Don’t Go Back Galatians 4:8-31 · Join the Journey

Don’t Go Back

Galatians 4:8-31

In the Hamilton house, our pets are part of the family. Our most recent addition is a chocolate Lab named Olive. We rescued her from a shelter after she'd had a difficult life. It took her a while to learn she was safe, but today she's one of the sweetest dogs you'll ever meet.

Imagine rescuing a dog that has spent years tied to a heavy chain. You remove the chain. You give it a safe yard, food, water, and freedom.

Then one day 6 mouths later you walk outside... ...and the dog has dragged the old chain out of the weeds and is lying beside it. No one forced it.

The chain just felt familiar. Sometimes freedom feels unfamiliar.

That's exactly what the Galatians were doing. Jesus had set them free...and they were crawling back to the chain. The question for us isn't whether we're tempted to wear chains. The question is what chains we're tempted to go back to.

Last week we saw that not only are we forgiven and saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus but we are also adopted into the family of God.

Here's the big idea this morning: Anything that causes us to trust in ourselves instead of Jesus Christ always leads us back into slavery.

We have seen that the false believers that Paul is addressing had twisted and turned the Galatian believers from the truth of the gospel that had originally saved them. That Paul himself had preached to them.

Paul very much feels as a spiritual parent to the Galatians and his love and care for them come through his strong but caring words to the them.

Paul starts by reminding them again of their past.

If you have your bibles turn to Galatians 4:8

Galatians 4:8

Galatians 4:8-11

Galatians 4:8–11

Paul reminds them that before they heard and believed the gospel of Jesus that Paul had shared with them. that they were slaves as the worship false gods like Zeus and Hermes who were not gods at all. They didn't stop worshiping. Everyone worships something. Before Jesus they worshiped idols. After Jesus they were tempted to worship their own religious performance. They exchanged one master for another. Legalism.

Legalism isn't simply obeying God. Legalism is believing my obedience earns God's acceptance. The gospel says I obey because I have already been accepted through Jesus Christ.

Paul says they exchanged one false god for another.

Before: Pagan idols.

Now: Religious performance.

We may not bow before statues of Zeus or Hermes, but we still worship false gods today. We worship the gods of approval, success, morality, politics, comfort, achievement, church attendance, ministry success. Anything we trust instead of Jesus becomes a false god.

Tim Keller used to say: An idol is anything more important to you than God.

Church, remember our big idea... Anything that causes us to trust ourselves instead of Jesus always leads back into slavery.

And we start to hear Paul’s heart. “I fear for you.” Think about those words.

Paul isn't afraid they'll lose popularity. He isn't afraid they'll lose money. He fears they're abandoning the very gospel that gives life.

A loving pastor doesn't just celebrate people. Sometimes we warn people. Real love warns when eternity is at stake.

So far in Galatians it may have sound like Paul was been hard on the them. But it’s because Paul cared so much for them that he speaks the truth to them clearly. Paul reminds them of that they once were and what they had once known.

Galatians 4:12-16

Galatians 4:12–16

Paul pleads with them to become like him, that is, become free from the Law as Paul was, for after his conversion he became like the Gentiles, no longer living under the Law.

Paul reminds them it was because of an illness that he had suffered that he had come to them to start with. But even though Paul was ill they didn’t treat him with contempt or scorn as a weak messenger. But rather received him as an angel of God or even as Christ Jesus Himself. They received Paul with joy. Their appreciation knew no limits. They would have made the sacrifice of their own eyes for Paul. Maybe a reference to the illness that caused Paul’s first stop. Maybe Paul’s weakened eyes. But something had changed in them.

Now they saw Paul as their enemy simply because he told them the truth. Paul’s heart for the Galatians breaks as parent for their children because they were turning back from the freedom they had in Jesus to be enslaved to a false god.

Galatians 4:17-20

Galatians 4:17–20

The false believers were zealous to win the Galatians over to become zealous for them and alienate the Galatians from Paul. Paul tells them it’s ok to be zealous for what is good. But they were zealous for the false teachers. And two faced, hypocritical at that.

What excites you most?

What consumes your thoughts?

What makes you angry?

What gives you identity?

What would devastate you if you lost it?

The answers to these question often reveals our functional gods.

Anything that causes us to trust ourselves instead of Jesus always leads back into slavery.

Paul had labored and suffered for the Galatians to come to faith in Jesus. In fact Paul was stoned and left for dead to preach the good news of Jesus to them. and now it Paul is having to labor for them again because they are turning back from the gospel. Paul is hurts for them and is perplexed about them because their spiritual growth was being arrested by legalism.

Paul isn't winning an argument. He's trying to rescue people.

Notice how emotional he becomes. "I fear for you."

Have you ever heard those words from someone who loved you?

Parents say it.

Pastors say it.

Because love warns.

"My little children." "I am again suffering labor pains." "I wish I could be present."

Those are not the words of an angry preacher. They're the words of a grieving father.

Truth without love becomes harsh.

Love without truth becomes compromise.

Biblical love tells the truth because eternity matters.

Proverbs 27:6

Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

Ephesians 4:15

15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

Paul’s words to the Galatians are the truth in love are wounds from a friend.

So what does all this look like for us today?

Most of us aren't tempted to become Jewish. But we are tempted every day to believe God loves us more on our good days than on our bad days.

We think... 'If I read my Bible enough...' 'If I pray enough...' 'If I stop struggling with this sin...' 'If I serve more...' 'If I give more...' 'Then God will finally be pleased with me.'

Church, that's not Christianity. That's performance.

Jesus didn't die so you could spend your life wondering whether you've done enough. Anything that causes us to trust ourselves instead of Christ always leads back into slavery.

Those are all good things. But they become chains when we believe they earn what Jesus has already purchased.

Then in a masterful stroke the apostle turned to a scriptural illustration to conclude his theological defense of justification by faith. Paul uses Abraham’s two sons. Ishmael born to a slave woman and Issac born to the free woman. Paul knows some of these false teachers are appealing to Abraham, so Paul says, "Let's talk about Abraham."

Ironically, the very story they're using actually proves the gospel.

Paul says Abraham had two sons.

Ishmael was born because Abraham tried to accomplish God's promise through human effort.

Issac was born because God kept His promise through His supernatural power.

Ishmael represents religion.

Issac represents grace.

Ishmael says, "I'll do it."

Issac says, "God has done it."

But Paul wants the Galatians to remember that they are children of children of the free woman and not the salve woman.

Galatians 4:31

Ishmael represents what man can produce.

Isaac represents what only God can produce.

Religion says: "I'll produce righteousness."

The gospel says: "God provides righteousness."

The false teachers thought Abraham proved salvation by works.

Paul says Abraham actually proves salvation by promise.

Where are you tempted to trust yourself instead of Jesus?

Maybe it's...

• your morality

• your political views

• your family

• your church attendance

• your giving

• your knowledge

Anything we add to Jesus eventually replaces Jesus.

Every morning, we wake up with a choice.

Will I live like an employee... ...or like a son?

Employees work for approval. Sons work from acceptance.

Employees wonder, "Have I done enough?"

Sons know, "I'm already part of the family."

Employees fear getting fired. Sons enjoy belonging.

That's why a son obeys differently than an employee.

One obeys because he belongs. The other obeys hoping he'll belong.

Religion makes employees. Jesus makes sons and daughters.

So what can we do this week?

1. Identify your chains.

Ask: "What am I trusting besides Christ?"

ID your chains, Identify where you're tempted to trust something besides Jesus.

2. Preach the gospel to yourself daily.

Remind yourself:

I am already loved.

I am already accepted.

I am already forgiven.

I am already God's child.

Romans 5:1

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

ID your chains, preach the gospel to yourself and

3. Walk in freedom this week.

Instead of asking, "What must I do so God will love me?"

Ask, "Since God already loves me in Christ, how can I joyfully obey Him today?"

ID your chains, preach the gospel to yourself and walk in the freedom that Jesus has given you.

The enemy rarely gets us to reject Jesus altogether.

Instead, he whispers, "Jesus is good... but you need something more."

Jesus plus rules.

Jesus plus traditions.

Jesus plus performance.

Jesus plus your own goodness. Our enemy is ok with anything we add to Jesus.

But the moment we add to Jesus, we've stopped trusting Jesus alone.

The gospel has always been—and always will be—Jesus plus nothing. At Journey Church, we believe Jesus is enough. We are transformed by who He is and what He has done. And because of that, we joyfully give Him the best of who we are and everything we have—not to earn His love, but because we already have it.

Remember our Olive. If I walked outside tomorrow and found her lying beside that old chain again, I wouldn't say, "Well, I guess that's where she belongs."

I'd call her back. I'd take that chain away again. Because that chain no longer defines who she is. She's part of the family.

Christian... That's what God does with us. That's Paul's message. You don't belong in chains anymore. Jesus broke them. You're not a slave. You're a son. You're a daughter. So don't go back.

But maybe you're here today and you've never experienced the freedom we've been talking about. You're still trying to earn God's approval. You're still carrying guilt. You're still trapped in sin.

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus has already done everything necessary to rescue you.

Turn from your sin.

Stop trusting yourself.

Start trusting Jesus.

Put your faith in Him.

Be united with Him in baptism. Today can be the day you leave your chains behind.

The Christian life doesn't begin by grace and then continue by performance. The Christian life begins by grace, continues by grace, and ends in grace because Jesus is enough.