Why Then Was the Law Given? The Guardian Unto Christ (Galatians 3:19–29)

A question might have arisen: why was there need to give the Law so long after the promise, when on the one hand the establishment of the Law raised doubts about the power of the covenant of promise, and on the other hand, with the continuing force of the promise (and after it) the Law might seem useless and thereby undermine the zeal to be faithful to it? The Apostle now resolves this question (blessed Jerome).

Of all questions concerning the Old Testament, this is the most essential, and the solution the holy Apostle gives is most illuminating. Through it the whole divine plan of the economy of our salvation is lit up; and thereby the high significance of the Law and the beneficence for all humanity of the people under the Law, as guardian of the treasure uniquely salvific for all mankind, becomes clear. But all this only until the coming of Christ the Savior. After that, both the Law is to the ruin and the people holding to it—enemies of mankind (1 Thess. 2:15–16).

So then, why the Law?

The appointed time for the revelation of the Savior to the world was, by God’s plans, still far distant. Meanwhile humanity entered upon an adolescent period (the thought of the Most Reverend Metropolitan Philaret), when the stirring of the forces and needs of life, both of soul and body, does not allow reason and conscience to keep a person within proper bounds. A universal outpouring of manifold passions loomed. And with this necessarily came the loss of even the very thought of the Seed of the woman who was to heal all from the serpent’s wound.

That this might not come to pass, divine providence, leaving all nations to go their natural way, chose one people, organized it so that it would be held in check even from lawless impulses and would preserve faith that the Seed would come at last, to whom it was promised. For this purpose the Law was given and the Prophets were sent.

The Law restrained by laying on chains: “Do not touch, nor taste, nor handle.” But it did not remove the inward sinful urges, did not circumcise the heart, did not quicken it spiritually. By this outward restriction without inward transformation it disposed those under the Law to long for deliverance, that is, to desire the inward change which would make even the outward chains unnecessary. In this is the essence of salvation; and it could be bestowed only “through faith in Jesus Christ” (v. 22). Thus the Law, taking those under it by the hand, led them to Christ: it was a tutor to Christ.

In this respect, moreover, the Gentiles were not altogether forgotten. In their spirit were left indelible—the fear of God and the demands of conscience. These two spiritual forces, deeply troubling to a sinful heart, among those under the Law were in part satisfied through knowledge of the true God and worship of Him and through satisfaction of God’s justice by means God Himself appointed until that time. The Gentiles, however, were given over to the full action of these forces, so that despite the fact that it was extremely paralyzed by passion and ignorance, it never disappeared among them and drove them—each people in its own way—to seek various means of assuaging these troubling impulses. Thus these two spiritual forces were for the Gentiles the same as for the Jews the Law with its fearful punishments. And they drove them to seek deliverance, yet left the seekers in complete uncertainty regarding this seeking.

Only those under the Law, the Jews, possessed this definiteness. And in this lay their singular excellence, making them a people precious for all humanity. The Law itself, in its spirit, pointed to Christ the Savior; then the Prophets sent by God proclaimed Him in full detail. This was granted so that when Christ the Lord would come, He would be known by the Jews and by them pointed out to all nations. At that very moment both Jews, seeking with certainty, and Gentiles, seeking in uncertainty, equally met the One Sought and became all one. So it came to pass. Now there is neither Jew nor Greek; all are one in Christ Jesus (v. 28).

Such is the course of thoughts presented by the discourse of the holy Apostle Paul, expressing the significance of the Law for the Jews and for all people (Gal. 3:19–29).

Gal. 3:19. What then is the Law? It was added because of transgressions, until the Seed should come to whom the promise was made, ordained through angels by a mediator.

“Because of transgressions”—to restrain lawlessness, so that the people would remain in fear, not abandon themselves to vice, but live righteously and become worthy to manifest in themselves the One Promised (see Ambrosiaster). “The Law was given to move to carefulness regarding morality the people from whom the Seed of promise was to spring forth according to the flesh” (blessed Theodoret). And we see that despite all the deviations of God’s people into the paths of impiety and sin, among them there were always zealous keepers of the Law, pleasing to God and known only to Him. This holy remnant was the people’s mainstay. Therefore when the Lord came and all such adhered to Him, the rest of Israel’s remnant, though more visible in appearance, was scattered across the face of the earth, to its condemnation and as confirmation of God’s truth. The holy Chrysostom says regarding the words “because of transgressions”: “So the Law is not superfluous. Do you see how he (the Apostle Paul) reconciles everything and in how many ways he looks at all things? Since he has exalted faith and shown that it is older than the Law, so that no one might think the Law superfluous, he also resolves this doubt by saying that not in vain, but with very great benefit was the Law given, ‘because of transgressions’—that is, so that the Jews might not live without fear and not come to the utmost impiety, for this reason the Law was given to them as a bridle, for their instruction, chastening, and restraint from transgression, though not all commandments, at least some. So then, no small benefit comes also from the Law.”

“Appended”—to whom and to what? One can avoid having either object in mind and understand “appended” in the sense that the Law is something supplementary, does not have independent significance, does not stand by itself. Ecumenius writes: “He spoke well, saying ‘appended,’—to show that the Law is not a primary ordinance, but was given as something supplementary, and not for unlimited time, but until Christ should come, in whom blessing is promised to all peoples.” Or appended to the promise, to serve as the means to its fulfillment. This is the very purpose of the Law and of the people organized by it—that in its time the promise given to Abraham might come to fulfillment. Or appended to the people, in the sense that it was “imposed” on the people or that the people were clothed in it; for indeed the Jew in all the manifestations of his life was clothed in the Law—at home, in the temple, at work, on the road. If the Law were a remedial poultice for morals, a more fitting remedy could not be devised. But the first meaning is most direct.

“Until the Seed should come, of whom it was promised”—that is, that Seed of which the promise speaks, that through it all peoples will be blessed. He points to this limit intentionally, to make clear that if he insists on the abrogation of the Law, he does nothing unjust. This is the appointed end of the Law according to its original purpose. Since the Seed of the promise has come, it is evident that the Law has fulfilled its work and now must cease. “If the Law was given only until the coming of Christ, why do you continue it beyond the limit of that time?” (holy Chrysostom). “Ordained through angels”—The angels are not the creators of the Law, but ministers at its establishment. They spoke from God’s part, and Moses from humanity’s part. God moved them, they transmitted to Moses, and Moses to the people. God, appearing on Sinai, showed that the Law came from Him; but the Law had many details; it was more fitting to transmit and expound them through angels. Moses was told: “See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain” (Ex. 25:40). Since Old Testament service was entirely typological, Moses needed to see it in types. He saw the images of everything on the mountain, and the angels explained them—what each signifies and why each was needed. All was from God. Moses himself before his death testified: “The Lord came from Sinai… and came with ten thousands of holy ones, having angels at His right hand with Him” (Deut. 33:2). And all Jews believed that “God spoke to Moses” (Jn. 9:29), and at the same time held that the “Law” was received “through the arrangement of angels” (Acts 7:53), as the protomartyr Stephen spoke before all and to all. Therefore, in another place the holy Paul, writing to the Hebrews, did not think to say something offensive, contrary to their beliefs, saying that the entire Law is “the word spoken through angels” (Heb. 2:2).

Why did the Apostle mention this, when by his purposes he could have done without it? His statement of the secondary significance of the Law led him to it. The promise, he says, had primary, independent significance, while the Law “was appended”, and moreover for a time, “until.” Having such lower significance compared to the promise, it was also lower in its establishment. The promise was given face to face by God Himself to Abraham, while the Law was “ordained through angels”, and moreover “by the hand of a mediator.” Two intermediaries separated the people from God: Moses below and angels above, whereas God Himself gave the promise personally. From this an indication could follow regarding the superiority of the New Covenant over the Law, as the fulfillment of the promise. But the Apostle does not unfold it: he did this in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

“By the hand of a mediator”—through a mediator. This is a Hebrew manner of speech; for the hand is the most convenient organ of the broadest activity. But who is the mediator here? Most directly, the holy Moses. For the discourse concerns the Law, and in its establishment on the part of Israel, according to God’s choice, the mediator was Moses. He spoke to the people from God’s behalf: both God chose him for this and the people also chose him (Ex. 20:19). Moses himself attests to this in his final speeches to the people: “and I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the words of the Lord” (Deut. 5:5). For this reason the holy John the Evangelist compares the work of Moses with the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, saying: “the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17).

Gal. 3:20. Now a mediator is not of one; but God is one.

This verse should be counted among those of which the Apostle Peter even wrote, that the Apostle Paul has places hard to be understood. Each statement by itself is plain. It is plain that a mediator is not of one; he comes between two sides or persons. It is plain that God is one, though worshipped in Trinity of Persons. But how these statements are connected here with each other and with the flow of the Apostle’s discourse—this is not plain. Our ancient interpreters did not delve into this, but having expressed the thought of each statement, went no further. The moderns began to guess how to understand this place in its connection, and they guessed. One of them notes that by the beginning of the present century there were already no fewer than 250 hypotheses; but they still continue guessing there. And it is unlikely there will be an end to it.

What should we do? It is best to say: we do not understand and we do not undertake to clarify what is not clear. Whatever we might guess, it is most probable that we would not guess a satisfactory solution. Better not to undertake it. There will be no loss to the understanding of the Apostle’s discourse from this: for these words, like the preceding ones—“ordained through angels, by the hand of a mediator”—are subordinate statements which, if understood, would enrich us with clearer and fuller knowledge of what is being proclaimed, but, if not understood, do not obscure the solution the Apostle gives to the question: “What then is the Law?”

Gal. 3:21. Is the Law contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not. For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the Law.

This verse is directly connected to “because of transgressions it was appended”; the words immediately preceding are explanatory to the word “Law,” not to how the Law is not contrary to the promises. Having answered the question “What then is the Law?” with the words “because of transgressions it was appended”—and then having posed a new question of his own, in which both question and answer are contained: “Is the Law then contrary to the promises?”—the Apostle said this: if the Law was appended because of transgressions, how can it be contrary to the promises? To “be contrary to the promises” means to replace, to abrogate, to destroy, as was expressed above. How this consequence follows from the given premise is not evident. The holy Apostle clarifies this immediately: if a Law had been given that could make alive, it would be contrary to the promises; but since this cannot be said (v. 22), neither can it be said that it is contrary to the promises. The power of the Apostle’s thought lies in the word: to make alive. The promise promises life; the Law does not give this life; therefore, it does not abrogate or replace the promise. If it made alive, then after it there would be no need to await the fulfillment of the promise. Its power would have passed to the Law. But since this cannot be said of the Law, the promise remains in force.

That the promise indeed promised spiritual life, the Apostle said above (in v. 14), expressing that the blessing of the Gentiles promised to Abraham is the reception of the life-giving Spirit of grace through faith. In this lies the essence of the whole economy of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ: in Him all promises and all prophetic proclamations are concentrated. The Lord came; those who cling to Him by faith are vivified spiritually by the grace of the Holy Spirit and begin to live a new life. If the Law did this, then there would have been no need for the coming of the Lord, nor His sufferings, nor His exaltation and sitting at the right hand of the Father, nor the sending of the Holy Spirit and the establishment of the New Covenant Church. All this took place because the Law did not have the power “to make alive.”

To understand this more clearly, let us recall what was said earlier, that the Law only restrained, holding back from transgressive deeds by fear, but did not extinguish the inner passions, did not make alive spiritually. Through this external restraint without inner transformation, it heightened the sense of sinfulness and compelled the seeking of the promised Deliverer. From these two aspects of the Law it follows that it not only is not contrary to the promises—that is, not only does not replace or abrogate them—but requires their fulfillment.

It is worth attending to the terms the Apostle uses. From the flow of discourse one would expect the Apostle to say: if the Law could make alive, then it would be contrary to the promises. But the Apostle says: if the Law could make alive, then righteousness would come from the Law. According to the principles of the holy Apostle, the bestowal of righteousness is the fulfillment of the promise in all its power. The fulfillment of the promise (v. 14) is the reception of the Spirit of grace, quickening and regenerating. Consequently, for the Apostle righteousness is gracious rebirth, imparting inward rectitude to the whole structure of a person’s spiritual life—when, cleansed from sins and having received power to resist sin, one serves God in righteousness, in exact fulfillment of His commandments, and has boldness to look upon Him as children with confidence in His goodwill and in hope of eternal blessedness in Him, in Christ Jesus our Lord, through the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Blessed Jerome writes: “One should not think that the Law excludes the promise merely because it was given after it and appears to abrogate it. On the contrary, from the fact that it could not make alive, could not provide what the promise offered, it is clear that it was given to guard the promise, not to destroy it. If a Law had been given able to provide life and to fulfill (thus) what the promise offered, then indeed the promise would be excluded by the Law. But being given because of transgressions, it rather condemns those sinners to whom it was given after the promise, to guard them—since of their own free will they did not wish to await the Promised One in purity, so that, though bound by the chains of the Law and as it were enslaved to its ordinances, they were preserved to the coming of Christ for faith in Him, in which the fulfillment and end of the promise consists.”

Let us add also the words of wise Photius. “If the Law could make alive, then rightly someone might think that it stands”contrary to the promises“and deprives them of their right, claiming power to justify. But since it is powerless to do any such thing, neither to make alive nor to justify, it is evident that it was not given in place of the promises. These retain their power, as they alone save and justify those of faith. And not only was the Law not contrary to the promises, but in a certain way it even contributed to and served them. For by not saving and not justifying, it directed toward faith; and by directing toward faith, it contributed to the fulfillment of the promises” (according to Ecumenius).

Gal. 3:22. But Scripture has confined all things under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

“Scripture has confined”—that is, Scripture firmly affirms that all are under sin, or Scripture calls all sinners, convicts all of sinfulness (blessed Theodoret). If the Law justified, gave inward righteousness, made alive, then Scripture would not affirm this, but would say only that all except those under the Law are under sin. Since, however, it says that all are under sin, then even those under the Law are under sin; and consequently the Law did not make alive, righteousness does not come from the Law. “All”—in Greek: τα παντα; rightly understood as: εθνη—nations, all nations, all humanity. Or one can speak indefinitely: according to Scripture, all is under sin.

Or “confined”—held under sin, as in shackles, as in a dungeon. Then “Scripture” will be the Old Testament ordinance, transmitted in writing from God and laid as a yoke upon the Jews. For the center of Old Testament Scripture is the Law given through Moses; the Books preceding it are introduction to it, and the Prophetic writings following it are its exposition. Thus, “Scripture confined”—will mean the same as: the Law confined all under sin, all—that is, all without exception of those under the Law. This corresponds directly to the preceding thought: if the Law could make alive, it would replace the promise, would give righteousness. But it, he says, does not only refrain from this; on the contrary, it holds all under sin, as in confinement. It commands: do not do this, touch not that, or be such and such; but gives no power for it. All acknowledge its binding demands, but nonetheless all see that they stand guilty before it; guilty through the Law, yet they cannot free themselves from guilt through the Law. Thus the Law, Scripture, confined all under sin, held all in awareness of their sinfulness, and consequently in a state of culpability and accountability.

But such a result from the Law was by no means for evil and destruction, but for salvation. Thus God Himself ordained it—to use the instinct of self-preservation, which God Himself has placed in our nature, to lead those under the Law onto the true path of salvation. For who loves himself? Seeing that the Law brings only sinfulness, deepens awareness of universal sinfulness, every person under the Law was thereby moved to seek deliverance from sinfulness. How? To throw off the yoke of the Law? But that is even worse. No, to turn one’s hopeful gaze to the One to whom the Law itself pointed in shadow as coming, and whom the Prophets depicted more clearly. Such was the path until the coming of this Promised One; but after His coming, to cling to Him alone by faith and to receive from Him a life which the Law did not give, but only intensified the thirst for it, with the laying aside, of course, of the Law itself—as having fulfilled its temporary service.

This is precisely the meaning contained in the Apostle’s words: “that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” The Law, he says, confined all under sin so that when the Deliverer comes, all would turn to Him; so that until that moment all would experience every possible way of self-correction and self-justification and would tangibly assure themselves that nothing is able to give us this good, not even the Law given by God. It was preserved for faith in Jesus Christ and is given by it alone to those who believe. But in this is the very essence of the promise; consequently, the promise itself is fulfilled only through faith. The promise is Abraham’s blessing, consisting in the reception of the Spirit of grace through faith in the Lord, grace that regenerates, gives new life in Christ Jesus, and sanctifies.

The promise “from faith…will be given to those who believe.” Here the word faith does not have the same meaning but different senses. The words “from faith in Jesus Christ”—mean all that is the New Covenant ordinance, the whole economy of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, all spiritual goods which He has obtained for people and entrusted to His holy Church. He wishes to say: the promise is fulfilled not by the Old, but by the New Covenant. The words “will be given to those who believe”—point to the personal faith of each Christian by which he is deemed worthy of the goods with which the Lord Jesus Christ enriches him. One who hears the Gospel believes; the believer is baptized, and in baptism by water and the Spirit is born for new life in Christ Jesus, and begins to live in it with unwavering hope that He who has begun this work in him will also complete it to the end, with all possible attention, zeal, and effort on his part, of course.

From all that the Apostle has said, it follows that the Law in no way stands contrary to the promise; on the contrary, it both guarded those under the Law for the promise and prepared them for its worthy reception. The holy Chrysostom expresses the Apostle’s thought thus: “God gave the Jews the Law, which would open their wounds and impel them to seek the physician. The word”confined“—means the same as ‘convicted,’ and, convicting, kept them in fear. Do you see how the Law was given not only not”contrary to God’s promises,“but even for the benefit of the promises? If the Law had claimed the work and power of justification for itself, then it would rightly be said that it is contrary to the promises. But when it serves another and did all for another, how can it be contrary to God’s promises? If the Law had not been given, all would have sunk into lawlessness and no one of the Jews would have listened to Christ. Now, when the Law was given, it brought double benefit: first, it guided those who heeded it to virtue within their capacity; second, it awakened in each the awareness of his sins, which particularly moved them to seek the Son of God.”

Gal. 3:23. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, confined until the coming faith would be revealed.

This is not a new train of thought, but a further explanation and application of what has been said—that the Law was given because of transgressions; that is, as the holy Chrysostom said above, on the one hand to restrain sin and teach virtue within one’s capacity, and on the other hand, by opening awareness of sinfulness, to impel one to seek the Savior, to whom the Law itself pointed secretly and the Prophets later more clearly. With this in mind, one cannot fail to recognize that under the Law we were guarded and protected, as by a stern guardian, for the faith that was to be revealed.

“To the faith that was to be revealed”, that is, the Law did not guard us in order that we should remain under it forever, but so as to deliver us to the faith that was to be revealed. For this faith he guarded us, so that when it came we might receive it, having abandoned the Law as now unnecessary and having accomplished its work.

Or “to the faith that was to be revealed” presents this thought: so that the faith destined to come might be revealed, so that it might have the possibility of being revealed in us and through us to all the world. By keeping the Law, we preserved the promise of faith as a saving treasure for all humanity. Without it, faith would not have been. In this respect the Law has universal significance. We bore its yoke until the very coming of faith, which, when it came, was born in us and is now preached by us to all. And behold, this is the way by which the blessing of Abraham is now poured out upon all nations.

The blessed Augustine writes: “Someone will ask: Why did the Law bring no benefit to the Jews? It brought great benefit—incalculable benefit. What caused thousands of people suddenly to sell all they had and lay the proceeds at the feet of the Apostles? That they rushed so swiftly toward God, selling all as the Lord commanded those who wish to be perfect (Matt. 19:21), the Law accomplished this, under which they were kept in confinement as under a guard to the faith that was to be revealed. The fear of the one God held them in such confinement. And that they became transgressors of the Law, far from doing them harm, proved beneficial to those who believed; for knowledge of the gravest sickness makes one desire the physician more strongly and love him more ardently, because he to whom more is forgiven loves more.”

“The words: ‘we were kept’ and: ‘shut up,’ says holy Chrysostom, signify nothing other than the guardianship that the Jews experienced through the commandments of the Law. For the Law, keeping them in fear and in a life under the Law, as if within walls, thereby preserved them for faith.” Theophylact develops this same thought further: “The Law provided great security and protection to those under it, restraining them from many sins; it enclosed people within itself like a wall and led them bound toward faith. How so? By exposing sins and being unable to deliver from them, it, contrary to their will, turned their eyes toward justifying faith, which existed even of old, only hidden; later it was revealed when God appeared in the flesh.” Ecumenius concludes: “The Apostle expresses here the thought that faith in Christ was ordained from antiquity; now it is only revealed to men through the incarnation of God the Word.”

Gal. 3:25. Therefore the Law was our schoolmaster to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But when faith came, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

“Therefore”—thus, or from all that has been said, it follows that the Law, in relation to us, performed the office of a schoolmaster, a pedagogue, an educator. And here is the final answer to the question: What then is the Law? It is a guide to Christ. It demanded holiness and stirred in us the desire for it, but could not give it; it only pointed to the One who alone, the One foreshadowed by the Law, Christ, can give it. He it was who led us, taking us by the hand, so that we might be justified, might become righteous and holy through faith in Christ, which, by drawing the grace of the Holy Spirit, sanctifies all our inner being. But if this is the purpose of the Law—merely to guide us toward faith, to bring us to it—then when faith came, the Law’s guardianship must end; we are no longer to be under it. The Law had a temporary, passing significance. Having accomplished its work, it was meant to cease. All our obligation to it has ended.

Holy Chrysostom says of these verses: “A schoolmaster does not oppose the teacher but works with him, keeping his charge from every vice and with all diligence preparing him to receive the teacher’s lessons; when the charge becomes capable of this, the schoolmaster leaves him. Therefore the Apostle says: ‘when faith came,’ which makes a man a grown son, ‘we are no longer under a schoolmaster.’ Therefore, if the Law is a schoolmaster and guarded us when we were shut up under its watch, then it is not an enemy of grace but a fellow-worker. But if even after the coming of grace it continues to hold us under its yoke, then it becomes an enemy. For by restraining us when we should move toward grace, it will hinder our salvation. As a lamp that illuminates by night, during the day hinders the sight of the sun, not only fails to do its work but causes harm; so also the Law, when it hinders us from attaining something greater. Therefore those who keep it now greatly pervert it. For a schoolmaster makes his charge ridiculous if he keeps him with himself when, by the requirement of the times, he should have left him. Therefore Paul says: ‘when faith came, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.’ Thus we are not under a schoolmaster.”

Since this is the chief thought of the Apostle, for the sake of greater clarity and to imprint it more firmly on the memory, let us not spare ourselves the trouble of setting down, and let the readers have the patience to read, the words of the blessed Jerome: “A schoolmaster is assigned to the young, to curb their waywardness and restrain their lack of experience from vice, when youth are being taught disciplines and prepared for higher philosophy or government posts, being held back by fear of punishment. But a schoolmaster is neither teacher nor father, and the one being raised expects from him neither inheritance nor higher learning. A schoolmaster guards another’s son and departs from him as soon as he reaches the age legally entitled to receive an inheritance. So the Law was given through Moses to an undisciplined people, as if a schoolmaster, to guard it and prepare it for the future faith, which when it came and we believed in Christ, we are no longer under a schoolmaster; the steward and overseer has departed from us, and we have reached our majority and are called true sons of God, whom not the cancelled Law but the mother-faith, that in Christ Jesus, gives birth to us. Who upon reaching perfect age, having become an heir and a free son, would wish to be under a schoolmaster? This is now impossible, when the temple is destroyed and sacrifices have ceased. Whoever does this is neither under a father nor under a schoolmaster, since neither can the Law be kept after the coming of faith, nor is faith preserved, because all still desire the guardianship of the Law.”

Gal. 3:26. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

The Apostle’s discourse changes direction. Before he spoke in such a way that he included himself among those whom the discourse concerned; now, standing apart, he turns his words to those alone to whom he is writing. You are sons, and moreover all of you, all to whom I write, those who make up the Galatian Churches, and thus both Jews and Gentiles. From this it is evident that these verses, as well as the following ones, are the concluding inference from the preceding reasoning, for the instruction of the Galatians.

The Apostle’s discourse here makes such a sudden turn that its connection with what precedes is not at first clear. To see it, we must insert several explanatory thoughts. Having clarified the significance of the Law, the holy Apostle said above: we Jews are no longer under a schoolmaster now that faith, the new-covenantal arrangement of salvation, has come. It did its work, brought us to faith, by which we are justified, became righteous inwardly by the working of the grace of the Holy Spirit, in whom the power of the promise to Abraham resides. And Gentiles, apart from the Law, attached themselves directly to the Lord through faith and received the same promised good. Now I turn to you, Galatians, who have received my gospel of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit: do you not see that all of you, Jews and Gentiles alike, have become sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus; all of you have equally become Christ’s? If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and, according to the promise, heirs—that is, heirs of Abraham or heirs of the good things promised to Abraham, according to the spirit of the promise itself. From this it follows of its own accord: therefore you have all things already through the single means of faith; there is no reason for you to bind yourselves to the Law and bind yourselves with it without any benefit.

Such is the content of this concluding section (verses 26–29). The discourse itself presents no difficulty in understanding. But since it concerns the most essential aspect of the arrangement of our salvation, to comment upon it is in no way unnecessary.

Sonship to God, according to the pattern of the arrangement of our salvation, is so essential to the work of salvation that it cannot be otherwise; for the chief thing here is birth from God according to the image of the Creator, that is, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore the evangelist John writes: “As many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12–13). Without this new birth there is no salvation: “Unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). But those born of God in this way are by that very fact sons of God.

This is accomplished by the grace of the Holy Spirit on the condition of faith in Christ Jesus. The Apostle says: you are sons of God “through faith in Christ Jesus.” Coming into communities that had not known Christ the Lord, the Apostles proclaimed the gospel, saying: we have all sinned in our forefather and became subject to God’s wrath. God has shown us mercy, arranging our salvation in His Only-Begotten Son, Who, having become incarnate, by His death wiped away our sins, and ascending into heaven, sent the Holy Spirit, Who, when received in the mysteries by the faithful, kills sin itself in them and gives them new life. When those who listened inclined toward faith in the gospel, they were told by the word of the Apostle Peter: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Those who did this were born into new life from God. And behold, they are sons of God.

Holy Paul, in explaining how those to whom he wrote are all sons of God, says—

Gal. 3:27. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Those baptized are by that very fact sons of God, because in baptism they are born from God. But the Apostle deepens the thought and shows the sonship of the baptized with the utmost intimacy in the words: “have put on Christ.” Birth from God, which is in essence the same as creation, does not necessarily unite the one born with God, as being created: he may remain very far from God. But he who has put on Christ, the Son of God, cannot be far from God. By becoming one with Christ, he is essentially united with God. Holy Chrysostom says: “Why did he not say: as many as were baptized into Christ are born of God? Because the expression he used is stronger and more magnificent. For if Christ is the Son of God and you have put on Him, have the Son within yourself and are conformed to Him, then you are brought through this into kinship with Him and into the same image.”

What does it mean to put on Christ? Let us compare two expressions: the one being baptized receives new life; and: the one being baptized puts on Christ. It follows that the new life is putting on Christ, or, in other words, new life is receiving the life of Christ, organizing our inner structure according to the image of Christ the Lord. In other places holy Paul speaks exactly thus. In his Epistle to the Ephesians he says that the truth about Christ consists in this: “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22–24). In his Epistle to the Colossians he writes again: “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all” (Col. 3:9–11). From all this it is evident that in baptism, which gives sonship to God or putting on Christ, an essential change takes place in man’s whole inner moral structure. He becomes Christ-like; and from that, thereafter, a Christ-imitating life begins. That such was indeed the change in the baptized was most palpably vindicated by actual results in the baptism of adults, with full faith and full consciousness. We are baptized as infants and, encountering neither in ourselves nor in others what is promised to baptism, we find it difficult to appropriate the thought of baptism’s power. But God’s gifts are irrevocable. Our baptism has the same power. For it to unfold in its fullness when its time comes, this depends on upbringing. And this is the chief thing to which education should be directed, though it is least of all taken into account. Thus the baptized, putting on Christ, receive obligations and the power to live the life of Christ, to think His thoughts, to desire His desires, to feel His feelings, to act His actions, in all things to manifest Christ in themselves.

Gal. 3:28. There is neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither slave nor free: there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

When all Christians are thus inwardly formed by the grace of the Holy Spirit according to one model—the Lord Jesus Christ—it is evident that they are all equal in spirit. As outwardly people have their type, distinguishing them from all other creatures, so inwardly Christians have one type of moral-religious structure, distinguishing them from all people. “All have one face and one image of Christ” (holy Chrysostom). Outwardness in Christianity is nothing. It has to do with the soul. External advantages and disadvantages have no influence whatsoever on true Christian dignity. Here everything depends on the strength of faith, devotion to Christ the Lord, and readiness for any sacrifice for His sake. The measure of these dispositions determines in the soul the measure of receptivity to the gracious powers that build up. From this one can see that a slave and a simple person often stand far above the wise and kings, and a weak woman above men.

The blessed Jerome writes: “When anyone puts on Christ and is embraced by the fire of the Holy Spirit, you cannot tell who is gold or silver. When fire penetrates and embraces the whole mass, then everything becomes one fiery light and every distinction of kind and condition of bodies disappears under such a garment. So also in Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Greek. Neither is a Jew better because he is circumcised, nor is a Greek worse because he is not circumcised; but whether Jew or Greek, if one is better or worse, it is by the quality and strength of his faith. Likewise slave and free man may differ even in Christianity, but not in status—in faith. A slave can be superior to a free man, and a free man surpass a slave—but all by faith. Similarly man and woman differ in the strength and weakness of the body, but faith is determined by the disposition of the heart, and it often happens that a woman saves her husband, and a husband precedes his wife in faith. When thus every distinction by kind, status, and body is abolished through baptism into Christ and putting on Christ, then we are all one in Christ, as the Lord prayed, that as He and the Father are one, so we might be one in them (John 17:21).”

You are all one in Christ Jesus. “One”—in Greek it is: εἷς,—one. The thought is that you are all as one, or—what one has, the other has: what is given to one is given to the other. Because of external differences, no one is deprived of anything that belongs to him as a Christian.

Gal. 3:29. If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.