Galatians 3:25 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

NIV: Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

NASB: But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

CSB: But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

NLT: And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.

KJV: But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

NKJV: But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

In the previous verse, Paul described the useful purpose the law of Moses served in Israel, between the time of the exodus from Egypt and the earthly ministry of Christ. He compared the law to a servant in Greek families called a pedagogue. This person served the family by caring for the children from the age of 6 until late adolescence. The pedagogue disciplined, protected, and steered the children until they became independent adults.

When Christ came, Paul now insists, the need for the pedagogue ended. The law had fulfilled its purpose. Through it, God had steered Israel through all the false religions, empty philosophies, and gross immorality of the other nations of the world. The law itself could not set people free from sin, only guide them through the minefield of sin until true freedom came. Now that Christ, the Savior, had arrived to set people free from sin through faith in Him, the guardian was no longer necessary.

Galatians 3:23–29 summarizes the idea that God never intended the law to be the final solution for the problem of sin. Instead, it was meant to ''guard'' mankind, until the arrival of Christ. This freedom from the captivity of the law also transcends all other barriers: race, gender, wealth, health, and culture are all irrelevant to our relationship with the Savior. Anyone who belongs to Christ, by faith, is promised to be an heir.

Paul indicates the Galatian Christians are foolish for believing they need to follow the law of Moses to be right with God. He offers three specific arguments to support this. First, they received God's Spirit in a powerful way after believing in Jesus, but before doing any works of the law. Second, Scripture itself shows God's blessing coming by faith, and His curse coming by the law. Christ paid the price of that curse on the cross. Third, God's covenant with Abraham is like a legal document, and it cannot be revoked.

In Galatians chapter 2, Paul declared that we can only be justified—''made right with God''—by faith in Christ and not by following the law of Moses. In chapter 3, Paul offers three arguments for why that is true. He argues from the Galatians own experience, from the Scriptures themselves, and from the legal standpoint of a covenant contract. Finally, Paul answers what the law is for if it cannot save us from our sin. In part, it reveals our sinfulness and convinces us of our need to be saved by faith in Christ. The following chapter will expand on what it means to be an ''heir,'' spiritually.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.

Accessed 5/7/2024 6:19:30 PM