God Sent His Son

Galatians 4:4-5 - But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

Ephesians 1:9-10 - And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 3:22-24 - This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

John 1:12-13 - Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

Romans 8:14 - For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Conclusions:

• "Time had fully come" is the time set by God for His children to become adult sons and heirs
• "Born of a woman" shows that Christ was truly human
• "Born under law" means subject to the Jewish law
• Paul uses a significant term in Ephesians 1:10 that not only has the idea of leadership but also was often used of adding up a column of figures
• A contemporary way of putting it might be to say that in a world of confusion, where things do not add up or make sense, we look forward to the time when everything will be brought into meaningful relationship under the headship of Christ
• God so loved the world is the great truth that motivated God's plan of salvation
• The world is all people on earth--or perhaps all creation
• Although believers are also called sons of God, Jesus is God's Son in a unique sense

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Baptized Into Christ

Galatians 3:26-27 - You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Romans 8:13-14 - For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Matthew 28:19-20 - Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Romans 13:14 - Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Romans 6:11 - In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 12:13 - For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

Conclusions:

• God is the Father of all in the sense that He created all and His love and providential care is extended to all
• But not all are His children
• Jesus said to the unbelieving Jews of His day, you belong to your father, the devil
• People become children of God through faith in God's unique Son, and being led by God's Spirit is the hallmark of this relationship
• Baptism is a sign of union with and commitment of Christ
• Paul exhorts believers to display outwardly what has already taken place inwardly--including practicing all the virtues associated with Christ
• I need to count myself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus
• I have been baptized by the same Spirit as everyone else in the church

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Christ

Galatians 3:22-25 - But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

Romans 10:4 - Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

Galatians 2:15-16 - "We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

Romans 8:13-14 - For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Conclusions:

• This faith is in Christ
• To be a prisoner of sin and a prisoner of law amounts to much the same, because law reveals and stimulates sin
• Was put in charge translates the Greek paidagogos
• Paidagogos refers to the personal-slave attendant who accompanied a freeborn boy wherever he went and exercised a certain amount of discipline over him
• The slave-attendant's function was more like that of a baby-sitter than a teacher
• Although the Greek word for "end" can mean either (1) termination, cessation, or (2) goal, culmination, fulfillment, it seems best in Romans 10:4 to understand it in the latter sense
• I am justified by faith in Christ
• Do we live according to the sinful nature or the Spirit? Are we sons of God?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Mediator

Galatians 3:20-21 - A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one. Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.

Hebrews 9:15 - For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

Hebrews 12:22-24 - But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Galatians 2:21 - I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

Conclusions:

• The Mosaic covenant was a formal arrangement of mutual commitments between God and Israel with Moses as the mediator
• But, since the promise God covenanted with Abraham involved commitment only from God's side, no mediator was involved.
• Christ is my mediator

Application:

• Are you called?
• Have you come to God?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Was Added

Galatians 3:17-19 - What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator.

Exodus 20:18-19 - When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."

Genesis 17:7 - I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

Jeremiah 31:31,33-34 - "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah…"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

Conclusions:

• The period in Egypt is designated in round numbers as 400 years
• From the time of Abraham, the promise covenanted to him had stood at the center of God's relationship with His people
• After the exodus the law contained in the Sinaitic covenant became an additional element in that relationship--what Jeremiah by implication called the old covenant, when he brought God's promise of a new covenant
• The Seed is Christ
• Israel (in Exodus 20:19) requests a mediator to stand between them and God, a role fulfilled by Moses and subsequently by priests, prophets and kings--and ultimately by Jesus Christ

Application:

• Do you seek a mediator between you and God?
• Is God your God?
• Are you in a covenant relationship with your heavenly Father?
• Has God forgotten your sins?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Human Covenant

Galatians 3:15-16 - Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:14 - But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.

Micah 7:20 - You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago.

Genesis 17:7 - I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

Conclusions:

• The Greek word for human covenant normally indicates a last will or testament, which is probably the legal instrument Paul is referring to in Galatians 3:15
• In the Septuagint human covenant had been widely use of God's covenant with His people, so Paul's choice of analogy was apt for his purpose

Application:

• Has your mind been made dull?
• Is God your God?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Everything

Galatians 3:10 - All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."

Galatians 2:15-16 - "We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

Deuteronomy 27:26 - "Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

Jeremiah 11:3-4 - Tell them that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Cursed is the man who does not obey the terms of this covenant--the terms I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.' I said, 'Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God.

James 2:10 - For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

Conclusions:

• Rely on observing the law is a reference to legalists--those who refuse God's offer of grace and insist on pursuing righteousness through works
• Because no one under the law ever perfectly kept the law, they are under a curse
• God's blessing has never been earned, but has always been freely given
• Paul is not depreciating the law itself, for he clearly maintained that God's law is holy, righteous and good
• Paul is arguing against an illegitimate use of the Old Testament law that made the observance of that law the grounds of acceptance with God
• Justified by faith is the essence of the gospel message
• Faith is the means by which justification is received, not its basis
• Mankind is under a curse because no one follows the law of God fully
• It is not enough to assert allegiance to the law, one must live according to its stipulations
• Blessings resulted from obedience to the covenant; curses resulted from disobedience
• The law is the expression of the character and will of God; therefore to violate one part of the law is to violate God's will and thus His whole law

Application:

• Do you refuse God's offer of grace and insist on pursuing righteousness through works?
• Are you using the observance of the law as grounds for God accepting you?
• Do you live according to the stipulations of the law?
• Are you obedient or disobedient to God's covenant?
• Are you violating God's will?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible