By Fr. Dustin M. Lyon
The Problem
Being a free ‘child of God’ (to be a ‘son of Abraham’), or inheriting the Kingdom, is manifested in Table-Fellowship.
However, some Judean-Christians were teaching that you could only become a ‘child of God’ if you followed particular observances (or ‘works’) of the Law (e.g., keeping kosher, following the Sabbath, observing the purity laws, and, most importantly, getting circumcised). If you didn’t follow these observances, then you couldn’t sit in Table-Fellowship with others (ie., you can’t inherit the Kingdom).
Paul, however, says that observances of the Law don’t matter. What matters is the faithfulness (or trust) of Jesus, which is offered to everyone, of every background, free of charge through baptism. If you’ve been united to Jesus’s faithfulness, then you’re welcome in Table-Fellowship (you’ve also been declared ‘in the right’ as an heir to the Kingdom, as Paul puts it).
Paul’s Thesis (Gal 2:15-21)
“We are Judeans by birth, not ‘Gentile sinners’. But we know that a person is not declared ‘in the right’ by observances of the Judean Law, but through the faithfulness [trust] of Jesus the Messiah. That is why we too believed in the Messiah, Jesus: so that we might be declared ‘to be in the right’ on the basis of the Messiah’s faithfulness, and not on the basis of observances of the Judean Law. On that basis, you see, no creature will be declared ‘to be in the right’.” (Gal 2:15-18)
Jesus’s faithfulness, or trust, in God (his obedience to go to the cross) makes him ‘in the right’ as an heir to God’s promise of inheritance of the Kingdom. Through baptism, everyone is invited to be united to Jesus and thus share in his faithfulness.
It’s this faith that makes us brothers and sisters in Christ, and it transcends all boundaries:
“You see, every one of you who has been baptized into the Messiah has put on the Messiah. There is no longer Judean or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no ‘male and female’; you are all one in the Messiah, Jesus. And, if you belong to the Messiah, you are Abraham’s family. You stand to inherit the promise.” (Gal 3:27-29)
Proof 1 (Gal 3:1-18)
To show that God’s promises—that we shall inherit of the Kingdom—comes through trust, and not observances of the Law, he turns to the example of Abraham.
“Just as Abraham trusted God [before he was circumcised and before the Law was given], and it was credited to him as ‘being in the right’ so then, understand that those who trust are the sons of Abraham.” (Gal 3:6)
And, the Law, coming after Abraham, does not void the promises made to Abraham.
Proof 2 (Gal 3:19-4:19)
So why the Law? It was not given as a fulfillment of God’s promise. Instead, it acted as a guardian, or babysitter, until the time when God would free us from slavery to this world, which he did through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Proof 3 (Gal 4:21-5:1)
Paul wants to show how ridiculous it is to say that one inherits the Kingdom through observances of the Law. To do this, he now turns to the stories of Ishmael and Isaac.
Ishmael was Abraham’s son through the slave Hagar. He was born through the union of Abraham and Hagar (through the ‘flesh’), and, because of the circumstances, he wasn’t the heir to the inheritance. Paul argues that to follow the observances of the Law is like being born as Ishmael, it doesn’t get you an inheritance.
Isaac, however, was born to Abraham’s barren wife, Sarah. He was not born through the union of Abraham and Sara; instead, he was born because God promised that Sarah would bear a son, and God miraculously made that happen, without Abraham’s assistance! (Gen 21:1) Because Isaac was the ‘son of the promise’ he was born free, and he was the one who was the heir to the inheritance of God’s promise. This is like those who trust in Christ. They become free ‘children of God’ through God’s promise and not by any other means.
Proof 4 (Gal 5:2-6:10)
While emphasizing that the Law is of no advantage, Paul now elaborates what it means to live as a free ‘child’ of the promise, which is the true fulfillment of the Law:
“When God called you, my dear family, he called you to make you free. But you mustn’t use that freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, you must become each other’s servants, through love. For the whole law is summed up in one word, namely this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’.” (Gal 5:13-14)
Being ‘free’ doesn’t mean you can do what you want; it means you live a particular lifestyle: you live by the rule of love. You are to avoid immorality and, instead, bear one another’s burdens. This makes your love manifest, and it’s how you walk the Way.
Paul’s Final Warning (Gal 6:11-18)
Paul ends by saying that those who want people circumcised only want to boast about how many ‘converts’ they get. However, the only thing anyone can boast about is how our Lord was crucified, which is the beginning of new creation.