The Law Was A Guardian

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God (Galatians 3:23-4:7).

One purpose [of the Law] was to “imprison” God’s people in the reality of their inability and sin, so that they would yearn for freedom by faith (vv. 22–23). The second purpose was to provide a “guardian” for God’s people; i.e., one who would guard and guide the children of God in righteousness until they reached maturity. The image is of a guard who accompanies school children. Israel certainly needed guarding and guiding in its centuries-long journey toward rightly honoring God. But both a prison and a guardian are only required or desired for a limited time. Paul wants the Galatians to understand that the requirements of the law that imprisoned past generations in guilt and guided them away from self-trust were also leading them to faith in Christ. Faith in Jesus would not eliminate the moral requirements of the law, but would grant freedom from its condemnation and give hope of new life to those who had become aware of their inability to keep its holy standards.

Paul’s references to being “in Christ Jesus” in verses 26 and 28 serve as bookends surrounding those identified in between: those who have been baptized into Christ (v. 27). Baptized Christians are incorporated into a community in which each member has put on a kind of clothing that covers differences that normally divide people, such as gender, ethnicity, and social status. On the basis of faith, by which anyone can be united to Christ, all Christians are included regardless of such apparent differences.

Paul neither directly condones nor condemns slavery, a common social institution of his day, but in the short book of Philemon he sets another trajectory for the Christian community as he encourages Philemon to receive back the runaway slave Onesimus and regard him not as a slave but as a brother (Philem. 16). Further, while Paul does not encourage people to deny their gender or ethnicity, he does encourage them to take their primary identity from being in Christ. So even though differences remain, unity and spiritual equality are respected and upheld. All who belong to Christ through faith are Abraham’s true offspring and heirs of the promise of grace (Gal. 3:29). Roles and responsibilities may vary on earth, but value in heaven does not—and we should regard each other from this heavenly point of view (2 Cor. 5:16).

Paul returns to the metaphor of Israel being a child under a guardian (cf. 3:24–25). A son, though an heir, is no different than a slave in terms of his dependence on guardians. This slavery is seen by Israel being “under the law” (4:5) and, through their sinful disobedience to this law (3:22), being under a curse (3:10) and therefore needing a guardian (3:25). In the fullness of time (4:4), God redeemed his people (v. 5), gave them his Spirit, and adopted them as sons, enabling them to call him “Abba! Father!” (v. 6). These gifts of God’s grace (redemption, adoption, and the gift of the Spirit) are for all the offspring of Abraham, meaning all those who are in Christ (3:28, 29), whether Jew or Gentile.

Reflecting on these truths, our hearts cannot sit still. We are moved with wonder as we consider the great lengths to which God has gone to comfort his people. He has sent forth both his Son and his Spirit—the Son objectively to rescue us eternally from the penalty of sin, and the Spirit subjectively to apply that rescue to our attitudes and actions in daily life. The work of the Son is “outside in,” an alien righteousness; the work of the Spirit is “inside out,” an experience in which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

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