Galatians Journal: Chapter 3, verse 28

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

This is one of the most oft quoted scriptures from the book of Galatians. It is, indeed, the ultimate conclusion of Paul’s arguments here in Chapter 3. The unity of the Body of Christ transcends all of the traditional barriers that exist in culture. This was an extremely radical statement for its day, and, despite “political correctness,” it’s still a radical concept in modern society. But we need to understand exactly what Paul means here. Paul is talking about salvation, and being acceptable to God through Jesus. His main point throughout this book so far has been that we don’t need to follow the Jewish law, and therefore don’t need to be ethnically Jewish, or be like a Jew, in order to be acceptable to God. Ethnicity doesn’t matter – that is Paul’s underlying thesis in the book of Galatians. Here in verse 28, he makes a point to expand and explain further.

Its not just the issue of ethnicity – the issue of social class is also irrelevant (“slave or free”). This was also radical for its time. The wealthy were given every consideration over the poor (things really haven’t changed much today). But social standing is also irrelevant. Paul also adds a distinction he really hasn’t mentioned yet – “male nor female.” In the ancient world, women were also relegated to second class citizenship, often having a status that was much like that of being a slave. Paul is saying that gender is also irrelevant as to the issue of being acceptable to God. Now, this verse is often mis-characterized on this last point. Paul says “you are all one in Christ.” He does not say “you are all the SAME in Christ.” Gender roles in the church and the question of spiritual authority are NOT being discussed here. Ephesians 2 discusses a similar concept, saying we are no longer aliens, but “fellow citizens.” The power of Christ, the totality of His sacrifice has torn down these societal boundaries, and made us ONE – made us a family. We are all in this together folks!

Galatians Journal: Chapter 3, Verse 27

Galatians 3:27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

“all of you who were” There is a sense here of a universality – everybody is included. The Galatians were much more than nominal Christians. They were, indeed, a community of believers. The implication here is that most, if not all of them, had a solid foundation (see Galatians 3:2-5, where the Galatians are shown to have “received the Spirit,” and were functional in the charismatic gifts – even miracles!). This all fits in with the underlying theme of the book – that you don’t have to be part of a particular race or ethnic group to be part of the kingdom (see the next verse, verse 28).

“baptized into Christ” Paul discusses baptism more thoroughly in Romans 6. The emphasis here is on “into Christ”—being immersed in Him, being one with Him.

“have clothed yourselves with Christ” It was common in pagan cultures to have to wear certain types of clothing to participate in religious exercises. Priests in the Jewish Tabernacle and/or Temple were required to wear certain garments when they ministered before God. In the one “true faith,” all we need is Jesus. We are so close to Him, we wrap ourselves in Him – He covers us, so that all the Father sees is Jesus. The scriptures are filled with pictures of mankind taking off its sinful, dirty clothes, and wrapping himself with a righteous garment. Indeed, that garment is Jesus Himself. By accepting Jesus as our Savior, by “converting” to Christianity, we take our place in God’s kingdom, and for the purposes of Paul’s arguments throughout this chapter, we become the children of Abraham (3:7), Abraham’s Seed (3: 16 & 29), and an adopted son (3:26). We are one with Christ! It can’t be emphasized enough – it’s all about RELATIONSHIP!

Galatians Journal: Chapter 3, verse 26

Galatians 3:26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,

Paul has run through all of his theological “proofs” for refuting the Judiazers, and here starts to wrap them up before proceeding on to his next point. He uses this opportunity to transition. He has used the analogy of being “children” already – “children of Abraham” to be specific. He is about to use the metaphor of a “son,” and spend much of chapter 4 telling us we are the children and heirs of God, and not slaves to sin. The opening of verse 26 almost feels abrupt after the near-poetic language of the previous section. Indeed, my NIV Bible Study Notes separates out verse 26 as the start of a new section, with a new heading (“Sons of God,” – go figure!).

But Paul’s continued use of metaphor and analogy fits quite nicely. He has given us a picture of a young, immature boy in the last few verses; a boy who needs a guardian/babysitter, to take care of and protect him on his way to school, help him with his homework, and be his guide in the basics of life. This boy spoken of in verses 21-25, of course, is every one of us. Paul now connects with who this child really is – the real identity. This child is a son, or child, of God the Father himself.

Wow! And there’s still a bonus! If you connect all of the arguments Paul makes here in Chapter 3, it becomes clear that this is a son by adoption. Before Jesus,, the only way to be a “son” in God’s kingdom was to be one in the flesh, to literally be a descendant of Abraham. Through Jesus, we are all adopted into the family. In addition, we are all accepted by God as a mature adult – because of faith in Jesus, because of a direct, intimate connection with God through Jesus, we are no longer dependent on the pedagogue/baby sitter that the law served in our lives. By faith, each of us is adopted – justified, with full status as a mature adult and heir in God’s family, with all the attendant rights, privileges, and freedoms. In our lives, there were things we could never do as a child – drive, vote, drink etc. – that is, until we reached a certain age. Faith in Jesus is like the ultimate graduation. Even more so, its being born into the family, but with God treating us as an adult -- with all the love and respect that go with that status -- from the very start.

Galatians Journal: Chapter 3, verse 25

Galatians 3:25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

“Now that faith has come” Paul continues the theme of the “pedagogue,” the slave/tutor for young boys that was fairly common in the culture of the time. The metaphor here is framed in the terms of a youth coming into maturity, into adulthood. (The time frame for this occurring in both the Greek and Jewish cultures was when boys reached the age of 13 or 14). There would come a time in the course of the relationship between pedagogue and ward when the boy would be old enough to handle things himself – he was now mature enough to get along without his tutor. For some, this change would be almost instantaneous. For others, the boy might need more help, and was gradually weaned away from his tutor. The coming of Jesus into our lives is similar. From a “global” or historical perspective, the fact of Jesus being born into this world and dying for our sins technically freed mankind from the “supervision” of the Sinai covenant. But because of the relational nature of the promise, there is a moment in each of our lives when “faith comes,” when we are born again. The inner transformation for some is so great, so fundamental, that they “mature” and are set free in what seems like, or actually is, an instant. Others struggle more, and cling to the comfort and crutch of their old tutor (See Romans 7).

But a major factor in understanding this concept of the tutor was this – the pedagogue was NOT the teacher. He was just a guide. A guardian. A baby sitter. The real learning, the real study, the real life-giving relationship came from the teacher. The comparison is obvious. We need to graduate from relying on a substitute care giver that can help us, but can’t impart life -- to the real teacher, who not only imparts life – He IS life!

Do we now disregard the law? Of course not. The word used here is “supervise.” The law will always serve as a road map, a referee, a reference. The lessons taught to the young boy by the pedagogue lasted a lifetime. But the boy would come to rely on his teacher, on the relationship with the master, and didn’t need to have his hand held on the way to school any more. The is how we need to view the law in the context of our relationship with Jesus. The law is not irrelevant, its just not primary. Its not supervising. Its not in charge. The life lessons learned under it are important, and carry on, helping us frame our behavior. But if that is all we have, there is an emptiness, a loneliness, an incompleteness. The supervision comes from the teacher – but not from a stern taskmaster or a dictator, but from a loving, interactive relationship with a loving Father – the Lord of the universe.

Galatians Journal: Chapter 3, verse 24

Galatians 3:24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.

“the law was put in charge” The Greek word translated as “put in charge” is PAIDAGOGOS. This is the same root from which the word “pedagogy” (the study of teaching) is derived. It is also translated in other versions of the Bible as “tutor” or “guardian.” The Pharisees of New Testament times sometimes described Moses as Israel’s “guardian” until the nation “grew up” or matured in the faith. Greek philosophers of the same era viewed “wisdom” and the concept of a moral code as a “teacher,” sometimes personifying wisdom as a guiding goddess. But Paul is using the term in its literal sense, in a way the people of Galatia and the Greco-Roman world would have understood, just like they understood the context of his use of “covenant” in Chapter 3: 15-18.

The tutor or teacher he is referencing was a personal slave/attendant assigned to watch over the master’s male child, to accompany the boy wherever he went, and exercised a certain amount of authority and discipline over him. He would watch over and protect the boy on the way to school, help him with his homework, and train the child in matters of manners and etiquette. BUT – the slave attendant, or “pedagogue,” was not the teacher himself. His role was secondary – to help guide the child into a better relationship with the instructor or the child’s parents. Indeed, a better comparison would be that of a baby-sitter rather than a teacher.

The children of Greek society who had such slave-guardians sometimes resented them, but more often they grew fond of them, and would set them free upon the child reaching adulthood. Such guardians were highly educated – this was not a demeaning position for a slave. Indeed, it was a great honor, and such slaves would have been viewed with respect and deference by the general public.

“to lead us to Christ” This metaphor really helps to put the concept of the purpose of the lSinai Covenant into perspective. The pedagogue/tutor analogy would have been readily understood and common to the average Galatian as much as the last will/covenant metaphor of Galatians 3:15-18. In effect, the pedagogue represents the law, which was meant to be a “baby-sitter,” to help protect and teach God’s people until they came to a saving relationship with Jesus. It is designed to assist us where we are immature (see the next verse as well, verse 25). The Jews were probably insulted by this analogy – they viewed the law personified as a great rabbi, or the teacher himself, on par with a college professor, not as a baby sitter. Yet, they were also waiting for the coming of the Messiah – they knew there was more to come. The purpose of the law was to “baby sit” mankind until Christ came to fulfill all that God had promised – to Abraham, before the law ever came. Even in our lives today, the law, the moral principles we need to walk in Holiness (Paul describes these issues later in more detail starting in Galatians 5:16) are designed to serve as fences and boundaries to protect us so that we are directed toward a living relationship with Jesus. Again, its all about RELATIONSHIP!

“that we might be justified by faith” This is the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham discussed earlier in Chapter 3 – it all leads back to Jesus! (and faith in Him!)

Galatians Journal: Chapter 3, verse 23

Galatians 3:23 Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.

“Before” Jewish tradition divided human history into a series of stages. Paul will explain further in verse 21, but the era when the law took precedence was finite – the law served as a guardian for the Jewish people until such a time as God fulfilled the original promise, or, as he says later on here, “until faith should be revealed.”

“this faith” This, of course, is Jesus, as verse 22 had explained, its “faith in Jesus Christ” that fulfills the promise for each of us.

“we were held prisoners of the law” Paul continues his prison metaphor from the previous verse. In verse 22, we are identified as “prisoners of sin,” here, we are “prisoners of the law.” We can connect the first notion back to the fall of Adam – our base nature is that of sin. Paul discusses this in Romans 5:15-21 – We are all condemned – trapped – through Adam’s sin. Being a prisoner of the law is a similar concept, because the law reveals what sin is to us, and stimulates the desire to sin, not unlike the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Recall Galatians 3:10-14, that the law places us under a curse. Later, in Galatians 4:3, Paul will define our relationship to the law as one of slavery. In Romans 7:8, Paul states that sin, as our base nature, grabs hold of the concepts in the law in order to produce in us “every kind of covetous desire.” In Colossians 2:20, Paul argues that we are submitted to the world’s rules. Regardless, the concept is the same. With or without the law and its rules, we are still trapped. Our base nature is sinful – we are prone to turn away from God and "do our own thing.” The law not only defines what is necessary for morality, but it combines with our sin nature to produce a compulsion to do the very things the law prohibits. Paul spends most of Romans 7 lamenting this basic, common struggle everyone goes through. The answer – the key we need to open the prison door of both sin and the law – is faith in Jesus, a living relationship with the Messiah.

Galatians Journal: Chapter 3, verse 22

Galatians 3:22 But 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.

“the scripture declares” Paul once again personifies the Old Testament – the Law – using the very thing the Judiazers declared was the foundation of this argument to prove his own argument. Unlike the rest of Chapter 3, however, there is no specific scripture reference here – there is instead an overall generalization.

“the whole world is a prisoner to sin” Later in history, in the subsequent letter to the Romans, Paul will go on in depth regarding the universal depravity of man (see Romans 3:10-18). “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” etc. Here, Paul appears to not be pushing the argument as strongly. Perhaps this is because of the audience and the nature of the heresy he is refuting (based on Jewish rather than Gentile tradition)-- the Jews recognized the concept of human sinfulness, that everybody sins, that no one is perfect, and that there is no inherent goodness in man’s nature. But the Jewish teachers of Paul’s day did not take the consequences of sin as seriously as Paul argues they should. Paul uses the word “prisoner.” The implication is a person shut up in jail – imprisoned – behind bars. This implies an inability to change the situation yourself. There is no concept of merely correcting bad behavior, or turning over a new leaf. This is being trapped – locked away, and the key has been thrown away. While Paul doesn’t go into detail here (like he does in Romans 3), his bottom line is the same, and very, very clear – mankind is trapped in its sin. This can be connected back to Galatians 3:10-14 – the concept that we are under a “curse.” No amount of good behavior, obedience, or “brownie points” (some folks half seriously refer to good works as “Jesus points”) can set us free. While the Jews of Paul’s day -- in fact most of society in the Roman Empire, Jew or Gentile -- accepted the concept that all people sinned, they didn’t think that the ultimate consequence was all that bad. (Sounds a lot like the humanistic outlook of American society today, eh?). In Romans 3, Paul uses the Old Testament to prove that depravity is at the heart of man’s nature, and there is no human way out. We are truly “prisoners” of sin.

“that what was promised” The promise is the only way out of the prison. Only by faith in Jesus are we given the key to open that prison door. Only faith in Jesus breaks the curse, and redeems us.