I am reading in Galatians 3:1-29 and in Galatians 4:1-31, which are all one big picture, so I am going to just quote from sections of both chapters, and I will summarize much of it, so please read both chapters for yourselves so that you get the whole context. And I will make references to some other parallel passages of Scripture, too, which were mostly all written by the apostle Paul, as he was led by the Holy Spirit of God.
The situation was that, since Jesus Christ died on that cross for our sins, he did away with the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws and restrictions that the Jews had to follow, including the requirement for circumcision. And so the Christians did not have to follow those. But there were some Judaizers among them who were trying to convince the Christians that they had to adhere to some of those Old Covenant liturgical and ceremonial laws, including circumcision.
Now the Jews of the Old Covenant were God’s chosen people for a very long time before Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. But in his death he destroyed the barrier that stood between Jew and Gentile and he made us both one via faith in Jesus Christ. Those who believed in Jesus with genuine faith were grafted into the vine, but those who rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Messiah were cut off from the vine. But they can be grafted back in if they will trust Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior, their Messiah.
“…His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility... For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” Ephesians 2:15-18 NIV
“This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” Ephesians 3:6 ESV
“But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.” Romans 9:6-8 ESV
“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:26-29 NIV
“And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.” Romans 11:23
“And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ‘Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.’” Romans 9:27-28 ESV
So, the point that Paul was making to the Christians in Galatia is that they were not to be persuaded by those Jews who were trying to convince them that they needed to be more like Jews in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And so Paul was pointing out to the Christians that all Jews who did not believe in Jesus Christ are not the children of God, but they are the children of the flesh. So the Christians were not to be persuaded by them. And God’s people now are believers in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile.
And then in Galatians 4:22-31 Paul explained to the Christians that the physical city of Jerusalem, including all Jews who do not believe in Christ, are of Hagar, the slave woman, because she is still in slavery with her children (offspring). But we who believe in Jesus Christ, whether Jew or Gentile by physical birth, are of Sarah, the free woman, who represents the Jerusalem that is above, who is our mother. And so we are like Isaac. We who believe in Christ are now the children of promise.
And not only that, but Paul also stated, in a metaphorical manner of sorts, that the Jews who do not believe in Jesus Christ are the persecutors of those who believe in Jesus Christ because they are opposed to Christ as their Lord and Messiah. And then he let the Christians know that the Jews who have not trusted in Jesus Christ will not share in the inheritance with Isaac and all who are of faith in Jesus Christ. They are not God’s people and they are not heirs to the promise God made with Abraham if they don’t believe in Christ.
And Paul’s point in telling them all of this was so that they would not be persuaded by the Judaizers that they needed to be more like Jews and to follow some of the Old Covenant liturgical and ceremonial laws and customs. So, there is no biblical cause for any Christians to give to the Jewish nation their undivided loyalty and devotion and worship and support, nor to raise up that nation as though they are God’s people when they are not his people unless they are followers of Jesus Christ who are obeying his commands.
God has put a divide between those who believe in Jesus and those who don’t, and we are not to try to bridge that divide based on Old Covenant teachings and practices. But this isn’t just about Jew and Gentile. For so many people today are trying to get Christians, not only to be Jew worshipers, but to blend in with the world and to take on the character of the world in order to attract the world to their gatherings, and in order to not offend the people of the world with the truth of the gospel.
And they have been very successful in their schemes in convincing professing Christians to become more like the world to win the world, but to what? To worldly gatherings of market-driven businesses of men, called “churches”? Yes! But we don’t win anyone to genuine faith in Jesus Christ if we compromise with the world and if we dilute the gospel to make it friendlier to human flesh. If we are so concerned with not offending the world then we will never win anyone to genuine belief in Jesus Christ.
For the gospel that Jesus taught says that we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living, then we have the hope of eternal life with God, provided that we continue in those walks of faith until the end. For not everyone who calls Jesus “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
[Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19; Romans 2:28-29; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 9:4-8,25-28; Romans 11:1-36; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:22; John 8:18-19,38-47; Jude 1:5; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 8:6-13; Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9]
My Heart’s Desire
An Original Work / June 29, 2013
Based off Romans 10:1-21; Luke 9:23-26; Ephesians 4:17-24
Loved Ones, Oh, my heart’s desire
Is that you might come to Jesus.
Many appear zealous for God,
But they do not trust in Him.
They have not submitted to the One
Who saved them from their sins;
Not forsaken their sins,
Nor have they obeyed their King.
The word of the Lord is near you:
The word of faith we’re proclaiming:
That you must confess your faith
In Jesus as your Lord and King:
Believe in Him as your Lord,
And follow Him where’er He leads.
Share the gospel; be a witness,
And meet others’ needs.
Beautiful are the feet of those
Who bring the good news of Jesus:
Anyone who would come to Him
Must deny himself today;
Die to sin and self, and
Let the Spirit transform you in heart;
Put on your new self in Jesus,
Yielding to the cross.
https://vimeo.com/115643303
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