Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

3:19 Why then the law? The question then arises: If the law has no impact on God's plan rooted in his promise, why was the law ever given? Because of transgressions might mean (1) "to provide a sacrificial system to deal temporarily with transgressions," (2) "to teach people more clearly what God requires and thereby to restrain transgressions," (3) "to show that transgressions violated an explicit written law," or (4) "to reveal people's sinfulness and need for a savior" (cf. Rom. 3:20: "through the law comes knowledge of sin"). All four senses are theologically true, but the last is probably uppermost in Paul's mind. put in place through angels by an intermediary. Deuteronomy 33:2 talks about God coming from Sinai, where he gave the law, "from the ten thousands of holy ones," so the angels were present with God on that occasion (cf. Acts 7:53; Heb. 2:2). Moses was God's "intermediary" in the gift of the law to Israel (Lev. 26:46; John 1:17). The Mosaic law was part of a temporary covenant never intended to last forever. Now that Jesus has come as the true offspring of Abraham, the Mosaic law is no longer in force. Therefore, circumcision is no longer required, since it is part of the Mosaic covenant.

3:20 There was more than one party involved in the presentation of the law to Israel, which involved an intermediary, Moses. Because God is one, his ultimate revelation comes not through an intermediary but from him alone (this assumes that whatever comes from Christ comes from the one true God, for Christ is fully God). This lies behind Paul's protest in ch. 1 about the gospel coming to him not from or through a human being but directly from God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ (1:1).

3:21 The law is certainly not contrary to the promises of God: Paul regards the law as "holy and righteous and good" (Rom. 7:12). But because of human sinfulness, the law was never able to give life (see Rom. 8:3).

3:22 The law (the Scripture), instead of giving "life" (v. 21) with God, imprisoned everything under sin (cf. Rom. 3:9-20). So rather than enabling all Israelites to have access to what was promised, the law was given so that the single "offspring," Christ, would receive the blessing. The blessing is obtained by faith, not by their own obedience. God was certainly not surprised by the fact that the Israelites were unable to obey the law. In fact, at the end of the giving of the law, Moses foretold that the Israelites would not obey it (Deut. 31:24-29). Thus the law confirmed the promise to Abraham, that justification would come only by faith (Gal. 3:6-9, 14, 18).

3:23 before faith came. By "faith" Paul means new covenant faith in Christ (cf. v. 22). Thus he is saying, "before Christ came and along with him new covenant faith in him." Since Paul is using Abraham as an example of justification by faith (vv. 6-9, 14, 18), he cannot mean that there was no saving faith before Christ came (cf. note on John 3:18) but only that there was no new covenant faith resting on the knowledge of Christ's finished work.

3:24 The law, as guardian, had the positive functions of highlighting and restraining transgressions and also of foretelling the coming of Christ.

3:25 faith has come. See note on v. 23.

3:26 you are all sons of God. This is the crucial difference between old covenant and new covenant believers: life under the law was slavery; life in Christ is marked by the freedom that comes from being God's "sons." Both men and women are here characterized as having the rights of "sons," because with sonship comes the right of inheritance. The Greek word huioi ("sons") is a legal term used in the adoption and inheritance laws of first-century Rome. As used by Paul here and elsewhere in his letters (cf. 4:5-7; Rom. 8:14-16, 23), this term refers to the status of all Christians, both men and women, who, having been adopted into God's family, now enjoy all the privileges, obligations, and inheritance rights of God's children.

3:27 In addition to sonship (v. 26), Paul adds two more pictures of what is involved in this new age. Being baptized, believers have gone down into death, dying to the old era of law, sin, and death (Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 2:19; 6:14) and have come up out of the water as participants in the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). put on Christ. The language of "putting on," as used of clothing, suggests taking on a new life and purpose through being spiritually united to Christ.

3:28 neither Jew nor Greek. The fact that the Mosaic law has been left behind in the old age means that, in the new creation, the distinction between Jew and Gentile is broken down (see Eph. 2:11-22). Certainly these Galatians do not have to become Jews in order to be Christians (cf. Gal. 3:14). There is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female does not imply that there are no distinctions in how these groups should act, for Paul elsewhere commands slaves ("bondservants," ESV footnote) and masters differently (Eph. 6:5-9), and husbands and wives differently (Eph. 5:22-33). Paul clearly is not advocating the elimination of all distinctions nor the acceptability of same-sex marriage or homosexual relations (see Rom. 1:26-27). Rather, he teaches that old divisions and wrongful attitudes of superiority and inferiority are abolished, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. He does not take away the distinction between men and women but says they are "united," joined together in "one" body, the church. The verse teaches unity within diversity but not sameness.

3:29 Abraham's offspring. Paul states the main point of his argument: those who belong to Christ are part of Abraham's family, and hence they do not need to be circumcised to become part of God's people.

4:1-3 When a son is a minor and too young to receive his inheritance, he might as well be a slave. (On Roman slaves, see note on 1 Cor. 7:21.) This was the situation of Paul and his fellow Israelites under the old covenant.

4:3 elementary principles. Both here and in v. 9 the expression refers to the elementary principles the Galatians previously followed, which for Jews would be the Mosaic law and for Gentiles the basic concepts of their pagan religions. But the additional overtones of demonic bondage in this phrase should not be ignored; they were, in terms of their mind-set and life situation, under a legalistic system and enslaved, and Paul explains in v. 8 that this enslavement was "to those that by nature are not gods." Legalistic superstition and demonic domination are closely linked.

4:4 when the fullness of time had come. God sent his Son at the right moment in human history, when God's providential oversight of the events of the world had directed and prepared peoples and nations for the incarnation and ministry of Christ, and for the proclamation of the gospel.

4:5 Paul's adoption imagery probably picks up the OT concept of God calling Israel his "son" and combines this with the Roman notion of adopting a son (usually already a grown man) in order to designate him as the heir to all the family wealth (see also note on 3:26).

4:6-7 because you are sons. Because Christians are now sons and "of age," they are in a position to receive the inheritance, beginning with the promised Spirit of his Son. Abba is the Aramaic word for "father" (cf. Rom. 8:14-17).