Galatians 4:4-5 Made Under the Law

Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.


Christians glibly state that Jesus came to save people from their sins, and that is true. But what does it mean? In verse 4, we are told that He was born under the law, and verse 5 says He came "to redeem them that were under the law."
--To what law is Paul referring? In the context of the Galatian letter, it seems to be Torah, the law which was given by God through Moses. Jesus was born under this law, that is what is referred to in verse 4. He was born a Jew. But there is another law more basic than Torah, which applies to everyone.

Jesus, when asked what the most important commandment was, summed up all of the Old Testament this way:

"Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38  This is the first and great commandment. 39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

 So if one does not love God and one's neighbor in this way all the time one has sinned, and is under the law spoken of in Galatians 4:5. Since no one can do this all the time, everyone has sinned, and "... the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 6:23) This is the other law--the law of sin and death.

The point is, we cannot do enough to make up for even one sin. But Jesus came to release us from doing work to try to be good enough for God.  Keeping the law is a burden we cannot bear; it is too heavy. But Jesus kept the law, and paid the penalty we owe for not keeping it, for us. As soon as we realize that we can't, but Jesus did, we can relax and accept God's gift of life through Him. That was the purpose of His coming; to give us life.

Let His Remnant Come

There is anguish among God's people. Grim predictions abound, centered in the Gulf and spreading outward to encompass the world. Many are having dreams showing coming turmoil; I have had one myself. In view of this, I am posting this vision a dear friend had, with her permission. This is no time for complacency or believing nothing will come of it. Possibly nothing will, but that is not the idea to act on; turn to Jesus before it is too late!


Let His Remnant Come

And in the midst of chaos and destruction
There shall stand a shining light  
A light of peace, of hope, of love
A sanctuary for those who seek His Face

For those who cry out in the darkness
Let them turn their eyes to Christ
Let their sorrows and their anguish
Find solace in the comfort of His grace

For when the mountains crumble
And the earth shakes
When the seas turn red with blood
And the skies black with smoke

There shall be no turning back
There shall be no refuge from the storm
There shall be no other recourse
But there shall be Christ, victorious

Let His remnant come!

Comfort

I like my ruts. They’re comfortable. I like clothes that fit easily for the same reason; comfort. I like chairs that have the right amount of stuffing and the right size seat, too. Comfort is nice.

But sometimes comfort is dull. You get dusty and creased from too much comfort. Maybe, like comfortable shoes, you’re almost worn out. That’s not so nice. Sometimes it’s better to leave what’s comfortable for the unknown, risking the possible discomfort that might result. Let me tell you what happened to me—

Thursday May 1st, 2008, was the National Day of Prayer. I walked about a mile from where I worked to participate. Some of you may have been there, also…Anyway, part of the schedule called for the people to break into small groups to pray for different areas of need in our country—government, emergency responders, the family, the church, the schools. Everyone joined the group they felt they were to be in, and I joined the group for the church. After a time I felt led to pray a confession of being too comfortable inside the walls of our church buildings. (Here is where you say ‘uh-oh!’) I didn’t think of it as a PERSONAL confession, you understand, but there you go. I was too comfortable, doing what I had been doing for a long time with little change and probably little impact in the kingdom of God.

Before I go on, you need to know that I had never felt much urge to go on a mission of any type. I liked that others were doing it, and I gave a little money sometimes to help, but I didn’t want to go, myself. It was out of my comfort zone!

The next day I went to work: I was a janitor at my church. A friend called during the day asking if I had time to pray, and when I am asked that I know I’m to say yes. So she came by, we talked a little, and I admitted to her that I wanted to go with a mission team to New Orleans to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. This desire sort of came over me, and I was as surprised as anyone about it! So that was one of the subjects of our prayer.

That evening on the news was an article about how good everything was in New Orleans. Talk about timing! It gave me a natural opportunity to tell my husband that not everything was as they said, to which he said he knew, and to bring up my desire to go to help. I was amazed when he said, “OK, go.” I was beginning to get a glimpse of God working here…

That was Friday. Early on Sunday morning I was doing my devotional reading in 1 Chronicles. In chapter 28:6-21, King David commissions his son Solomon, telling him that he, David, has prepared everything necessary in order to build God’s temple: all the supplies, raw materials, and plans—everything. All Solomon has to do is build it. That’s when I really KNEW, rather than understood in my head, that if my Father in Heaven wants me as His child to do some work for Him, He provides everything needed to accomplish His will. So I wrote a card which is still in my Bible, telling God that I wanted to go and that I needed EVERYTHING: money, transportation, the timing, literally everything. Then I got ready and headed for church.

After I arrived, I realized that the next team was leaving the next morning, but I picked up a packet of information and forms, thinking that I would be ready for a future trip. I also spoke with the pastor’s wife, who was coordinating the team, and told her I wanted to go. She said that there was another trip planned for the fall, and I went home thinking about raising the money I would need.

After lunch, my husband went outside to do some work in the field, and I sat down to relax at the computer. Pretty soon, the phone rang, and the pastor’s wife asks me, and I quote, “Is tomorrow too soon?” Dumbfounded, I said I’d have to talk to my husband: he had agreed I could go, but he didn’t have any details to go on when he said it. So after asking a couple of questions I hung up, went out to where he was working, and asked, “Is tomorrow too soon?” He asked how much it would cost, and I said it was paid for. So he said OK again! I had 14 ½ hours to cover my work for the time I would be gone, notify others to whom I had prior commitments and find a replacement, pack, get some sleep, and be at the parking lot to catch my ride to the airport at 5 o’clock Monday morning. Monday evening I was in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tuesday morning I was working to help renovate a widow’s home, and beginning to understand what service is. It was a whirlwind, to say the least! But God was in charge, and I didn’t lack anything while I was gone: He provided everything.

So are you comfortable? Maybe a little creased and dusty? Wearing out? Maybe life has been sort of dull?…Confess that for what it is: sin. Make yourself available to God. Then watch out! You might be, as I was, a stone in His slingshot, aimed at a need. It may not be comfortable, but it is truly living—living in God’s will.