Galatians 3:15-29
Monday, 29 January 2024
“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith…. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” - Galatians 3:24&26
The Epistle to the Galatians is much about Christian liberty. Legalistic religion and false doctrines had crept into the churches in Galatia, insisting that faith in Christ alone was not sufficient, but also obedience to the Mosaic Law and observance of Jewish traditions. When Apostle Paul hears about the transition of the believers from grace to works, he write this letter to the church to address this thorny problem that existed in the church.
The church had fallen away from a faith based on relationship to a religion based on the laws, from life lived by the grace of God, back to a life of merit, from a life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit to a life dependent on the flesh and human wisdom. In today’s reading we see how Paul confronts this lie by highlighting how the law is temporary, and though it is good in itself it cannot not help people out of their sin and that we all need a Saviour!
So why was the Law given? What was its ultimate purpose?
The God-fearing Jews thought that keeping the Law would earn them the favour of God. But this was not so! The main purpose of the Law was three-fold:
I. Reveals our weakness - In Rom 3:20 Paul writes that through the Law we become conscious of sin
II. Shows our sinfulness – Rom.5:13& 14 reminds us that people have been sinning ever since the time of Adam, but it was not counted as sin because there was no Law to break. But once God introduced the law, every man knew exactly where he had failed.
III. Brings us to Christ- Gal.3:24 says the Law was our tutor to bring us to Christ.
So now the purpose is clear! Observance of the Law can never save a man- it only brings more condemnation. Though the law could clearly reveal how crooked we are, it had no remedy to break the power of sin over our lives, thus leading every seeker to the only Source and Author of salvation—Jesus Christ!
So what is the way out? Gal.3: 22 [TLB] states –“The only way out is through faith in Jesus Christ; the way of escape is open to all who believe in him.”
How does this transform us? Gal.3:26-29 points to three outcomes:
· Changes our position - This act of faith transforms us from being a sinner to becoming a son and an heir to the promise that was given to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3.
· Changes our heritage – When we believe in Jesus Christ for our salvation, we become a part of God’s family.
· Changes our standing – Social and gender barriers to salvation are broken. We have equal standing before God.
Through Jesus Christ, we have the great privilege of being sons and daughters of God—not by any merit of ours, but by His grace alone!
Have we at times drifted like the believers in Galatia, turned to legalistic religious practices in an effort to please God? Let us be careful not to add anything of our own to what the love and grace of God have freely given us. Being set free from every legalistic and ritualistic observances, as members of God’s family, belonging to Christ by faith, may we along with other believers walk in His freedom and in His love, taking our place in God’s plan.
Remember: Our salvation is “by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.”
Listen: 'Law fulfilled in Christ'