Galatians 3:23-29
Pictures of God’s Plan for His Children!
Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs, according to the promise. (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Anyone who is a parent, anyone who is a grandparent will find our sermon text for today extremely relevant! When our children and our grandchildren are young we understand that they need rules. They need boundaries. They need discipline and direction. While our children and our grandchildren may not always agree with us, while our children and our grandchildren may see our rules and our boundaries and our discipline as burdensome, deep down inside they know. Deep down inside they know that we are doing this for their good. Deep down inside they know that our rules and our boundaries and our discipline are evidence of our love for them.
As our children and our grandchildren grow and mature, the rules and the boundaries and the discipline change, don’t they. In some areas of their life we let them have some input into the rules and the boundaries and the discipline. They might get to stay up later. They may be allowed to ride their bike all by themselves. — within certain parameters of course! They may be able to spend some time with their friends whether it is at the park or at the pool or at their friend’s home.
Then our children and our grandchildren become adults. We pray to God that the rules and the boundaries and the discipline we set for them as children will help guide them as adults. But as adults, they are not only responsible for what they do and decide, but they are also accountable for what they do and decide. That is simply a part of being an adult.
Here in our sermon text for today God the Holy Spirit reminds us that there is a very good reason as to why God’s holy Word refers to us as the “children” of God. While our heavenly Father loves all people, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…, God the Father also understands that by nature we are all rebellious sinful children, children who would be lost for all of eternity if we were left to our own devices.
Therefore, as you have heard me say many times before, our heavenly Father designed a plan for our salvation. Our sermon text for this morning gives us a very interesting way to look at God’s plan for us. With that in mind let’s study these inspired words under the theme: Pictures of God’s Plan for His Children!
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the apostle Paul paints two very sharply contrasting pictures for us here in our text. The first picture is found in verses 23-25. Paul writes, “Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.”
Last week I called your attention to a group of people called “Judaizers.” We saw how the Judaizers were teaching God’s children that before a person could be a “good” Christian they first of all had to become a “good” Jew. As we saw from last Sunday’s sermon text, this meant that if the Gentiles wanted to be saved, if the Gentiles wanted to be accepted as a part of God’s church, if the Gentiles wanted to be justified in the eyes of the God of Abraham, they were required to keep the rules and the regulations of the Old Testament ceremonial laws— especially the law of circumcision. (See Galatians 2:3-5; 5:1-6) Following the rules and the regulations of God’s Law was central to the teachings of the Judaizers. For the Judaizers following the rules and the regulations of God’s Law was necessary for salvation.
Here in the opening portion of our text Paul gives us a correct understanding of the purpose of the Law and how it ties in with our eternal salvation. Was the purpose of the Law to justify us? No. Was the purpose of the Law to show us what we had to do and not do in order to be saved? No. The purpose of the Law was to “supervise” us. Paul says, “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.”
What’s the picture here? The English language has great difficulty capturing the picture that Paul has in mind here. Very literally the Greek here says, “Therefore, the law became our custodian or guide until Christ (came) in order that we might be justified by means of faith.” The key word in this portion of our text is the Greek word that translated by the NIV in verse twenty-four as “put in charge to lead us,” and again in verse twenty-five as “supervision.” Literally this word can be translated as “custodian” or “guide.” This word painted a very specific picture for the people who first read this letter. This word very specifically refers to a slave whose duty was to make sure that a young boy got to and from school— without getting into trouble along the way! This “custodian” or “guide” also supervised the young boy’s conduct. Once the boy became “of age” the “custodian” or “guide” was no longer needed.
This is how Paul says we are to view God’s Law, my friends. The Law was our “custodian,” our “chaperone” whose purpose was to “lead us” or “supervise us” until Christ came into this world. While the Law does indeed show us our sin (See Romans 3:20) it cannot save us from our sins. Only faith in what Christ has done for us (Pointing to the cross) can save us. Like a “chaperone” who makes sure that a young child gets to school and stays out of trouble along the way the Law serves to bring us to the realization of our sins, to bring us to the realization that we can’t do anything to save ourselves, to bring us to the realization of how much we need the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that we might be justified “by means of faith.” Once the Law has served that purpose, once we are justified by faith we no longer need the Law to serve as our “custodian” or “chaperone.” Like a young child who has become “of age” we are now free from the “custodial care of the law,” or as Paul says here in our text, we are “no longer under the supervision of the law.”
Does that mean that we can simply ignore God’s Law? Does that mean that we can simply do whatever we want? Does that mean that we can live our life in whatever way seems best to us? Hardly! Those are questions, however, that we’ll address in next week’s sermon!
As we turn to the second half of our text we see the second picture of God’s Plan for us. Throughout the Old Testament era God treated His children as “minor” children, children who needed a “custodian” or a “chaperone” who would not only guard their conduct, but keep them on the road that led to the Christ. Now that the Christ has come God treats us as adults, adults who understand that we are “justified by faith,” adults who understand that we are to see ourselves and we are to see each other as “sons of God.” Look at what the Holy Spirit has Paul say to us, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Here is where we once again need to remember that the Judaizers were teaching that if you wanted to be saved you had to follow the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament. Is that really how we are saved? Is that really how we are “justified” in the eyes of God? Is that really how we become “sons of God”— with all the rights and all the privileges and all the freedoms which that glorious status brings with it? Once again the answer is: No!
Our status before God is not based upon what we do. Our status before God is based solely on what God has done for us— in Christ! How can you be sure of your status in God’s eyes? It’s quite simple, my friends! Paul says here in our text: Remember your Christian baptism!
Now whether it’s Paul or me or anyone else, when we encourage you to remember your baptism we are not asking you to simply remember an “event” that took place at one time in your life. We are asking you to remember the ongoing relationship you have with the Lord your God as a result of that “event” in your life. Just as your physical birth gives you the right and the freedom to say that you are a part of a specific family, so also your spiritual “rebirth” through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism gives you both the right and the freedom to say that you are a “son of God” — with all the rights and all the freedoms and all the privileges which that glorious status automatically brings with it. Three of those rights, three of those privileges, three of those freedoms ring out loud and clear here in our text.
First, the apostle Paul very clearly emphasizes that as the “sons of God” we have been “clothed with Christ.” At the time of our baptism God Himself gave to us a glorious white robe of perfect righteousness. When the God of heaven looks at us He does not see our sins. When the God of heaven looks at us He sees the righteousness that His own Son secured for us on the cross! (Pointing to the cross) Through faith in what Jesus has done for us we are holy; we are perfect in His eyes! That glorious truth is impressed upon our hearts every time we confess our sins and are assured of God’s forgiveness. That glorious truth is impressed upon our hearts every time we receive the Lord’s holy Supper for the visible tangible assurance that all of our sins are completely forgiven.
Secondly, our Christian baptism gives us the freedom to not only see ourselves as a “son of God,” but our Christian baptism gives us the freedom to see each other as “sons of God.” Look at verse twenty-eight of our text. Just as Paul was able to assure the Galatian Christians that they all have equal status in God’s eyes— no matter what their ethnic background or social status or gender might be— so also we have the freedom to see each other as equals in Christ. It kind of makes you wonder though, doesn’t it? Since our baptism guarantees that our status in God’s eyes is absolutely equal and since our baptism guarantees that we all have the freedom to see each other as “sons of God”— how is it that sometimes even God’s children don’t see each other and treat each other as equals?
The third freedom that we have as “sons of God” is a freedom that goes far beyond our imagination. Look at verse twenty-nine. As “sons of God,” my friends, we are “heirs according to the promise.” Yes, we are “heirs”! What will we “inherit”? As the “sons of God” we will inherit our heavenly Father’s Kingdom and everything that entails: glory, perfection, joy, happiness, freedom from all the effects of sin, freedom for an eternity of serving and praising God! Now that’s an inheritance worth waiting for!
As parents and as grandparents we understand that when children are young they need rules and regulations and discipline. Our love for our children and our love for our grandchildren leads us to guide them and to supervise them with the goal that as they grow and mature they will know the difference between what is right and what is wrong.
In a similar way we understand that we need God’s Law to lead to lead us to the realization that on our own we cannot save ourselves. We need God’s Law to lead us to the realization that on our own we cannot know the difference between what God says is right and what God says is wrong. Once we were given the gift of saving faith in our hearts, once we were baptized in the Name of the Triune God we understand that our heavenly Father now treats us as adults— adults who rejoice in knowing that our baptism serves as a daily reminder to us of the tremendous blessings we were given: a beautiful white robe of perfect righteousness, an equal status in the eyes of the God of heaven and an inheritance that is literally out of this world.
May God grant that our love for Him for all that He has done for us (Pointing to the cross) and our thankfulness to God for all that He has so freely given to us will daily lead us to say:
To God be the glory!
Amen
