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Galatians - Getting a Good Grip on G-d's Great
Grace
In Romans 10:17 where Paul states, "Faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of G-d."
Paul is reestablishing the truth that faith comes not by the works
we do, but by the grace of G-d, revealed through the preaching /
teaching of His Word. Our good works are the result of His grace
working in our hearts, by the life-changing anointing of His Spirit
and the heart-transforming power of His Word.
He further drives this point home by spelling out the spiritual
condition of those who trust in observance of Torah, rather than
putting their faith in the Messiah.
All who rely upon Torah observance are under
a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who
does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the
Law." Clearly no one is justified before G-d by the Torah
because, The righteous will live by faith.
Galatians 3:10-11
Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the
Torah by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, "Cursed
is everyone who is hung on a tree." He
redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might
come to the Gentiles through Jesus the Messiah, so that
by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Galatians
3:13-14
Paul is deeply committed to helping the Galatians grasp the awesome
beauty and grandeur of the Gospel of the Grace of G-d. He wanted
them to experience it's life-transforming power and the harmony
that it could bring to a divided and deeply segregated society.
You are all the children of G-d through faith
in Messiah Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into
Messiah have clothed yourselves with Messiah. There is neither
Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for
you are all one in Messiah Y'shua. If you belong to Messiah,
you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians
3:26-29
This did not mean that there are no longer differences between
people, but that G-d's Spirit living within each of His children
made us one in Messiah. In His presence, before His throne, there
are no favorites. As the old saying goes, "The
ground is level at the cross."
In the fourth Chapter, Paul is using the illustration of a tutor
or guardian to portray the changing relationship between the New
Covenant believer, the Torah, and the Rabbinic traditions that had
been built around the Torah. The Torah was our tutor, given to us
by G-d that kept the Jewish people a separate, unique, and holy
covenant people, so that we could give the Holy Scriptures to the
world. At the appointed time the Torah also enabled us to bring
forth the promised Messiah, the Holy One of Israel. The Torah led
us to faith in Messiah, so that we might be redeemed from trusting
in religious tradition and from bondage to sin, so that all of us
could be adopted into G-d's forever family and enjoy eternity in
Heaven.
Now what I mean, is that as long as the heir is a child and under
age, he does not differ from a slave, although he may be the master
of all the estate; But he is under a guardian and administrator
(or a tutor and trustee), until the time set by his father.
So it is also with us Messianic Jews, when we were minors we
were kept like slaves (under the rules of Hebrew rituals and traditions,
subject to) the elementary teachings of a system of external observance
and regulations. But when the proper time
had fully come, G-d sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject
to the regulations of the Torah, to purchase the freedom of (to
ransom, to atone for) those who were subject to the rules and
regulations of Torah, that we might be adopted and be recognized
as the children of G-d. And because now we really are His children,
G-d has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying,
Abba (Daddy), Father! Galatians 4:1-6
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