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3:28 In Christ, the distinctions that seem so important to us in our human interactions--our gender, race, and class-- vanish. We have all been “clothed” in Christ, vested with a new dignity.
CHAPTER 3
r. [3:19] Rom 4:15; 5:20; 7:7, 13 / Acts 7:38, 53.
s. [3:20] Dt 6:4.
t. [3:21] Rom 7:7, 10; 8:2–4.
u. [3:22] Rom 3:9–20, 23; 11:32.
v. [3:23] 4:3–5; 5:18.
w. [3:24] 2:16.
x. [3:25] Rom 10:4.
y. [3:26] 4:5–7; Jn 1:12; Rom 8:14–17.
z. [3:27] Rom 6:3; 13:14; Eph 4:24.
a. [3:28] Rom 10:12; 1 Cor 12:13; Col 3:11.
b. [3:29] 3:7, 14, 16, 18; Rom 4:16–17; 9:7 /
Gal 4:1, 7; Rom 4:13–14; 8:17; Heb 6:12; Jas 2:5.
CHAPTER 4
a. [4:3] 3:23 / 4:9; Col 2:20.
b. [4:4] Mk 1:15.
c. [4:5] 3:13, 26.
GALATIANS -
19* Why, then, the law? It was added for transgressions, until the descendant* came to whom the promise had been made; it was promulgated by angels at the hand of a mediator.r 20Now there is no mediator when only one party is involved, and God is one.s 21Is the law then opposed to the promises [of God]? Of course not! For if a law had been given that could bring life, then righteousness would in reality come from the law.t 22But scripture con ned all things under the power of sin, that through faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.u
What Faith Has Brought Us.* 23Before faith came, we were held in custody under law, con ned for the faith that was to be revealed.v 24Consequently, the law was our disciplinarian* for Christ, that we might be justi ed by faith.w 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a disciplinarian.x 26For through faith you are all children of God* in Christ Jesus.y 27* For all of you who were baptized into Christz have clothed yourselves with Christ.* 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.a 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendant, heirs according to the promise.b
4God’s Free Children in Christ.* 1
I mean that as long as the heir is not of age,* he is no di erent
from a slave, although he is the owner of everything, but he is under the supervision of guardians and administrators until the date set by his father. 3a In the same way we also, when we were not of age, were enslaved to the elemental powers of the world.* 4But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,b 5to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption.c 6As
2
* [3:19–22] A digression: if the Mosaic law, then, does not save or bring life, why was it given? Elsewhere, Paul says the law served to show what sin is (Rom 3:20; 7:7–8). Here the further implication is that the law in e ect served to produce transgressions. Moreover, it was received at second hand by angels, through a mediator, not directly from God (Gal 3:19). The law does not, however, oppose God’s purposes, for it carries out its function (Gal 3:22), so that righteousness comes by faith and promise, not by human works of the law.
* [3:19] The descendant: Christ (Gal 3:16). By angels: Dt 33:2– 4 stressed their presence as enhancing the importance of the law; Paul uses their role to diminish its signi cance (cf. Acts 7:38, 53). A mediator: Moses. But in a covenant of promise, where all depends on the one God, no mediator is needed (Gal 3:20).
* [3:23–29] Paul adds a further argument in support of righteousness or justi cation by faith and through God’s promise rather than by works of the law (Gal 2:16; 3:22): as children of God, baptized into Christ, the Galatians are all Abraham’s descendant and heirs of the promise to Abraham (Gal 3:8, 14, 16–18, 29). The teaching in Gal 3:23–25, that since faith (Christianity) has come, we are no longer under the law, could be taken with the previous paragraph on the role of the Mosaic law, but it also ts here as a contrast between the situation before faith (Gal 3:23) and the results after faith has come (Gal 3:25–29).
* [3:24–25] Disciplinarian: the Greek paidagōgos referred to 400
a slave who escorted a child to school but did not teach or tutor; hence, a guardian or monitor. Applying this to the law ts the role of the law described in Gal 3:19–25.
* [3:26] Children of God: literally “sons,” in contrast to the young child under the disciplinarian in Gal 3:24–25. The term includes males and females (Gal 3:28).
* [3:27–28] Likely a formula used at baptism that expresses racial, social-economic, and sexual equality in Christ (cf. Col 3:11).
* [3:27] Clothed yourselves with Christ: literally, “have put on Christ”; cf. Rom 13:14; Eph 4:24; Col 3:10. Baptismal imagery, traceable to the Old Testament (Jb 29:14; Is 59:17) but also found in pagan mystery cults.
* [4:1–7] What Paul has argued in Gal 3:26–29 is now elaborated in terms of the Christian as the heir (Gal 4:1, 7; cf. Gal 3:18, 29) freed from control by others. Again, as in Gal 3:2–5, the proof that Christians are children of God is the gift of the Spirit of Christ relating them intimately to God.
* [4:1, 3] Not of age: an infant or minor.
* [4:3] The elemental powers of the world: while the term
can refer to the “elements” like earth, air, re, and water or to elementary forms of religion, the sense here is more likely that of celestial beings that were thought in pagan circles to control the world; cf. Gal 4:8; Col 2:8, 20.
* [4:6] Children: see note on Gal 3:26; here in contrast to the infant or young person not of age (Gal 3:1, 3). Abba: cf. Mk 14:36 and the note; Rom 8:15.