Galatians 4:8-11 – The Slave-Freeing Gospel
© Eric M Schumacher
Preached March 20, 2011 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids
© Eric M Schumacher
Preached March 20, 2011 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids
Audio will be available here. (Suggested resource: Galatians, Thomas Schreiner)
This past week, as I was taking a walk, I was scanning through radio channels on my iPod to get a sample of what questions the artists of our culture are asking and what answers they are giving.
I stopped upon a local pop radio station just as the song “Perfect” by the artist P!nk was beginning to play. Aside from being well sung and having a great tune, the lyrics were captivating. (If you are going to look up its lyrics or video, I would caution you to find the edited, “radio” version.) She sings:
This past week, as I was taking a walk, I was scanning through radio channels on my iPod to get a sample of what questions the artists of our culture are asking and what answers they are giving.
I stopped upon a local pop radio station just as the song “Perfect” by the artist P!nk was beginning to play. Aside from being well sung and having a great tune, the lyrics were captivating. (If you are going to look up its lyrics or video, I would caution you to find the edited, “radio” version.) She sings:
Made a wrong turn / Once or twice
Dug my way out / Blood and fire
Bad decisions / That’s alright
Welcome to my silly life
Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood
Miss “no way it’s all good”
It didn’t slow me down
Mistaken / Always second guessing
Underestimated
Look, I’m still around…
In the video, it becomes clear she’s singing to a woman who has had a rough up-bringing. Eventually, we see her depressed, anorexic, and cutting herself, a bloody scene in which she’s carved the word “perfect” into her arm.
P!nk is obviously onto something in our culture. (Songs don’t become #1 without resonating with their audience!) And she’s on to the fact that there is a problem—young people filled with angst and hatred, starving themselves to fit a false standard of beauty and cutting themselves with razor blades as an outlet to cope with their strong feelings of pain or anger or sorrow.
Obviously, there is something very wrong going here. But, what is the cause of this and what is the solution? In P!nk’s words, the problem in her life, offered as encouragement to her audience, is that she has been “mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood;” she’s been criticized, “mistaken,” second guessed, and “underestimated.”
The problem is not within you or me. The problem is that the outside world—whether friends or parents or teachers or lovers—simply does not understand us rightly, and that we have listened to them.
And so, for a solution, she begs her listeners:
P!nk is obviously onto something in our culture. (Songs don’t become #1 without resonating with their audience!) And she’s on to the fact that there is a problem—young people filled with angst and hatred, starving themselves to fit a false standard of beauty and cutting themselves with razor blades as an outlet to cope with their strong feelings of pain or anger or sorrow.
Obviously, there is something very wrong going here. But, what is the cause of this and what is the solution? In P!nk’s words, the problem in her life, offered as encouragement to her audience, is that she has been “mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood;” she’s been criticized, “mistaken,” second guessed, and “underestimated.”
The problem is not within you or me. The problem is that the outside world—whether friends or parents or teachers or lovers—simply does not understand us rightly, and that we have listened to them.
And so, for a solution, she begs her listeners:
Pretty, pretty please
Don’t you ever, ever feel
Like your less than
Less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please
If you ever, ever feel
Like you’re nothing
You are perfect to me
And she continues:
You’re so mean when you talk about yourself
You are wrong
Change the voices in your head
Make them like you instead
The solution is that we need to change our perceptions of ourselves. We need to see that nothing is wrong with us. We’re perfect, nothing less. We simply need to believe that.
When the song was completed and I was thinking about its message, I hit scan on my iPod and stopped on what must have been an “oldies” station, because it was playing a song released when I was in high school. The song, “Livin’ on the Edge” by Aerosmith, proclaims:
When the song was completed and I was thinking about its message, I hit scan on my iPod and stopped on what must have been an “oldies” station, because it was playing a song released when I was in high school. The song, “Livin’ on the Edge” by Aerosmith, proclaims:
There's somethin' wrong with the world today
I don't know what it is
Something's wrong with our eyes
We're seeing things in a different way
And God knows it ain't His
It sure ain't no surprise
There's somethin' wrong with the world today
The light bulb's gettin' dim
There's meltdown in the sky
If you can judge a wise man
By the color of his skin
Then mister you're a better man that I
They understand that there is something wrong with the world today, but what exactly what is wrong is unknown. We’re seeing things wrong. We’re not seeing things like God sees things. We’re sinking into increasing darkness, on the edge of meltdown. We’re treating people in wrong ways.
The cause of all this is unknown. But the severity of the situation is not. The chorus continues:
The cause of all this is unknown. But the severity of the situation is not. The chorus continues:
We're livin' on the edge / You can't help yourself from fallin'
Livin' on the edge / You can't help yourself at all
We’re “livin’ on the edge.” We are heading for destruction. And, even worse, we’re enslaved and incapable of helping ourselves as we fall. Nothing can change us.
So, both artists see a problem. Who is right? Is it merely that we don’t know ourselves rightly and need to change our self-image? Or, are we enslaved to an unknown cause and condition, unable to help ourselves.
This morning, Paul will answer that question in Galatians 4:8-11. Here Paul is striving to persuade his Galatian readers to stand firm in the Gospel. And, he does so by laying out a doctrine of conversion.
As we move through this passage, I want to point out and apply four truths about our problem and the solution from these four verses.
So, both artists see a problem. Who is right? Is it merely that we don’t know ourselves rightly and need to change our self-image? Or, are we enslaved to an unknown cause and condition, unable to help ourselves.
This morning, Paul will answer that question in Galatians 4:8-11. Here Paul is striving to persuade his Galatian readers to stand firm in the Gospel. And, he does so by laying out a doctrine of conversion.
As we move through this passage, I want to point out and apply four truths about our problem and the solution from these four verses.
Truth #1 – Outside of Christ, every human being is enslaved.
Paul writes, in verse 8, “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.”
Paul begins by referring to their pre-conversion condition, before they “knew God.” Before they had faith in Christ, they were “enslaved.”
Who is enslaved?
This shows us that every human being is enslaved, regardless of their ethnicity. Despite radically different pre-Christian experiences for Jews and Gentiles, both were enslaved before they believed God’s saving promises.
In Galatians 3, Paul noted that, for the Jews, their time under the law was marked by slavery to sin. And the Galatians, who did not have the law, were also enslaved.
What this means is: ethnicity, culture, and even religious education do not matter – we are all born slaves.
To what are we enslaved?
Paul writes, “you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.” “Not gods” is a Jewish expression for idols, and for the demons that lie behind idols.
Paul knew that idols were nothing; they are not really gods. But, Paul also knew that behind idols were demonic forces that had real enslaving power. Nevertheless, despite their power, Paul refuses to call them actual “gods.” He wants to reserve that word for the one true God.
Consider the history of Israel. They were mistaken if they thought they were free from slavery when the corpses of Egyptian soldiers washed up on the shores of the Red Sea.
Moses describes Israel’s behavior in Deuteronomy 32, by writing, “They sacrificed to demons that were no gods…” “No gods” – That is the same term Paul uses for what the Galatians were enslaved to. And what were these “no gods?” Moses calls them “demons.” When Israel failed to believe God’s promises and worshiped idols, they were worshiping demons.
Paul sees the same enslavement in the Galatians’ past idol worship. Paul does not give us details of what precise religion they practiced. But, it does not matter. Any idol worship is demonic enslavement.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 8:4-6, that he knows that “an idol has no real existence;” they are “so-called gods.” And yet, he writes in 1 Corinthians 10:19-20 that “what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God.” Paul understands that an idol is nothing. And yet, behind idol worship is the worship of demons.
This enslavement is characterized by spiritual death, captivity to the world, the devil and sinful nature, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:1-3 (cf Romans 6).
This is the condition of us all prior to our conversion. Paul says the Thessalonians, who “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess 1:9-10).
When were we enslaved?
Paul says here that they were enslaved “when you did not know God.” Our slavery is characterized by not knowing God.
In fact, we could argue that this is the reason for our slavery. At the root of our sinful condition is a heart that does not “know” God in a true and intimate fashion.
Paul writes in Romans 1 (18-23) what can be known about God is revealed in nature, but we take this knowledge of God and exchange it. Instead of worshiping him, we worship ourselves and created things. This sin makes us worthy of God’s wrath, which he reveals by turning us over to enslavement (24-25):
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
A failure to “know God” results in slavery to “no gods.”
Application – Before we continue, let’s ask a few questions of self-examination.
1) Are you enslaved?
Can you see the truth of your condition? This is the condition that we are all born in. We are born idol-worshipers. We are born giving our worship to what is not God. Therefore, we are all in need of redemption.
Paul writes, in verse 8, “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.”
Paul begins by referring to their pre-conversion condition, before they “knew God.” Before they had faith in Christ, they were “enslaved.”
Who is enslaved?
This shows us that every human being is enslaved, regardless of their ethnicity. Despite radically different pre-Christian experiences for Jews and Gentiles, both were enslaved before they believed God’s saving promises.
In Galatians 3, Paul noted that, for the Jews, their time under the law was marked by slavery to sin. And the Galatians, who did not have the law, were also enslaved.
What this means is: ethnicity, culture, and even religious education do not matter – we are all born slaves.
To what are we enslaved?
Paul writes, “you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.” “Not gods” is a Jewish expression for idols, and for the demons that lie behind idols.
Paul knew that idols were nothing; they are not really gods. But, Paul also knew that behind idols were demonic forces that had real enslaving power. Nevertheless, despite their power, Paul refuses to call them actual “gods.” He wants to reserve that word for the one true God.
Consider the history of Israel. They were mistaken if they thought they were free from slavery when the corpses of Egyptian soldiers washed up on the shores of the Red Sea.
Moses describes Israel’s behavior in Deuteronomy 32, by writing, “They sacrificed to demons that were no gods…” “No gods” – That is the same term Paul uses for what the Galatians were enslaved to. And what were these “no gods?” Moses calls them “demons.” When Israel failed to believe God’s promises and worshiped idols, they were worshiping demons.
Paul sees the same enslavement in the Galatians’ past idol worship. Paul does not give us details of what precise religion they practiced. But, it does not matter. Any idol worship is demonic enslavement.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 8:4-6, that he knows that “an idol has no real existence;” they are “so-called gods.” And yet, he writes in 1 Corinthians 10:19-20 that “what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God.” Paul understands that an idol is nothing. And yet, behind idol worship is the worship of demons.
This enslavement is characterized by spiritual death, captivity to the world, the devil and sinful nature, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:1-3 (cf Romans 6).
This is the condition of us all prior to our conversion. Paul says the Thessalonians, who “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess 1:9-10).
When were we enslaved?
Paul says here that they were enslaved “when you did not know God.” Our slavery is characterized by not knowing God.
In fact, we could argue that this is the reason for our slavery. At the root of our sinful condition is a heart that does not “know” God in a true and intimate fashion.
Paul writes in Romans 1 (18-23) what can be known about God is revealed in nature, but we take this knowledge of God and exchange it. Instead of worshiping him, we worship ourselves and created things. This sin makes us worthy of God’s wrath, which he reveals by turning us over to enslavement (24-25):
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
A failure to “know God” results in slavery to “no gods.”
Application – Before we continue, let’s ask a few questions of self-examination.
1) Are you enslaved?
Can you see the truth of your condition? This is the condition that we are all born in. We are born idol-worshipers. We are born giving our worship to what is not God. Therefore, we are all in need of redemption.
You are enslaved to whatever rules you. The apostle Peter writes (2 Peter 2:19), “whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.”
Examine yourself. What rules you? What drives your life? Where do you find your value? What makes you tick? Is it the glory of God, or something else?
Perhaps you are ruled by the pursuit of your own reputation, by the opinion of others. Or by the pursuit of pleasure. Or, by perfectionism, the self-righteous belief that you can make yourself good enough for God.
2) Believer—How do you view unbelievers? Do you think of them as enemies? As objects of scorn to mock and hate? As people to look down upon for being weaker or foolish in comparison to you?
Or, do you view unbelievers with compassion and sympathy? Do you see them as those who are enslaved, even as you once were?
Are you humbled by the thought that you were enslaved before you knew God?
Truth #2 – We are set free from slavery by the knowledge of God.Paul continues in verse 9, “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God…”
“But now” – the slavery no longer exists for them because a change has occurred. Paul reminds them of their former life versus their new life “in Christ.”
“But now that you have come to know God” – Just as slavery to “not gods” is characterized by not knowing God, redemption and conversion are characterized by coming to know God.
What does it mean to “know” God?When the Bible speaks of one person “knowing” another person, it rarely if ever refers to a mere intellectual comprehension of facts.
Paul’s use of “know” here reflects that Hebrew background. In Hebrew thought, to “know” a person meant to come into an intimate, affectionate (and often, covenant) relationship with them.
So, the first time the word is used in the Old Testament for one person knowing another is Genesis 4:1, “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain.” Mere intellectual comprehension of facts about a woman does not cause her to conceive and bear a child. Obviously, “know” here means that Adam entered into the very intimate and affectionate relationship that characterizes the covenant relationship of marriage; the two became one flesh.
When God is said to “know” someone, it often refers to his covenant love for them and his choice of them to be his people (cf. Gen 18:18; Jer 1:5).
So, in Amos 3:2, the Lord says to Israel, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” What does that mean, the Lord knew only Israel? Didn’t the Lord know about the Canaanites, the Egyptians, the Assyrians? Of course, he knew about those other nations. But, Israel was the only nation the Lord had chosen, had set his covenant affection upon, and loved with a special love.
We “Know” GodSo, when we’re converted, we “come to know God.” That is, we come into a new personal, intimate, covenantal relationship with the Lord.
We come to know God as Father, for “in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God (3:26). And “because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (4:6).
This comes through Jesus Christ, who came to redeem us (4:5), and thus we are no longer slaves but sons (4:7). Jesus is the ultimate, true “Son of God.” And yet he took on the form of a slave, he was born “under the law,” as a full human being. He lived in full obedience, and then took the punishment that enslaved rebels deserved. He was cursed for our sin in his crucifixion. Then he rose from the dead, signally his victory over slavery, over sin, death and the devil.
Those who turn from their sins and trust in Christ are united with him. We are reckoned righteous and adopted as sons, set free from slavery to sin and the devil. Through the Son, the Spirit is poured into our hearts so that we come to know and love God as our Father.
One of the results of conversion is that we have a new love. We no longer fear God as an angry judge, but we love him as a Father.
And we have a new Lord. We no longer live enslaved sin and our flesh and the devil. We are freed sons, who are growing to look like their Father as the Spirit conforms us into the image of our older, perfect Brother, the firstborn of many brothers.
Examine YourselfDoes that describe you? Do you “know” the Lord? One of the marks that we have been saved and set free from our enslavement is a true “knowledge” of God.
How do you relate to God? As an angry judge and task-master or as loving Father?
Do you hate God? Do you detest and fear God? Do you view God as a liar or a cruel tyrant who is out to ruin your joy and keep you from pleasure? Do you wish that God did not exist?
Or, do you love God? Do you have affections for God? Do you delight in God’s Fatherhood, in your standing in Christ? Does the Spirit cry out in your heart, “Abba! Father!”
The Priority of God’s Knowledge“or rather to be known by God” – As wonderful as the thought is that we know God, there is something more wonderful still. And so, Paul catches himself, mid-sentence, and puts the emphasis where it belongs.
“or rather” –There is a relationship between us knowing God and God knowing us. Paul puts the emphasis on the latter, on God knowing us.
What does it mean to be “known by God?” It means that God chooses us to be his people; he sets his covenantal affection upon us. That is what it means in Romans 8:29:
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
God knew, he “set his covenant affection, covenant love upon,” some people before they existed. And these he predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus, to be called, justified and glorified.
And here, in Galatians 4, Paul emphasizes that we have come to know God because he knew us first. God is the one who initiates the relationship of knowledge. We have come to know God—but rather, a better way of putting it is, we have come to be known by God. We love because he first loved us.
This should humble us. The basis is in God and not in man’s seeking, knowing or doing. Redemption is the work of the Lord, not of man.
This should cause us to worship God and rest in grace. We could not free ourselves. God did not redeem us because of anything we were or anything we did.
Grace is annulled when salvation is deserved. That is why our statement of faith so strongly emphasizes God’s grace. It states: “Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners” (BFM, 2000). Everything we are, including our being free lovers of God, flows from the priority of God’s love for us.
And Paul reminds those who are tempted to earn favor with God by works of law that salvation is a work of the Lord.
Applications – Before we move on, let’s do some more self-examination:
1) We should examine our comprehension of God’s love for us. Often we examine our spiritual state by our love for God or by our obedience to God. And both those can be good. Scripture encourages us to examine both.
But, we should examine our grasp of the fact that God has known us, loved us. This fact has the priority in Paul’s argument, and it should have priority in our hearts. Do you rejoice in the fact that you have “come to be known by God?”
2) Meditate much on the fact that this knowledge sets us free from sin and idolatry. Paul is concerned with them going “back” into the slavery they were in when they “did not know God.” This implies they have been freed from it. And they were freed from it when they “came to know God.”
Knowledge of God—the intimate, affectionate, adoptive, familial, covenant relationship we have with God through union with Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit—is what ends slavery to idols, demons, death, the world and sin.
Their former pagan religion never freed anyone from sin and death. The Law of Moses never freed anyone from sin and death.
Those who truly want to be free (or help others be free) from sin, death and the devil must learn to live in the knowledge of God in Christ. When you are struggling with sin and temptation—prayerfully meditate on the fact of God’s love for you when you were a slave! Develop a love for God by prayerful, Christ-centered study of the Scripture. Only such a love frees us from the sin that enslaves us.
Truth #3 – Believers are often tempted to return to slavery.Reflecting on the glorious truth of God’s freeing love, Paul writes with astonishment in verses 9-10 “…how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years!”
Paul writes, “how can you.” With such a great conversion and such knowledge of the one true God as Father through union with the Son and the presence of the Spirit, Paul finds their desire to return to slavery absolutely inexplicable! It is an absurd trade.
He asks how they can “turn back.” That word used most frequently in the New Testament for conversion. Peter uses it to refer to returning to one’s former filth, to renouncing the faith (2 Peter 2:22). Paul uses it here to say that they are “converting back,” returning to paganism. They are essentially leaving the Gospel.
They are “turning back” to the “weak and worthless elementary principles.” “Elementary principles” is the phase Paul used to refer to the Mosaic Law back in verse 3. But here, he applies it to the “not gods,” the demonic powers that enslaved them prior to their conversion.
These principles are “weak and worthless.” They do not possess any power or worth in terms of having a standing before God. They will not profit the Galatians, which is why Paul is so astonished.
And Paul continues, “whose slave you want to be.” He says they “want to be slaves” to these principles.
Did they really want to be slaves? No, they probably thought they were heading into greater freedom. But, what they desired was slavery (or enslaving), even if they didn’t realize it.
And, Paul states they want to be slaves to them “once more.” Once more implies they’re going back to the something they were enslaved to before. What does that mean?
How were the Galatians returning to slavery?Paul describes their slavery in verse 10 – “You observe days and months and seasons and years!” This means that they had already begun to observe the Jewish religious calendar, proscribed in the Law of Moses. This probably corresponds to the list Paul gives in Colossians 2:16-17:
Examine yourself. What rules you? What drives your life? Where do you find your value? What makes you tick? Is it the glory of God, or something else?
Perhaps you are ruled by the pursuit of your own reputation, by the opinion of others. Or by the pursuit of pleasure. Or, by perfectionism, the self-righteous belief that you can make yourself good enough for God.
2) Believer—How do you view unbelievers? Do you think of them as enemies? As objects of scorn to mock and hate? As people to look down upon for being weaker or foolish in comparison to you?
Or, do you view unbelievers with compassion and sympathy? Do you see them as those who are enslaved, even as you once were?
Are you humbled by the thought that you were enslaved before you knew God?
Truth #2 – We are set free from slavery by the knowledge of God.Paul continues in verse 9, “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God…”
“But now” – the slavery no longer exists for them because a change has occurred. Paul reminds them of their former life versus their new life “in Christ.”
“But now that you have come to know God” – Just as slavery to “not gods” is characterized by not knowing God, redemption and conversion are characterized by coming to know God.
What does it mean to “know” God?When the Bible speaks of one person “knowing” another person, it rarely if ever refers to a mere intellectual comprehension of facts.
Paul’s use of “know” here reflects that Hebrew background. In Hebrew thought, to “know” a person meant to come into an intimate, affectionate (and often, covenant) relationship with them.
So, the first time the word is used in the Old Testament for one person knowing another is Genesis 4:1, “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain.” Mere intellectual comprehension of facts about a woman does not cause her to conceive and bear a child. Obviously, “know” here means that Adam entered into the very intimate and affectionate relationship that characterizes the covenant relationship of marriage; the two became one flesh.
When God is said to “know” someone, it often refers to his covenant love for them and his choice of them to be his people (cf. Gen 18:18; Jer 1:5).
So, in Amos 3:2, the Lord says to Israel, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” What does that mean, the Lord knew only Israel? Didn’t the Lord know about the Canaanites, the Egyptians, the Assyrians? Of course, he knew about those other nations. But, Israel was the only nation the Lord had chosen, had set his covenant affection upon, and loved with a special love.
We “Know” GodSo, when we’re converted, we “come to know God.” That is, we come into a new personal, intimate, covenantal relationship with the Lord.
We come to know God as Father, for “in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God (3:26). And “because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (4:6).
This comes through Jesus Christ, who came to redeem us (4:5), and thus we are no longer slaves but sons (4:7). Jesus is the ultimate, true “Son of God.” And yet he took on the form of a slave, he was born “under the law,” as a full human being. He lived in full obedience, and then took the punishment that enslaved rebels deserved. He was cursed for our sin in his crucifixion. Then he rose from the dead, signally his victory over slavery, over sin, death and the devil.
Those who turn from their sins and trust in Christ are united with him. We are reckoned righteous and adopted as sons, set free from slavery to sin and the devil. Through the Son, the Spirit is poured into our hearts so that we come to know and love God as our Father.
One of the results of conversion is that we have a new love. We no longer fear God as an angry judge, but we love him as a Father.
And we have a new Lord. We no longer live enslaved sin and our flesh and the devil. We are freed sons, who are growing to look like their Father as the Spirit conforms us into the image of our older, perfect Brother, the firstborn of many brothers.
Examine YourselfDoes that describe you? Do you “know” the Lord? One of the marks that we have been saved and set free from our enslavement is a true “knowledge” of God.
How do you relate to God? As an angry judge and task-master or as loving Father?
Do you hate God? Do you detest and fear God? Do you view God as a liar or a cruel tyrant who is out to ruin your joy and keep you from pleasure? Do you wish that God did not exist?
Or, do you love God? Do you have affections for God? Do you delight in God’s Fatherhood, in your standing in Christ? Does the Spirit cry out in your heart, “Abba! Father!”
The Priority of God’s Knowledge“or rather to be known by God” – As wonderful as the thought is that we know God, there is something more wonderful still. And so, Paul catches himself, mid-sentence, and puts the emphasis where it belongs.
“or rather” –There is a relationship between us knowing God and God knowing us. Paul puts the emphasis on the latter, on God knowing us.
What does it mean to be “known by God?” It means that God chooses us to be his people; he sets his covenantal affection upon us. That is what it means in Romans 8:29:
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
God knew, he “set his covenant affection, covenant love upon,” some people before they existed. And these he predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus, to be called, justified and glorified.
And here, in Galatians 4, Paul emphasizes that we have come to know God because he knew us first. God is the one who initiates the relationship of knowledge. We have come to know God—but rather, a better way of putting it is, we have come to be known by God. We love because he first loved us.
This should humble us. The basis is in God and not in man’s seeking, knowing or doing. Redemption is the work of the Lord, not of man.
This should cause us to worship God and rest in grace. We could not free ourselves. God did not redeem us because of anything we were or anything we did.
Grace is annulled when salvation is deserved. That is why our statement of faith so strongly emphasizes God’s grace. It states: “Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners” (BFM, 2000). Everything we are, including our being free lovers of God, flows from the priority of God’s love for us.
And Paul reminds those who are tempted to earn favor with God by works of law that salvation is a work of the Lord.
Applications – Before we move on, let’s do some more self-examination:
1) We should examine our comprehension of God’s love for us. Often we examine our spiritual state by our love for God or by our obedience to God. And both those can be good. Scripture encourages us to examine both.
But, we should examine our grasp of the fact that God has known us, loved us. This fact has the priority in Paul’s argument, and it should have priority in our hearts. Do you rejoice in the fact that you have “come to be known by God?”
2) Meditate much on the fact that this knowledge sets us free from sin and idolatry. Paul is concerned with them going “back” into the slavery they were in when they “did not know God.” This implies they have been freed from it. And they were freed from it when they “came to know God.”
Knowledge of God—the intimate, affectionate, adoptive, familial, covenant relationship we have with God through union with Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit—is what ends slavery to idols, demons, death, the world and sin.
Their former pagan religion never freed anyone from sin and death. The Law of Moses never freed anyone from sin and death.
Those who truly want to be free (or help others be free) from sin, death and the devil must learn to live in the knowledge of God in Christ. When you are struggling with sin and temptation—prayerfully meditate on the fact of God’s love for you when you were a slave! Develop a love for God by prayerful, Christ-centered study of the Scripture. Only such a love frees us from the sin that enslaves us.
Truth #3 – Believers are often tempted to return to slavery.Reflecting on the glorious truth of God’s freeing love, Paul writes with astonishment in verses 9-10 “…how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years!”
Paul writes, “how can you.” With such a great conversion and such knowledge of the one true God as Father through union with the Son and the presence of the Spirit, Paul finds their desire to return to slavery absolutely inexplicable! It is an absurd trade.
He asks how they can “turn back.” That word used most frequently in the New Testament for conversion. Peter uses it to refer to returning to one’s former filth, to renouncing the faith (2 Peter 2:22). Paul uses it here to say that they are “converting back,” returning to paganism. They are essentially leaving the Gospel.
They are “turning back” to the “weak and worthless elementary principles.” “Elementary principles” is the phase Paul used to refer to the Mosaic Law back in verse 3. But here, he applies it to the “not gods,” the demonic powers that enslaved them prior to their conversion.
These principles are “weak and worthless.” They do not possess any power or worth in terms of having a standing before God. They will not profit the Galatians, which is why Paul is so astonished.
And Paul continues, “whose slave you want to be.” He says they “want to be slaves” to these principles.
Did they really want to be slaves? No, they probably thought they were heading into greater freedom. But, what they desired was slavery (or enslaving), even if they didn’t realize it.
And, Paul states they want to be slaves to them “once more.” Once more implies they’re going back to the something they were enslaved to before. What does that mean?
How were the Galatians returning to slavery?Paul describes their slavery in verse 10 – “You observe days and months and seasons and years!” This means that they had already begun to observe the Jewish religious calendar, proscribed in the Law of Moses. This probably corresponds to the list Paul gives in Colossians 2:16-17:
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
“Days” refers to Sabbath days. “Months” refers to monthly recurring events, such as new moons. “Seasons” refers to the great Jewish feasts and festivals. And, “years” refers to Sabbath years, part of the Sabbath system
These were all good things for Jews while the Mosaic Covenant was in effect. But they were shadows. The substance has arrived in Jesus Christ. It is wrong to run back to the shadow when the reality has arrived.
Slavery under Mosaic LawSo, we can conclude that the Galatians were returning to slavery by living under the Mosaic Covenant.
This is what they were “wanting.” In verse 9, Paul wrote, “whose slaves you want to be once more.” The same root word for “want” shows up in verse 21, where Paul writes, “You who desire [want] to be under the law…” The use of the same word should form a connection in our mind. “Whose slaves you want to be once more…you who want to be under the law.”
So, the situation is that they have already begun their descent back into slavery, in process of “turning back to the weak and worthless elementary principles.” This began with their acceptance of the Jewish calendar. But, they weren’t “all in” (or, all under) yet. They were still flirting with the idea of circumcision. (Paul will warn them against accepting it in 5:3.)
These were being imposed on them as an obligation, as a requirement to have a right standing before God, not merely a cultural custom.
And Paul is saying that this path is the path to slavery. This is an astonishing claim for an ex-Pharisee to make!!! But, as F.F. Bruce points out, this is not exaggeration in the heat of the moment, but a deliberate expression of a carefully thought out position.
How does this make any sense?They were not under the Mosaic Law before. They were pagans who worshiped false gods. They are not literally going back to their pagan, pre-Christ idols. They are wanting to be “under the law.”
They are viewing adherence to the Mosaic Covenant as the basis and substance of their relationship to God, rather than Christ.
So, Paul concludes that going “under the law” for your relationship with God (and not out of mere cultural custom) is no different that begin enslaved to “not gods.”
Are the Mosaic Law and paganism the same thing?No, they are not qualitatively the same. They are very different. The Mosaic Covenant was a good, righteous, holy revelation of his will for Israel as a nation. Paganism is a demonic, false, sinful, evil system of worshiping and serving “not gods.”
Nevertheless, from the standpoint of being “in Christ,” they are the same, for two reasons:
First, both of them existed “before faith.” The Mosaic Law was given after the promise, until Christ came. It belonged to the period “before Christ.” In the same fashion, their paganism belonged to the period before they came to Christ. Going to either of them is equal to reverting to pre-Christian stance.
Second, neither provided freedom or inheritance (apart from faith in Christ). The Mosaic Law did not provide Israel with freedom or with an inheritance. Paul argued in chapter 3 that it increased the trespasses and imprisoned them under sin. Likewise, paganism imprisoned them under sinful desires, providing no sin and no inheritance. Therefore, leaving faith in Christ to return to either is a return to slavery.
The Galatians probably saw the Law as a means of bringing their faith to perfection, working out their salvation. They likely saw it as a protection, a fence to keep them from relapsing into their former paganism.
But, Paul calls it returning to paganism.
What lesson do we take from Paul’s shocking statement?
In his commentary, Richard Longenecker comments, “For Paul…whatever leads one away from sole reliance upon Christ, whether based on good intentions or depraved desires, is sub-Christian and therefore to be condemned.”
Application – What can we take from this third truth?
1) Let’s notice that even genuine Christians can be drawn into slavery, at least for a time. Paul still speaks of the Galatians as believers. And yet, he sees that they are tempted back to slavery, and have even begun the descent. This should call us to alertness and steadfastness to guard the good deposit of the Gospel, to keep watch over ourselves lest we be tempted to fall away.
2) Beware of desiring what would only be slavery!
How are we tempted to return to slavery?
1) One way we can be tempted into slavery is through the wrong use of good gifts. The Law of Moses was a very good gift. It is Scripture, God-breathed, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, as all Scripture is. But, as Paul says in 1 Timothy 1, the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully.
The Galatians were using the Law as the basis for their standing with God. And, by implication, stating that union with Christ by faith was insufficient.
All of God’s good gifts can be used by Satan to enslave us through improper use, especially when they are used in addition to or replacement of Christ. Perhaps you are being tempted with enslavement to sex or alcohol or food or work or exercise or entertainment. All of those are good things, if they are used in the right ways in the right places. But, they can enslave us too.
2) Another temptation to slavery is fear of man. We can be enslaved by our desire to be well thought of by others.
In chapter 1, the Galatians seemed to be tempted to be swayed by the associations the false teachers have. They are claiming to speak on behalf of “the pillars” from the big church in the big city, for “those seemed influential.” But Paul says, “what they were makes no difference to me.” And, whether another gospel is preached by him or by an angel from heaven, they shouldn’t listen. They should hold fast to the one true Gospel.
In our next passage, Paul will say that the false teachers goal is that “you may make much of them” (4:17). And in 6:13, Paul says they don’t even keep the law, “but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.” What was motivating the Judaizers was the fear of man. They wanted to look good in the eyes of others.
Perhaps you are tempted to be enslaved by the fear of man. Perhaps you have a father or mother, a son or daughter, a spouse, a friend, a pastor or a favorite teacher who holds to a theological position or practice—and your goal is to make them happy by falling in line with them. Are you, like Paul, willing to renounce any and all, even “an angel from heaven,” to stand on the truth of Scripture alone?
It is possible to hold an entirely correct theological system and be enslaved to a “not god.” It is possible to hold to correct doctrines and practice because you fear men and not Christ. It is possible to rest in your orthodoxy and not in God’s love for you in Christ.
3) We should see the temptation to be enslaved by religion and formalism.The Galatians were tempted to add a religious system to their faith in Christ. We can be too.
J.C. Ryle, in his work “Formalism,” quotes the Puritan Thomas Hall, who wrote in 1658, “Formalism, formalism, formalism is the great sin of this day, under which the whole country groans.”
These were all good things for Jews while the Mosaic Covenant was in effect. But they were shadows. The substance has arrived in Jesus Christ. It is wrong to run back to the shadow when the reality has arrived.
Slavery under Mosaic LawSo, we can conclude that the Galatians were returning to slavery by living under the Mosaic Covenant.
This is what they were “wanting.” In verse 9, Paul wrote, “whose slaves you want to be once more.” The same root word for “want” shows up in verse 21, where Paul writes, “You who desire [want] to be under the law…” The use of the same word should form a connection in our mind. “Whose slaves you want to be once more…you who want to be under the law.”
So, the situation is that they have already begun their descent back into slavery, in process of “turning back to the weak and worthless elementary principles.” This began with their acceptance of the Jewish calendar. But, they weren’t “all in” (or, all under) yet. They were still flirting with the idea of circumcision. (Paul will warn them against accepting it in 5:3.)
These were being imposed on them as an obligation, as a requirement to have a right standing before God, not merely a cultural custom.
And Paul is saying that this path is the path to slavery. This is an astonishing claim for an ex-Pharisee to make!!! But, as F.F. Bruce points out, this is not exaggeration in the heat of the moment, but a deliberate expression of a carefully thought out position.
How does this make any sense?They were not under the Mosaic Law before. They were pagans who worshiped false gods. They are not literally going back to their pagan, pre-Christ idols. They are wanting to be “under the law.”
They are viewing adherence to the Mosaic Covenant as the basis and substance of their relationship to God, rather than Christ.
So, Paul concludes that going “under the law” for your relationship with God (and not out of mere cultural custom) is no different that begin enslaved to “not gods.”
Are the Mosaic Law and paganism the same thing?No, they are not qualitatively the same. They are very different. The Mosaic Covenant was a good, righteous, holy revelation of his will for Israel as a nation. Paganism is a demonic, false, sinful, evil system of worshiping and serving “not gods.”
Nevertheless, from the standpoint of being “in Christ,” they are the same, for two reasons:
First, both of them existed “before faith.” The Mosaic Law was given after the promise, until Christ came. It belonged to the period “before Christ.” In the same fashion, their paganism belonged to the period before they came to Christ. Going to either of them is equal to reverting to pre-Christian stance.
Second, neither provided freedom or inheritance (apart from faith in Christ). The Mosaic Law did not provide Israel with freedom or with an inheritance. Paul argued in chapter 3 that it increased the trespasses and imprisoned them under sin. Likewise, paganism imprisoned them under sinful desires, providing no sin and no inheritance. Therefore, leaving faith in Christ to return to either is a return to slavery.
The Galatians probably saw the Law as a means of bringing their faith to perfection, working out their salvation. They likely saw it as a protection, a fence to keep them from relapsing into their former paganism.
But, Paul calls it returning to paganism.
What lesson do we take from Paul’s shocking statement?
In his commentary, Richard Longenecker comments, “For Paul…whatever leads one away from sole reliance upon Christ, whether based on good intentions or depraved desires, is sub-Christian and therefore to be condemned.”
Application – What can we take from this third truth?
1) Let’s notice that even genuine Christians can be drawn into slavery, at least for a time. Paul still speaks of the Galatians as believers. And yet, he sees that they are tempted back to slavery, and have even begun the descent. This should call us to alertness and steadfastness to guard the good deposit of the Gospel, to keep watch over ourselves lest we be tempted to fall away.
2) Beware of desiring what would only be slavery!
How are we tempted to return to slavery?
1) One way we can be tempted into slavery is through the wrong use of good gifts. The Law of Moses was a very good gift. It is Scripture, God-breathed, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, as all Scripture is. But, as Paul says in 1 Timothy 1, the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully.
The Galatians were using the Law as the basis for their standing with God. And, by implication, stating that union with Christ by faith was insufficient.
All of God’s good gifts can be used by Satan to enslave us through improper use, especially when they are used in addition to or replacement of Christ. Perhaps you are being tempted with enslavement to sex or alcohol or food or work or exercise or entertainment. All of those are good things, if they are used in the right ways in the right places. But, they can enslave us too.
2) Another temptation to slavery is fear of man. We can be enslaved by our desire to be well thought of by others.
In chapter 1, the Galatians seemed to be tempted to be swayed by the associations the false teachers have. They are claiming to speak on behalf of “the pillars” from the big church in the big city, for “those seemed influential.” But Paul says, “what they were makes no difference to me.” And, whether another gospel is preached by him or by an angel from heaven, they shouldn’t listen. They should hold fast to the one true Gospel.
In our next passage, Paul will say that the false teachers goal is that “you may make much of them” (4:17). And in 6:13, Paul says they don’t even keep the law, “but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.” What was motivating the Judaizers was the fear of man. They wanted to look good in the eyes of others.
Perhaps you are tempted to be enslaved by the fear of man. Perhaps you have a father or mother, a son or daughter, a spouse, a friend, a pastor or a favorite teacher who holds to a theological position or practice—and your goal is to make them happy by falling in line with them. Are you, like Paul, willing to renounce any and all, even “an angel from heaven,” to stand on the truth of Scripture alone?
It is possible to hold an entirely correct theological system and be enslaved to a “not god.” It is possible to hold to correct doctrines and practice because you fear men and not Christ. It is possible to rest in your orthodoxy and not in God’s love for you in Christ.
3) We should see the temptation to be enslaved by religion and formalism.The Galatians were tempted to add a religious system to their faith in Christ. We can be too.
J.C. Ryle, in his work “Formalism,” quotes the Puritan Thomas Hall, who wrote in 1658, “Formalism, formalism, formalism is the great sin of this day, under which the whole country groans.”
Formalism is the belief (conscious or not) that the “form” of our worship gains us some standing with God. This is an especially dangerous form of enslavement because it looks religious, pious and sincere. Forms can be good things, and so the danger of enslavement is hidden from us. J.C. Ryle writes (both Ryle quotes cited in Moody, No Other Gospel):
Formalism may take your hand with a smile, and look like a brother, while sin comes against us with drawn sword, and strikes at us like an enemy. But both have one end in view. Both want to ruin our souls; and of the two, formalism is the one most likely to do it. If we love life, let us beware of formalism in religion.
But beware of thinking that formalism is only the temptation of those with forms other than yours. Formalism can enslave us on many fronts.
We can be enslaved to old forms and new forms, and the belief that we have no forms.
We can be enslaved to our form of music, whether new or old, fast or slow.
We can be enslaved to our form of liturgy, whether strict or structureless.
We can be enslaved to our traditions. We may not be tempted to keep the Jewish calendar. But, would you think something deficient in the faith of a person or church that does nothing to observe “Christmas” or “Easter?”
How can I tell if I’m tempted by formalism? If my form replaces my faith, I’m tempted to slavery. If I feel right with God because I’ve kept my form, or wrong because I haven’t; I am not relating to God by faith in Christ.
If my form ruins my fellowship, I’m tempted to slavery. If extra-biblical forms prevent me from fellowshipping with the people of God who love and trust in Christ; I’m not basing my relationship with God’s people on our common identity in Christ. This can happen as much in the insistence of one form as it can in the rejection of another.
How do we resist the temptation to return to slavery?
1) Understand the Gospel. Paul could have simply told the Galatians, “Look, I’m an apostle. I’m one of the ‘higher up’s’ in the church. I get the theology. What you need to know is this: don’t get circumcised.” But he didn’t. He launches into a fairly complex, lengthy theological argument (which even Peter says are hard to understand). And he does it because he apparently believes that is one means of keeping them in the faith and out of danger.
Do not underestimate the soul-freeing, sin-killing, slavery-resisting power of theology! Study! Read! Meditate! Think! All with prayer and faith.
2) Remember who and what you were and are.John Stott writes:
We can be enslaved to old forms and new forms, and the belief that we have no forms.
We can be enslaved to our form of music, whether new or old, fast or slow.
We can be enslaved to our form of liturgy, whether strict or structureless.
We can be enslaved to our traditions. We may not be tempted to keep the Jewish calendar. But, would you think something deficient in the faith of a person or church that does nothing to observe “Christmas” or “Easter?”
How can I tell if I’m tempted by formalism? If my form replaces my faith, I’m tempted to slavery. If I feel right with God because I’ve kept my form, or wrong because I haven’t; I am not relating to God by faith in Christ.
If my form ruins my fellowship, I’m tempted to slavery. If extra-biblical forms prevent me from fellowshipping with the people of God who love and trust in Christ; I’m not basing my relationship with God’s people on our common identity in Christ. This can happen as much in the insistence of one form as it can in the rejection of another.
How do we resist the temptation to return to slavery?
1) Understand the Gospel. Paul could have simply told the Galatians, “Look, I’m an apostle. I’m one of the ‘higher up’s’ in the church. I get the theology. What you need to know is this: don’t get circumcised.” But he didn’t. He launches into a fairly complex, lengthy theological argument (which even Peter says are hard to understand). And he does it because he apparently believes that is one means of keeping them in the faith and out of danger.
Do not underestimate the soul-freeing, sin-killing, slavery-resisting power of theology! Study! Read! Meditate! Think! All with prayer and faith.
2) Remember who and what you were and are.John Stott writes:
The way to live the Christian life is to remember who and what we are. The essence of Paul’s message here is: ‘Once you were slaves. Now you are sons. So how can you revert to the old slavery?’
There is a great deal of sin-killing, soul-freeing, slavery-resisting profit to be had from disciplining yourself to meditate on who you were before Christ, what it means that God knows you, who you are as a “son of God” “in Christ”—and that it all happened by grace through faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you.
Give me a church whose first priority, individually and corporately, is to prayerfully meditate on who and what they were before Christ, are in Christ and how it happened, and I will give you a free church that will do great things and change the world.
3) Heed the warnings of Scripture.One of the means that God has ordained to keep his people from falling back into slavery is warnings of what will happen if they do. This brings us to our fourth truth.
Truth #4 – Genuine faith will, in the end, persevere in freedom.Paul worries in verse 11, “I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.”
Their desire to be under law, to revert to slavery, raised a question in Paul’s mind as to their salvation. It raised a question as to whether his ministry of preaching the Gospel had produced any fruit.
If they take their place “under the law” in order to be right with God, then they are choosing to depart from being “in Christ.” And, in that case, Paul’s labors in evangelism have all been in vain.
If they professed faith for a little while, and then moved on to another system, there was no salvation. Paul’s ministry had not accomplished what he labored to accomplish.
True Conversion PerseveresWhat we see here is this: Genuine conversion is not something that happens once in the past, with no lasting effects. Genuine conversion is not a decision that you make at Bible camp when you are 8 and abandon for the rest of your days to live like a heathen (or a religious legalist).
Genuine conversion evidences itself in a faith that continues to the end. Paul assumes their profession of faith and his labor amongst them are “in vain” if they do not persevere.
Paul said in Galatians 1 that whoever preaches a different Gospel is accursed, because a curse is all that anything outside the Gospel brings.
Paul asked in Galatians 3:4, “Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?” There was no use in their having suffered for the gospel if, in the end, they leave it.
For, in Galatians 3:10, he said that “as many as are of works of law are under a curse.” To take their place under law and not “in Christ,” is to receive a curse. For Paul will say in Galatians 5:2-4:
Give me a church whose first priority, individually and corporately, is to prayerfully meditate on who and what they were before Christ, are in Christ and how it happened, and I will give you a free church that will do great things and change the world.
3) Heed the warnings of Scripture.One of the means that God has ordained to keep his people from falling back into slavery is warnings of what will happen if they do. This brings us to our fourth truth.
Truth #4 – Genuine faith will, in the end, persevere in freedom.Paul worries in verse 11, “I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.”
Their desire to be under law, to revert to slavery, raised a question in Paul’s mind as to their salvation. It raised a question as to whether his ministry of preaching the Gospel had produced any fruit.
If they take their place “under the law” in order to be right with God, then they are choosing to depart from being “in Christ.” And, in that case, Paul’s labors in evangelism have all been in vain.
If they professed faith for a little while, and then moved on to another system, there was no salvation. Paul’s ministry had not accomplished what he labored to accomplish.
True Conversion PerseveresWhat we see here is this: Genuine conversion is not something that happens once in the past, with no lasting effects. Genuine conversion is not a decision that you make at Bible camp when you are 8 and abandon for the rest of your days to live like a heathen (or a religious legalist).
Genuine conversion evidences itself in a faith that continues to the end. Paul assumes their profession of faith and his labor amongst them are “in vain” if they do not persevere.
Paul said in Galatians 1 that whoever preaches a different Gospel is accursed, because a curse is all that anything outside the Gospel brings.
Paul asked in Galatians 3:4, “Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?” There was no use in their having suffered for the gospel if, in the end, they leave it.
For, in Galatians 3:10, he said that “as many as are of works of law are under a curse.” To take their place under law and not “in Christ,” is to receive a curse. For Paul will say in Galatians 5:2-4:
Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.
The only saving faith is a persevering faith.
This shows us that the grace of God is never a license to sin.This is why Paul will place so much emphasis on how we live in Galatians 5-6. Christ did not set us free so that we could return to slavery. Our freedom is not an opportunity for the flesh. Instead, it is a glorious opportunity to love and serve each other.
Thus, we should “labor” like Paul did for the Gospel. We should carefully restore those who are caught in sin, restore them to the freedom they have through faith in Christ.
ConclusionBrothers and sisters, before faith in Christ, we were enslaved to idols, sin and death. But through faith in Christ we have come to know God—or even better, to be known by God. Let us never, ever go back into any slavery. Trust in Jesus. Little children, keep yourself from idols.
This shows us that the grace of God is never a license to sin.This is why Paul will place so much emphasis on how we live in Galatians 5-6. Christ did not set us free so that we could return to slavery. Our freedom is not an opportunity for the flesh. Instead, it is a glorious opportunity to love and serve each other.
Thus, we should “labor” like Paul did for the Gospel. We should carefully restore those who are caught in sin, restore them to the freedom they have through faith in Christ.
ConclusionBrothers and sisters, before faith in Christ, we were enslaved to idols, sin and death. But through faith in Christ we have come to know God—or even better, to be known by God. Let us never, ever go back into any slavery. Trust in Jesus. Little children, keep yourself from idols.
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