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Galatians Study Part Fifteen: 4:28-5:6

NLT: “And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. 29 But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit.

“30 But what do the Scriptures say about that? “Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” 31 So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.

“5 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

“2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. 4 For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.

“5 But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. 6 For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.”

NASB: “And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. 30 But what does the Scripture say?

“Cast out the bondwoman and her son,For the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.”

“31 So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman.

“5 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. 4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.”

Paul continues to nail down the seriousness of the issue. Those who believe in Jesus are children of promise, of a free woman. As there was persecution from Ishmael to Isaac, there will be persecution from those yet in slavery to believers who are free.

Believers need to stand firm in the freedom that Christ Jesus has given them. They should not return to slavery. Whether it is a return to the law or to man-made rules, it is walking away from freedom in Christ and into slavery. Not only that, but Paul states that if we seek to be justified by the law, we have both fallen from grace and severed ourselves from Christ. Think again if you believe that trusting in following rules doesn’t matter (“better to be safe than sorry“).

Remember what Paul shared earlier, that the law is not of faith. When we turn to following the law, or any other set of rules, our walk is no longer by faith as we are seeking to be justified by the things we do.

Our entire walk with God is by faith. It isn’t about our works making us, or keeping us, right with God. It is about faith in the completed work of Jesus, that we may be justified through faith in him.

The last verse in this segment says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.” Jumping ahead to Galatians 6:15, it states, “For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 proclaims that if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. It doesn’t matter if one is circumcised or uncircumcised, Jew or Greek, male or female, slave or free (Galatians 3:28)–we are one in Christ–a new creation and what matters is our faith working through love. Period. That is the only thing that counts.

Which will you choose? Will you follow laws and rules and fall from grace, becoming enslaved, or will you through faith stand firm in your freedom and be justified by faith in Christ Jesus?

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Galatians Study Part Fourteen: 4:21-27

NLT: “Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. 23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.

“24 These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them. 25 And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law. 26 But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother. 27 As Isaiah said,

“Rejoice, O childless woman,
you who have never given birth!
Break into a joyful shout,
you who have never been in labor!
For the desolate woman now has more children
than the woman who lives with her husband!””

NASB: “Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. 23 But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. 24 This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. 25 Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. 27 For it is written,

“Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear;
Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor;
For more numerous are the children of the desolate
Than of the one who has a husband.””

Paul continues with contrasting slave and free and ties this in with the law and promise. He takes them back to Abraham, this time focusing on Abraham’s sons, Isaac and Ishmael. Ishmael was born of a slave woman, but the birth of Isaac was the result of a promise from God. We can look at this as representing two covenants.

The first covenant is of the law, given at Mt. Sinai, which brings slavery and Hagar represents it. The second covenant is of the promise that brings with it freedom and is from the Jerusalem which is above.

Reading this reminds me of the encounter between Nicodemus and Jesus, where Jesus explains to him that we must be born again, meaning born from above. In John 3:6 we read that Jesus proclaimed to Nicodemus that, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (NASB) Our natural birth is not enough as we must be born from above, born of a promise from God.

This somewhat ties in with what Paul is sharing with the Galatians. Ishmael was born in the normal manner, or of the flesh so to speak. Yet Isaac was born when his mother was old and past the time of having children. He was born because of God’s promise to Abraham, or from above.

Paul asked them, “Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law?” Paul is trying in various ways to show the Galatian believers what it means to revert to being under the law. It changes everything. In chapter three he showed they brought themselves under a curse, the same curse from which Jesus redeemed us. He shared how they were children of Abraham through belief in Jesus. He showed how the purpose of the law was not to make one righteous, but to show us our sin and lead us to Jesus so we would be justified by faith. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we become sons of God and no longer slaves. He shows how they were losing their joy by returning to slavery after having started by faith.

The Galatians had a choice to make. Did they wish to be set free through faith in Jesus or did they wish to remain under a curse and slaves to the law.

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This is a continuation of our coverage on former United Pentecostal Church pastor and presbyter, Robert Anthony “Tony” Langston, born November 9, 1964, who has been charged with sexual crimes against a minor in Colorado. Langston also had been the Colorado District Youth Secretary and the District Youth President. This is case number 25CR03894 in Denver County.

The alleged crimes happened while Tony Langston was the youth pastor of Landmark Tabernacle, a UPCI church in Denver, Colorado. The pastor was Billy Hale, now considered the bishop, who was also the Colorado District Superintendent at the time. Hale’s son-in-law, Dannie Hood, is the current senior pastor.

Back in 2000, we made two blogs about this, though no names were mentioned at the time as no arrests or charges had been made. You may want to read Colorado United Pentecostal Sex Abuse Cases Part 3 and Colorado United Pentecostal Sex Abuse Cases Part 4 for additional information. See also Part 1,  Part 2  and Part 3 of our recent posts.

In our previous posts, we shared the charges, bond, and a basic summary of what has happened from July 10 through July 24, 2025, as well as a rundown of his UPCI licensing and positions from 1987 through 2011. We also shared the four page supporting affidavit for his warrant, which gives more insight into the charges.

There was a prior case in Montgomery County, Texas in 2005

Thanks to the investigative work of Reggie Love on Facebook, it has been discovered that 2025 is not the first time CSA charges were filed against Robert Anthony Langston.

In 2005 in Montgomery County, Texas, there was an indecency with a child case, Statute 21.11(a)(1) a 2nd degree felony, against Anthony Langston which was filed on August 2, 2005. This is case 05-08-06814.

It is with a very heavy heart that I share with you the information in this post. I will refrain from saying everything I would like to say.

A grand jury heard testimony against Tony Langston and on August 2, 2005, an indictment was filed against him for an incident which happened on or about June 27, 2005. It states that Langston engaged “in sexual contact with [name redacted], a child younger than 17 years and not the spouse of the Defendant, by having said child touch the Defendant’s genitals.”

Tony was living in Jersey City, New Jersey and was pastor of Tapestry Church, now Freedom Church Jersey City, which was called the International Christian Center at the time. The following year he was voted in as a presbyter of the New Jersey Metro District of the UPCI.

On August 8, 2005, bond was set at $15,000. It appears it was paid on September 3, 2005. He retained Gilbert G. Garcia to represent him.

On December 8, 2005, a motion was made for DNA testing and it was granted the same day. Anthony Langston was given until January 13, 2006 to provide this. Prior to this on November 8, 2005, another order for DNA testing was made, as well as him needing to be tested for AIDS/HIV and STDs. I have not included the first order in the attachments.

Here is where my heart sank. On January 12, 2006, a motion to dismiss was filed and marked “in the interest of justice.” Just below that, the reason given was that “The victim is Deceased.” This happened in just a few short months.

Langston may have never submitted his DNA as the deadline happened after the victim died. Had the right thing been done when things came to light at Landmark Tabernacle, this alleged crime probably would never have occurred. That teenager might still be alive.

Attached are the indictment, bond, motion and order for DNA testing, the order of dismissal and the judge’s docket sheet. I redacted the victim’s name from the indictment and the personal info on the bond record.

I originally posted about this on July 31, 2025 and August 1, 2025 on our Facebook Page.

You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.

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Galatians Study Part Thirteen: 4:17-20

NLT: “Those false teachers are so eager to win your favor, but their intentions are not good. They are trying to shut you off from me so that you will pay attention only to them. 18 If someone is eager to do good things for you, that’s all right; but let them do it all the time, not just when I’m with you.

“19 Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives. 20 I wish I were with you right now so I could change my tone. But at this distance I don’t know how else to help you.”

NASB: “They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them. 18 But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner, and not only when I am present with you. 19 My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you— 20 but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.”

The NIV puts verse 17, “Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them.” Paul knew about being zealous. In the first chapter of his letter he shared that he was advancing in Judaism faster than other Jews of his age and was very zealous for their traditions. But too often zealousness takes a path away from God and focuses on people and groups and their way of doing things. Jesus exposed what following man-made traditions could do when he chastised the Pharisees saying, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Matthew 15:3)

Traditions can cause people to set aside how God wants us to live and even worship God in vain. (Remember what Paul said earlier in his letter to the Galatians.) Consider Mark 7:6-9 (NASB). “And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. 7 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ 8 Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” 9 He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.” Verse nine is pretty strong.

The false brothers sought to win over the Galatian believers, but it wasn’t for something good. They wanted people to follow them. In this, I am reminded of something Jesus said about the Pharisees in Matthew 23:15, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” (NASB) Oftentimes those who preach performance based religion are zealous in their cause and they seek to create a following. This is part of what separates Christian groups when we parade ourselves as denominations or followers of an individual. The focus is not on following Jesus, but on following the belief system and those who teach it.

Consider how jealousy becomes a problem when people wish to gather converts unto themselves. The Pharisees were jealous of how the people responded to Jesus. After Jesus died, the Jews were jealous of the Christians because people were listening to them. The Bible teaches that those who are jealous are fleshly (1 Corinthians 3:3) and that love is not jealous (1 Corinthians 13:4). James 3:16 tells us, “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.” The people Paul was warning the Galatians about were jealous of the freedom they saw and wanted to turn them into slaves. They were zealous in a bad way, wanting to alienate them from Paul and other Christians, so that the Galatians would be zealous for them.

Think about how this is seen in performance based churches. Does it not create division? Does it not cause people to be zealous, but in a bad way? Does it not cause people to want to create a following for themselves? Look at how many become more concerned with what the pastor thinks than what God thinks. Look at the infighting that can happen between members of a same Christian group. People are not walking in love, but are displaying the works of the flesh. They are zealous, but not for good.

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Galatians Study Part Twelve: 4:8-16

NLT: “Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. 9 So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? 10 You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years. 11 I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing. 12 Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you Gentiles—free from those laws.

“You did not mistreat me when I first preached to you. 13 Surely you remember that I was sick when I first brought you the Good News. 14 But even though my condition tempted you to reject me, you did not despise me or turn me away. No, you took me in and cared for me as though I were an angel from God or even Christ Jesus himself. 15 Where is that joyful and grateful spirit you felt then? I am sure you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me if it had been possible. 16 Have I now become your enemy because I am telling you the truth?”

NASB: “However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.

“12 I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong; 13 but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time; 14 and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself. 15 Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. 16 So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? ”

Paul continues with his references to slavery. Before the Galatians came to know God, they were slaves. They were set free when they believed the gospel message Paul brought to them while he was ill. Now Paul inquires as to why they wish to return to slavery. From verse ten, it would appear that those distorting the gospel had not only caused the Galatians to believe they must be circumcised, but that they also must obey other aspects of the law.

When one enters into a performance based relationship, one rule is never enough. Consider the dozens of rules the Pharisees added to just keeping the Sabbath. You have to keep nailing things down because it is better to be safe than sorry. That line of thinking never comes from a faith position.

One might think that Romans 14 is contrary to what Paul is teaching in Galatians 4. In Romans, Paul teaches that some may consider one day more sacred than another, while the next person esteems them alike. He also speaks of eating meat or only vegetables and that we should not judge one another in these matters. (You may also want to read Colossians 2:13-23.) I believe there must be a difference between here in Romans and where we are in the Galatians study. For those in Galatia, Paul feared for them, yet in Romans he did not. Could it be because in Romans no one was doing it as a means to become righteous before God or in order to be saved? What do you think?

Paul brings them back to when he first shared the gospel with them and asks “Where is that joyful and grateful spirit you felt then?” The NASB says, “Where then is that sense of blessing you had?” and the NIV puts it, “What has happened to all your joy?” Something in them had changed since Paul first told them about Jesus and they had believed. We previously touched on this in comparing how those who are pulled into following church rules often lose their joy. It is because their focus has changed and faith is replaced with their performance.

Paul then asks, “So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?” It can be difficult to reach a person who has been pulled into the performance trap. They have learned to trust in their own adherence to keeping a list of rules. The gospel has been distorted in their mind and now they believe their salvation and righteousness depends upon their actions. It is something that people can grasp. They go to work and do what they are told and as a result they earn a paycheck. We find it hard to believe that something could really be free. Paul had set before them freedom through Christ Jesus in his missionary journeys and they had believed. Now he was fighting for their spiritual lives, trying desperately to show them why turning to the law was detrimental to them.

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