How can we avoid the biggest OOPS that ever did OOPS?
Text: Galatians 3:26-4:11
Hosts:
J. Kent Edwards
Vicki Hitzges
Nathan Norman
Narrator: Brian French
The CrossTalk Podcast is a production of CrossTalk Global, equipping biblical communicators, so every culture hears God’s voice. To find out more, or to support the work of this ministry please visit www.crosstalkglobal.org
Produced by Nathan James Norman/Untold Podcast Production
© 2025 CrossTalk Global
Brian: History is littered with examples of businesses that made bad business decisions. Western Union became wealthy in the 19th century through its telegram service, which transmitted information using mobile Morse code, the fastest way to send messages across cities, states, and even countries at the time. When Alexander Graham Bell patented the first telephone in 1876, he offered to sell it for $100,000. Western Union declined, questioning who would want to use a phone. Bell Telephone went on to dominate American telecommunications for a century. Oops. For a century, Kodak was synonymous with photography. By the late 1970s, they controlled 85% of the camera market and employed over 60,000 people. In 1974, one of their engineers developed the world's first digital camera, but the company abandoned the project. Who would want to use a digital camera? By 2012, Kodak had laid off 50,000 employees and filed for bankruptcy. Oops. In 1990, Blockbuster had 10,000 stores worldwide renting VHS movies with an annual revenue of over 5.9 billion. By the end of the decade, an Internet startup named Netflix proposed merging its DVD by mail service with Blockbuster for 50 million. Blockbuster declined. Who would want to pay subscription fees to watch movies? Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010, and today Netflix is worth 534 billion. Oops. Everyone makes mistakes, but some decisions can have irreversible consequences you can't undo. That's why in Galatians 3, Paul wants the churches of Galatia to understand the permanent effects of not fully trusting in justification by faith. Join Vicki Hitchkes, Kent Edwards and Nathan Norman as they discuss the personal implications of the OOPS decision in Galatians 3:26 through chapter 4, verse 11. Welcome to CrossTalk, a Christian podcast whose goal is for us to encourage each other to not only increase our knowledge of the Bible and but to take the next step beyond information into transformation. Our goal is to bring the Bible to life, into all our lives. I'm Brian French. Today, Dr. Kent Edwards, Vicki Hitchkis and Nathan Norman continue their discussion through the book of Galatians. If you have a Bible handy, turn to Galatians, chapter 3, verse 26 to chapter 4, verse 11 as we join their discussion.
Kent: Vicki. Nathan, have you ever seen people make catastrophic, catastrophic decisions?
Vicki: Oh, I'm watching somebody do it right now.
Kent: Oh, no.
Vicki: Yeah, he cheated. His wife has a brand new baby. And oh, the devastation that has brought. I mean, catastrophic would be the right word.
Kent: You just think about the consequences of that one. Everybody to everybody.
Vicki: Everybody. Both families.
Kent: The broken trust.
Vicki: Yeah, yeah.
Kent: And really irreparable.
Vicki: No matter what happens.
Kent: No matter what happens. No matter how much Forgiveness or understanding people try to offer. Still, there is a rupture and there's a scar that can never be removed.
Nathan: And a number of years ago, a friend of mine met a woman and got engaged within like a week and a half, two weeks maybe.
Kent: Wow.
Nathan: And everyone, myself included, were just like, no, no, don't like you. You need more time. Like, you absolutely need more time. Right. Like, how do you guys even argue? Oh, we don't argue. Well, you will.
Kent: Right.
Nathan: Let's figure out how you argue first. You know, before. And they, I think within three weeks of meeting each other, got married. And it was just cataclysmic. I mean, they were not compatible. She was not the godly woman she presented herself to be. It ended in turmoil and hardship, but it got dragged out over the course of, like, five or six years. Relationships were torn and broken, and, yeah, it was bad.
Kent: Yeah. Our heart breaks when we see people make avoidable decisions. No one had to make those decisions, but they chose to. And the consequences that happens in relationships, that happens in churches. It appears from what we have looked at in the book of Galatians, that this church, which started off so well, made catastrophic choices. Which is why we see the emotion of Paul especially. Do you remember back in chapter one, the strong emotion that he had when he saw the catastrophic decisions that they made?
Vicki: Well, he said he was astonished that they were so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and that they were turning to a different gospel, he said, which is really no gospel at all. Are you so foolish? Clearly, no one who relies on the law is justified before God because the righteous will live by faith.
Kent: That's strong language from a man who obviously cared deeply about the Galatian churches. There's no question here that Paul is very concerned for the Galatian churches. By turning to a different gospel, relying on the law, they have certainly jeopardized their relationship with God in its entirety. And he's concerned about that. When I look at how negative Paul speaks of the law, it kind of makes me wonder a little bit. After all, laws in our society are good at regulating behavior, aren't they?
Vicki: Hopefully they can be. Not always. You haven't been in traffic lately, obviously.
Kent: No, no, no, no, no, no.
Nathan: Traffic laws are aspirational.
Kent: Traffic laws are a huge help. You've just never been to India. You haven't been to Delhi, where there are absolutely no laws whatsoever.
Vicki: I'll give you a huge help.
Kent: Even if there's a modicum of obedience to the traffic laws, That's a help.
Vicki: Better than nothing.
Kent: And I tell you, I enjoy being back in the States and Canada because I trust food safety laws. When I'm around, traveling around the world, I'm afraid to eat anything. When I see chickens being slaughtered on the sidewalk, when I saw what people were doing on that sidewalk not too long before, I'm like, I don't want to eat street food. I don't.
Nathan: They're cooking the meat afterwards. It's fine.
Kent: Talk to people in countries where there are no good banking laws, no good regulation. I mean, what do you do with your money? My wife was, and one of the places she worked was talking to a person who had moved recently from Russia. And this woman said to my wife, economy is so bad over there. As soon as I get any money, a paycheck, I spend it immediately because the currency is going to be devalued immediately. And what does you buy? Hard goods, refrigerators, stoves. Because people will always need those hard goods.
Vicki: Wow.
Kent: Without good laws. Yeah. The banking system falls apart. So we have employment laws and criminal laws. No, without laws, without government, with good laws, we're in trouble. They help society function by regulating people's actions. But when I travel the world for crosstalk, I mean, I obey the laws of the lands that I'm in, but that doesn't qualify me as a citizen, does it?
Vicki: Oh, that's a really good example. No, it does not.
Kent: It doesn't make me a child of that nation. No. To become a member of the Roman, to become a member of Romania, Vietnam or India, I have to pledge allegiance. I have to make a formal commitment to be a permanent member of that people group, that cultural family. Now, what Paul is saying in Galatians is that the same is true with entering the family of God. The apostle has been clear that according to scripture, no one ever joined God's family because they obeyed the Old Testament law.
Vicki: Great example.
Kent: God's laws guide the behavior of family members. They don't qualify us to join God's family. Joining requires a pledge of allegiance, a pledge of faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ.
Vicki: Yep.
Kent: But when we make that pledge of allegiance, when we trust in Christ as our Lord and Savior, we not only qualify for eternal life, but we also can now enjoy unparalleled relational intimacy with him. We see that in chapter three, don't we? Starting at verse 26.
Nathan: So in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God through faith. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. If you belong to Christ, Then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.
Kent: Ah, so in Christ, we are all What? In verse 26, we're all what?
Nathan: Children of God.
Kent: Vicki. He continues in chapter four, doesn't he?
Vicki: He says, God sent his son born of a woman to redeem those under the law that we may receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the spirit of his son into our hearts. The spirit who calls out abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but God's child. And since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Kent: Wow. That's powerful.
Vicki: That's cool.
Kent: This means that, yes, we will not go to hell if we trust in Christ for our salvation, because Jesus takes the penalty of our sin upon himself. But it means more than that. We become his sons. We become heirs. We're part of this family. Christ has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. He adopts us. And you and I literally become God's child. That's what we enjoy when we are born again. We join God's family. We become his sons and daughters. Wow. What impact does that make? What difference does Paul say this makes? Because we are sons and daughters of God.
Nathan: It makes all the difference, right? So if you're just looking at your salvation in the sense of, oh, it's fire insurance, I'm not going to hell, or even just some sort of legal status, like, okay, I'm forgiven of my sins, there's a deeper level of intimacy now. No, no, no, it's more than that. You are my child. Right? God is my father. You are the child of the God. God of the universe.
Vicki: Wow.
Nathan: Wow, right? That, that. There's now affection involved. There's. There's that depth of intimacy you were talking about that you have. It's a game changer. It really is. It's the difference between, like, a foster kid and an adopted kid. Right? So when you're in the foster system, it's like the state. The state can come and take you away at any time, or the parents can just say, no, I'm done. But, but when you adopt the kid, it's like, you know, you're a full fledged member of this family, as if you were born by blood.
Kent: This is permanent. There's no turning back. I'm making a commitment to you, my child.
Nathan: You got my name right. Your future is my future. My future is your future. Here we go.
Kent: Vicki, you've been in media and on television in the past. Have you ever met celebrities?
Vicki: Oh, a lot of Them, Yeah.
Kent: Have you ever been intimidated when you see a celebrity and kind of feel awkward in their presence?
Vicki: That's not my go to, but it depends on the celebrity.
Nathan: Who is the hunkiest celebrity you ever met?
Vicki: I'll tell you who it was and you'll be surprised because I was surprised Arnold Schwarzenegger asked me out. I mean I met a lot, yeah, I met a lot of good looking men. But I interviewed Robert Wagner and I knew who he was, but he was so gorgeous. This was a long time ago. He was so gorgeous. I just kept thinking to myself, maintain, maintain. I could hardly think around him. He was beautiful.
Kent: But think of obviously how much greater the Lord of the universe is than anyone we've ever met.
Nathan: How more intimidating, how more intimidating would it ever be? Maintain. He's the God of pure light.
Kent: But to have him come and say, you're not just someone I'm tolerating, not someone I am allowing to be close to me, someone I love, someone I have made my own son or daughter. What an honor.
Vicki: My example was not a good one then because my heart wouldn't pound in the same way with the Lord of the universe. When the President of the United States, and I've seen several come to town, it's amazing what they do. They block off all the freeways. And I'm in Dallas, Texas, those freeways are big and there's traffic. Nobody, I mean nobody gets on those freeways. They block, block them off for miles. And the President comes and he has that road and it's like a funeral procession, but there's no funeral. It's him and his car and he goes in the beast and he goes down that road. He goes anywhere he wants to go. But it's all laid out because they have Secret Service and they have cars with him. I mean the power that goes with that job. He flies in and there's people waiting. There's Secret Service there, cops, there's. It's amazing. If you think, well, he's arrogant, how could he not be? A band plays when he climbs off the helicopter. Da da da da da da da. I mean it's just amazing. It's just amazing.
Kent: And ordinary people can't get close, can they?
Vicki: They can't get anywhere near. Anywhere near. It's just, it's astounding.
Kent: But the God of the universe, the one that Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6 said was high and lifted up and his train filled the temple, that's pomp and circumstance. Our President goes around in a car. God doesn't need that. The earth is his footstool. The stars are his canopy. And he says, I want you in my family.
Vicki: Amazing.
Kent: I want you to be my son, my daughter. I want to love you. All that is possible because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because of that, we're not only saved, but our restored relationship with God reopens the door to the Garden of Eden. Not literally, but it makes it come a lot closer. Do you remember back in Genesis 2 when Adam and his wife spent time with God?
Vicki: And that Adam and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden? In the cool of the day, among the trees of the garden, can you imagine?
Kent: God came down to take a walk with the people he loved. This seems to have been the usual routine of the day before sin entered the world. Back then God, then Adam and Eve looked like they were dating. They were in love, for they were God's children. Today we can say we are God's children. Do you remember how Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6? Do you remember how that began?
Vicki: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Kent: Yeah, Our Father. What other religion speaks to the God as Father?
Nathan: None.
Kent: None of them, Vicki. As your dad pointed out in one of his sermons, Israel only called God Father 15 times. But in the New Testament, for the first time, people, individuals called God Father 275 times. God has made it possible for us to enjoy intimacy and depth of relationship with him we could never earn or deserve. He wants us to love him as he loves us. So the question on my mind is, do we spend more time with him in prayer and meditation or trying to serve Him? Is intimacy with him our primary objective or is doing things for him our primary objective? I mean, of course, deep love leads to acts of service. There's no question. I serve my wife because I love her, but I don't try to earn her love through service. That's what a servant does, not a husband or child. God wants us to respond to his love for us with love for him. And the caution of this passage for us. And the law is not that we are tempted to keep levitical food laws. I mean, that's not our issue. The issue that God was having was saying that you're substituting love for me for doing things that you think will please me. You don't need to earn my favor. You've got it. God wants us to respond to his love with love for Him. And it's easy to bend in the opposite direction and spend more time and effort doing things for Heavenly Father than deepening our relationship with Him. I mean, Nathan, isn't that the error that we see in that episode with Mary and Martha trying to entertain Jesus in Luke 10?
Nathan: Yeah. Martha opened up her home to Jesus. She had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made, which I identify with. She came to him and asked, lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? I'm with her. Tell her to help me like I see no problem. Martha, Martha, the Lord answered, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed and indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.
Kent: You see the contrast here.
Nathan: Yeah, doing things for Jesus versus spending time with Jesus.
Kent: There's nothing wrong with doing things for Jesus. But if that comes with a loss of relationship, then it's like we're trying to earn his favor, not just enjoy and reciprocate his love for us. When we accept God's gift of salvation, we become his son or daughter. And God's greatest delight is for us to delight in him, to love Him. Isn't that the greatest commandment, Vicki?
Vicki: Yes, it is.
Kent: And if we don't do the greatest, if we don't follow Mary's example, we fall into the trap of Martha, who wanted to give greater emphasis to do things for Jesus than to spend time with him. Yeah, we're not keeping We've fallen short of that commandment. When we exchange love for God with work for him, we are acting like Judaizers who tried to earn God's favor instead of receiving it. So I guess that leads me to a question. We should all reflect on our priorities. All this leads me to a Do you spend more time with Christ or more time serving Christ? When those priorities become unbalanced, we miss out on one of God's greatest gifts, the chance to love our Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and will. And if we miss out on that, that's one of the biggest mistakes, the greatest oops we can make in life. Friends, you cannot earn God's favor, His friendship, his sonship. But you can be given it if you wholly put your faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Enjoy it that relationship. Cultivate it. Don't just serve your Heavenly Father. Love him. We should love him. Because, as Paul said in Galatians 4:6.
Vicki: Because you are his sons. God sent the spirit of his son into our hearts. The spirit who calls out abba, father, so you are no longer a slave, but God's child. And since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Kent: Amen and Amen.
Brian: If we try to please God to gain salvation, we're doing it wrong. Friendship with God isn't something you can earn, but you can be given it. God gives us his favor when we put our trust in his son's death and resurrection. I trust that today's discussion of God's Word has been helpful and served as an encouragement to not just be hearers of the Word, but doers. Together, let's bring God's Word to life, to our lives. This week, the crosstalk podcast is a production of crosstalk Global, equipping biblical communicators so every culture hears God's voice. To find out more about this educational nonprofit organization, please visit www.crosstalkglobal.org. we're getting ready for CrossTalk. Events in Salina, Kansas and Moldova this month help us train the next generation of biblical communicators. All you have to do is click Donate in the show notes and make a donation of any size. You can also support this show by rating it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're enjoying it. Be sure to listen next Friday as we continue our discussion of the Epistle of Galatians. You won't want to miss it.
Nathan: Who is the hunkiest celebrity you ever met?
Vicki: That is easy. And you'll be surprised when I tell you who. Who is Natalie Wood's husband? Robert.
Nathan: Natalie Redford was Robert Redford. Was it?
Vicki: No. Is it Robert Mitchum or Robert. Let's Google.
Nathan: Let's look it up here. Pause.
Vicki: Yeah. The one that they thought he killed her. Let's not say that.
Nathan: But I was thinking about Natalie Wood recently because we watched the west side Story. The newer west side Story.
Vicki: Me, Robert Wagner.
Nathan: Oh, there you go.
Brian: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Vicki: Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay, go back to.
Nathan: Yes. I have seen people make catastrophic decisions, Kent. Thanks for asking.
Vicki: Carry on, Kent.
Nathan: We're just going to interrupt him for the next half hour.
Vicki: Yeah.