By Kyle Beshears
Associate Dean and Assistant Professor of Christian Studies, University of Mobile
True Heirs
Galatians 3:23–29; 4:1–7
An Old Guardian (3:23–25)
If Paul revealed that the law was never intended to save us through our obedience to it, then the obvious question should be asked: “Why then was the law given?” (Gal. 3:19). The short answer is guardianship. The law was given to Israel as a guardian over them, to instruct and correct their hearts until the Messiah would come.
But the law was not just any guardian, generally overlooking behavior and practices to ensure that Israel got the gist of it. No, this guardian was strict and severe. The law nit-picked at every imperfection, flaw and sin of God’s people in a bid to demonstrate how fallen they were without God. And as the law beat Israel down, they forgot that the promises of God made to Abraham predated the law.
We must never forget that God initiates relationships with loving promises, and only afterwards issues commands to obey. Israel paid more attention to their strict guardian than the gracious promise that preceded it, and we so often fall into the same trap.
When the Lord Jesus came, we were placed under a new guardian. Jesus Christ not only taught us the law, He demonstrated it as well. And to top it off, He has promised us the Holy Spirit to indwell and empower us for obedience to God’s will (John 14:26).
We can know this for certain, because “all the promises of God find their yes in Him” (2 Cor. 1:20). And with our new guardian came a new community in which to live within God’s perfect will.
A New Community (3:26–28)
Paul tells us that in Christ we are all family. The things that formerly divided us evaporate in the unifying power of the gospel. The world has a way of bestowing its favor on certain races, economic statuses and genders.
God’s economy works differently. He does not favor people because of the color of their skin, how wealthy they are or whether they are male or female. God shows his favor on whom He wills, to anyone created in His image and likeness (Gen. 1:26). He sees past race, money and gender into the heart of a person. The gospel is for all people without exclusion, and God is building His new community in incredible diversity.
As the world works to divide God’s people among external diversity, the gospel works to unite them through internal conviction. Through faith in Christ, we are adopted into God’s family forever no matter who we are.
A New Position (3:29; 4:1–7)
Why is adoption into God’s family so important? It gives us a new lease on life, freeing us from a terrible master.
Before faith in Christ, we are people who work against God by serving sin. However, faith in Christ liberates us from the jail cell of disobedience. By God’s grace, He rips off the jail cell doors, pulls us out of captivity and escorts us to the family courtroom for adoption.
Salvation means that the Lord simultaneously declares us free from the penalty of sin and adopts us into His family to bear His name well among the nations. It is as if we stand in one courtroom to hear the judge declare us “not guilty” and then immediately escorted across the hall to another courtroom where we are declared God’s children by legal adoption.
From that moment on, we enjoy the incredible gift of crying out to God as our Father, provider, discipliner, protector, role model and encourager. We are no longer a mere slave to sin but a child of God.
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