Galatians 4:17
November 1, 2009 · Pastor Miles DeBenedictis
In this teaching
Paul confronts the false teachers in Galatia who demanded law-keeping and circumcision for righteousness, and answers them from the Old Testament story of Abraham. Through Abraham's life, the teaching shows that righteousness comes by faith in God's promise, not by the works of the flesh, and calls believers to stand fast in the liberty Christ has given.
- The false teachers sought followers for themselves rather than the good of the Galatian church, drawing people away from Paul and from Christ.
- Paul, like a spiritual father, wrote with a heavy tone because he doubted their standing, longing for Christ—not Paul—to be formed in them.
- Abraham believed God's promise and it was accounted to him as righteousness, before any works or circumcision.
- Ishmael, the son produced by human effort, was insufficient to bring God's promise; only Isaac, the child of faith and God's miraculous working, would.
- Circumcision was a sign of walking in righteousness after being declared righteous, not the means of becoming righteous.
- Believers are children of promise and are called to stand fast in Christ's liberty, walking uprightly by the Spirit rather than returning to bondage under the law.
Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid and the other by a free woman... Which things are an allegory, for these are the two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, which engenders toward bondage, which is Hagar... So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. ()
How the ancient story of Abraham exposes the difference between earning God's favor and resting in His promise.
False Teachers and Their Motives
As Paul continues to tear apart the false teaching that had come to the church at Galatia, we must remember the makeup of that church. It was filled primarily with Christians who came out of a heathen or pagan background, not out of Judaism. There were some who had formerly been Jews, but for the most part the four churches in the region were not associated with the law and did not understand all that the Old Testament had to say.
Pharisees who had become Christians came and told these former pagans that before they could be right with God, they must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses—essentially, they had to become Jews before they could truly be saved. These teachers likely came with a strong knowledge of the Old Testament, while the Galatians knew little of the Scriptures. So they said, "Let us show you what the Scriptures say."
Back in verse 17, Paul exposes their motive:
They zealously affect you, but not well. Yea, they would exclude you that you might affect them.
Another translation reads, "Those false teachers who are so anxious to win your favor are not doing it for your good. They are trying to shut you off from me so that you will pay more attention to them." These teachers wanted a group of followers after them. Paul confronted the same mindset at Corinth, where to say "I am of Paul" or "I am of Apollos" was carnal. Paul's aim was always to point people to Jesus, to make disciples of Christ, never of himself. So he told the churches, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ," and "Be imitators of God as dear children."
Christ Formed in You
It is good to be zealous in a good thing. Paul says in verse 18 that zeal in following the Lord is not a bad thing. Then in verse 19 he writes, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you." Paul was a spiritual father to these churches. He did not want Paul formed in them—his way of thinking or his teaching—he wanted the way of Christ to be formed in them.
His letter is powerful, and some of his words are heavy and could have come across as offensive. So he says, "I wish I could be with you right now so that you could understand why I am saying these things." It has been estimated that 85% of our communication is nonverbal. We all understand this when we send a text or an email and it just doesn't come across right—someone asks, "Why are you so angry?" when we are not angry at all. Paul had the same problem 2,000 years ago.
He says, "I stand in doubt of you." This was a very heavy thing for the church to receive. It would be like getting a letter from your pastor saying, "I'm concerned. I don't even know if you're saved, even though you've been part of the church a long time." The false teachers had used the Hebrew Scriptures to bring these people under the law and circumcision. When Paul first came, he probably preached the gospel of Jesus Christ rather than leaning heavily on the Hebrew Scriptures. But now he goes back to the story of Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, in the book of Genesis.
Who Was Abraham?
A few years ago Pastor Brian Broderson told me of an experience teaching the Saturday night study at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. He kept referencing Abraham, so one week he went back to Genesis to teach about him. Afterward a man came up and said, "I'm so thankful you did that, because I really thought you were talking about Abraham Lincoln." Sometimes we take for granted that people in church, even for a long time, are not well acquainted with the Old Testament.
Abraham was a descendant of Noah through Shem, traceable all the way back to Adam. Before God called him, he lived among heathens in Ur of the Chaldees—modern-day Babylon, or what we would call Iraq today. We don't know for certain that he served false gods, though the New Testament and Old hint at it. What we do know is that God called him, and he heeded the call.
Now the Lord had said to Abram, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house unto a land that I will show thee. And I will make thee a great nation... and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ()
Abram was 75 years old when he departed. Notice the words "the Lord had said"—the call came years before he actually heeded it. Some of you have had that same experience. You went to church when you were younger, heard an evangelistic message, perceived the Spirit calling you, and said, "I'm not ready." Then years later you began to follow Him. Abram was much the same.
The name Abram means "father of many," yet at 75 his wife Sarai, ten years younger, was 65 and they had no children. Childless, he heard this incredible promise and departed to follow God by faith.
Believed God, Counted Righteous
About ten years later, in , the promise is spoken again. By now Abram had entered Canaan, left his protection, picked a fight with his neighbors in chapter 14, and was living in tents surrounded by enemies. God speaks through a vision:
Fear not, Abram. I am your shield and your exceedingly great reward. ()
But Abram answers, "What will you give me, seeing I go childless?" He reminds God of the promise made ten years earlier. God replies that his heir will not be a servant but a son of his own body. Then God brings him outside:
Look up now toward heaven and number the stars... So shall thy seed be. ()
Notice Abram's response:
And he believed the Lord, and God counted it to him for righteousness. ()
God declared Abram righteous that day—not because he was perfect or holy, not because of his good works, but because he believed the promise of the Lord.
Helping God Out: The Birth of Ishmael
In , Abram had likely told Sarai about the promise. At 75 herself, she probably said, "Abram, that sounds good, but I don't see how it's possible." Becoming impatient, at Sarai's nudging Abram took Hagar, her servant, and produced a child named Ishmael. At 86 years old, Abram had a son.
But this move to "help God out" was not according to God's promise; it was according to man's ingenuity and man's work, not God's power. It was not of faith—it was walking by sight. It was therefore not a righteous act, was not accepted by God, and would be insufficient to bring about His promise. Paul tells us in that this son of the flesh could not bring about the ultimate promise—the Messiah who would come through Abraham's descendants.
Walk in Righteousness
In , thirteen years have passed. Abram is now 99 years old.
I am Almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect. ()
Fourteen years earlier God had declared Abram righteous because he believed. Now God says, "Walk in righteousness." The same is true for us. Through Christ Jesus, by grace through faith, God has put righteousness to our account, and afterward calls us to walk uprightly before Him. But it was not Abram's righteous walk that made him righteous—it was the righteousness God had already given him by grace through faith that gave him the ability to walk in righteousness.
God promises to multiply him exceedingly, nearly 25 years after the first promise, when Abram is 99 and Sarai is 89 and barren. Abram falls on his face, and God renames him:
Neither shall thy name anymore be called Abram, but thy name shall be called Abraham. For a father of many nations I have made you. ()
Abraham means "father of many nations." God then establishes circumcision as the sign of the covenant—every male child to be circumcised. I don't think Abraham rejoiced at this, for circumcision is a painful thing. But see the progression: God had already declared him righteous, and now, as a sign of walking in righteousness, He asks Abraham to yield his flesh to Him.
God says the same to us. In Christ He declares us righteous because of Jesus' work on the cross; then He calls us to walk in righteousness and dedicate our flesh to Him as a living sacrifice. That is not always enjoyable—dying to ourselves is painful at times. Paul writes to Rome, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you would offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord, which is your reasonable service."
The Promise Belongs to Isaac
God then renames Sarai to Sarah and promises she will bear a son. Abraham laughs in his heart—"Shall a child be born to one who is a hundred years old?"—and cries, "Oh that Ishmael might live before thee!" It seemed impossible. He pleaded that his thirteen-year-old son by Hagar might be the one through whom the promise came.
Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed, and you shall call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him... But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee this time next year. (, 21)
Ishmael was insufficient for the promise. God would bless him, make him a great nation, and bring twelve princes from him—and indeed, you find his descendants today possessing much of the world's oil. But the promise of the Messiah could not come through the work of the flesh. It could come only by the working of God, by faith, not by sight.
Children of Promise
Paul reveals in that all of this in Abraham's life was given as an allegory for us. Our works, our ingenuity, our efforts in our own strength—even if they are good things—are insufficient to bring about the promise of God. Only faith and the work of God are sufficient.
The Galatians were being seduced into thinking they had to keep these works to be made righteous. But Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness; from that position of being declared righteous, he walked in righteousness and denied himself. Does this cast aside the law? God forbid—we are still called to live and walk in righteousness, not to earn an inheritance, but because of the inheritance He has given us.
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. ()
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. ()
The question comes to you and me as well. How do you want to relate to God? Do you want a legal righteousness, approaching Him as a slave who has performed the right works? Or do you want to come before Him crying "Abba, Father," as a son or daughter? Man loves a legal approach to God because it makes us feel good—"I kept all the rules; You said I'd be righteous if I did these things." That was Pharisaism.
Yet Jesus said in , "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Our righteousness cannot be merely external. Walking uprightly is good, but our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees—a righteousness from God that starts at the heart, by grace through faith.
May we stand fast and strong in that liberty in Christ, and carry the gospel to those still bound in affliction and in iron, those who are slaves of sin and death. We cannot tell them, "You'll be set free if you keep these ten rules." They need to be set free by the power of Christ.
Closing Prayer
Father, I thank You that You have made the way and given us access today. Jesus, You cried on the cross 2,000 years ago, "It is finished." There remains no more sacrifice for sin; You who knew no sin became sin for us that we might receive Your righteousness. We thank You that by grace through faith we can be right with the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Maker of heaven and earth, and that we can come before You crying, "Abba, Father."
As we go from this place, may the world around us see the character of our Father in an upright life—a life that exhibits integrity, self-control, honesty, love, faith, and purity. God, would the good works of our lives glorify You, our Father in heaven. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
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