THE KING’ S BUSINESS
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of the law that led us to Christ: the work o f the law is finished. Now that Christ is come we “ all,” all who believe in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles, are "sons,” i. e., we are full-grown children, no longer need ing the guardian law. W e are “sons” “through faith in Christ Jesus” (cf. John 1 :12). - Christ Jesus is the eternal and only begotten Son of God, and we who believe in Him are so united to Him by faith that the moment we believe' in Him we too become “children o f God” (cf. 1 John 3:1, 2, R. V .) “As many o f you (i. e., both Jews and Gentiles) as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.” “Put on Christ?’ means clothed themselves with Christ. The Roman, when he became full grown, put ■on the toga virilis as the sign that he was now a man. So believers put on Jesus Christ as their toga virilis, and the work o f the guardian slave, the law, is at an end. And now Paul adds a statement full o f the deepest significance: “ There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female: for ye are all one man in Christ Jesus” (cf. Eph. 2:15). There are no class distinctions o f any kind in Christ (cf. Rom. 10:12; 1 Cor. 12:13; Col. 3:11). Therefore Peter (cf. ch. 2:11, 12) had been, and the Judaizers still were, utterly wrong in rais ing these class distinctions. The one ques tion now is, “Are ye Christ’s?” “ If ye are. Christ’s, (i. e., united to Him by Simply believing in Him ), then are ye Abraham’s seed' (regardless o f whether you are cir cumcised or uncircumcised), heirs according to promise.” Paul here by an argument of tremendous power, and utterly unanswer able, comes back to the point he reached by another course in v. 7. Monday, May 6 . : Gal. 4 : 1 - 3 . Paul in this section o f his epistle con tinues and emphasizes and ■ illustrates the thought contained in chapter 3 :23-29. In those verses he has just told the Galatians that if they were Christ’s then they Were Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise (ch. 3:29). He now shows them
here hints at the bondage o f the law. It served a good purpose, but a temporary purpose, and even during its day kept men in bondage. It was, however, a bondage for a good end, salvation, sonship and lib erty. In verse 24 Paul changes the figure in a measure, from that of a jailer to that o f a tutor, but with the same, .essential thought o f -bondage. “The law was our schoolmaster.” The word translated “ schoolmastër” does not mean schoolmaster in our modern sense, nor does it mean what we understand by “tutor” (as it is trans lated in the Revised Version). The word translated “schoolmaster” means the' trusty slave who was given the care of a boy until he reached maturity, leading him to study and’ to play, guarding him from physical and moral evil. This slave was appointed for the good o f the boy, but kept him from full liberty (cf. v.. 25; ch. 4:1, 2). Just so the law led us about and led us to Christ. The law awakens, by its moral precepts, which none o f us has fully kept, a consciousness o f sin (Rom. 3:19, 20; 7:24, 25), and thereby a sense of need o f a. Saviour, Who shall bring for giveness for past sins, and deliverance from the- present power o f sin. The law by its ceremonies and sacrifices, which suggest atonement but never fully satisfy the con science (Heb. 10:1-4),: points 'forw ard to and prepares the way for, and awakens a longing for, the true sacrifice that can fully satisfy the conscience—even -Christ cruci fied (cf. Heb. 10:5-10, 12-14; Heb. 9:14). The law brings us to Christ in order that we may be justified'by means o f faith, (Both Authorized and Revised Versions of v. 24 say “ by faith” but the preposition translated “by” means literally “out of,” and in this ' connection means "by means o f ’ ), and not by means o f the law that merely Jed us to Christ. The law leads us to Christ, faith joins us to Christ. Sunday, May 5 . Gal. 3 : 25 - 29 . “But now that faith is come, we are no longer under a tutor,” i. e., we are no longer under the guardianship and leading
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