Galatians 3:23-29 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Galatians 3:23-29. Let’s go!
Galatians 3:23-25 (NIV)
23 Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.
24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.
25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
On verses 23-25: In Galatians 3:23-25, Paul talks more about this question: if God’s plan was that we would be justified by faith in Jesus Christ, what was the point of God giving us the law through Moses?
Paul’s answer: the law was put in place to govern and watch over God’s people until Jesus Christ came. Paul compares God’s law to a guardian who takes care of you when you are still young, and how when you become an adult that guardian no longer has authority over you. Like a guardian taking care of children, God’s law was there to watch over God’s people and to protect them from harm. But when those children get older, they no longer need a guardian. The babysitter is gone. In the same way, when Christ arrived, we no longer needed to be under the supervision of the law, because the One we were always meant to belong to has come. We of course still keep in mind what our guardian taught us, but now we’re under new management, under a new ruler: not the law, but Jesus Christ (Romans 6:14-15; Galatians 5:18).
Galatians 3:26-27 (NIV)
26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,
27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
On verses 26-27: In verses 26 and 27, Paul says that “all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” We are justified by faith in Christ, and when we get baptized to evidence our faith in Christ, we are clothed with Christ. Now there is no doubt as to whom we believe and to whom we belong. So don’t just put your faith in Jesus. Make sure to evidence that faith by getting baptized too.
Galatians 3:28-29 (NIV)
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
On verses 28 to 29: Paul says that because we are all justified by faith in Christ, distinctions that used to seem so important — Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female — are no longer as important (v28). What matters most is that through faith in Christ we all are children of Abraham and heirs of the righteousness that God promised to Abraham’s seed (v29). It’s a good reminder that when we look at other Christians, we are to see past distinctions such as race, gender, culture or economic status, and instead see each other based on our primary identity: children of God and heirs of God’s promise.
Thank You Father for the law, which was like our guardian, watching over us until the One we are always meant to belong to appeared: Jesus Christ. Thank You that through faith in Jesus Christ we are children of God and that now we have reason to see one another — more than anything else — as brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank You, Lord, for being my King and giving me a spiritual family! In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
