"Free at Last so WHY Turn Back???"
INTRODUCTION: It was a number of years ago that I
met him. I was apprehensive as I went into the main entrance. I gave
the officer my identification, I went through a metal detector and
had something stamped onto my hand with ink that could only be seen
under a certain type of light. That was my ticket out of there at the
end of the day.
After a brief phone call, the officer instructed me to go through
the heavily fortified locked door and into the main building. As I
walked through the door, I heard the clank of the door shutting
behind me. All around me were spirals of razor-wire, which would cut
a would-be escapee to ribbons if he or she tried to climb over the
fence. I realized that I was at some guards mercy as far as getting
out was concerned. It was a chilling prospect that somehow I might
not be recognized as just a visitor.
I went into the main building and registered with another officer
and then I was led to a large room that doubled as a gymnasium. All
around were tables and chairs and visitors talking with loved ones
that had been imprisoned for one crime or another.
After a few nervous minutes of waiting, a fellow that looked to be
about 50 walked up and introduced himself. I later found out he was
only 37. He was wearing a standard-issue dingy-looking prison uniform
and basketball shoes.
It turns out that he had been in prison, as I recall, most of his
life since age 17....He had been imprisoned about 20 years out of his
37 years...Yet he looked to be about 50 years old...
This was the first of two visits with Fred (not his real
name)....The first visit was basically about prison life, the Church
and answering his questions about the Bible...
A few months later, Fred wrote me a letter and said he was going
to be paroled soon. He was very apprehensive about that and wanted me
to visit him again. So I drove the 90 minutes down to the State
Penitentiary, went through the rigmarole of registering, and sat down
again with Fred.
Fred was almost visibly apprehensive. He had a worried look on his
face. He seemed to break into a cold sweat just thinking about his
release. He didn't relish the idea of "life on the outside"
one bit...
He was used to doing things a certain way...
Getting up at a certain time, eating at a certain time, doing work
at a certain time...being told what to do and when to do it.
He knew what it took to "get by" in prison...He knew how
to avoid fights...He knew how not to get on the nerves of the
guards....
He told me he didn't know if he could make it on the outside.
Fred, it seemed, felt comfortable with the external restraints
placed upon him. After all, his life prior to prison proved that he
didn't have the internal controls to live the law-abiding life of a
good citizen.
Perhaps he thought he would cast off all restraint if he were
to be allowed outside the restrictive environment of the
penitentiary.
Perhaps, in his heart of hearts, he really knew he really
wasn't a changed man on the inside.
S.P.S.: Some of the brethren in the Churches of Galatia went
through an experience very similar to Fred's....
They had been given TRUE FREEDOM in JESUS CHRIST...
They had been given the opportunity to have a NEW START in
life...
They had been given the KEY that UNLOCKED the PRISON....
But now, they were beginning to DOUBT...
Now they were beginning to LONG FOR SOMETHING MORE
FAMILIAR....
Now they were ready to chuck the whole deal and walk back
into PRISON....
I. Review of Galatians 1 - 3...
In Chapter One, Paul describes the problem:
At stake was the very fabric of true Christianity....
At stake was the TRUE GOSPEL of GRACE...Paul DECLARES the Gospel
of Grace...
Echoes what happened in Acts 15....
Some obviously thought it was JESUS PLUS for salvation....
Paul DEMONSTRATES the Gospel of Grace....He describes his
calling...and how God in his GRACE was operational in his life....
In Chapter Two, Paul describes his dealings with those in
Jerusalem:
He mentioned that Titus wasn't compelled by the Jerusalem leaders
to be circumcised...
He mentioned that those in Jerusalem didn't "add"
anything more to what he was already preaching....
He describes Peter's hypocrisy and his rebuke of Peter....
Paul's S.P.S.: GAL 2:15 - 16 NIV "We who are
Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' know that a man is not
justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So
we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be
justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by
observing the law no one will be justified.
In Chapter Three, Paul argues a number of things to help the
Galatians come to their senses:
In chapters 3 and 4, Paul gives a number of ARGUMENTS showing that
we are indeed DEAD TO THE LAW but ALIVE to GOD through the GRACE of
God...
He gives these ARGUMENTS to show that we are NOT JUSTIFIED in
God's sight by the Old Covenant LAW, but by FAITH in JESUS CHRIST...
We now live righteous lives because of the SPIRIT of God in us...
Last time we covered Galatians, we saw the following ARGUMENTS in
Chapter Three...
We saw the PERSONAL ARGUMENT: Galatians 3:1-5....Here Paul
argues from their own PERSONAL EXPERIENCE...
He asks them some very TELLING QUESTIONS to show that what they
EXPERIENCED as Christians with the Holy Spirit was NOT the result of
observance of Old Covenant Law...
He points to three things:
They had come to see the SON of GOD crucified...accepted that...
They had received the Holy Spirit apart from Old Covenant
observance...
They even experienced MIRACLES from God, apart from the Old
Covenant observance...
We saw the SCRIPTURAL ARGUMENT: Galatians 3:6-14....Here
Paul turns to the Old Testament itself to illustrate a number of
things:
Abraham was SAVED BY FAITH...
This same salvation is also for the Gentiles...
This same salvation is by FAITH, not by Law....
This same salvation comes THROUGH CHRIST....
We saw the LOGICAL ARGUMENT: Galatians 3:15-26
Here Paul argues from common sense and logic that the PROMISE made
to Abraham was one CONTRACT and the Covenant of Sinai was ANOTHER
CONTRACT...The Sinai Covenant cannot legally change God's contract
with Abraham...
We saw that:
That the coming of the Old Covenant at Mount Sinai could not
CHANGE the PROMISE God made to Abraham....That PROMISE had to do with
the coming of JESUS CHRIST....
That the Old Covenant Law is not greater than the PROMISE...
That the Old Covenant Law was not contrary to the PROMISE...
That the Old Covenant Law could not do what the PROMISE can do...
We concluded last time that it is not who you are PHYSICALLY or
ETHNICALLY that counts, but whether you are RELATED TO ABRAHAM
SPIRITUALLY through faith....
II. Let's pick it up in Galatians 3:21 where Paul talks
about being a PRISONER.
Here Paul continues his LOGICAL ARGUMENT....
GAL 3:21 NIV Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises
of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart
life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. {22}
But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of
sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in
Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. {23} Before this
faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up
until faith should be revealed. {24} So the law was put in charge
to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.
{25} Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the
supervision of the law.
III. The PRACTICAL ARGUMENT: As a matter of fact, you are SONS.....
{26} You are all sons of God through faith in Christ
Jesus, {27} for all of you who were baptized into Christ
have clothed yourselves with Christ. {28} There is neither Jew
nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in
Christ Jesus. {29} If you belong to Christ, then you are
Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Your TRUE IDENTITY, PRACTICALLY SPEAKING, is as a SON or DAUGHTER
of the King....
Your TRUE IDENTITY, PRACTICALLY SPEAKING, is as an HEIR of the
Promises of God....
III. Galatians 4...
ILLUSTRATION: Right now, at the death of Princess Diana of
England, we see the eventual HEIR of the English Throne, Prince
William...He's presently going to a very elite school near Buckingham
Palace....
Indeed he is the heir, but in practicality, he's really not much
different than his classmates...He's under tutelage...
GAL 4:1 NIV What I am saying is that as long as the heir is
a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole
estate. {2} He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time
set by his father.
{3} So also, when we were children, we were in
slavery under the basic principles of the world.
Notice the WE-THEY CONTRAST in the next few verses.
Paul is no doubt speaking as a JEW here, one under the Old
Covenant...v. 4 talks about "under the law..."
Notice how he looks at being a PRISONER or being under
CUSTODIANSHIP to the LAW: SLAVERY under the basic principles of the
WORLD...
{4} But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a
woman, born under law, {5} to redeem those under law,
that we might receive the full rights of sons. {6} Because you
are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit
who calls out, "Abba, Father." {7} So you are no longer
a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an
heir.
{8} Formerly, when you did not know God, you were
slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
He's addressing them as GENTILES here...those who were FORMER IDOL
WORSHIPPERS....
{9} But now that you know God--or rather are known by
God--how is it that you are turning back to those weak and
miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all
over again?
Paul has already ADMITTED that the Jewish people were in
SLAVERY--held PRISONER by the Law...
In verse 3 he says it's SLAVERY under the BASIC PRINCIPLES of the
world...
And now, he is chastising them for TURNING BACK to "WEAK AND
MISERABLE PRINCIPLES..."
Does it make ANY SENSE WHATSOEVER IN the CONTEXT of what we've
read in the book of Galatians so far, that Paul was worried about
them TURNING BACK TO IDOLS????
NO! In CONTEXT, he's concerned about the JUDAIZERS bringing them
into BONDAGE...to CIRCUMCISION...to the WHOLE LAW OF MOSES....to a
JESUS PLUS mentality!
A few verses later, in verse 21, he asks, "Tell me, you
who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law
says?"
So to say the next few verses are talking about PAGAN DAYS and
MONTHS and YEARS and TIMES would be to THROW INTO THE CONTEXT
something that is NOT THERE....
It would be to READ SOMETHING INTO these verses....
It would be to come at these verses FROM LEFT FIELD...OUT OF
NOWHERE!
It DOESN'T MAKE SENSE LOGICALLY that Paul would be talking about
them being Christians and then going back to IDOLATROUS PRACTICES per
se...
What he IS doing here is making a COMPARISON....He's saying that
they were submitting to the "elemental principles" as
idolaters and that by going back into Old Testament observances, they
were REVERTING to the same type of "elemental principles..."
{10} You are observing special days and months and seasons and
years!
Remember Acts 15...NOTHING WHATSOEVER was said to the Gentiles
about Sabbaths, Holydays, Clean and Unclean Meats, or any such
thing...
In Colossians, Paul called these SHADOWS which pointed to
Christ...
I don't HAVE to keep the HOLY DAYS or SABBATH to earn my
salvation!
I can look at them as SHADOWS that pointed to Christ....
Romans 12 allows me to ESTEEM a DAY, as long as in doing so, I'm
not somehow thinking I'm EARNING my SALVATION or ADDING to the
REDEMPTION that can only come through JESUS....
ANY DAY can be used to worship the true God and be reminded of
Jesus' plan of salvation....
Somehow, the Galatians were beginning to ADD the observance of
Mosaic days to the simplicity of Jesus Christ...
In their mind, it was a part of a THINKING that made them FALL
FROM GRACE!!!
{11} I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
{12} I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I
became like you. You have done me no wrong.
Remember, Paul rebuked Peter for living like a Jew when the people
from Jerusalem showed up...Prior to that he had been LIVING LIKE A
GENTILE....
Paul said in 1 Corinthians that he was "all things to all
men"....To the GENTILES he was like a GENTILE...
Paul continues what some have called a SENTIMENTAL
ARGUMENT....He appeals to his PERSONAL DEALINGS with the
brethren...to his RELATIONSHIP...
{13} As you know, it was because of an illness that I first
preached the gospel to you. {14} Even though my illness was a trial
to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you
welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus
himself. {15} What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that,
if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and
given them to me. {16} Have I now become your enemy by telling you
the truth?
{17} Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good.
What they want is to alienate you from us , so that you may be
zealous for them.
Sometimes people leave the Church and ostensibly try to "keep
up our friendship" with us....But in reality, they are often
just trying to get an "in" with us to bring us over to
their own lack of understanding...
{18} It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and
to be so always and not just when I am with you.
{19} My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of
childbirth until Christ is formed in you, {20} how I wish I could be
with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!
VERSE 19 is a KEY again...IS CHRIST LIVING IN YOU??? REMEMBER
GALATIANS 2:20...THAT's the source of our salvation, not OUTWARD
OBSERVANCE of days....
JESUS is our SABBATH...
JESUS is our PASSOVER...
JESUS is our UNLEAVENED BREAD...
JESUS is the FIRST OF THE FIRSTFRUITS...
JESUS is the KING and we TRUMPET HIM!!!
JESUS is our ATONEMENT...
JESUS is the ONE that TABERNACLED among us!
JESUS is the one who will JUDGE on the LAST DAY....
CONCLUSION: When I left Fred at the prison that day
of our second visit, I tried to be encouraging to him...I prayed for
him....I had high hopes for him...I was happy for him...He was
finally going to be free...or was he?
A month or so later, I received a handwritten note from Fred,
written on yellow tablet paper. In the letter, he explained how he
just couldn't make it on the outside. He had been sent to a half-way
house in a nearby town. As it turns out, he kicked in the screen door
of his parole officer in a fit of rage and so they put him back into
prison.
I couldn't help but wonder--did Fred sabotage his own freedom?
Was Fred so uncomfortable not having the restraint of steel bars
and locks and razor-wire and prison guards that he purposely did
something so he would be put back into his ZONE OF COMFORT--even
though that zone of comfort was in reality an ugly, demeaning,
depressing prison?
Was Fred really deep down inside aware that he wasn't REALLY a
changed man on the INSIDE and so rather than face the challenging
life of responsible citizenship he semi-consciously did something he
knew would put EXTERNAL RESTRAINTS on himself?
If only Fred had given his life over to Jesus Christ...
If only Fred had discovered the wonderful way of the Spirit of God
that CHANGES a person from the inside out.
If only Fred had had Jesus Christ formed inside him, he wouldn't
have needed that which had ENSLAVED him...
If only Fred had had a CHANGE OF HEART and found the TRUE FREEDOM
from SIN that the true Gospel brings to a man or woman...
If only....
What about you and me? Are we anything like Fred? Are we anything
like the bewitched Galatians, who wanted to revert back to what the
Apostle Paul described as none other than prison?
Do we get so uncomfortable without the OUTWARD RESTRAINTS and
OBSERVANCES that we, like Fred, long for a way of life that ENSLAVES
US???
Do we, like Fred, have some DOUBTS about the REALITY of the CHANGE
that is supposed to happen to us when Christ comes into our lives?
Do we, like Fred, have DOUBTS about the reliability of the SYSTEM
that is supposed to CHANGE US?
Or, do we indeed have the CONFIDENCE in the ONE who saved us and
can keep us from going back into sin because He's now living in us
through the Holy Spirit?
Isn't that what it all boils down to? Doesn't it all boil down to
FAITH IN THE ONE WHO WILL EFFECT REAL, MEANINGFUL CHANGE in our
lives?
Doesn't it all boil down to FAITH in the DESIGNER of the NEW
SYSTEM that has been given to us to TAKE US OUT OF THE PRISON OF
HUMAN CORRUPTION???
Galatians tells us we are FREE at LAST....so WHY go BACK???
PRAYER