DON’T GO BACK FROM SONSHIP TO SLAVERY

Part -2

BONDAGE TO DEMONS OR THE LAW:

The connection between verses 8 and 9 makes it very likely that the best translation is “elemental spirits.” Verse 8 talks about former bondage to spiritual beings, and verse 9 talks about the danger of returning to that bondage.

But look at the connection between verses 9 and 10. This suggests that the Galatians are returning to Jewish laws, not evil spirits.

Verse 10 says,” You observe days and months and seasons!  I am afraid I have labored over you in vain.”

These probably refer to the Jewish holy days and festivals.   So, when you read verse 9 in the light of verse 10, the elemental things would seem to be legal ordinances rather than spiritual beings.

How shall we honor verse 8 and verse 10 in trying to understand verse 9? Verse 9 says the Galatians are turning back from Christ to slavery.  Verse 8 suggests that the slavery is to demons.  Verse 10 suggests that slavery is to legal ordinances about Holy days and festivals.

I think to honor both verses is to let both be true and let them point us to a profound and subtle relationship between demons and the Law of God.   It is true 10 suggests, that the Galatians were in the process of accepting the Judaizers’ teaching that circumcision dietary laws, and holy days should be used to show God that they are worthy of blessings.

Verse 10 fits perfectly with all we’ve seen so far about the dangers of legalism.    Paul’s fear in verse 11 that he has labored in vain sounds like Galatians 3:3, 4 and 4: 9-11 the danger is that these new Christians will turn back from dependence on the spirit of Christ to dependence on themselves (the flesh)

The danger is that they begin to use the law of God as a divine job description to help them demonstrate their moral accomplishment to God in the hope of obtaining the wages of blessing.

So, verse 10 fits perfectly with all we’ve seen so far about the dangers of legalism.

But what verse 8 does is give us an even deeper understanding of what happens when a person uses the law like that.   Verse 8 shows us that the bondage to the law as a job description is bondage to demons.

“When you did not know God, you were in bondage to beings that by nature are no Gods.”   The most astonishing thing in this passage is that Paul says Galatian Christians are in danger of going back to the slavery of their former Gentile pagan religion when they turn to the legalism of the Judaizers. 

Remember these new Galatians believers were Gentiles whose past was not Jewish law but Gentile paganism and idolatry.   So, the Judaizers— these rigorous, moral monotheists of Jerusalem — must have been thunderstruck to hear Paul say to the Galatians:

If you begin to use the Jewish Law to show God the merit of your virtue, you come under the sway of demons and are no better off than in your idolatry.

In other words, Paul has uncovered for us a typical demonic scheme that is just as prevalent in the religions of the twentieth century as it was in Paul’s day.   It is clean, it is moral, it is religious, and it is hellish.

DISGUISED AS SERVANTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

All I want you to stay alert to the deceitful methods of Satan.  He is relentless in his efforts to destroy your wholehearted dependence on God’s sovereign grace.  So, if he cannot make you disobey the commandments of God, he will bend every effort to make you obey them with the wrong spirit.

Do you recall how Romans 7:11 says,” Sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and by it killed me.”

Paul could write that very thing about Satan and the demons:  they love to take God’s holy law and use it to deceive us and kill us if they can—by tempting us to use the law as a vehicle for self-righteousness.

There were some false apostles at Corinth who were missing the law like this.   Listen to what Paul says about them in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15,” Such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.  So, it’s not strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.”

That is a daring statement: Satan and his servants achieve some of their most destructive work in the church by becoming “servants of righteousness.”

WHAT KIND OF RIGHTEOUSNESS?

The kind described in Romans 10:3,” Being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God and seeking to establish their righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.”

Satan and his demons specialize in taking the commandments of the law and alluring people in the Church to make those commandments a basis of self-righteousness.

Therefore, Paul saw behind the legalistic teaching of the Judaizers an age-old demonic scheme to destroy genuine faith and with it the Church.  Small wonder that this letter bristles with Paul’s righteous indignation.

Do you see what it means now for us?

 Satan does not care if you try to keep the Ten Commandments, provided that you take the credit for keeping them.

He will assist your moral resolve if you will do it that way.  Satan does not mind if you come to church, teach Sunday School, preach, work for the freeze, lobby for a human life bill, or seek prayer in the schools.

He’s all in favor of whatever your moral agenda is, provided you rely on yourself instead of the Spirit of Christ and take credit for it yourself instead of humbling giving all glory to God.  So, do not be unprepared.

Our adversary has a clever scheme by which he aims to ruin us and the Church.   But I will close with a strong word of hope.

            And though this world with devils filled      

            should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed

            His truth to triumph through us

            The prince of darkness grim,

            We tremble not for him;

            With his rage, we can endure,

            For, Lo, his doom is sure;

            One little word shall fell him.

An example of the word that can feel Satan in our lives is Galatians 4: 3-7,” When we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe.   But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So, through God, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a so, then an heir.”

Do you see what that means?

It means that when the appointed time came, God looked down on His world under the dominion of Satan and said to His Son,” Prepare for the invasion.  The artillery of the enemy will be heavy.

Before you get very far on the beach you will be killed.  But I will raise you from the dead and the beachhead you established will spread until It invades every tongue and tribe and nation.

And I will free town after town from slavery to demons and slavery to the law.   And we will draw into our movement all those who trust in you, My Son, and we will send your spirit to empower them and bring them to glory.  

And they will be my children and heirs of everything I have.  Satan will be vanquished, all unbelievers will be banished to outer darkness, and our glory will fill the earth like the waters cover the sea.”