The sermon that saves will be the sermon which presents the Gospel and delivers the object of that faith: the Christ who is son, heir, and gifter of that same status for those who receive and believe the Gospel.
As we get into the season of Pentecost, we should begin by noting that we cannot do all of Galatians through this season using the lectionary because we start at Proper 7. The only way to get those Proper 3, 4, 5, and 6 readings into a full epistle extravaganza in any year is for Easter to fall early in March. That is why in 2025 (when Easter was quite late), we are starting the Epistle Proper’s of Pentecost smack dab in the middle of Paul’s early letter.
Fortunately, the bullseye of the text is one which will make any preacher want to stand up and cheer. What a text! Galatians 3:23-4:7 is a centerpiece of gospel identity. Here, the Holy Spirit teaches through the apostle Paul what it means to be an heir of promise. The promise of being God’s chosen people was given to Abraham and his heirs. Law was given as a tutor, guardian, “paidagōgos” (Galatians 3:24-25), and indeed the Law held us captive “until faith came” (Galatians 3:23). Paul’s adoption and inheritance vocabulary rests on the Abrahamic promise (Galatians 3:29), which naturally extends to his slave/son metaphor (Galatians 4:1-7), culminating in a climax of identity in Christ which confesses faithfully that God is Abba Father, the hearer is free, and also the inheritor of God’s promises in Christ.
If you are just fascinated by the apologetic (which is admittedly really cool), the preacher may be tempted to rehash the entire argument to explain Paul’s point. Especially when you get the contextual lead up to the pericope, reaching back to Galatians 3:15, or 3:10, or even 3:1; and for that matter going all the way back to 1:1! Certainly, do read and understand all of Galatians 3 and do not just preach the pericope in a vacuum. But, I encourage you to stay free from a nagging need to preach “the whole text” when you have such a rich one that lays out many discrete themes, any of which can become your hook for a homily that concentrates on one, singular focus, with the dead and risen Christ for your hearer at the center. Once you decide on one, it will be simple to lay out many illustrations for each.
Be sure to consider the following:
- Law-Gospel is the center of the saved life. This is an ideal text to make explicit and overt this distinction which clarifies all of scripture. The center of such a sermon needs to deliver the cross of Christ as the center of Law-Gospel polarity:
- The Law as expression of God’s character as well as the Law that is the power of sin and the hearer’s inability to fulfill it (added because of transgressions, Galatians 3:19).
- The cross as punishment/consequence (passive obedience of Christ) as well as vicarious satisfaction (atonement). Galatians 4:4 is key here.
- The cross as Gospel; good news is in the glorious exchange (your sin/His righteousness; His death/your life).
- The cross as identity in life (sonship, inheritance, and a tag back to Galatians 2:20-21).
- Baptism as being clothed with Christ. There are so many easy illustrations with clothing at hand. The preacher is encouraged to think about clothing through scripture, from the Lord’s provision for Adam and Eve, to the swaddling clothes of Christ, to the garment at His crucifixion, to the robes of righteousness in Revelation 7, and everything in between. Consider how “putting on Christ” means to be found “in Him” (in other words, “the clothes make the man”).
- The slave/free dichotomy. Observe the caution to distinguish nationalist or idealistic freedom talk (although it may be inspiring for our offices in the ordo politicus of the left-hand rule of God, as distinct from the right-hand rule which guides your office in the pulpit).
- Freedom in Christ is about being free from sin.
- Freedom in Christ is about being free from the captivity of the Law.
- Only Christ is able to fulfill the Law and does so in His death.
- As saints, you are free from the Law and the sin which gives it power.
Be satisfied with “Jesus talk” and your hearer will have exactly what faith needs: The Jesus which faith receives and the Jesus whom faith trusts.
- Adoption/sonship metaphor. Illustrations abound from family life. Biblical narratives that point up adoptions into the people of God are key here, such as Rahab and Ruth. Consider the outsider/marginalized being centered by Christ in narratives like the child of Matthew 25 and Zacchaeus in Luke 19. Also, John 1:11-13 confesses the same thing about Christ and your hearer.
- Inheritance (klēronomia) is a part of this.
- Focusing on the klēros, the thing that is inherited, can be a fruitful direction, since klēros is an estate, an allotment or plot of land, handed down from father to son.
- In Christ, all of what He has is the Father’s, and He gives it all to you.
- Incarnation happening in real time and space. For the preacher who is apologetically minded, recognize that the entire pericope is fraught with historical referents, with vocabulary like before, until, now, and no longer. Furthermore, these are not part of an abstraction, but concretized in time and space, when the time had fully come, when He suffered under Pontius Pilate, and other points which historically ground the faith in Christ’s atoning death and resurrection.
- Egalitarian reality of order of salvation/unity in Christ.
- This is an “us vs. them” sermon, which moves to God vs. you, and climaxes with God for us and the recognition that you are one with your neighbor in Christ by virtue of your baptism.
- Remember, the thrust of such a sermon should confess the text: Not “love your neighbor,” but rather, “You are in too, no matter who or what you are.”
- Being found in and living “in Christ.”
- The “in Christ” prepositional phrase is the most important prepositional phrase in all of scripture. It is worth studying, and just like the first rule of real estate, it is the first rule of salvation too: Location, location, location.
- To be “in Christ” is imputation; counted as in Christ in spite of experience that protests we are still in Adam.
- To be “in Christ,” therefore, means to live a life at once justified and sinful (simul iustus et peccator).
- Faith hears Christ’s promise from the outside (for example, the external Word and the promise of baptism).
- As a result, being a Christian is not about behavior, it is about being “in Christ.”
All of these themes hinge on salvation by faith, the overarching message of the entire letter to the Galatians. The sermon that saves will be the sermon which presents the Gospel and delivers the object of that faith: the Christ who is son, heir, and gifter of that same status for those who receive and believe the Gospel.
It may be attractive to attempt a sermon “about faith,” since faith is the key to all of this. However, lectures “about faith” cannot affect what faith demands. The best way to deliver the gift of faith is to deliver the object, who is Christ. Steer clear of “faith talk.” Be satisfied with “Jesus talk” and your hearer will have exactly what faith needs: The Jesus which faith receives and the Jesus whom faith trusts. Faith never talks about itself, never waves its own flag saying, “Oh, look how big my faith is.” No, faith only talks about its object, who is the Christ, the Son, the promised, incarnate, dead, and risen Lord who in this text is the Son who grants sonship, the free one who grants freedom, the heir who shares the plot, the one who broke into time and space to break into the time and space of your hearers, the clothing who clothes those in Him with an identity and a unity in Him. The best way to get your hearers to believe in Jesus, to trust Him, is to present Him as the object to trust, the incarnate, dead, and risen savior He is.
The Christ this Galatians text would have you deliver is the Christ who is the firstborn son, the pioneer, the trailblazer who fulfilled the Law for your hearer, and makes your hearer a coheir with Him, as your hearer is found in Christ. The sacramental (baptismal) sign that locates the promise is unmistakable in this text, which is simultaneously the sign of unity with Christ and all brothers and sisters in the same Christ; “Sons of God through faith.” Any sermon that points to the gift of inheritance and status applied to them, imputed to them, counted to them from the outside, from Christ’s work on their behalf, faithfully gets at the gospel promise Paul is delivering. Such a message will not fail to do the work God does in His Word: The slaying of the Law, and the immediate, vivifying comfort of the Gospel for your hearer.
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on Galatians 3:23-4:7.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you preaching Galatians 3:23-4:7.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaeching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
