Paul doesn't back off an inch in preserving the freedom of the Gospel....and I am so grateful he did...Gleanings from Galatians 4:17-30
" You need to see this for what it is. These "so-called" teachers are doing their best to flatter you...with no end in sight. The question is: what is their real intent? Where are they going with all this?
And notice, they don't want to hear what I have to say about their "teaching", because they know I would "tear apart" all their false nonsense. You better believe I get worked up when I hear people trying to steal your freedom in Christ!
Look, there is certainly nothing wrong with being recognized for your accomplishments in Christ Jesus...that is not the issue. The issue is: why are they making all this "hoopla" about your efforts....what I feel uncomfortable about is the motives behind all this.
You want to know how I honestly feel about all this right now? I feel like a mother who is suffering birth pains...but in my case I have birth pains to see Christ Jesus completely formed and molded within you! Otherwise, I wouldn't have all this frustration writing to you and showing concern...especially with the distance between us.
Are you kidding me? You want to live under the Law, the rituals, and all the customs that come with it? Do you really know what the Law demands? Why do you think you need to try and please God by these "do it yourself" methods? It has never worked before...and it won't work now!
Listen to me. The scriptures say Abraham had 2 sons...one from a slave wife and one from his wife of choice. Now, the son which was born of the slave wife through Abraham, was born in the natural way...the slave wife young enough to have a child and able to bear a son for Abraham.
Sarah, Abraham's true wife of choice, is an entirely different story. She bore a son for Abraham because of God's very own Promise to her....it was the only way...she was way beyond her years in giving birth...she was 99 years old...when she conceived!
These two entirely different style births serve as an illustration for us as Christians today... two entirely different covenants.
You see, the slave woman, Hagar, and her birth of Ishmael, is a reflection of the present day Jewish people who received the Law at Mt. Sinai. They can only follow after the Lord...not know Him...and that is determined on whether they follow the Law and all the rituals and customs that are tied to it. It is a natural thing to do....but in no way gives true entrance to God's very heart. Having Ishmael is a poor 2nd to what God really had planned...and that was to come through Sarah and her son Isaac....who for many thought: "No way."
Now as for Sarah, Abraham's true wife...she gave birth by faith...and Isaac came forth. This was God making all this possible, and Abraham and Sarah's part in this...to believe and put their trust in Him. This is a reflection of the "new " Jewish people...the "New" type of people that actually know God, and it is not limited to a particular race of people or a set of rules that have to be obeyed. These people have this God who lives in the hearts of His people, and they respond to honoring Him from their hearts.
Isaac was persecuted by Ishmael because Ishmael did not have the deep relationship with Abraham that Isaac had. Just like you!!! You are persecuted because you love the Lord from your very hearts...not because of some Laws that command you to do so!
Isaiah reads: " Rejoice O Barren woman, who has never given birth, for now you can be full of joy! You have never known of labor pains...until now! This woman who had been declared...Desolate!...No Children!
Now look! She has more children than any woman has ever known!
And you Galatians...are children of that legacy! You and I are a part of the Promise received by faith....we are that "New People"...just as Isaac.
But for now, you are being harassed into knowing God through the Law...trying to please God through natural means...just like Ishmael was born through natural means.
So, you do have a choice....to learn about God through the old way of the Law and all its human efforts, or to actually know the Lord in your hearts, a prodigy of Isaac, born of God's power, not of natural means.
Didn't the scriptures say," Get rid of the slave mother and her son, for they will not inherit with the son of faith?
Get rid of these guys "talkin it up" about following the Law....tell them the Law now lives in your very hearts!
" You need to see this for what it is. These "so-called" teachers are doing their best to flatter you...with no end in sight. The question is: what is their real intent? Where are they going with all this?
And notice, they don't want to hear what I have to say about their "teaching", because they know I would "tear apart" all their false nonsense. You better believe I get worked up when I hear people trying to steal your freedom in Christ!
Look, there is certainly nothing wrong with being recognized for your accomplishments in Christ Jesus...that is not the issue. The issue is: why are they making all this "hoopla" about your efforts....what I feel uncomfortable about is the motives behind all this.
You want to know how I honestly feel about all this right now? I feel like a mother who is suffering birth pains...but in my case I have birth pains to see Christ Jesus completely formed and molded within you! Otherwise, I wouldn't have all this frustration writing to you and showing concern...especially with the distance between us.
Are you kidding me? You want to live under the Law, the rituals, and all the customs that come with it? Do you really know what the Law demands? Why do you think you need to try and please God by these "do it yourself" methods? It has never worked before...and it won't work now!
Listen to me. The scriptures say Abraham had 2 sons...one from a slave wife and one from his wife of choice. Now, the son which was born of the slave wife through Abraham, was born in the natural way...the slave wife young enough to have a child and able to bear a son for Abraham.
Sarah, Abraham's true wife of choice, is an entirely different story. She bore a son for Abraham because of God's very own Promise to her....it was the only way...she was way beyond her years in giving birth...she was 99 years old...when she conceived!
These two entirely different style births serve as an illustration for us as Christians today... two entirely different covenants.
You see, the slave woman, Hagar, and her birth of Ishmael, is a reflection of the present day Jewish people who received the Law at Mt. Sinai. They can only follow after the Lord...not know Him...and that is determined on whether they follow the Law and all the rituals and customs that are tied to it. It is a natural thing to do....but in no way gives true entrance to God's very heart. Having Ishmael is a poor 2nd to what God really had planned...and that was to come through Sarah and her son Isaac....who for many thought: "No way."
Now as for Sarah, Abraham's true wife...she gave birth by faith...and Isaac came forth. This was God making all this possible, and Abraham and Sarah's part in this...to believe and put their trust in Him. This is a reflection of the "new " Jewish people...the "New" type of people that actually know God, and it is not limited to a particular race of people or a set of rules that have to be obeyed. These people have this God who lives in the hearts of His people, and they respond to honoring Him from their hearts.
Isaac was persecuted by Ishmael because Ishmael did not have the deep relationship with Abraham that Isaac had. Just like you!!! You are persecuted because you love the Lord from your very hearts...not because of some Laws that command you to do so!
Isaiah reads: " Rejoice O Barren woman, who has never given birth, for now you can be full of joy! You have never known of labor pains...until now! This woman who had been declared...Desolate!...No Children!
Now look! She has more children than any woman has ever known!
And you Galatians...are children of that legacy! You and I are a part of the Promise received by faith....we are that "New People"...just as Isaac.
But for now, you are being harassed into knowing God through the Law...trying to please God through natural means...just like Ishmael was born through natural means.
So, you do have a choice....to learn about God through the old way of the Law and all its human efforts, or to actually know the Lord in your hearts, a prodigy of Isaac, born of God's power, not of natural means.
Didn't the scriptures say," Get rid of the slave mother and her son, for they will not inherit with the son of faith?
Get rid of these guys "talkin it up" about following the Law....tell them the Law now lives in your very hearts!
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