WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.240 Tonight I would like us to turn back to Galatians chapter 3 which Alstead very kindly read for 00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:08.740 us. 00:00:08.740 --> 00:00:15.000 We are in the midst of a short series called Galatians Freedom and that's a very helpful 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:23.280 title because in many ways freedom is one of the main themes of this letter. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:30.679 And with that in mind our title tonight is Free to Be Family and we'll think about that 00:00:30.679 --> 00:00:36.079 as we look at the passage we read just as opposed to focus our minds we can just read 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:41.040 verses 28 and 29 again where Paul says there is neither dune or Greek, there's neither 00:00:41.040 --> 00:00:46.719 slave nor free, there's no male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:55.960 And if you're Christ's then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise. 00:00:55.960 --> 00:00:59.719 If you've never read Galatians before or if it's a long time since you've maybe looked 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:05.799 through it the basic background is this, Paul had founded this church by preaching the 00:01:05.799 --> 00:01:09.280 gospel of faith in Jesus Christ. 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:16.599 His message was that in order to be saved whoever you are, dune or Greek, you need to 00:01:16.599 --> 00:01:19.840 put your faith in Jesus. 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:25.359 If you do that you will be brought into God's family and that is the gospel message that 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:31.920 whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life. 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:41.640 However, after Paul had left these Galatians others came in and they started to say in 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:49.159 order to be saved and brought into God's family you actually need to become like a Jew and 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:52.879 we often for that reason call them Judaizers. 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:58.159 You've got to keep God's law and in particular you've got to be circumcised. 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:04.599 Alastair referred to what Bob was saying this morning, I wasn't here but from just what 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:09.759 Alastair was saying it sounds as though he was emphasising the fact that through faith 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:15.359 we are justified and that when God looks at us instead of seeing our faults and failings 00:02:15.359 --> 00:02:19.000 he sees Jesus' righteousness. 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:24.039 The situation in Galatia is a bit like Bob preaching that in the morning saying if you 00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:28.919 put your trust in Jesus you will be justified and then I come along in the evening and say 00:02:28.919 --> 00:02:36.479 yes, yes but along with faith you need to do a few other things. 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:39.560 You need to make sure that you come to church every week, twice a week. 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:44.479 You need to pay certain amounts of money and you need to make sure that you wear certain 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:48.120 clothes or whatever it may be. 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:55.240 That's what happened to Paul, others came in with a whole additional set of requirements 00:02:55.240 --> 00:02:59.159 adding these to the Gospel. 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:08.520 And when Paul hears about it he goes absolutely ballistic and this letter is pounding home 00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:14.319 the truth that salvation does not depend on the stuff that you do. 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:21.560 It is only and absolutely only through faith in Jesus Christ. 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:26.799 And one of the key truths that Paul wants to emphasise in this letter is that when the 00:03:26.799 --> 00:03:32.859 Galatians are choosing between what the Judaizers say and what Paul says they're not choosing 00:03:32.859 --> 00:03:36.599 between two different approaches to Christianity. 00:03:36.599 --> 00:03:41.319 They're not choosing between one kind of denomination and another. 00:03:41.319 --> 00:03:49.280 They are choosing between Christianity and a lie. 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:54.319 It's a choice between a true Gospel and a false Gospel. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:59.959 It's a matter of life and death. 00:03:59.959 --> 00:04:06.560 But part of the problem that was maybe leaving the Galatians so perplexed was that the stuff 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:14.719 that these false teachers were saying is actually in the Old Testament. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:19.560 They weren't making it up out of thin air and they thought that they were taking their 00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:24.639 teaching from what they read in the Old Testament. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:32.560 And so in order to address this Paul needs to explain how the Old Testament law and the 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:40.160 Gospel as it's been manifested clearly in the New Testament, how do these fit together? 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:47.360 And that's what Paul is trying to address in the passage that we read. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:57.079 The result is a wee bit complicated and this is not the most straightforward chapter in 00:04:57.079 --> 00:04:58.800 the Bible. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:01.879 But don't worry, we can do it and we're going to go through it together. 00:05:01.879 --> 00:05:07.600 So we need to just roll up our sleeves as it were and dive in to this great passage. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:09.800 To do so we're going to ask four questions. 00:05:09.800 --> 00:05:12.319 Number one, what does God want for you? 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:14.719 Number two, how does God operate? 00:05:14.719 --> 00:05:16.879 Number three, what do you have to do? 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:19.680 Number four, what difference will it make for you? 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:26.360 And I hope that we'll see that these questions will, I hope, clarify the great truths that 00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:29.159 Paul is setting before us in this passage. 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:34.400 So question number one, what does God want for you? 00:05:34.400 --> 00:05:41.160 Simple answer to that question is that God wants the very best for you. 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:46.080 Now that might sound really kind of benign or superficial. 00:05:46.080 --> 00:05:47.960 I don't mean it in that way at all. 00:05:47.960 --> 00:05:55.879 What I mean is this, it is a fundamental theological truth that God wants your existence 00:05:55.879 --> 00:06:00.360 to be the very best that it can be. 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:04.079 God did not create human life to be okay. 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:07.959 He created it to be absolutely amazing. 00:06:07.959 --> 00:06:16.480 And every action of God is grounded on the truth that he wants us to have the best. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:20.920 And that's why every good and perfect gift we enjoy in the world is from him. 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:27.040 Joy and fulfillment and excitement and beauty and achievement and friendship, fun, discovery, 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:30.280 all of these things are gifts from God. 00:06:30.280 --> 00:06:34.840 And every time God steers us away from something, as we're saying to the kids, every time God 00:06:34.840 --> 00:06:41.240 says, don't do this, it's because he has our best interest at heart and he's got something 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:43.259 better for us. 00:06:43.259 --> 00:06:47.480 So when God says, don't lie, don't steal, don't gossip, don't be selfish, don't be 00:06:47.480 --> 00:06:48.639 aggressive. 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:53.680 It's all because he wants our existence to be better than all of these things. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:57.759 He wants it to be the best. 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:04.159 Now the devil has constantly tried to get humanity to doubt that. 00:07:04.159 --> 00:07:08.959 He constantly whispers in our ears, God doesn't really want what's best for you. 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:11.479 He did that to Adam and Eve at the very beginning. 00:07:11.479 --> 00:07:13.560 He's been doing it ever since. 00:07:13.560 --> 00:07:16.159 And maybe you are on the doorstep of Christianity. 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:21.280 You're thinking about faith in Jesus and you feel like you're just maybe going to take 00:07:21.280 --> 00:07:24.800 that step or you want to take that step. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:32.879 And you have this doubt in your mind saying, this might spoil my life. 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:39.520 That's a lie that the devil has been telling humanity throughout all of our history. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:48.199 And it's a hideous lie because God wants your experience to be the best it can be. 00:07:48.199 --> 00:07:56.680 Everything that is bad and cruel and wrong in this world is an unwanted intrusion into 00:07:56.680 --> 00:07:59.680 God's creation. 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:04.199 But we have to ask ourselves the question, well, what is the best that human experience 00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:05.599 can be? 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:10.840 What does that top level of existence look like? 00:08:10.840 --> 00:08:15.920 Well back in the first century when Paul wrote this letter, there were several levels of human 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:18.960 existence and experience. 00:08:18.960 --> 00:08:26.360 Another way of saying that is that there were just very clear classes of people. 00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:28.480 They're summarized under these titles. 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:31.840 These are just my own titles, but they reflect the status that was there. 00:08:31.840 --> 00:08:32.840 There was the powerful. 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:39.639 There was very few of these people, that was the smallest group, but they held the huge 00:08:39.639 --> 00:08:42.120 power in terms of society. 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:48.160 And of course they used that power to protect their position. 00:08:48.160 --> 00:08:53.440 Beneath them you have the successful, those who maybe didn't rule, but they were very 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:56.080 well off, very privileged. 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:57.960 Below them you have the comfortable. 00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:04.320 Not loaded, but not short, living quite comfortably. 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:07.519 Below them the groups start to get bigger and bigger and bigger. 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:08.519 You have the surviving. 00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:12.960 It's a much bigger group, people who are working hard to keep going every day. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:16.360 Many of these people would actually have been slaves. 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:23.480 In first century society being a slave didn't mean being absolutely kind of chained up and 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:24.639 digging holes. 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:30.199 In fields people like teachers and other kind of administrative roles would have been held 00:09:30.199 --> 00:09:31.759 by slaves. 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:35.199 So you have people who are just surviving from day to day. 00:09:35.199 --> 00:09:41.039 Below them you have what I've called the crumbling, people who are really struggling to survive. 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:45.799 And then beneath them there's the people who are just expendable. 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:51.679 They are so low and so broken that they just didn't really matter. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:10:04.239 We'd have very, very kind of clear class structure in first century in these days. 00:10:04.239 --> 00:10:07.879 Of course we live 2,000 years later. 00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:08.879 Society has moved on. 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:12.319 We don't have this kind of thing nowadays do we? 00:10:12.319 --> 00:10:17.159 Of course we do. 00:10:17.159 --> 00:10:19.639 It's exactly the same. 00:10:19.639 --> 00:10:23.279 It's exactly the same today. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:27.319 So which one of these does God want us to have? 00:10:27.319 --> 00:10:29.600 Which one of these is the best that humans can have? 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:33.639 The answer is none of them. 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:38.399 And that's because what God wants for you is actually far, far better. 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:47.679 What God wants for you is that you would be a child in his family. 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:51.439 That is what God wants for you. 00:10:51.439 --> 00:10:57.120 And if you look at the list below, it's so easy to think, you know, if you were somewhere 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:00.959 on that list you'd be thinking, oh, if only I could just get a wee bit higher. 00:11:00.959 --> 00:11:05.879 So if you were struggling or crumbling you'd say, oh, if I could just be comfortable then 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:07.559 everything would be so good. 00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:12.120 If you are comfortable you'd think, oh, if I could just be successful it would be so 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:13.120 much better. 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:18.200 If you were successful you'd be thinking, oh, if I could just be powerful. 00:11:18.200 --> 00:11:24.000 It's so interesting that you can see that there's yet another billionaire chasing power 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:30.000 in the US presidential nomination campaign at the moment. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:33.399 We keep looking at these things and imagining, oh, if you could just get to that point that 00:11:33.399 --> 00:11:36.200 would be so good. 00:11:36.200 --> 00:11:42.639 Now imagine being the child of God. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:46.559 God's precious child. 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:49.600 Welcome in his house. 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:56.679 Sitting on his lap held in his arms under his care and being forever showered with his love 00:11:56.679 --> 00:11:59.439 and affection and delight. 00:11:59.439 --> 00:12:06.360 The status of being comfortable, successful or even powerful is nothing compared to being 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:10.360 a child of God in his family. 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:14.639 That is the best that humanity can have. 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:19.720 And that is exactly what God wants for you. 00:12:19.720 --> 00:12:23.000 But the question is, well, how do we get that? 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:29.080 And that brings us to question two, how does God operate? 00:12:29.080 --> 00:12:32.159 How does this all work? 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:38.159 The question, how does God operate is really what lies at the heart of the issue among 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:40.320 these Galatians. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:47.440 The Judaizers had come along and they were saying fundamentally God operates on the basis 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:50.040 of law. 00:12:50.040 --> 00:12:52.600 Paul is saying no. 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:55.800 It's not the basis of law. 00:12:55.800 --> 00:13:00.320 Fundamentally God operates on the basis of promise. 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:06.400 And it's the choice between these two as the fundamental principle of Christianity that 00:13:06.400 --> 00:13:09.560 lies at the heart of what Paul is saying. 00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:13.839 Paul says, to give you a human example, brothers, even with a man-made covenant, no one annulls 00:13:13.839 --> 00:13:15.959 it or adds to it once it's been ratified. 00:13:15.959 --> 00:13:19.719 Now, the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. 00:13:19.719 --> 00:13:23.799 It doesn't say to his offspring, it's referring to many, but referring to one and to your 00:13:23.799 --> 00:13:25.559 offspring who is Christ. 00:13:25.559 --> 00:13:30.599 We're saying that the promise to Abraham runs right through to Jesus. 00:13:30.599 --> 00:13:31.599 This is what I mean. 00:13:31.599 --> 00:13:37.279 The law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annull a covenant previously ratified 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:40.159 by God so as to make the promise void. 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:45.959 For if the inheritance comes by law, it no longer comes by promise. 00:13:45.959 --> 00:13:50.480 But God gave it to Abraham by a promise. 00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:56.480 Remember we said that these Judaizers, they weren't making stuff out of thin air. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:00.120 They were laying down what they thought was in the Old Testament, what they believed was 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:01.639 Old Testament teaching. 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:06.799 If you go back to the Old Testament and read it, you'll see that there's a lot of law. 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:11.439 And so you think, well, surely they're right to think that the law is fundamental. 00:14:11.439 --> 00:14:21.439 Paul says, yes, there is a lot of law, but before that law ever came, there was a promise. 00:14:21.439 --> 00:14:24.959 That promise was given to Abraham. 00:14:24.959 --> 00:14:34.559 And the law which came through Moses 430 years later does not nullify or replace the centrality 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:37.559 of God's promise. 00:14:37.559 --> 00:14:41.039 And the great point that Paul is trying to make is that the fundamental way in which 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:45.839 God operates is not in terms of law. 00:14:45.839 --> 00:14:49.879 It's in terms of promise. 00:14:49.879 --> 00:14:54.559 And there's a crucial difference between the two which Paul explains in verses 19 and 20. 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:59.119 It's why then the law, it was added because of transgressions until the offspring should 00:14:59.119 --> 00:15:01.679 come whom the promise had been made. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:04.799 And it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:12.079 Now, an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. 00:15:12.079 --> 00:15:18.679 And really it's verse 20 that's laying down the crucial difference between law and promise. 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:26.179 He says an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. 00:15:26.179 --> 00:15:28.719 What does that mean? 00:15:28.719 --> 00:15:30.519 What does Paul say? 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:38.480 Well, I think to understand this we have to recognize that behind what Paul is arguing 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:45.439 is a choice between what you regard as central to God's plan to make us his family. 00:15:45.439 --> 00:15:47.319 So just think about it. 00:15:47.319 --> 00:15:50.519 We're talking about what's absolutely central. 00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:57.879 And as verse 18, which we're going to go in plies, it can either be law or promise. 00:15:57.879 --> 00:16:05.439 It's one or the other in terms of what is the central foundational principle of Christianity. 00:16:05.439 --> 00:16:11.399 And in verse 19, Paul is saying the law is added to the promise. 00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:13.480 The promise remains central. 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:18.600 The law is an addition, not a replacement. 00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:22.559 And the reason that's so important is because as we said, there's a crucial difference between 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:26.440 how law operates and how promise operates. 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:31.320 Law is put in place through an intermediary. 00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:37.040 Now what Paul is referring to there is the fact that if you involve an intermediary, 00:16:37.040 --> 00:16:42.680 it implies that more than one are involved in the agreement. 00:16:42.680 --> 00:16:47.200 And the relationship depends on the contribution of each. 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:52.000 So you can think of an intermediary trying to negotiate between the British government 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:55.640 and the European Union and saying, okay, here's how the deal is going to work. 00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:56.679 You have to do this. 00:16:56.679 --> 00:16:57.759 You have to do that. 00:16:57.759 --> 00:16:59.000 You have to play your part. 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:00.159 You have to play that part. 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:01.720 That's what happened with Moses. 00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:03.919 He was an intermediary. 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:06.879 God was one party giving him the law. 00:17:06.879 --> 00:17:12.440 The people were the other party whom Moses was representing. 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:19.119 And each side needed to do their part if the whole thing is going to work. 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:25.359 In other words, law is bilateral. 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:34.919 Both parties have to play their part and the negotiation is secured by an intermediary. 00:17:34.919 --> 00:17:41.959 In response to that, Paul says, an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. 00:17:41.959 --> 00:17:48.839 So we could just maybe rephrase that an intermediary implies a bilateral agreement, but God is 00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:51.559 not like that. 00:17:51.559 --> 00:18:01.559 God is one, and the fundamental way in which God operates is not bilateral, it's unilateral. 00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:06.839 In other words, the fundamental principle of the gospel is not bilateral law, setting 00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:07.839 and keeping. 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:14.440 The fundamental principle of the gospel is a unilateral promise from God. 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:20.279 Now, I hope that made sense, but just to try and make sure and make it clear, I drew a 00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:23.000 wee picture which I hope will help. 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:30.359 To summarize, if the law is central, then salvation is by means of a bilateral deal. 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:33.319 God does His bit, we do our bit. 00:18:33.319 --> 00:18:37.240 And so it's very much a two-way thing. 00:18:37.240 --> 00:18:38.839 That's how law works. 00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:42.279 It's set and it needs to be kept. 00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:50.480 If the promise is central, then salvation is by means of a unilateral gift. 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:53.759 God makes a promise, He does it all. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:56.839 In the first one, we are half and God is half. 00:18:56.839 --> 00:18:59.720 In the second one, God is one. 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:01.359 He does it all. 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:04.839 It's a unilateral promise. 00:19:04.839 --> 00:19:12.559 Now, in order to just make that a wee bit clearer, I hope, and to illustrate it, I think the 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:19.879 difference being set before us here between the law as a central principle and the promise 00:19:19.879 --> 00:19:21.359 as a central principle. 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:29.559 The difference is the difference between a staircase and a lift. 00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:34.119 And I want you to think along these lines, a staircase and a lift. 00:19:34.119 --> 00:19:42.319 So a staircase is provided for you, but you have to climb it in order to get to the level 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:43.719 you need to. 00:19:43.719 --> 00:19:49.599 And so, yes, it's provided for you, but its effectiveness depends on your effort, your 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:53.479 strength, your perseverance, and your climbing. 00:19:53.479 --> 00:19:55.519 It's very much a two-way thing. 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:58.839 The stair is provided, but you've got to go up it. 00:19:58.839 --> 00:20:08.519 A lift is provided for you, and all you have to do is get in, and it will take you to the 00:20:08.519 --> 00:20:09.519 top floor. 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:13.799 I know you have to press a button, but just forget about the button. 00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:14.799 Forget about the button. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:17.000 All illustrations have their limitations. 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:18.759 Forget about the button. 00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:21.720 With a lift, you just get in. 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:26.519 You don't have to do anything, and it will take you to the top floor. 00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:30.160 The law is a staircase. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:33.279 The promise is a lift. 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:39.119 Now, this illustration, I hope, will help us with our third question, which is what 00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:40.279 do you have to do? 00:20:40.279 --> 00:20:44.079 So just to recap, our first question was, what does God want for you? 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:46.680 The answer is he wants the best for you. 00:20:46.680 --> 00:20:48.200 He wants you in his family. 00:20:48.200 --> 00:20:50.680 Our second question, how does God operate? 00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:54.079 Fundamentally, God operates in terms of promise. 00:20:54.079 --> 00:20:57.519 So what do you have to do? 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:04.559 Well, the simple answer to that question is that you need to trust God's promise. 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:05.639 That's what Abraham did. 00:21:05.639 --> 00:21:08.000 Verse 6, we didn't actually read it, but it's there. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:11.359 You can see it if your Bibles are open or if you've got it on your phone. 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:16.679 Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. 00:21:16.679 --> 00:21:20.879 And everyone else who believes the same promise shares in the same blessing. 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:25.560 As verse 9 says, so then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the 00:21:25.560 --> 00:21:27.760 man of faith. 00:21:27.760 --> 00:21:33.400 But the big question is, what's the point in the law? 00:21:33.400 --> 00:21:38.720 And Paul addresses that very question from verse 19 onwards. 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:44.720 Now, over the years, Reformed theology, which is the tradition in which our church is part 00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:53.720 of, has very helpfully said that there are three uses for God's law. 00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:55.200 They're summarized under different titles. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:57.759 The three I'm going to use are these. 00:21:57.759 --> 00:22:03.720 The political use of God's law, whereby it provides a stable moral framework for society 00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:05.360 to function. 00:22:05.360 --> 00:22:11.200 There's the pedagogical use of the law in the sense that the law is a schoolmaster. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:15.480 In other words, it takes us to school, it helps us to learn. 00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:18.319 And the third use is that the law is a rule of life. 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:20.440 It shows us how to live as Christians. 00:22:20.440 --> 00:22:28.200 It's number two that Paul is focusing on here in Galatians chapter 3, the pedagogical use 00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:29.200 of the law. 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:34.480 And in fact, that phrase, pedagogical use of the law, comes from the chapter that we 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:39.799 read because in verse 24, Paul says the law is our guardian. 00:22:39.799 --> 00:22:43.279 And that word guardian is actually the word pedagogue. 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:50.839 And that was the slave who took, who was responsible for taking children to school. 00:22:50.839 --> 00:22:55.079 All of that means is that the law helps us to learn. 00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:59.319 And that's what we have to think about for the moment just now. 00:22:59.319 --> 00:23:04.799 So if we think of the law as a staircase, it'll tell us three things. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:07.159 Sorry, I'll just stay there just now. 00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:13.880 If we think of the, have the image of a staircase in your mind, we learn three key things from 00:23:13.880 --> 00:23:16.000 that. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:23.279 First is that theoretically the law could take you where you need to go. 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:28.320 Paul emphasizes that when he says, is the law contrary to the promise of God? 00:23:28.320 --> 00:23:29.320 Certainly not. 00:23:29.320 --> 00:23:34.640 For if a law that had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:35.640 be by the law. 00:23:35.640 --> 00:23:40.440 So what Paul is basically saying is that theoretically, if you could keep God's law, if you could 00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:44.360 do everything perfectly, if you could get to the top of that stair, then you would be 00:23:44.360 --> 00:23:45.860 righteous. 00:23:45.860 --> 00:23:47.600 The problem of sin wouldn't be there. 00:23:47.600 --> 00:23:50.759 A perfect lawkeeper is not a sinner. 00:23:50.759 --> 00:23:54.080 The staircase theoretically leads to the top floor. 00:23:54.080 --> 00:23:57.120 The law does not contradict the promise. 00:23:57.120 --> 00:24:02.040 They both lead to the same place. 00:24:02.039 --> 00:24:07.559 The second thing that the law teaches us is that while theoretically righteousness is 00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:15.000 attainable through lawkeeping, in reality, it's absolutely impossible because we are 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:16.599 all sinners. 00:24:16.599 --> 00:24:21.119 Moving on to verse 22 to 23, Paul says that the scripture imprisoned everything under 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:25.839 sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:30.599 Now, before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming 00:24:30.599 --> 00:24:34.240 of sin, faith would be revealed. 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:39.000 The principle behind this is the fact that the law doesn't offer middle ground. 00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:42.319 It either frees you or it imprisons you. 00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:43.839 And that makes perfect sense. 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:46.519 You think of being a driver. 00:24:46.519 --> 00:24:52.399 I can either legally drive by adhering to the law, or that very same law will remove my 00:24:52.399 --> 00:24:55.799 liberty to drive if I break it. 00:24:55.799 --> 00:24:57.879 You always have to come down on one side of the law. 00:24:57.879 --> 00:25:00.519 You're either a lawkeeper or a lawbreaker. 00:25:00.519 --> 00:25:06.519 And in terms of God's law, it's scripture that makes that judgment. 00:25:06.519 --> 00:25:10.759 It's scripture that reveals the standard against which we are all measured. 00:25:10.759 --> 00:25:19.440 And the standard of expectation in the Bible is perfection. 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:25.920 And that's because God wants what is best for us. 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:31.240 But the result is that no one can reach that standard and everything, including every single 00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:35.039 person is imprisoned under sin. 00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:41.640 If you can stand up and say, I have never, ever, ever done anything wrong, I am a perfect 00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:46.039 human being, then none of what Paul is saying applies to you. 00:25:46.039 --> 00:25:51.560 But can you say that? 00:25:51.559 --> 00:26:01.200 So to go back to your staircase diagram, the standard that God requires is perfect. 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:06.440 And that means that no one, absolutely no one can climb that stair. 00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:12.480 If every single step requires perfect obedience, then none of us can make us to the top. 00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:20.200 And the reality is that our sinfulness is forcing us back down the stairs all the time. 00:26:20.200 --> 00:26:21.799 And we can't escape from that. 00:26:21.799 --> 00:26:25.039 We are held captive under the law. 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:32.759 So the law is teaching us that in our efforts to climb the staircase to God, we have no 00:26:32.759 --> 00:26:35.440 chance. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:39.120 Every time we sin, we are falling back down the stairs. 00:26:39.120 --> 00:26:45.200 So we think we can go up and then we sin and we stumble. 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:50.279 And that's why if you make law the central principle of your religion, which is what 00:26:50.279 --> 00:26:57.080 these Judaizers were doing, then you're on a pathway to despair because the law will 00:26:57.080 --> 00:27:04.319 always eventually leave you in a heap at the bottom of the stair. 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:07.799 And it's immensely important to recognize this because you might think, well, this is 00:27:07.799 --> 00:27:13.160 all just kind of like weird obscure stuff way back in Galatia in the first century. 00:27:13.160 --> 00:27:20.279 But the truth is this staircase approach to religion is the default way in which humanity 00:27:20.279 --> 00:27:21.800 approaches things. 00:27:21.800 --> 00:27:25.720 And I think that's part of what Paul means when he talks about elementary principles 00:27:25.720 --> 00:27:28.680 in verses three and nine of chapter four. 00:27:28.680 --> 00:27:34.720 The basic elementary approach to religion across the world is be a good person and you'll 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:37.400 be saved. 00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:41.440 Meet the standard and you'll be accepted. 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:46.200 There's so many of the world's religions and even the worldview of secular society says 00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:51.400 if you do this and if you do that, then you will be at an acceptable level. 00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:55.000 If you fail to conform, then you are unacceptable. 00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.160 And we think that sounds so harsh, but it's exactly how the world works. 00:27:59.160 --> 00:28:03.120 Even the non-religious secular world does this. 00:28:03.120 --> 00:28:08.960 Think for example, what happens to a politician if they make a mistake? 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:11.960 Some other stair. 00:28:11.960 --> 00:28:15.079 Oh, wow. 00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:17.079 Well timed. 00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:23.799 There we go. 00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:27.440 I didn't ask them to do that. 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:35.880 The key point that Paul is making is that that kind of religion is slavery. 00:28:35.880 --> 00:28:37.000 And that makes perfect sense. 00:28:37.000 --> 00:28:38.240 How does slavery work? 00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:41.759 Well, if someone's your slave, you tell them you've got to do something and they have to 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:42.759 do it. 00:28:42.759 --> 00:28:45.359 How does staircase religion work? 00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:50.519 You tell someone to do something and they have to do it. 00:28:50.519 --> 00:28:54.200 And if your standards are low, then maybe you can get up a few steps. 00:28:54.200 --> 00:29:08.200 But if your standards are at God's level, then you will never, ever climb the stair. 00:29:08.200 --> 00:29:11.759 So what on earth do we do? 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:20.440 Well we have to remember that the fundamental principle in Christianity is not the staircase. 00:29:20.440 --> 00:29:22.600 It's not the law. 00:29:22.600 --> 00:29:27.120 The law, the staircase, is an addition. 00:29:27.120 --> 00:29:35.039 And the addition of the staircase serves the purpose of leaving us in a heap at the bottom. 00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:40.279 Now you might think, well that's depressing. 00:29:40.279 --> 00:29:46.559 But the key point is that if the staircase is an addition, it means that there's something 00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:49.839 missing from our diagram. 00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:53.359 And we have to bring both of our diagrams together. 00:29:53.359 --> 00:29:58.359 The reason the staircase leaves us at a heap in the bottom is not because God doesn't want 00:29:58.359 --> 00:30:02.839 you or because he gets a kick out of humiliating you and crushing you. 00:30:02.839 --> 00:30:09.639 The reason the staircase leaves us in a heap at the bottom is because at the bottom of 00:30:09.639 --> 00:30:16.439 the stair, you will find the entrance to the lift. 00:30:16.439 --> 00:30:22.039 And that's why the law is not pushing us down the stair in order to leave us in despair. 00:30:22.039 --> 00:30:29.319 The law is pushing us down the stair because there we find the promise that will take us 00:30:29.319 --> 00:30:33.759 to the level that the staircase never could. 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:36.119 The law does not replace the promise. 00:30:36.119 --> 00:30:38.759 The law pushes us towards the promise. 00:30:38.759 --> 00:30:45.480 And it's that promise that takes us up to the level that God wants us to be at. 00:30:45.480 --> 00:30:49.319 Without the law, the promise is horrible. 00:30:49.319 --> 00:30:53.639 But without the promise, the law is horrible. 00:30:53.639 --> 00:30:57.519 But with the promise, the law is brilliant. 00:30:57.519 --> 00:31:03.000 Just like a schoolmaster, it's taking you where you need to go. 00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:07.960 And if you get into that lift, if you trust in God's promise, it will take you to the 00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:09.079 very top. 00:31:09.079 --> 00:31:13.680 It will take you into God's family. 00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:18.160 But there's one thing we have to add to our diagram because the lift shaft is not the 00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:19.359 right shape. 00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:25.000 It should be this shape. 00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:32.920 Because the law will push you to the foot of the cross and the cross will lift you into 00:31:32.920 --> 00:31:38.960 the family of God. 00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:44.440 And what do you have to do? 00:31:44.440 --> 00:31:48.200 Nothing. 00:31:48.200 --> 00:31:53.279 What do you have to do to go up in a lift? 00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:55.879 Nothing. 00:31:55.879 --> 00:32:03.440 You just have to get in and trust that it will take you where you need to go. 00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:08.759 What do you have to do to be given a promise? 00:32:08.759 --> 00:32:11.240 Nothing. 00:32:11.240 --> 00:32:19.200 You just have to trust the promise giver. 00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:23.079 That's why Paul says, the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be 00:32:23.079 --> 00:32:25.960 justified by faith. 00:32:25.960 --> 00:32:29.839 But now that faith has come, we're no longer under a guardian for in Christ Jesus, you're 00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:34.240 all sons of God through faith. 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:37.799 The response to a promise is simply to trust. 00:32:37.799 --> 00:32:48.000 Now I've been a Christian for about 25 odd years, but I am still flabbergasted by that. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:51.359 Why would God do that? 00:32:51.359 --> 00:32:54.959 Why would He provide everything for us as a gift? 00:32:54.959 --> 00:32:57.359 Why would He promise us so much? 00:32:57.359 --> 00:33:01.319 Why would He do absolutely everything that needs to be done? 00:33:01.319 --> 00:33:04.000 Why does God do it all? 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:08.279 God's answer? 00:33:08.279 --> 00:33:19.000 Because I love you and I want the best for you. 00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:26.640 But these Galatians were saying, we want to go back to the staircase and Paul says, are 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:29.599 you crazy? 00:33:29.599 --> 00:33:32.920 Who has bewitched you? 00:33:32.920 --> 00:33:35.519 And we have to ask ourselves the same question. 00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:40.960 Are we wanting to stick to staircase religion, that elementary principle of the world where 00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:46.359 we have to kind of earn our favor with God like we have to earn our favor with other people? 00:33:46.359 --> 00:33:51.319 If that's your religion, then your religion is not Christianity. 00:33:51.319 --> 00:33:57.079 But if you are trusting God's promise, then there are some amazing implications. 00:33:57.079 --> 00:33:58.599 That's our fourth question. 00:33:58.599 --> 00:34:02.959 What difference will all of this make for you? 00:34:02.959 --> 00:34:08.239 I'm going to say three things and I'm going to try and do one minute on each one. 00:34:08.239 --> 00:34:14.239 First one is you have family security. 00:34:14.239 --> 00:34:20.359 All of this means that if you are a Christian, you are absolutely secure as God's child. 00:34:20.359 --> 00:34:26.479 You are standing up there in God's family on the basis of the unilateral, irrevocable 00:34:26.479 --> 00:34:28.119 promise of God. 00:34:28.119 --> 00:34:34.359 Your status as God's child is grounded solely and utterly on His promise. 00:34:34.359 --> 00:34:39.839 So when Paul says the law cannot annul God's promise, it cannot make His promise void. 00:34:39.840 --> 00:34:45.480 That means that God's promise to make you His child is unannulable. 00:34:45.480 --> 00:34:48.000 That means that God is going to keep it forever. 00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:53.320 And all of that means that if you are a Christian, you cannot fall down the stairs again. 00:34:53.320 --> 00:34:55.760 The law cannot push you down the stairs. 00:34:55.760 --> 00:34:58.400 Your own frailty cannot send you tumbling. 00:34:58.400 --> 00:35:01.600 You're completely free of the risk of falling. 00:35:01.600 --> 00:35:06.160 And the amazing thing about being on that top floor in God's family is that you never 00:35:06.160 --> 00:35:09.079 have to worry about the staircase again. 00:35:09.079 --> 00:35:15.679 You are totally free all because of God's promise. 00:35:15.679 --> 00:35:19.599 And ultimately, that's what makes your security so certain. 00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:23.719 It is His promise, not your promise. 00:35:23.719 --> 00:35:25.319 It's His promise. 00:35:25.319 --> 00:35:28.639 And if it's His, you can't undo it. 00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:33.759 There's a very important sense in which your security as a Christian has got absolutely 00:35:33.759 --> 00:35:38.239 nothing to do with you. 00:35:38.239 --> 00:35:40.519 And yet we look for security in ourselves. 00:35:40.519 --> 00:35:44.199 I've done this, I've done that, I've experienced this, therefore God will like me. 00:35:44.199 --> 00:35:46.239 That is complete rubbish. 00:35:46.239 --> 00:35:49.279 Your security in God is His business. 00:35:49.279 --> 00:35:51.479 It is His promise. 00:35:51.479 --> 00:35:57.039 When God promises to save you through faith in Jesus Christ, He's saying, this is my promise. 00:35:57.039 --> 00:36:00.399 And keeping it is my business. 00:36:00.399 --> 00:36:04.959 Your security is grounded on the unilateral promise of God. 00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:10.639 And it does not matter how weak you feel you are, or how much of a failure you are, or 00:36:10.639 --> 00:36:12.679 how rubbish you think you are. 00:36:12.679 --> 00:36:18.199 To go back to the illustration, if you go up a staircase and you are weak and tired and 00:36:18.199 --> 00:36:20.440 you stumble, you fall back down. 00:36:20.440 --> 00:36:25.280 If you get into a lift and you're exhausted and weak and a failure and you collapse, what 00:36:25.280 --> 00:36:26.639 happens to you? 00:36:26.639 --> 00:36:32.519 You just carry on going up. 00:36:32.519 --> 00:36:36.280 And that's exactly what it's like for you as a Christian. 00:36:36.280 --> 00:36:38.559 It's God who's holding you. 00:36:38.559 --> 00:36:41.519 It's God that your security is grounded in. 00:36:41.519 --> 00:36:45.360 We have an amazing family security in Him. 00:36:45.360 --> 00:36:47.639 Second thing is family unity. 00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:50.679 If the Gospel brings us to the top floor, we're not the only person there. 00:36:50.679 --> 00:36:53.519 There are many, many, many other people there. 00:36:53.519 --> 00:36:58.519 And one of the crucial implications is that all of us there on that level are united in 00:36:58.519 --> 00:36:59.519 that family. 00:36:59.519 --> 00:37:03.320 And what Paul goes on to say, there's neither Greek nor Jews, slave nor free, male or female, 00:37:03.320 --> 00:37:06.679 you're all one in Christ Jesus. 00:37:06.679 --> 00:37:11.559 No matter where you are on that hierarchy of social class we looked at earlier, in Jesus 00:37:11.559 --> 00:37:14.679 we are all united and we are all equal. 00:37:14.679 --> 00:37:17.239 That was one of the amazing things about the early church. 00:37:17.239 --> 00:37:25.360 You had men, women, Jews, Gentiles, slaves, free, powerful, beggars, aristocrats, expendables, 00:37:25.360 --> 00:37:27.480 all together. 00:37:27.480 --> 00:37:30.639 Everyone is equal. 00:37:30.639 --> 00:37:36.119 And that of course is why division is such a horrendous denial of the Gospel. 00:37:36.119 --> 00:37:41.360 We said at the start that when Paul saw the false teaching coming into the Galatian church, 00:37:41.360 --> 00:37:43.119 he went ballistic. 00:37:43.119 --> 00:37:45.639 So Galatians is the ballistic letter if you like. 00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:47.960 But there's one more ballistic letter in the New Testament. 00:37:47.960 --> 00:37:50.760 Do you know what it is? 00:37:50.760 --> 00:37:53.159 It's first Corinthians. 00:37:53.159 --> 00:37:57.000 And it's all because of division. 00:37:57.000 --> 00:38:01.960 And Paul is horrified at the false teaching that the Galatians face. 00:38:01.960 --> 00:38:06.159 He's horrified at the division in the current thing in church. 00:38:06.159 --> 00:38:16.079 Just as a side note, it's always a very penetrating question to ask, what makes you go ballistic? 00:38:16.079 --> 00:38:21.880 Does division in the church make you go ballistic? 00:38:21.880 --> 00:38:27.160 Does false teaching in regard to the Gospel make you go ballistic? 00:38:27.160 --> 00:38:35.880 Or does someone take in your packing space make you go ballistic? 00:38:35.880 --> 00:38:39.720 Our unity is a family unity. 00:38:39.720 --> 00:38:42.599 And that's why we want everyone who steps into this church to come away saying they're 00:38:42.599 --> 00:38:46.559 like a big family because that's exactly what we are. 00:38:46.559 --> 00:38:53.239 And the basis of that family is a father who loves all of his children. 00:38:53.239 --> 00:38:58.679 Our security and our unity is grounded in his love. 00:38:58.679 --> 00:39:06.480 The last thing I want to say is that all of this gives us family security, family unity 00:39:06.480 --> 00:39:09.079 and family privilege. 00:39:09.079 --> 00:39:13.519 What word does Paul use to describe the Christians in verse 29? 00:39:13.519 --> 00:39:16.719 It's the word air. 00:39:16.719 --> 00:39:21.159 That means that we're in the extraordinary position whereby we have an inheritance from 00:39:21.159 --> 00:39:22.159 God. 00:39:22.159 --> 00:39:24.079 Now what is an inheritance? 00:39:24.079 --> 00:39:28.920 Well an inheritance is simply the promise that the best a father has is going to go 00:39:28.920 --> 00:39:30.440 to their children. 00:39:30.440 --> 00:39:34.920 So if I write my will, I'm not going to leave my children my rubbish or my debt or my broken 00:39:34.920 --> 00:39:39.280 old computer or just the stuff that needs to be thrown out. 00:39:39.280 --> 00:39:42.280 I'm going to leave them my best. 00:39:42.280 --> 00:39:44.440 That's what an inheritance is. 00:39:44.440 --> 00:39:46.400 And God is exactly the same. 00:39:46.400 --> 00:39:49.040 He promises us an inheritance. 00:39:49.040 --> 00:39:54.040 That inheritance means that we will share in the best that he can give us, which brings 00:39:54.040 --> 00:39:56.400 us back to the very first question we asked. 00:39:56.400 --> 00:39:57.980 What does God want for you? 00:39:57.980 --> 00:40:02.440 He wants to give you his best. 00:40:02.440 --> 00:40:12.440 And in Jesus we are free to enjoy all the incredible blessings of being in his family. 00:40:12.440 --> 00:40:16.599 The key question is how do we respond? 00:40:16.599 --> 00:40:21.119 Well if you are a Christian I hope all of that, I hope all of it makes sense and I hope 00:40:21.119 --> 00:40:25.639 all of it makes you want to say thank you Father. 00:40:25.639 --> 00:40:32.320 And I hope it motivates you to live the kind of life that your Father wants you to live. 00:40:32.320 --> 00:40:38.320 But if you're not yet a Christian or not sure, I want you to think about whether you want 00:40:38.320 --> 00:40:47.039 to keep on climbing the stair or whether you want to get in the lift. 00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:50.600 One thing is certain. 00:40:50.600 --> 00:40:55.200 Jesus is holding the door open for you right now. 00:40:55.199 --> 00:41:05.599 But all you need to do is pray that he would take you into his family and he has promised 00:41:05.599 --> 00:41:08.839 that he will. 00:41:08.839 --> 00:41:11.639 Let's pray. 00:41:11.639 --> 00:41:23.159 Father, we thank you so much that you are the God who makes and keeps your promise. 00:41:23.159 --> 00:41:28.359 We thank you so much that we don't have to work our way up to you or earn our salvation 00:41:28.359 --> 00:41:29.960 like climbing a staircase. 00:41:29.960 --> 00:41:37.079 We thank you that we just come to you and we get in that lift that is your promise in 00:41:37.079 --> 00:41:42.679 complete dependence on you and relying on everything that you've done for us in Jesus. 00:41:42.679 --> 00:41:48.559 We thank you so much just for your promise to make us your children. 00:41:48.559 --> 00:41:57.199 We pray that we would all just see how simple and how amazing your promise is. 00:41:57.199 --> 00:42:03.880 We pray, Lord, that you would bind us closer together in unity as a family, that we would 00:42:03.880 --> 00:42:07.719 love you more and that we would love one another more. 00:42:07.719 --> 00:42:15.639 We thank you so much that in Jesus there's neither dune or Greek, slave or free, male 00:42:15.639 --> 00:42:20.400 nor female, but we are all one in him. 00:42:20.400 --> 00:42:22.400 We thank you for that so much. 00:42:22.400 --> 00:42:49.400 Amen.