And the Power of Love

17

Name: Date:

Promise Driven

Experiencing a

Freedom from Law

and the Power of Love

The Church Series T7-13

Welcome to this journey through the experiences and teachings of the apostolic church as recorded in the book of Acts and the Letters written by the apostles. As a member of His body, you will discover His treasures for those who take His Name and receive His Spirit.

Come to the Scriptures with a prayer-filled heart and open mind as you uncover truths for your life. Record these in the blanks provide to help keep yourself accountable in your daily growth. Talk to the Lord when you find yourself coming short in an area. Share with others the riches you find in His living Word.

Day 1: embellished Bible story.

Day 2-6: interactive journal devotions.

Day 7: contemporary stories of faith.

Live Unchained

Legalistic witchcraft opposes the work of the Spirit.[1]

Faith in God puts us in line for the Promise.[2]

Law-keepers live under the curse Christ removed.[3]

We cannot earn all the blessings God has for us.[4]

God gave the Law as a place-holder until Christ.[5]

The Law berated people until they came of age.[6]

God wants children, not slaves.[7]

Going back to the Law wastes Christ’s death.[8]

Law and Faith cannot coexist.[9]


Slaves Need not Apply

Genesis 15:1-16:15, Good News Bible

After this, Abram had a vision and heard the LORD say to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I will shield you from danger and give you a great reward."

But Abram answered, "Sovereign LORD, what good will your reward do me, since I have no children? My only heir is Eliezer of Damascus. You have given me no children, and one of my slaves will inherit my property."

Then he heard the LORD speaking to him again: "This slave Eliezer will not inherit your property; your own son will be your heir." The LORD took him outside and said, "Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that."

Abram put his trust in the LORD, and because of this the LORD was pleased with him and accepted him. Then the LORD said to him, "I am the LORD, who led you out of Ur in Babylonia, to give you this land as your own."

But Abram asked, "Sovereign LORD, how can I know that it will be mine?"

He answered, "Bring me a cow, a goat, and a ram, each of them three years old, and a dove and a pigeon."

Abram brought the animals to God, cut them in half, and placed the halves opposite each other in two rows; but he did not cut up the birds. Vultures came down on the bodies, but Abram drove them off. When the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and fear and terror came over him.

The LORD said to him, "Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and when they leave that foreign land, they will take great wealth with them. You yourself will live to a ripe old age, die in peace, and be buried. It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished."

When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals. Then and there the LORD made a covenant with Abram. He said, "I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River, including the lands of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

Abram's wife Sarai had not borne him any children. But she had an Egyptian slave woman named Hagar, and so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Why don't you sleep with my slave? Perhaps she can have a child for me."

Abram agreed with what Sarai said. So she gave Hagar to him to be his concubine. (This happened after Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years.) Abram had intercourse with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she found out that she was pregnant, she became proud and despised Sarai.

Then Sarai said to Abram, "It's your fault that Hagar despises me. I myself gave her to you, and ever since she found out that she was pregnant, she has despised me. May the LORD judge which of us is right, you or me!"

Abram answered, "Very well, she is your slave and under your control; do whatever you want with her."

Then Sarai treated Hagar so cruelly that she ran away. The angel of the LORD met Hagar at a spring in the desert on the road to Shur and said, "Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?" She answered, "I am running away from my mistress."

He said, "Go back to her and be her slave." Then he said, "I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them. You are going to have a son, and you will name him Ishmael, because the LORD has heard your cry of distress. But your son will live like a wild donkey; he will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. He will live apart from all his relatives."

Hagar asked herself, "Have I really seen God and lived to tell about it?" So she called the LORD, who had spoken to her, "A God Who Sees."


Bewitched Believers

Rule-based religions are not called cults and accused of mind control for no reason. When a person or group can manipulate others into performing or acting a certain way with no logic or meaning other than, “I told you so,” this is witchcraft. Control freaks are akin to witches and wizards.

Paul thought so. What does he say, in Galatians 3:1 that lets us know he sees witchcraft and demonic power behind this Law-keeping movement?

Fools rush off from the joy of truth to find a new belief that will complicate life and give them something to brag about. Paul did not go to these heathens with a check-the-box kind of religion. In 3:1, what did he set before them and clearly portray so they would have the right focus?

Religious people must resist two extremes: legalism and libertinism. Legalism says, “I prove myself worthy be keeping these rules.” Libertinism says, “It does not matter if I do good or evil.” The cross is the only anchor between these two spiritual suicides. Paul presented Jesus crucified because that image is what must dominate our passions and pride.

Later, Paul dealt with the church in Corinth which was dominated by libertinism. The Galatians, at this moment, are exhausting his patience by their plunge into legalism. In 3:2, what dramatic experience does he bring back to their memory from when they first met the Lord?

Obviously they had the best when they got the gift of God’s Spirit. They did not get it by following Moses. What other impact did the Spirit have, in Galatians 3:4?

Confidence in the Lord. Abraham trusted God to accept him and make him part of the eternal plan. God fills those who humbly trust Him with the Holy Spirit of promise. Abraham received the promise the same way we do—by faith. If we believe in God as he did, we are Abraham’s children.

What did God promise Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3 and 22:18?

How does this apply to your life, in Galatians 3:7-9?

The Law of Moses is not a promise, however, but a curse. How does Galatians 3:10 prove this from the law?

No one can flawlessly keep the whole Law, therefore any Law-keeper lives in guilt and under a curse. How does Galatians 3:11 apply the words of Habakkuk 2:4 to your life?

Those who live under the Law, however, become slaves to it, perpetually having to observe every ordinance of Moses. Some claim to have attainted to a special holiness by keeping the Sabbath as a day of worship. However, by taking up one part of the law, they become debtors to the whole law.

You cannot partially keep Moses’ Law. You will be guilty of breaking it all. Jesus was the only one who kept the law flawlessly. Until He died. Then, even He broke the rules. What is written in the law, according to Galatians 3:13?

When this sinless Man took the curse of the Law, He cast off its shackles and came back from death with the Promise (3:14). We should not take Holy Ghost joy and put it back under bondage to useless rules. Live the Promise.


The Fine Print

God made a covenant with Abraham. The Jews thought they had it, but they missed the bold print. They got so focused on mastering the fine print of Moses’ Law that they missed the original document altogether. What does Galatians 3:15 say about this agreement God gave Abraham?

This original contract appears in Genesis 12:7. What were the terms of the arrangement?

How does Galatians 3:16 shed more light on what this pact meant? What is meant by “the seed” or “offspring”?

Paul addresses the later document, in Galatians 3:17. What is this new certificate and what can it not do?

The Jews looked to Abraham as their hero. What they overlooked was that Abraham never kept the Law of Moses. He did not earn the promises of God by fine print; he had a headline relationship with God. In 3:18, what is the point of clarifying all this?

The Law brought a curse. Faith brings the promise.

The Law feeds the flesh. Grace empowers the Spirit.

The Law demands works. Truth invites action.

The Law reveals sinfulness. Love brings holiness.

The Law separates races. Faith unites humanity.

The Law fosters superiority. Grace teaches equality.

The Law favored males. Truth includes both genders.

The Law shapes exteriors. Love forms Christ within.

The Law creates bondage. Faith gives freedom.

The Law says, “Thou shalt...” Promise says, “I will...”

So, why the law? This question plagues modern students of the Bible. Why do we even need the book of Leviticus if it does not apply to our lives? The Law of Moses did not replace the Promise of Abraham. It did, however, preserve Abraham’s descendents until the Promise came.

What nation has kept a distinct identity as much as the Jews in history? Ancient Egypt lost its culture and identity until modern Egypt looks like something from another planet. Other countries that inhabited the lands around ancient Israel no longer exist. These Law-keepers, however, have retained their Jewish nationality and preserved the Word of God because of the fine print.

What purpose did the Law serve, according to 3:19?

It came because of sin, not because it is a means to holiness. It preserved a race from among whom the Lord would come. The scripture goes on to emphasize that it came from God, through angels, to Moses a mediator, to the people. This does not sound like a personal agreement, but an official edict.

Jesus Christ has not invited you into a class-action lawsuit. He has invited you into a private contract. Your salvation was written into the promised Seed arising from Abraham. Not from the law which came four centuries later.

Immigrants from oppressive countries may come to America and still hold their old-country fears. If they feared police in their old country, they will probably do so for a while here as well. With time, they will see they live under a new constitution. They will begin to enjoy their freedom.

Christians often adopt an awe and reverence for all things Jewish. They think of visits to the land of Israel as a spiritual pinnacle. They think perfection could be reached if only they could be as disciplined and reverent as the Law demands. Some take the Law and make more rules out of it. Jesus was not awestruck by rule-makers. He rebuked them. Let us not trade our New World of spiritual freedom for the old-country bondage God brought His people out of.


Jail, a Jerk, and Subjugation

You are looking at cold gray walls. The windows are iron bars. The door is two inches of solid steel. The bed feels just as hard. You are locked in a jail cell. One day, someone comes to your door, opens it, and calls you by name. You do not have to come. You can stay. What would you do?

While that decision may seem obvious, spiritually we are not quite as quick. Humans in bondage find security in the awkwardness of their environment. Some would literally rather stay in jail than walk into the sunshine of freedom. In Galatians 3:23, what had us shut up, or locked up?

Some people find the dietary laws of the Jews fascinating. While there is a health benefit to eating these kinds of foods, they do not make one holy. If you commit to only eating “sacred foods” you have to keep the whole Law. We, however, do not need bitter herbs and boiled stew. We need the Bread of Life.

Do you really want to stay caged up? Jesus has come to the door and called your name. What will you do?

After describing the law as a jailer, Paul compares it to a well-known jerk. Everyone loved to hate the disciplinarian. Who does Paul compare this man to, in 3:24?

This pedagogue was a slave put in charge of school-age children. He could beat them if they got their clothes dirty on the way to school. He made them behave. He would beat them if they overate. He chased them to school and chased them home again. He taught them fear.

Some people have seen this shadowy figure lurking around their lives, swinging an angry club. They mistook him for God. This, however, is the jerk called Law.

Enslaved by a slave. Can you imagine being forced into obedience by someone who really did not care how you turned out? It was just his job to beat you. That is the Law. The Law was God’s slave to beat people into line for a limited time. It was not a permanent thing anymore than the pedagogue was. Maturity eliminated the need for him.