Children of God

Galatians 3:26 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Being a son is the highest stature God has promised us. This position is not just for enjoyment and authority but a huge responsibility to hold. Here in this verse, despite their acceptance of traditions along with grace and Paul’s disappointment over them, Paul still calls all of them as Sons of God. This is an encouragement to us. Baptism brings us to a protection that we are sons who God would discipline.

This is made possible only because we are baptized into Christ and have put on Christ. Baptism is a representation of our faith because, we believe in Him to give us a new life and submit ourselves completely allowing all our previous life to die. This unlimited trust only makes us as sons. Baptism into Christ means that we have agreed to be cleansed and are entering into Christ Himself. The verse says that all who were baptized had put on Christ. There were no exemptions here. This commitment of putting on Christ is required during baptism. Otherwise, it becomes vain.

Since we had put on Christ, we become heirs to the Father. The Father looks us as joint partners with His Son for the kingdom. By calling us Abraham’s true seed in Chapter 3:16, God goes further into clarifying that the whole Jewish kingdom, its laws, promises, prophesies were all given to prepare way for Christ to come. That’s why Jesus was born under the law (Galatians 4:4). This birth is called as fullness of time which means that everything else was just preparing for this climax. Jesus is this important to our faith and life. Similar to Noah’s time, God had rejected everybody and adopted people who cling on to Jesus Christ.

Reading verses 4 & 5 together, we can see that Jesus was born with so simplicity so that He could overcome the world and we are just sharing His victory. Jesus was born under the law to redeem those who are under the law. In 3:13 we read that He became a curse so that we could be redeemed from the curse. The role Jesus Christ plays for our redemption is that he takes up every hindrance into Himself and makes way for us to just share His inheritance.

Verse 4:6 puts more light into this. The reason for the most precious gift we can ever receive, that is the Holy Spirit, is that God wants us to cry out to Him as “Abba Father”. We can see this again in Romans 8:15, 16. The Holy Spirit bears witnesses to both us and the Father. A true and very important guidance of the Holy Spirit is a strong assurance of inheritance.

In Gal 4:1,2 and 3, we how our relationship as a son may not be visible to others and even us. But faith makes us sons. The only link between the offspring and is faith. The Holy Spirit gives us the assurance, comfort and guidance but faith in the way towards this. That’s why in verse 6, it is mentioned that the Spirit was given after we became sons. So, when the time had come, we are redeemed from all bondage both sin and traditions. So, it is required for us to come out of all bondages and claim our freedom and so, do everything in freedom with God.

We are not sons by birth, but sons by adoption. Unlike the world claims that everybody is a son of God, a true relationship starts only by faith. God takes responsibility as a Father only after faith sprouts out. This adoption does not apply for Non-Jews alone as Paul includes himself in verse 5. John 1:12 says that we are given the right to become sons. In Ephesians 1:5 we see how great His will is that we had already determined all of us as sons. The decision was that everybody who comes through Jesus are His sons.

The higher emphasis on the promotion as sons is seen in verses 21 to 28. Where if we think we are sons by tradition, family or other parameters, we are compared with the situation of Ishmael. Faith should be the only parameter in our love with Christ. The Church is compared with Issac and was born out of bondage and is free. Verse 23 says that the law was born according to the flesh, which means that it’s only purpose was to keep the flesh in purity. But the promise given to us is that all our spirit, soul and body should be holy and acceptable as sons. For that stature, we need to become sons.

Pleasing God and not Men

Galatians 1:10 “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”

Pleasing God exclusively is a very hard task especially for Christian workers. But, this message applies to everybody including believers where we make many decisions in our life where it requires to please men more than God. First and foremost, we are bondservants. We chose not to have a life of our own and have given everything to Christ. Bondservants unconditionally serve their masters. Our case is even more important we are representatives or lights that are expected to reflect Him. Both ministers and believers have this responsibility. Since we are working to the world for Christ, our bond has to be clearly seen in our work. In Ephesians 6:6 we see the word bond servants again but here, we are given as an example to slaves.

In John 12:43 onwards, we can see Jesus crying out for people who after seeing and receiving miracles, did not believe Him because of their need to please men. Verses 44 to 50 are a clear answer to this problem from Christ. First, He sets a model that He transfers all credits and faith to the Father. Jesus does not claim anything here. If we imagine this sentence in the tone as Jesus said, we can understand how Jesus claimed credits to the Father.  And this is not just faith, vision is also included. Christ had the submission to completely display the Father instead of Himself. Third, Jesus claims the authority was given by the Father. That is faith, vision and obedience are all expected to be diverted to the Father. Jesus could easily forward all his benefits to the sender even after being the one who suffered for us.

The instruction is the focus on the purpose and not men in between. This is the reason that Jesus does not condemn those who reject, but just saves those who come towards Him. He prioritizes salvation first and mentions that there is a time when condemnation will come, but let us focus on the job. If we focus on condemning people or shattering their faiths by proving our authority, God is not pleased. That is why Jesus when saw that men were trying to please each other, fist He shattered His own authority for us to learn.

In verse 50, we can see eternal life as a commandment given to Jesus and he follows this commandment only. We have always been seeing this as a blessing, but if this was the commandment and in line with the love God with all our heart, mind and might command, we can see that this is God’s eternal plan that we would live with Him filled with love for eternity. This is the ultimate purpose and Jesus was sent with this plan to be executed. But, we are deviating by trying to please other men. See, when Jesus says that we are seeing the Father by seeing Him, He says that this vision of ours is not real. That is why the law is not real but caters to the temporary world. That’s why Paul goes to the extent of calling the Galatians as foolish who are looking at temporary things, plans and still hoping for eternity. Eternal life is the commandment that pushes us towards pleasing God.

According to John 5:44, believing in Jesus and seeking men’s honor cannot happen together. If we really believe Jesus is the son of God and has come to prepare a greater honor for us, we would start giving all our trust in Him and will not align with the desires of the world. In verse 43, Jesus says that pleasing men will take us towards accepting a lot of false preachers. This was the problem with Jews, early church believers and even believers today. When they keep following men, they set standards for leadership in terms of authority, elocution and wisdom. But when Christ came, it was hard for them to accept because these standards prevented them. They had been searching scriptures for eternal life but they led towards Jesus and still they rejected. The culprit is worldly wisdom which seeks human acceptance and leads to false honor which is complete failure.

And in Luke 16:15, Jesus makes it clear to law keepers that they are just keeping them outwardly clean to show themselves off. God hates this because Satan has been successful in making them understand that it is enough to enjoy honor from men. Inner cleansing is required and the characteristics should start from within.

For ministers, Paul displays him as a model in 1 Thes 2:4-6 where every word we speak or submit would have one single motto which is to please God. The reason is that we are entrusted with the gospel which was conceived with a heavy price. This responsibility requires us to submit one hundred percent that the self will not be displayed or seek honor among men.                

Suffering in Vain

Galatians 3:4 “Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?”

This is the same context where Paul mentions how their acceptance of circumcision is leading them towards foolishness first, then the flesh taking over and at last all their suffering is about to be wasted. These three effects happen when we deviate from God’s plans on us.

In our previous meditations about Christ living in us (Gal 2:20), Paul had positioned the doctrine of circumcision along with living with the flesh. It means that these teachings help us live in this world but our requirement is to prepare us for the kingdom of God. This preparation requires us to focus on a single method of salvation which is by grace. This is the reason why Paul says in verse 21 that if righteousness comes through the law then Christ had died in vain. The law has suffering and needs obedience. But the validity of this suffering was before Christ’s death and this incident has transformed all mankind’s path towards righteousness.

In 3:1, Paul reasons that since Christ was portrayed as crucified, it is not good for them to be dependent on the law at any quantity. This dependence on any other law other than Christ Himself is against the truth. This portrayal has to change our attitude towards religion, church and the world. The final outcome of the Church in Galatia (if they had really accepted traditions inside) is that all their efforts and growth through suffering has become vain as they had failed in the fundamentals. They have mixed grace with earthly efforts.

The name “Christ” is mentioned here because the Messiah was crucified and this was the only way. If the redeemer himself was put to death, redemption cannot be given by just surviving. We are expected to submit towards suffering. The only question is if we are suffering for a reason or in vain.

Now, suffering is common to both Christians and others. But there is a huge difference in the suffering on being useful or not. Israelites were suffering both in Egypt and in the wilderness. But the former had no purpose or hope. In Exodus 3:8, God take rigorous steps to bring His people out of Egypt. The need had come that God delivers His people out of misery. We need to check if we are in Egypt of in the wilderness. The wilderness is much better as we are free and have hope of glory. We have to check if God wants to deliver us out of this suffering or has He allowed this for our growth.

In Habakkuk 2:13,14 we see that it is God’s plan that people would suffer in vain. This was given as a punishment for the evil deeds of Judah. The glory of God is seen in this action and the whole earth would see that God’s own people are given away towards suffering in vain because of their actions. A similar verse is seen in the Church (Ep 3:10). God permits these sufferings. But here we see Paul’s suffering (v13) which brings glory but in the previous verse Judah’s suffering is clearly mentioned as vain. We should be in a position to use our suffering to encourage others or else, it is in vain.

But, if we repent and turn completely towards Him, God makes our wasted sufferings to produce. The Israelites in Egypt got their wages in gold and silver enough to build the temple of God and more. These gifts are proof that God takes care of our every hard work.

As in Galatians 3:10, people under the law were under a curse that they would be condemned if they do not follow it completely. This curse is suffering in vain. We would be punished for our evil deeds and this punishment was completely vain. But the suffering of Christ was not vain, it brought forward wonderful products that is our redemption. We are expected not to suffer like sinners or the Jews, but like Christ. Our crucifixion is together with Christ so that people are redeemed and the kingdom of God is built both inside us and through us towards others. This difference has to be noticed. Are our sufferings bringing in death or life? The church in Galatia did not do blunders. They just had added a few rituals along with grace and that caused all their labor to become useless.

One important encouragement to us is that, God personally helps us when we are suffering for a purpose. Duet 29:5 and many other verses point to this fact. God was leading them by cloud and fire, he was training the people there. He ensured that everybody was fed properly. Nothing of this sort happens when we are being punished. According to Mathew 5:3 and 10, we need to have spiritual humbleness to accept suffering happily for Christ sake. And these will own the kingdom of heaven. Others will just be participants or tenants there.

 In 1 Corinthians 5:56-58 we read that the law was given as sin got strengthened. But, our actual redeemer is Christ himself. We have victory only through Christ. So, we have to move forward strongly and abounding in the Lord’s work and only then our labor will be useful. Abounding also means overflowing. We need to work for God more than our capabilities or otherwise, all our work will become vain.

Crucified with Christ

Galatians 2:20 “ I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Dying with Christ is an important teaching in Christendom. Here, Paul has explicitly mentioned crucifixion meaning that our old self should die and this death should be that terrible and in that method only and not an easy smooth one. In the verse’s context Paul says that the old person has completely died to sin and the law. Paul wants to make clear that he does not approve sin and if he approves that it would be unpardonable. The outcome is that we need to live to God. Justification should be done not by ourselves, the law, the world or anything else but by Christ alone. This should be the only path taken for salvation.

This requirement of justification by Christ alone is given to us because Christ should be exalted here. We are created to glorify Christ alone and if we try to show off any of our strengths or goodness, Christ is not being glorified there or it is that we are stealing the glory of Christ into ourselves. We are glorified along with Christ that means the reason for the glory is not our deeds but His.

Similarly, we are crucified with Christ meaning that even though the suffering was received by Him alone at that time, we should share the surrender of the flesh and self as Christ did. This surrender should happen for the old self to be humiliated and destroyed. We read in Proverbs 28:13 that he who confesses his sins and forsakes them. This confession is a part of repentance. We need to clearly acknowledge that Christ was crucified only because of our deeds and we hate our own selfish nature and are longing to forsake it. We need to see the distance between us and sin to be that of humiliation and glory.

In Colossians 2:20, 21 we see the expectations God has in us. He wants us to be beyond the law; that is we need to be in a perfect relationship that there is no need for law. Verse 23 says that the flesh is more powerful than the results of these laws. These doctrines of men help me succeed or survive in this world. God wants us to excel in spiritual warfare and so these laws do not help there. The problem in Christians is that they still believe that they are living in this world. That makes it very hard for us to forsake it completely. Jesus wants us to crucify the body that belongs to this world.

In Mathew 10:38, Jesus speaks to His disciples as soon as He had chosen them. Among the basic principles of discipleship was to carry the cross. Jesus says that this cross brings worthiness to us. This particular verse is said about family’s oppositions when the cross is taken. This message is not for discipleship alone, in Mark 8:34 we read the same statement as a message to “all”. This cross is the destiny to our earlier self and our hope of a new person.  Family or the world would demand that we ignore the cross completely and progress in life as they expect. Taking up the cross would hurt relationships as they are part of our previous personal lives. The cross is not correction. This is our hope of salvation.

The ownership “his” is also mentioned. This is a personal requirement where we identify things we are asked to suffer with individually. We have to accept that this life is not good and take up suffering for Christ’s sakes. Only this event enables us to be worthy of having Jesus in us. This worthiness comes when we love Him more than all the comfort the world gives us. Jesus repeats this again in Mathew 16:24 adding “deny himself”.  

The next verse (10:39 and 16:25) says that we need to lose what we consider as life for Jesus’ sake to live. This loss is not optional. We should not read this as this means martyrdom. To follow Jesus we need to lose what we call as life and then we’ll find what life actually is.

2 Tim 2:11-13 Let us commit ourselves to Christ up to the cross because it is a faithful statement. There is no other way to win. Jesus calls us to freedom through a small suffering that is not a punishment but a yolk. The verse Mathew 11:28 proceeds to the introduction of the yolk. Jesus needs us to love him so much that we would love to suffer for His plans to be executed. This suffering is not easy, but we are not alone in this. We are following a great successful warrior here. This person loves us and is living in us.