The churches of Galatia
were founded by Paul himself (Acts 16:6
; Gal 1:8
; 4:13
, 4:19
). They seem to have been composed mainly of converts from paganism
(4:8
).
After Paul’s departure, the churches were visited by individuals whom
Paul regarded as troublemakers preaching a “different gospel” from that
preached by Paul (1:6-9
).
The Galatians appear to have been receptive to the teaching of these
newcomers, and the epistle is Paul’s angry response to what he sees as
their willingness to turn from his teaching. (Wikipedia: Epistle to the Galatians)
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul is trying to get these young Christians to understand
their identity in Christ. In Chapter Four, he explains that a child heir acts in
the same way as a slave “though he is lord of all.” The reasoning is that a
child heir needs protection – he needs to learn how to grow up.
And so, the child is
under the watch and care of guardians and babysitters – that is, slaves, who
keep him out of trouble. Yet, when the time to grow up comes – when it’s time
for Christ to be fully formed in their hearts – the child is released to the
duties and privileges of a true son of promise. This can only be done by a
father figure.
This is what the young people today need – someone to affirm the
sonship in them that is crying out “Abba!” Otherwise, they are child-heirs,
still acting like slaves – with guardians and watchdogs, legalistic and
micromanaged faith, bending their freedom to the letter of the
law.
We need to help young people (especially young American Christians) recognize their freedom in Christ – that they are truly heirs, and all of the inheritance is theirs. What is the inheritance? It’s not just heaven; it’s the earth. It’s here and now. That’s why Jesus said: “The kingdom of God comes not with your careful observation… the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21).
Paul explains that these believers in Christ are inheritors of the promise and don’t even realize it – they’re acting like slaves! This is the key passage where we get our “justification by faith” doctrine – that we are not saved by anything that we do, but through the grace of God.
The Apostle is afraid that he’s wasted his time with these guys, because not only have they not moved beyond infancy in their faith – they might as well crawl back in the womb! Before we can understand the “deep things of God,” we must first understand who we are as children of God and the implications of that.
More on this tomorrow…
