Galatians Study Week 9

Week nine of Word of God Home Fellowship's Study of Galatians.

Week 9

Slaves and Sons

23 Now before faith came, we were being held prisoner under the law, being locked up until the faith that was about to be revealed was revealed.  24 Therefore, the law had become our guardian until the Anointed came so that we may be justified by faith.  25 After the faith came, we are no longer under the guardian.
26 For you are all descendants of God through the faith in the Anointed Jesus.  27 For as many as have been washed
 in the Anointed Jesus, have put on the Anointed.  28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, there is neither slave nor free person, there is no male and female: for you are all one in the Anointed Jesus.  29 And if you are the Anointed's, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Chapter 4

1 Now I say this; for as long as the heir is a minor, he is no different from a slave, yet, he is the master of all things, 2 except he is under guardians and stewards until a set time determined by his father.  3 We are also like this; when we were minors, we were enslaved under the basic elements of the world.  4 But when the completion of time came, God sent out his son, being born from a woman, being born under the law, 5 so that he may redeem the ones under the law, that we may received the adoption as sons.  6 Now because you are sons, God sent out the Spirit of his son into our hearts, crying “Abba, Father!”  7 Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if you are a son, you are also an heir through God. My Translation

23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed.  24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.  25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,  27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Chapter 4

1 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.  2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.  3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world.  4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.  6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.  NIV11

Comment

23 Now before faith came, we were being held prisoner under the law, being locked up until the faith that was about to be revealed was revealed. My Translation

23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. NIV11

Paul continues his defense of faith in Jesus verses performing the Jewish law.  What is most notable here is the switch from “Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin” in verse 22 to “we were held in custody under the law, locked up...”  It was Scripture that locked us up there (συγκλείω), but here, it is the law that is locking us up (συγκλείω).  So, Paul is actually making the connection between the law and sin.  The faith that was to come was the faith in Jesus Christ that Paul has been defending this whole time.  The law was a prison until Jesus was revealed.

24 Therefore, the law had become our guardian until the Anointed came so that we may be justified by faith.  25 After the faith came, we are no longer under the guardian. My Translation

24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.  25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. NIV11

The chief question to ask here is what is a “guardian”.  Therefore, a definition to παιδαγωγός is wanting.  BDAG defines it as “one who has responsibility for someone who needs guidance, guardian, leader, guide”.  This word is actually a construction of two Greek words: παῖς and ἄγω.  A παῖς was a minor child, either a boy or a girl.  It was also used as referring to a slave: “Child, come here”.  The Greek verb ἄγω means “to lead”.  So, a παιδαγωγός is one who leads a child or guilds a child.  In the ancient world, the παιδαγωγός was more than likely, a slave who cared for a free-born child.  His duty was to teach that child and make sure that child did what he was suppose to do.  He would do all of this until the child came of age.
This is how Paul is placing the law here.  The law was a παιδαγωγός until Jesus came.  Therefore, Paul is somewhat showing the good side of the law.  But, he makes it perfectly clear: now that faith has come, the need for the παιδαγωγός is over.
Note that the παιδαγωγός was not in place in order for a person to be pronounced righteous/justified before God!  That only comes by faith in Jesus, not by the παιδαγωγός which is the law in this context.

26 For you are all descendants of God through the faith in the Anointed Jesus.  27 For as many as of you have been washed into the Anointed Jesus, have put on the Anointed. My Translation

26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,  27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. NIV11

Paul uses the word γὰρ to alert the Galatians that he is about to explain himself.  One simply can’t get past Paul’s words: “you all are children of God”.  In Greek, it is υἱοὶ θεοῦ (sons of God).  The Galatians obtained this by believing in Jesus after he had come, not by the παιδαγωγός.  It is that faith in him that allows them to abandon their former life.  The Galatians didn’t become sons of God by performing the law.  Only by faith in Jesus is this obtained.
How?  Paul refers to their past experience.  When Paul refers to baptism or washing here, he is probably referring to the entire experience that the Galatians encountered when they converted.  If the status “son/child of God” is obtained by faith in Jesus, then baptism/ritual bathing alone can’t be the only thing that Paul is referring to.  The only way one can actually “put on Christ” as in putting on clothes, is to experience the entire experience.  Back in 3:2, Paul wanted to know if the Galatians had received the Holy Spirit by working the law or by believing in Jesus.  For Paul to mean that baptism/washing alone is the “be all/end all” runs contra to the spirit of what Paul has been defending this whole time.  There is no doubt that Paul is indeed referring to baptism, but he is also referring to the entire experience.
To be “baptized into the realm of Christ” is “to put on Christ” which is to become a child (son) of God.  Jesus is the Son of God Par Excellence.  Therefore, one becomes a child of God through him.

28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, there is neither slave nor free person, there is no male and female: for you are all one in the Anointed Jesus.  29 And if you are the Anointed's, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. My Translation

28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. NIV11

When one put’s on Christ, he/she becomes a child of God and is not inferior to any other child of God, regardless of their human background or social status.  It is fitting for Paul to start with Jews and Gentiles (Greeks) as the backgrounds for these two groups are as different as they come.  The Jews’ way of life was completely different from the Gentiles’ way of life.  But if they become true children of God by believing in Jesus, then these groups become the same.  There is no doubt that this way of thinking was not accepted by all the early christians.  A great example of this is this very letter that we are studying.
There was neither slave nor free.  There are many instances where Paul instructs both the slave owners as well as the slaves.  The social status may have been what it was, but in a spiritual sense, there were no slaves and masters.  They all were still children of God.
There was neither male and female.  The Greek text has οὐκ ἔνι ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ (there is not male and female) instead of the οὐδὲ (neither) that occurs between the others.  This doesn’t change the meaning, but we need to perhaps ask the question why did Paul change the construction here?  The most probable reason is how the LXX reads in Genesis 1:27c.  Let’s compare:

...ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς. Genesis 1:27c LXX

...He made them male and female. Genesis 1:27c LXX

οὐκ ἔνι ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ Galatians 3:28c

there is nether male and female Galatians 3:28c

Perhaps the reason is that males and females can’t change what they physically are.  One is either born a man or a women.  Therefore, physically, a man and a women remains a man or a women, but as children of God, they become spiritually the same even though they can’t be physically the same.
As children of God, all are one in Christ regardless of the background and if they are children of God, then they are also the “seed” of Abraham and heirs to the kingdom according to the promise God made to Abraham about becoming a great nation because they and we belong to Christ.  But not just belong to Christ, but exist in Christ.  Romans 8:9:

9 ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σαρκὶ ἀλλὰ ἐν πνεύματι, εἴπερ πνεῦμα θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν. εἰ δέ τις πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ οὐκ ἔχει, οὗτος οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ.

9 Now you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.  But if anyone doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, this one is not his (Christ’s). My Translation

Regardless of past status, all of God’s children are heirs and stand to inherit the kingdom.
I would like to add, that there are many scholars who think verses 27-28 was a confessional that was said by the person being baptized.  Many also think that verse 26 was a “sayings” statement spoken by Christians at the time.  If this is true, this just lets us know just how far removed we are from the 1st century church.

4:1 Now I say this; for as long as the heir is a minor, he is no different from a slave, yet, he is the master of all things, 2 except he is under guardians and stewards until a set time determined by his father. My Translation

4:1 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.  2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. NIV11

Paul now goes into a different analogy about the Jewish law by referring to underaged heirs to an estate.  Paul’s phrase ἐφ᾿ ὅσον χρόνον (on as much as time) refers to the time that a person, in this context, is an underaged child.  As long as that child is a minor or underaged, then he is treated no differently from a slave, even though he will inherit the whole estate.  This was normal in the ancient world, especially under Roman law.  While he is underaged, he is looked after by a couple of people.  An ἐπίτροπος, a type of a guardian or a tutor, and an οἰκονόμος, who managed the house and affairs of the owner.  The κληρονόμος (heir) will stay under those guardians and house managers for the time that the father has specified.  Paul is making the guardians and stewards the law, while the minor heir is the people under the law for a specified time. 

3 We are also like this; when we were minors, we were enslaved under the basic elements of the world. My Translation

3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. NIV11

Paul completes his analogy with something that I find a bit strange as it is difficult to understand what Paul means by ὑπὸ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου translated as “under the basic elements of the world” or as the NIV11 has it “under the elemental spiritual forces of the world”.  However it should be translated into English, we know that this phrase refers to the law and that it refers to the law in a negative way as Paul says “we were enslaved”.  At the root level, a στοιχεῖον is "a basic component" of something.  It also refers to something lined up in a series or side by side such as the letters of an alphabet.  The ABCs are the basic foundations of a language that are placed side by side to form words, which are placed side by side to form phrases which are placed side by side to form sentences, and on and on to paragraphs to chapters to whole books.
Also in the ancient times of the 1st century, a στοιχεῖον was referred to as one of the four basic elements: earth, air, fire, water.  It was also referred to as degrees on a sundial in order to tell time.  Last of all, it was used to refer to rudimentary or basic teachings of various subjects.  Since Paul is using this to refer to the Jewish law, he probably means that the law was the ABC’s or basic teachings/principles taught to Jews in preparation of the coming of Christ.  Since he adds τοῦ κόσμου (of the world), he considers the law to be “worldly”.
The cognate verb of στοιχεῖον is στοιχέω which means “to be in line with something considered as standard for one’s conduct”.  Paul will used this verb a couple of times in this letter.
Paul’s point is clear: the Galatians are now in the kingdom by their faith in Jesus, to perform the law, is the same as living under the worldly elements.

4 But when the completion of time came, God sent out his son, being born from a woman, being born under the law, 5 so that he may redeem the ones under the law, that we may received the adoption as sons. My Translation

4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. NIV11

Paul substitutes ἄχρι τῆς προθεσμίας τοῦ πατρός (until the time set by his father) from verse 2 with τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου (the completion/fullness of time).  The NIV11 infers the connection by translating it “the set time had fully come”.  In other words, “when the time of the law was over”, that is “when the time of the elemental spiritual forces of the world which enslaved us was over”, God sent his Son.
Paul’s statement about God sending his son infers the existence of Jesus before he was sent.  Otherwise, there would be no reason to add γενόμενον ἐκ γυναικός “born/coming to be from a woman” which represents Jesus’ incarnation into a human existence.  This passage parallels Romans 8:3-4.

3 Τὸ γὰρ ἀδύνατον τοῦ νόμου ἐν ᾧ ἠσθένει διὰ τῆς σαρκός, ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ υἱὸν πέμψας ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας κατέκρινεν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐν τῇ σαρκί,  4 ἵνα τὸ δικαίωμα τοῦ νόμου πληρωθῇ ἐν ἡμῖν τοῖς μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα.

3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.  And so he condemned sin in the flesh,  4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. NIV11

Not only was he sent from God to be born from a woman, he was also born as a Jew under the Jewish law.  Paul’s argument seems to be that Jesus had to be born under the law in order for the law to end.  We know that Jesus was the final sacrifice under the law.  After he gave his life on the cross, the need for a sacrificial system was over.  He did that to “buy out” (ἐξαγοράζω is also used in 3:13) those under the Jewish law.  That would have been the Jews themselves.  So, since the Jews were bought out from having to perform the law, then the Gentiles were never required to follow the law in the first place.
In Ephesians 2:14-18, Paul describes that the Jewish law was a barrier between the Jews and the Gentiles.  Jesus came to destroy that barrier so that both Jews and Gentiles could be one people to God by the Spirit of God.  That wall had to come down in order for the Gentiles to receive their adoption into the kingdom.  Therefore, they can’t start performing the very thing that was preventing them from being God’s people to begin with.

6 Now because you are sons, God sent out the Spirit of his son into our hearts, crying “Abba, Father!”  7 Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if you are a son, you are also an heir through God. My Translation

6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.  NIV11

Interestingly enough, the Spirit is NOT what grants a person sonship to God.  This is granted through faith in Jesus Christ!  Once a person puts his/her faith in Jesus, then the Spirit comes to prove that one is a child of God..
There was a German scholar named Joachim Jeremias who studied Jesus’ prayers in the NT.  He concluded that Jesus’ use of “Abba” or “Father” when praying to God was unique to him as this usage is not found in any Jewish literature.  “Abba” was use by Jewish children in an intimate way to address their fathers.  Jesus used “Abba” in the same intimate way when he address his father.  He also taught his disciples this prayer language to address God in the same way!  That language became the christian churches language.  It is worthy to note here that “abba” is the Aramaic word for “father”, and πατήρ is the Greek equivalent.
Aββα ὁ πατήρ (Abba, Father) is used by Jesus in Mark 14:36 and also by Paul in Romans 8:15.  Jesus used it in a prayer to God to take the cup of crucifixion away from him, but he still wanted God’s will to be done, not his own.  Now that the Galatians have the Spirit of his son in their hearts, they too can cry “Abba, Father” and so can we.  One final note on Paul’s Greek.  Paul uses the article ὁ which is the equivalent of our English word “the”.  Paul is making “father” personified.  That is, he wants to make sure that the Galatians understand that they are crying to the “The” Father God by the Spirit.
Note the Christology presented here.  Instead of the normal expression "the Holy Spirit", we have "the spirit of his son".  This represents Paul's theology on how faith in Christ grants son-ship, while the Spirit of Christ seals that son-ship thus proving that a person has been made a child of God!
Paul wraps up this section with this:  Since you are God’s sons, you can’t be slaves.  He then switches to the singular in order to personalize the experience.

7 ὥστε οὐκέτι εἶ δοῦλος ἀλλὰ υἱός· εἰ δὲ υἱός, καὶ κληρονόμος διὰ θεοῦ.

7 Therefore, you are (singular) no longer a slave (singular), but a son (singular), and if a son (singular), also an heir (singular) through God.

By using διὰ θεοῦ (through God) at the end, Paul is describing that this was all God’s plan to begin with.

Conclusion

The law was a guardian which enslaved the people under the very sin which it created.  It remained in place until Jesus was sent from God and was born into the world.  He was born into the world under the law, so that he could "buy out" the ones who were under the law.  Now that Jesus has come, faith in Jesus is what makes a person both a son of God and an heir to the kingdom.  Having the Holy Spirit in us allows us to call out to God in the same intimate way that Jesus did; Abba Father!  The Galatians are no longer slaves to the basic elements of the world, but free sons and daughters of God.