Heirs by Faith

“Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3:23-29‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Growing up, many of us had babysitters. Perhaps we went to daycare. Or, at the very least, we went to preschool. Being separated from our parents, we learned that the people who cared for us, in their absence, had authority over us. But they only had authority over us until our parents returned.

This is the picture that Paul is using of the law. The people of Israel had all kinds of rules to which they had to submit. And they pointed the people to Christ. But they had authority only until Christ came.

They had the practice of circumcision. They had the sacrifices. They had the laws differentiating between the clean and the unclean. And these laws were good. They served their purpose of revealing to the people their sin and their need of forgiveness.

However, once Christ came, these laws were no longer necessary. This reality was seen clearly in Christ. So, just as we don’t need a guardian while our parents are present, neither were these laws necessary once Christ came. They were necessary until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.

No longer do these ceremonies and rituals mark us as the people of God. No longer do they set us apart from the rest of mankind. Jesus, himself, does this.

Having been baptized into Christ, Paul says, we have put on Christ. And there is no distinction between us. There is no distinction between Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female. We are all one in Christ. We are one people in and because of Christ.

We are a part of God’s people not because of the rules that are given us. And we are his people not because we follow these rules. We are his people by faith. We are heirs of his blessing by faith.