Sermon Tone Analysis

· If you were with us last week – you heard the apostle Paul continue to set the record straight regarding the Law of God…

· Paul’s point was to elevate the INTENT of the Law – because by doing THAT – it would shine a spotlight on how the Galatian believers who were embracing the False Teaching – were ABUSING the Law – in light of its INTENDED purpose…

· *Kid’s example (using something the wrong way)

· And so Paul – last week – made it clear that the LAW was never intended to BRING LIFE…

· And today – Paul is going to begin Shining a light on the REALITY of who the believing Galatians ARE – In Christ!

· And by doing so – hopefully get them to see the foolishness of turning back to the Law.

Today - Paul starts out by likening the Law over God’s children, to a parent over their son.

*Do we as parents believe that morality will SAVE our kids?

No – but we still - - TEACH our kids how to LIVE their lives – in relation to God and to people.

We still OVERSEE their lives, guiding them through it.

What are things we teach our kids?

Manners

How the world REALLY works

What things are

Laws of logic (mathematics, physics)

But we also teach them about God

What HE thinks

Who HE is

What HE’s done

We teach them ALL of these things – YET we don’t believe them learning these things will SAVE them!

So why teach these things?

Are these things WORTHLESS in their lives if they can’t SAVE them?

No – they are Valuable…

And BECAUSE THEY ARE VALUABLE – we GUIDE our kids through life – AS they grow – and AS we do this – we treat them – in a sense - LIKE SLAVES

We give – ORDERS (lovingly – but yet – ORDERS)

There are EXPECTATIONS / this is how they – GROW – and – MATURE

The response can’t always be – Well – my kids are just wild – that’s who they are –

We’re the adults – we PROVIDE the guidance…we – in a sense – TUTOR them…

Remember – the Law WAS our TUTOR – UNTIL Christ came?

SUCH IS THE LAW!

The Law tutored us – Before Christ came.

The Law was God’s GUIDANCE to mankind.

NOW – How long are our kids – LIKE SLAVES – under our care…?

Until they – come of age.

They become ADULTS themselves…AND YET – the point Paul is trying to make is that – JUST LIKE us when we are children – we are LIKE slaves

We all can understand that – and so could the Galatians.

Paul was REMINDING them of how they were SLAVES as children….like

we all are…But now no longer…as Adults.

An heir – when he was a child – had an inheritance – but had to WAIT on it.

Paul’s getting VERY PRACTICAL HERE!!

WHY?

SO they understand!!

The heir - AS A CHILD - was a slave to his managers/guardians…under his managers

Paul’s saying – you UNDERSTAND?? Yes?

Ok GOOD!

BUT NOW – know THIS!...

Paul’s saying - OK - you UNDERSTAND the (Child-Heir) side of this...

NOW – it’s no different with God!

When Paul says - here - the elementary principles of the world...

He’s referring to -

For the Jews - the Mosaic Law

For the Gentiles - the basic concepts of their pagan religions

He’s saying - when WE - were children - WE were --- what?

ENSLAVED - to the LAW

We were SLAVES to the law

And our DOING - was based on - DUTY

· What do I mean?

· Well – with the Law being the SLAVE MASTER – The Law ORDERED us around!

· And BEING slaves, we obeyed our – MASTER (the Law)

BUT – v4

· Jesus was born – UNDER the Law –

· Remember – He was FULLY man – and so He came as a JEW…

· In order to be born UNDER the LAW…WHY?

SLIDE: Christ was Born Under the Law: To be Judged by the Law

Christ was Born Under the Law

· He came UNDER the Law - SO THAT – the He would be judged by the Law…

· V5 says – To REDEEM those who were UNDER the Law…

· Because of SIN – Redemption can ONLY come – when the Law renders Judgment!

· The Law HAD TO render judgment – if redemption was EVER going to come!

And that’s why Christ was born UNDER the Law –

SO THAT – the law could JUDGE Christ – and render a VERDICT!

· The VERDICT?

· Not Guilty!

And because the verdict was Not Guilty…

· This is the PATH to Sonship…

· No longer SLAVES – NOW – sons!

And so…

SLIDE: Christ was Born Under the Law: To Turn Slaves to Sons

Christ Was Born Under The Law

· From a slave – to a son

What are some of the differences between a Slave and a Son…?

· The differences head in both directions…let’s look at 2 (and let’s keep them HIGH LEVEL)

o The differences are External and Internal

[Internally]….

SLIDE: From Slaves to Sons: New Affections for a New Master

From Slaves to Sons

· We see here – NOW being sons….WE (in the power of the Spirit) cry – ABBA Father!

· Being Sons – we’re now a MEMBER of the household…of God

And so we have a New Affections for our NEW MASTER:

NOW - BEFORE our NEW MASTER - Being under the Law - we were SLAVES to sin...

Is it any more clear, that before we were redeemed by putting our faith and trust in Christ......

that we were slaves to sin?

With sin as our Master?

In John 8:34, Jesus tells the unbelieving Pharisees:

And so Christ here uses the analogy of a slave and his master......to say that a slave obeys his master because he belongs to him.

Where there's a slave...there's a master.

Paul is saying - If you continue in sin, then you're OBEYING sin, revealing that sin is your master.

See slaves have no will of their own...They are literally in bondage to their Master.

When sin is our master, we cannot resist it.

Everyone...All of us, before we were justified before God by faith alone in Christ alone, we were all slaves to sin.