Men's Group Study Guide
NIV Notes by Kelly Link
Introduction
In chapter 3 we saw that the law was given to show us we don’t measure up. That is, the law is a schoolmaster that brings us to Christ. But many times, like the Galatians, after we come to know Christ we go back and impose on ourselves rules and regulations to live by rather than simply following Christ in a love relationship (grace).
This results in a loss of joy and soon we notice our Christian life is dry spiritually. Is your relationship with God based on what you are doing or upon what Jesus Christ has done by grace? There is a vast difference between legalism and grace. In this weeks study we will learn the differences between grace and legalism and how we can know where we stand.
STUDY NOTES: verses 8-31
V.8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. – Before the Galatians were saved or before they knew God they served those who were not gods. Many of us used to light candles, pray by repetition, burn incense and perform various other acts in order to manipulate gods. But our God is not manipulated by our works. (Ephesians 2: 8-9), (Titus 3: 4-7)
V.9-11 But now that you know God- or rather are known by God- how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. – It is natural for us to use a set of rules and regulations instead of relying on the grace of God. But Paul says rules and regulations are weak in that they have no power over the flesh or our sinful nature. In fact, the law has the opposite effect; it brings death. It is grace that empowers us to be free to fulfill what God has called us to do. Paul makes an important point that the Galatians need to be careful because they could be enslaved all over again by the old legalistic principles they lived by. (Romans 7: 18), (2 Corinthians 3: 6)
V.12 I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. – Paul used to keep ‘kosher’ rules and live by Judaistic traditions. But he became like the Gentiles and lived like them. Therefore he pleaded with them to become like him leaving behind the rules and regulations. (Colossians 2: 20-23)
V.13-16 You have done me no wrong. As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? – Paul recognized a lack of joy in the Galatians’ lives. Therefore he reminded them of their devotion they had towards him and God. Sometimes it helps to bring about unity by stirring up love by remembering the loved shared in the past and this is what Paul was doing. (Galatians 5: 22), (Romans 4: 6)
V.17 Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them. - The legalists were trying to win over the Galatians in order to draw them after themselves. Zealousness is not an exclusive characteristic of legalism but self-exaltation is. When self becomes the center of life for the individual, rules and regulations are soon to follow. By following rules and regulations, a legalist has a way to distinguish themselves from other people. (Romans 16: 18), (Galatians 6: 13)
V.18-20 It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you. My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you! – Paul was zealous for the Galatians but his zeal was for their benefit. Paul was truly moved by the thought of the Galatians not maturing in their relationship with Christ because he truly loved them. Sometimes, like Paul, we need to tell people what they need to hear rather than what they want to hear. (Proverbs 27:6), (2 Timothy 4:3)
V. 21-23 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. – Paul backs up his argument by contrasting those who are enslaved to the law (represented by Hagar the slave) and those who are free from the law or children of the promise (represented by Sarah). Ishmael, which was Hagar’s son, was born out of Abraham and Sarah’s impatience because they were unwilling to wait on God after He had promised them a son. That is, Ishmael was born of the flesh or human decision. But Isaac was a child of the promise. Isaac was born of God as He promised. (John 3:6) So what does the law say regarding those who live by it? Read (Genesis 8-12)
V.24-27 These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. - The first covenant spoken of is represented by Hagar. The law was given at Mount Sinai and was between God and man. If man would keep God’s law, God would allow man to live. But the law required man to obey all of the law or be destroyed. It was a covenant of works. (Hebrews 8: 6-9)
But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written: “Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” - The second covenant spoken of is represented by Sarah. It is a covenant of grace. Not made with man and God but made with God and Jesus Christ which is this: Jesus Christ on His part bears the penalty of all the people’s sin, to die and take their iniquities upon His shoulders; and the Father on His part promises that all those whom Christ has died for will be saved. He will put His law in their hearts so that they shall not depart from it, and seeing that they have sins, He will pass them by and remember their sins no more, forever. (Hebrews 10: 15-18)
V.28-29 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. – Of course Ishmael will mock Isaac. Ishmaelites are offended by the doctrine of grace. They believe more in their own ability then in the sovereignty of God. You see the child of the promise receives all of the father’s inheritance but the child of the flesh receives nothing. But the legalist says, “I am just as good as you are! I don’t see it, I cannot accept it; If we are both equal in character then why should one be lost and the other saved?” Mankind will always have a problem with God’s sovereignty because it humbles a man’s pride. It lowers his standing and makes him cringe before God as a poor sinner. (Romans 4: 14), (Psalm 10: 2)
V.30 But what does the scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” - Are you sometimes too tolerant of legalism? Here God makes it quite clear the solution to the problem of legalism. We are to have nothing to do with it or the people who propagate it. (Genesis 21: 10), (John 8: 35)
Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. – Now that you know what the law says, which child are you? Are you a child of the slave woman or a child of the free woman?
TRUTH APPLIED:
Q. 1 Is it possible to be saved yet never enter God’s promised rest?
Q. 2 What are the signs of a legalistic person given in this section of scripture? Do you have any of the signs?
Q. 3 Sarah was the original wife of Abraham long before Hagar was. What does this say about the covenant of grace verses the covenant of the law?
Q. 4 God never intended for Hagar to be Abraham’s wife. She was a maid for Sarah. What does this say about the law in relation to grace?
Q. 5 Hagar and her son Ishmael were driven out never to return. What does this say about the place the covenant of the law has in a believer’s life?
Q. 6 Explain how Ishmael and Isaac are a picture of flesh and Spirit. Back up from scripture why Ishmael was at enmity with Isaac.
CONCLUSION:
It is extremely important to understand the differences between the covenant of the law and the covenant of grace. It is by grace we are saved and by grace that we grow to maturity. The Galatians had been sidetracked because of their lack of understanding about the law and its effect upon their lives. It’s like a prisoner who has been set free returning to his cell. But Paul recognized the Galatians had fallen away from grace because they were following rules and regulations, observing special days, and they were having a hard time receiving Paul in the way they had originally received him. How do you live? Please take some time and ask the Spirit of Truth to reveal where you stand.
Grace and Peace,
Kelly Link