise of God to Abraham is the
0:38continuous covenant of salvation that
0:41Paul is linking to. And that
0:43predestination attaches to the seed,
0:47which is to say it attaches to the Holy
0:49[music] Spirit, that which is born of
0:51God. And Jesus is the one that is born
0:54of God. So, the ending verses of chapter
0:563, he's [music] telling us how we can
0:59stop being many, and we can be immersed
1:02into Christ, and thus we can become
1:05Abraham's seed, singular, as he says
1:09Christ is.
1:11And if you belong to Christ, then you
1:13are Abraham's seed. So, that's that's a
1:16that's an if and a therefore. If you
1:19belong, then you are Abraham's seed.
1:22In chapter 5, he's going to tell us
1:24conditions that are necessary in order
1:26to belong. Those who belong must crucify
1:29[music] their flesh. So, you can't have
1:31both. Paul is never trying to create a
1:35freedom of the flesh. He is trying to
1:38create a freedom in the spirit.
1:41And therefore, he's trying to put away
1:43the flesh. The flesh is the problem. The
1:45spirit is being born of the promise.
1:50Galatians chapter 4, verse 1.
1:53Now, I say, as long as the heir is a
1:57child,
1:58he does not differ at all from a slave,
2:01although he is owner of everything.
2:04But he is under guardians and managers
2:06until the date set by the father.
2:09So also we, while we were children,
2:13were held in bondage under the elemental
2:16things of the world.
2:19But when the fullness of time came, God
2:22sent forth his son,
2:25born of a woman, born under the law,
2:28so that he might redeem those who were
2:31under the law, that we might receive
2:35the adoption as sons.
2:39Because you are sons, God has sent forth
2:42the spirit of his son into your hearts
2:47crying, "Abba, Father."
2:50Therefore, you are no longer a slave,
2:53but a son, and if a son, then an heir
2:56through God. Why are we no longer a
2:58slave? Because we have the spirit.
3:01However, at that time, when you did not
3:04know God,
3:06you were slaves
3:08to those which by nature are no gods.
3:13Okay, let's listen to what he's saying.
3:15Paul is giving us a metaphor. He's
3:17saying your time under the law is
3:19analogous to what it looks like when the
3:22son of a very rich man is still a kid.
3:26When he's a kid,
3:27he doesn't really differ at all from a
3:29slave.
3:31He's going to have this inheritance, but
3:33while he's a child,
3:36he doesn't get to control anything.
3:39Do you understand?
3:40So he's saying Israel and the people of
3:43God were children. They didn't They
3:46couldn't take possession
3:49of the things of God or even of their
3:51own freedom because they did not have
3:54the restraint, they did not have the
3:56spirit.
3:58But they were kept under guardians. They
4:01were under the law until the time of the
4:03spirit could come.
4:05But when the fullness of time came, God
4:07sent his son
4:09born of a woman, born under the law
4:12so that he might redeem those who were
4:14under the law that we might receive the
4:17adoption as sons.
4:20Now, adoption as sons in Paul's language
4:23does not refer to you being a baby
4:27and a family adopting you as a baby into
4:30their family. That's not what adoption
4:32means here.
4:34Adoption is a term son placement. And it
4:37was a ceremony that the son went through
4:40who was born in a family and grew up
4:44treated like a child and then eventually
4:46proved that he was a responsible son.
4:49And so the son placing was when the
4:51father would lay his hands on the son
4:54and bless him as Jacob blessed his sons.
4:57And that was when the son was given his
5:01place of responsibility in the family.
5:04So, adoption describes
5:06the season when you're no longer treated
5:08like a kid, like a slave, but you have
5:12cultivated the internal agency and
5:15restraint and responsibility
5:18that you can now take your place as
5:20someone who helps run the household of
5:23the family.
5:24Do you understand? That's what son
5:26placing was. It's the laying on of
5:29hands. It's adoption.
5:32Jesus came under the law that we might
5:35receive the adoption as sons.
5:39Because you are sons, God sent forth the
5:42spirit of his son into your hearts
5:44crying Abba Father. Now, this relates
5:47perfectly to what he writes the Romans
5:49in chapter 8. He says, "You have not
5:52received a spirit of fear leading to
5:55slavery again, but you have received a
5:58spirit of sonship by which we cry out
6:01Abba Father."
6:03In short, you can't treat God like he's
6:07your dad
6:08until his spirit comes inside of you.
6:12That's his spiritual DNA coming inside
6:15of you. But when he gives you his
6:17spirit, you can relate to him with
6:20confidence. You can walk the new and
6:22living way. You can know him.
6:25Therefore, you are no longer a slave,
6:27but a son. And if a son, then an heir
6:30through God. However, at that time, when
6:34you did not know God, you were slaves to
6:38those which by nature are no gods.
6:41So he he calls knowing God receiving
6:44God's spirit. Prior to receiving God's
6:47spirit, you didn't know God.
6:50And this is eternal life that they may
6:52know you, the only true God and Jesus
6:54Christ whom he has sent. So the whole
6:56point of the coming of Christ and of the
6:59atonement is to open a relationship with
7:04God by the spirit.
7:07But now that you have come to know God,
7:10or rather to be known by God,
7:13how is it that you turn back again to
7:16the weak and worthless elemental things
7:19to which you desire to be enslaved all
7:22over again?
7:24So he's like,
7:25"You were coming to this moment where
7:27you were going to no longer be a kid,
7:29and you were going to be adopted as a
7:31responsible heir in the house. You were
7:34going to treat God as your father. You
7:37were going to have the Holy Spirit. And
7:38now you want to go back to kindergarten?
7:40You want to go back to the law and act
7:43like you don't know what God wants from
7:45you?
7:46His whole point is you've come into
7:48relationship with God and it's not that
7:50you know him, it's that he knows you.
7:54That he has accepted you, he has
7:56covenanted with you, he has given
7:58himself to you in this yada knowing of
8:03the Hebrew understanding.
8:06And how is it that they want to be
8:08enslaved again?
8:10Does their slavery mean that they want
8:13to obey God? Oh, no, that is not what
8:15he's concerned about at all. Who has
8:18bewitched you that you should not obey
8:19the truth? So, he is not wanting to free
8:22them from obedience to God. He is
8:25wanting to free them from kindergarten
8:27so that they can go ahead and come into
8:29their adoption and son placement as
8:32responsible heirs in the father's house.
8:35What is it that they're trying to be
8:36enslaved again
8:38to?
8:39You observe days and months and seasons
8:44and years.
8:46They're trying to go back to the
8:47ceremonial law. Notice Paul does not
8:50say, "You're trying to be enslaved
8:52again. You think you should not kill
8:54people, but of course you can kill
8:56people now.
8:57You think you should not cheat on
8:59people, but of course you can cheat
9:01because it's all for freedom."
9:04That's not Paul's concern at all.
9:06We're going to see that that is the
9:08opposite of his concern in the next
9:09chapter.
9:11But they are going back to a way of
9:14relating to God that does not bring
9:16power, that does not give the Holy
9:18Spirit, and that breaks the
9:20relationship.
9:22You observe days and months and seasons
9:25and years. This is the garbage that
9:27they're trying to be brought back under.
9:30He's saying that doesn't That doesn't
9:32matter anymore.
9:33And people who who love that stuff
9:35demonstrate that they don't have a walk
9:38in the spirit.
9:41I fear for you that perhaps I have
9:44labored over you in vain.
9:46If they're going to go back to that,
9:47Paul's like, I don't even know why I
9:49started this church. This is ridiculous.
9:52I beg of you, brethren,
9:54become as I am,
9:57for I also have become as you are.
10:01You have done me no wrong,
10:03but you know that it was because of a
10:05bodily illness that I preached the
10:07gospel to you the first time.
10:10And that which was a trial to you in my
10:13bodily condition, you did not despise or
10:16loathe, but you received me as an angel
10:19of God,
10:21as Christ Jesus himself.
10:26Where then is that sense of blessing you
10:30had?
10:32When they were able to see
10:35the body of Christ, when they were when
10:37they were able to receive the truth and
10:39be born of the spirit, they had a sense
10:42of blessing.
10:45Where is that sense of blessing?
10:49A healthy church should have a sense of
10:51blessing. There should be joy and
10:54laughter. There should be freedom in
10:57worship. There should be closeness in
10:59love. There should be a sense of
11:01blessing.
11:02A healthy church should be able to
11:05receive one another as Jesus himself.
11:09Whoever receives you receives me, and
11:12whoever receives me receives him who
11:14sent me.
11:15For I bear witness that, if possible,
11:18you would have plucked out your eyes and
11:21given them to me.
11:23Paul describes the sense of blessing as
11:26a love that is ready to sacrifice.
11:30A sense of blessing in a healthy free
11:33church is a love that is willing to
11:36sacrifice to give someone whatever they
11:39need.
11:41That makes us wonder if Paul's
11:42affliction had to do with his eyes. Did
11:45he have glaucoma? Did he have some
11:48bodily affliction? It says he had a
11:50bodily affliction. So, it was not a
11:52spiritual affliction or a persecution.
11:55It was a bodily affliction.
11:58And they were willing to pluck out their
11:59eyes.
12:01They would have done anything to show
12:03their love for Paul.
12:05Now, legalism tells you the least you
12:08have to do. Legalism is what you get on
12:12your tax form and you say, "I'm only
12:14going to pay what I have to pay."
12:17But when you start to treat your wife
12:19that way or your kids that way, love
12:21dries up.
12:23Okay? But love inspires you to the most
12:26you can do.
12:27Love says, "I'd be willing to do
12:30anything to help you."
12:32Love is not the opposite of engagement.
12:35It's not the opposite of action or
12:38works.
12:39It's the best engagement. It's the best
12:41actions. It's the best works. But
12:44legalism is a construct of fear and
12:47slavery and do-goodism. It's small and
12:51pinched. It suffocates love and it makes
12:55us forget who God really is. We lose the
12:58spirit of the Father in our hearts by
13:00which we call him Daddy.
13:03Abba is the Aramaic endearing form of
13:06Father.
13:09So, have I become your enemy by telling
13:12you the truth?
13:14They, the false apostles, eagerly seek
13:18you, not commendably,
13:21but they wish to shut you out so that
13:25you will seek them.
13:29But it is good always to be eagerly
13:31sought in a commendable manner
13:34and not only when I am present with you.
13:38My children,
13:39with whom I am again in labor until
13:41Christ is formed in you.
13:45But I could wish to be present with you
13:47now
13:48and to change my tone, for I am
13:50perplexed about you.
13:53What is Paul's desire? What does a
13:55healthy church look like? It looks like
13:57Christ being formed in them.
14:01Isn't that the whole story? The point of
14:04atonement is to bring us into the
14:06spirit.
14:07So, Christ being formed, that word in
14:10the Greek is morphoo, morphed, Christ
14:14forming inside of them. Paul wants to
14:16see that the spirit is in them.
14:19This is what he tells the Roman The
14:21Romans, if Christ is in you, though the
14:23body is dead because of sin, yet the
14:25spirit is alive because of
14:26righteousness.
14:28Amen. But if anyone hath not the spirit
14:30of Christ, he doesn't belong to him.
14:33Right? But if you belong to Christ,
14:35you're Abraham's seed. So, all the
14:37promises are yours if Christ is in you,
14:40if you belong to Christ, if the spirit
14:42is still alive in you. Paul is saying
14:45that
14:46to be a child, to be a baby in the
14:48family, is to be a slave. That is the
14:51law season.
14:53>> Right.
14:53>> But if they walk through that season,
14:56God wants to bring them to a place where
14:59Christ is formed inside of them, where
15:02they receive the spirit of God. And when
15:05they receive that spirit, they're not
15:08under the child baby phase anymore, but
15:11they have initiative, they have vision,
15:13they have sacrifice, they have truth,
15:16they have love above all else.
15:18And so, when Christ is formed in them,
15:21they cry out Abba Father as an adult son
15:25who is being put in his place in the
15:28Father's house. That's the adoption that
15:31Paul wants of them, not the baby face.
15:34People who internalize God's will by the
15:36Spirit do not need the law.
15:39If you don't have the Spirit, you need
15:41the law. If you do have the Spirit, you
15:43don't need the law. But never choose
15:46willingly to abandon the vibrant
15:48relationship of love and devotion in the
15:51Spirit for the external stupidity and
15:55shallowness of kindergarten stuff, of
15:58feasts and days and years and seasons,
16:01when God has written all of that on our
16:03hearts. Verse 21, tell me you who want
16:07to be under the law, do you not listen
16:09to the law?
16:12For it is written
16:14that Abraham had two sons.
16:17One by the bondwoman, meaning the
16:20slavewoman,
16:21and one by the free woman.
16:26Abraham had two wives, and they begat
16:29two children.
16:30And one wife was a slave.
16:33She didn't really choose Abraham, did
16:34she?
16:36One wife
16:37was really his bride.
16:39And she loved him, and she chose him,
16:41didn't she?
16:42So you can say right there, you can have
16:44a marriage of coercion, and that's
16:47legalism.
16:48Or you can have a marriage of love, and
16:50that's freedom.
16:52But it's not that one is bound and the
16:54other is not bound. Both are bound in
16:56the covenant of marriage. One is bound
16:59out of free choice, and the other is
17:02bound out of compulsion.
17:05But the son of the bondwoman was born
17:07according to the flesh,
17:10and the son of the free woman through
17:14the promise. Now, what has he been
17:16calling the promise this whole time?
17:19The spirit.
17:20The spirit refers to the promise. When
17:23Jesus pointed to the Holy Spirit on the
17:25day of Pentecost, what did he call it?
17:28The promise. The promise of my father.
17:31Wait until you receive the promise of my
17:34father.
17:35And when Peter explained it to the
17:37confused crowd on the day of Pentecost,
17:40what did he call it?
17:42This promise is for you and for your
17:44children.
17:45And in Hebrews 11, what did the writer
17:47call it? They did not They all died not
17:49having received what was promised, God
17:52having prepared something better for us.
17:55What did God prepare for us? The
17:57promise.
17:58The promise of the spirit. And that
18:00promise is the seed. That promise is
18:04what's predestined, and that is what
18:06That is when we receive the spirit. One
18:08is boarding born according to the flesh.
18:12The son of the free woman is born
18:13according to the promise.
18:15So, the problem is one is fleshly, and
18:18one is spiritual. It's not that one is
18:22restricting our flesh, and one does not
18:24restrict our flesh. No, that is not the
18:26problem in Galatians. One is fleshly and
18:30can be done by and through the flesh,
18:32and one is the miraculous visitation of
18:36God.
18:37How was Isaac born? The Lord said, "I
18:39will come, and Sarah will have a son."
18:41That's being born by a visitation from
18:44God, by the promise.
18:46And the promise was that I will come.
18:49Amen.
18:50But Ishmael was not born that way. That
18:52was just a bad situation, and he was
18:55born by the flesh.
18:57This is allegorically speaking, for
18:59these women are two covenants.
19:02One proceeding from Mount Sinai, bearing
19:06children who are to be slaves. She is
19:10Hagar.
19:12Now, Paul does an astounding thing here.
19:15He says, "Sarah and Hagar represent two
19:18covenants, a covenant of the flesh and a
19:21covenant of the spirit {slash} promise."
19:25Okay? And he tells them that in his day
19:29Hagar stands for the Jews, not the
19:33Arabs, the Jews who stay in the flesh.
19:38He says, "You're now like Hagar
19:40because God has visited his people and
19:43you won't receive the spirit."
19:46These are allegorically speaking, "For
19:49these women are two covenants, one
19:51proceeding from Mount Sinai, that's the
19:54law of the flesh,
19:56bearing children who are to be slaves,
19:59she is Hagar."
20:02Now, this Hagar, now, today, in Paul's
20:05day, this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia
20:11and corresponds to the present
20:13Jerusalem.
20:16"For she is in slavery with her
20:18children."
20:20She is a bunch of kids who won't
20:22graduate kindergarten, who won't step up
20:26and receive the promise of the Father,
20:28who won't receive the spirit by which
20:30they can say Abba Father, but are
20:32content with externalisms
20:35and do's and don'ts and have no life or
20:38passion of God inside of them. This is
20:41the Anabaptist community today. They
20:43focus on all their do's and don'ts, they
20:45have all their externalism, but they are
20:47Hagar in bondage with her children
20:50because they do not have the life and
20:53the love of the Holy Spirit, many of
20:56them.
20:59"But the Jerusalem above is free, she is
21:02our mother."
21:05He He "We're born from above.
21:07What gave us birth is not that we have
21:10this do's and don'ts faith.
21:12We got the Holy Spirit. This Jerusalem
21:15from above.
21:16For it is written, "Rejoice, barren
21:19woman, who does not bear. Break forth
21:21and shout,
21:23you who are not in labor, for more
21:26numerous are the children of the
21:27desolate than of she who has a husband."
21:32Look at the imagery of Jerusalem from
21:35above. She's full of joy. "Rejoice,
21:39O barren woman."
21:42"Break forth."
21:44Jerusalem from above breaks forth. This
21:48is a church that has
21:50loud praise and breaks forth. You who
21:53are not in labor, for more numerous are
21:56the children of the desolate
21:58than of the one who has a husband.
22:00And you, brethren, like Isaac, are
22:04children of promise.
22:08Okay?
22:10But as at that time
22:13with
22:14Isaac and Ishmael, as at that time, he
22:17who was born according to the flesh
22:20persecuted him who was born according to
22:23the spirit, so it is now also.
22:27He's saying the Jews who are harassing
22:29you and trying to tie you down to feasts
22:32and days and do's and don'ts and
22:33Sabbaths and rituals and nonsense,
22:36he says,
22:38"That is exactly like Ishmael harassing
22:41Isaac."
22:44But what does the scripture say? "Cast
22:47out the bondwoman and her son.
22:51For the son of the bondwoman shall not
22:54be an [music] heir with the son of the
22:56freewoman."
22:58Those not born of the spirit cannot
23:00[music]
23:00inherit what God is giving to the
23:02church.
23:04So then, brethren, we are not children
23:06of a bondwoman, but of the free woman.
23:10We weren't born
23:12of a decision that we made in our flesh.
23:15We weren't born of a rule that we kept
23:17or a set of rules that were imposed upon
23:20us. God gave us birth by the power of
23:23the Spirit.
23:25Amen.
23:26And that is the difference.
23:30Now, one of the most interesting phrases
23:32here [music] is in in verse 28 and 29,
23:35we are told
23:37that we are not just blessed [music]
23:39by the promise of the Spirit. We are
23:41born by the promise of the Spirit.
23:44And this points to [music] the fact that
23:46when Jesus says, "Wait in Jerusalem
23:49until you receive the promise,"
23:51he is pointing [music] to new birth. He
23:54is not just pointing to a blessing.
23:57He is not just pointing to a baptism.
24:00The baptism is the in-filling, is the
24:02rebirth, is the outpouring, is [music]
24:05the Holy Spirit come upon men.
24:09And it creates this breakout moment that
24:12we see
24:12>> [music]
24:13>> at Pentecost.

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