Lesson 12 · December 17, 1892

Bondage and Freedom

(Memory Verse, .)

Golden Text.—"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." .

1.What was the cause of the trouble that arose while Paul was preaching in Antioch?
2.Tell what steps were taken to settle the dispute.
3.What was the standing of the men who made the trouble?
4.What effect was their teaching having?
5.Did Paul regard circumcision as a sin? ; ; .
6.Then why did he so strenuously oppose the teaching of those men? ; .

Notes

It was circumcision as a condition of salvation that Paul objected to. For the simple act itself he cared nothing one way or the other. Circumcision was a sign of righteousness. . But there can be no real righteousness except that which comes by faith. See ; ; ; ; . Therefore the man who had no faith had no righteousness, and consequently his circumcision was a sham. The sign of circumcision was given to Abraham, not to make him righteous,—not as a condition of salvation,—but as a sign of the righteousness which he already had by faith, as a token of the saved condition in which he already was. The Jews who broke the law were uncircumcised, while the Galatians who, through faith, kept the law, were circumcised. See ; ; . To say to the disciples, "You must be circumcised—or you cannot be saved," was to teach them that they must trust in the law for righteousness, and that was to say that Christ had died in vain.

7.What was that really saying of the sacrifice of Christ? .

Notes

When the false brethren said to the disciples, "Except ye be circumcised ye cannot be saved," they were teaching them that their faith in Christ was not sufficient for salvation. That same teaching is common even to this day. Many who profess faith in Christ still say, "It is all right to believe in Christ, but that alone will not save you; you must keep the commandments, too." Let us see what this really means. It is a fact that faith in Christ brings him into the heart and life. ; . Therefore when one says that in addition to believing on Christ we must keep the commandments, he virtually says that Christ's life is not in harmony with God's law. He really, although unconsciously, accuses Christ of sin. It is a dangerous position for one to take to presume to add to God's word, which says that men are saved by faith, and that Christians are wholly the workmanship of God. . Faith works by love, and love is the fulfilling of the law; therefore he who has faith in Christ keeps the law of God; he walks even as Christ walked, for it is by Christ's obedience that he is made righteous. . "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." But he who thinks that he must keep the law in addition to faith in Christ, thereby shows that he does not have faith in Christ's righteousness. The obedience which he proposes to add to his faith is the obedience that comes from self-righteousness, or sin. But sin is bondage. . Therefore the teaching of false brethren was leading souls into bondage—putting a grievous yoke upon them.

8.When only is circumcision profitable? .
9.What is real circumcision? ; .
10.Of what was circumcision a sign? .
11.Where must righteousness be to be of any value? ; .
12.Who only can put righteousness in the heart? .
13.Then from whom alone must true circumcision come? ; .
14.Of what could circumcision in the flesh only, performed by man, be the sign?—Of the righteousness of the flesh.
15.What is the righteousness of the flesh? ; .
16.Therefore what is done for men when they are led to trust in circumcision, or works of obedience, for salvation? . It is to lead them to rest securely in sin. See .
17.Was the service which God required of his people grievous or burdensome? ; ; .
18.Who only are in bondage? ; .
19.As the Jews had perverted the religion of the Lord, what did their zeal for the law result in? ; ; .

Notes

It should not be forgotten that "the Jews' religion" () was vastly different from the religion of God, as given through Moses. It consisted of traditions. Those traditions were the invention of the "fathers" (not Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) to insure that the law should not be broken. Trusting for salvation only in the law, and knowing that the law required perfect obedience in every detail, they naturally set themselves to find out the utmost details of the law. So they kept adding burdensome ceremony to burdensome ceremony until it took a lifetime even to know what the traditions were. But all this was to no purpose, for their fine-spun traditions concerning the law were only the product of their own sinful minds; their most scrupulous service was only the service of the flesh, without the Spirit of God, and hence was sin. Thus they made void the law of God by their traditions. While trusting in the law, they broke the law. From all such slavish services Christ delivers us. See . He gives rest to the heavy laden, and makes the soul free indeed.

20.What does Christ give? ; ; .

Bible texts in this lesson

Galatians 5:11 · John 8:36 · Acts 16:1-3 · 1 Corinthians 7:19 · Galatians 5:6 · Galatians 6:15 · Acts 15:2 · Acts 15:5 · Galatians 2:5 · Romans 4:11 · Romans 9:30-32 · Romans 10:1-4 · Romans 10:10 · Philippians 3:9 · Hebrews 11:6 · Romans 14:23 · John 6:29 · Romans 2:25-29 · Philippians 3:2 · Philippians 3:3 · Acts 7:51-53 · Galatians 2:21 · Ephesians 3:17 · Galatians 2:20 · Ephesians 2:8-10 · Romans 5:19 · Romans 7:14 · Romans 2:25 · Romans 2:29 · Romans 2:25-27 · Deuteronomy 6:4-6 · Psalms 51:6 · Jeremiah 31:33 · Deuteronomy 30:6 · Colossians 2:11 · Romans 8:5-8 · Galatians 5:19-21 · Acts 15:10 · Revelation 3:17 · 1 John 5:3 · 1 Kings 8:62-66 · Psalms 116:16 · Psalms 116:17 · John 8:34 · Matthew 15:3 · Matthew 15:8 · Matthew 15:9 · Romans 2:23 · Romans 2:24 · Luke 11:46 · Galatians 1:13 · Galatians 1:14 · Romans 7:6 · Matthew 11:28 · Romans 8:2

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