Join us and our teacher Pastor Ryan Brown as we continue our journey through Galatians. This week we are finishing off chapter 4 and heading in to chapter 5.
Rejecting legalism and promoting unity within the church are key messages in Galatians. Tradition and additional laws should never become a “requirement” for Salvation. Jesus and Paul taught that anyone leading us back into the slavery of sin or the law should be cut off from the church. The importance of unity in the body of Christ cannot be overstated and the truth that it is better to limp in freedom than live whole but in slavery.
Living in freedom is complex and challenging, but the rewards are immeasurable. Breaking away from our "lowercase gods" and the chains of sin requires deliberate continuous action and courage. Paul's frustration with those who turn away from God and back towards the things that enslaved them before is a reminder of the importance of maintaining an intimate relationship with God.
Finally, we'll explore the importance of true friendship and the concept of loving correction, drawing parallels to Paul's letter to the Galatians. By comparing the stories of Sarah, Ishmael, and Isaac, we'll explore the implications of inheritance and the significance of the child of the Promise.
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Notes: https://sermons.church/archives?church=PalmsBaptistBibleStudy&id=126
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Join us and our teacher Pastor Ryan Brown as we continue our journey through Galatians. This week we are finishing off chapter 4 and heading in to chapter 5.
Rejecting legalism and promoting unity within the church are key messages in Galatians. Tradition and additional laws should never become a “requirement” for Salvation. Jesus and Paul taught that anyone leading us back into the slavery of sin or the law should be cut off from the church. The importance of unity in the body of Christ cannot be overstated and the truth that it is better to limp in freedom than live whole but in slavery.
Living in freedom is complex and challenging, but the rewards are immeasurable. Breaking away from our "lowercase gods" and the chains of sin requires deliberate continuous action and courage. Paul's frustration with those who turn away from God and back towards the things that enslaved them before is a reminder of the importance of maintaining an intimate relationship with God.
Finally, we'll explore the importance of true friendship and the concept of loving correction, drawing parallels to Paul's letter to the Galatians. By comparing the stories of Sarah, Ishmael, and Isaac, we'll explore the implications of inheritance and the significance of the child of the Promise.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RealBibleStories
Notes: https://sermons.church/archives?church=PalmsBaptistBibleStudy&id=126
Website: https://real-bible-stories.square.site
Check us out on these Streaming Platforms: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1912582/share
Hello and welcome to Real Bible Stories. Join us as we deep dive into the historic, religious, cultural, political and emotional context surrounding the real lives of real people in the Bible and the stories we've all grown to love. Hello and welcome to this episode of Real Bible Stories. I'm your host, emron Ward, and we're joined by my wife, selena, and our teacher, pastor Ryan Brown. What's going on everyone? So this week we are continuing with our study, decoding Galatians. We have sure been decoding, haven't?
Speaker 1:we yeah, so I was looking back at the episode lengths and we're crushing like an hour and a half to two hours per episode here. So for those of you that have come on this journey with us, you're probably about five hours into this study over the last three episodes. All right, so thank you for sticking around. I hope that you've learned a lot. I've now gone back and listened to them several times, Not because I just have to edit them, but it's just. It's one thing to be a part of the episode and kind of be managing things as a host, and then it's another to just listen and then to listen again a few weeks later. It's like it just keeps reinforcing it in the best way possible. So there's times I go back and listen, I'm like man.
Speaker 3:That teacher is smart man. I didn't realize how brilliant. I'm just kidding. I was talking about you. Amran, I was talking about you.
Speaker 1:I straight up it's crazy because sometimes I'll go back to an episode and I'll hear myself say something and it'll just encourage me. And it's the strangest thing.
Speaker 3:It's actually amazing because, in all seriousness, right Like I'll go back and listen to some and man, some of those newer or first episodes we were talking about this, I think, last week, but it was like man that sound right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it sounds rough.
Speaker 3:For a long time, amran was always saying I know I need to get this gear. And I'm like, dude, it sounds fine, man, I can you know. But but now I go back and I'm like, no, there's a notable difference. But I go back to some you know of those previous ones and I'm listening to some of the studies and I'm like man, I forgot about that Like it's amazing how much like you can even dive deep, it's how quickly you can tend to forget certain things and it's not at the forefront of your mind, so it's not the forefront of your life, and you're like, and it's like good reminders, like I was reminding myself. I was like, hey, remember like this element about the God you serve.
Speaker 1:And I thought that, yeah, this podcast is not like your daily news, it's a, it doesn't get stale.
Speaker 2:If you go back, of course.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's kind of like a course, but it's like you go back and you listen again and it has like new life. It's like cause now you've lived a little more, you got a little bit more context of in your own life and it the episode you may have listened to six months ago is now going to have far more depth and the reason of that is because we're diving deep into scripture right and scripture is inexhaustible.
Speaker 3:That never grows stale, so like. And then that's why I, I, I can teach some of the same stories 80 times over and feel just as excited by it. There's always something different that I'm like oh, I never noticed that before, you know like even though, like even this study.
Speaker 3:You know, the first time I I taught relations at the Bible study, I completely glossed over the fact that Paul switches back and forth of Peter's name, right, that was just like a small little detail. I'm like I know, I'm like I can't believe I never. I just glossed over that the first time. You know like there's always more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, More depth to it and it's, it's. It's wonderful in that way. And so I say all that to say, if you feel like you're caught up and you've already listened for this week, go back to an episode you missed or go back to an episode that you liked, and I promise you you'll, you'll get something new out of it. It's on, or it'll encourage you Like it's, it's, it's the whole, it's. The pastor says the Holy spirit has good aim.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the spirit has good aim, all right.
Speaker 1:So this week, though, we're going to continue into chapter four, so we got to what Verse five last time.
Speaker 3:We're actually pretty much hit all of chapter four tonight.
Speaker 1:So we're going to finish chapter four tonight and we're not on the fruits of the spirit episode yet. I still have to keep waiting for that. It's like my nervous tick. I'm just waiting for that. But last week was awesome because we talked about, well, what's the purpose of the law? Now you know now that we are not under the law anymore, and so that was awesome. And I would say, if you haven't listened to that episode, if you haven't listened to this like series, sorry, when we drop in, it's not going to make any sense. You got to go back to uh, was episode 62, I think, or 63 at the beginning of the code and galatians, and go through it, cause it is, it's, this is dense stuff is good, good dense Bible study. So don't be surprised if we hit it in your confused yeah.
Speaker 3:And um, just to guess, I guess, do a very, very quick review from last week right, all really um and remember. Part of his frustration is that it's not simply that, um, these Jewish teachers who are coming in behind, undermining him and his gospel to a church that he established, and that he they're trying to draw the Galatian church back into the law. He also has a frustration that it doesn't even seem that those teachers understood the role of the law to begin with as it applies to Christ. So he kind of last week, you know he kind of really sets forth and he uses multiple ways of communicating the concept. But you know, the law on Antora was kind of like a rocket ship, right, where you know the not, not the law wasn't the promise was like a rocket ship. But the law acted kind of like the booster to the rocket ship where you know it blasts off, it gets them out of into outer space, but then you know, once you break the atmosphere you don't need the booster anymore. So what does the rocket ship do?
Speaker 1:Once it breaks, it's going. Once it gets through the, what does it do to the booster?
Speaker 3:Just drops it right, it separates it, it says it's no longer needed. So it's not that the law or the Torah is bad, it's just that it's served its purpose. It got you it, you know, rocketed the promise into the atmosphere of grace. Now you can disconnect from it and continue shooting towards the inheritance right. So you know, that's kind of like his, his point of the law, and he uses the terms with. It's like a you know a guardian who kind of like a babysitter right.
Speaker 3:That meant to kind of keep you while you're immature. Now that crisis come, you've been matured in your knowledge. Therefore, you don't need the babysitter. I eat the law anymore. Right, that was all last week.
Speaker 1:And that's not to say that, and this is not enough of a, so what that you can still skip it. It was like an hour and 45 minutes. Yeah, there's a lot Deep theology like go back and make sure you listen.
Speaker 3:But that's kind of like the the wave top right. So what he's? He's going to continue moving onto this, but he's going to shift a bit. So the entire entirety of Galatians, his biggest concern has been unity, right, and the thing that's offensive is that the thing that has always meant to unite people, to bless all nations, to bring Jew and Gentile together, was the seed, this promised seed, who is Christ, who, through his acts on the cross, confirmed in the resurrection and affirmed by the giving of the Holy spirit, is meant to bring everybody together. And now you've got this group of Jewish believers who are trying to divide the church by means of the law, right. So this whole thing has been unity. Now there's a natural question that comes from that and you, you picked up to on it when we were, you know, talking about a lot of the you know, the adults with diapers, right?
Speaker 2:What are our diapers?
Speaker 3:What are our guardians in life? And you know you kept saying, well, we're not. There's times where you know you need to separate right Like what if they're teaching there's more than one way to heaven, or you know? And we were talking more about the things, the non-essentials.
Speaker 3:Additional fences that we put on right the non-essentials, that Bible translation and the way you worship and the type of you know songs you use to sing and blah, blah, blah. Right. But one of the things you kept picking up on was the natural question what Paul's going to answer tonight, which is well great, but okay. So Paul got it. We want unity, but at what cost, you know? At what cost do we maintain unity? You? Know, does that mean I got it? Do you think that there's multiple ways to heaven?
Speaker 1:come on in you could be a part of the inheritance right. Where's the line where you're not the part of the inheritance there?
Speaker 3:And he's going to answer that right, and he's, he's, essentially, I'll give you the answer.
Speaker 1:It's like how do you know you're in the family, Like that's kind of. I guess the fundamental question is how would you actually know, and you're not just a spouse into another thing?
Speaker 3:Well, that's been his overarching question for Galatians who is gets the inheritance? Who belongs to the family? The question he's going to more specifically, I guess answer tonight is at what point do you actually divide and you separate? Right, so I'll give you the overarching macro answer here in a second, but I'm first going to ask you guys a question that kind of leads into it Would you be willing or would you rather lose a limb right, so lose your right leg or your left arm, would you rather?
Speaker 1:lose a limb Because now we ride motorcycles, so we need all four of them.
Speaker 3:Okay, well, this is still good. Yeah, do it. Would you rather lose a limb and live free, or maintain all your limbs together, but be a slave?
Speaker 2:Lose a limb.
Speaker 3:Lose a limb. Lose a limb, right, yeah, and that's because. What is the point? To which? A unity, at what cost? And to Paul, the line is this all things should be with unity and peace and mind, but there comes a point where, if division is coming in to, where they're trying to rob you of your freedom in Christ, that's your limit. That's when you divide.
Speaker 1:Rob you of your. Now we have to define what that means Rob you of your freedom.
Speaker 3:He's going to define that for us. Okay, but to live free in Christ. If somebody said, would you rather live divided but free in Christ, or united in slavery, right, we'd rather be united in slavery or divided in freedom. And Paul's going to ultimately make a point that it is better to separate certain elements of the body, right, you later call you know he calls the church one body, so separate several limb of the body if necessary, if that means limping forward in freedom rather than remaining in your chains but united in your chains, right, so that's what we're going to really explore. Wow.
Speaker 3:Tonight, though, and to that point, this is really the apex, the climax of his letter, and what I mean by that is it's not that anything after this is irrelevant and kind of just dies down as boring. What I mean is what he's going to get. What we're going to get to tonight is the point of the letter. Why write the letter? It's not just to defend himself, it's not just simply to, you know, express frustration for the Galatian church. It's. This is the point of what I'm writing. This is what I want you guys to do, this is what you need to do. This is how you correct it Galatian church from your perspective. We're going to get that at the end here, and he uses a lot of Old Testament. You know he says it figuratively. This is figurative, but essentially Old Testament analogies to associate what he's trying to lead them to do. So I'm not going to tell you what he's going to lead them to do. I want to see if you guys are able to pick up on it at the end. Cool.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:So with that, Selena go ahead and we're going to Galatians 4-8 through 5-1.
Speaker 2:Yep For believe. When you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that, by nature, are not God's. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world? Who slaves you want to be once more. You observe days and months and seasons and years. I'm afraid I may have labored over you in vain. Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong, you know.
Speaker 2:It was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What, then, has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out that you may make much of them. It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for who I am again in anguish of childbirth into Christ's form in you. I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?
Speaker 2:For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now, this may be interpreted allegorically. These women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. She is Hagar. Now, hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia.
Speaker 2:She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free. And she is our mother, for it is written rejoice O bear in one who does not bear. Break forth and cry it loud, you who are not in labor, for the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband. Now, you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the spirit, so also it is now. But what does the scripture say? Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. So, brothers, we are not children of the slave, but of the free woman for freedom. Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Speaker 1:Fantastic job, Selena.
Speaker 2:Good job, absolutely crossed that one. Oh, that was great, thank you.
Speaker 1:I can clearly hear every word that I said yeah, that was real good, that was real good.
Speaker 3:All right. So a lot there, right. So of course, we're going to have to piecemeal this, right. So one of the things that's important, this is where we ended with Galatians 4, 1 through 7 last week, okay, but essentially what Paul does is he tells a new Exodus story. Okay, so to first set this up, you need to think about the Exodus.
Speaker 3:The entire story of Exodus. So you had a promise, given that the Hebrews would inherit the promised land, ie Israel. Right, they go into slavery for over 400 years in Egypt, yeah Right, so a long time. Some probably had to even forgotten about God's promise for that. So God comes and rescues them. Right? You got the Passover and they didn't have the law or anything.
Speaker 1:They just had the promise, right.
Speaker 3:So God comes to rescue them, to be faithful to his promise, to lead them out of Egypt into the promised land right. And that's the Exodus story. There's a Passover. Now they are brought out, he rescues them. You know, amen, right, hallelujah. But then what happens for the next 40 years?
Speaker 1:I mean they wander the wilderness. So everyone that was rescued died Effectively.
Speaker 3:No, well, I mean well, yeah, I mean everybody was eventually died, but the wilderness it wasn't that they died, it was more what occurred in those 40 years. And this is one brilliant thing. I love how it's in, I think, Deuteronomy I'm going to say at the beginning of Deuteronomy, one or two, it's at the beginning of Deuteronomy, but it starts off essentially saying the distance from Egypt to Israel to the Promised Land is about a six days walk. God had them wandering the desert for 40 years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember learning that and I was like that's ridiculous.
Speaker 3:And in that, time they're getting attacked by the Amalekites. They're suffering with starvation, but that's when you get the manna from heaven. They're thirsty. That's when Moses hits the rock and gushing water comes out.
Speaker 1:Wasn't there like sick with boils or something and they had the snake on the cross thing that they had to touch?
Speaker 3:The snakes got wet loose in the camps because of their sin. They start worshiping the golden calf right. A lot of that. There's unfaithfulness in that time in the wilderness right which kind of kept them in the wilderness.
Speaker 1:But also in that time they also got the law right, right as they were going out on Mount Sinai.
Speaker 3:That's when they were given the law to kind of start that wilderness campaign, right. But the point that Paul is trying to remind them of, though, is that, just as the first Exodus and the first Passover, there is this time of wandering in the wilderness, and it was a time of suffering, it was a time of perseverance, it was a time of testing, right. That's why, when Christ comes, and particularly as set up in the Gospel of Matthew, they set him up as, like the new Israel. This is where, everywhere where Israel failed, christ was faithful. So, as Christ gets baptized in the Jordan, just as Israel, as they were going into the promise line, had to cross the Jordan on campaign to execute their faithfulness right To God, christ gets baptized in the Jordan, crosses the Jordan, he's about to start his campaign against Satan.
Speaker 3:He goes directly into the wilderness, and he's tested. For how long? 40 days, 40 days, right. He's tested, just as Israel was tested. Where Israel failed, he succeeded, right. And even if you look at the temptations of Satan in that time, because Christ was hungry, just as the Hebrews were hungry, right. And when God gives a manna, satan says hey, hit that rock, turn it into bread, go ahead and make your manna right. And he says man will not live by bread alone. He says well, you know, I'll give you everything if you just kneel down and worship me. What do they do when Moses was receiving the law? He comes down.
Speaker 2:They have a golden calf and they're worshiping an idol, ie worshiping Satan, right.
Speaker 3:So where Christ was faithful, right, that's where they failed. So in that time is this time of testing, and what it essentially is saying is guys, there's been a new Exodus and a new Passover. Christ has rescued you from the chains of slavery and the chains of the law. You're not in slavery anymore. The new Passover, christ on the cross, has paid for that right. But, just like it was originally, there's going to be a time of testing which is what you're about to go into, which is what you're afraid of.
Speaker 3:This compromise of trying to get you circumcised is one where you do not want to endure the test, just like they had endured the test in the wilderness. Right and the temptation one of the things that you see when you go read particularly the book of Numbers, one of the things that's constantly. They're griping at Moses constantly. Why did you bring us out of Egypt to the wilderness to die?
Speaker 3:Because they're opening comment that they always start and he says, even though we will be, even if we stayed in Egypt, yes, we would be slaves we wouldn't be in this trial.
Speaker 3:And essentially, that's the same temptation that the Galatian church is having, where it's like, yes, if we go circumcise and we go to the law, yes, we'll be in slavery, but we would only have to endure this test and this trial. And he says do not succumb to that temptation, do not go back into slavery, succumb through the trial of the wilderness. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it kind of feels like the process of sanctification in a way.
Speaker 3:It is. That's essentially what the space, if you were to put it in those terms for Paul, that time of us in the wilderness before we cross over the Jordan into the Promised Land, right Once the kingdom of God is fully understood and realized across earth and heaven.
Speaker 1:we're in that time of the wilderness that's actually interesting too, because it's like for Jesus he was baptized in the Jordan and was on purpose and then on his spiritual fight with Satan to ultimately fulfill the promise. And for us we're baptized and now we're getting beat up by the Holy Spirit to purify and clear out our own souls, our own lives, and being tempted by Satan all the more because now we're on purpose. And there are points in times where you're just like why do I have to be one saddled with this temptation to sin in the first place and that sucks. But then also now I'm also saddled with the knowledge and the understanding that there is a better life, there's a better option. It's like man, it's always like man. It would be easier not to even know, easier not even to know of spiritual things, easier to not even know how damaging sin is, to just be able to do whatever you want. But that's like with the mind of a child.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I can only imagine what I'm doing a family Bible study. I'm like all right guys, I'm going to tell you some of the Jesus teaches us not to do and they all just cover their ears. I'm not listening.
Speaker 1:I don't doubt it. You know what I mean. That's exactly like man, as soon as I know. Now I'm getting beat up for it.
Speaker 3:It's like God darn it Well, but part of his point is that you don't get beat up anymore for it, because you've been freed in Christ, that you're not under the law anymore, you're under grace. And being under grace and coming to that recognition means that you then, in response to Christ's faithfulness and his grace, we then our hearts turn and respond and love for him and faithfulness to him Right, yeah, but then it hurts when you sit and you're like, no, I just want to be better.
Speaker 1:So we have a whole week in this study.
Speaker 3:I originally titled it Dangerous with freedom.
Speaker 3:So, questions that people have like well, okay, what does that mean? To be free? And because that means I could go sin, I could do right, we have a whole week to that. Remember we got to piecemeal this. Remember Paul's whole argument leading into this and everything after right, Finish the study first before you start. You know getting carried away with a lot of that, but, but let's start taking this piecemeal at a time because we have a lot to get through. So yeah, verse eight formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who, by nature, are not God's right. So first, here Paul is speaking to the charge that the Jews had against the Gentiles, which is they do not know God, the reason why that there are sinners right. Remember the whole Psalms of Solomon. You got sinners, you got the righteous, you got people pleasers right. Sinners, always meaning Gentiles, because they do not know God right.
Speaker 3:So, formerly he was like you are. You were sinners, you did not know God. You were slaves to those who, by nature, are not God's Okay. So when he's talking about you know what are those things that they were enslaved to? Because how can you be enslaved to something that's not real? Right To say I was. I was a slave to Zeus, but Zeus isn't real. How can I be enslaved, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So what he's really talking about are systems, social economic pressures, right, certain power dynamics of how things operated that seem to give those things power, right? So a way of maybe saying that modern day it's like saying previously you were a slave to Wall Street or you were a slave to money.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you were a slave to Hollywood or social media or pornography or whatever. That is right. Yeah, you were a slave there, right? So formerly you were slaves to those who, by nature, are not God's Verse nine. But now that you know God, okay, so you know better now, right, you know God now. But this little piece here is interesting, or rather are known by God, right. So that piece there. You know Pagan's, you know polytheistic, you know, in terms of Roman religion, they were very, very much concerned about being known by the gods. So much of their worship, much of their sacrifices, their offerings, they tried to give as much as they could be, as loud as they could be, as committed as they could to hopefully catch the eye of the God.
Speaker 1:It's like notice, me notice me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that they are worshiping.
Speaker 1:Notice me Senpai.
Speaker 3:Right. So it was a very big deal for a Gentile to be say that God knows you, he knows you by name, you are known by God. And I kind of just say this is that many I think even Christians still feel like they have to do all these things for God to notice them. Yeah, right, like I need to be known by God, so I have to do all these things, so God knows me. And it's like, yes, there was a relationship piece there right.
Speaker 3:And a fruit of a strong relationship with Christ is works of service and the fruits of the Spirit. Right, but that is an outworking of your relationship, it is not a pretense for it.
Speaker 1:It's not a condition for it.
Speaker 3:I don't do it so I can have that relationship, and God knows me.
Speaker 1:I do it because I know God.
Speaker 3:Exactly so, man so that that's a big deal to the Gentiles, but it's a big deal to us too.
Speaker 1:It's one of those straight parallels to marriage too, and it's like if you're doing things just so that your spouse will notice you or give you attention, then that's problematic. You should be in a relationship where you're doing things because your spouse is they're actually very natural Kids do that. Yeah, I would argue it's a natural state. Yeah, kids, kids, kids. You have to learn better.
Speaker 3:They are wanting attention from mom and dad and they're not getting what they want. They'll eventually turn to bad behavior because at least they're getting attention right. Dogs are the same way, Goodness. So my wife and kids were gone in Utah last week.
Speaker 2:All week. So you were left with all the animals.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, our puppy was a great dane who was huge, but she's five months old. It's like having this massive toddler in the house and she was driving me up a wall, right. But you see it right, you pet one. What do the other two dogs do? They just moan. One is trying to get your hand to pet them. The other one's attacking the mouth of the other dog.
Speaker 3:It's just, you know, constant, know me, I want to be known by you, right? Yeah, so it's a natural state. And he's affirming them you are known by God. You are already known by him. So this is. But his question to that is that you know God now and God knows you. You have confidence there. So how is it that you are now turning your back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? Right, so why are you returning to the place to which you were rescued from? And many people do this. Right, they get saved. Right, they recognize God has rescued me from a situation. But they can never leave that situation like fully let go of it, whether it's trauma or sin. They could just never. I don't want to let that go right, yeah.
Speaker 1:Or they have left it and they did great, it's like a fear, but then they start wanting to go back to it right and I always said this those who live in the light don't go chasing the shadows.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know what I mean. Why, if you are living in the light, do you go chase the shadows Right?
Speaker 1:Why are you who are free, wanting to run back to your slave master. I argue it's probably because you know it. You know it's like to truly give up. Trauma is to kind of open yourself back up, know that this happened. If I keep thinking about or keep holding on to it, then I can't be hurt again because I'm staying aware, I'm staying vigilant. You know, I'm looking for the signs that I constantly go back to so that I don't fall into this again.
Speaker 3:I don't get hurt by this again and it's because you're used to it. So, but it's like there's a very real thing with freedom, where you see this sometimes with, like you know, prison inmates who spend a lot of time in prison, like Repeated offenders or they were in prison for a very long time and you'll see, sometimes they'll get out. They have their freedom and you know they go and enjoy that freedom the best they can for a while. But they realize freedom is hard Compared to the slavery of prison.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because at least when I was in prison I was being fed.
Speaker 2:Had a place to sleep.
Speaker 3:I didn't have to worry about the stresses of paying bills, I didn't have to earn anything, right, I can just be taken care of. Exists there. So even though I'm not free, I'm comfortable. Yeah, and, and so they'll go do something just to get thrown back in prison, right?
Speaker 3:Yeah and that was a very real thing even in Paul's Day, in you know, first century Judea, where you know, 25% of the Roman economy was slaves, and by slave I mean like 25% is like that's a silly number. Yeah, 25%, right, many of them were given freedom. I think there was ways you can earn.
Speaker 3:And you know well, you know, when we think of slavery we think of like an embellem America, right, yeah, roots and you know what I mean and it's not that there wasn't some of that, and I mean there was like Masters had full rights over their slaves and you dishonored them, like they could crucify you, they could do whatever they wanted with you. Yeah, but there was also ones where Like we talked, indentured servitude.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like the ones we talked about the Guardian. We talked about last week, the go-gos right. Yeah, the Guardian over the air, right, you put a slave in charge of taking care of your kids. That's someone you take care of, that, somebody you trust, that, somebody you know.
Speaker 1:I mean, yeah, so a lot of time probably being rewarded for their right action.
Speaker 3:So it's not as what we think and in terms of the worst of it, right yeah, even though it did exist. But there's a real thing that they'd be given as a reward. Or you know, hey, because of your loyalty, I'm freeing you, or because you did this incredible service to me, I'm gonna free you. And a lot of them would choose to stay in slavery because again they're like well, I Go out there now I have to earn my own money and earn my own food and find my own place to live, right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so for many people leaving slavery and going into freedom is actually a scary thing and.
Speaker 3:We don't ever think of it that way, but that's essentially what happens. Is that Part of the things that we call it discipleship, we call it sanctification? We say, hey, you should stop doing that. Like, stop, like, live free in Christ, live free from your chains to sexual sin, and we think of it as, oh, this is just, you know God, ruining the fun. He's like, no, I'm rescuing you from chains. Yeah, right, like when God, when Jesus saved us, he not only saved us from the wrath of God, right of the, the, the well To be in our sin, the wrath we would receive. He not only saved us from that, he also saved us from the wrath of our lowercase gods.
Speaker 3:Yeah being money, being sex being all the consequences that come with that he says that has a wrath with it too. Right going down and living there like there, there's a wrath that you can receive from that too. Yeah, I'm rescuing from that wrath as well, and but we have a hard time like leaving that because stepping in the freedom Of Christ and away from the chains Because we're comfortable there, right this.
Speaker 3:I feel the same thing about drinking, and alcohol has always been the way I've coped with stress like how do I step out of alcohol and live?
Speaker 1:I feel that with one of my Marines right now. So he, he struggles with alcoholism in a pretty dramatic way and it gets him in a lot of trouble and so, um, but this is, we kind of had an intervention with him because it was either we go down this, this, this path of this intervention, or I send him to the brig, like the CEO. The baton commander was already ready to send him to the brig and which, for those who don't know, is military prison.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's.
Speaker 1:It's prison, but inside of the military construct, functionally the same thing as prison. But but Basically what I propose to him is that if you self refer, you self check yourself into mental health and you self check yourself into treatment at mental health, and Whatever policy or procedure they give you, you follow it. Then we won't send you to the brig and on top. And then I also had the baton commander, or we request the baton commander sign a no drinking order and we gave that to him To say that you, from this day, you will not drink any alcohol. You have to find a new means to satiate that need and to comfort that, that that thing in your life.
Speaker 1:And then we're also gonna NJPM for the drinking incident study that he had recently, and so that's gonna put him in a restrictive state. So he's gonna have to stay in uniform, he's gonna have to go to a specific room, he's gonna we're gonna have to account from every day, all of these things. So we're basically putting him in this controlled box for a few months and Hopefully from that he can actually reset and become a better person from there. But but he's gonna have to find something to replace that alcoholism or he's gonna end up in the break or worse and we're trying to save him from that and saying to somebody the one that should replace that alcohol is Jesus.
Speaker 3:They should, you should step in the freedom with Christ, away from the chains of alcohol and many people that's uncomfortable because they're like. That's always been my thing. I've always been able to find comfort or solace there, right, even though it has repercussions.
Speaker 1:Potential person that you can be exactly without that I think so much more, but you have to be willing to jump in faith and and follow, right.
Speaker 3:So? But if I can maybe just summarize it this way, is that what Paul's a frustrated with with him here? You know? Are you now going back to those things? Right? People are essentially Turning away from God and back to the things that enslaved him before. In other words, instead of choosing and moving forward in relationship, they would rather go to a system. Right? So that's when we get back to the diapers and the guardians that we talked about last week, right? Going? Having a intimate relationship with God Does take work, does take time.
Speaker 3:It does you know what I mean. You can't be lazy in it to do it well, and it's, you know, outright Convicting. Sometimes it doesn't always make me comfortable, and he asked me to do uncomfortable things all the time. I don't like very inconvenient to be close to God, because when you're close to him, he's gonna start. Hey, I need you to get up and go do this. I would really rather just sit on the couch tonight and watch football, because I am Exhausted from work. You know what I mean a kid driving me crazy. I just want to have a good meal with my family, watch some football. Reset for tomorrow.
Speaker 1:I mean, the devil's coming after you today. Right, you just came from work and whatever chaos is going on there, you have to go back to yeah, I'm gonna just walk right and for those that are tracking, it is 8 pm.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you know those back to work after this, those things right, like. And he says like, but I need you to get up and Go serve this widow or go go help this member of the church. You know I can't can somebody else, you know, but. But so he makes you uncomfortable, right? So it'd be easier if I can you, I could just fall back to a system, right, a rules-based system. As long as I just can do my thing just following these rules, that's much easier than actually walking forward and or what Paul would say here in the ladder in relations, walking in the spirit.
Speaker 1:I'd say that was probably my first not first when I became aware really truly of what it meant to be a Christian, and I would say this is probably more in high, late high school, in college, I was looking for what is it like what do I need to do to get into heaven? And like what's the bare minimum, what I need to do? And that's it like I was chasing the bottom line. It's like I want to do whatever I want to do but still be, you know, good enough to get into heaven. It's like I'm just like trying to figure out what that line is and that's not good. I got myself in a lot of trouble with and nobody to chase everything.
Speaker 3:But nobody enters marriage with the idea what is the bare minimum I have to do to have her not divorce me?
Speaker 1:You know what I mean? My goodness, nobody in the bottom line.
Speaker 3:You never enter that relationship with Christ that way either. But you can grow into that right. Yeah, in some marriages, when they grow Stale, they've been together a while, they haven't. They transitioned to a different element of life where you're like, hey, we were happy together at this season of life. As we're going into this new season, you know if they don't adjust right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and adapt together, then you almost like okay, we're not in a good place. What's the bare minimum I need to be doing right now to make sure she doesn't leave me or he doesn't leave me? You know, I mean yeah, and that happens with our relationship with God. You know there's these seasons were like man. He was amazing. Then that seasons change. I didn't adapt with it. And the reason I didn't adapt with it?
Speaker 3:because I wasn't engaging with God as intimately as I should, and instead, I fell back to a system instead of moving forward in relationship. Yeah, so, and that's why I, you know, even in the context of marriage, because I use marriage a lot in this, because that's the Bible uses marriage that's the relationship Christ uses for us with him, right, yeah, I I get really annoyed when I hear people like you know, you just got to find that person for you, when people you know are dating and they're struggling with finding their spouse. You know, you know you, you'll find the one you'll find the one it's like you do not find relationships.
Speaker 3:You build relationships. Hmm I mean, so like the same goes with our.
Speaker 1:It requires two people willing to build. It does require that and God is pursuing you 150, 80,000 percent of the way right where when we I was just highlighting for those out there that are like but I can fix him is like no, no, no if he also doesn't want to be fixed and it's not gonna work.
Speaker 3:It's got to be two people usually we're the ones in those relationships on our relationship with God, because God's pursuing he's.
Speaker 1:He's God's like. I can fix him. I can fix him. We're like no.
Speaker 3:He wants to have the deepest, best relationship Humanly possible with you and we're like we're the ones yeah we're the ones who withdraw from that.
Speaker 1:We're like what's the bare minimum I can do? So God doesn't divorce me.
Speaker 3:So, speaking of relationships, because he's gonna get into his relationship with the Galatian church here, you know. So let me just Re-read verse 9 says we flow into it. But now that you know God, or rather known by God, how is it that you're now 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 and I plead with you, brothers and sisters become like me, for I became like you.
Speaker 3:You did me no wrong. As you know, it was because of an illness or a bodily weakness. You, different translations say different things, but it's his bodily state, because of an illness, that I first preached the gospel to you and Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I was Christ himself. So here we learn a couple things about the heart of the Galatian church, right. So first you see how, again, he refers to his physical state when he showed up to the church right, stoned, beaten, imprisoned, not in a good state. He shows up to weak, to out of love, to present the gospel to these people right Now. What does he say in response? I showed up at a love beaten for you, and in return, what are they? How do they treat him? You did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God or as if I were Christ Jesus Himself.
Speaker 1:I wonder if he was passing through and because of the ailment he had to stop, because it says because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's a good observation.
Speaker 1:Amplified Bible it says because of a physical illness, that I remained and preached the gospel to you the first time. So I wonder if you and they were so responsive that he stayed. And you said he stayed for about three or four years.
Speaker 3:No well, that the whole mission strip, not necessarily here. Oh, the whole mission not just in Galatia, but I think that's a very astute observation, because you're right.
Speaker 1:He says it's because of two Bibles.
Speaker 3:It's because it is because of this, this illness, that I preached it to you. So one of the two things he's identifying himself as is the sufferings of Christ. He said, just as Christ suffered, we need to suffer, gentiles. If it means being persecuted by Rome, you need to suffer, right. But he also says, but in response, out of the love I brought the gospel to you and in response, you love me, right, one of the things so, like Gentiles, you know, and you know the Roman pagans, like they were just as superstitious about bodily illness and sickness as the Jews were, right. So we've talked a lot about if you were unclean, right, you were outcast from society, right on the Jewish side.
Speaker 3:Well they were really no different. They just associated to different things. So to them to be in such a bad physical state like physically, yeah, sick or unclean, as you know, the Jews wouldn't associate it To them. That meant that you were an evil spirit, you need to be avoided at all costs. And if you became, came too close, they would have to ward off that evil spirit by spitting at you. So that was their way of saying get away from me, you, evil spirit, get away and they would spit at you to ward off the evil spirit. So when you look at like that's insulting.
Speaker 3:For example, as with Christ, it says that they not only beat them and they mocked them, but they also what spit on them, spit on them. So in that piece like that's obviously a course of mockery.
Speaker 3:Yeah you're spitting on the son of God and it's obviously humiliating and it's obviously insulting, but part of the reason the Roman soldiers were spitting on him. We always tend to think like, oh, they're just trying to embarrass them, which they were. But there's also this whole other piece there that they're like we're very close To this cursed man. There is obviously an evil spirit. This man is cursed. So when Paul says earlier in Galatians, like remember that when we were under the curse? But God, christ became the curse for us and, as it says, curse is anyone who hangs on a tree, yeah right, that whole piece.
Speaker 3:So when the Romans are and the soldiers are Doing this to Jesus, they're beating him and he's in such a bad physical element they're spitting at him because they're like this man is cursed, yeah. So you almost see a double play. Not only were the Jews like a, he's cursed and he's taken on the law himself, but the Gentiles like no, he's cursed. So when it says that he bore the curse for us, that is both from Jew and Gentile believing Jesus is bearing this curse, they're spitting at him to keep that evil spirit away. Does that make sense? That's wild. So that was the expected response. When Paul shows up in a similar sense I Do. They scorn, mock them and spit at them.
Speaker 2:No, they take him in.
Speaker 3:They take him in and notice what it says. I know, even though I was, my illness was a trial to you you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. He says I was a burden socially right, not just physically it's not that you just had to feed me and take care of me because he was in such a bad physical shape but like the society, like that community would have been like, why are you bringing a guy who is full of evil spirits into your home and your houses? Right, he said? Despite all that, you love me. Right, so I brought the gospel to love you. You loved me and I'm just trying to.
Speaker 1:I think that, yeah, and the way is there. It's like, even though my physical condition was a trial to, you did not regard me with contempt or scorn and reject me. You received me as an angel of God. It's like that's huge, like who do we do that for now?
Speaker 3:Well, and so, yeah, keep reading verse 15. Where, then, is your blessing of me? Now I can testify that if you could have done so, you would have torn out your own eyes and given them to me. Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? So again, here's another reference to his eyes, right, remember, later in Galatians he actually writes you see the big letters I write with right. There was a problem with Paul's eyes, and probably from his conversion on the maskist road. But here he says if you guys could have, you would have gave me your own eyes. Right, he's talking about how this relationship was established. Do you ever think about how a relationship or a friendship, right, or a romance?
Speaker 3:starts like my kids love hearing the story of when me and my wife met the first time. They always ask right? I have no idea. Yeah, I don't think we've heard that story. Oh, we actually met on base. So Buddy, who was in the same unit with me, went to high school with her. Her and her friend came out to visit him and I was friends with him and I started hanging out with him.
Speaker 2:And I was like oh, basis, here you're here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, what, yeah. So what's funny about it? She's gonna hate that I say this, but it's true. Me and her barely talked that first weekend and obviously I liked her. I mean, we went to a dinner and I'm trying to be the gentleman right to win her over, so I'm like I'll pay for your dinner. But I couldn't make it seem overt, so her friend who was with her, I was like I'll pay for your dinner too, right.
Speaker 3:I'll pay for your dinners, right? And her friend was like okay, I'll take a steak and lobster and I'm like you, you can't say it beforehand.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know what I mean. You gotta say it after. You've gotta be kidding me.
Speaker 3:So besides the point, we didn't really talk at all that whole first weekend. I was shy, she was shy, but she went home and told her mother mom, I met the man I'm gonna marry what that weekend. And I went. So my buddies knew that she liked me and I liked her and they're like so what do you think? And I had in my head I thought that she had like a crush on my friend. I'm like no I can't step in and undercut Sean that way.
Speaker 3:I got a. I don't think she's over him yet. I think she's into him and I just don't see us working out Me completely in the flesh, not engaged with the spirit at all.
Speaker 2:I'm like no way will this ever work out, she's going home telling her mother, mom.
Speaker 3:I'm at the man I'm gonna marry. And here we are right.
Speaker 1:First weekend. But you know, I said that's like a relationship starts.
Speaker 3:I had another buddy.
Speaker 1:I have no idea. When Selena knew? I have no. When did you know? Was it right when I asked she's still trying to figure it out?
Speaker 3:Yeah, right, did I meet them?
Speaker 1:She's oh gosh, she's got five years in. She's like I don't know.
Speaker 2:I'm still not sure I never told my mom. Next week is our wedding anniversary.
Speaker 1:So six years.
Speaker 2:Six years later.
Speaker 1:I'm still not sure. I will say that I screwed up the timing of the ring getting produced, and so I paid for her family, like her mom or sister, and was your brother there too, or was just your mom and your sister?
Speaker 2:It was my brother too, my oldest brother.
Speaker 1:Yeah so, and he helped. He helped covers from the cost but took them all to Disneyland with my mom and my sister with us and I was gonna, you know, pop the question there at Disney but or Disney World to this Orlando, but the ring wasn't ready in time, so we had this huge like three day trip to Disney and then we all just went home. With the intent of proposing but it didn't happen.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but it didn't happen, but I didn't say anything to anybody.
Speaker 1:So the only people that knew was like me and my friends from college, because they were the ones helping me produce the ring and transporting all the stuff. But the ring just wasn't ready. It was ready like the day after we left Disney, and so now I had. Now the ring got delivered late, I have it, and I had to come up with a whole new scenario situation Dude.
Speaker 3:That is so funny Cause that was my story too is that I had this whole romantic thing planned when I was on leave with her in Colorado. Like I had like this high in restaurant, it was like this top four of, like the skyscraper, but it was this big aquarium. We had the diver coming down, you know what? Yeah, I had this whole thing so, and it's expensive.
Speaker 1:It was like an expensive. Yeah, it sounds expensive.
Speaker 3:Everything you're saying sounds expensive and I was like I had this whole thing planned out and they call me the day of and they're like, hey, our diver's sick. They won't be here the day of, and I'm like.
Speaker 3:So now I had already told her. I'm like hey, I'm taking you to this really nice restaurant. I couldn't cancel the reservation, so now I'm just like fork and end. Didn't happen. Like it didn't happen when we were on Colorado, I ended up having to do it here. Besides the point, that's funny, I had this other. So when I was graduating the school of infantry, the night before, all my friends that I joined the Marine Corps with and friends I had made in boot camp, they were all in the Southern Platoon. I was like in the Southern Platoon by myself. So when we would field day, I would wander over to their side of the squad bay and help them field day, just to hang out with them, right. Well, they came out with this rule on the last field day People from other platoons can't be in the other areas, right, like whatever. So I'm over there and this guy, this one of the Marines, comes up.
Speaker 3:He's like hey you can't be in here, you're with the other platoon. I'm like everyone's like dude shut up. Right, Like stop being a boy scout, you know like these are my friends, like we're hanging out, and he was like Uber aggressive with me. So my friends got upset and they're like and he's like kind of bugging out.
Speaker 1:You don't look boot camp at this time. Are you just saying, yeah, this?
Speaker 3:is. This is in the night before we graduate school of inventory and we hit the Okay Over at a, so why? Yeah, so they kind of step in for me and he's got to fight them.
Speaker 3:He's like there's only our platoon, right, and I am like upset, so they're loyal to me. Out of my loyalty to them, I'm like, no, he wants to fight because I'm here, so if he wants to fight, he's going to fight me, right? So, like, there's this whole scruffle, right, we don't end up fighting, but it was awkward, right? Well, the next day, get on the you know the white buses and we get dropped off in 29 palms, which I had no idea. Where this? They don't tell you about this place when you do.
Speaker 2:And, let you know, enjoy the Marine Corps.
Speaker 3:They tell you about Hawaii and the beaches and Pendleton. You know, so we get dropped off here? I feel like they dropped me off on Mars. And we're getting our assignments right. You find out your company and I find out, like, who your roommate is. And it's that guy Nice, the guy that I was trying to fight the night before. And like we see each other, we're paired up. I'm like this is awkward right. I had my little, no, my guitar with me and he's like so you play the guitar.
Speaker 3:I'm like, yeah, he's like I play the guitar. I'm like, cool, right, so we end up becoming really good friends, right. So my point is is how our relationship starts, right, like it matters, right. And what Paul was saying here is like remember how we started, how the suffering I was in the scorn you had, the love we had for each other, what it took for me to bring this to you. Remember how we started? He's like now, where's that blessing? How are you not honoring me now?
Speaker 3:And you guys are turning away listening to these teachers. Who? What is your relationship with those teachers like? Did those teachers come up to you, beat and bruise? They have our history right. And one of the things that I think is just kind of a takeaway here is that he kind of separates, like, what real friends are and what fake friends are. Right, and it's not part of his overall theme, but it's just kind of highlighted here, cause one of the things he shows one real friends show genuine concern for one another. They have a friendship and a relationship proven over time. They bless and encourage each other, right, like Paul blessed them by suffering and bringing the gospel to them. They blessed him and their hospitality despite what it costs them.
Speaker 3:right, they mutually suffer for one another. He loved them enough to suffer. They loved him enough to suffer on his behalf, when they didn't really even know each other. Right, this is how the relationship started. He says that they would have given their own eyes for him. Right, this is the heart of these people when they met, they empathize and sympathize with each other, but mainly at the end. There he says are you going to call me your enemy now, cause I'm telling you the truth?
Speaker 3:I suffer to bring you the truth. I'm telling you more truth, and yet now you're hating me for it, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I wanted to highlight that.
Speaker 1:I don't know if we talked about it on the podcast here, but I remember reading or hearing about it recently is that modern day friendships are not as deep as this force, and the reasons given can be argued.
Speaker 1:But the point that was brought up in the article I was reading was that you should ask more of your friends, not because they aren't doing enough. It's because they probably want to do more for you, but they're only going to go as close as you kind of let them. So it's like who would you call to pick you up from the airport, if you like? If your spouse wasn't available, All right, and they was like, oh well, I don't want to bother this person. It's like that person that you're thinking about, that you don't want to bother, probably wants to be bothered by you because they want to do something for you. You just have to ask them. You know, it's like those are those things of like true friendship. Someone that's a true friend is like will stick their neck out for you. They want to stick their neck out for you and you just got to ask.
Speaker 3:And to that point, because then he gets into who the bad friends are. Right, Because verse 17, he says but these other people, right, these other people coming in teaching a different gospel, undermining me, saying that I'm an enemy to the very gospel that I brought to you. He says, those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you. They want to divide you from us so that you may have a zeal for them. Right, so right here you would Wow that's very gaslighty.
Speaker 3:So what you see here?
Speaker 1:is Gaslighting in the Bible.
Speaker 3:There you go, it ain't so he says bad friends are selfish and self-serving, right, they don't really want you for you. They don't want a relationship with you. They want you because you serve some self-serving purpose to them. Right, it says that they were zealous. Right, they're very zealous about this, he's like. But that zeal is very conditional to receive their fellowship, right?
Speaker 1:So yeah, yeah, we can be best friends, so that you will seek them Right so it's conditional right.
Speaker 3:You want to hang out with me, bro, like that's fine, but you just have to do these things for me. Right here he says they want you, not for you, because they want to win. They're trying to win an argument. They're trying to push an agenda. Their agenda it's about their agenda, it's not about you. Right. It's about their goals and priorities in life. It's not about you. He said I came to you for you. I brought this gospel bleeding for you. They're bringing it for an agenda.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:And then like what you said divide you from others, right. Like you see this in relationships where they try to like hey, I don't want you hanging out with that person anymore, I don't like them. Or they get jealous or they try to create division between other relationships, right, and sometimes it's out of jealousy, other times it's out of self-serving. Right. Compromise or hinder what their agenda and intent for you and their life is, yeah, but that's not what good friends do, right? But notice how he finishes it. He's like it's fine to be zealous, provided that that purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you, but my dear children, for whom I again in the pains of childbirth, until Christ is formed in you.
Speaker 3:He says I suffered so much bringing this to you and I brought it to you and you were growing, and now I'm hearing that you're rejecting it. Going back to this other gospel Now I'm in child pains all over again. How I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am just perplexed by you, right? So he's essentially saying you're making me suffer all over again for you. Remember how I came to you. You're making me suffer like that again, like what is. I thought we were friends. Remember how this started, right?
Speaker 1:I wanted to note that those verses from 14 to 18 really also highlight kind of an overarching thing is that friends are willing to correct you. Like bad friends will just say the things that make you feel good and not be willing to say those hard truths are going to make you a better person. And if you're Christian friends like that would make you a better Christ follower, all right. So it's like be very hesitant to people that are just say like yes friends, like they're just like down for whatever you say, no matter what it is. Cause the friends that are willing to actually like, hey, that's probably not a good idea, hey, you should probably stop, or hey, you should, you know, do X, y, z instead, because this is better for you. Like those friends that are willing to correct you or at least when you do something wrong, they're actually willing to tell you that was probably not the right call.
Speaker 3:Those are those are willing to correct you when you're wrong, or good friends, and are you willing to correct them and how they receive it? We'll also tell you right If you go to say hey man, you're not, you're not thinking biblically, You're not thinking in the spirit with this right now. Well, well, we know where they're being all judgey to me and they distance themselves from you Right, they divide themselves from you Right. Tell, tell signs. But I don't want to camp here too much, yeah.
Speaker 3:Cause we're about to get into the climax, okay, and there is kind of loaded. So verse 21,. Tell me who you want to. Tell me you who want to be under the law. Are you not aware of what the law says? So this is such a brilliant thing that Paul's about to do so, weeding into all this. Right, he's like I'm frustrated because you're freed from the law.
Speaker 3:People are coming and say you need to be under the law, but the people who are telling you you need to be under the law don't even understand the law. Last week, right, yeah, now let me educate you. All, right, he's about to beat them at their own game. He says because, remember, he repeatedly says those who want to live under the curse, let them go live under the curse, and those who say they want to be under law have to live by the law. So you know what? For those who are trying to bring into the law, let's make sure we hold them accountable to the law. Okay, so he's about to use their own metric against them. He says you want to put them under the law and you want to be under the law. That's fine. Let's now put you under the law. Yeah, so those who want to be under the law. Are you not aware of what the law then says? He says, for it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman, hagar and Sarah.
Speaker 3:His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son, by the free woman, was born as a result of the divine promise. These things are being taken figuratively. The woman represents two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai, where the law was given, and bears children who are to be slaves. This is Hagar. Now, hagar stands from Mount Sinai and Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. So let me just pause there for a second. Okay, this is when Paul's going to drive them. Now, finally, he appeals first to let me tell you what the role of the law was. Now, let me. So he first appeals to their head. Now he's appealing to their heart, right, we're talking about remember how we met, our relationship, our history, our history. Now he's going to appeal by means of the law itself. Okay, so to understand this, we need to really understand this kind of story with Abraham, sarah, hagar, isaac and Ishmael.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:So let me just kind of do a review. You could find this the ultimate thing here is Genesis 21, with the weaning ceremony of Isaac, which we'll talk about in a second, but this entire story, okay. So God makes a promise to Abraham. Right that promise? The seed of inheritance. You have a multitude of children right Cause Sarah was barren.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Abraham brings this promise to Sarah Now. Sarah did not trust fully trust the promise and she didn't think God was big enough to come in and fulfill that promise Right. So he's trying to make this parallel to the current situation. Just as right now God has made a promise of inheritance from the beginning, as we've talked through in past weeks. Right, but people don't think that he was powerful enough, that the blood of Christ is powerful enough to free them from the law.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:So what does Sarah do? She goes to Abraham and says well, god's not going to fulfill this promise through me, so go to Hagar, take my servant Hagar, go sleep with her. Fulfill the promise through Hagar, through the flesh. Yeah, that's how you need to go fulfill the promise Right Now. Abraham's a total idiot but, like anyone who's been married, understand Abraham, abraham is failing here, right. Sarah, who is old, who's barren, she's a shame within her society because that was the value of women you produce babies, right. So there's this cultural shame with Sarah and she.
Speaker 1:Abraham, moment of weakness.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Abraham gives her and this is a very intimate moment of marriage right? Abraham gives her this promise that God gave him and she's like well, Abraham, that promise was made to you. That promise doesn't include me, so you're going to have to go elsewhere to fulfill that promise, because I'm not included in God's promise. I'm too old. He hasn't blessed me with children. You know what I mean, Mm? Hmm, All what she was wanting was Abraham to reaffirm her in God's promise, to say no, the promise God has given to me also extends to you. You are a part of this promise too. Come and join me. He, instead of reaffirming her in the promise, instead, like an idiot, he says okay, I'll go sleep with your young, hotty servant right.
Speaker 3:And goes to the flesh, right. So he goes and sleeps with Hagar and they produce the first son, ishmael. Okay. But then God says no, no, no, no, no. My covenant, my promise, was to you and Sarah, abraham, right, you and Sarah, that's who the promise was made to, not you and Hagar. So you have a child of the flesh, but then he gives her Isaac, who's the child of the promise. That is how God has fulfilled his promise was through Isaac, right? So, similarly, you, um, judaizers are wanting to be children of the flesh by means of circumcision, but they're children of the promise. You think that God has is not powerful enough to break this. Well, christ came in and broke it through the promise, right?
Speaker 3:So, keep following along with me, right? So, um, you got this childish male, child of the flesh, you got child Isaac, child of the promise. Okay, Now you fast forward to Genesis 21. And this is the weaning ceremony of Isaac. So this is kind of the two function thing. First, they are celebrating a miracle.
Speaker 3:The first miracle is that Sarah had a child in her old age miracle number one miracle number two, though, and you know this makes sense back in those days we were more vulnerable than particularly children. Like they died much younger, they often right Infant mortality rates were high. So generally, once you were able to be weaned off your mother, yeah um, that means you've matured into a state to where, generally, you're good right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you can get out of that vulnerable state and you're able to eat on your own right? So the second miracle is not just that she had a child in her old age, but that she was able to produce milk and wean him into a point of maturity, right? So when a child and that's the second function is a child who is weaned off has now matured, so remember, last week, the law was there as the guardian for the child until they mature, right? So here you have Isaac, the child of promise, maturing the weaning ceremony. And then what does Ishmael do at this weaning ceremony? It says that he mocks and laughs at him, right? So this would be have to be its own podcast episode, because there's a lot there Some people think of. Like well, made her such a rage of what the Hebrew there's a little weird. Some people think that he was actually sexually assaulting him. There's this. There's a lot of different things at this game.
Speaker 3:But here's the one thing that I think you could absolutely gather from it is what Ishmael ultimately was doing to Isaac, as he's being weaned off into maturity and everyone's celebrating him is essentially saying that's great, child of promise, but I'm the one who's going to receive the inheritance. I'm the firstborn, I came first. Right, the child of the flesh, I'm the one who's going to receive the inheritance. In other words, what's happening in Paul and the Galatians right, hey, gentiles, that's great. I'm glad Christ came. You weren't a Jew. You were saved. You received the Holy Spirit. Right, you've matured, but I came first. The law came first. We are children of the flesh.
Speaker 3:We are the ones who receive the inheritance, not you children of the promise Is that tracking so far. Okay. So Sarah sees this. Sarah, who had failed earlier and trusting God's promise, has now seen God was faithful and he executed his promise his way. And then he sees Ishmael mocking Isaac, saying that's great, but you're not going to receive the inheritance. And she says no, you're out, you're out, you will not participate in this inheritance. So what does she do? She has Abraham send Hagar and Isaac away. Yeah Right.
Speaker 2:Ishmael.
Speaker 3:I'm sorry, ishmael. Thank you, yeah, hagar and Ishmael away, Right. So now, verse 25, it says now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. Now, this is a very interesting thing. God makes a promise to Ishmael. Now, if you remember, they go out into the desert. The boy's crying, hagar breaks down and God comes to them Right Now. He makes a promise for her I'm going to make him into a great nation. Also, the inheritance that Ishmael ultimately received was Arabia. Where was Mount Sinai? In Arabia? Okay, so Mount Sinai was in Arabia, which was the inherited land for Ishmael.
Speaker 3:We tracking so kind of a cool thing. We always talk about the promise of Isaac and God's faithfulness to that. We never really look at the faithfulness that God had towards Ishmael, which is, yes, christ is going to come through the line of Isaac, but the law, which is also good, came through the inheritance of Ishmael, okay, but it was only temporary. The ultimate being the seed would go through Isaac, right, but the way Paul is setting this up is he's saying the law was given in the inheritance of Ishmael. Grace has been given through Christ. Who is the inheritance of Isaac right, the child of promise you tracking, even if you remember when we did chapters one and two, paul states I didn't go consult anybody.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I went. Where does it say he goes and spends a lot of time Do?
Speaker 1:you remember?
Speaker 3:Is it?
Speaker 1:like in the law or in study.
Speaker 3:In Arabia.
Speaker 1:It says that he goes to Arabia. Oh, physical location, yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, some actually think that he's not actually referring to him physically going to Arabia. What he's talking about is I went and spent time in the law, that I didn't go consult all the apostles, what I instead did. So when I came to the realization that Christ was real and who he says he was, I went to the law and in the law, I read the law through the lens of Christ and made sense of it. He uses it as a mechanism to refer to the law, because that's where Mount Sinai is, which is where the Hebrews received the law. So when it says that Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city, jerusalem, the reason being is that the teachers who are?
Speaker 3:coming from Jerusalem, are trying to get everybody back under the law, under the law that was given at Mount Sinai. In other words, they want them to be children of the slave right. But then look what Paul then says here, verse 26,. But as the Jerusalem that is above is free and she is our mother, for it is written, be glad, barren women, you who never bore a child, shout for joy and cry out. You who are never in labor, because more are the children of the desolate women than of her who has a husband. Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of the promise.
Speaker 3:At that time, the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. So you understand what he's saying. He's saying that from Ishmael, the child of the slave woman right, the child of the flesh to which the law came, which is the current law that the Jerusalem church seems to still be enslaved by, he says, just as Ishmael had mocked and scorned Isaac at his weaning ceremony, the moment to which Isaac came into maturity, the same as now the same children of the flesh are trying to mock and scorn you, children of the promise, or being brought into maturity through Christ. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like they're mocking your freedom.
Speaker 3:He's saying the same as now. They're the children of the flesh who are slaves are mocking those who are free and children of the promise. But now notice, and this is kind of where Paul is. This is right. You have to track all that to understand what he's now about to ask the church to do. But what does scripture say? Okay, so what did Sarah tell Hagar? Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman son. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:I forgot that Hagar was the first single mother she was cast out. But yeah, don't. Yeah, exactly, that's our Holy separate point. I just totally forgot that that happened.
Speaker 3:Do you guys understand what he just said? If the law and scripture says, get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman son and therefore brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. So if we're children of the free woman, what should?
Speaker 2:they do.
Speaker 3:They got to cast out the slave woman, the children of the slave woman.
Speaker 1:You see what he's asking them to do.
Speaker 3:Hold on before we go.
Speaker 1:I just want to make sure this is closer.
Speaker 3:I'm trying to make sure I understand.
Speaker 1:I understand it right? Okay, so he's not saying cast out the Jews. He's saying that if they are Jews that are saying they're still under the law, then you must cast them out, because we're no longer under the law, we're free in Christ. Because, because that's and he's saying that that's the line because they are children of the slave woman, the children of the law of the flesh, they're saying they're under the law, then they're Children of the slave woman there, and and so you and that is the line you must cast them out.
Speaker 3:So so remember, because the original point in beginning you said like this is where is the line?
Speaker 3:This is what the point of the law was right. And now he appeals to the emotion. And now he says now what? What does the law actually say? So, these people who are wanting you to come under the law? Well, what does the law actually say then? So that's why he goes through this whole story of what the law says. What does God do about the promised inheritance and the children of Abraham? He says the woman who was a slave out of the flesh bore a son to which receive the inheritance of Arabia, which is where Mount Sinai is, which is where the law was given, which is what Jerusalem is currently under right. Then what happens? When the children, the promise comes? They won't. That woman and her son Will not share in the inheritance of the free son.
Speaker 1:So it's not even just saying come out, it's not. He's just saying cast out the those that say you're so under the law.
Speaker 3:It's saying that those that say that they're under the law Can't and will not inherit right, because what he says from the inheritance, that if you, if you and he says this earlier if they want to be in the curse, let them be in the curse.
Speaker 1:They want to be under the law, than they're slavery, he says, if you want to live by the law, you have to live by the law All the whole law so what does the law say?
Speaker 3:Well, what the law says is that this children of the slave Will not receive the same inheritance of the children of the promise.
Speaker 1:If you want to be under the law, you have to be under the whole law, but you're still not gonna receive the inheritance right now so it doesn't even matter if you want to say that's his point and he says the child of the promise.
Speaker 3:Who is the promise? Who is the faithfulness? Who's the seed?
Speaker 1:promise Christ yeah, those are confused. This is why you got to go through all the other episodes, so you just got to go back. Sorry, so.
Speaker 3:Christ being the promise, the seed. That's why it doesn't matter you can be following the law as faithful as you want, but disconnected from Christ you will not receive an error and receive the inheritance you could be Because the law has had your faith in Christ and never have, at any point in your life, follow the law.
Speaker 3:But you belong to Christ. You are gonna receive the inheritance because you are a child of the promise, not a child of the slave. You see what I'm saying? Yeah, so what he is a saying essentially is that these people coming in and teaching that, what does he want them to do? He wants them to be cast out. He wants them to have a confrontation with them and kick them out. That is what Paul is essentially wanting them to do the way I confronted Peter. That's why he uses that earlier as an example in chapters.
Speaker 3:Was that chapter 2? This has he had confronted Peter? It's like you need to confront this teacher and if that teacher Refuses to let go, cast him away. Just as Sarah had, abraham cast out the slave woman and her son, you cast out those who are trying to bring you back into slavery. You move forward as children of the promise and you live free in Christ.
Speaker 1:Live free right, that's absolutely huge. That just ties in like two or three episodes there, honestly.
Speaker 1:It's kind of what he's been the last four chapters have been leading to this yeah, because I I guess now, now that you've said that, I Didn't realize that I was doing this, but Basically, at the end of last episode, I I was thinking, not objectively, but I'm looking back and realizing I was thinking this like oh well, there's technically two ways, one that's impossible. There's two ways to Christ one that's impossible because we can't follow the law perfectly, and then one where you're not under the law. You're, you have the spirit, but that's not even the case, because being under the law Wouldn't, even if you followed it perfectly, is not what gets you the inheritance, and that's why Jesus says I am the way, the truth In the life nobody comes to the father except through me, because I am the promised seed of the inheritance.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because the function of the law was so that we can measure, measure the Messiah and know that he has come right and now he has fulfilled the promise keep us in line until Until the promise he came right and God comes faithful to right.
Speaker 3:So that's why I remember last week. Paul says if there was a law that could justify us, we could do it.
Speaker 2:But there's not. Yeah, it's not that the law is wrong.
Speaker 3:Or bad is the material it works with. You're the material that it works with and because you're the material that the law works on, you can never be justified by it. Yeah, so you're never expected to. It was meant to be a guardian until the one who could justify you comes. I eat Christ, yeah, right, but now he leads him to ultimately. So this person always frustration, right? Remember the tone he's upset yeah, right, you even said right, like in the very beginning. You hear it. And he even says in this, in chapter 4 I wish I could change my tone, but I am perplexed by you, right.
Speaker 3:He just flabbergasted by what they are doing, right. So he essentially leads them all this to say you guys need to have enough. Confront this teacher, and if they will not change, you need to cast them away. So remember going back to the very beginning. But what about unity? Don't you want unity with them, right? Not at the cost, at a cost you freedom.
Speaker 1:That's why he says that's why I asked you?
Speaker 3:Because we're all one body, right, those who belong to Christ. We're all one body. Is it better to live free, with missing a limb, or To be united in the body but in slavery? And what essentially Paul has recognized is that at this point those two can't coexist. We cannot live United in message. We can't you live united in mission. We can't you live united in love. You also have to be united in freedom and if somebody is trying to bring you back into slavery, you can't come to the law cannot be united in that.
Speaker 3:So you either need to make a choice that we are united in freedom and anybody who would try to claim otherwise. You need to cut them off. It's better for you to be walking, limping and freedom than to have your full body to do works of the chains right, and that seems very harsh in a certain sense, right? Isn't that seem very uncrish?
Speaker 1:and don't we want people coming in, man, that is, but remember it's like the conversation I have with a, with my, with my buddy, about. I talked about a few podcasts episodes ago where, where we were at this we're at supply and had this whole discussion about Him being him taking pictures that were not Christ honoring in any way, and then I confronted him about and he was like oh well, my relationship with God especially, I don't feel beat up by the Holy Spirit by and I'm like, dude, come on, that's not. You know what you're doing is wrong. You know what you're doing is absolutely wrong. There's no in the Bible where that says that's good, any, it's been.
Speaker 1:Being a parole officer brought up the argument that like, oh well, I've arrested plenty of people that quote King James, some, some out of the Old Testament is why they're they should be justified in their actions to like love Miners or want to marry a minor or something like that, because Something that happened in the Old Testament. It's like the people in the Old Testament were perfect. But he had this whole argument and I'm just like, dude, it's like you can't, that is not what's the Bible says. Yeah, that is not.
Speaker 3:And let's be clear about something too understanding you can follow the law in the sense of honor the high holidays and celebrate A day of atonement, and celebrate pass over, and all those things right it's.
Speaker 3:If you think, though, that in order for you to be a part of the family, you have to do those things. You are a child of slavery. You are not a child of the promise. If you do not, if you're someone like, no, no, no, no, whether you choose to do this or not, many do it because it's their heritage. Many do it I mean, in Israel they're national holidays right yeah, I think that's a good thing. Right yeah doesn't necessarily mean that you think that you have to do it to be to receive that inheritance right, but if You're advocating that, you have to do it To receive that inheritance.
Speaker 3:He says no, no, no, no. The inheritance comes to the child of promise. And Isaac not the child of the slave woman, ishmael.
Speaker 1:It's like tradition helps you remember where you came from.
Speaker 2:But it's good.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but if tradition is turning into a requirement for your Salvation, that it's gone too far and anybody who is trying to detract From the grace of God and the blood of Christ, anybody who is trying to Bring you into slavery, particularly at the point of dividing the church, cut them off, right, paul. That's what Paul, essentially. Paul, wants them to do. Um, confront them throughout the teachers at the flesh and live free. You know, um, and you're like, well, that's kind of harsh of Paul. Jesus taught the same thing, yeah, um, because I want to kind of conclude with this Matthew 5, 29 through 30, and it's it's in the context of adultery, right, but remember, we are one body. One body, right?
Speaker 3:Um and you want unity of the body. I want to have all my limbs, I want my entire body working in unison to a common purpose. Oh, this is what Jesus says in Matthew 5, 29 through 30 if your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away, it's better for you to lose one part of your body than for that whole body to be thrown into hell.
Speaker 1:Or into slavery.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and if your right hand causes you to stumble Like this teacher is, cut it off and throw it away. It's better for you to lose one part of your body, one part of this person in the church, right, one, one Element of the body, then for your whole body to go into hell, right, the vision should be avoided at most cost. You want unity in the church? Yeah, at most costs, but not at all. Right, jesus essentially says this Anyone that wants to lead you back into the slavery of sin or, in Paul's case, back into the slavery of the law, they should be gouged out. They should be cut off from the body.
Speaker 3:Even if it means you're limping around and divided for a time, yeah, right, even if it hurts, even if it's like, look, if we cast that person out or this group of people away from us because of the disunity they're creating, or they're trying to bring us back into slavery, or you know what, having that person here is really leading the church into sin. Right, and we did this one time with yeah, I think we just discussed it before. But there's this woman who was In the church and she was essentially made it a mission to sleep with all as many men in the church as possible. Wait, does happen at palms.
Speaker 2:Yeah we.
Speaker 3:We removed her. We said we're not gonna let you so what?
Speaker 1:there there was one. What a demonic situation to be in. That's terrifying.
Speaker 3:The first incident that she confessed to. We had a confrontation she repented of.
Speaker 2:She admitted it.
Speaker 3:We as a church rallied around her and her husband her husband's getting ready to deploy we said, hey, we're gonna give you this strong group of women as mentors. Keep you accountable. Yeah, like we did, we didn't kick her out immediately because she fell into sin. Right, we were trying to restore her gently, trying to disciple her back, and she did walk well for a time. But then we started getting these things for about um, I don't know about six months later and we found out she had a list of men in the church that she was going after Um, she had made pursuits of a lot of them. Well, I, we had like six witnesses of men who came forward. She admitted to other women in the church that there was three of them that she had slept with.
Speaker 2:All that right, so this is after confrontation right.
Speaker 3:So we brought her back in and then she denied all of it and I mean it was slew of evidence that we had. I say evidence like it's court, but you know what I?
Speaker 2:mean like we had witnesses.
Speaker 3:You need to bring two or three witnesses with any claim and we had about 10.
Speaker 2:Right, we had text messages. We had.
Speaker 3:I mean all sorts of things. She kept denying it, kept denying it. And we're like you know what? Now there's not. Even before there was at least repentance. Now there's not even repentance. Yeah, you're out, we're not gonna let you Bring the church into sin. Poison, right and boy, yes, I'll tell you what. And he says notice what Jesus says Um, right, it's better for the whole, you know, for you, it's better for you to lose one part of your body. Right, it's better for you to be limping for a time, then for the entire body to be cast into hell.
Speaker 3:Yeah right and he Hurly. I mean, she was a servant. She served, you know, children's ministry and a lot like she was a servant. So it hurt in that regard, but it was also Because she was outside of our church. She was a talker too. She loved to gossip All across the community. Everything that, how wrongly palms treated her and we kicked her out, and you know what I mean. Yeah, all these things and it cost us, yeah, but it's better for us to be limping out of that Then to be destroyed. Preserve the, the body from being thrown into hell, as christ says. Then for us to keep her in and keep unity right, quote unquote unity, and let us all be drawn into that seduction. That's just one such that's one example.
Speaker 1:It's a fantastic example, but, um, that's like literally poison.
Speaker 3:That's insane, but but it is better for you to be divided but free in christ than it is for you to be united in slavery and um. So Essentially, paul says confront them. If they won't change, cut them out. Now what we're going to get into in chapter five on our next episode. Paul is the pun master. He, like you, see people, the way people write you know, like you get.
Speaker 3:They have styles right. Paul loves puns. Like, the entire book of phyloemen is one massive pun. What we're going to hit next week is this huge pun and we're going to get into some fun things with this. But he's going to build on this right so, just as your children of the promise and of the free woman. Therefore, just as the free woman cast out the slave woman and her son Essentially cast him out, right, well, now he's going to go on this whole little bit of puns about Essentially.
Speaker 3:Well, we'll get to it next yeah so he's going to build on this a little more, um, but this is really kind of it. This is the last four chapters have all led to this. Yeah, this is ultimately now you know what the law is. Yeah, you know that you're Confident in your inheritance as children of the promise. You don't need to get circumcised. Don't go back into slavery with free, and this is what I ultimately want you to do for the teachers who are coming in undermining me that you have been bewitched by that. You've betrayed me in that you have Um, not giving me your blessing and love in, but let me tell you what you need to now do to start rebuilding this. Because he says I'm back in labor pains until crisis formed in you. You guys still don't fully get it when we come back, but where it starts is you need to cut away the cancer that is poisoning the body right now.
Speaker 1:I love that so much. I was so um super excited for the fact that he said we're halfway through this series of uh of Galatians and we're I don't think emmerhands been liking this study. He's like we're almost done. I would say he know, he, I saw I was like, oh no, we only have two chapters left. And then I remember, like oh Ryan said in the beginning, we're only like halfway through. So we got at least four or five episodes to get out of this last two chapters.
Speaker 3:And the reason why it's gonna slow down a bit, because after paul gets this out of the way, he's like okay, so now let me disciple you in things you really need discipleship on. And so that's when he starts talking about acts of the flesh, what not to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's, that's what I've been waiting for, you guys, what I was here for. I thought that was gonna happen weeks. He's gonna hit it.
Speaker 3:He's gonna hit the practice, had pragmatic stuff now because he's like he's dealt with the issue, the situation. I want you to confront him, kick him out now. Instead of trying to get you to go Get circumcised, I want to teach you now how to walk in the spirit. Yeah and that now he's gonna get into the pragmatics of discipleship. So yeah, I had some really good, fruitful things ahead.
Speaker 1:I had like three and a three and a half weeks of Ryan telling me I'm an idiot for thinking I'm under the law for the last 20 years of my life, and uh, and so now I was like, well, what was what I'm supposed to be doing? So it's like now we get to get into the next half with the acts of the flesh and fruits of the spirit. So now I I'm excited, I'm ready, that's uh, that's what I've been waiting for. So hopefully y'all over the last month Are also excited. He's like okay, brian, you told us we've been wrong this whole time. I thought I was still under everything in Torah and and then all and then more, you know, with Jesus. And so now, now, what? And I'm ready, I'm ready for that. Now, what? So? Um, thank you so much. Uh, you, I know you have to go get back to work. I know it's late and I'm so sorry that the Marine Corps is doing this to you, but uh, it just says paul, you know, remember the suffering to which I came to you?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, exactly, exactly the suffering, but, um, I mean, it has to happen sometimes, but until next week. Uh, hope you enjoyed this episode and.
Speaker 3:Go live free go live free.
Speaker 1:I was gonna say, remember who's you are, but that works you yeah.
Speaker 3:And who you are. It's a child of the promise. Go live free.
Speaker 1:There you go. Amen to that.
Speaker 2:Thank you for tuning in to real bible stories. If you enjoyed this podcast, be sure to leave a review, share and subscribe to be notified each week when we upload new episodes. Real bible stories is produced in partnership with palm church in 29 palms, california. If you would like more information or want to check out archive sermons and bible studies, please check out the church website at palmsbaptistchurchcom, or check them out on facebook, instagram or youtube. Real bible stories can be found wherever podcasts are found. Thank you again and we will see you next week. You.