Galatians 4:1–11 - A Tremendous Difference

Earlier in worship, we read that our “chief end” is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”  We were created to exalt and revere God, to praise and love Him, and to reap the many benefits of knowing and understanding Him and His ways.

A healthy, human life – when unhindered by sin – is one in which God is honored in and through us and we are fulfilled in and through Him.

That is our ultimate purpose – but that purpose was being lost in the Galatian church. They were being deceived about their chief end. How so?

Scripture teaches that the only way anyone can fulfill their ultimate purpose is by first partaking in the redemption that was achieved by the Lord Jesus Christ. We partake in it by faith in Him alone – by trust in Him alone. Therefore, trust in Christ alone is essential for fulfilling your chief end.

It’s not only our first step toward that end but our companion to the end.

Notice the catechism recognizes God as primary in our chief end. We were made by God to glorify God and enjoy God. But our sinful nature aims to prevent us from always seeing God as primary.

However, this is the gospel: God sent Jesus Christ to break sin’s power over us. The book of Galatians is proof that even we who have been freed from sin’s power still can and will lose sight of our God-centered purpose.

And one way we all do this is by doing what the Galatians had begun to do:
we try to justify ourselves apart from the finished work of Christ. Proving our worth and justifying our existence become ultimate for us.

Let me give you an example. Imagine a job or a class or a relationship you have in which you feel the need to prove yourself – either to your boss or teacher or to this other person. This is a situation where proving yourself is the primary motive. This is actually the driving force in the lives of many people.

Now, you might think, “Well, I need to prove myself to my boss. I have to do my best at my job so my boss will value me and keep me and promote me.” That’s an understandable way of thinking, but you may do your very best and still not be valued or kept or promoted. But if the finished work of Christ is the measurement of your worth and value – then you can still do your very best at your job in order to glorify and enjoy God.  

Now, hopefully, the boss will be pleased. But if not, you can still be confident in God and trust Him because you're living in accordance with the reason you exist.

In both scenarios, you work hard – but your ultimate reasons are different. Self glory or God’s glory; man-centered purpose or God-centered purpose.

These are two very different ways of thinking and living, aren’t they? Paul expresses that there is a tremendous difference in these two ways – in fact, he describes the difference between God's way and the world's way as the difference between blessed sonship and brutal slavery.

Would you rather experience life as an honored child or an oppressed servant? I think the answer is obvious. But our return to slavery is not always so obvious to us. So we need the message God gives here through Paul. Look closer with me now.

Picture a child who will one day receive a great inheritance, but first, he must grow up. The child must upgrade from one phase of life to another. His father has set a time when this transition will take place – when the child will move from oppression to freedom.

Paul compares this to the people of God before and after we are born again. Notice verse [1] again, Paul says, “I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, [2] but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.

Before we were baptized with the Spirit, before we were clothed in the Son, before we were adopted by the Father, we were slaves to sin. See verse [3], “In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.” What are these principles?

Well, keep in mind that Paul was an ethnic Jew and he was writing to ethnic Gentiles. Yet he thinks of both groups – Jews and Gentiles – the same. The groups are different in that the Jews had God’s law and the Gentiles did not.

But the groups are the same in that even though one group had the law and the other group did not, both groups were doing the same thing: they were attempting to achieve righteousness by their own effort.

The other peoples of the world didn’t have God’s law – although it is true that right and wrong is written on every human heart – but they did have their own means for deeming themselves righteous – to which they were enslaved. Paul says Jews and Gentiles – every single person who has ever lived – has this in common: we are prone to works-righteousness.

This was going on in the first century, and it’s still going on today. What does works-righteousness look like in our modern American society? Well, there’s a frenzy of self-improvement and personal growth. That produces self-righteousness, doesn’t it? Isn’t it natural to improve or do well and then feel that we are better than others?

There’s nothing wrong with hard work – in fact, hard work is a good thing – but like anything, hard work can become a religion. Work ethic and effort can become a measuring stick for your worth and everyone else’s.

Don’t we tend to believe that if we work hard, we deserve to succeed? And on the flip side, if someone doesn’t succeed, well then, they must not have worked hard enough – or they must not be good enough. And we may only think this to ourselves – they aren’t as good as us. That is self-righteousness – and it’s at the heart of works righteousness.

It’s all about justifying ourselves and our existence. All people in all periods of history do this in the pursuit of freedom, but as we do so, we only go further and further into bondage. We’re like prisoners. That’s what Paul is saying here.

For someone apart from Christ, dead in sins – whether Jew or Gentile – this is the norm: always aiming to somehow, someway, justify themselves in this life. But that’s the world’s way. It’s the old way – from before we were saved. Paul is urging the Galatians believers not to go back to that, because something amazing has occurred.

Look at verse 4. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son.” When the time seemed right to God. He alone knows why. At that time, Christ was,
“born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law.” God the Son – before His human birth – possessed the divine nature. He was fully God.

Then, coming into the world, He added to Himself a human nature. He was then fully God and fully human – which was essential “so that we might receive adoption as sons.” This was the upgrade, the transition from oppression to freedom. God sent forth His Son so that we could move out of the childhood Paul spoke of, where we “were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.”

Now each man and woman who is born again – whether Jew or Gentile – has the esteemed status of “son.” Verse [6] “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.”

I spoke last week about our baptism with the Holy Spirit, and as I reviewed what I said, I decided to provide some additional detail and clarity. First of all, it’s only correct to say that “He” – the Spirit – was poured out. I noticed that I said “it was poured out” and I was thinking of the pouring event as “it.” But to be crystal clear, the Holy Spirit is not an “it.” I did refer to “Him” but I wanted to reiterate that because clearly here Paul is describing the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Him who is Christ the Son.

This agrees with John 15, where Jesus says, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about me.” This is trinitarian language. The Spirit proceeds from the Son and the Father because the three are One.

Also, at the initial pouring out or baptism of the Spirit according to Joel 2 and the words of Jesus and John the Baptist, there was a fascinating, one-time occurrence. Acts 2 says that the disciples were gathered in a room at the time of the Passover feast, “and divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

John the Baptism had previously said that Jesus would baptize them “with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Repeatedly in the Scriptures, fire symbolizes the presence of God. There was visible fire at that time – as there was at previous OT times where God demonstrated His presence.

But after that time, as God’s Spirit was poured out – and to this day as He pours out His Spirit when people are born again – there is no visible fire. As the people at the Passover feast heard the gospel and trusted in Christ and as God poured out His Spirit, the visible fire did not accompany their baptism with the Spirit.

Neither did the Spirit visibly descend upon the Galatians, but notice verse 6, “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.” God has poured out the Spirit of Christ; He has filled us with the Spirit of Jesus. He has given His holy presence to us. And again, John said He is “the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father,” and “He will bear witness about” Christ. The Spirit reveals God to us. He opens our eyes to who Jesus is. He brings us to life.

Then we can know God as Father, and see the rest of verse 6. We will find ourselves “crying, “Abba! Father!” “Abba” was an Aramaic, very personal term that a child would use to address a father. So, knowing God in this way, by the Spirit’s presence within us, notice verse [7] “you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

We’re all prone to return to self-righteous pursuits. That is the world’s game. It’s being played on social media every day, as people go beyond simply sharing memories or information by making efforts to prove their own value. This game is being played in the workplace, in the schools, at the rec fields, in the neighborhoods, in the churches – a man-centered life and purpose. So much of what we see and – let’s be honest – so much of what we naturally do – is the result of slavery “to the elementary principles of the world.”

But if you are in Christ, you are no longer a slave! Let’s aim to resist that slavery each day! Let’s find our worth in the Savior, and not in the self. Let’s work for God’s glory, and not our own glory.

If you have the Spirit of Christ within you, you can do all you do for the greatness of His name, not your own name. We need to see this worldly game for what it is. Look at verse 8.

Paul says, “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.” He seems to have in mind the pagan, false gods of the Gentiles. What are the false gods worshipped and adored where you live, work, and play?

In our day and age, the modern gods are things like comfort, wealth, respect, influence. We can live, work, and play without being enslaved to these false gods. We can live regular lives doing normal things while pursuing the glory and enjoyment of God as our chief end. But we cannot do so if we’re living just like the world lives, doing things just like the lost world does them. In Christ, we’re not slaves to sin. We’re sons of God. Granted, we’re not Christ, but we are in Christ.

And so it’s terrible to go back. Look at what Paul adds in verse [9], “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?” Why would he say they “want to be?” Because in Christ, sin’s reign over us is broken. They were willingly choosing to pursue righteousness through things in addition to Christ.

How do you do that in your life? How do you willingly live like a slave to sin?

Now, finally, notice verse 10. Paul says, “You observe days and months and seasons and years!” He seems to be referring to the Jewish calendar and their various observances. The Judaizers were no doubt compelling these Galatians believers to observe these days and the rituals that went along with them. We see this specifically going on today in some ways. For example, some Christians feel that observing Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah or even a Passover Seder will help them know God better. There are other observances that have become popular but have no biblical basis.

But the point here is that we don’t need these. Those things were only shadows of Christ yet to come. We don’t need the shadow of Christ. We have Christ! We have His Spirit dwelling with us!

It is true that we have one holy day, which is the Lord’s Day. But in no way is it the strict Sabbath according to Jewish traditions. It is still one of the Ten commandments and still a day that should be different for us. It’s a day God has ordained for the worship and rest we need – a day to reset our focus on Christ the Lord and our chief end –glorifying and enjoying God.

Now, Paul concludes this paragraph by saying, “I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.” But of course, he hasn’t given up on them. He’s writing this long letter. Pastorally, he feels pain for them, and theologically, he knows all believers do this.
Paul desired that they enjoy the God-centered life – the life that is ours by faith in Christ.

Have you placed your faith in Him? Have you trusted in Jesus, and if so, will you turn to Him each day, and cling to Him as your only righteousness? Why endure brutal slavery when you can enjoy blessed sonship?

Let’s bow in prayer.