In this message we will begin to consider the aspects of the experience and enjoyment of Christ revealed in Galatians. The subject of Galatians is Christ replacing the law and being versus religion and tradition. At the time the apostle wrote this Epistle, the Judaizers were exercising a negative influence on many Jewish believers in both Judea and the Gentile lands, especially in Asia Minor. The Judaizers negatively affected not only the Jewish believers but also the Gentile believers, because among the churches, the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers were meeting, worshipping, and serving together (Acts 13:1; 18:1-2, 18; Col. 4:7-17). Paul wrote this Epistle not only for the sake of the churches in Galatia but also for the sake of the truth of the gospel. In this book Paul reveals that Christ is unique; He is versus religion, the law, traditions, and rituals. As a human religion, Judaism was the highest product of human culture, and the law, which was even called the law of God, was ordained through angels and given by God through Moses (Rom. 7:22; Gal. 3:19; John 1:17). Although the law, Jewish religion, Jewish traditions, and Jewish rituals are the peak of human culture, Paul in Galatians annuls all of them by exalting Christ and by revealing that in God’s New Testament economy, Christ is everything, is versus everything, and replaces everything.
In Galatians 1:4 Paul says that Christ “gave Himself for our sins that He might rescue us out of the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father.” This verse reveals Christ as the One who rescues us out of the religious world.
Although Christ was crucified for our sins, the goal of His crucifixion was to rescue us out of the present evil age. An age is a part of the world as the satanic system. An age refers to a section, an aspect, the present or modern appearance, of the system of Satan, which he uses to usurp and occupy people and keep them away from God and His purpose. The world system of Satan has different ages or sections. We may regard each decade as a distinct age or section of Satan’s world system. The present age is the present section of Satan’s cosmos, his world system. Whereas sins are devilish, the present age is satanic. As the devil, the enemy of God is involved with sins, and as Satan, he is involved with the evil age. God’s enemy is subtle, lurking behind sins and the evil age. Apart from the crucifixion of Christ, we have no way to deal with sins, behind which the devil hides, or the evil age, behind which Satan hides. Christ was crucified for our sins so that He might rescue us from this evil age. This indicates that only Christ can save us from the devil, Satan. Both sins and the evil age have been dealt with by the crucified Christ. He gave Himself for us on the cross according to the will of God. He died for our sins so that we might be delivered from the present evil age. Therefore, if we would be delivered from this evil age, our sins must be dealt with. If we, through the preaching of the gospel, help others to receive the forgiveness of sins, they will begin to realize that they need to be rescued from the present evil age.
Literally, the Greek word translated rescue in Galatians 1:4 means “to pluck out of, to draw out of, or to extricate from.” According to the context of this book, the present evil age here refers to the religious world, the religious course of the world, the Jewish religion. Paul tells us in verses 13 and 14 how he conducted himself in the present evil age, the religious world under Satan’s usurpation: “You have heard of my manner of life formerly in Judaism, that I persecuted the church of God excessively and ravaged it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries in my race, being more abundantly a zealot for the traditions of my fathers.” That in this book the present evil age mainly refers to the religious world and not the secular world is also confirmed by 6:14-15, where circumcision is considered a part of the world—the religious world, which to the apostle Paul was crucified. Here the apostle emphasizes that the purpose of Christ’s giving Himself for our sins was to rescue us, to pluck us, out of the Jewish religion, the present evil age. This is to release God’s chosen people from the custody of the law (3:23), to bring them out of the sheepfold (John 10:1, 3), according to the will of God. Thus, in his opening word Paul indicates what he intended to deal with: he wanted to rescue the churches, which were distracted by Judaism with its law, and bring them back to the grace of the gospel.
At the time of John 10 God’s people, His sheep, were in the fold of Judaism. But as Galatians 1 makes clear, Christ came to bring His sheep out of the fold and to form them with the Gentile believers into one flock, the church (John 10:16). Hence, the fold is religion, whereas the flock is the one universal church, the one Body of Christ, consisting of all the believers in Christ. Today in the sight of God the various denominations, sects, and independent groups are folds. Furthermore, a fold is anything formed into a legality. Anything that is first used by God and then becomes a legality is a fold. For example, baptism by immersion is correct, but if we make this a legality, we will form another fold. Today Christ is seeking to rescue His sheep out of the various religious folds and to bring them together as the one flock.
The Lord Jesus came into the fold, opened the door, and led the sheep out of the fold. The Judaizers crucified Him, but through His death on the cross, the Lord gave Himself for our sins in order to rescue us from the religious fold. The principle is the same both with the believers in Paul’s time and with us today.