THE SUPERVISION OF THE LAW

There is one additional dynamic of the law that we need to consider. Paul described it in verses 24 and 25.

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 may be familiar with the King James Version, which uses the word "schoolmaster" or the old American Standard Version, which uses the term "tutor." The word refers to a person whom the Greeks called the pedagogue. The pedagogue was not a teacher. He was usually a slave in an upper class Greek family. He was in charge of the child's moral welfare. Some scholars describe him as a guardian or a conductor. The pedagogue's job was to keep the child out of trouble, to see that he got safely to and from school. In modern terms, he was a kind of a combination school bus driver and truant officer. He didn't do the actual teaching, but he saw to it that the child reached the place of learning and arrived safely back at home at the end of the day.

So, how is the law like the pedagogue? Paul said the law led us Christ. We've already noticed how the law makes us sensitive to sin and conditions us to accept our need for Christ.

Beyond that, the law makes us aware of God. It makes us aware of his authority. It focuses our mind on spiritual things. In Romans 7:12, Paul said, "The law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good." The law points a spiritually minded person in the direction of God. A good example of the law's ability to do that is seen in the story of the rich young ruler. According to Matthew 19, he had kept the commands of the law from his youth up. Still he knew something was missing, so he came to Jesus with a question - "What lack I yet?" Tragically, he turned away from Jesus, but there is this much that can be positively said about the rich young ruler. The law had prepared him to seek Jesus.

His real point however is in verse 25. Faith has come and we are no longer under the supervision of the law. The day does not seem long in the past when our oldest son caught a bus that took him to school. He no longer does that. As a matter of fact, he has school age children. The bus driver served his purpose, but he no longer impacts my son's life. He has matured beyond that point. God had a purpose for the law, but now Christ has come to offer perfect redemption for sin and the law's purpose has been completed.

THE RESULTS OF THE PROMISE

In verses 26-29, Paul concluded his discussion of justification from the logical perspective. He wanted his readers to understand that the promises produce results that precept could never produce.

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.

It did not occur to Paul to put baptism in one category and faith in another. To him baptism was an expression of faith. It falls in the category of "the obedience that comes from faith" which Paul described in Romans 1. It was a response to grace. Becoming a child of God by faith and being baptized into Christ are all part of the same ball of wax.

But there's another significant thought here. He says you "have clothed yourselves with Christ." He was actually using the same imagery of the pedagogue illustration that he introduced in 24 and 25.

When the Greek child reached the age of 17 - the age if manhood - he put on different clothes. He exchanged the toga of childhood for the toga of manhood. It represented a different way of life.

In an earlier period of American history, young boys wore knickerbockers (sometimes called "knickers" or "knee pants"- football uniform pants remain from those days). Young boys of that era dreamed of the day when they would leave knickers behind and start wearing long pants, because that represented their graduation to manhood. Paul was telling the Galatian churches that when we become Christians, we are like the child who is permitted to wear the clothes of adulthood. When you put on the new garment of Christ, you are called to a totally different level of living. It's a life of dedication, a life of service, a life of joy, a life of purity and holiness.

top of page    previous page    next page