Month: November 2018

The connection between you and your clothes is so close that giving the shirt off your back is a sacrificial and personal gift. In Galatians 3:26–29 Paul tells you that if you have been baptized with Christ, you have clothed yourself with Christ.

You have been united to Christ by your baptism. Your baptism is a sign and seal of your union with Christ. Your baptism is a sign of cleansing. As a sign, it points beyond itself, 1 Peter 3:21,22. The Old Testament covenant sign also symbolized cleansing. Leviticus 26:41 and Jeremiah 4:4 refer to a purifying of the heart. Your baptism is a sign of union. You are baptized into the Trinity, Matthew 28:19. Israel was baptized into Moses, 1 Corinthians 10:2. Some thought that being baptized by Paul meant being baptized into Paul, 1 Corinthians 1:13! The heart of the Old Testament covenant was union and fellowship with God, Genesis 17:7; Jeremiah 31:33. Baptism is the Bible’s sign of union with Christ, Romans 6:1–3; Colossians 2:11,12; 1 Corinthians 12:13. In our text, you have clothed yourself with (put on) Christ. There is a close connection between you and your clothes. “[B]aptism signifies union with Christ in the virtue of his death and the power of his resurrection, purification from the defilement of sin by the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit, and purification from the guilt of sin by the sprinkling of the blood of Christ. The emphasis must be placed, however, upon union with Christ. It is this that is central, and it is this notion that appears more explicitly and pervasively than any other. Hence our view of baptism must be governed by this concept.” (John Murray, Christian Baptism, p. 8). Your baptism is also a seal of God’s faithfulness. Yes, it reflects your trust in Christ, but above all it is God’s mark, God’s guarantee. It is a seal like a king’s authenticating royal seal. Continue reading “Clothed with Christ”

Did you have a bossy older brother or sister who ruled you while baby-sitting? That was the place of the Mosaic administration as Paul describes it in Galatians 3:23–25.

The law was put in charge of you. You were under the authority of a tutor. The law was your custodian. “Schoolmaster” misleads somewhat as a translation, since the primary emphasis is not education but custodianship. Other translations use “tutor,” or “guardian,” or “in charge.” Paul uses the word from which we get “pedagogue.” It referred to a slave who was entrusted with looking after and supervising a free-born child. “Babysitting!” Paul has the whole Mosaic economy in view. The law followed the patriarchs by 430 years, v. 17. It does not contradict the promise of the covenant with Abraham, v. 21. The law points out sin. It makes it obvious, vv. 19, 22 so that you see your need of Jesus Christ as Savior. Continue reading “To Lead You to Christ”

How reliable are promises? When God makes a promise, you can count on it! It won’t change. In Galatians 3:17–18 Paul contrasts two ways of salvation. The teachers in Galatia saw human efforts at keeping the law as the way to God’s favor. But Paul points you to the unshakeable promise of God.

God has made a gracious promise of salvation. God promised salvation to Abraham. God’s promise is unchangeable, v. 15. Paul begins with the concept of the covenant, an idea that is basic to Scripture. The Old Testament uses the word berith for covenant, a sovereign administration of law and grace. The New Testament term originally refers to a will, but also translates the Old Testament term. A human will, properly established is (or is supposed to be) unchangeable. How much more unchangeable is God’s covenant! That promise has its focus in Christ, v. 16. God made his covenant with Abraham. It included the land, an heir, and being a blessing to the nations, but the heart of it was to be a God to Abraham and his descendants. The God whose word is always truth underlines the certainty of his promise by taking an oath as he reassures Abraham of his covenantal faithfulness. The reference to Genesis 12:7 and the distinction between singular an plural stresses the authority and verbal accuracy of Scripture. “Seed” can be collective, but in this case it has its focus in one person, not just Issac, but ultimately on the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This promise is part of a covenant relationship, v. 17a, and thus it is permanent. Continue reading “Law or Promise?”

DNA testing has become a popular way of tracing ancestry. The false teachers in Galatia considered descent from Abraham important. In Galatians 3:9 Paul tells you the good news that the true descendants of Abraham are those who share in his faith—regardless of their physical ancestry.

Abraham believed God. Abraham was justified by faith. The Judaizers had appealed to Abraham’s example. Their pride lay in being Abraham’s children, John 8:33. Indeed, Abraham was the father of the Old Testament people of God. To him, in the history of redemption God gave circumcision as the sign of the covenant. Therefore, said these teachers, you must be circumcised in order to be God’s people. But, Paul counters, Abraham was not justified by what he did. The Old Testament covenant sign was important (as baptism is today), but as a sign and seal, not as a work that earns righteousness, Romans 4:11. God reckoned Abraham’s faith as righteousness, Genesis 15:6. This imputation (reckoning to an account) is described in Romans 4. All Abraham’s life was by faith: the promise of the land, his son, and the sacrifice of that son. Continue reading “Abraham, the Man of Faith”