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Sinai Covenant Law Keeping Is For The Spiritually Immature; Knowing God And Accepting His Principles Is For the Spiritually Mature; We Are God’s Children And Heirs; We Have The Spirit Of God Living In Us And He Creates Intimacy With God And Power For Right Living; Don’t Enslave Yourself With Obligatory Sinai-Covenant Law-Keeping!
God’s grace and our faith-response to Him and His Word, not works, not human effort, not Sinai Covenant law keeping, is not only the way we are saved, but the way we are to live. We live by Holy Spirit empowered, close-to-God empowered living. We are able live God-honoring, successful lives by being born again, by having the Spirit of Messiah live in us and teach us and empower us to be holy. All of us need to know how to live this kind of Holy Spirit empowered, faith-based life.
We have seen that the purpose of the Sinai Covenant was not to impart salvation to the nations. It was given as the constitution for the new, holy nation of Israel. The Sinai Covenant helped keep the holy people set apart from an unholy world and kept Israel close to a holy God. The Sinai Covenant showed the other nations how wise the Chosen People were, and that brought honor to the God we served. The Sinai Covenant was added because of transgressions, to reveal transgressions and to restrain transgressions. The Sinai Covenant was designed to be a temporary agreement – not an eternal covenant.
The Sinai Covenant came in an inferior way, through a mediator and through angels, showing the superiority of the Abrahamic Covenant and Messiah’s New Covenant which is the culmination of the Abrahamic Covenant. Law is incapable of imparting life, and the Sinai Covenant had a legal emphasis. The Sinai Covenant functioned as a warden of a prison, restraining guilty people until a greater system arrived. The Sinai Covenant was like a guardian during Israel’s time of spiritual immaturity. Christians and Messianic Jews are no longer immature children, but mature sons and daughters of the living and eternal God. Therefor for all these reasons, we are no longer under the authority of the Sinai Covenant. We are under Messiah’s New Covenant and this new faith.
These principles of the way of salvation through Messiah; our new and better covenant; our new faith; our changed relationship to the Sinai Covenant and our new relationship to God as mature adults; the emphasis on Holy Spirit-empowered living – apply to everyone – Jews and the peoples of the nations, men and women, slave and free.
In chapter 4, the divinely inspired Rabbi continues teaching the Galatians about not trying to live under the Sinai Covenant. What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. Those who are immature need to be treated differently from those who are mature. Children and adolescents need supervision by their parents; or if the parents are not available, guardians or custodians to watch over them, protect them, intervene when they make mistakes and overrule their bad decisions. The Jewish people under the Sinai Covenant were like immature children. The Sinai Covenant, with its emphasis on laws and dos and don’ts was like a guardian we were required to obey.
The Jewish people under the Sinai Covenant were children of God, sons and daughters destined to live with God forever and be wealthy, eternal heirs – but we were spiritually immature. We needed the rules and regulations the Sinai Covenant provided.
I understand the legal nature of the Sinai Covenant and its emphasis on dos and don’ts to be the elemental spiritual forces that Paul is referring to. Because of its emphasis on laws, we had a tendency to become enslaved to elemental spiritual forces – commands like: Do this. Don’t do this. Look at this; don’t look at this. Touch this but not that. Wear this but not that. Observe this day but not that one. Eat this but don’t eat that. Go here, but you must not go there. This is how you deal with children – not adults. You give adults the principles they need and after they understand those principles, they are able to make the right decisions in a variety of circumstances.
Rabbi Paul is telling us that with the coming of the Son of God, something radically new has happened. Messianic Jews and Christians are no longer immature children. We are the mature sons and daughters of God! We have a new and better relationship with our Heavenly Father. We are able to understand Him and His will and His ways. That means that our relationship to the Sinai Covenant has changed. We are no longer under its authority as the Jewish people were before Messiah arrived. So, why would the Galatians want to come under its authority as if they were underage children?
Paul makes another point. Even though there is a huge difference in status between slaves and minors, there is little difference in the way slaves and immature children are treated. What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. Slaves are like underage minors. Like children, they need guardians. They are not self-directed. They need external rules to force them to do what they are supposed to do. So why would the Galatians want to be treated as slaves – being controlled by external forces – like the laws of the Sinai Covenant – now that they have become the mature sons and daughters of God? That doesn’t make any sense.
That state of spiritual immaturity and slave-like obedience that the Jewish people experienced under the Sinai Covenant was intended to only last for a limited time. God had a plan to bring us to a better place, a place of spiritual maturity where the child is motivated – not by external dos and don’t and fear of punishment, but motivated by his father’s principles which he has incorporated within himself.
That period of spiritual immaturity under Sinai Covenant custody was not intended to last forever. It was designed to last for a set time – until the arrival of the Son of God. Messiah’s arrival would enable us to come to a place of spiritual maturity. Messiah would fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant and make a New Covenant which changed our relationship to the Sinai Covenant, so that we were no longer under its authority. But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
The Sinai Covenant was given to the Chosen People at a time when humanity was endarkened – far from God, far from truth, far from morality, far from salvation. It was a time of false gods and occult practices and child-sacrifice; immorality and sexual perversions and multiple-wives; wars, oppression, cruelty, torture and slavery. It took 1500 years of the one true and living God working through the Chosen People, whose influences extended to Africa, Europe and Asia, to get Israel and the nations ready for the coming of the Son of God, who alone is able to bring humanity to spiritual maturity.
When the set time finally came, God the Father sent His Son into this world. Messiah entered this world through the incarnation. Yeshua was born of a wonderful and very special Jewish woman. He was born under the law. His relationship to the Sinai Covenant was that it was in a position of authority over Him. He was required to obey its laws. And obey those laws He did – perfectly; fully; completely; uniquely – among all the Chosen People who ever lived.
Messiah’s purpose for leaving Heaven and entering into this world, becoming a man, and coming under the authority of the Sinai Covenant? To redeem those under the law. Redemption – buying human beings out of the satanic slave market of sin and death, was the reason why the Messiah left Heaven and entered this world.
And note well that the apostle to the Gentiles informs us that Messiah specifically came to redeem those under the law. And who were those under the authority of the Sinai Covenant? Not the Egyptians or Babylonians or Greeks or Romans. Those under the law were the Chosen People. Redemption was targeted to the Jewish people first – but not exclusively. God intended Messianic redemption to start with those under the law but be extended to those not under the law, so that all of us – Jews and peoples from the nations – might be purchased out of the satanic slave market of sin and death; not purchased to be owned like a man purchases and owns a slave, but redeemed so that we would be able to become the glorious and honorable sons and daughters of God – that we would receive adoption into divine sonship. Amazing! Fantastic! Baruch HaShem! Praise the Lord!
The goal of the coming of the Messiah into this world in the fulness of time was to create, out a remnant of fallen Jews and Gentiles, mature sons and daughters of God who know the Three-In-One God and His principles; sons and daughters who are united to God, lived in by God, eternally enriched heirs of God. Because you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are His child, God has made you also an heir. Fathers and their children share the same nature. A puppy shares the same dog nature as the father dog. A baby zebra shares the same zebra nature of its zebra father. Christians and Messianic Jews share the same divine nature as our Heavenly Father. When we are born again, God gives us a new nature patterned after His own nature. That new God-like nature enables the Spirit of the Father and the Son to live in us in a much greater way. The Spirit of the Father and the Son living in us enables us to get very close to God and share intimacy with our Heavenly Father like the intimacy shared between a human child and a loving father.
It’s not law-keeping and human effort that creates this kind of close personal relationship and intimacy with the living God. There are hundreds of thousands of Jewish people who live a very orthodox, Sinai Covenant keeping kind of life and have no relationship to God and no intimacy with Him at all. Because you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit of the Son of God living in our hearts, at the very core of who we are, creates an awareness of God and a close, personal, intimate father-child relationship.At the core of our very being we sense that the great Creator God is now Abba, father, daddy.
Christians and Messianic Jews have the same kind of relationship that God the Father and Messiah the Son share – a relationship of shared nature, a relationship of a united Spirit, a relationship of intimacy and understanding; a relationship based on shared values and priorities.
That kind of new relationship with God that redemption and Messiah’s New Covenant provides – based on a new nature, a new closeness to the Father, Son and Spirit, a new understanding of God and His principles – enables us to live as mature adults guided by principles we have embraced – not by external laws and threats of punishment for violating those laws. So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child. So, why would we want to live like slaves who need to be controlled by an external guardian like the Sinai Covenant? Let’s live like the glorious sons and daughters of the living God – close to God, indwelt by God, knowing the mind and will of God, taught by God, guided by God, empowered by the Spirit of God!
So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are His child, God has made you also an heir. Amazing! Fantastic! Wonderful! Christians and Messianic Jews become the sons and daughters of God! And, not just children, but heirs; and not just heirs of any sort, but heirs of the great Creator God, the One who made all things, this vast universe with all of its wealth and treasures, and who will create a new universe and a new Earth and a new Jerusalem filled with real and eternal treasures. And He intends to give those treasures to enrich us and for our enjoyment – forever!
If a poor child is adopted by a good and gracious and wealthy man, so that he becomes his son and heir, out of gratitude that son wants to honor his father. He wants to please him and incorporate his good values into his life. That’s us. We are the loved and wealthy heirs of our good, gracious and generous Heavenly Father! Our motivation for living is not Sinai Covenant law keeping and fear of punishment, but to please our Father and incorporate His wise and good principles into every aspect of our lives.
The Lord’s Representative is concerned that the Galatians are ignoring these glorious truths and turning back to legalism, to weak, miserable forces that will enslave them. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God – or rather are known by God – how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
Here the Rabbi is primarily addressing the Gentile Christians in Messiah’s Communities in Galatia. Formerly, when you did not know God you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. Before they discovered the God of Israel, the Galatians didn’t know the true and living God. They worshiped and served false gods. Their service to these false gods was a kind of slavery which kept them away from the true God who alone can save. They didn’t enjoy the freedom of knowing the truth and living the right way. Even though the Judaizers weren’t directing the Galatian Christians to serve false gods, the danger they represented was the same – enslavement to a false religious system. But now that you know God – or rather are known by God – how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!
The weak and miserable forces are the same elemental forces Paul mentioned earlier. They are the laws and commands, the dos and don’t of the Sinai Covenant that are designed for underage children who can’t operate by understanding and internalizing God’s principles. Paul is specifically referring to the demand from the judaizers and the legalists that the Galatians observe all the laws of the Sinai Covenant – and here the Rabbi singles out the Jewish holidays – but he is using them to represent the whole of the Sinai Covenant – days like the Sabbath, months like the first day of the new month and seasons like the spring holidays and fall holidays and years like the seventh sabbatical year. Paul considered that the demand that followers of Messiah are required to live according to those laws of the Sinai Covenant to be a kind of slavery for the immature – not spiritual living for spiritual adults.
Now, please don’t misunderstand me – or Rabbi Paul. Can Christians and Messianic Jews observe the Sabbath and the Jewish holidays if they want to, or other parts of the Sinai Covenant – without becoming enslaved? Yes. But the motivation for doing so is crucial. If the motivation is because you believe that observing the Sabbath and holidays is something that God demands you do under Messiah’s New Covenant – then you are in grave spiritual danger.
If your motivation is you want to observe some of the laws of the Sinai Covenant that you find meaningful; or if your motivation is that a practice is something you enjoy, or something you want to explore – then you are OK – as long as you don’t demand others make the same choices and as long as you never lose focus on the centrality of Messiah and the need for Holy Spirit empowered living as the thing that really pleases God and results in right living.
Earlier in this letter, Paul had made some shocking statements designed to rouse the Galatians out of their spiritual danger. He makes another one here: I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. I can image those who first received this letter thinking: What’s that? Paul, who first brought us the Message and helped formed our communities thinks all his efforts may have been wasted on us? That we have deviated so much from what Paul thinks is true that he considers us a total loss? Thank God for friends who are wise enough to know when we are making a mistake, and courageous enough to confront us and speak to us bluntly. May we become good and wise and courageous friends like that!
Lord, help each one of understand that salvation comes from You and Your grace and our faith-response, not works, not mere human effort, not Sinai-Covenant law keeping, and that is not only the way we are saved, but the way we are to live. Amen?
Help us live Holy Spirit empowered, close-to-God empowered lives. Amen?
May each one of us truly be born again, and have the Spirit of Messiah live in us and teach us and empower us to live successful, God-honoring, God-pleasing lives. Amen?
Thank You for our new and better covenant; our new faith; our changed relationship to the Sinai Covenant and our new relationship to You as mature adults who really know You and Your principles and Your will and Your ways. Help us to internalize Your principles so that we live the right way and make the right decisions. Amen?
Thank You for the Spirit of Your Son who lives in us and creates that close, personal relationship between us, so we can say to You – Abba, Father, Daddy. May we constantly nurture that close relationship with You. Amen?
Thank You that You sent Your Son at the set time to redeem the Jewish people first – but not exclusively. Thank You that Jews and peoples from the nations can be purchased out of the satanic slave market of sin and death to become Your glorious and honorable and eternal sons and daughters and amazingly wealthy heirs! Father, You are so great! Amen?
Out of gratitude for You and Your amazing grace, may we incorporate Your good values and priorities into our lives. Amen?
Lord, many of us enjoy the Sabbath and holidays and other parts of the Sinai Covenant. May our motivations for observing them be right and well-pleasing to You. May we not get enslaved, like others have, to Sinai Covenant law keeping. Amen?
May we always have the right focus – on You, on Messiah, on the Holy Spirit for salvation and for right living. Amen?