Re-Created to Live in Harmony

February 5, 2017 Background Scripture: Galatians 3:26 – 4:7 Lesson Passage: Galatians 3:26 – 29; 4:1 – 7 The text of our lesson today is like the closing argument of a defense attorney. At the beginning of Paul’s letter to the churches in the region of Galatia, he did several things. He first identified himself as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. He went on to defend his apostleship as genuine and his work for the Lord as authentic. Then Paul proceeded to establish that the salvation of the Christians in Galatia was made sure because of their faith in Christ brought about by Paul’s preaching of the gospel message. Their faith was made sure because they had received the Holy Spirit as the earnest of their inheritance in Christ. They did not receive the Holy Spirit because they had performed specific acts specified in the Law but because they trusted Christ. Paul was disturbed because some Jewish Christians had been teaching that Gentiles who were saved needed to also participate in some of the rituals specified by the Law. This teaching caused confusion in the churches of Galatia and as a result some of the Christians there were also trying to perform the rituals of the Law. The presence of Jewish and Gentile Christians in the churches and in the same region had caused confusion as to what constituted salvation. Paul explained that God promised salvation to all races of people through the seed of Abraham over four hundred years before the Law was given and therefore salvation is by promise and not by the Law. Furthermore, some of the Jewish Christians were starting to separate themselves from the Gentile Christians socially. Paul confronted some of the pillars of the church because they set a bad example which caused that behavior. Having settled all of that, Paul then turned to the theme of unity within the body of Christ. The Law made many distinctions among the keepers of the Law. There were requirements and restrictions depending on which group a follower of the Law belonged to. There were guidelines based on gender, race, and economic status. But in Christ, there are no distinctions because all who are in Christ are considered children of Abraham by faith. This status of being children of Abraham through faith entitles Christians to be heirs of the promise God made to Abraham. Meanwhile, Paul does not discard his brethren the Jews. Rather, he likens the Jews to heirs who are minor children. Although minor children may be heirs, as long as they are children, they are under tutors or baby sitters and exercise none of the rights of heirs but are regarded very much like hired servants. Paul uses this analysis to suggest that the role of the Law is that of a tutor preparing the children as future heirs. So Christians should not be attempting to imitate the Jews by observing the rituals of the Law because the grace of God makes that unnecessary. Likewise, the Jews who have accepted Christ should realize that their salvation did not come through the ritualistic keeping of the Law but through their faith in Christ. In Christ, we have all been recreated to live in harmony through faith and not rituals. Robert C. Hudson January 5, 2017