Copyright © S P Townsend
Paul’s letter to the Galatians was written in order to set right a fundamental error that had crept into the church there. It was a matter that struck right to the heart of the Christian gospel, and which deeply affected the way that the Christians lived and worshipped.
The issue did, in fact, relate to some of the most fundamental questions of all: concerning our relationship with God, and how the gospel of Christ affects this.
Paul reminds the Galatian church that the Christian gospel is not a philosophy fabricated by man. It is a revelation from heaven. This revelation was not to one person, but to many. Paul himself received this revelation directly from Jesus after His resurrection, and what he received confirmed the revelation given to the other apostles when Jesus lived amongst them.
Paul sums up the essence of the gospel in this way: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20). This one short verse raises the following concepts: Christ, death, life, faith, love, gift. Our relationship with God, and all that springs from that, depends entirely on our relationship to Jesus Christ.
Jesus alone pleases God, receives God’s full approval, can stand without guilt in God’s presence, receives anything he asks from God, wields God’s full authority, inherits everything from his Father. He enjoys all the rights of a son. And we who put our faith in him are united with him. We receive all the benefits of his death and resurrection life. God relates to us just as he does to Jesus: his approval, his blessing, his provision, his authority, his inheritance. And this comes to us not because we deserve it or have earned it, not because of some universal human rights, but as a gift because he loves us.
Now there is another way for human beings to relate to God, and that is as beings created by Him, subject to His authority and power. As subjects we are at best servants and at worst slaves. As servants we may receive reward for work dutifully performed. As slaves we are obligated to carry out his bidding with no expectation of any reward. The relationship is defined by a contract, containing a responsibility to deliver. We have a contract, a job-description. So long as we keep doing what this says then we can retain our position. But if we fall short, or mess up, what then? We have no rights. All we can expect is the sack.
There is a stark difference between being a slave and a son. The wonder of the gospel is that by faith in Jesus we become sons, not slaves. This is truly the case, says Paul, so he is astonished to find that the Christians in Galatia are now living as if they were slaves. It is not that sons do not have tasks to perform, or do not have to be obedient to their father. They do. But there is no two-way contract that defines these obligations, or that is invoked if the son does not deliver. The contract is in fact entirely one-sided. It is a birth certificate. It says, you are my son absolutely. You will receive all the benefits of a son regardless of how well you perform. Your place in the family, your allowance, your security, all of this is not conditional on how well you do. This, in essence, is what Jesus taught in the story of the prodigal son. You might waste everything on riotous living, but you are still a son, to be dressed in fine clothes with a ring on your finger and a place at the father’s table.
Paul’s letter goes to very heart of what it means to be a Christian.
Christian churches in Galatia were being blown off course. It related to the things they were doing, behaviour and practices. As is often the case the root cause was far deeper than this, concerning the very foundations of their faith.
What, essentially, does it mean to be a Christian? When all that is unessential is stripped away, when you remove all that is superficial and superfluous, what remains?
For some of the first-century Christians in this region of Asia Minor the answer was defined very much in terms of practices – what Christians do. To be a Christian you must do certain things to show that you were committed to the faith. First of all you had to be baptised, as an initiation into the faith. Then you had to give up some of your previous, heathen practices. Then you had to obey God’s Law, as revealed in the Old Testament scriptures. If you were male this meant having to be circumcised, as a sign that you now belonged to the covenant God had made with Abraham (Gen 17: 10-14). Then you had to meet regularly with other believers to share bread and wine in the celebration of the eucharist or communion.
But Paul wrote this letter to deal with the misconception that lies at the very heart of this answer. What it means to be a Christian is defined not by what we do but by who we are. And this does not mean who we are by physical birth or ethnic origin, but who we are in relation to God.
The church through the centuries has always been vulnerable to falling into this same trap. We have our standard practices today, ranging from baptism, confirmation and communion to church attendance, prayer, giving and living good lives. It is so easy to think that adhering to these practices is what makes you a Christian.
The difference can be illustrated by the difference between being a servant or a family member. The servant has obligations and constraints. He may, or may not, be rewarded by keeping to these. But his continued position as a servant depends on his obedience. If he falls down, even on one point, then he may be sacked.
If Christianity is essentially that of adhering to rituals, rules and regulations then we are in the same position as servants.
But a family member, a son in particular, enjoys a completely different relationship. Your children do not enjoy the resources of your home and the warmth of your love because they have signed a contract and are keeping their side of the bargain. They enjoy these things as of right, because they are your children. And their behaviour is determined by their relationship with you, not vice versa.
Basically a Christian is someone who has become a child of God, a member of His family. This hasn’t come about by ethnic origin, or natural birth, or by adhering to a set of rituals, rules and regulations. It comes about by believing God’s promise.
Being a member of God’s family is not just a picture or a figure of speech. By faith in Jesus we actually become God’s children, and the proof of this is that we receive God’s Spirit within us (Gal 4:6,7). And because His Spirit is within us the character of God is going to be displayed in our behaviour.
Copyright © S P Townsend