Please have your Bible open at the passage indicated above as you read this article. The writer takes it for granted that you will do this, and consequently all his references to Scripture are in the briefest possible form.
FROM beginning to end this third chapter is filled with contrasts. On the one side we have the law and the works that it demanded, the flesh, upon which the law’s demands were made, and the curse which fell when the law’s demands were broken. On the other side we find the faith of the Gospel, the Spirit given, and blessing bestowed. We have spoken of contrasts, but after all the contrast is really one, only worked out in a variety of different ways.
The Spirit and the flesh are brought into contrast in verse 3. Now in verse 10 we get the curse of the law in contrast with the blessing of believing Abraham. The curse was pronounced against every one that did not continue doing all things that the law demanded. No one did so continue, and hence all who were placed under the law came under the curse. It was enough to be “of the works of the law” —that is, to have to stand or fall in one’s relations Godward by the response one gave to the law’s demands — to be under the curse. Man being what he is, the moment any one has to stand before God on that ground he is lost.
The Jews, who had the law, hardly seem to have realized this. On the contrary they looked upon the law as being the means of their justification. Contented with a very superficial obedience to some of its demands, they were “going about to establish their own righteousness,” as Paul puts it in Romans 10:33For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. (Romans 10:3). In this of course they utterly failed, for in their own Scriptures it, had been put on record that, “the just shall live by faith.” And faith is not the principle upon which the law is based, but rather that of works. The whole matter briefly summed up stands thus: — By law men come under the curse and die. By faith men are justified and live.
The curse which the law pronounced was a perfectly just sentence. The Jew having been placed under the law, its curse rested upon him, and it had to be righteously borne ere it could be lifted off him in the death of Christ the curse was borne, and hence the believing Jew is redeemed from beneath it. In the days of Moses, the curse had been specially connected with the one who died as a transgressor by hanging on a tree. Many a one in ancient days, reading Deuteronomy 21:23,23His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. (Deuteronomy 21:23) may have wondered why the curse was thus linked with death on a tree, as distinguished from death by any other means, such as stoning, or the sword. Now we know. In due season the Redeemer was to bear the curse for others, thus honoring the law, by hanging on a tree. It is another case of how the Scripture foresees!
The bearing of the curse was in view of the bestowal of the blessing. Verse 14 speaks to us of this, presenting the blessing in a twofold way. First, there is “the blessing of Abraham,” which is righteousness. Second, there is the gift of the Spirit, a blessing beyond anything bestowed upon Abraham. The wonder of the work of Christ is this, that righteousness now rests upon Gentiles who believe, as well as upon believers who are Abraham’s children according to the flesh. All who believe are in a spiritual sense the children of Abraham, as verse 7 informed us.
For the moment however the Apostle does not pursue the subject of the Holy Spirit. When we enter chapters 4 we learn something, as to the meaning of His indwelling, and in chapter 5, we have an unfolding of His operations. In our chapter is pursued the subject of the law, and the place it had in the ways of God, and this in order to lead up to the unfolding of the proper Christian position — as stated in the early verses of chapters 4, —which is the central theme of the epistle. And first of all certain difficulties are cleared out of the way; misconceptions and objections flawing from a false view of the functions of the law, held by the Judaizing teachers and doubtless instilled by them into the minds of the Galatians.
The first of these is taken up in verse 15 to 18. In so many minds the covenant of law had completely overshadowed the covenant of promise made with Abraham. But as we have just seen the covenant of law inevitably brings nothing but its curse. Blessing can only be reached by way of the covenant of promise which culminates in Christ. It cannot arrive partly by law and partly by promise. Verse 18 states this. The inheritance of blessing if by the law is not by promise, and this of course is true vice versa. The fact is, it is by promise. Thanks be unto God!
But was not the law intended as a kind of revision of the original testament, a kind of codicil, so to speak? Not at all, for as verse 15 says, it can be neither disannulled nor added thereto. It is an old trick of dishonest men to procure the rejection of a disliked document by foisting into it an addition so contradictory of its main provisions as to stultify the whole. This is not allowed amongst men, and we must not conceive of God’s covenant of promise as being less sacred than human documents. The law, which was not given until 430 years after, has not disannulled it. Nor has it been added to it in order to modify its blessed simplicity. It was never intended to do either of these things.
Verse 16 is worthy of special note, not only because it declares in such an unmistakable way that from the outset the covenant was in view of Christ and His redeeming work, but also because of the remarkable way in which the Apostle argues as to the Old Testament prediction. The Holy Spirit inspired him to hinge the whole point upon the word, “Seed,” being in the singular and not in the plural. Thereby He indicated how fully inspired was His earlier utterance. Not merely was the word inspired, but the exact form of the word. The inspiration was not merely verbal, i.e. hang to do with words, but even literal, i.e. having to do with letters.
Accepting Paul’s argument, stated in the verses we have just considered, a further difficulty might well present itself to any mind. If then the law, given over 400 years after Abraham, had no effect upon the earlier covenant, neither annulling it nor modifying it, does it not seem to have lacked any definite purpose? An objector might declare that such doctrine as this leaves the law shorn of all point and meaning, and feel that he was propounding a regular poser in simply asking, Why then the law?
This is exactly the question with which verse 19 opens. The answer to this is very brief, and it appears to be twofold. In the first place, it was given in order that men’s sins might become, in the breaking of it, definite transgressions. This point is more fully stated in Romans 5:1313(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. (Romans 5:13). In the second place, it served a useful purpose in connection with Israel, filling up the time until the advent of Christ, by prong their need of Him. It was ordained through angels, and through a human mediator, in the person of Moses. But then the very fact of a mediator supposes two parties. God is one; who is the other? Man is the other. And since the whole arrangement was made to hinge upon the doings of man, the other party, it promptly failed.
In definitely convicting men of transgressions the law has done a work of extreme importance. What is right, and what is wrong? What does God require of men? Before the law was given there was some knowledge, and conscience was at work, as is indicated in Romans 2:14, 1514For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) (Romans 2:14‑15). But when the law came, all vagueness disappeared; for all, who were under it, the plea of ignorance totally disappeared and, when brought into judgment for their transgressions, not a shred of an excuse remained. We Gentiles were never formally placed under it, but as a matter of fact we know about it, and our very knowledge of it will make us amenable to the judgment of God in a way and degree unknown to the savage and unenlightened tribes of the earth. So let us take care.
In verse 21 another question is raised, which springs out of the foregoing. Some might jump to the conclusion that if, as shown, the law was not supplementary to the covenant of promise it must necessarily be in opposition to it. This is not so for one moment. Had the law been intended by God to provide righteousness for man, He would have endowed it with power to give life. The law instructed, demanded, urged, threatened and, when it had been broken, it condemned the transgressor to death. Yet none of these things availed. The one thing needful was to bestow upon man a new life, in which it would be as natural to him to fulfill the law, as now it is natural to him to break it. That the law could not do; instead it has proved us all to be under sin, thus revealing our need of that which has been introduced through Christ.
Thus the law, instead of being in any way in opposition, fits in harmoniously with all the rest of God’s great scheme. Until Christ came it has played the part of “the schoolmaster,” acting as our guardian and maintaining some, measure of control. In verse 24 the words, “to bring us,” are in italics, there being no corresponding words in the original. They should not be there. The point is not that the law leads us to Christ, but that it exercised its control as tutor until Christ came. When Christ appeared, a new order of things was instituted, and there was justification for us on the principle of faith, and not by works.
This new order of things is spoken of in verse 23 as the coming of faith. Again in verse 25 we have the words, “after that faith is come.” Faith was found of course in all the saints of Old Testament days, as is shown by Hebrews 11, and by the passage from Habakkuk, quoted in verse 11 of our chapter. When Christ came, the faith of ‘Christ stood revealed, and faith was publicly acknowledged as being the way, and the only way, by which man can have to do with God in blessing. In that sense “faith came,” and its coming marked the inauguration of an entirely new epoch.
By faith in Christ Jesus we have been introduced into the favored place of “sons of God.” The word in verse 26 is “sons,” and not “children.” The saints under the law were like children in a state of infancy; under age, and hence under the schoolmaster. The believer of the present age is like a child who has reached his majority, and hence, leaving the state of tutelage behind, he takes his place as a son in his father’s house. This great thought, which is the controlling thought of the epistle, is more largely developed in the early verses of chapter 4 Before reaching them however, we have three important facts stated in the three closing verses of chapter 3.
By our baptism we have, as a matter of profession, put on Christ. Had we submitted to circumcision we should have put on Judaism, and thereby committed ourselves to the fulfilling of the law for justification. Had we been baptized to John’s baptism we should have put on the robe of professed repentance and committed ourselves to believe on the One that should come after him. As it is we have, if baized to Christ, put on Christ and committed ourselves to that practical expression of the life of Christ which in the next chapter is spoken of as “the fruit of the Spirit.” As sons of God, having now the liberty of the house, we put on Christ as our fitness to be there.
Further, we are “in Christ Jesus,” and consequently we are “all one,” with all distinctions obliterated, whether national, social, or natural. When we get to the last chapter we shall find that in Christ Jesus there is new creation, which accounts for the removal of all the distinctions belonging to the old creation. This new creation work has reached us as to our souls already, though not yet as to our bodies. Hence we cannot as yet take up these things in an absolute way. For that we must wait until we are clothed upon with our bodies of glory at the coming of the Lord. Still even now we are in Christ Jesus, and hence can learn to view each other apart from and as lifted above these distinctions.
We have already had three things which mark the believer of today in contradistinction from believers before Christ came. We are “sons of God;” we have put on Christ;” we are “in Christ Jesus.” The last verse of our chapter gives us a fourth thing: we are “Christ’s,” and belonging to Him we are in a spiritual sense Abraham’s seed, and consequently heirs, not according to law, but to promise.
The opening verses of chapters 4 gather up the thoughts that have occupied the latter part of chapters 3, and summarize them in very crisp fashion. The custom that prevailed in the houses of the nobility — and that still in measure prevail in such circles, —are used as an illustration. The heir to the estate, so long as he is in infancy, is placed under restraint, just as the servants are. Tutors and governors hold him in what appears to him to be bondage. He just has to do as he is told, and as yet he knows not the reason why. He cannot yet be given the full liberty of his father’s house and estate; for his character and intelligence is not yet sufficiently formed. However his father knows when the time will arrive, and the day is fixed when he will come of age and enter into the privileges and responsibilities of life.
It was just thus with God’s people in the former day under the law, which was as a schoolmaster to them. Children they might be, but they were treated as servants, and rightly so. It was no question of their individual eminence as saints of God, but simply of the dispensation in which they lived. No greater man than John the Baptist was ever born, yet as the Lord has told us, “he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matt. 11:1111Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (Matthew 11:11)). In their days God had not yet been fully revealed, redemption had not been accomplished, the Spirit had, not been given. Until these three great events had come to pass, the conditions were not established which permitted the “coming of age” of the people of God. All three did come to pass when on the scenes there arrived the Son of God.
When He came God’s people passed from under the schoolmaster of the law, whose control was exercised according to the “elements,” or “principles,” of the world, and they came under the control of the Spirit of God, exercised according to the principles of grace and of God.
The trouble today with a good many of us is that we have been brought up on loose and easy-going lines, and consequently we know very little of the stern dealings of the righteous old schoolmaster! If only our consciences had been brought more fully under the righteous admonition and condemnation of the law, we should possess a far keener sense of the mighty emancipation which has reached us through the advent of the Son of God.
May God, somehow or other, yet work this sense into all our hearts.
F. B. Hole.