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- [00:01]
Dr. Manny Arango
Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango, and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey. All right, fam. Welcome back to day two in the book of Galatians. Today we're gonna go through Galatians chapters 4, 5, 5, and 6. Hey, if you have not done the reading yet for today, this a great place to stop, pause, do the reading. Really? I. I like the podcast. Doesn't make a ton of sense. Like, these episodes don't make a ton of sense if you have not done the reading. So go ahead and do the reading. Short little nugget. Okay. This is Paul's first ever letter. Okay, so this is Paul's first time writing a letter to the churches that he started. He's writing a letter to the region. Not a city, but a region. And it's unclear if they are unbelieving Jews or believing Jews. So, like, Jewish Christians or totally unbelieving Jews have come in and really cause a lot of confusion. And I can tell you right now, as someone who's pastored, people, like, there's nothing worse than people that you're shepherding and pastoring. Getting confused. I've. I've been sent so many YouTube videos of people that I'm pastoring. They're like, I don't know, like, this confused me. And then you watch the video, you're like, hey, man, it's like you watched, like, some Mormon person teaching about, like, grace. Like, I. I don't, like, hey, don't watch Mormon content. You know what I mean? And I remember one time I was getting my hair cut by this barber, and we were at a Pentecostal church, and I go to his barber shop. He's cutting my hair, and he's playing, like, super reformed, like, hyper. Hyper Baptist reformed content. And he's like, man, I love listening to stuff. I listen this every day. And I'm like, hey, have you ever noticed that, like. Like, he doesn't agree, like, with the stuff that we say, like, our church? He was like, nah, I didn't even notice that. I just went, okay, like, what do you think about, like, the baptism of the Holy Spirit? And he was like, oh, well, I am a little confused. And I was like, yeah, man, of course you confused. So I understand how. What it feels like for Paul to have done the hard work of pioneering churches. And then people are coming into those churches and speaking and spreading ideas that are causing confusion. And so Paul writes a letter to bring clarity to the Galatians. And he says this. I'm going to just start re. You know, kind of give you some nuggets as we go. Chapter four, big theme is inheritance, heirs, adoption, and guardians. The big idea is that we are children, children of God. And if we're children, then that means that God has set up a guardian and that the law was a guardian over us. In verse 8 to 10, chapter 4, verse 8 to 10, he's going to juxtapose two kinds of bondage. Okay? Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. So idols, you were slaves to idolatry. But now that you know God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you that somehow I wasted my efforts on you. I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong. As you know, I became. It was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. Now when you go back to Acts, chapter 13 and 14, you realize that, yeah, Paul had gotten stoned like, like, I mean, beat up pretty bad when he gets to this region in Galatia. So you got to read Acts, chap. 13 and 14. And what Paul is saying is, hey, the same way you used to be enslaved, like when you were I idol worshippers when you didn't know God, religious bondage is still bondage. Now you want to take the yoke of bondage that the Jews are under, and that's bondage. So Paul is saying there's. Paul sees no difference between secular bondage and religious bondage. He's saying, actually, I would just rather you be free. Okay, we then move into an extended metaphor where Paul is using Ishmael and Isaac. And he's saying that Ishmael was the son that came to the slave woman, Hagar. Okay, Abraham and Sarah, they go down to Egypt. Remember, Abraham lies, says that his wife is actually a sister. Well, while they're in Egypt, they get a slave girl named Hagar that they bring back with them. And that slave girl named Hagar ends up getting pregnant by Abraham. And that slave girl named Hagar has a boy named Ishmael. But that boy is not the Son of the promise that God had, that God had promised to Abraham and Sarah. So then they have another son named Isaac through Sarah the free woman. And essentially what Paul is saying is he saying, hey, believers in Jesus are the son of the free woman, and that Jews are really the children of. Of the slave woman. Because the law is going to keep you in bondage. The law is going to keep you in slavery. And then here we go, Chapter five, verse two, which is just an iconic moment. I'll actually start in verse one. It is for freedom that Christ has set you free. Okay, so Paul's like, hey, like, we want you to be free. And then stand firm then. And do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Again, not because they were Jews before, but because they already know what slavery feels like. They were under the slavery of sin, and now they're going to be under the slavery of legalism. And Paul is saying, hey, like, you got to stand firm, verse two. Mark my words. I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again, I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. That you can't pick and choose. You can't obey a part of the law, but not obey all of the law. If you're gonna be circumcised as a. As a act of obeying the law, then you got to obey the whole law. Now, a lot of you may be thinking, okay, we just read in Acts that Paul had Timothy circumcised. So what's going on? Well, Paul didn't have Timothy circumcised to obey the law. Paul had Timothy circumcised so that he would have influence with Jews. The. The motive behind why he had Timothy circumcised. Actually, the thing that changes everything. The Galatians are getting circumcised to fulfill the works of the law. And Paul's saying, you can't just pick and choose. If you're going to obey the law for your salvation, then you have to obey the whole law. And you who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ. You have fallen away from grace. For though the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. And then we get to chapter five 12. And this is wild. As for those agitators. So Paul is going to call the judaizers that are come coming in trying to cause these gentiles to become Jewish in order to become Christian. He calls them agitators. He says in verse 12, as for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves. Paul's walling, he's like, I wish they would cut their penises off. Just go ahead and cut them off. Don't just circumcise it. Cut the whole thing off. Yeah, I don't know if you've ever been in church on a Sunday and you thought to yourself, now what my pastor said just now was true. That was right. But dang, yo, I can't believe this man just said that like that. That is the moment that Paul is having right here. He's like, you know, what if they want to go ahead and get circumcised? I wish those agitators would go ahead and cut their whole penis off. That is wild that Paul said that.
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Arma Team
What if I told you that what you're learning in this video was just the tip of the iceberg? The Bible department is actually powered by arma. What is arma? I'm so glad you asked. ARMA is an online subscription based platform that we design to help people, everyday people, learn the Bible for themselves. We started Armageddon so that anybody, anywhere can have access to trustworthy and entertaining Bible and theology content. In addition to this podcast, we have over 60 courses on individual books of the Bible, on theology topics, and on some hot topics like homosexuality, tithing and women in ministry. But really, ARMA is a community. A community of people that I've gotten to know. A community where thousands of people are currently finding family, asking questions and nerding out on the Bible together. If you want a community to read the Bible with you this year, or if you want to dive into some deeper theological content, or if you want more exclusive access to me and the entire armor team. How about you go to thebibledepartment.com I'll be sure to to post the link.
- [10:06]
Dr. Manny Arango
In the description of this video.
- [10:08]
Arma Team
Let's make this your year to become a Bible.
- [10:14]
Dr. Manny Arango
Here we go. Now, Paul is going to define grace for us. From Galatians, chapter 5, verse 13, all the way to verse 26. Paul's going to define what true grace actually means. I'll. I'll put an emphasis on verses 13 and 17 says this in verse 13. You, my brothers and sisters who were called to be free, but do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh. So now Paul's saying, hey, hey, hey. Freedom doesn't mean lawlessness, okay? If you've watched our spiritual disciplines, course, this is going to sound so familiar. Okay, you, my brothers and sisters, who were called to be free, do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh. Rather serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command. Love your neighbor as yourself. If you bite and devour each other, watch out, you'll be destroyed by each other. Verse 17 says this. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with one another, so that you no longer do so, that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. So Paul wants to be very, very clear. Hey, living free doesn't mean living in the flesh. Okay? I want you to be free, but I want you to experience disciplined grace. I want to get to chapter six. We're gonna big theme on sowing and reaping fruit of the Spirit. Chapter 6, verse 6 says this. Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor. Okay, so a lot of people think that these judaizers were actually trying to, you know, take up offerings. And, and, and Paul saying, hey, like, actually, I'm, I'm the person who has done a ton for you. And, and then he immediately goes from, you know, sharing all things with the. Your instructor to immediately going into verse eight. Whoever sows to please their flesh from the flesh will reap destruction. Whoever sows to plead the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life. Therefore, and let us not become weary in doing good. What is the doing good? The doing good is the sowing of seed. Okay, I'm not in control of reaping a harvest, but I am in control of sowing seed. So there's two things I can control. I can control how healthy the soil is, and I can control whether or not I'm sowing the seed of God's word into my heart daily. I cannot control whether or not a harvest is going to grow. A harvest of righteousness and holiness and godliness and sanctification. Six, verse 17 is in fascinating passage of scripture says, remember they, they watched Paul get stoned. Okay? Paul was persecuted by the very same people who are now confusing the church when he was in this region. Says, from now on, let no one cause Me trouble. Let no one cause me trouble. For I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. And he says, hey, guess what the marks of Jesus are. It's not being. It's not being circumcised. It's the bruises on my back from being stoned. It's the. It's the lashes on my back from being whipped. It's the fact that I've been persecuted. Okay? You don't need to get circumcised. Living the Christian life is going to be painful enough. There's going to be persecution, there's going to be trials. There's going to be tribulation. Let me give you a nerdy nugget, all right? And this is dealing with Paul's eyesight. So Luke is a doctor. Why is Paul traveling with a doctor? Well, a lot of people think because of Paul's eyesight. So I want you to go to chapter 6, verse 11. In chapter 4, verse 13 and 15, chapter 4, or chapter 6, 11, we'll read it first. It says this. See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand. Okay? And then chapter four, verse 13 and 15, it says this. As you know, it was 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 were Christ Jesus himself. Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? And so these are all little clues that hint to the fact that maybe Paul had an eye issue, like an issue with his eyesight, which is why a lot of times he's using a scribe to write letters for him, but he's writing this letter himself. And he says, the proof that I'm writing this with my own hands is that you can see how large the letters are. So, nerdy little nugget for us. Timeless truth. Okay, this comes straight out of Galatians, chapter 6, verse 7 and 8. Whatever you starve will die, and whatever you feed will grow. That is a tool for life. That is a key for life. Whatever you starve will die. I don't know. You may have gone through a tough breakup. Well, guess what. Those feelings that you have for that ex. In five years, you're not going to have those feelings, those same feelings right now that you have right now, because whatever you starve will eventually die. Whether that's a feeling or an emotion or a craving, whatever. Whatever you starve will die. And whatever you feed, that's what will grow. And so if you have a, you know, your. Your desire for pornography doesn't go away because you feed it. No, it goes away when you starve it. So whatever you starve will die. Whatever you feed will grow. If you feed yourself a diet of God's word every day, guess what will happen? Whatever you eat, you'll have a taste for. And whatever you have a taste for is what you'll eat. You'll find yourself in either a vicious cycle or an amazing cycle where you get momentum in your life. So, all right, this is Paul's first letter. Tomorrow we actually got Paul's next letter, which is Philippians. Completely different tone than Galatians. Galatians is a letter of correction. Galatians is a letter of rebuke. And Galatians is a letter to really set and in stone what is the gospel. And Paul's establishing his apostolic authority, and he's using extended metaphors and teaching lessons, but really, he's just setting the record straight. And you can almost sense in Paul a sense of urgency to write this letter and send it to the Galatians before any of them goes off and gets circumcised for terrible reasons. So he feels like they are at risk of falling away from the faith. And so Paul is in a panic, and he's writing using a lot of strong language. I'll see you right here tomorrow. Love you guys. Peace. Thank you so much for joining me on the Bible Department podcast. If this episode was helpful, it would mean the world to me if you'd give us a follow rate and review the show. And don't forget to share. You can learn more about the show@thebibledepartment.com and find us on Instagram at. At the Bible Department. If you want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.