NOTES for Gal 3:15-29
15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. |
16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. |
17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. |
18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. |
19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. |
20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. |
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. |
22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. |
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. |
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. |
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. |
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. |
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. |
Hide
Continuing his reflection on the Torah and on the promises given by God, Paul turns to legal analogies, comparing the promises given by God to Abraham and his descendants with an ordinary human will, which, once drawn up, cannot be changed by outsiders (v. 15). In speaking of a will, the apostle certainly had in mind the Kingdom which, in his view, was the subject of the will: after all, if it was promised both to Abraham and to his descendants, then the right to it belonged only to the one named in Abraham's will as heir. Paul, as can be seen, considers the Savior Himself the only lawful heir (v. 16). The apostle may have been following here a known rabbinic tradition according to which the Messiah appeared, in a certain sense, as the personified people of God.
In any case, Paul rightly held that the Torah, given as a law common to the whole people, could in no way cancel the concrete promises given by God, just as it could not cancel a concrete will which, according to the Torah, could not and must not be canceled by outsiders (vv. 17-18). Through this simple legal analogy Paul tries to bring home to his readers the fact that the Torah and the faithfulness that bound Abraham to God, and now binds Christians to Him, are different things. The Torah is needed until the coming of the Messiah, to whom what His followers now hope for had been promised (vv. 19-20). It is needed so that one will not stray from the path of righteousness while waiting for the Messiah.
If the Torah could in itself be a source of life, nothing more would be needed; but the Torah could not be such a source. It could only guard a person walking the path of righteousness, pointing out the danger of sin wherever that danger existed (vv. 21-23). Paul, of course, does not compare the Torah by chance to a pedagogue in the ancient or Hellenistic sense of the word: in those days a pedagogue was not a teacher or educator, but a servant, more often a slave and sometimes free, whose duties included taking a child to school and bringing him back so that he would not decide on the way to turn somewhere else instead of going to school (vv. 24-25). Indeed, the protective role of the Torah plainly loses its relevance in the Kingdom, where sin and evil are already behind us and the fullness of the life of the risen Christ unites into one all who have become its inhabitants and Abraham's spiritual heirs (vv. 26-28).
After registering, you can subscribe to any Bible reading plan. Personalized settings and other services for registered users are planned, so we recommend registering now. Registration is free. | ||
