Day Fourteen. January 23. Galatians 3:15-29
Remember as you read, that Paul is writing to people who did not grow up Jewish. He is trying to explain to them a culture not their own. He goes back to Abraham, when the promise was first made that there would be a child coming from Abraham who would bless the world. Here’s where this comes from in Genesis: “for all the land which you see I will give to you and to your descendants (literally your seed) forever.” Genesis 13:15 NASB. If we go further back, the first mention of this “seed” is found in Genesis 3:15: “And I will make enemies of you and the woman, and of your offspring (literally your seed) and her Descendant (literally Seed, a prophetic reference to Christ – NASB notes); He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.”
So when Paul goes back to the promise to Abraham based on Abrahams faith long before Moses was given the law, and when that promise of the “seed” refers back even further to God’s promise of a Seed who would come and stop the serpent … he’s reminding us all that the law did not come first and it will not be last. It was a temporary measure in the middle, as God worked specifically with His people as a nation and helped them live well. The dietary restrictions, the rules about mold and disease and isolation make perfect sense when viewed in the context of living in close quarters as nomads and then in cities and villages back in those days.
But here’s where I still struggle. Jesus affirmed that many of the laws, especially in the Ten Commandments were not only good, but needed to start with the heart. For example, Jesus not only told us that we shouldn’t murder, He told us that we shouldn’t think murderous thoughts. So, although we are not restricted with lots of hand-washing rules and dietary rules, I do believe we are to still obey the commands that come from the two basic ones: Love God with all our hearts and love our neighbors as ourselves. We now have the Holy Spirit with us, helping us see how that plays out. In the second part of Galatians, Paul is going to list for us the types of behavior that indicate we are walking selfishly. He’s going to reveal to us the fruit of the Spirit, which shows us how to walk in step with the God who loves us. So … hang in there, friend. After Paul shares theoretically, as he has today, he is going to get very practical. I need this, for although I don’t want to be enslaved to laws, I do want to obey the One I love.
I am also quite contented to feel a bit puzzled, still. I know full well that I am not smart enough to understand every nuance and theological puzzle in the Bible. If I knew it perfectly, I would be the only human who did, right? We all “see through a glass darkly” at this stage in the game. I trust God with what I don’t fully understand, and I love that there are still things – after all these years – that make me stop and ponder and puzzle and run to Him. He’s so much bigger. That makes me feel so safe.
One last note that I just have to get in here: Don’t you love that in Christ, we are all loved and welcomed equally (Galatians 3:26-29)? The divisions that often separate us and make some feel “less than” others are gone in Jesus. Whether we are Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free … we are all His beloved children. There’s no hierarchy based on outside appearance, is there? He cares about our hearts surrendered and yielded to Him!
My verse: Galatians 3:23 “Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.”
My response: I can’t imagine how different it must have been, memorizing rules and rituals and trying to do them all. I’m so grateful for the new way of faith in Christ. We now look to You, Lord Jesus, and walk with the Spirit – such freedom from the oppression of hundreds of laws and endless, bloodied sacrifices.
