Galatians 3:23-29

Trinity 3 (20 June 2010)

Text: Galatians 3: 23-29

 

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.

 

The context of our Epistle reading this morning is the conflict between Paul and a group of people called Judaizers.  Paul was defending himself against this group of very conservative so-called “Christians”.  After Paul left Galatia, this group came into the church and began to contradict his teaching.  They taught the people in Galatia a form of legalism: that the way to be right with God was to believe in Jesus and follow the right set of rules.  They believed that a Christian life started when one believed in Jesus, but he has to complete it by obeying a set of religious rules.   So they emphasized on the proper observation of the laws in the Old Testament: e.g. the practice of circumcision and the keeping of dietary laws. 

Paul said such teaching rejected grace and dishonoured Christ. He told the Galatians that the purpose of the law was to show our sin and our state of hopelessness, but it has no power to prevent sin. And now, because we have Jesus Christ, our situation has changed: we are now God’s children.  So salvation is no longer dependent on what we do, but on who we are in Christ.  We can say that we are all God’s children because God created us all.  But spiritually speaking, we become sons and daughters only by grace and through faith in Jesus Christ. 

Why were these Judaizers so intent in keeping the law?  It was because they were mostly former Jewish leaders, who were keepers and consultants of the Jewish laws. So when Paul told the Christians that it was not necessary for them to observe these Jewish laws, the Judaizers were angry.  It would mean that they no longer had authority over the believers and tell them what to do.  So in a way, the law can be an instrument to keep people under bondage and control.

Verse 26 says, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus…”   Please take note of the word “sons.”   We are called to be sons, not just children.  In those days, sons were granted a unique position of honour not available to daughters.  Today, in most cultures, sons and daughters have almost equal status.  This also has wonderful implication, because it means that each one of us has same opportunity and the same privilege.

There are three characteristics that show how we are God’s children.  The first characteristic that shows we are a child of God is we are “the person of faith is baptized…by the Spirit in water.  When a person professed to believe in Jesus and accepted him as his personal Saviour he would be baptized in water.  Though water baptism is not necessary for salvation, it is the initial and necessary response of faith.   In fact, there is no such thing as an unbaptized believer in the New Testament.  To claim belief in Jesus without baptism is not really faith at all.  If you believe in Jesus and accept him as your personal Saviour, there is no reason why you don’t desire water baptism.  In fact for Paul, an unbaptized believer is a contradiction in terms.

Why are we baptized? What is the significance of baptism?  Verse 26 says, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”  That is what baptism is all about.  Water baptism does not automatically guarantee that you get to heaven, but if you are to live for some time in this world you need to be seen as a person who is clothed in Christ. 

The context of this comes from Roman culture.  For when the Roman child became an adult, he took off the garments of a child and put on the toga of the adult citizen.  In the same way, in baptism the believer in Christ removes the garments of the old life – its habits, its addictions, its attitudes – and replaces those garments by putting on Christ – that is we have His attitudes, His love, and His service. We proclaim our new status as sons and daughters of God through baptism and we show it through changes in our lives.  The old clothes are gone; the new ones are put on.  We become true children of God that everyone can see.  So, from the perspective of mission and evangelism, baptism is important.

The second characteristic that shows we are a child of God is we are one in Jesus Christ. (Gal. 3:28).  Paul makes a powerful point about the nature of those that belong to the kingdom of God.  The Judaizers had restricted God’s acceptance to those who are Jews or those who are willing to follow the works of the law. But, according to Paul, all human distinctions are done away with in Christ. The gospel is not for the selected few: it is for all. 

What does this imply?  First, it implies that cultural divisions are to have no part in the church. Paul objected to the demand that one has to convert to Judaism before he could become a Christian.  No one had to become a Jew to become a Christian. The gospel was for everyone. It was available to the Jew or the Gentile, and neither one has superiority over the other.  That division was gone.

Second, one’s social status was irrelevant to acceptance in the church. It is estimated that thirty-three per cent of the population in the Roman Empire might have been slaves.  It was possible that some of the early church leaders could have been slaves. This means that some of the slave owners would have to submit to the authority of slaves who were leaders in church. Paul emphasizes here that whatever social divisions apply in the culture, they are not applicable within the church. The slave and the free were equals in the church.

Third, the concept of the inferiority of women and practice of sexual prejudice were to be eliminated from the church. In those days, women were considered inferior; and they still are in many countries even today.  But Paul begins to put aside that kind of thought when he places men and women on equal status when it comes to salvation. Differences in race, socio-economic status and gender are not valid indicators of one’s spiritual standing before God.  While we may not be all identical, we are equal.

The third characteristic that shows we are a child of God is that we are an inheritor (Gal. 3:29). Paul uses two pictures to describe those under the law: the first picture was that of a slave.  The son born of the slave woman, Hagar did not become an inheritor.  Only the one born of his wife, Sarah became his inheritor.  The promise given to Abraham is also given to us now, because when we receive Christ we also become sons and inherit what was promised.   

The second picture that Paul uses to compares those under the law is that of a young son of a rich man.  If a rich man dies while his only son is still a small child, the child cannot take charge of his father’s property.  The entire estate will be looked after by a trustee, until the child is old enough to take control.  The child can be worth millions, but so long as he’s a minor, the power and influence of his wealth do not give him any advantage over other poor kids.  He’s not even in control of his own life. He is told what to do and what not to do; in the same way as a slave child.

The Jews before the coming of Jesus were like those kids who were still minors. They were the chosen people destined to inherit what God has promised.  Unfortunately, they grew up under the Law and ended up in bondage to it. God never intended for His people to treat the laws as a means of salvation, but they did.  Hence they never grew to enjoy that freedom in Christ.  

How do we apply this to our Christian lives?  When someone builds a house he must have a solid foundation. He also must have an accurate plumb line; otherwise the structure would not be upright.  When someone makes a scientific experiment, it has to start from the use of a “constant” – something sure, unmoving, and unchanging – in order to arrive at consistently accurate conclusions. Without a reliable constant, the researcher can never be sure of his findings.

In the same way, when we try to build up our lives we must base them on something that is constant - true, trustworthy and unchangeable.  But do you and I have something that is constant to build our lives on?  No, because a lot of our decisions and choices are made on the basis of our opinions, our moods or due to outside pressures and circumstances.  If we want to live good or holy lives, we cannot live like this.  We need something that is constant, true, and trustworthy – and this is only found in Christ.  Hebrews 13: 8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” – he is our foundation, direction and a straight path to guide us. And in John 14: 6, Jesus describes himself as “the way, the truth and the life”.

We Christians are the most blessed people on earth because we have something that is constant and trustworthy - the Bible.  The Bible gives us a point of reference, a stake around which we must move in order to maintain stability in our lives. We have the truth of God’s Word as the foundation of our faith.  However, we must not make the mistake the Jews made.  They knew the Old Testament Scriptures better than anyone else. All their lives they had been schooled in the Scripture: they had learned, memorized, repeated, taught, written and spoken the verses about the coming Messiah ever since their youth. Yet, when Jesus stood in front of them they didn’t recognize Him. Their study and knowledge didn’t help them recognize the Messiah whom all of them had been waiting for.  That was why Jesus said to them in John 5:39-40, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”

The Jews know the Bible, yet they miss the main person the Bible is talking about. The sad thing is we can make the same mistake when we study our Bible. We become good Bible students, but fail to know Jesus.  Part of the problem with the Pharisees was that Jesus was talking about “faith” as a way of relating to God and pleasing God. In the entire Old Testament, faith is mentioned only 15 times and never in terms of a personal relationship with God.  Mostly it refers to a man breaking faith with his wife or Israel breaking faith with their God.  That was why this concept was totally foreign to the Jews: they thought that God’s righteousness, favour and relationship could be achieved through their obedience to the Law.  So when Jesus came and tried to make them see that God looks upon the heart and not outward behaviour, they didn’t understand and saw no need for faith in Him.

You see, until faith is revealed to a person, all that a person sees when he reads the Old Testament is law.  When the rich young man met Jesus, he asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18)  If we don’t realize that the purpose of the Bible is to point us to Christ, then all we’ll see are the dos and the don’ts!

The Bible’s purpose is to point us to Christ.  Jesus Christ must be the object of our faith.  That leads us to the next point about living the life of faith.  When we try to live a life of faith, we don’t live according to our whims and fancies.  It is living according to the will of God, and the will of God is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.  Paul, in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 says this: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him – but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.” So it is only the Spirit of God who lives inside us who teaches us what the Bible means.  

The work of the Holy Spirit, therefore, is to point us to Jesus Christ.  This is so important to understand.  It is only when we know Jesus Christ that we are able to respond on the foundation of faith.  Paul said in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”  If you are new Christians, I want to encourage you to spend more time studying the New Testament because it gives us the full picture of Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished for us. And when you have got to know Jesus, you will also learn how to respond to Him as you build a foundation of faith.  Only later on as your faith deepens that you may begin to study the teachings of the Old Testament.

Life is a journey. In this journey, the Law serves to lead us to faith in Christ by first making us aware of our sinfulness.  When we are baptized into Christ, we begin our journey of faith. Through faith, we are connected with our Saviour Jesus in such a way that we are clothed with Him; we are united as brothers and sisters in Him; and belong to Him as co-heirs of God’s promise.  

I want you to understand how blessed we are as Christians.  Many religious people of this world are struggling to keep their religious rules – and some of them are punished because they failed. In Church we don’t punish you for your failures: instead we proclaim the forgiveness of Christ.  Many people are constantly worried whether they have done enough good works to qualify for heaven.  We are blessed people because we don’t travel and struggle alone in this world.  We are connected to Christ through faith.  And He has given us His Holy Spirit, who is here with us every step of the way.