Galatians 4 (6)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 119.65-67
You have dealt well with Your servant,
O LORD, according to Your word.
Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
For I believe Your commandments.
Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep Your word.

Sing Psalm 119.65-67
(Open My Eyes: Open My Eyes, That I May See)
You have dealt well with me, O LORD, just as You promised in Your Word.
Teach me good judgment, help me to know all that I need to love You so.
Let Your commandments light my way. Send sweet affliction when I stray,
that I may walk Your holy way and keep Your Word.

Read Galatians 4.1-31; meditate on verses 29-31.

Preparation
1. How do those “born of the flesh” react to those “born of the Spirit”?

2. Whose children are we who believe?

Meditation
Paul must have tired of this. Nearly everywhere he went to preach the Gospel, people responded to the Word of God with joy and rejoicing. They came together to learn and worship. They appointed leaders and began becoming a new kind of community in the world. The evidence of grace was visible on every hand.

Then Paul would move on and, sooner or later, false teachers would arrive and try to lead the believers astray. Word would reach Paul and he would either send someone to set them back in order—as he sent Titus to the Corinthians—or write them an epistle, as he did the Galatians, or both.

But it has always been thus, and it always will be. False teachers prey on people who want to believe in Jesus. They bring all kinds of “Jesus +” versions of the Good News, giving people false hopes and assuring them that the Gospel is really all about them. And when they have made everyone feel real good about themselves, they pass the plate. This is a form of persecution thar wicked, deceitful men use to take advantage of people who, like the Galatians, just want to know Jesus (v. 29).

Paul taught us how to keep from falling for the wiles of false teachers. We need to keep asking the most important question: What does the Scripture say? False teachers will twist and contort the Scriptures to justify their false claims, but we must search the Scriptures daily, in their entirety, to hear the voice of Jesus telling us what true discipleship requires (v. 30).

The old objection is true: You can make Scripture say just about whatever you want. And that’s what false teachers do. So unless we are firmly grounded, deeply rooted, and growing in familiarity with all of Scripture, we can easily be led astray. Keep reading, meditating, and searching the Scriptures. Test every spirit, confront every temptation, take your every next step according to the teaching of God’s Word. For you are free in Jesus and in Jesus only (v. 31). Do not become the slave of any man. Look to the Word of God.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Paul asked the Galatians the quintessential question: “Nevertheless what does the Scripture say?” (Gal. 4.30)

We can exhaustively quibble about who said what, when, where, why or how—ad infinitum ad nauseum—but the final arbiter of all Truth is the Scripture, the Word of God.

As Jesus said so wisely to the Sadducees about their skewed conclusions: “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matt. 22.29).

That is The Mistake that all people make: not believing God’s holy Word. Because if we don’t believe His Word, His Truth, we will never be able to discern what is right or wrong. And if we are that gullible, anyone can tell us anything, and we will have to accept it. There is no solid basis for reality. Everything is on the table, while chaos and insanity rule the day.

We are not children of the flesh but of the Spirit, and the Spirit will lead us into all Truth (Jn. 16.13).

It is when we forget our heritage that we begin to feel like the psalmist Asaph did: “…my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped…thus my heart was grieved, and I was vexed in my mind. I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You” (Ps. 73.2, 21, 22).

Remembering what the Scripture says is the key to walking safely on the Jesus Path, and never deviating from the Way in which we should go: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3.16, 17).

That is what we long for,
that should be our goal, and
that must be the way we attain it.

That is what the Scripture says.

Reflection
1. Why is this the most important question?

2. If we don’t rely on Scripture to guide us in life, where does that leave us? Why is that “sinking sand” ground?

3. Whom will you encourage today to stand fast in the Word of the Lord?

Let us rest our souls on the Scriptures, and by a gospel hope and cheerful obedience, show that our conversation and treasure are indeed in heaven. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Galatians 4.29-31

Closing Prayer: Psalm 119.68-72
Pray that God will ground you more firmly in His Word, that you will delight to read and meditate on it, and that He will teach you how to walk the Jesus Path.

Sing Psalm 119.68-72.
(Open My Eyes: Open My Eyes, That I May See)
LORD, You are good, and good You do; teach me that I may do good, too.
Wicked men my true pathway distort; I keep Your Word with all my heart.
Their heart is dark with sin’s cruel blight, but in Your Law is my delight.
Let me not turn from Your sweet Light, nor from Your Word.

All my afflictions, LORD, I turn to You that I Your Law may learn.
Teach me to hold Your Word in my heart, never from its true way to part.
Your Law is better far to me than any wealth could ever be;
open my eyes and let me see more of Your Word!

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.