Galatians 4:1-3

When we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world

 

『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)

 

In Romans 8:14『For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 』The son of God is not a slave. There is a link between God's giving of the Spirit of the Son and redemption. The meaning of redemption is the concept of buying a slave. Before becoming a son of God, he was a slave, but by buying for a price, he becomes a son. In Galatians 3:14『That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 』 We need to be cursed, and it is the redemption that Christ curses for us. Those who are under the law are cursed. However, in order to escape from the law, we must receive redemption. Those who have been redeemed are not slaves, but sons, and they are free from the law. The demands of the law are curse and death.

The fulfillment of the requirements of the law is found in Romans 8:3-4『For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 』 Those who follow the body become the master of the body. When the body becomes the master, God does not dwell in the body. For the body is the spirit's confinement. So, those who follow the flesh are legalists. This is because the law sets sin. In 『We Who Follow the Spirit』, the spirit means the Holy Spirit. And we who have the body of the spirit who walk along the spirit. That is, those who are born again. Those who follow the body of the flesh are governed by the law, and those who have the body of the spirit are led by the Holy Spirit.

『But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 』 The redemption of those under the law is the fulfillment of the requirements of the law. So, God no longer asks for sin by law. In Romans 8:1-2『 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 』 Many people do not understand this. We must know, "He who has been born has two bodies." It is the body of spirit and fresh.

In 1 Corinthians 15:44『 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 』 However, the body of fresh is governed by the law, and the body of spirit is guided by the Holy Spirit. If the fresh body does not die, it cannot be reborn as a spirit body. So, those whose fresh bodies are dead are not subject to the law. Since the body of the spirit is not the body of the world, it is a body independent of the law. So in 1 John 3:9『 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 』 In 1 John 5:18『 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.』

The body of the Spirit is sitting at the right hand of God in Christ. To understand the connection between the body of the spirit and the body of fresh, it can be understood through the layout of the sanctuary, twelve tribes, and Levites in Numbers. The Levites are placed between the sanctuary and the twelve tribes. So the Levites connect the sanctuary with the twelve. The body of the spirit cannot be understood by the eyes of the flesh. It can be said that this body is in the same state as the body of the risen Jesus.

So, those who are not born again as spirit bodies cannot connect with God and cannot see the kingdom of God. Jesus said that we can see the kingdom of God only by being born again through water and the Holy Spirit. Water means the death of the body. It is not washing away sins, but dying and being destroyed before God. So, they are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Romans 6:4-5『 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 』 Many church people ask, "Can those who are born again keep the Ten Commandments?" This is a very plausible question. The Ten Commandments are the law that God gave to the worldly people. The law means that you are all sinners. However, those who are born again as spirit bodies are not people of this world, but those born from heaven.

So, those who are born again are guided by the Holy Spirit. Because, the body of flesh that exists in this world has already died with Jesus. Those who are not dead are those who are not born again. That is why God judges according to the law. So, Jesus said to deny himself. It is to deny the body of the flesh. That is, to die with Jesus.

 The object of death is not an existing body, but a physical thing (old man) originating from the body. God has commissioned the born again to preach until the body dies. So, for the reason in Christ, he becomes a dead person with Christ and pass over all the sins of the world.

Those who are led by the Holy Spirit have a heart of spirit. Those who live along the flesh have a mind of the flesh. So, those who follow the flesh need the Ten Commandments. Those who follow the heart of the spirit do not need the Ten Commandments. In Romans 8:4-5『That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.』

Those born again in Christ were liberated from the law. Who brought the law out of the saints? 『For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. The Holy Spirit told the law to go out. Special and general laws exist in this world as well. When two laws are involved in an event, the special law is like telling the general law to go out. So the general law does not apply at all. The special law is the law of the Holy Spirit, and the general law can be understood as the law (Moses' law). Nevertheless, there are many today who believe in the law and try to keep it, saying that many churches are guided by the Holy Spirit. Jesus explains these relationships in many parables in the Gospels. To those who try to keep the law, God will say, "I don't know you." There are too many laws to keep in the church today. Those who keep the law are dead to God.