a brief summary:
In Part 1 and 2, we read Paul’s introduction and brief autobiography establishing that he was a very learned man of the Jewish Law (Torah and Talmud). He then begins to chastise the Galatians for turning from the faith to embrace the oral traditions held by the Jewish leaders (traditions Paul was a strong proponent of before Christ spoke to him on the road to Damascus). Paul reminds the Galatians of the ‘great debate’ with the ‘Circumcision Party’ (CP) that was spelled out in Acts 15 and that they were slipping back into traditions (salvation through works) championed by the CP that were contrary to the faith preached by Jesus and the Apostles (salvation through faith).
Let’s continue with Galatians 3:22-25:
Was God’s Law a Schoolmaster that Has Been Abolished at the Cross?
There are seven different “Laws” Paul teaches in his letters (e.g., the law of sin and death, the law of the spirit of life, etc.). If you do not understand these different laws and how they all relate, then you will misunderstand much of what Paul shares in all his letters.
Galatians 3:22
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
So, according to Paul, Scripture concludes that all are “under sin.” Paul also states the same thing in Romans 3:10-20.
All those who do not know the way of peace (Romans 3:17) and have no fear of God (Romans 3:18) are unbelievers. God’s law declares (since all are unrighteous and have broken it) that the whole world is under the law as they are guilty (Romans 3:19).
Thus it is unbelievers that are under the law. Unbelievers (without faith in Jesus Christ) are “under the law” because of their disobedience.
If we go back to the charter of God’s law, we find out that means the “curse of the law” (Deuteronomy 11:26) and Paul also refers to this as the “law of sin and death” (Romans 6:14; 8:1-3).
Deuteronomy 11:26-28
26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
Gods law blesses and curses:
Deuteronomy 11:26-27; Psalm 112:1; Psalm 119:1-2; Psalm 128:1; Proverbs 8:32; Isaiah 56:2; Matthew 5:6; Matthew 5:10; Luke 11:28; James 1:25; 1 Peter 3:14; Revelation 22:14
Because we all have been disobedient we all are under the curse of the law as intended.
Going back to Galatians 3:22, since “all are under sin,” then all are under the law of “sin and death” since death follows sin (Romans 5:12; Galatians 3:10-13).
There is a critical reason that Paul states, in verse 22, that we were all once “under sin.” The reason is because that is the context.
Is the context God’s law? NO!
Is God’s law sin? God forbid (Romans 7:7). We are under sin!
Thus we know that the next verse is not about God’s law, but the “law of sin and death.” Watch what happens when we apply the context correctly.
Galatians 3:22
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
This (being under the Law of Sin) is what we need to recognize before we have faith.
We learn earlier in chapter 3 (Galatians 3:10-13) that sin places us under the curse (the second death) of the law (Romans 5:12) and that in faith we are no longer under it (Galatians 3:10-13; Romans 6:14, 8:1-3).
So in 3:10-13 Paul explains the fact that we are no longer under the curse of the law (of sin and death) in faith. In 3:22-25, Paul teaches us the purpose of the “curse of the law” (law of sin and death).
Galatians 3:22
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin (law of sin), that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Leads into…
Galatians 3:23
But before faith came, we were kept under the law (which law?), shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
So, before we had faith, we were under the law (of sin). Verse 22 defines what we were under, which is sin. Faith comes through belief in Christ Jesus. Since very few have met Jesus, he had to be expounded through the Word and the letters of the Apostles.
Sin is defined as breaking God’s law. Paul already explained the consequences of sin a few verses earlier in verse 3:10:
for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
Galatians 3:10
Thus if 3:22 says all are under sin (law of sin) then by what Paul just taught us a few lines earlier we must then conclude that I am under the curse (death) of the law because of my sin (law of sin and death) which Paul already said the solution is the finished work on the cross by faith (3:13).
We cannot be free of the law of sin (do you know any sinless people?) but we can be freed of the curse (death) of sin through faith in Christ. Therefore, this must be the “law of sin and death” and we are cursed and thus we need a Savior to rid ourselves of this curse.
Do you see how context defines everything?
Many just quote verses 23-25 and ignore verse 22 and they never consider which law Paul is declaring us to be under before our faith. Remember, we are “under the law (of sin)” before our faith.
If being “under the law” was about keeping God’s law, what in the world would keeping God’s law have to do with being before we come into the faith? Before faith we knew nothing about God’s law.
That is why Paul is “difficult to understand” to those who are “ignorant” and “unstable.” Right here is just another example in which readers of Paul abolish God’s law and “make the error of lawless men“) (2 Peter 3:15-17)
The “law of sin and death” is the “curse of the law.” It is the result or consequence of breaking God’s law that we did not even know existed before our faith.
for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20b; see, also Romans 7:7)
Before faith we are in bondage and do not even know it until we read or hear God’s law. Faith is “shut up” or “closed” to us until the moment that we realize that we are in bondage under the penalty of breaking God’s law.
It is when we realize that we are in prison (law of sin, cursed, bondage) that we realize that we need to be freed.
We cannot realize that we need to be freed until we realize that we are in bondage. Who is going to escape from a prison unless they know they are in prison? That is the first thing that the Law of God is to teach us (as the schoolmaster) . . . we are ALL guilty of breaking it and thus deserve death (the curse).
This is exactly what Galatians 3:24 teaches us.
The “law of sin and death” escorts us or brings us to Christ by pointing out that we are in bondage / cursed. It is not until the “law of sin and death” teaches us that we are cursed and in bondage that we come to Christ in faith as our Savior, otherwise we would have no reason to come to Him (no one looks for salvation until they understand that they need salvation).
Galatians 3:24
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. (See, also, Romans 7:7: “. . . I had not known sin, but by the law . . . .”)
We need the “curse of the law” or “law of sin and death” to teach us that we are in bondage (under sin – 3:22) in order to ‘bring us’ (escort?) us to our Messiah. It is to teach us to have faith and trust in His perfect grace as the perfect practicing of the Word made flesh who became cursed for us on the tree.
Galatians 3:25
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. [see my blog: School’s Out?]
After that faith has come, we are no longer under the curse (law of sin and death). Before faith, we are under the law of sin and death (curse) and after faith, we are no longer under the law of sin and death (curse).
Let’s even pretend for a moment that the “schoolmaster” is the “law of God” instead of the “law of sin and death.” Here is what the verse would be saying:
Before faith = we are under the “law of God.” After faith = we are not under the “law of God.”
Does that even make any sense? Of course not! When we apply the context, here is what happens: Before faith, we are under the “law of sin and death (curse)” – After faith, we are not under the “law of sin and death (curse)” Paul is saying the same thing as in Romans 8:2.
Romans 8:2
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
It was the “law of sin and death” that places us in bondage, not the “law of God.” Why would we need to be freed from the “law of God” when Scripture calls the “law of God” freedom?
Do we need to be freed from freedom? Again, does that make any sense? In fact, God’s law is called freedom in Scripture (i.e. Psalm 119:45).
Why would Paul be teaching us we need to be freed from freedom itself? What a twisted mess men’s doctrines have created for us to untangle!
The “law of sin and death” is a result of our disobedience to God’s law.
How do we know this? Because Deuteronomy 11:26-28 states that when we are disobedient to God’s law we are then cursed. Scripture defines any disobedience to the “law of God” as sin (1 John 3:4).
The curse we are all under is the curse of the second death waiting for us at the Great White Throne judgment in the end.
Thus it is our sin / disobedience that brings us into the curse / death, or as Paul calls it, the “law of sin and death.”
We all already know all of this if we have been a believer for more than a day. We already know that without first realizing our sin, that we will not realize a need to be escorted to our Messiah.
Why would we conclude Paul is teaching anything different to the Galatians, who have obviously forgotten that the way to salvation is by faith instead of by keeping God’s law? If they obviously forgot the way to salvation, then Paul has to teach them the way to salvation all over again.
Where does Paul state that the problem is that they were keeping the law in obedience?
He doesn’t!
Not once does Paul say that it is a problem that they were keeping the Law of God.
Paul states it was a problem that they were trying to be justified and saved by keeping the Law of God. They were doing the right thing, but for the wrong reasons . . . which completely negates the right thing!
Keeping the law for salvation was the problem Paul needed to address.
In summary:
- Verse 10 makes it clear that sin is what places us under the
- Verse 22 makes it clear that it is sin that we are
- Verse 23-25 makes it clear that the curse (the law of sin and death) teaches us that we need a Savior.
Once we establish faith in our Savior then we are no longer under the “law of sin and death (the curse)”
We know that God’s law is not sin. Paul even tells us that in Romans 7:7 so that we do not misunderstand him. So when Paul says that sin causes the curse (verse 10), and it is sin that we are under (verse 22), we must carry that context throughout his teaching (verses 23-25).
If being under sin is the context in verse 22, then we cannot institute a new context and state that it is not the “law of God” that we are no longer under anymore because the “law of God” is not sin.
Galatians 2:23-25 is not stating what many believe it is stating. Abolishing God’s law would serve NO practical purpose and would contradict countless verses, including Paul’s own words.
If we would just read verses 23-25 in the framework of verse 22, we would understand the context to be the “law of sin / death” not the “law of God.”
We all know that if we sin (break God’s law) that we deserve the curse. We all know that we need to realize (or be escorted, or be taught) that we sin before we run to the Savior. We all know that after faith that we are no longer under the curse (second death).
This is actually not really complicated at all, but because people have confused and twisted Paul’s writings into something confusing and complicated (as if God was the author of confusion) – like dispensationalism.
We have entered into a theological mess. Paul needs to teach the gospel to those who have forgotten the true gospel. The Galatians forgot that we are to be justified by faith and then we practice obedience to God’s law because of our faith.
This is all Salvation 101. Why does ‘Basic’ Salvation even need to be taught to the Galatians? Because they had false teachers come into their camp to begin convincing them to follow men’s false doctrines / ways (or pleasing men) and by salvation by works (legalism – justification by works).
Paul is teaching against justification unto salvation by works…
Galatians 2:16
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
This theme continues throughout Galatians: (i.e. Galatians 2:21; 3:2; 3:3; 3:5; 3:11; 5:4) Paul is teaching about not trying to please men by observing their false doctrine…
Galatians 1:10
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
This theme also continues throughout Galatians: (i.e. Galatians 1:10; 1:11; 2:3; 4:3; 4:9; 6:12; 6:13)
Thus, the solution to these “error correcting” themes is for Paul to teach “Salvation 101” to the Galatians because they obviously let themselves forget the “truth of the gospel.”
As we already stated, even the false teachers who were trying to compel the Galatians to follow their doctrine did not follow the law themselves (6:13). They followed the “oral law” (commandments / traditions of men) which was contrary to God’s law (Mark 7, Matthew 23).
Consider this, the very fact that Paul considered it a problem that the false teachers did not even follow the “law of God” should mean something to us. Paul is stating that false teachers do not follow the “law of God”, yet many conclude that Paul, himself, is teaching against the “law of God.”
How could Paul have a problem with those who do not follow the law of God themselves, and then Paul advocate for the very same position?
Paul refers to the “law of sin and death” as an ‘escort.’ The word translated as “schoolmaster” or “tutor” (or in some cases “guardian”) in verses 24-25 is the Greek word paidagogos.
This is the term for the office or position of the person who would keep a person under guard (bondage) and escort a child to school. Once at school he would leave this person (the paidagogos) and continue to learn at school. (see any interlinear such as Strong’s)
Is this not how it works in God’s plan of salvation?
We start off under the law of sin and we are under its bondage before faith. Because of this we realize we need to be freed from the world’s ways and find freedom in God’s ways by placing our faith and trust in Him. Once we do that, the law of sin is no longer placing us under guardianship / bondage, but we then go to “school” because we want to learn God’s Word and how to apply it so we can become more like our Lord.
Paul was simply using a Greek metaphor to speak of the value of the “Law of Sin and Death” prior to coming into the faith.
Being “under the law” as in under the “law of sin and death” is just Paul’s way of saying the same thing we would say today if we broke a U.S. law and were caught.
Consider this as well – The U.S. has laws, perhaps a million of them that we are accountable to. God just has a couple hundred commandments, just a couple of dozen or so more than what mainstream Christians keep.
Imagine if you break a law; let’s say you commit treason (Biblically, that would be going after other countries / gods).
You are then placed in jail to await your judgment of death, as treason is punishable by death. (Likewise, according to the law of God, that defines your sin, also contains a law for your death. This is the law of sin and death according to Paul)
It is not until you are read the law, and convicted of the law, that you realize that you are absolutely guilty by the law and now under the curse / bondage / prison (or the penalty) and the trial will be fair.
You are now under the penalty (the curse / bondage / prison) of the law (the law of sin and death) and a guard (paidagogos), representing the authority of the law, is standing outside of your jail cell while you await your death sentence.
At this point you realize, the only way to not be under the law (or penalty of the law), is to be pardoned by the President in his grace (in this example, the President would be a metaphor for God).
The President says that his ways are good and the constitution is good and he asks you to place faith in his power to save you through his grace. He states that, if he does that, he would like you to continue in his word or constitution (law) in love and faith in him. He says that he will give you a legal counselor (Holy Spirit) to teach you all of His ways in the Torah.
You then place your faith in the President and you exercise, or evidence your faith/trust, by sincerely trying to be obedient to his constitution (law) of his nation (Israel) that you said was good and perfect. This does not mean that you do the law perfectly, but you have a desire to keep the law of God out of respect and love for the one who pardoned you.
You study his constitution with help from the legal counselor, who teaches you all things.
You are no longer under the law (of sin and death), but under grace.
It took the realization of the penalty of the law for to you to reach (be escorted) out in faith to accept the grace of the President. The penalty of the law did its job in pointing you to the one who could pardon you and point you to the right path. You now take delight in knowing that you are under grace and you show your respect and love for the President by learning about and practicing his laws.
To those that want to make the “schoolmaster” as the “law of God” so it can be said that after faith is established in us that the “law of God” is no longer needed and now made void, have more than several contradictions to reconcile in Scripture.
Romans 3:31
Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish (continue – histemi) the law.
Romans 7:22
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Matthew 5:17-18 (this is our Messiah speaking)
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I do not come to destroy, but to fill up.
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
And we know that all the prophets are not yet fulfilled. There is still prophecy that needs to be fulfilled.
Matthew 5:19
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Those that say, ‘we are no longer under the Law’, still follow the Torah (instruction) to a great extent. They know it is not a good to kill people, and not just because the laws of their country say so. They advocate that Christians avoid adultery, theft, and perjury, etc.
If ‘we are no longer under the Law’, isn’t elective abortion (child sacrifice) okay? Wouldn’t adultery be widely accepted and your feelings of hurt over being cheated on some stubborn clinging to an out-moded morality followed by un-Christian keepers of the Law?
Did you know that God commands that we place a fence (parapet) around your roof?
Deuteronomy 22:8
When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence.
People in that day built homes with flat roofs and would often sleep up there to escape the heat because the air-flow was better. If you woke up groggy or you walked in your sleep, it is easy to see how people could fall from your rooftop. Today, our roofs are slanted and we don’t go up there. If the roof needs a repair, we hire skilled people who understand the risks and take their own precautions to mitigate them. I have no battlement on my roof and I believe God is okay with that.
I do (as does everyone I know) have a railing around my deck so no one falls off. Have you ever seen a balcony without a railing? God’s instructions are not numerous (like US laws) or burdensome . . . they make a lot of sense if we are going to live in a society together.
Moving on . . .
Galatians 3:26-29
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Paul is repeating himself here, stating that the salvation model has always been the same, and there has never been any difference between Jew or Greek (non-Jew), male or female, etc., on this matter. The model is, and always has been that, first, we come into the faith, then obedience follows, not for salvation, but because of our salvation.
Galatians 4:1-7
1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Here we see Paul stating that before our faith, we were slaves to the world – the elementary principles of the world. These are ideas, philosophies, and values of the world, that also enslave us into bondage. Jesus came to redeem us from that bondage. Jesus was born of a woman who was also in the same circumstances as all men, being born under the law of sin and death.
Through faith in Jesus, we are adopted out of the world as children of our Creator and thus also heirs to the promise.
Here we arrive at the next verse that is often cited to prove that Paul teaches against observing the Law of God.
Galatians 4:9 – Is the “Law of God” Actually “Weak and Beggarly Elements?”
Galatians 4:8-11 is often used as evidence that believers are to no longer to keep all of God’s commandments, particularly His Sabbaths and Feast days. Context forces some absurd questions.
Galatians 4:8-11
8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. 9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements (weak and worthless elementary principles of the world – English Standard Version; see also, Galatians 4:3), whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
- Are the Sabbaths and Feast days “weak and beggarly elements?”
- Are the Lord’s Sabbaths and Feast days “elements of the world” that place us under “bondage?” More importantly, does Scripture teach us the “law of God” is bondage?
These are the questions we need to ask ourselves and test to Scripture. These questions force us to examine and apply the surrounding context, instead of injecting our own bias into the text.
First, we should establish some context.
Galatians 4:3
Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Galatians 4:3 clearly states that the context is “elements of the world.” So, here is an important question to consider: Can verses 4:9-10 be referencing the “law of God” (Sabbaths and Feast days)?
If the “law of God” is worldly instead of Spiritual, then that might make some sense. However:
Romans 7:14a
For we know that the law is spiritual
From that alone we know that the context of Galatians 4 cannot be the “law of God” in verses 4:9-10. However, we do not need to stop there. There is much more context to pull in to really understand what Paul is teaching.
Is God’s Law Bondage?
First: Verses 1-6 clearly state that before Christ we were in bondage under the elements of the world (not bondage under the “law of God” like some teach). God’s law is not of the world, and God’s law cannot be called both freedom and bondage without creating a Scriptural contradiction.
Psalm 119:44-45
44 So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever. 45 And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.
James 1:25
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
What is the “perfect” law that we are supposed to do that James would be referring to from Scripture?
Psalm 19:7a
The law of the LORD is perfect,
Paul is declaring the ways of the world as bondage, not the ways of God.
God’s ways (His law) are freedom from man’s ways (or the world’s ways) in the sense that God’s ways are set apart (holy) from the world’s ways (bondage). The only people in all of Scripture that ever referred to God’s ways as bondage and refused to do them were the ones He was angry with. Keep that in mind.
The ones that were obedient to His ways, His path (Psalm 119) were stated to be after His own heart (Acts 13:22). God’s ways are freedom from the world’s ways. We are “called out” to not be of the world. It is actually quite simple. To live according to the world’s ways is to go back to Egypt, back to bondage.
Second: (Verses 8-10) A massive error often occurs here when they are read outside of the context of verses 1-6. It is easily cleared up and the truth then becomes undeniable. Often, verses 8-10 are used as evidence that we are no longer to be obedient to God’s Feast days and Sabbaths. Read it again, and note what is highlighted.
Galatians 4:8-10
8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. 9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Let’s create a list of some key points from these verses (Galatians 4:8-10):
- These are Gentile converts that Paul is talking to (verse 8a).
- They used to serve other gods (verse 8b).
- Now they know the true God (verse 9a).
- Even so, they GO BACK to WEAK AND BEGGERLY ELEMENTS related to the gods they used to serve (verse 9b).
- And thus they DESIRE AGAIN to go back into BONDAGE related to the gods they used to serve Verse 9c).
- What they are TURNING BACK to is observing the certain days, months, and years related to the gods they used to serve (verse 10).
Perhaps that may have cleared up the confusion already, but let’s discuss it in more detail. Remember, it is all about the context and using Scripture to interpret Scripture, not bringing in our own bias.
The assumption, which is the root of the error, often made in these verses is that the observation of the days, months, and years are God’s Feast days, Sabbaths, etc. found in Leviticus 23. This is where we get the typical modern doctrinal bias that usually is injected into this text.
It rarely crosses anyone’s mind that the Gentiles worshiped days, months, and years of their sun gods before they came to faith in the True God. If we were asked which holidays were bondage, God’s holy (set apart) days or sun god worship days, what should we suppose would be the correct answer?
Which holy days are bondage, sun god ways of the world, or our Creator’s holy celebrations?
What does the text say?
Let’s ask this: How do Greeks, who used to worship false gods (who had their own sun god holidays and observations), who now worship the true God (verse 9), somehow go back to worshiping God’s Feast days?
That’s a little difficult to answer, isn’t it?
How can they go back to something they never used to do? See how the paradigm that ignores context, brings in false assumptions and fails when tested?
Let’s ask this, how do Greeks, go back, to “weak and beggarly elements,” even if we are making the mistake of calling the weak and beggarly elements from God?
That is also a little difficult to answer, is it not?
These are Greeks. If they are going back to something, they are going back to what Scripture says they came from, which is a false god worship system (verse 8). Do we not think that false gods have their own holidays? They most certainly do.
In fact, we retained those same pagan sun god days and cultist traditions in the form of Christmas and Easter. I go into this with some detail in my book, Grafted: Embracing Torah. Most of the modern, “Christian” holidays have more in common with ancient pagan festivals because of the evangelizing of non-Christians by the Roman Catholic Church (a rather over-simplification of what I discuss in the book).
Again, the typical bias and assumptions fail once the context is examined.
The Galatians were being influenced left and right. We have the “Circumcision Party” attempting to have them follow God’s law (Torah) and the oral law (the Talmud) as a means to salvation, instead of simply for obedience.
That is one problem. We also have the Galatians reverting back to their old holidays and traditions, likely from pressure from unconverted friends and family. Try and do this today . . . try to follow God’s prescribed holy days while your friends and family continue to worship in the cultural norm of ‘pseudo-Christian’ holidays. The backlash I have received is the reason I am posting this teaching on Galatians.
If the Galatians suddenly gave up all of their false god (sun god) holidays and traditions and focused on God’s holidays, imagine how difficult that must have been. They would have left traditions and special days that they were culturally raised in, and other family members and friends likely still even practiced. The Galatians were trying to do both; God’s days and sun god worship days. They were simply trying to please men at the expense of God’s Word.
Galatians 1:10
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
This is not the first time this has happened in Scripture, and God has never found it acceptable. Some simple research today will bring to light which days are the sun god worship days and the cultic traditions related to them if one is really interested.
Acts 15:20 is evidence that those in Galatia were falling back into the cultic temple worship that Gentiles were familiar with in their culture. This is the judgment of James after hearing from the different sects concerning new converts (the Galatians being the specific example here – this is explained in the first part of this teaching).
Acts 15:20
But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. (all sun god cultist worship traditions)
Let’s ask this, since when are God’s Feast days and Sabbaths called “weak and beggarly elements” in Scripture? Where did that strange concept come from, men or Scripture?
Didn’t Paul define bondage as the teachings and doctrines of men, as well as the principles of the world as the weak and beggarly elements?
Are these not the same things that Jesus railed against (Mark 7; Matthew 23)? Jesus spent His whole ministry teaching, rebuking, and correcting from the Law of Moses and now we are saying it is bad to practice it?
Consider this, the Galatians were being told that they would be saved if they became circumcised. So, once they were circumcised (your salvation is now guaranteed, right?), they felt it was no problem to give in to the pressure from friends and family to continue to observe their societies’ sun god holidays.
However, Paul stated that they should not TURN BACK to the holidays of the false sun gods.
Paul continues to admonish the Galatians because their zeal for the Word is being overtaken by pressure from the Circumcision folks who want them to trust in works and others in the area who want them to continue in the pagan ways of the culture they live in.
Galatians 4:11-20
11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. 12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. 13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. 14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. 15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. 16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
17 They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. 18 But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. 19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, 20 I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.
Paul tells them that he would not be their friend if he was to avoid offending them by letting them continue in the lies they are reverting to (verse 16). If someone is ruining themselves with alcoholism, is it loving to excuse their behavior? If someone is being taught by friends and their schools that socialism is good, do you ignore the facts of centuries of famine and oppression to spare their feelings and let them continue to support their own enslavement?
Galatians 4:21-23 – Do We Place Our Trust in God or in Man?
Galatians 4:21–23
21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? 22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
We are often told that this allegory definitively shows that God’s law is bondage, and is not only to be set aside, but is to be cast out, and those that desire to obey the law of God are the children of Hagar. But is that the background of what Paul is teaching?
The first four and a half chapters of Galatians have been teaching us that redemption and sonship are not acquired by obedience to God’s law, or any law, for that matter. We have already established that many times over. In each of these cases, obedience to the Torah follows the belief in Jesus Christ as Messiah. Do not assume that Paul will suddenly change his mind and begin teaching contrary to what he has spent so much time establishing.
The focus on inheritance, the seed, and relationship precedes the allegory of Hagar and Sarah. Man is saved by grace through faith, and it is this gift from God that establishes the relationship.
Inheritance (i.e., the promise) can only be obtained through relationship. As we study these passages, keep in mind, ‘When did that relationship begin?’
One of two key verses is verse 21.
1) Who are those who desire to be under the law?
2) Is the desire to obey the law the same thing as being ‘under the law’?
A study of Romans (especially chapter 6) defines for us what it means to be under the law. Suffice it to say for now, however, that to be ‘under the law’ means to be ‘under the dominion of sin’, which is called the ‘old man’ in Romans 6:6.
Those who desire to be under the law, or otherwise, are attempting to establish righteousness without trust and relationship through faith. They are doing it on the basis of obedience to the law alone.
As we will see, the covenant at Mt. Sinai cannot stand alone, because the covenant of Sinai cannot save man or atone for him. Paul tells those who desire to be under the law that their inability to be heirs of the promise by obedience to the law is actually written in the law.
He shows this by the use of allegory. He begins by using two very familiar women, and one man, from Scripture: Hagar, Sarah, and Abraham. It is imperative to know the story of these three, for it is their actions that form the basis for the comparison.
The story, found in Genesis Chapters 16 through 21, tells of a promise by God to Abraham and Sarah that even in their old age they would bear a child that would carry the seed of the woman, that the everlasting covenant would go through him, and that his seed would produce a multitude of nations.
As time went on and the reality of their physical condition became ever more obvious, Abraham and Sarah began to lose their trust in God’s words and soon took it upon themselves to establish this promise by their own works and by their own ways.
Abraham, in a scene similar to Adam in the garden, listens to his wife, does not trust God and produces a child, Ishmael, by means of Sarah’s handmaid, named Hagar.
This son, because he was produced by works rather than trust, was Abraham’s physical heir, but he could not be Abraham’s promised heir, because he was not produced by relationship through trust, or by faith.
The seed of faith was through Isaac because his birth was the result of Abraham and Sarah’s trust in their ‘Father’ God, and so children of faith are produced by children of faith. Inheritance is not earned, but acquired by birth and given by promise.
Galatians 4:24–26
24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
The difference between Hagar and Sarah is the basis for the two covenants. The covenant at Mount Sinai is clearly referring to the Law of Moses. The covenant referred to here is given in Exodus 19:5.
Exodus 19:4-5
4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Why is the word “therefore” there for? Therefore (or ‘henceforth’) meaning ‘from this point on’ follows the proclamation from God that the children of Israel, through their trust in the relationship established by the Passover, are now born on eagles’ wings and brought into God himself.
They believed God, slaughtered the Passover lamb, walked through the Red Sea, and now stood at the base of Mount Sinai. They were already God’s chosen people because of their faith, before God instructs them to obey and keep His Covenant.
When you read the covenant given on the mount you will see that there is no salvation or redemption found here, but only a promise that the children of Israel will be treasured above all other people on the earth as a result of obedience. If the covenantal relationship of trust is established first, then obedience to the law given on Mount Sinai will distinguish believers from all other peoples.
The law did not deliver Israel from Egypt! The law was given after they were delivered, and after the trust-based relationship was established.
If the Law of Moses is sought after without the relationship, then the natural result is bondage, because one is seeking righteousness outside of relationship. And it is not because the law itself is bondage, but because we fail to keep the law.
This same pattern is introduced from the beginning. Adam is created as a ‘son of God’ and then given rules. Noah found ‘grace’ in the sight of God and then was given instructions to build an ark.
Abraham ‘believed’ in God and then was given the covenant of circumcision. Relationship existed first. The people of Shechem circumcised themselves so they could share in Jacob’s blessings (Genesis 34) – their works caused their downfall because they did not have the relationship first. In fact, they had abused Jacob’s trust and his daughter’s virtue so they had the opposite of a relationship.
Very simply, the covenant in Exodus 19:5 is a promise that Israel’s obedience to the voice of God will separate them from all other peoples of the world, period!
Works of the law, standing alone, cannot deliver. If the covenant on this Mount is depended upon to redeem you, which it is not designed to do, then you are in bondage, for you cannot satisfy it. No amount of good works is ever proclaimed as a way to salvation.
The first mistake concerning this section of Scripture is to wrongly assume that the covenant on Mount Sinai was God’s way of ‘saving’ Israel.
The second mistake is found in assuming the other covenant (mentioned in verse 24) is the ‘New Covenant’. This is a very tragic blunder, for there is no reference to the ‘New Covenant’ at all.
The comparison Paul is teaching is between the bondmaid and the freewoman.
Abraham had two sons, but only one received the promise of the covenant. Being of the lineage of Abraham is not enough – the covenant was promised to Abraham and Sarah, not Abraham and Hagar. The same action (‘works’) produced both children, but the one that was produced by faith received the covenant.
A promise was made to Abraham and Sarah that if they listened to the Word of God they would produce a child whose seed would become a multitude of nations. This promise was made AFTER Abraham and his wife ‘believed’ unto righteousness.
Abraham and Sarah had already established a relationship based upon faith with God. One relationship was based upon trust, and the other (Abraham and Hagar) was not.
Notice in Galatians 4:25 that another comparison is drawn into the allegory. Hagar and Mount Sinai are synonymous to the Jerusalem that “now is” (meaning at the time Paul was writing this letter to the Galatians – around 50AD).
The gospels reveal that the Jerusalem of Jesus’ time was dominated by the Pharisees and Sadducees: two ‘Jewish’ sects that represented the very essence of what Mount Sinai without relationship produces: Legalism.
Recall the issues discussed earlier with the “Circumcision Party” and Paul’s admission in chapter 1 to once being a “super-Pharisee” then you can see how this is all relevant here in Paul’s discussion. The basis for being a citizen of the ‘kingdom of heaven’ was no longer rooted in the redeeming blood of the sacrifice, but in strict adherence to the ‘rabbinical’ view of the law.
In verse 26, we are given more information. The second of the two covenants is compared to the “Jerusalem from above, the mother of us all”. What is the Jerusalem from above, the mother of us all? We get some more information in Hebrews 12:22-23.
22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Hebrews 12:22-23
This Jerusalem from above is a place that the writer’s audience has now come unto and is part of. This fits perfectly with Ephesians 2:19-22, where we are told that Gentile believers have now become part of something that has already existed.
This Jerusalem from above is the ‘mother’ of us all. This, in context, would be referring to the ‘mother’ of all who believe. Paul is telling us that Sarah, the one who was of Israel by faith and trust, represents a covenant that predates Mount Sinai and is from above.
If relationship is sought through Mount Sinai, then the Passover was in vain. First Passover, then Mount Sinai.
Paul finishes his allegory –
Galatians 4:28-31
27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. 29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
The covenant from above was established from the beginning, and has always been God’s gift to man. It was always initiated by trust in the giver. The law is a covenant that is preceded by this trust, and was never designed to replace that simple trust.
