No Going Back – Galatians 4 (NIV)
No Going Back – Galatians 4 (NIV)
* Another Gospel
* Paul’s Past
* Jerusalem Approved
* Paul Rebukes Peter
* Dead to Self, Alive in Christ
Galatians 3
* Perfected by Law?
* Righteous by Faith
* Neither Jew nor Gentile
A child is like a slave: they are both under the guardianship of rules and restrictions. But when the child matures, they are released from the rules and become an heir. That’s us in Christ. It makes no sense for the son then to choose to return to being under the rules as a slave.
To further the comparison, it would be as if the child said they choose to return to the work as a slave to earn what was given to them. A slave can’t earn the adoption and heirship of a child. That’s just not how it works. So it’s senseless to choose to live that way.
There were people among the Galatians pushing them back to the law for their own gain. If they could convince the Galations to follow the rules, they would equally be able to convince the Galatians that they would be the leaders of that effort. If they could convince the Galatians to be slaves again, they could be the masters.
Paul uses the example of Hagar/Ishmael (slave, Law) and Sarah/Isaac (free, Promise).
You can’t go back to being a slave. It’s taking the Blue Pill of the Matrix: it’s not real. It’s choosing to dream instead of live. It doesn’t work and trying, or even wanting to try, shows that you don’t understand.
* Slave to Heir
* Do not return
* Ishmael and Isaac