13th June 2023 – Galatians 4:1-3
4 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.
The RSV and NEB render the phrase 'elements of the world' as 'the elemental spirits of the universe' (cf 8, 'ye did service to them which by nature are no gods'). But how can this apply to the law? Are we to think of the law as a tool of Satan? To speak like this is to bring us into the thought of Paul's remarkable words in Romans 7. It is true that the law, in itself, is holy and just and good (how could it be other, since it was given by God?). But, if we interpret Paul aright in Romans 7, what he says is that the law becomes something which by nature it is not, viz. an instrument of the devil, who twists it to his own evil purposes, in order to enslave and destroy man. As J. Stott puts it, 'Just as during a child's minority his guardian may ill-treat and even tyrannize him in ways which his father never intended, so the devil has exploited God's good law, in order to tyrannize men in ways God never intended. God intended the law to reveal sin and to drive men to Christ; Satan uses it to reveal sin and drive men to despair. God meant the law as an interim step to man's justification; Satan uses it as the final step to his condemnation. God meant the law to be a stepping-stone to liberty; Satan uses it as a cul-de-sac, deceiving his dupes into supposing that from its fearful bondage there is no escape'. It is from this destroying power - the elemental spirits of the universe - that Christ sets us free in the gospel.
12th June 2023 – Galatians 4:1-3
4 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way…
11th June 2023 – Galatians 4:1-3
4 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way…
10th June 2023 – Galatians 4:1-3
4 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way…
9th June 2023 – Galatians 3:29
29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. To sum up, then: in Christ (a) we are the sons of God (the reference in 27 about ‘putting on Christ’ may refer to the ‘toga…
8th June 2023 – Galatians 3:29
29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. This verse brings to a conclusion Paul’s illustration drawn from Abraham’s experience. It is useful to link it with 16, in order to see the line…
7th June 2023 – Galatians 3:26-28
26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is…
6th June 2023 – Galatians 3:25
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian The implications of this verse are very considerable. In the absolute sense the work of the law is finished when faith is born, and this can admit…
5th June 2023 – Galatians 3:23-24
23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. After our…
4th June 2023 – Galatians 3:19-24
19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one,…