There are two main themes in this chapter of Galatians.
1—being a child of Abraham through Faith
For
Paul, faith = belief in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ, and so when he
speaks of faith “coming” (v. 23) he refers to the “era of Christ” as a
particular time marked by Christ’s death and resurrection. It is through this
relationship of faith, through Christ, that believers receive the Spirit (v. 2)
and are saved, reconciled to God.
A portion
of this chapter tries to explain how Abraham, who lived prior to Christ, of
course, could be the father of the faith, if “faith” hadn’t come yet. Paul
cites several examples from Hebrew scripture of how God was working through Abraham
and the law to prepare people for faith, when Christ would come. But he is
careful to remind it was not the law that saved anyone, ever—then or now.
Rather, it is faith in Christ Jesus.
Being a
“child of Abraham” (v. 7) means we believe in the same gospel, the same Lord,
the same work God is doing, work which began long before Christ but was
revealed in Christ as faith, and continues through the Spirit. Theologically we
agree with this: those who believe in Jesus are one “family”. Being a child of
Abraham is not a genealogical reality, it is about faith. While there are many
stories in the New Testament about entire households being baptized once the
head of the house believed in Jesus, making baptism a family thing, Paul’s
point is that heritage doesn’t matter, faith does. Remember, he’s arguing
against those who insist Gentiles must become Jewish before being Christian.)
2—identity as a child of God
Paul
redefines this new identity in faith. One of the purposes of the law was to
form a common identity among the people of God. Sort of like we might sing “They’ll
know we are Christians by our love”, in Hebrew scripture they knew they were
Jewish because they followed the Mosaic law. But now Paul proclaims a new
source for identity: baptism into Christ (v. 27). Who you used to be (Jew or
Gentile, slave or free, male or female) doesn’t matter as much as who you are
now: child of God. The things that used to mark people as different from one
another give way to a common identity in Christ. One is not better than
another; all are beloved children in God’s eyes.
Finally
Paul closes the circle of this argument and proclaims that all who are made new
in Christ Jesus, all who are baptized and have put on Christ, all who share
this identity, are Abraham’s offspring. It is that key relationship of faith, a
gift from the Holy Spirit, that holds all of these pieces together. Whether Jew
(following the Law) or Gentile, slave or free, male or female—all these
differences come together to form the people of God, rooted in Abraham, and united
in Jesus.
Throughout
this epistle, Paul does a nice job of showing the importance of the Law and his
own respect for it, while insisting that the law is not what saves us. Now he
has brought Abraham into the argument, not just “the law” in a theoretical way,
but an example to whom they can relate, to show how God’s grace works not only
on a timeline (as if the ancestors are out of luck because they lived before
Jesus) but eternally in both directions.