A Different Gospel – 08/31/2025

Podcast

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

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, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons Galatians 4:1-5

Intro: For the last month or two, I’ve noticed a trend
– people are using a “Jesus image” in a variety of video posts
• like a famous celebrity, he’s immediately recognizable
◦ there’s the trademark long hair and beard, the robe, and sandals
◦ his image is used to promote an ideal, or to criticize, ridicule, or make fun of something
• three observations immediately come to mind:
◦ first, the image is used for propaganda purposes
◦ second, they’re all impersonators
▫ third, not one of these characters is the real Jesus
– Galatians is Paul’s attempt to rescue his readers from impersonators
• all of the communities addressed in Galatia were new churches
◦ and all the believers were new Christians
◦ so they were susceptible to people posing as experts
• their message was, to be right with God, one had to obey his law
◦ but the spiritual effect on the Galatians was arrested development
◦ the point Paul makes here: you’ve outgrown the law

In the previous chapter, Paul presented an analogy that personified the law

The law was like an ultra-strict tutor or guardian
– the law served for a time in history when Israel’s religion was still a work in progress
• the law was necessary at that time, because people needed boundaries
• but now, in Jesus, the believers had come of age
◦ they no longer needed the law as a guardian
◦ they were made right with God through their faith in him
– Paul now adds to the analogy
• we could be heirs to a fortune, but not have access to it
◦ a will could be written to specify that heir had to reach a certain age before receiving the inheritance
◦ until then, they shared the same status of a household slave

Next, Paul explains the analogy, “in the same way . . .”
– in our spiritual immaturity, we were
“enslaved to the elementary principles of the cosmos”
• for the Jews, that refers to God’s laws
• for Gentiles, it refers to whatever forces they believed ran the universe (gods, mathematics, the push and pull of love and hate, and so on)
– I want to draw attention to one word: “under” – five times in these verses
• Greek is hupo, by looks like hypo (hypodermic is a combination of two Greek words under/hypo and skin/derma)
◦ in these verses “under” is a dark place where we can easily be trapped
• it is to be under the influence and control of someone or something,
◦ it is to be subject to the will of that person or condition
◦ it’s the opposite of freedom, of choice, of the opportunity to become our true selves

When did we reach the age that the inheritance became ours?
– the “fullness of time” (v. 4) corresponds with “date set by his father” (v. 2)
• that was when God sent his Son
◦ Paul says he was born as we were, “under the law”
◦ Jesus joined us where we were – to “redeem” us – to set us free
• something unexpected happens at this point
◦ Paul doesn’t say that we have come of age in Jesus,
◦ he says we were adopted!
“And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba! Father!’ “So you are no longer a slave, but as son, and if a son, then an heir through God” Galatians 4:6-7
similarly he wrote in Romans
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ . . . .” (Rom. 8:14-17)
• the cry, “Abba” is the marker of our transformation
– this entire world is an orphanage
• we’re all orphans who want to be chosen
◦ we want to belong to someone
◦ we look at every visitor with hopeful eyes
• God sent his Son Jesus into this orphanage
◦ he finds us and asks, “Do you want to come home with Me?”
“In my Father’s house there are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I do to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (Jn. 14:2-3)

Next, Paul reminds the Galatians of their past lives (verses 8-11)

That can be uncomfortable, but it’s not a bad idea–to look back
– if the concept of having “a god” means a controlling influence over a life,
• then everyone has a god – maybe supernatural or material
◦ the god of some people may be their own self
• Paul reminds them that they were slaves of their non-gods
◦ that metaphor is easy to comprehend if we’re talking about drugs or alcohol
◦ slavery is exactly the nature of addiction
– more recently, the Galatians have come to know God
• to me, this is the most wonderful expression of our faith
◦ we know God – not perfectly, not completely,
◦ but still, it is a real and personal knowing (some day we will know him fully; 1 Cor. 13:12)
• but now Paul asks in disbelief,
“how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world . . . ?”
◦ as before the elementary principles: for Jews referred to the law, for Gentiles to the forces of nature
◦ only here, Paul points out that these principles are weak and worthless
– he bases his assessment of the Galatians on their observance of annual and seasonal rituals
• their use of ceremonies, offerings, and incantations, to influence God or other gods
• they have Paul worried that his work with them was futile

In verses 12-20, Paul attempts to restore the bond they once shared

He began this pointed criticism of their wrong turn, calling them “foolish Galatians”! (Gal. 3:1)
– now he addresses them as his brothers and sisters – and,
• instead of scolding them he begs them to meet him half-way
◦ he lets them know that they have not wronged him
◦ they don’t have to apologize to him
• he also reminds them, that when he first came to them,
◦ he had a physical disorder that was difficult for them manage
◦ but, even so, they did not avoid or mistreat him, instead
you “received me as an angel [or messenger] of God, as Christ Jesus”
– he asks them, “What happened to that? Where did that blessing go?
That radical kindness and generosity?”

Then Paul refers to something that we do not know much about:
“For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me” (v. 15b)
– This is rather graphic! Did Paul have a reason for using this shocking expression?
• he could have said, “removed” or “traded an eye with me”
• but apparently that is not his point, because a surgical procedure like that was impossible anyway
– it seems that he uses this strong language to intensify the fact of their deep and sincere love for him

He wants to know if telling them the truth made him their enemy
– when he came t them, he presented the gospel of Jesus
• then the others showed up and told the Galatians Paul had misled them
◦ it seems that now he feels betrayed
• I imagine that is how the Old Testament prophets often felt (especially Jeremiah)
– all through this, Paul has had in mind the impersonators
• the troublemakers who came after Paul and contradicted him
“They treated you like you were a big deal, but with wrong motives. They wanted to lock you out of the grace I preached to you, and in such a way that you would think they were a big deal.”

Many years ago a young man approached me after a Sunday morning service. He had a letter in his hand that he showed me. It was from a famous television evangelist and faith healer. I could see that it was a form letter, but the young man did not know that. In the letter, the TV guy said, “The Lord has told me that you have a high calling.” The kid asked me, “What is a high calling?” He was sincere and truly concerned. He assumed God had some important work in mind for him, and he did not want to fail to fulfill it, only he did not know what a high calling meant. I felt very sorry for him, as I do for everyone who is taken in by religious scams like this one.

• every preacher, every lecturer, and public speaker knows,
◦ there’s a way to deliver a speech that glorifies the speaker

Paul didn’t see anything wrong in him thinking the Galatian believers were a big deal
– as long as he’s working for their sake and with a “good purpose”
• and he lets them know this is how he feels about them, always, and not only when he’s there with them
• before he finishes that thought, he adds a flourish of affection; now they are, “my little children”
– he finishes off this section with an apology
• if he were with them, he’d change his harsh tone
• but he’s treated them roughly, because they have him “perplexed”
◦ are they still with him and trusting in Jesus or are they not?

Conclusion: We’re done–except, I skipped a line in verse 19
“my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!”

When Reflexion first began to host Sunday meetings,
I found in this verse the assignment God had given me
This inner formation of Jesus within us is not theoretical, but experiential
The witness of God’s Spirit, knowing Jesus, and the working of his person into our inner self is the essence of our new life in God
To assist others through this metamorphosis is the challenge of every pastor and spiritual director
The new self is the true self
The process is ongoing
Even in this very moment