Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell. Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. In Galatians 1, 13 through 17, Paul gives a testimony of the radical change that took place in his life after his encounter with Jesus. Paul went from violently persecuting the church to spreading the gospel message at his own peril. All because He met the Messiah.
Pastor Rich shares the portrait of grace found in Paul's conversion. with profound reminders for us today. Let's listen in. The text for exposition this morning will be from Galatians 4, verses 1 through 11. If you'll turn with me there as I read.
Galatians 4 verses 1 through 11. I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fulness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman. born under the law to redeem those who were under the law.
so that we might receive adoptions as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
So you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son than an heir through God. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world? whose slaves you want to be once more.
You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain. Let's pray. Yeah. Father, we we thank you that Even your servant Paul's Strong words here.
We know Are not true in the sense that you have begun a good work in us and you will bring it to completion. On the day of redemption. God, we thank you for this encouragement, this exhortation, and admonition not to turn back. not to revert back to childhood, to slavery. But to experience our freedom in you, as heirs, as ones who have the right to be called your children.
God, would you use this time this morning, our corporate worship, to mold us into the image of your Son, Jesus Christ? And it's in His name we pray. Amen. Thank you, Chris. Good morning, church.
Or Galatians Paul is writing to a group of churches in Galatia. And it's because these people, these churches that had been planted by him, the apostle. They are now receiving teachers coming in after him. And they were distorting the gospel. They were saying, if you are truly a follower of Jesus Christ, You must keep the law.
You must, all the ceremonial law, everything, you've got to keep the whole law. If you're truly the follower of Jesus Christ. What did Paul say? Nope. He said, as he would say down here, at ain't right.
It is not true. It is a distortion of the gospel. You can't distort the gospel and still have the gospel. And so that's why he says very authoritatively in chapter 1: if anyone comes to you, an angel, me, anybody, and preaches a different gospel, let them be accursed. Because it is the gospel that came directly from Jesus Christ.
He says it's very, very important that we are clear on this matter. And so in this verse here, Galatians chapter 4, we're going to be looking at verses 11. Verses 8 through Yeah. Um formerly, when you did not know God. He makes a contrast here, all right?
You are no longer a slave. But a son. If that's true, how can you turn back? You are a son.
Now, the illustration that is, the analogy that he's using, if you could put it in the historical context. Greek, Roman cultures, you know, more of your noble families, they would have a slave in the family, and that slave would have the responsibility to be the guardian of a child, of the son.
Now that son was under strict rules and regulations. And that guardian was to bring that son up with a view towards becoming fully adopted as a son of the father with all the rights and privileges. But until that time, as a minor, this son was under strict rules and regulations. And he had to follow them. And he had all the rights, all the rights equivalent to that of a slave.
This is the analogy that Paul is making.
So, how now that you've become adopted as a son, how would you want to revert back into that slavery? What is he talking about? He's talking about the law of Moses. Because there were those, the Judaizers, who were teaching them, if you are truly followers of Christ, you have to follow the law of Moses. And Paul says very clearly, that is not true.
That is not the gospel. That is a distortion of the gospel.
So he begins with First of all, let me say the theme through all of the book of Galatians is this. It's got some visitors today catching up on what our theme is. If your walk of faith in Christ is reduced to keeping a moral code. you have missed the point and the power of the gospel. If your walk of faith has been reduced to keeping a moral code, you have missed the point and the power of the gospel.
This is what Paul is chiming. the point and the power of the gospel. He says, don't go back to that slavery.
Now he says, let's talk about what was and what is. We have that in verses 8 and 9. of Galatians chapter 4. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those who by nature are not gods. Before You did not know God, he says.
You were estranged. You were alienated from God. You were like the branch cut off from the tree. You knew of God. But you did not understand him.
You did not know him personally. The word here, you did not know God is the word oida, which means to know about, but you did not acknowledge him. That's what. Romans 1 talks about very clearly.
So you did not know God and you were enslaved to controlling regulations. Mm-hmm. They weren't Jews, they were pagans, but even pagan religions had their enslaving, controlling regulations. He said you were subject to other powers and false objects of trust in your paganism, rituals, and you were controlled by fear. gods that were the creation of human imagination and ingenuity.
And you were controlled by them. And so you did all the rituals necessary to keep those gods happy. and keep them from cursing you. That's what paganism is. You were enslaved to controlling regulations.
Now, what's now? in Christ. Because they have responded to the gospel of grace in Jesus. They have surrendered themselves in faith to Jesus Christ. That being true, they are in Christ.
They have received his righteousness. They have been reconciled to God. And they are in the process of being sanctified, set apart, becoming more and more like Christ. That's what's true of them now. And so he says, now, look again at verse 8.
Verse 9, but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, that's a key statement right there, isn't it?
Now you know God, and that's the word gnosko, which means to know by personal encounter and experience. It's not just knowledge of, it's knowing personally. You are reconciled to God. You are interacting with God. And listen to me, this is a short sidebar here.
Why has God reconciled you to Himself?
So that you can interact with him. You see, an unregenerate person does not, cannot interact with God. He doesn't know God. You cannot interact with God. You don't do it on your terms.
You can only do it on His terms because He is the infinite, Sovereign, Holy Creator. It's His creation. It's his redemption. And if you are going to know God... You have to be reconciled to that.
He did not reconcile you to himself for all the good things you can do for him. Do I need to say that again? I need to say that again. He did not reconcile you to himself for all the things that you can do for him. He reconciled you so that you can relate to him and interact with him.
Do that. Because you can. That's what transforms you. This is what Kristen was talking about. This is what she's discovered in the grace of God.
Through the teaching of the Word of God. And so he says, rather, you interact with God, but he says, rather. In other words, what he's saying is, coming to know God is not by mere reason or discovery. but by divine initiative. The only reason you and I can know God is because he has made himself known to us.
That's the only reason. He has turned his light on into our darkness. Without that light, you and I wander in darkness.
So to be known by God, you are known, you know God rather are known by God, he says here, meaning you have a different status now. What was It's no longer true of you. You have a different status now. You are known by God. The key phrase, isn't it?
So he's making the distinction here. First of all, there was the minor child. And the minor child was pretty much equivalent to that of a slave, right? Under strict regulations, didn't have regular common interaction with the father, all right? He's distant, separated.
He's a foreshadowing of what is to come. Then that day of adoption comes. And that's what we have in chapter 4 and verse 4. When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under law, to do what? To redeem those who are under the law.
There's the adoption.
Now, an adopted son is an heir and has a constant, ongoing, interactive relationship with the father. This is the imagery that Paul is using.
So in other words As the air. Interacting with the Father, you know that you are the object of His loving concern forever. And have been. You are and have been the object of his loving concern. forever.
What he's talking about here is the intimacy of a personal relationship with God. which Jesus called eternal life. Jesus said, as he was praying in the garden, John 17:3, this is eternal life. that they may No you. The only true God.
and Jesus Christ. whom you have sent. That's eternal life. Knowing God. is eternal life.
The intimacy of a personal relationship. with God, which Jesus called eternal life. Paul says it clearly in 1 Corinthians 8. Verse 3, if anyone loves God, he is known by God. Are you known by God here this morning?
If you are in Jesus Christ. if you have surrendered to him in faith. Entrusted yourself to him. Entrust his redemptive work.
so that he can give you his righteousness because he took your sin. then you are known by God. That says a lot. That is quite a status to have. Having said all this and knowing all this, Apostle Paul asks a question.
Look at verse 9, the middle of verse 9. How can you turn back again? to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world. whose slaves you want to be once more. How can you turn back again?
Imagine the sun. is now A mature son. An adopted heir? Full rights and privileges of sonship. And he tells his father, you know, I just want to go back under the guardian, under those strict rules and regulations.
You can't even imagine that, can you? But we tend to do that spiritually. That's what legalism is, that's what legalism does. And as we've said before, every one of us to some degree or another naturally struggles with legalism. What do I have to do?
We all struggle with that. But like The testimony that Kristen gave this morning. the freedom that she now has to know God and enjoy him and delight in him. Why would she want to go back under? The criticism of the ri of keeping the lists and the fear of judgment.
would make a lot of sense. When he says, How can you turn back again? He's making a passionate appeal. And he's talking about what he calls the weak and worthless elementary principles. What he's talking about is the controlling regulations, controlling regulations, the law, the moral codes.
Why? Why would you go back under them? Because they are unable to redeem and transform or give hope. They can't do any of that. All they are is a standard.
And did you know legalists love that word standard? I have standards. I heard somebody talk about music like that. We don't do that kind of music in church because we have standards. Whose standards are they?
Are they yours or are they God's? I could get on a rant on that. I don't want to do that.
So, anyway, the controlling regulations, unable to redeem and transform and give hope. John Wilvert says they could not justify or energize for godly living. That's so, so true. You see, the law couldn't do that.
Now what we read from Psalm 19, the law of the Lord is perfect. Because what they're recognizing is that God is making His holy self. known to them. And behind the written, spoken word is the person of God Himself. But that is so important to understand that God says, listen, it's not about you just keeping all the rituals.
And then ignoring me. These people love me and serve me with their lips. But their hearts are far from me. That's a lament. That's not a compliment, that's a lament.
By God. Right?
Okay, so hey, why would you want to become slaves once more? Look at verse nine again. How can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
Now, as I've said before, there's probably not too many of us here that are really thinking seriously about going back to obeying all of the Mosaic law. First of all, you can't do it. I mean really, you can't do it. It's not even possible. And I'm not even talking spiritually.
I'm talking literally. Practically. It is utterly impossible. There's no temple you can't keep the wall. Mm right.
For many other reasons too. But you want to become slaves once more.
So what do we do? In our natural legalism, we tend to come up with our own lists. What you're supposed to do and what you're not supposed to do. And this is often how churches divide from each other.
Well, this church has this list and this church has this list. Up in Michigan, they have the Reformed Church. And then they have the Christian Reformed Church. Yeah. And the only difference is what's okay to do and what's not okay to do.
That was an amazing discovery for me. Mm-hmm. Whole denominations built on a list of what's okay and what's not okay. Imagine Jesus gave the story of the prodigal son. Love that story, don't we?
It's a story of redemption, love, forgiveness. Restoration. And the prodigal son comes back, and what is he prepared to say? Father, I don't deserve to be your son. I am willing to be a servant in your house.
Just let me be here. What does the father say?
Okay. No. That's not what the father says. He says nonsense. He fell on his neck and kissed him.
It is son. Gives him a robe. Puts a ring on his finger. Put shoes on his feet. Servants didn't wear shoes.
Only sons did. Mm-hmm. Throw a big party for him. And what if the Father does all that? And the sun then enters into A renewed relationship with his father.
Living at home with his father who loves him and cares for him. And then all of a sudden, one day, the son goes back and says, You know, Father, really, I think I'd rather just be a servant in your house. Like that makes any sense at all. This is what the Galatians were doing. And Paul says doesn't make any sense.
You are sons. You are not slaves. You are not serfs. You are sons. Live.
as sons. Not as servants.
So he says Instead of putting yourself back under controlling regulations. of the Guardian. And this is an example of that here. Look at verse 10 with me. He says.
You observe days and months and seasons and years? He's talking about the ceremonial law. Because the Judaizers have told them, if you're going to be true followers of Jesus, you have to go back and observe the law. Paul says absolutely not. Observe days, months, and seasons, and years.
You know, you need to keep. To observe means you need to keep the rituals of the Jewish festal calendar. And you're doing that to make you pleasing before God. to keep the law as a means of pleasing him for his acceptance. And Paul says no.
Not at all. Because now that you are in Christ.
Now that Christ has come. And he has kept the law perfectly. He has fulfilled the law for us. All other faith systems, all other faith systems are just simply a matter of. keeping ritual to try to please God.
Listen to me. Please. If you catch anything today, catch this. Let me tell you what Christianity is not. Christianity is not A list of things you need to do.
to please God so that He accepts you. If it is anything, it is not that. That's not grace, it's not how grace works. Like I said before, why did God reconcile you to Himself for all the stuff you can do for Him? No.
He reconciled you to himself so that you can commune with him. Interact with him and delight in him. You do that. You will reflect Jesus Christ. That's how grace works.
Why is this so important to him? To keep external rights to please God. is tantamount to Self-redemption. I can redeem myself. Listen to me very carefully.
That is the attitude that damns people to hell. to an eternity without Christ. If you believe you can redeem yourself. You don't need Christ. And Paul is saying, why would you go back under that kind of a system?
Christ's work is finished. It is complete. You are in Christ. You are reconciled to God. You are accepted by Him.
You can't do anything to make him love you more. You can't do anything to make him love you less. Walk with him. In the course of your day. What you do.
in your free time. Are you walking? with him. I want to talk about this a lot, particularly when you get into Galatians chapter 5. What does it look like to walk with God?
And when we're done with this series, I want all of us to leave here with a clear picture of how to. Walk with God. Yeah. How do I live this reality, this grace in which we stand? To be able to walk with God.
Because you know what? Walk with God is? It's not a list of do's and don'ts. It is not. My relationship with my wife.
It's not based on a list of all the things she tells me I have to do and cannot do. At least I don't think it is. It's not. That's not what our relationship is based on. Our relationship is based on love and affection and mutual commitment to each other.
and trust.
Now that doesn't mean there aren't certain honeydew lists, right? There's always that. One way, of course. I never give her a list. But that's that's a different point.
Our relationship is not based My love for her, our being married. is not based on me keeping a list. Think about that. Your relationship with God is not based on keeping a list. I don't care how awesome that list is.
Okay. It's not based on that. Here's what I like about how John stocks with this. in this self-redemption. Wait, Paul, he's he's kind of paraphrasing or On what Paul, and putting it in our modern terms today, what Paul is saying to the Galatian churches.
Here's what's happening to your faith, he says. Your walk of faith. has degenerated into an external formalism. It is no longer the free and joyful communion of children with their father. It has become a dreary routine of rules and regulations.
Let me just stop in a very, very somber moment here. and ask you is your walk of faith. A dreary routine. of rules and regulations. If it is.
I want to introduce you. to the gospel. Because that's not how the gospel works. Christ. has taken your sin.
He has fulfilled the law. for you. He has taken the wrath of God for you.
So that you can have his righteousness. When you have his righteousness, you are reconciled to God. As you are reconciled to God. You can know him. You can walk with him, commune with him, you can delight in him and love him.
And the more you delight in him and love him, the more you are satisfied in him. And the more you're satisfied in Him, the more you glorify Him. That's the gospel of grace. anything else is not grace.
So why Would we convolute the grace of God? with our moral codes because we can be experts at moral codes And here's the bad news for you. If you're a moral code type of person, you can't even keep the code that you create. You can't do it. You will break.
Yeah. That's when we count on the grace of God. is you obey their code. What are our codes?
Well a big one is Going to church. Ha ha ha ha. Let me ask you this. Yeah, yeah. J a moment of self-assessment here.
When you wake up Sunday morning. Or you're thinking about Saturday night. What are we doing Saturday night? You don't even think about Sunday morning, right? Yeah.
When you think about church and going to church, do you think of it as going to church or do you think of it as gathering with God's family to commune with the Father? There's a lot of people that go to church because, well, that's what Christians are supposed to do. We would much rather we come together as a people who love to be together as family, to commune with a father. And you you you can feel the difference just in the description of that, can't you? And that's what brings joy to the Father's heart.
It is possible to come here Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. and be worshiping God with your form and your heart be far from Him. Listen to me. God doesn't want your stuff. He doesn't want what you can do for Him.
What does He want? He wants your heart. He wants your heart and your mind. And Jesus has made that possible. That's what the gospel is all about.
We can have all kinds of lists of. List of boxes that we need to check. Attendance. Dress food. Days.
Paul that's what Paul mentions, verse 10, days. Years, months, years. Rituals. Whatever your list is. Are you counting on that to be a good Christian?
That's not the gospel of grace. God wants you. He wants your heart. What Jesus quoted in Matthew 5, 18 already quoted it. His people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
He wants your heart. Let me just give you an example of this then. As you can see, I read an article this morning. It's pretty fascinating. It's about some Jews in New York City, and it's a thing that they do on the Sabbath.
The law says. Keep remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, right? And so what they do is, okay, you're not supposed to do any work on the Sabbath.
So what they do is they like, okay, what does work mean? Whew, that can open a whole can, right? What does work define work?
Well, if you're carrying something a certain weight a certain distance, well that's work. If you're within your private premises, than you know carrying a toaster from the counter to the from the living room to the counter. Why the toaster is in the living room, I don't know. But if you're carrying that, that's not work because you're in your private program. But if you carry it outside of your private domain, So you know what they have in New York around the whole borough of Manhattan.
There's this wire. It goes all around. the entire borough of Manhattan. It cost one hundred thousand dollars to maintain it for one year. And the Jews As long as they stay within that wire, They're in their private domain and whatever they're carrying is not considered work.
I am not mocking. a demographic of people.
Okay, I'm just saying this is what we can do with the law. It's considered work if you complete something. You cannot tie a knot, it's completing. That's work. You can't finish a crossword puzzle.
That's completing something, it's considered work. Listen to this, you cannot even turn on a light switch. Why? Because you're completing a circuit and that's considered work.
So what do they do? They hire people to come in and turn their lights on for them. It's true. This is true. I'm not saying this mockingly.
This is true. This is how they perceive the law, and that's where the law can take you. When your walk with God is all about what you do. And it's all about law and code. It's not gonna help you.
Not in the grace of Christ. John Wesley, we knew who John Wesley was, who sing a lot of his songs. He was in Oxford and when he finished Oxford, postgraduate, He was in what he called the Holy Club. Holy Club. Indeed, with this holy club, they did all kinds of meaningful Social Christian service.
They would help people, help the homeless. They did lots of good stuff. All good stuff. Later on, John Wesley actually trusted Christ. This is his testimony, okay?
This is his testimony. And the way Stott describes that is he was bound in the fetters of their own. They were bound in the fetters. Wesley did this with his friends, right? Because this was their duty.
as Christian men. They're a duty. And Wesley was counting on this to be accepted by God. He says they were bound in the fetters of their own religion, they were trusting in themselves that they were righteous. What are you doing?
On a regular basis. To ensure in your own mind that God is happy with you. I'm challenging you with that this morning. That's not what pleases God. God wants your heart.
He wants your heart and your mind. John Wesley wrote this in his diary. He kept a pretty significant diary. And this was in 1738 when he would do this. And later on, after he truly trusted Christ.
He went back into his diary. And he inserted this comment in his diary, I had even then the faith of a servant and not that of a son. Isn't that amazing? He was doing a lot of good stuff. But he didn't know God.
And that is the point. What are you counting on this morning? What are you counting on? Your routine, your attendance here. How much you read the Bible?
What boxes are you checking? But I ask you this. Do you know Garth? Do you delight in him? Are you walking with him?
Communing with him. Delighting in you. I already said that. Maybe I mean that. Mm-hmm.
This is what the Lord calls us to this morning. This is what Paul is so passionate about. Why would you go back? Because it just doesn't make any sense. And yet, and yet, it is a natural inclination for us.
to want to keep a list. to want to fill and check the boxes. I've done this, I've done this, I've done enough good, God's happy with me. May your prayer be with me this morning. God, rescue us.
from that legalism. Renew in me The remembrance of your grace in Jesus Christ. Who gave himself for me, so that now the life I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Stand with me, please. Father, we are grateful for your love, the grace that you have lavished upon us, and the depth of your love.
Thank you, Father, for your rescue. not only from our own sin, but also from our own attempts at self redemption. Father, I pray that you would work in our hearts this morning, that we would be. honest with ourselves. that we would be open before you.
Thank you for the testimony we've heard this morning, Lord. For the powerful truths of the gospel that we've sung. For the message from your word. Passionate plea from the Apostle. Father, I pray that you would work in our hearts.
And if there's anyone here this morning, Father, that does not know you. that it would be your goodness that leads them. to turn to you. For all of us in here this morning, Father, who battle naturally. with just simply checking the boxes to try to please you.
Father, rescue us from that. As you have promised, Father, as we draw near to you, you will draw near to us. May we do that, Father, in the joy of our relationship with you. To be the branches abiding in the vine Help us to know, Father, what it is to walk in the Spirit. May we truly be.
people of faith as sons. Not as slaves, father. For you are our joy. and our crown. and our souls reward.
Pray in Jesus' name. Amen. This message titled, How Can You Turn Back? was first preached at Grace Bible Church on June 15, 2025. It's part of a series from Galatians titled, Our Freedom in Christ.
The next message in the series will air on Monday right here at delightingrace.com.
