Have you ever wondered why is it that you go to school, and instead of feeling that you are an overcomer, you feel that the school, the students, are getting you down? Or, why is it that the day after you genuinely believed, this book (the Bible) seems to be untrue because in it are promises that are not evident or apparent in your life? Why is it? For a moment, think back to the day that God converted your willing soul. Perhaps it was at a camp, or at a regular service, but think back to that moment when you believed the truths the preacher preached. Think back to that moment, when you honestly believed that you were going to conquer this world, but after a week, you are on fire at school but it does not seem that you are overcoming. Therefore, that fire burns down and you start to simply go through the motions here at church. You start to think, “Maybe those promises were written by the writers so they could excite me and commit myself to something that is empty.” Sure, you probably still love God, but you do not believe that Christianity is radical and intense. Through prayer, God has shown me why it is that we lose that fire. Namely, the reason is that we do not have the right understanding of the Gospel, and, subsequently, of adoption. Today, if this was to be the last message I ever preached, I would be fine since today, I am going to preach the Gospel through the means of adoption. All I am going to say in this message, “Simply, Adoption,” will chiefly derive from Galatians 4. Before we go any further, let us talk about the background of Galatians 4. Paul here is talking to some Christians, like you and me. These Christians were from Galatia, and the majority of them were Judaizers, i.e., born again Jews who, instead of fully relying on the Gospel, relied on their works after their new birth. They said, in essence, “I’ve been raised in the law, under the elements of this world. I worked and worked. Yes, I believe Jesus resurrected, I believe in Jesus name baptism, and I believe in the Holy Ghost, but now since I have undergone salvation, I have to work to keep myself saved.” Instead of them relying on the cross for the duration of their sanctification, they forgot about the true Gospel. Several of us find ourselves in the same position as the Judaizers: plenty of us find ourselves with a mentality that the elements of this world and some traditions have influenced. To think that now, since we have gone through proper and biblical initial salvation, we do not need the cross anymore is outrageous. I encourage you to read the previous chapters. Paul addresses this misconception intensely in
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He came as the Son of God so we can also become sons and daughters of God. Namely, Jesus Christ, the one offspring who recognized His relationship with God came and died a death that we all deserved so that we can have a relationship where we will have an intimate relationship with God, and, successively, view God as our Father, which God desires us to have. To the Jews, this meant that the law would not be necessary: that through Christ, you will recognize the relationship you have with God. To us, although at one moment all the traditional teachings, great habits, were good, we recognize our true relationship with God, not through customs or traditions, but through Christ. In Christ, adoption takes place. However, the fact that Paul had to remind this, and he did it in a rebuking manner, reveals that the Jews were not getting it. These new Christians went back to the old ways and used the old ways to maintain their salvation. I am not preaching antinomianism, but I am preaching that the Gospel and the Christian 's journey are a true passage because it is founded on Christ. This speaks to us because many of us are like the Judaizers: at one moment, the traditions and customs of Pentecost bewildered us, which are not bad, but we have a mentality that they are going to save us or keep us saved. People, do not abuse these great traditions and customs; rather, let us properly use the Gospel of
He came as the Son of God so we can also become sons and daughters of God. Namely, Jesus Christ, the one offspring who recognized His relationship with God came and died a death that we all deserved so that we can have a relationship where we will have an intimate relationship with God, and, successively, view God as our Father, which God desires us to have. To the Jews, this meant that the law would not be necessary: that through Christ, you will recognize the relationship you have with God. To us, although at one moment all the traditional teachings, great habits, were good, we recognize our true relationship with God, not through customs or traditions, but through Christ. In Christ, adoption takes place. However, the fact that Paul had to remind this, and he did it in a rebuking manner, reveals that the Jews were not getting it. These new Christians went back to the old ways and used the old ways to maintain their salvation. I am not preaching antinomianism, but I am preaching that the Gospel and the Christian 's journey are a true passage because it is founded on Christ. This speaks to us because many of us are like the Judaizers: at one moment, the traditions and customs of Pentecost bewildered us, which are not bad, but we have a mentality that they are going to save us or keep us saved. People, do not abuse these great traditions and customs; rather, let us properly use the Gospel of