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From
Custody to Christ: Law versus Promise Our working theme for Galatians: “Grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as taught in Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone” GOD’S PROMISE OF BLESSING THROUGH FAITH WAS GIVEN TO
ABRAHAM’S SEED 430 YEARS BEFORE THE LAW WAS GIVEN AT SINAI (Galatians
3:15-18) promise (epaggelia) – occurs 8x in Gal.3:14-29 (vv.14,16,17,18 [2x],21,22,29). In context, promise is the antithesis to law (works). God cannot break His promises which is a good thing seen that we have broken the law. Interestingly, the Hebrew language has no word for “promise” and yet the Apostles often spoke of Genesis in terms of promise (Acts 7:5,17; 13:23,32,33; 26:6,7). Nevertheless, the concept of promise is spoken of in terms of God’s “blessing,” “oath,” “covenant,” and “word.” law (nomos) – occurs 8x in Gal.3:15-29 (vv.17,18,19,21 [3x],23,24). In context, law is the antithesis to promise (faith). Paul is expanding his argument from faith versus works to promise versus law. The comparison Paul is making is between Abraham (promise/faith) and Moses (law/works). The big question is, How do we harmonize the two? Answer: Jesus Christ. A. A brief history from Abraham to Moses. B. Paul’s point in Gal.3:15-18 is that Abraham inherited the promises of God (righteousness) through faith and not through Law. C. In vv.15-18 Paul is using the most common method of argumentation from Scripture in the 1st century: qal vahomer (Hebrew for “light and heavy”). This principle teaches that what is true or applicable in a “light” (or less important) instance is surely true or applicable in a “heavy” (or more important) instance. 1. Abraham was justified through faith alone. He had to have been because he was reckoned righteous before he was circumcised and 400 years before the Law was given to Moses. 2. The covenant given at Mount Sinai could not change the fact that justification is by faith alone. a. The covenant with Abraham can’t be “rewritten”. b. A will/testament cannot be changed after the testator dies and it goes through probate court. c. If a testament of man cannot be changed after it is ratified how much less God’s covenant with Abraham! “[I]f the law had been necessary for salvation, it would have come too late to do Abraham any good! When God gave Moses the law, Abraham had been dead for centuries” (Ryken, Galatians p.126). WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW GIVEN AT SINAI IF IT
CANNOT IMPART SONSHIP? (Galatians 3:19-25) A. Paul has made so many statements against the Judaizers heretical views of the law that it sounds as if Paul is anti-Moses! (see Acts 21:20-21,27-28) 1. Spirit comes through faith and not Law (Gal.3:2). 2. Abraham was justified by faith and not by law (Gal.3:6-9). 3. Cursed is everyone who does not do all things written in the law (Gal.3:10-14). B. “Why the Law then?” (Gal.3:19) If the promise given to Abraham and his seed cannot be
changed then what was the point of the Law? Why didn’t redemptive history simply
go from Abraham to David? (v.19a) 1. because of sin! (v.19) 2. The Law was given to shut everyone up under sin (vv.22-23) 3. The law was a tutor pointing us to our need for faith in Jesus Christ (v.24) 4. We are no longer “under” a tutor (v.25). “One wit has quipped that there are as many interpretations of verse 20 as there were years between the promise and the law!...James Montgomery Boice thinks that this is probably the most obscure verse in the entire New Testament, while John Brown goes further, and calls it ‘one of the most perplexing passages in the whole “Book of God”.’” (Peter Barnes, Galatians p.165) How do you harmonize promise and law? shut up (sugkleio) (v.22; see Romans 11:32) – confine. Paul’s point is that apart from Christ all (Jew and Gentile) are circumscribed by sin, “For God has shut up (sugkleio) all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all” (Romans 11:32). custody (phroureo) (v.23) – to guard. It can mean keep some from getting out (2 Cor.11:32) and to keep others/enemies from getting in (cf. Acts 23:12-35; Phil.4:7; 1 Peter 1:5). In Roman times prisons were principally places to hold people until the disposition of their cases and weren’t intended as means of “correcting” the guilty (Danker and Bauer, 1067). tutor (paidagogos) (v.25) – guardian, trainer, instructor. “The pedagogue was a slave guardian appointed by a father to supervise his son’s activities and behavior from the time the child woke up in the morning until he went to bed at night (see Longenecker 1982; Lull 1986; Young 1987). A boy came under the pedagogue’s control at about age six and remained under his authority until well after puberty. Pedagogues had a reputation for harshness, which was not unwarranted, as the cane, the whip, and the rod were basic accoutrements of the pedagogue’s art. Severity was not the universal practice, however. Many pedagogues fulfilled their role with kindness and endeared themselves to their charges in a life-long bond. Nevertheless, whether bad or good, the pedagogue’s administration always terminated when the boy came of age and became his own master” (Norman H. Young, “The Figure of the Paidagōgos in Art and Literature”; Biblical Archaeologist: Volume 53).
Various aspects of the pedagogue’s task have been preserved in artistic representations, such as this vase painting from Cervetri (Italy). Dating to the fifth century b.c.e., the painting depicts young Hercules being followed by his nurse, Geropso, in the role of pedagogue. (Norman H. Young, “The Figure of the Paidagōgos in Art and Literature”; Biblical Archaeologist: Volume 53). C. The law as given at Sinai was only for a limited time. Note the temporal categories: 1. “until” (3:19) 2. “before” “later” (3:23) 3. “to the time of” (3:24) 4. “as long as” (4:1) 5. “when the fullness of the time came” (4:4) |
