Pentecost 5 (5)
Notes
Transcript
Galatians 3:23–29 (NIV84): 23 Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. 26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
The Holy Bible: New International Version (Ga 3:23–29). (1984). Zondervan.
At what stage in our lives are we controlled the most by rules and regulations? Restricted as to what we could do, where we could go, what we could eat or drink, how we were to spend most of our days, even with whom we could associate? At that stage in our lives were may not even have been given the freedom to decide what we would wear or what we could watch on TV or make use of electronic devices?
It had to be when we were children. Think about it. Because we were not mature and responsible enough to make our own decisions (being unaware of possible consequences), our parents and guardians did most of the decision making for us. St. Paul refers to that time by writing: “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ.” He expands on that in chapter 4: Galatians 4:1–3 (NIV84)
1 What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.
But as we matured, we were granted more and more freedom and allowed to make our own decisions and learning that choices have consequences and hopefully we were trained to make good choices which benefitted ourselves and the people around us.
We enjoy this freedom for many decades of our lives. But in some cases we lose some of our freedom because of the aging process and we are again under the supervision of others. Think of how an aged person may lose their freedom to operate a motor vehicle or even to administer their own medications.
There is another circumstance besides the limitations of age (either too young or too old) when a person may not be able to act freely and during which they are limited as to what they can do. Did you catch St. Paul’s allusion to that here? “Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.” Depending on the circumstances, a prisoner may be slightly restricted or severely restricted as to what they can or cannot do.
Some minimum security inmates may have Huber privileges and allowed to work outside the jail under supervision but would have to return to jail for the evening. While in jail they have some freedom as to what they watch on TV, movement within the institution, interaction with other inmates and visitors, etc.
In some maximum security prisons, the inmate may be confined to a cell 23 hours a day and be very restricted in what they can do and whom they can visit with.
Certainly, a prisoner is under the supervision of the law in a much more restrictive way that a person who is free.
Why does St. Paul refer to this? He is making a comparison. He is comparing the freedom that is ours as Christians when it comes to our standing before God with how the law had limited people before the freeing message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Why does St. Paul say God’s people had been restricted by the Law? (Research)
Galatians 3:19 (NIV84) What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator.
The Bible teaches that when God created mankind, he gave them a natural knowledge of the law so that written laws were not necessary. Man would naturally have been able to know what was right or wrong and act accordingly. That situation did not last very long. But even after the Fall into Sin, God’s people (the Israelites) did not have a codified set of laws until 1450 BC. It wasn’t that there were not rules and regulations before that, but it was then that the Law of Moses was instituted and became the guiding force in their society. This law was divided logically into moral, civil, and ceremonial. The section of law that St. Paul is addressing here focuses on the ceremonial law which governed how the people worshiped God. But it also includes God’s covenant of salvation.
He compares the promise of justification by faith given to Abraham with the attempt to be justified by works of the law given by Moses. He emphasizes that since God promised justification by faith 430 years before the Mosaic Law, God had always intended that his people be saved by faith. The Law was given to regulate how they lived among each other.
Now that Jesus has completed the work of salvation, God’s people were to be free to believe and do in love rather than be controlled and coerced by the Law.
8 But God found fault with the people and said: “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. 10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” 13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
Why was this an issue? Because the Judaizers were trying to get the people to revert to the legalism of the law by combining faith with works.
St. Paul grants that there was a time when people were under the supervision of the Law just as children are under the control of parents and guardians until they reach a certain age or stage in their lives. But once Jesus finished his work, the Gospel declares that people are right with God by faith in Jesus and no longer compelled by the Law to act accordingly or to receive God’s blessings. He teaches about this freedom quite often in his letters.
But the Judiazers were not satisfied with this. As people who had been brought up focused on the Law, they could not comprehend a relationship with God that was not at least somewhat controlled by laws. They taught that faith in Jesus was important but that the individual still had to observe certain legalistic requirements to receive God’s blessings. One of the chief rituals mentioned in Galatians was circumcision. St. Paul writes on this elsewhere in this letter.
Rather than revert to the legalistic requirements of the past, St. Paul emphasize the freedom that is ours as Christians.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
He also teaches of the unity that we are to enjoy with our fellow Christians. He states that we are united through faith in Jesus. This is expressed in our baptism which connects us to Jesus (clothed with Christ). He then makes a statement that was cutting edge in his day but often we now take for granted.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
St. Paul lived in a culture that was very sharply defined according to religion, race, social status, and gender. The laws of the Israelites regulated those things as well. St. Paul’s point is not that these differences would all completely disappear but that when it come to our relationship with God and the gift of salvation, he offers it to all people regardless of these external differences. Salvation is not limited to people of a certain race, gender, age, social standing, etc. It is not even limited to those who achieve a certain level of moral conduct. It is offered to all and received by faith in Jesus. Jesus himself taught this: John 17:20–23 (NIV84) “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Conclusion: It can be very difficult to be controlled by others, especially in a nation that values our freedom. What a wonderful blessing it is that we have been set free from legalistic regulations when it comes to our relationship with God. May we use that freedom to serve him and help each other. 1 Peter 2:16–17 (NIV84)
16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.