[Recorded on December 7, 2016]

Questions for Reflection:

• After believing in the Lord, what kind of relationship do we have with God?

• Since the doctrines sound similar, how can we discern the true Gospel?

The Old Testament Prepares the Way for Salvation

This chapter is actually a continuation of what Paul was saying earlier. If we were to give this chapter a title, what would it be? Let's examine, from a composition perspective, what Paul is really talking about in this chapter. I heard someone say servant, and also son. Correct, it is about servants and sons.

The difference between a servant and a son is significant. A servant cannot inherit the master's property, but a son can inherit the father's property. Chapter 3 mentions inheriting the promise, and then it says: Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. (Galatians 4:1-3). The theme is sons and servants. Even though one has the title of son, without maturity, one is still like a servant. The Apostle Paul is discussing the position of the Old Testament.

Paul's discussion demonstrates great boldness. He even considers the Old Testament as elementary principles. We wouldn't dare say that, but why does Paul say that? Because the Old Testament prepares the way for Jesus Christ. The plan of redemption has not yet been accomplished. It is only a shadow. Only in the New Testament era, after Jesus was crucified, resurrected, ascended, and gave the Holy Spirit, did Paul's generation of disciples minister with the power of the Holy Spirit. The difference is that the Old Testament lacks power, while the New Testament is full of power. In the Old Testament era, people failed before the devil, but in the New Testament era, people overcome the power of darkness through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Paul dares to say boldly that it is elementary principles.

Why is the Old Testament still needed? Because before the accomplishment of the plan of redemption, the Old Testament kept people under the law, preparing us to receive the adoption as sons when Jesus Christ came. Because we are children, we are under the elementary principles of the world. I wouldn't dare say that! I don't have Paul's boldness. Saying that the Old Testament is elementary principles would invite many accusations. But Paul is that bold. He says, Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. (Galatians 4:1-3). What is it talking about? It is talking about the position of the Old Testament.

The Old Testament is just a manager, managing us until our salvation is accomplished! It's not about you and me growing up. We won't live that long. It's not about you and me growing up, but about the plan of salvation growing. If we return to the Old Testament today, you will see in Genesis that after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, God began to have a promise. He said that the offspring of the woman, referring to Jesus Christ, would be at enmity with the offspring of the serpent. He will crush the serpent's head, and the serpent will bite his heel. What does this refer to? In Genesis, it is actually describing the plan of redemption that God prepared when Adam and Eve sinned. That is to say, from Genesis to Malachi, it is referring to one thing: that Jesus Christ will come and accomplish this redemption. This is the central idea of the entire Old Testament.

If you read the Old Testament and encounter personal names, most people find it difficult and fall asleep. Before you even finish reading who begat whom, you can't procreate anymore and just fall asleep. What is that about? It is about the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Whoever is on the branch of Jesus Christ, on this main stem, is mentioned. Whoever is not on this main stem is mentioned briefly and then disappears, all the way to Jesus Christ. That is to say, for whom was the entire Old Testament written? It was written for the birth of Jesus Christ. If everyone grasps this concept, you will know what Paul is talking about.

Who are the True Apostles? Those Manifested with the Power of the Holy Spirit!

Paul is saying that at that time, Jesus Christ had not yet come. Now that Jesus Christ has come, the entire Old Testament refers to Jesus Christ. The Old Testament is just a shadow, and Jesus Christ in the New Testament is the reality. So, we should begin to have such a concept when we read. The New Testament is the substance, and the Old Testament is a shadow, a step-by-step revelation of God's plan. What qualifications does Paul have to say this? He is the apostle to the Gentiles. I can also say that I am the apostle to the Gentiles! Later, some people came to the church in Galatia and said, I am also an apostle! Paul is also an apostle, and I am also an apostle! He says he is an apostle, and you say you are an apostle. Who exactly is an apostle? How can we tell?

Why can Paul say that he is the apostle to the Gentiles? Some say it's the Holy Spirit, others say it's the church. What is the most important thing? The key is power! Paul is a man with God's presence; miraculous signs and wonders follow Paul. Actually, Jesus was the same; everything was done. Just talking does not count as an apostle; doing is what confirms one as an apostle. I want to tell everyone that the Christian faith must be the same as the faith that Paul preached. If the faith in Christ Jesus and the Gospel you preach are the same as what Paul preached, and you also imitate Paul, what will you receive? You will receive power. That power is God's confirmation to you. Do not just talk about it and be unable to do anything. That is not an apostle, and what they preach is not the Gospel.

So we must return to the root of the Gospel of Jesus Christ – the root being the power of the Holy Spirit! Did Paul have this power? Yes! Did those who preach the law have this power? No! They can only talk, but being able to talk without doing can deceive many people! Being able to talk without doing can deceive many people! Do you understand? If you listen to someone who can only talk but cannot do anything, don't listen to them. But some people don't see it that way; they don't look at who can talk well and has reasonable arguments, they just believe.

For example, one of our brothers has a friend who is very eloquent. That day, he came, and I said to him, Do you see this? This is a person with depression. What can you do? You can't do anything, but I can release him from depression. This is a person with such and such problems, encountering difficulties in finding a job. I can, through the power of Jesus Christ, see his entire life transformed and find a job. Your doctrines sound good, but you can't do anything. Your doctrine is elementary school, but what I have is university; I have the power, so I can do these things. He has no power. So today, we need to change our concept. The Chinese concept is to say, This is a doctrine, this is a truth, but English doesn't say it that way. In English, it's truth, which means it's real. Only what is real can be called truth; facts are truth. So, our Chinese concept of reasoning is very strong; we like to use our brains to reason and reason, reasoning until our heads are big, but we can't solve the problem! That is to say, without power, no one can prove whether Paul is an apostle through this Gospel, Paul's Gospel. Do you understand? It is the same today!

That is to say, if you preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you must preach a pure Gospel, a Gospel that carries power. What you do can prove that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. There are two major differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament: one has power, and the other does not. Which one do you want? Do you want the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the New Testament or the law that Moses preached in the Old Testament? When Jesus came, Israel had already been destroyed, and when Jesus came, the entire Israel was under the control of the Roman Empire. Did they have power? They had no power at all. The Old Testament only proves one thing: that people cannot do anything by relying on their own flesh to keep the law. It only proves this one thing, and that shuts people's mouths. What else can you say? You have nothing to say! It's that God brought you out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Even in the Promised Land, God's hand was still there to protect you, but you could not overcome sin. Even if you were given such good conditions, with the law, prophets, priests, and the Ark of the Covenant, you still had no power! Because redemption had not yet been accomplished!

How did God prepare the way for salvation? First, prove that people cannot do anything by relying on the flesh. Let people give up this path of relying on the flesh and enter the path of promise based on faith! Receiving God's promise through faith is the path to receiving the adoption as sons!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is Based on Faith, Not on Works

So why do people still want to return to the Old Testament? Today, we find that some people are very strange; even today, some people still like to walk this path, the path based on works. It has been proven to be ineffective, but they still like to walk it, because that path allows people to boast through the flesh. The other path is based on faith. What comes from faith is power, and what comes from works is weakness. So the Gospel of Jesus Christ is very clear. If you see a Christian living in weakness, and you cannot see the power of redemption and resurrection in his life, do you say he is saved or not? Although we dare not judge this matter casually, we know in our hearts that the Gospel he believes in is not a Gospel based on faith!

Paul calls this Gospel based on faith the Gospel of justification by faith. So what exactly is justification by faith? I would like to share it with everyone.

Justification by faith means becoming a son of the eternal God. Because I believe, I become a son of the eternal God, and I receive the adoption as sons. Galatians chapter 4 is talking about servants and sons. Under the law of the Old Testament, it is just a Gospel of servants, but in the New Testament, it is a Gospel of receiving the adoption as sons of God. It is not only a Gospel of receiving the adoption as sons of God, but also a Gospel of receiving the great power of the Son of God from the dead.

So if you read through all of Paul's epistles in the entire New Testament, they all mention that this Gospel is the power of God to save everyone who believes, right? I have this treasure inside, and this treasure can transform people's lives and change many of our lives. This is the power of Jesus Christ from the dead. Now that we have this power, if we ask you again whether the Jesus you believe in is real or not, you will say that the Jesus I believe in is so real, very, very real! When we believe in Jesus, the most important thing in the Gospel that Paul preached is that the Holy Spirit enters into us, and then we cry out, Abba, Father! This is our adoption as sons. From now on, we are no longer servants but sons. And if we are sons, then we are heirs through God. This is a very simple logic, or a very simple belief. But some people believe in a very complicated and confused way, as if they still don't believe!

He is unsure whether he is truly the son of God or not, and I cannot see the power of God. The key lies in whether we are filled with the Holy Spirit. We must begin to adjust our understanding of this gospel. Many reduce justification by faith to a simple belief, but what is true faith? What kind of faith can bring forth the power of Jesus Christ? The following Bible study will address this question.

A Complete Gospel is Powerful!

If I believe, but I see nothing, what exactly is that faith based on? Let me give you a concept: if you search for the word all in a digital Bible, you will see many amazing things. All is crucial. A characteristic of the Bible is that selective belief is not true faith. Choosing to believe this but not that is not genuine faith. If you believe, believe the entire Bible, believe it completely.

We have many examples. For example, Joshua obeyed all that the Lord had commanded Moses. That is completeness. Moses also obeyed all the words of God. Right? Joshua obeyed all the words of the Law. And the tabernacle that God instructed Moses to build was constructed perfectly, without any deviation. David built the temple according to God's complete revelation, without cutting corners. That is complete faith. I think a person should believe the entire Bible. Believing the entire Bible is true faith. Some may not be educated and cannot read the Bible, but they can still have such faith. When Noah built the ark, God gave him the dimensions in cubits. If Noah had thought, Why fifty cubits? Forty is enough. Why bother with one cubit? I am too lazy to saw this wood. One and a half cubits will do, would that structure have worked? Certainly not; it would have failed.

So, what is Paul arguing here regarding the faith of Jesus Christ? He is arguing that the gospel based on faith must be complete, and he is qualified to say so. Paul mentions elementary principles and the gospel of Jesus Christ. What are the elementary principles? They are doctrines and laws that have no power. Paul argues that you received the Holy Spirit by believing the gospel, not by obeying the law. When you did not even know what the law was, you believed the gospel and received the Holy Spirit, did you not? You received the Holy Spirit, and the miracles performed among you by the Spirit came through obeying the law or believing the gospel? It is demonstrated by the power of God manifested in your life.

By Faith, Those Born According to the Promise Are the Sons of God

Now, let us see how Paul reads the Old Testament. He uses Hagar and Sarah as an allegory. When reading the Old Testament, what do you see? You see the shadow of God's promise there, God's promise! This promise is a comparison between Sarah and Hagar. Hagar is a slave. Do not criticize Abraham or think he was bad; that was just an image of that time. Hagar's child born into slavery represents Mount Sinai, which is legalism. But Abraham's wife, Sarah, had a son according to God's promise, a son born according to God's promise. That is, only those born according to God's promise can become sons of God.

Base it on Faith, Not on Works

During our Bible study, one sister asked if it is good to go to an orphanage and care for the children there. What do you think? Here, I want to introduce a concept: trying to achieve something through one's own actions is human-centered, works-based. But the Bible advocates being God-centered, faith-based. People always think that doing something makes them great. I serve children at an orphanage, I am great. I give up my seat on the bus, I'm great. I do good deeds and feel great, so I should get something in return. But the Bible never says that.

The Bible is God-centered. Nothing you do can add to or take away from God. Only pleasing Him is fundamental. Those who trust in God are God-centered. Do you understand? Why can some people strictly follow God's word? Because they trust God. Why do some people not follow God's word? Because they are human-centered. Our age today is a human-centered age, inexplicably tainted with many human-centered impurities. What can you do? Nothing you do can change your destiny. If you try to change your destiny by doing things, you fall into legalism, which is not the gospel. In that gospel, you see no transformation or power of life. Why? Because I am doing this. What is faith-based? Because I trust God, I do what God tells me to do, not for any reason other than God is my God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, I may have some difficulty clarifying this. Being faith-based is being God-centered, and only being God-centered can you see God's power. If you are works-based, you have no power, no transformation. So, examine yourselves carefully. If you still have many works-based things inside you, reject them. Thinking that doing something will make something happen is idolatry.

If a person says, I only trust in God, and worshiping God is everything to me. I come before Him to receive benefits from Him, then you will receive benefits. If you feel embarrassed to come before God to receive benefits and think you have to do something for God first, you will not get anything. Do you understand what I mean? If you understand, do not be shy when you come before God, because you are God's heir, and it is your right to receive from God. God delights in such people.

So, some people come among us and have done nothing for God. They have done nothing for God, but they come to church with faith and receive grace. They come to church purely to receive benefits from God, and they receive benefits. If they come to church thinking they need to contribute to the church or do something for God before they can get something, they probably will not get anything. Do not think that you can get something by doing things; that mentality is the problem. I think my expression is a little difficult. Paul also had difficulty when talking about this! Paul spent a lot of effort, and we are still confused, right? What I am saying is that God lacks nothing. God does not need you to give Him anything; He is not lacking. God lacks nothing. God is the God who created the universe; He has everything. What can you give Him? Just bring a heart and say, You are my God, and my good is not apart from you. I need you, and that is enough! This is a very simple truth, right? You need to say to God: You are God, I need you, so I come to seek you because you are God.

Such people basically put themselves down first, so those who come to seek God must learn to be humble. Why? Because you cannot do anything, you cannot do anything. If you bring a little bit of I want to do something mentality, like the circumcision that Paul argued about—I did this circumcision, and then I can... or I do something here, do something there, and then I can...—you cannot.

That is why Pastor's wife asked, If you want to go out and do good deeds or worship God here, which would you choose on the Lord's Day? Some people say, Pastor, I also give offerings, but I give all my offerings to the poor. Can that please God? No! Coming to worship our God with faith is the foundation of everything we do. Why do we do this? When you worship God, you get power. With that power, you go out to serve and transform people's lives. That is a true blessing.

Being human-centered is Hagar, being faith-based is Sarah, and faith obtains the promise. God will drive out those who rely on works and the flesh to accomplish things, because these people cannot obtain the promise.

Do you understand? If you rely on your flesh and your actions to seek God's promise, you will not get anything. But coming before God with faith, you will get the promise. This is the rule set by God. If you understand God's rule, it is very simple.

Let me share another concept of faith. What is true faith? It is believing completely, without missing anything, that God has said. Do not analyze; just do it. Do what God has commanded. That is right. Abraham was such a person, and Noah was also such a person. So, everyone begins to understand why some churches have power and some do not. Some churches selectively believe, while others believe completely. Complete belief is to implement everything one by one, and surely you will see the power of God, which is a temple filled with God's glory.

We often see some things as important, but if you do not see that thing as important, you can do it better. Is that what I mean? If you see the thing as very important, oh, that is my life, if the project fails, the project dies, and you die too. I tell you, you basically cannot do it well, because you are dead before you even start. If you say, Doing this thing is not going to kill me anyway, so let me just do it well, in the end, you do it pretty well.

Everyone begins to weigh the things we are doing in God's balance scale. They really have no weight. Let everyone begin to adjust their views. Only what God does is the most important. We do good not because we do good, but because God is in us, leading us to do good. You must know this! It is the Holy Spirit, it is God who does it, not I. That thing is what you do, but that is also what God does. God does it in us, leading us to do it. This is what is important. In the Old Testament, once people moved the furniture in the altar or used axes to chop, the stone could not be used to make the altar. It must be natural and unhewn to be used as an altar (Exodus 20:25). What does this mean? It means that human actions cannot be involved at all, because even a little bit of human action in it will defile God's plan.