November 30, 2025 | Ptr Marty Ocaya
Do you know what the true gospel is? Paul addresses this in his letter to the Galatians. You and I must first know what the gospel is before we can share it with others! 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 gives us the gospel of Jesus Christ: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” We also need to understand the gospel in the context of our biggest problem— sin. Even the corruption in our country exists because of sin. Jesus is the only One who can save us from our sins. Galatians chapter 4 is about how the gospel sets us free.
Genuine freedom is not the ability to do what you want. It is the ability to live the life God has for us. Not everything that you want to do is going to be good for you. We’re free to eat anything — but if we eat foods that causes high cholesterol, that can destroy our health! How does the gospel set us free?
FREEDOM FROM PERFORMANCE (Galatians 4:1-11)
We all grew up in a world where excellent performance is rewarded. To achieve good results at school, our jobs, even in a romantic relationship, we all must work hard for it. How about if you want to have eternal life? A lot of us associate eternal life with good performance in life. Most people are enslaved to the idea that they need to perform to be saved. All religions and belief systems in the world has this mindset — except for biblical Christianity. Paul gives the example of a son and a slave in the same household who both have guardians over them; the Law guards us against doing the wrong things, but it cannot save us from our sins (Galatians 3:23-24). In Old Testament times, sins had to be atoned for (covered over) by the offering of animals every time a person sins. The law is our guardian because it exposes our sin and leads us to the realization that we need a Savior (Romans 3:20). Jews and Gentiles alike were all under bondage to “elemental” things of the world. At the right time, God sent Jesus to redeem us that we may become His children Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, so that we no longer have to keep offering sacrifices repeatedly (Hebrews 10:11-12). We now have freedom from the penalty of our sins. Moreover, we have been given the Spirit of God’s Son through which we have an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father God did not just free us from the bondage of performance; He also gave us His spirit to grant us the joy and willingness to do His will. The Galatian believers though, were going back to the Law, to the place that enslaved them. But if the Son sets you free, you have true freedom from sin (John 8:34-36). Anything apart from Jesus will never be enough. Don’t go back to your past life of slavery to sin!
FREEDOM FROM PSEUDO PREACHERS (Galatians 4:12-20)
Paul reminded them of their close relationship when he first preached the gospel to them. However, they took offense when Paul rebuked them with the truth. If somebody rebukes you because of your sin, even if you feel it’s harsh, take it to heart and go back to God. Many times, we get angry at the way we get rebuked, rather than on the truth that we have sinned. Paul rightly warned the Galatians about false teachers, but he also wanted to be with them and change his tone (having rebuked harshly) because he couldn’t believe how easily deceived, they were by the false teachers. Today, we can also be easily deceived by social media, or what other people say. Satan’s greatest strategy is deception – to make distorted gospels humanly appealing (e.g., “I’m good enough to go to heaven…”; “Since God loves us all, He will bring everyone to heaven regardless if they believe or not.”, etc.). These beliefs are based on a wrong understanding of who God truly is and is very dangerous. The early believers were warned that even from within the church will arise false teachers (Acts 20:29-30, 2 Peter 2:1). The motive of these pseudo preachers is their greed (1 Peter 2:2-3). We have to test the spirit behind those who preach or teach; any belief who does not confess that Jesus is God is a false gospel (John 4:1-3).
| Christ-centered Teachers | False Teachers |
| Salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone | Salvation by faith in Christ plus good works |
| Help you become more like Christ | Help you become more like them |
| Help promote unity in the body of Christ | Cause division in the body of Christ |
| Rebuke you in love | Rebuke you or cancel you |
| Focus on Jesus | Focus on themselves |
FREEDOM TO PARTAKE OF HIS PROMISES (Galatians 4:21-31):
Through the gospel, God has given us freedom to inherit His amazing promises (Galatians 4:7). Jesus came to grant us access to what God has in store for us. Paul uses a story in the Old Testament to illustrate the contrast between children of freedom and those in slavery:
| Sarah and Isaac | Hagar and Ishmael |
| · Free woman | · Slave woman |
| · Son is the heir | · Son is not the heir |
| · Born because of God’s promise | · Born because of human effort |
| · Remained with Abraham | · Removed from Abraham |
To force things not God’s will is to invite more pain in our life (Genesis 16:2-6, 21:9-10). Like Isaac, believers are children of promise. This is the freedom that we have been given through the gospel of Jesus Christ! We gain everything when we hold on to Christ, and we lose everything when we hold onto our flesh. It was for freedom that Christ set us free (Galatians 5:1). Praise God!