Summer School: “Justification By Faith” — Friday
Galatians 3:26-28
For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. (NLT)
We’ve spent this week processing Paul’s response to early churches in Galatia as they were reacting to the influence of Judaizers. These Judaizers couldn’t accept that the Mosaic law was no longer needed for salvation. While believing in Jesus, they believed salvation was found in Jesus plus the law. But the law required so much of those who attempted to follow it. Truthfully, no one could measure up. As a result, there was constant guilt in the hearts of the law observers. Paul was trying to let them know that the law had already served its purpose—the guardian, as he called it in Galatians 3:24-25, was no longer needed because of Jesus. Renowned Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe put it this way: “With the coming of Jesus Christ, the nation of Israel moved out of childhood into adulthood. The long period of preparation was over. While there was a certain amount of glory in the law, there was a greater glory in the gracious salvation of God as found in Christ. The law could reveal sin and, to a certain extent, control behavior, but the law could not do for the sinner what Jesus Christ could do.”
What Jesus did once and for all that the law couldn’t, was offer us oneness with God. The law separated man from God. We see this imagery through the fence around the tabernacle, and the veil between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (Exodus 26-27). Separation. Not only did the law create separation from God, but it separated peoples and nations. That’s no longer true for those in Jesus. We are one in Christ Jesus.
Through our time spent in this portion of Galatians this week, one thing I’ve been reminded of is the link between the Old Testament and the New Testament. As Wiersbe said, “In the Old Testament, we have preparation for Christ; in the Gospels, the presentation of Christ.”
Friday’s Reflection
Jesus has given you oneness with the Father. His love and grace are more than enough. Draw from that, and share it with someone else today.
