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Galatians 3.27-4.7
May 12th 2019
Milk
So we left off with Paul saying:
Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
And we covered this at length. And now he adds:
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
And then he adds in (chapter 4)
Galatians 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
(On Board)
Capability
Responsibility
Accountability
1st John 3:22-23
By Faith By Love for
God and Man
Babes/Children Sons/Daughters
Alright let’s go back to verse 27.
After saying in verse 26 last week:
“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus,” he says:
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
I would suggest that at this point Paul shifts from discussing justification before God through faith alone to the Christian walk. And so he says:
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into (or unto) Christ have put on Christ.
Because this is what the scholars call the “first aorist passive indicative of baptize,” the better translation says:
“were baptized unto Christ” which is in reference to Christ. Interestingly, of all the translations I checked only one adopts this turn of phrase, unto and instead retain, into.
But the meaning is, “Did put on Christ” rather than did you enter into Christ.
This putting on Christ speaks to putting him on like a badge or uniform like a soldier as the verb is commonly used in the sense of putting on garments.
Other places use this imagery like:
Romans 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Colossians 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
In 1st Thessalonians 5:8 Paul speaks of “putting on the breastplate of righteousness.”
So, to be consistent with the language of scripture I do not think Paul is saying here that one enters “into Christ himself” as much as he puts on Christ at His water baptism.
Now, is this suggesting that we are somehow saved by water baptism? If it is then everything we have been reading for the past five or six weeks has been a waste of time.
The reality is Paul is saying just the opposite. We are justified by faith in Christ, not by circumcision or by baptism. But baptism was (and continues to be) the public profession and pledge of total fealty to Christ and served as the public profession that a person was taking a stand with Jesus of Nazareth.
The stance of faith which justifies the sinner has already been well established.
Tying this identity of uniform of Christ, a person in that age put on, we read in Romans 6:4-6:
Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
AGAIN – AGAIN – all apart from the justification by faith which Paul has plainly established.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized unto Christ have put on Christ.
Now, in all probability this passage is speaking of water baptism for those who had come to faith.
But there is a chance that Paul, when speaking of the “many of you as have been baptized unto Christ” he is speaking of those who have been baptized unto Christ spiritually or by the Spirit or the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire that John the Baptist said Yeshua was coming to bring.
I think this is just as viable an interpretation as applying it to water baptism in my estimation.
Whichever way Paul meant, he says that in so doing they have, “put on Christ.” And he adds (verse 28)
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
There is neither Jew nor Greek. All are on a level – all are saved in the same way – all are entitled to the same privileges.
There is no favoritism on account of birth, beauty, blood or rituals.
All who place their faith on Christ to save them will be saved by the merits of the same Savior and all are admitted to the same privileges as children of God justified by faith.
Of course the term “Greek,” here is used to denote the Gentiles generally; since the whole world was divided by the Jews into “Jews and Greeks.”
The Syriac renders it here “Aramean,” using the word to denote the Gentiles generally.
But the meaning is the same: that whatever was the birth, or rank, gender nation, color, complexion, or status all under the gospel were on a level.
Note that when Paul adds that “there is neither male nor female,” that it was intended to abolish the distinction of the sexes relative to God:
No male or female in Christ.
Circumcision is of the heart now. Because of this I see the distinctions made in the Apostolic Record as pertinent to that day and age and not a continual state of things. (like women not speaking in church and/or having their heads covered.
Paul adds:
“For ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
In Him, Paul wrote, we (believers baptized unto Christ – whatever that means) are equal, on the same level and entitled to the same privileges – all – everyone.
And he progresses with his message, saying:
29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
The promise made to Abraham related to the Messiah. It was a promise that in him all should be blessed. Blessed how? By his progeny bring forth the Promised Messiah.
And if (or since perhaps) you be Christians, then you are Abraham’s seen, “and heirs according to the promise.”
To be heirs of God means you inherit the blessings promised to Abraham, and partake in all the blessings to which he looked forward.
Again, not by the Law, but by faith – according to the promise made to him by God.
You have become truly heirs of God, and this is in accordance with the promise made to Abraham who was justified by faith.
But it is not by the obedience of the law; it is by faith–in the same way that Abraham possessed the blessing – an arrangement before the giving of the law, and therefore one that may include all, whether Jews or Gentiles.
All are on a level; and all are alike the children of God, and in the same manner, and on the same terms that Abraham was.
So, let’s move into chapter 4 where Paul speaks to something I touched on last week, saying at verses 1-2:
1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Now, last week I gave an example of a couple having three dozen children and how they could reasonably say that all of them were their children but only this one or that one were worthy (so to speak) of being called Sons and Daughters.
This was a poor example – it holds some value but not so much in terms of people becoming Children of God by faith and then becoming Sons and Daughters by adoption.
Let me explain.
Any person who becomes a child of God by faith has the ability to become a son or daughter of God.
And we might even say that any and all who retains faith WILL become a son or daughter.
Is it possible to become a child of God by faith and NOT be adopted by the father as a Son or Daughter?
Some say no – I think scripture says otherwise – in far too many places to ignore – but the most obvious comes from the mouth of Jesus who taught the following:
Matthew 13:18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
This type describes a creature who never comes to faith and therefore never becomes a child of God.
20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and with total joy receiveth it;
21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that (1) heareth the word, and (2) understandeth it; and (3) which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
This third heart soil person:
Hears the Word (tacitly believes it (a child) – FAITH OX
Understands it – SPIRIT
Also begins to bear fruit of love (the product of a true Son or Daughter) -LOVE CART
So, Paul, speaking about children and not sons, says at verse 1-2:
1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
These passages describe a person who has come to faith but remains a babe or child in Christ.
And while babes or children, Paul says, even though they are heirs to God and Lord’s of all, they remain as possessing nothing more than a servant.
As long as he is a babe-child, or until he arrives at the age of true ability – account-ability and respons-ability – he, the child, paidon, (which best means infant or babe) “differs not one bit from a common servant.”
Meaning, that he or she has no more control of anything relative to his fathers estate than a servant. In fact, he has less command of the property than a servant. Why? He or she has no cap-ability to serve the Father in the capacity of loving maturity.
What do babes and children do in Christ?
They have not control over their flesh yet – so carnality continues to dominate over them.
They lack understanding of spiritual things, and understand the faith carnally and with the carnal mind.
And more than anything else, they cause disruptions, divisions, uproars, and fighting. Remember what Paul said to the Church at Corinth. He wanted to teach and speak to them important things, things of the Spirit, things that move a babe into maturity to become Sons and daughters – but they would not.
And he says to them:
1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
At the end of Hebrews chapter 5 the writer is speaking of Melchizedek and writes:
Hebrews 5:11 Of whom (meaning Melchizedek) we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Babes and children are not naturally attuned to the meatier things from the Word. They have to hear and understand and grow thereby ultimately producing fruits of love.
A babe in Christ can no more produce spiritual fruits of love than a tiny new shoot from a branch can bear fruit.
In the faith, the growth and maturity comes by hearing the word and then understanding it- which is why we focus on the word here – to help nourish all people and strengthen them so as to be able to grow, bear fruits of love, and one day be adopted (or called) by the Father to be a son and daughter.
Speaking of the secular world of his day, Paul adds in his illustration of the Lord who is a child:
2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
He or she is subject to the control and direction of tutors and governors of the household, servants of the Lord of the House, really, who were there to teach and instruct the child to maturity.
For how long?
“Until the time appointed of the father.”
The time when the father of the house sees that the child has now become a capable son or daughter, who has responsibility and accountability and capability to actually represent him as His own.
It’s the time set for the child to enter into his inheritance. So now Paul makes the parallel for us, saying at verse 3
3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Remember, Paul is teaching the gentile believers from Gaul why they were foolish to embrace the Law. This is the context.
So when we read verse 3 we cannot assign it to ourselves – the we is the Jews.
And so he says, teaching them why they were wrong to embrace the Law as believers, “Even so,” (relative to the story or illustration he had just given them) “Even so we, when we were children, were in BONDAGE under the elements of the world.”
When we were under severe discipline and regimen of the law.
(and remember, what does the presence of the law produce? Sin. Shame. Guilt, Wrath. And Death).
So Paul says that when they were under the Law (as children of Israel) they were “in bondage, under the elements of the world.”
Now, a little trickiness is needed here to understand what Paul means using these terms to describe what put the Nation in Bondage as children.
The word rendered “elements” here means “a row or series of something” or it can mean, “a little step” or anything rudimentary – like a simple sound or a letter or row of letters, like ABCDE etc.
In the New Testament it is often applied to the first lessons or principles of the faith. In chemistry or geology it is applied to the elements or component parts of the physical world.
So remember, Paul is talking about infants and babes under the rules and governance of tutors.
This is the context.
And he now speaks to what the Children of Israel were under that kept them “in bondage to the elements of the world.”
I suggest that what he is speaking of is the Law, which, like a child being under tutors and governors, kept them in bondage to the most elemental things relative to God.
We note that Paul says that this was bondage to them. Couple that line with my interpretation that it was the Law that kept them in bondage and we have a basis to check my assertion.
It is not a mistake that throughout the Apostolic Record that the word Bondage is often tied to the law – and that Paul is constantly telling believers not to allow themselves to get trapped up in its web.
I mean, this very epistle opens up with Paul saying in Galatians 2:4
“And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.”
Then later in this chapter (verse 9) Paul will write:
“But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?”
And then he will reiterate in Galatians 5:1:
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
In Colossians 2:8 and then in verse 20 Paul writes
Colossians 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments (same Greek term here Paul uses in Galatians) of the world, and not after Christ.
He adds 12 verses later:
20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
And finally, the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 9 beginning at verse 8, and saying (to them at that time and in that age):
8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary is not yet opened as long as the outer temple is still standing
9 (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper,
10 but deal only with food and drink and various ablutions, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect temple (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)
12 he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
13 For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh,
14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
So, back to Galatians, Paul is telling them that the COI were kept in bondage to the fundamentals, the rudiments, first principles of the Law. Then he adds at verse 4
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
But when the fulness of the time was come, of course, speaks to the time appointed by the Father when the completion (fullness) of every pre-requisite had occurred.
Some openly wonder why Yeshua did not come sooner and why mankind did not have the benefit of his incarnation and atonement immediately after the fall?
Why were four thousand dark and gloomy years allowed to roll on allowing the world to sink into deeper ignorance and sin?
(long beat)
No idea.
Why have thousands of years passed before we had a vaccination for polio?
All I can say is I trust that it has something to do with freedom, God working His will into the world of man, his foreknowledge, and there is not much more to say on this.
I will trust that it was the right time all things considered that “God sent forth his Son.”
Now, to be fair, this line is quite supportive of the claims of Creedal Trinitarianism – and I do NOT want to only teach the things that make me wonder about it.
I mean in the English this phrase implies that the Son of God, even Jesus if you wish, had a personal being existence before his incarnation.
To add to this idea are passages like:
John 16:28 where Jesus said of Himself:
“I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
We recall that John wrote in John 13:3
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God,”
John 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God; I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.
So, there is ZERO question – at all – that Jesus came from the Father, or as John 13:3 says, Jesus had come from God and was going to God.
No debate here.
But re-read this passage with me and pay particular attention to the wording:
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
God (who is the Father according to Paul) sent FORTH HIS SON who was MADE of a Woman, Made under the Law.
So again, I suggest that Jesus of Nazareth became the Son of God at conception as Jesus of Nazareth was MADE of a woman and was MADE under the Law.
What came forth from God to earth, again I maintain, was NOT a Son – God’s Son was MADE of a Woman, and was MADE under the Law. What came forth from God was (according to scripture) God’s logos – His mind, will, emotion, intentions, words and entering into humanity BECAME God’s Son . . . made of a woman, made under the Law.
Why did God have His only begotten Son made of a woman, made under the Law? (verse 5)
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
We must admit that Paul is speaking still of the House of Israel. And that God sent forth His only human Son, born of a woman, born under the law to
REDEEM THEM THAT WERE UNDER THE LAW THAT WE MIGHT RECEIVE THE ADOPTION OF SONS.
Now, this is really a slippery verse and the only way to get ahold of it is to really examine the verbiage carefully.
Let me re-read it (with emphasis) verses 4 through 6:
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, (who were the Jews, the Children of Israel) that we (those who put their faith on and in Christ) might receive the adoption of sons.
6 And because you are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
7 Wherefore you are no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Them – We – YOU
He came for . . .
Them – The COI under the law, so that
We – the Justified by faith in Him who came – might receive the adoption of Sons (and then Paul says to them them, the Galatians) and because
YOU – those who had been adopted by the Father as Sons,
God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, abba, father.”
One more pass by – by His death as an atoning sacrifice for those under the LAW, those that were under the law (who were sinners because they had violated the Law) were redeemed SO THAT WE (those who look to His offering for sin in faith) Might receive the adoption of Sons.
This was the plan and purpose – first, to redeem them that were under the Law, and second, so that “we” (all the rest of us from that day forward and forever more) may receive the adoption of sons.
Does that happen at rebirth and receiving Christ by faith? Not any more than a babe is handed the Kingdom of His father but only after we have, by the Word, become capable, responsible, and accountable.
At that time the Father adopts us as His own, and it is in this state that all Children receive the Spirit of His Son in them, that causes us to call the Father, even God Himself, papa.
(Beat)
Let’s let all of this sink in for a while as we will stop here for today.
I just want to reiterate that like God and his plan for bringing forth His only begotten Son, born of a woman, born under the Law at the right time, we also receive the adoption of Sons and Daughters according to Him and His timing.
The influence and affect of the Word in our lives, the presence of the Holy Spirit, our desire and willingness to trust Him and His will, all seem to play a role in the preparation requisite to adoption – but knowing a little about God – I’m sure He adopts some who never meet such criteria. We will talk more about this next week.
Questions/Answers – Prayer
