May 21, 2001
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June 24 Lesson
Legalism hides guilt and blurs the grace of God
___Galatians 3:19 – 4:11
___3:19What, 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. 20A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.
___21Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
___23Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 25Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
___26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
___4:1What 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. 2He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. 4But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
___8Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9But now that you know God--or rather are known by God--how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
___By Don Guthrie
___In chapters 3 and 4 of his letter, Paul is at the peak of his argument. These are some of the most difficult-to-interpret sentences he ever wrote, but also some of the most picturesque and profitable descriptions of salvation in the entire Bible.
___Slaves
___Paul begins with the vivid picture of a prison. "Shut up!" verse 22, paints a vast prison house into which mankind has been delivered and the doors locked behind. "Under sin" refers to the guilty verdict that sent us there and adds the image of a low, heavy ceiling in a dark dungeon. The New International Version translates this verse, "The Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin."
___Most shocking is the idea that Scripture has driven us into this captivity. By knowing God's law, we become aware of our failure to keep it. "Through the law comes the knowledge of sin," Romans 3:20. All of us tend to excuse our behavior and claim innocence before God. "I'm a good person." "I do the best I can." Only the Scripture reveals the depth of sin and the reality of our ever-present rebellion toward God. The purpose of the law is not to remove sin. It is to reveal it.
___God's law, then, serves as the guard that keeps the door locked! Note verse 23, phroureo, "to keep in custody." Only the law can refuse our cries and claims of innocence. It proves our guilt! In fact, this was God's purpose for the law from the beginning.
___The Judaizers accused Paul of teaching that the law was unnecessary. "On the contrary," Paul reasons, "God intended the law to convince us of sin and to prepare us to receive the gospel when it is offered to us." Without a sense of despair, none of us would have a desire to be saved. Forgiveness means nothing to a person who is unaware he has done anything wrong or is unconvinced his actions inevitably bring serious consequences.
___In verse 23, Paul switches from third person to first person (note "we" were kept). His purpose is to add his own testimony, and the testimony of all Jews, to that of every person. This is universal biography. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23.
___Set free
___If there is a prison, there is also a pardon! Paul says, "In the fullness of time God sent forth his son in order that he might redeem," verses 4 and 5. Redemption describes a person purchased out of slavery--the price paid for his freedom. This verse often is used at Christmas time but actually points beyond Christ's birth to his mission. "He came to seek and to save the lost," Luke 19:10. The price of our freedom was his cross. The result was freedom. Jesus was born of a woman so he could be like us physically. He was born under the law that he could be like us legally. In both cases, the purpose was that he might make us like himself spiritually. We are set free!
___Paul's favorite word for this newfound freedom from the condemnation of sin is justification, verse 24. To be justified is to be set right with God, to be declared innocent, to be restored to perfect legal, moral standing. When Christ carried our sins to the cross, he removed the crushing weight of the commandments we had disobeyed. He lifted the undeniable testimony of our failure and our dishonesty. Isaiah 53:4 says: "He bore our grief and carried our sorrow." He set us free from the guilt of the law and restored us to a relationship with God.
___Sons
___A familiar legal procedure was for childless Romans to adopt a son and make him the heir. Paul uses this common legal practice to draw attention to the fact that the Son of God became a man so men could become sons of God. Verse 5 says "that we might receive adoption."
___Adoption provides us a family! Verse 27 pictures a slave leaving prison. As he strips off the garb of his former shame and puts on the new, clean clothes of a free man, he takes on a new identity in Christ--one in which human differences are hidden or made non-essential. Verse 28 claims no distinction of race, rank or gender is found in this new family. The idea is not that differences cease to exist, but that they cease to matter. Contrary to the claim that some Christians are superior (i.e. those who keep the Jewish traditions), in Christ we are a family of equals. No place is allowed for the old bias of Jewish/Gentile hostility.
___Further proof of our adoption is provided by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit testifies within us that we belong to God and can call him Abba (a Hebrew familiar word for father; familiar rather than formal). The quiet inward witness of the Spirit as we pray is God's real witness to his work in our lives.
___Sons have a future! If we are sons of God, we are also heirs of God, verse 7. As wonderful as our present experience is, it does not compare to the glory ahead of us. Paul wants the Galatians to hold on to the truth of justification by faith both for the sake of current blessings and for those not yet realized.
___Surrender?
___In 4:8, Paul concludes his thoughts with a moving appeal. In times past, the Galatians had been held captive to the fears and ignorance of paganism, verse 8. In the mercy of God, the gospel came to them, and they were born into knowledge of God and a relationship with him, verse 9. Now they are being tempted to take up a new bondage--the bondage of Jewish law. Paul finds it incredible that they would give up the liberty of the gospel for a weak and worthless system of human legalism. He warns them to resist.
___Legalism is attractive because it reduces life to simple categories. The Judaizers proposed a return to elemental things" (note 4:8, Greek, stoichea--"things in a line, the alphabet"). Simple rules allow a man to feel he has discharged his duty to God by observing certain days (note verse 10; also Christmas and Easter Christians).
___The damage, however, is that legalism hides our real guilt and blurs the grace of God that provides the real power to live a truly righteous life. Paul fears his work has been wasted. In 4:11, he voices the concern that genuine believers can renounce Christ and return to the law. If God has truly made the Galatians his sons, why would they return so quickly to slavery?
___Modern Christians face the same subtle pull of legalism. Rather than grip the grace of God with all its adventure and obligation, we, too, settle for a religion of simple rulesand special days. How many Christians do you know who have reduced the Christian life to a profession of faith, occasional church attendance and sporadic financial support? Doesn't God intend more?
___Legalism is easy, but it is empty. In a strange twist (sin is always a strange twist), the law was intended by God to convince us of our sinfulness. Legalism uses it to convince us of our righteousness and make us self-satisfied. In Romans 10:3, Paul pronounces the same warning on all the works of men. "Not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God." God's righteousness is a righteousness by faith!
___God grant us to see these same choices in our own lives and to live free!
For thought and discussion
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The Jews and slavery
___The Jews reacted bitterly to any suggestion that they were slaves. Jesus encountered this resentment (John 8). In order to work around this mental block, Paul introduces an alternative illustration (4:1ff). Using the image of a tutor, Paul pictures a legitimate son who is still held in bondage during his growing up years. In wealthy Roman homes, a child often was entrusted to the care of a slave. This slave actually raised him. He clothed him, he bathed him and disciplined him when it was necessary. The Greek word is paidagogos (tutor). While not serving as the actual schoolteacher, the tutor did deliver the child to school and then home safely following. By using this less offensive illustration, Paul makes the same point. Even though the child was the legitimate son (as the Jews claimed they were), he still was under someone else's control and, therefore, was in no better condition than if he were a slave. The Jews were still not free so long as they remained under the law.
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