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Galatians 3:24-29 reveals that we may experience and enjoy Christ as the goal of the law.
God’s intention in giving His people the law was not for them to keep it; rather, He intended that the law would conduct God’s chosen people to Christ. Paul says in verses 24 and 25, “So then the law has become our child-conductor unto Christ that we might be justified out of faith. But since faith has come, we are no longer under a child-conductor.” Here child-conductor means “an escort, guardian, or custodian, one who cares for a child who is under age and conducts him to the schoolmaster.” In ancient times the children of wealthy Jewish families were escorted to their schoolmaster by a custodian, a child-conductor. Likewise, the law was used by God as a custodian, a guardian, a child-conductor, to watch over His chosen people before Christ came, and to escort and bring them to Christ when He did come, that they might be justified by faith and participate in the blessing promised and covenanted by God. Before we were brought to Christ, the schoolmaster, we were under the care of a custodian, the law. The law was responsible for the care and protection of God’s chosen people, and eventually it brought them to Christ. Once we have been brought to Christ, we are justified by faith. Since faith has come, that is, since Christ has come, we do not need to be under the guarding law any longer (v. 25).
The law is a custodian that keeps sinners by condemning them. Apart from the law’s condemnation, it could not function as a custodian. Without the law’s exposure and condemnation, we cannot realize how many sins we have committed against God. Without the law, we would be without regulation or restriction. But because the law condemns us, we are kept by the law. If there had been no law to condemn the people, there would have been no need of redemption. We need redemption because we are under the condemnation of the law. By exposing and condemning us, the law keeps us for Christ and brings us to Christ.
In the Old Testament an Israelite who had sinned was condemned by the law and was required to present a trespass offering in order to be forgiven. The law functioned as a custodian to bring the sinning Israelite to Christ, his Redeemer, typified by the trespass offering. If it had not been for the law, not many of the children of Israel would have come to the altar with a trespass offering. Because the law exposed them and condemned them, they realized their need to come to the altar with the required offering. When they came to the altar with a trespass offering, they were justified by faith in that offering. Because of the trespass offering, God forgave them of their sin.
The children of Israel were justified not by works of law but by their faith in the trespass offering. In typology, this is to be justified by faith. The principle in the New Testament is the same. The law still condemns all those who have sinned. Those condemned under the law should come to Christ and exercise faith in Him as their trespass offering. In this way sinners are justified by faith. This indicates that the law first exposes our sin and condemns us and then brings us to Christ (Rom. 3:19-20). On the one hand, we should not return to the law. On the other hand, we should not despise the law, for it has a positive position, that of a custodian to keep us in custody for Christ and that of a child-conductor to bring us to Christ.
Through our faith in Christ, that is, by believing in Him, and through our being baptized into Christ, that is, by being put into Him, we have become Abraham’s seed, heirs of God according to promise.
In Galatians 3:7 Paul says, “They who are of faith, these are sons of Abraham.” In verse 26 Paul goes on to say, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” Here the expression sons of God refers to sons of full age, who have outgrown the custody of the slave guardian. Under the old testament, God’s chosen people were considered infants. Now under the new testament, they are considered sons of full age, who will inherit the promised blessing — the all-inclusive Spirit of Christ. Faith in Christ brings us into Christ, making us one with Christ, in whom is the sonship. We must be identified with Christ through faith so that in Him we may be sons of Abraham and sons of God. Christ is both the Son of God and the son of Abraham. On the one hand, because we are now in Christ, the Son of God, we are sons of God; on the other hand, because we are now in Christ, the son of Abraham, we are the sons of Abraham.
It is a matter of tremendous significance for the divine life to be imparted into us. The impartation of the divine life into us causes an organic union, which makes us both the sons of God and the sons of Abraham. This organic union takes place exclusively in Christ. In Christ we enjoy the wonderful organic union with the Triune God. In this union we are, on the one hand, the sons of God and, on the other hand, the sons of Abraham. Christ is the unique sphere in which this all takes place. Whenever we enter into this sphere, we become sons of God and sons of Abraham. Our true status is that in Christ and by the organic union with the Triune God, we are both sons of God and sons of Abraham.
We are both sons of God and sons of Abraham because we have been baptized into Christ and have put on Christ. In verse 27 Paul goes on to say, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” To believe is to believe into Christ (John 3:16), and to be baptized is to be baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3). By both faith and baptism we have entered into Christ, having thus put on Christ and become identified with Christ. Baptism practiced in a proper, genuine, and living way puts the believers into the name of the Triune God, the divine name (Matt. 28:19); into Christ, a living person (Gal. 3:27); into the death of Christ, an effective death (Rom. 6:3); and into the Body of Christ, a living organism (1 Cor. 12:13), that the believers may enter into an organic union not only with Christ but also with His Body.
In Galatians 3:28 Paul says, “There cannot be Jew nor Greek, there cannot be slave nor free man, there cannot be male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” This verse indicates that in Christ we are one new man, as mentioned in Ephesians 2:15. Because there is only one seed of Abraham, Christ, we are all baptized into Christ to become one new man in Christ. Hence, the one seed of Abraham is not only Christ alone, but Christ with all those who have been baptized into Him. All those who have believed in Christ and have been baptized into Him are one with Him and are one new man. This corporate man is the unique seed of Abraham, who is qualified to inherit the blessing of the promise.
In Galatians 3:29 Paul continues, “And if you are of Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.” Abraham has only one seed, Christ (v. 16). Hence, to be Abraham’s seed we must be of Christ, be a part of Christ. Because we are one with Christ, we too are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise, inheriting God’s promised blessing, which is the all-inclusive Spirit as the ultimate consummation of the processed God, who is our portion. Under the new testament the believers as God’s chosen people, being sons of full age, are such heirs, not under law but in Christ. Like Ishmael (4:23), the Judaizers, who remained under law and kept themselves apart from Christ, were Abraham’s descendants according to the flesh; they were not like Isaac (v. 28), who was Abraham’s heir according to promise. But the believers in Christ are such heirs, inheriting the promised blessing. Hence, we should remain in Christ and not turn to the law. After we have believed into Christ, we should have nothing to do with the law; we should only remain in Christ, abiding in Him (John 15:4).
Since the law is unable to give us life (Gal. 3:21), it cannot produce the sons of God, but the Spirit, who is received out of faith (v. 2) and who gives us life (2 Cor. 3:6), can. The law kept God’s chosen people under its custody until faith came (Gal. 3:23). Faith in Christ, who is the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, makes God’s chosen people Abraham’s seed like “the stars of the heavens” (Gen. 22:17) according to God’s promise.
The seed of Abraham is first the individual Christ and then the corporate Christ (1 Cor. 12:12), composed of Christ as the Head and all His believers (Gal. 3:29) as the Body. All the believers in Christ, as the members of the corporate Christ, are included in this seed as the heirs of God’s promised blessing. Eventually, the eternal New Jerusalem, the great, corporate Christ, will be the ultimate consummation of the seed of Abraham (Gen. 22:17; Rev. 21:12-14).
As the unique seed of Abraham, Christ includes all the believers who have been baptized into Him (Gal. 3:27-28). In one sense, when Christ died on the cross, He was crucified alone as our Redeemer. But in another sense, we were with Him in His crucifixion. For the accomplishment of redemption, Christ was crucified alone, but for terminating the old creation, Christ included us in His crucifixion. In the same principle, in the fulfillment of the promise made by God to Abraham, we are not included as part of the unique seed. We can have no share in the fulfillment of this promise. However, for inheriting the promise and enjoying it, we are included. Christ alone fulfilled the promise, but Christ and we share in the enjoyment of the promise. Therefore, on the one hand, the seed is uniquely one; on the other hand, it is all-inclusive. For fulfillment, the seed is one; for inheritance and enjoyment, the seed is all-inclusive, including all believers who have been baptized into Christ.
We, the New Testament believers, were born sons of fallen Adam, and in Adam, because of transgressions, we were under the law of Moses. But we have been reborn to become the sons of Abraham and have been freed from the law of Moses by faith in Christ. We are sons of Abraham not by natural birth but by faith. In other words, when we were regenerated, we were spontaneously transferred from the created and fallen race, the Adamic race, to the called race, the Abrahamic race. Formerly we were descendants of Adam; now we are descendants of Abraham. As previously mentioned, Galatians 3:7 and 29 tell us that whoever believes in Jesus Christ is a son of Abraham. We are the real Jews (Rom. 2:29). If we were not descendants of Abraham, we would have no share in the book of Galatians, because Galatians was written to the descendants of Abraham. Only if we are descendants of Abraham do we have a share in Galatians. We should praise the Lord that we are the sons of Abraham.
We the believers who are sons of Abraham through faith are the heirs of the promise, those who inherit the blessing. As such heirs, we need to be filled, occupied, and saturated with Christ. Moreover, if we are the seed of Abraham, we belong to Christ and we are associated with Christ. If we would be associated with Christ, we must repudiate ourselves and take Christ as everything. This is believing in Christ. If we are the real descendants of Abraham, we must leave everything other than Christ and live by faith, not by our works. We must forget about all that we can do and repudiate all that we are and have by nature. Although we all have a natural life with a natural ancestry, we need not live any longer according to that life. Instead, we may live by the divine life with the divine nature. By living according to this life, we are in reality the sons of Abraham.
We have been baptized into Christ, the unique seed who has fulfilled God’s promise to Abraham. We have been joined to Christ in a marvelous organic union. Because of this union, we are sons of Abraham. In this organic union we inherit the promise which has been fulfilled by Christ, who as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit is this inheritance. Now if we give up all that we are and have, put our trust in Christ, and live and walk by faith in Christ, then as heirs of God’s promise, as those who inherit the promise of the Spirit, we will participate in Christ as God’s blessing.
Galatians 3 reveals that God gave the promise to Abraham according to His eternal purpose. Before this promise was fulfilled, the law was given to serve as the custodian of God’s chosen people. Then at the appointed time Christ, the promised seed, came to fulfill the promise and bring in the promised blessing. This is grace. Hence, grace came with Christ and with the fulfillment of the promise. All this is on God’s side. On our side, we need a way to apprehend, realize, and enjoy all that Christ, the seed, is and has accomplished. Therefore, there is grace on God’s side, and there is faith on our side. Now since we have grace, faith, and the seed that has fulfilled the promise, we no longer need the law to serve as our custodian. Hence, we must set aside the law and turn from the custodian to stay with Christ that we may enjoy the promised blessing by remaining in grace and faith. This blessing is nothing less than the processed Triune God as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit.
