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The issue here in Galatians is 
the doctrine of justification by faith alone. And thus far 
we have seen Paul open up this doctrine and now he comes to 
share or to address them in some personal concerns. And I'll just 
pick up reading again in chapter 4 at verse 1. We'll read the 
entirety and then we're going to focus this evening on verses 
8 to 11. Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does 
not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but 
is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the 
father. Even so we, when we were children, 
were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness 
of the time had come, God sent forth his son. born of a woman, 
born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, 
that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are 
sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, 
crying out, Abba, Father. Therefore, you are no longer 
a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of 
God through Christ. But then indeed, when you did 
not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 
But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, 
how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements 
to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days 
and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have 
labored for you in vain. Brethren, I urge you to become 
like me. For I became like you. You have 
not injured me at all. You know that because of physical 
infirmity, I preached the gospel to you at the first and my trial, 
which was in my flesh. You did not despise or reject, 
but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. What then was the blessing you 
enjoyed? For I bear you witness that if possible, you would have 
plucked out your own eyes and given them to me. If I therefore 
become your enemy, because I tell you the truth, they zealously 
court you, but for no good. Yes, they want to exclude you 
that you may be zealous for them. But it is good to be zealous 
in a good thing always. And not only when I am present 
with you, my little children, for whom I labor in birth again 
until Christ is formed in you. I would like to be present with 
you now and to change my tone. For I have doubts about you. Tell me, you who desire to be 
under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that 
Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondwoman, the other by 
a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman 
was born according to the flesh, and he of the free woman through 
promise. Which things are symbolic? For 
these are the two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai which 
gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount 
Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem, which now is, and 
is in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, 
which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, O 
barren, you who do not bear. Break forth and shout, you who 
are not in labor. For the desolate has many more 
children than she who has a husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, 
are children of promise. But as he who was born according 
to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to 
the spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless, what does the scripture 
say? Cast out the bondwoman and her 
son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son 
of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not 
children of the bondwoman, but of the free. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for this 
epistle to the Galatians. We thank you for the doctrine 
of justification by faith alone. And our God, I pray that we would 
think clearly through these things. God, as we look through the history 
of the church and even in our present day, there are many attacks 
upon this truth. We pray that we would be armed 
and that we would be able to contend earnestly for the faith 
which was once for all delivered to the saints. As well, Father, 
I pray that we would learn this doctrine, that we would love 
this doctrine for our own joy and for our own comfort and our 
own encouragement, that we would see we are accepted in your sight, 
not by works that we have done, but by grace alone, through faith 
alone in Jesus Christ alone. How we praise you for him, how 
we thank you for his work on our behalf, how we thank You 
that He lived in obedience to Your law, how He died as a sacrifice 
and substitute at Calvary, and we thank You for His resurrection 
and His current session at Your right hand. We pray even now 
that You would fill each one of us with Your Spirit, guide 
us and lead us into all truth, and we pray through Christ our 
Lord. Amen. Brittany's got to go to the hospital. 
She's having some signs of preterm labor. So why don't we just take 
a moment to pray for her? God, we just pray for Brittany. 
We commit her to you. And we ask that you would watch 
over her now and over this little baby. We just pray, Father, that 
you would give great grace and great wisdom and strength to 
the medical staff. And we just pray, God most high, 
that you would see her through this, see Mark through this, 
and see their little one through this as well. We ask in Jesus' 
name, amen. As I said, the apostle is dealt 
at length with the doctrine of justification by faith alone. And here in verses 8 to 20, as 
a whole, he reveals his concern for the Galatians. This concern 
comes in two forms. First of all, his fear for them 
as they were departing from justification by faith alone. That's verses 
8 to 11, an apostolic concern, a fear. over their current trajectory. And then in the second section, 
verses 12 to 20, it is a paternal or a fatherly appeal to these 
people in Galatia, in the churches to whom he had ministered. As 
I said, we'll just take up the first section tonight, verses 
8 to 11, the apostles' fear for the Galatians. And I want to 
make three observations on the passage tonight. The first is 
a consideration of their former state. Verse 8. Secondly, their 
current danger versus 9 and 10. And then thirdly, the expression 
of his fear as he opens his heart to his audience to demonstrate 
to them the real motivating factor behind his writing in this particular 
epistle. But notice, first of all, their 
former state. Verse 8, he says, But then indeed, 
when you did not know God, this is what characterized these people 
in Galatia prior to their reception of the truth of the gospel. This 
knowledge, or the knowledge of God spoken here, isn't in the 
first place catechetical. That means it's not just a mental 
assent or an understanding of who God is, but rather it is 
experiential. They had not entered into the 
knowledge of the true and the living God. When they were engaged 
in paganism, when they were engaged in heathenism, when they had 
defected and departed from the true and living God. They were 
characterized in this way. But then indeed, he says, when 
you did not know God. The knowledge of God is another 
way to express salvation. You remember that famous passage 
in Jeremiah, chapter 9, verses 23 and 24. We read, Thus says 
the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not 
the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in 
his riches, but let him who glories glory in this. that he understands 
and knows me that I am the Lord exercising loving kindness judgment 
and righteousness in the earth for in these I delight says the 
Lord. So as the apostle is reminding 
them about their former state he is telling them what characterized 
them as a whole is that they did not know God. I hope and 
pray that all of us know God in the proper way, through faith 
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember in Jesus' high priestly 
prayer, in John 17 and verse 3, He says, And this is eternal 
life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus 
Christ, whom Thou hast sent. Now, this lack of the knowledge 
of the true and living God does not mean, however, that they 
were non-religious beings. Notice what he goes on to say 
in verse 8. He says, But then indeed, when 
you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not 
gods. Though man lacks the saving knowledge 
of the true and living God, he is nonetheless a worshiping and 
a serving creature. This is inescapable. Man is created 
in the image of God. He cannot escape that. He knows 
that God exists. So if he doesn't bow to the true 
and the living God, he will construct an idol. He will make something 
to serve. He will make something to bow 
to. As John Calvin said, our hearts are like idol factories. 
manufacturing things so that we may go a-whoring after them. If you turn for just a moment 
to Romans chapter 1, you can see this very vividly displayed, 
that man is a religious being by nature. Again, what Calvin 
called the sense of deity. It definitely pervades each and 
every man. woman, boy and girl in this world. Notice in Romans 1, verse 18, 
he says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against 
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Don't miss the order 
there. Ungodliness is specified first. It's what we think about God. 
It's how we've turned away from God that then issues forth in 
acts of unrighteousness. Theology precedes ethics. What we believe concerning God 
affects how we act. So the Apostle starting off his 
great explanation and exposition of the Gospel of Jesus Christ 
does not start with the love of God. He does not start with 
the wonderful plan of God. He does not start with how God 
is willing and able and ready to bless you. No, He begins first 
and foremost with the bad news that necessitates the good news. 
He says the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness 
and unrighteousness of man. He then goes on to specify they 
suppress the truth in unrighteousness. That means they hold it down. 
They dig a hole, they try to put the truth in there and then 
they cover it up and they jump up and down on it so that they 
can make sure it doesn't haunt them. Notice what he goes on 
to say in verse 19, because what may be known of God is manifest 
in them For God has shown it to them. There is no such thing 
as a real atheist. There are professed atheists. 
There are those who are foolish in their heart who say there 
is no God. But Paul tells us here there 
is no legitimate atheist. All of us, all men, created in 
the image of God, know that God exists. And very particularly 
in this section, there are three things, three items that all 
men know concerning God. Notice in verse 20, For since 
the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly 
seen, being understood by the things that are made. Even, notice, 
His eternal power and Godhead. Those two things men know concerning 
God, His eternal power and His Godhead. In other words, when 
man, the image bearer, looks at the creation around him, he 
realizes that there is something out there that has eternal power. He realizes that there is deity. that there is a God. Now again, 
he tries to suppress that truth in unrighteousness, he develops 
doctrines like evolution, he develops atheism, he develops 
all of these ways to try and justify his unbelief, but he 
cannot escape the knowledge of the living God. Notice that this 
understanding is enough to damn him, but it is not enough to 
save him. Verse 20. For since the creation 
of the world is invisible, attributes are clearly seen being understood 
by the things that are made, even as eternal power and Godhead, 
so that they are literally without an apology, literally without 
an apologetic apology. Biblically is not. And I'm sorry. Apology is a defense. We use the term apologetics when 
it comes to defending the Christian faith. Well, here it tells us 
that the knowledge of God that they are suppressing is such 
that they are responsible to the living God. They are without 
excuse. They are without a defense. They 
cannot say, but there wasn't enough evidence. There wasn't 
enough proof. The preacher was not convincing 
enough. They are without excuse. Now 
I mentioned there are three things that they know. Drop down to 
verse 32. Here's another aspect of the 
true and living God that they know something of. Verse 32. 
Who knowing the righteous judgment of God. that those who practice 
such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, 
but also approve of those who practice them. So they know the 
eternal power, they know the Godhead, and they know it is 
righteous with God in a moral universe to judge them for their 
sin and transgression. But if you go back for a moment 
to verse 21, notice his religious character. Notice that as he 
is suppressing the truth about the true and living God in unrighteousness, 
he is nevertheless a worshipper. He is nevertheless a servant. 
He is nevertheless one who needs something to bow before. Picking 
up in verse 21, because although they knew God, they did not glorify 
him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts 
and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, 
they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible 
God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed 
animals and creeping things. Therefore, God also gave them 
up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor 
their bodies among themselves, notice, who exchanged the truth 
of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather 
than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. This is the explanation 
of all the various religious systems out there. Man is created 
in God's image. He has suppressed the truth about 
the living God, and so he seeks out many devices. He seeks out 
idols. He seeks out things that will 
appease him, and he gives them religious service and homage. That's what Paul is pointing 
to with reference to these Galatians. They are in danger of going back 
to such a position of bondage. That is a position of bondage, 
of degradation, and of spiritual ruin. And by the Galatians entertaining 
this false doctrine of the Judaizers, they are risking going back to 
that place. So he is reminding them about 
this. He says, when you did not know 
God, you served those which by nature are not gods. That will bring him to verse 
9, to a consideration of their current danger and just what's 
at stake. These are issues of monument. Remember this morning in John 
3, 16, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
son. Whoever believes in him should 
not perish, but have everlasting life. We're dealing with the 
biggest issues of reality, life and death. Here, that was what 
was at stake. In their dealing with false doctrine 
or entertaining false doctrine, in this attempt to add works 
to faith in order to make oneself acceptable before God, Paul is 
saying you're going backward, you're relapsing, you're apostatizing, 
you're defecting, you are in a very bad place. Martin Luther 
comments on this section regarding the heathen and their pursuit 
of those things which are by nature not God's. He says, from 
the acceptance of this major premise, there is a God, there 
came all the idolatry of man, which would have been unknown 
in the world without the knowledge of the deity. But because men 
had this natural knowledge about God, they conceived vain and 
wicked thoughts about God apart from and contrary to the word. They embrace these as the very 
truth and on the basis of these they imagined God otherwise than 
he is by nature. Thus a monk imagines of God who 
forgives sin and grants grace and eternal life because of the 
observance of his rule. That God does not exist anywhere. Therefore, the monk neither serves 
nor worships the true God. He serves and worships one who 
by nature is no God, namely a figment and idol of his own heart, his 
own false and empty notion about God, which he supposes to be 
the surest truth. You see what he's saying? The 
fact that God is is undeniable. The fact that God is out there, 
we cannot shake it. So it's either we bow and serve 
the living and the true God, or we exchange the glory of the 
incorruptible God for a creature. Whether it be sex or drugs or 
rock and roll, whether it be some form of false religion, 
whether it be a philosophical system that makes us feel warm 
and fuzzy, but it does not lead us to the true and living God. 
This was the case with these Galatians. By entertaining the 
doctrine of the Judaizers, they are rejecting Jesus Christ, they're 
going back to spiritual bondage, and their end is fearful to the 
Apostle Paul. That's what he wants them to 
understand. Notice verse 9 and 10, their 
current danger. Verse 90 says, But now after 
you have known God. In other words, they have received 
the gospel. As I mentioned, you go back to 
Acts 13 and 14. You can trace the apostles first 
missionary journey. You can see him going into these 
various cities. You can read about it yourself. 
Him preaching the gospel, them receiving the word, them making 
a commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. He says you've been brought 
out of heathenism. You've been brought out of paganism. 
You have come to a place where you know God. But then notice 
he qualifies this. Beautiful statement here, look 
at what he says in verse nine. This is one of those statements 
that Calvinists or reformed people like to go to, to show the divine 
origin of our relationship to God. Notice, but now after you 
have known God or rather are known by God. Again, the knowledge 
there does not mean his general idea that you exist. The knowledge 
there is God's knowledge of you in particular. The knowledge 
that God has of you redemptively. This highlights the divine initiative 
in man's salvation. This ought to have served to 
show them several things. To show them that they were the 
recipients of God's grace. To show them that they were not 
in this position by their own merit, by their own works, by 
their own faithfulness. But it was God who started this 
intimate knowledge. This reveals, or this highlights, 
is consistent with the rest of the New Testament on how it is 
we come into saving relationship with God. Remember Jesus' statement 
in Matthew chapter 11. Matthew 11, at that time, verse 
25, Jesus answered and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of 
heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the 
wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, 
for so it seemed good in your sight All things have been delivered 
to me by my father, and no one knows the son except the father, 
nor does anyone know the father except the son and the one to 
whom the son wills to reveal him." So I think when Paul says 
this, or rather, you are known by God, there's a reproof there. There's a bit of a smite there. 
There's a bit of a rebuke there. Look at what you're doing. God's 
initiated this. God's called you out of darkness 
into marvelous light. God has shown himself favorable 
to you. And now it's as if you're reverting 
back to paganism. You're rejecting the true and 
living Christ and you're going backwards. You're relapsing. 
He is reproving them, at least indirectly. Matthew 16. Remember when Simon Peter makes 
that confession of faith. When Jesus says, who do men say 
that I, the son of man, am? The disciples answer. They start 
running through various names. Jesus says, but who do you say 
that I am? He starts generically out there. 
Now he hones in on his disciples. And then Peter makes that blessed 
statement, says, thou art the Christ, the son of the living 
God. What's Jesus then say? Oh, congratulations, Peter. Good 
on you. You have seen things that other 
men just don't get. You're wiser than the rest. You're 
better than the rest. You're smarter than the rest. 
You really listened in your catechism classes. You really understood 
biblical prophecy. You saw how it was all terminating 
on me. That's not what he says. He says, 
blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal 
this to you, but my Father in heaven. You don't understand 
this, brethren. It's by way of an aside for us 
to ponder and worship. You didn't come to a saving knowledge 
of God because you're wiser, because you're smarter, because 
you're better, because you've read Burkhardt, or you've read 
Raymond, or you attend Sunday school, or you have read the 
Bible cover to cover, or you're an expert in terms of biblical 
prophecy. If you are in a saving, knowledgeable 
relationship of the living God, it's because God chose you. It's because God knew you. It's because God set his affection 
on you. The language of John Calvin, 
sometimes people don't like this, but he says, the origin of our 
calling is the free election of God, which predestinates us 
to life before we are born. On this depends our calling, 
our faith, our whole salvation. John 1, verses 12 and 13. John 
1, verses 12 and 13 highlight how we are children of God. He 
says, But as many as received him, to them he gave the right 
to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, 
who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor 
of the will of man, but of God. He rehearses this in John 3 with 
Nicodemus, as we mentioned this morning. He likens the sovereign 
spirit to the wind. You don't know where it's coming 
from, you don't know where it's going, but you can certainly 
see its effect. Romans 9, that great chapter 
where the Apostle sets forth the supremacy and the sovereignty 
of Almighty God in salvation. He says in Romans 9.16, it does 
not depend upon him who wills or upon him who runs, but on 
God who shows mercy. And some feel that this is a 
bit of a difficult hill to swallow. That's hard. No, I say that's 
great. Because if it was not God showing 
mercy, none of us would be saved. Paul tells us in Romans 3, there 
is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who seeks after 
God. There is none who fears God. The fear of God is not in 
our eyes or heart. We don't even like to retain 
the knowledge of God. So if there is salvation to be 
had, it must be divine in its origin. It must come from above. It must come from God most high. So in Galatians 4, he highlights 
the reality that they had come to know God. One commentator 
said this, and I think this is very perceptive. He said, relationship 
with God does not have its basis in man's seeking, which is mysticism. or in man's doing, which is legalism, 
or in man's knowing, which is Gnosticism, but it originates 
with God himself and is carried on always by divine grace. Excellent. Not by mysticism, 
not by legalism, not by Gnosticism, but by grace alone, through faith 
alone, in Jesus Christ alone, from a sovereign God. So he highlights 
the reality, but now after you have known God or rather are 
known by God, notice the danger. How is it that you turn again 
to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desire again to 
be in bondage? You observe days and months and 
seasons and years. Now, we have met this word elements 
back in verse three of chapter four. You can look there for 
just a moment. Notice in chapter 4, verse 3, 
I believe he is dealing specifically with Jews in this section. Even 
so, we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements 
of the world. Now, when he's dealing with the 
pagans or the Gentiles who had been pagans, he uses that same 
statement in verse 9. He calls it weak and beggarly 
elements. We define that word as the basic 
meaning has to do with elements that make up a series, inherent 
components or members of a row. The connotation is first principles 
or elemental teachings. For the Jews, the Mosaic covenant 
was that, was elements, it was basic principles. There was a 
design, there was a purpose, but it was not the full fruition 
of God's redemptive plan, which comes in the New Covenant. Here, 
these weak and beggarly elements in the Gentiles' experience was 
paganism. So is Paul saying that Judaism 
and paganism are the very same thing? No. He's saying the result 
is the very same thing. This is very important that you 
get this. A little bit of a technical piece of information here. You've 
got to follow for a moment what he's saying. He says you're returning 
to those weak and beggarly elements. They're not going back into paganism. They're not going back to nature 
worship. They're not going back to ritualism 
associated with cultism. By their turning from Christ 
to the Judaic system, the result is the same. The net effect is 
the same. They are returning to bondage. So whether you choose Judaism, 
whether you choose paganism, whether you choose Islam, whether 
you choose Hinduism, whether you choose Shintoism, whether 
you choose atheism, it's not saying that all the particulars 
are exactly the same, but the net effect is the same. It is 
spiritual bondage. It is spiritual bankruptcy. So 
as they entertain the Judaizing doctrine, as they begin to depart 
from the living Christ, Paul is telling them they are returning 
to the same thing that they had prior to their reception of the 
Christian gospel. So the weak and the beggarly 
elements that are brought about here is simply the effect of 
having turned again from the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel 
had liberated them from the spiritual bondage of paganism. Judaism 
was the way back to spiritual bondage. That's the point of 
his argument. It's not saying that you're returning 
to the pagan ways, but by their going after the Judaizing system, 
they were going to be in the same place. In other words, all 
false religions end in hell. All false religions end under 
God's judgment. Again, Martin Luther, therefore, 
there is no difference at all between a papist, a Jew, a Turk, 
or a sectarian. Their persons, locations, rituals, 
religions, works, and forms of worship are, of course, diverse, 
but they all have the same reason, the same heart, the same opinion 
and idea. Again, these things aren't popular. We need to, you know, in our 
generation, all roads lead to heaven. Well, they do all lead 
to heaven, but then comes judgment. And those non-Christian religions 
will be cast out into the lake of fire. This is not popular. We are called bigoted. We are 
called prejudiced. We are called all sorts of names. 
But if we twist the text of Scripture, we dishonor God, and we're not 
doing good to the souls of men. This is what Paul says in verse 
20. Or I'm sorry, in verse 16. Have I therefore become your 
enemy because I tell you the truth? Somebody came to your 
house and said, look, you've got to get out because it's on 
fire. Would you get mad at him? No, you would thank him and you 
would gladly follow him so that you may enjoy safety. So the 
apostle is saying that if they follow Judaism, if they follow 
the rituals of Moses, they are back to square one. They are 
outside of God. They are outside of Christ. They 
have no hope and they are hell bound. That's why he is dealing 
with them so sharply. Now, notice the specific proof 
of this. He says, You observe days and 
months and seasons and years. Days and months and seasons and 
years. Notice in chapter five, verse 
two. Chapter five, verse two, Indeed, I, Paul, say to you that 
if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. They 
were adopting elements of the ceremonial law of Moses. And 
they were putting those into practice. Circumcision and the 
Judaic calendar. Now, if you do any reading on 
what we call the Christian Sabbath, if you read anybody who's opposed 
to the Christian Sabbath, this inevitably is a proof text for 
the abolition of the Sabbath. But that's not what's going on 
here in verse 10. You observe days and months and 
seasons and years. He is chastening them because 
they're trying to act like Jews in order to get to heaven. The 
idea of one day and seven for the church to gather and worship 
before her God, that's not the issue before the mind of the 
apostle. If he is condemning the Jewish 
Sabbath, Christian Sabbatarians would rise up with him and say, 
yea and amen. No Christian Sabbatarian would 
say you need to keep the seventh day Jewish Sabbath. As well, 
what's in view here? They are doing it not by means 
of an observance. Paul himself observed Jewish 
festivals. Go to the book of Acts, specifically 
in Acts 18, Acts 20, Acts 21. We don't have time to develop 
all of that, but those are several sections where the apostle himself 
submitted to the Jewish festivals. In fact, in Acts 21, James came 
to him and said, look, Paul, we've heard that you are not 
keeping the customs and laws of Moses. This is causing a bit 
of ruckus among Jews. So they counseled him or encouraged 
him. Go, shave your head, take a vow, 
take these four men, go to the temple and keep the vow. So what 
does Paul do? He does it. He observed it. So he cannot be condemning the 
observance of a particular day or a particular festival. What 
he is condemning is because of this practice, because like certain 
with circumcision, they thought such observance was essential 
to their acceptance with God. That's the issue. To say in Romans 
14, for some people, this day is good for some people, this 
day is good. Let everybody be convinced in his own mind. Remember, 
one of the transitional problems was Jew, Gentile, how they jive 
together. They didn't validate the fact 
that Jews would get circumcised, that Jews would do and engage 
in certain festivals. They didn't say, look, you can 
no longer ever do that whatsoever again. No, it's a cultural practice. 
As long as you're not banking the circumcision or this observance 
of the day with your acceptance of God, go ahead. This passage 
is not dealing with whether or not Christians should keep the 
fourth commandment. It has nothing to do with that. It has everything to do with 
Gentile Galatians wanting to be Jews. Wanting to be accepted 
by God for their works. We as a reformed church believe 
in the perpetuity of the fourth commandment. If someone ever 
came to me and said, look, do I need to believe on Jesus and 
keep the fourth commandment in order to go to heaven? I'd say 
no. No, your acceptance with God is not grounded in your obedience 
to the fourth commandment. Your acceptance with God is grounded 
solely and wholly in the active and passive obedience of Jesus, 
in the pardon of sin and the imputation of Christ's righteousness. You will not get to heaven because 
you're a Sabbath keeper. So we would be as vociferously 
opposed to such a mindset. Somebody came in among us, or 
we knew somebody around us that said, yes, I need to believe 
the gospel and keep the fourth commandment in order to go to 
heaven. Ronald Fung, to be distinguished 
from Vincent Chung, said, the issue then is not the observation 
of religious usages as such, but the basis of justification 
before God. That's why he's alarmed. That's 
why he's upset. That's why he's grievously afraid 
for them. If it was that they wanted to, 
you know, eat kosher or not do such and such a thing because 
they thought it was cool. I really doubt the apostle would 
be. I'm afraid for you. No, it's when those things become 
a means of acceptance with God. Fong goes on to say, the legalistic 
approach advocated by the Galatian agitators and the gospel of free 
grace proclaimed by Paul are irreconcilably opposed to each 
other. That's the issue. That's the 
proof. That's the evidence that by following 
Judaism as a means of acceptance with God, they are abandoning 
Christ They're going to end up at the first place over again 
and be in spiritual bondage instead of the liberty of the sons of 
God. And that finally then brings 
us to the expression of his fear. Notice in verse 11, I am afraid 
for you, lest I have labored for you in vain. He's afraid 
for them. He's concerned for them. This 
means a lot to him. Look at what he says about the 
Judaizers in verse 17. They zealously court you, but 
for no good. Yes, they want to exclude you, 
that you may be zealous, not for Christ, not for truth, not 
for the gospel. They may sound all pious and 
holy. They may sound all great and noble, but they want you 
to be zealous for them. They have a party spirit. Look 
in chapter six for just a moment, Galatians six. Verse 12, as many 
as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel 
you to be circumcised only that they may not suffer persecution 
for the cross of Christ. For not even those who are circumcised 
keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that 
they may boast in your flesh. Hey, we had 15 of the Galatians 
not give their hearts to Jesus, but give their foreskins for 
Moses. I know it sounds silly and I 
know it sounds crass, but that's what they were doing. Faith in 
Jesus is good. Paul's good on that point. But 
you must also undergo this rite, this ritual, this process that 
invalidates the grace of God. That puts to not the very cross 
of Christ. So this is point in Galatians 
2. He says, for if righteousness comes through the law, if righteousness 
comes through my circumcision, my obedience to days and the 
Jewish high holy days, if my righteousness comes through any 
merit or any doing on my part, then Christ died in vain. So 
he says in Galatians 221, can't forget that passage. Don't get 
away from that passage. That's one of the foundational 
emphases in this entire epistle. If righteousness comes through 
the law, then Christ died in vain. We know, of course, righteousness 
does not come through the law. Christ did not die in vain. It 
was to save His people from their sins. So the apostle is fearful 
for them. Look back for a moment at chapter 
1, verse 6. Just see Paul. Paul the pastor. 
Pastoral heart of a man of God. Galatians 1.6, I marvel, he says, 
that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you 
in the grace of Christ to a different gospel. We need more Pauls in 
our day. A lot of people are turning. 
A lot of people are defecting. A lot of people think faith in 
Jesus is good, plus whatever it is that we think we need. 
Faith in Jesus is good, plus a house by the lake. Faith in 
Jesus is good, plus my own works. Faith in Jesus is good, plus 
whatever it is the preacher is telling me to supplement with. 
Paul says, I marvel that you are turning away so soon from 
him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel. You see, a faith plus anything 
is not gospel. It is different. He goes on to 
say, which is not another. Verse seven. But there are some 
who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even 
if we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you 
than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. Remember 
back in Galatians 1 when we looked at this, let him be accursed. This is a Greek word that translates 
a Hebrew word. When God said something was under 
the ban, when something was under his devotion to destruction. 
Paul says if anybody tampers with the gospel of free and sovereign 
grace, let him be damned to hell. Oh, Paul, you can't say that. 
Oh, Paul, that's offensive. Oh, Paul, we don't want to hear 
that. We live in a day and age of tolerance. If anybody twists 
the gospel, Paul says, let him be damned to hell. Things haven't 
changed, brethren. Things are not different today. 
The stakes are very high. If you believe heresy, you go 
to hell. If you reject the Gospel of free 
and sovereign grace, there is no hope for your soul. If you 
do not have dealings with God through Jesus Christ, the only 
Mediator of this covenant, you are in trouble. Notice in chapter 
3, verse 1. Oh foolish Galatians. Paul, don't you know you can't 
call people fools? It might make them feel bad. 
We want them to feel bad. I'd rather they feel bad than 
they suffer in hell. I'd rather they get a little 
irritated and a little upset that I called them a fool than 
to go off to hell. Oh foolish Galatians, he says, 
who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before 
whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? Who's bewitched you? Who's cast 
the evil eye on you? Who's twisted you around? This 
is no small thing. You see the progression. He's 
marveling at their departure and defection. He is chastising 
them for being foolish and being bewitched. And now he says very 
clearly and very powerfully, I am afraid for you. When I talk 
to somebody that begins to depart a little bit from the path, You 
see, brother, no, it's all about the gospel. It's all about Jesus. It's all about the cross. Well, 
you know, that's good. But I like nature, too. There's 
something about nature and sort of connecting with the with the 
world around me in some religious sort of way. Brother, that's 
not right, man. You marvel at the fact that he's 
doing that. I can't believe it. This was 
a guy who was on the straight and narrow. And then if he keeps 
on with it, you might say, you fool, you understand what's happening? Do you see how you're getting 
astray? I remember as a kid, we used 
to go to the beach. And it would be foggy and overcast in the 
morning. And you would start at a particular 
place in the water. There would be lifeguard stations 
right along Huntington Beach. You start maybe, let's say, at 
lifeguard station number 2. And it's foggy and it's overcast. 
And when that fog begins to clear, when the overcast is overcome 
by the sun, you see lifeguard station number 12. You say, what 
happened? How did we end up from 2 to 12? 
Well, it's the undercurrent. It's the undertow. Sometimes 
it takes you out further. Sometimes it takes you sideways. 
Heresy is that way. I don't believe for a moment 
somebody just wakes up in the morning and says, I'm going to 
go deny the Gospel. I'm going to deny Jesus. I'm 
going to throw it all off. I'm going to abandon the truth. 
No, it begins by entertaining some heresy. It begins by giving 
ear to some heretical teaching. And sooner or later, when you 
start off at 2, you end up at 12. Only there you get out of 
the water and walk back to tomb. You don't have that liberty when 
you're sucked into heresy. You need to be careful. This 
is why Paul says, I'm afraid for you. Lest I have labored 
for you in vain. That first missionary journey. 
That preaching tour. That going through various cities 
to proclaim Christ and Him crucified. That stoning he incurred outside 
of Lystra. That mob that was following him, 
wanting to destroy him. All of that, he says, is in vain. If you depart, if you follow 
the Judaizers, if you think that circumcision or high holy days 
avails with God, you have another fate coming. And then he shifts 
gears, as I said, into more of a fatherly, paternal appeal, 
which, God willing, we'll pick up next week. Just by way of 
conclusion, we have seen in our passage the religious nature 
of man. We need to understand that the 
people with whom we come into contact, they are as religious 
as we are. They are just serving those which 
are by nature, not God. You might wonder, how do we reconcile 
this? Paul says in Romans three, there is none who seeks after 
God. You're telling us all men seek God. No. There's none who 
seek after the true and living God. That does not mean they 
aren't exchanging Him for the creature. It does not mean they 
are not pursuing their own lusts, or they're pursuing their own 
desires, or they're pursuing a religious system that promises 
them fame and fortune and prestige. All men are religious beings. That's what Romans 1 teaches 
us. That's why it is better to know 
your scripture, better to know the epistle to the Romans, rather 
than spending 15 hours trying to prove the existence of God 
to an unbeliever. He knows God exists. He suppresses 
the truth in unrighteousness. It's as if he has an iron mask 
on his face. We need to do what Van Til says, 
under the spirit, seek to rip that mask from his face. Secondly, 
we have seen the sovereignty of God, the sovereignty of God, 
but now after you have known God or rather are known by God. I encourage you to think about 
this little phrase sometime in the coming week. Use it as fuel 
for worship. Use it as fuel for praise. I 
think very often we come to these passages as proof texts for our 
Calvinism, our Reformed theology, and they are. Ephesians 1 is 
another such proof text, but the writing, the giving of Ephesians 
1 was not in the context of polemics. Polemics is fighting and arguing 
for the truth. That's what polemics is. That's 
not what Ephesians 1 is. What does Paul do with Calvinism 
and Reformed theology according to Ephesians 1? He says, blessed 
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed 
us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 
just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. 
In him, or he predestinated us unto adoption as sons. It is 
the context of praise. and worship, and glory. If you 
know God savingly, it's because He knew you first. And that ought 
to be a reason to praise Him, and to worship Him, and to honor 
Him, and thank Him. And then as well, we have learned 
the futility of Christ plus anything for justification. It's not Christ 
plus High Holy Days. It's not Christ plus circumcision. 
It's not Christ plus your Reformed distinctives. It's not Christ 
plus the 1689. It's not Christ plus homeschool. 
It's not Christ plus Christian school. It's not Christ plus 
the way we dress. It's not Christ plus the way 
we look. It's Christ alone. We need to 
get that in our heads. And then fourthly, we have seen 
the importance of an earnest ministry. Pray to God that he 
raises up more men like Paul. Men who aren't afraid to say, 
I marvel that you're turning from God. Men who aren't afraid 
to say, you foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Men who 
aren't afraid to say, I'm afraid for you because of the pattern, 
the trajectory that you've adopted is to go back into bondage, is 
to go back into spiritual slavery. Pray to God in your prayer times 
that he raise up men. Because in the wisdom of God, 
the world through wisdom did not know God. But it pleased 
God through the foolishness of the message preached to save 
those who believe. So we need God to raise up preachers 
to send them out, not to play golf and sip tea and have coffee, 
but men who are committed to the exposition and application 
of God's holy word. We are sinking in a whole host 
of Practical information. When what the church needs today 
is a clear view of the glory of God in the Christian Gospel. Pray that way. Pray that God 
will raise up servants. Shepherds after His own heart. And if you are not in Christ, 
the way is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. 
Do not end this day without looking to the Lord Jesus. We referred 
this morning to that episode in Numbers 21. When God sent 
those serpents to bite the children of Israel and to kill them for 
their whining and grumbling in the wilderness, then God told 
Moses to construct a brazen serpent to put it up in the wilderness 
so that every Israelite who looked, lived. It wasn't look and go 
fix yourself. It wasn't look and put a tourniquet 
on. It wasn't look and apply salve. 
It was look and live. That's the Gospel. Look and live 
to the Lord Jesus Christ and He will save you. Well, let us 
pray. Father, we thank You for Your 
Word and we thank You for this epistle and for its clarity. 
We thank You for Paul's heart manifested in the pages of his 
letters. And God, we know this reflects 
your heart. And God, we pray that you would 
just give us grace to appreciate your sovereignty, not just to 
use it as a means to defend or to destroy our enemies, but as 
a means to worship and praise our beloved God. And as well, 
Father, we just ask that you would raise up a whole host of 
men who are like the Apostle in their desire to proclaim the 
truth, to zealously preach the gospel of free and sovereign 
grace. And again, we pray for Brittany. We just ask that all 
is well with her and with this little one. And we pray through 
Christ the Lord. Amen.