In the Old Testament, we saw that God created men and women as equals in order to fill the earth and rule over it (Genesis 1:26-28). After humankind sinned and God promised never again to destroy or curse the earth on account of humanity (Genesis 8:21-22), God chose a nation and gave a Law. The explicit purpose of that law was not to make anyone righteous. Instead, the Law served two purposes. 1) It served to test people and produce a fear of God in them (Exodus 20:20). It was that fear of God that would lead people not to sin. Sin, from the start, has always been a matter of the heart and not of legalistic rules. 2) It served to practically create a society that would be prosperous and live long in the land God was giving (Deuteronomy 5:33). According to the Law’s own purpose statement, it was never meant to make people righteous. Instead, it was meant to cause the nation of Israel to know and fear God and prosper upon the earth.
We often see a disconnect between the Old and New Testaments. We imagine that the Old Testament presents one way while the New Testament presents a different way. We somehow perceive that the Old Testament presents one God while the New Testament presents a different God. We imagine different dispensations during which God is different and changes in His own character from one dispensation to another. Such a view is inconsistent. The Old Testament is the backdrop, the foundation, of the New. If the New Testament does not cohere with the Old, it is an invalid testimony of God who cannot change (cf. Malachi 3:6). In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we see the basic New Testament view of the Law and of the position of men and women in society and in the church.
Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For 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. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise (Galatians 3:15-29).
Let’s outline Paul’s argument in logical form:
P1: Covenants are unalterable (no additions or subtractions are permitted).
P2: God ratified His promise (a covenant) to Abraham.
P3: God later gave the Law.
C1: Therefore, the Law does not nullify the promise God ratified with Abraham.
C2: Therefore, the promise is not based on the Law.
P4: Yet, God gave the Law.
P5: The Law is not contrary to God’s promise.
C3: The Law does not justify anyone.
C4: The Law was meant to lead people to the promise.
C5: People are justified like Abraham was, through faith.
P6: Faith has come.
C6: Therefore, we are no longer under the Law that was meant to lead us to faith.
P7: Faith in Christ makes all believers sons of God.
C7: Therefore, all people no matter sex, worldly status, or ethnicity are equal.
I want to observe each of Paul’s premises in light of what we have already seen in the Old Testament. This is how we build a biblical theology, as opposed to a systematic or historical theology.
P1: Covenants are unalterable
Despite what some claim, Paul never wanted to nullify the Mosaic Law. In fact, showing quite the opposite, Paul begins in the current selection by claiming that all covenants, especially God’s, are unalterable. Why? God does not change. When God speaks, His words are forever. Heaven and earth are destructible, but the words of God are not (cf. Matthew 24:35).
P2: God ratified His promise to Abraham
In Genesis 15, God ratified His promise to provide a seed to Abraham. God alone walked through the covenantal sacrifices, and nothing was required of Abraham. Righteousness was credited to Abraham, not on the basis of following a Law, but on the basis only of His faith.
P3: God later gave the Law
It is intriguing to me that anyone claims that the New Covenant in Christ nullifies the Law or that anyone accuses others of making such an assertion. The promise came first. Since God does not deny Himself or nullify any of His words, the Law cannot nullify the promise—which is strictly through faith and monergistic. The Law’s self-stated purpose agrees. The Law was not given to make anyone righteous. The Law was given in order to test people and provide a healthy fear of God (Exodus 20:20). It was that fear of God, faith, that would actually produce a sinless life—not perfect adherence to the Law. This is according to the Law itself. The Mosaic Law does not nullify the promise but, instead, affirms it. The Old Testament is coherent. That’s what Paul wants his readers to know.
P4-5: God gave the Law, Which is Not Contrary to His Promise
For some reason, the promise was not sufficient to bring about the purpose God intended. Paul uses the language of people being shut up in sin under the Law. God shut all people up in sin so that they would be able to see Christ, the seed promised to Abraham. The purpose Paul gives the Law is the purpose that the Law gives itself in Exodus 20:20. When people were under the Law, it was a test for them that increased their fear of God. That fear led them to God, their savior. The Law never made anyone righteous. Instead, they were justified through faith. Salvation is ultimately accomplished in the promised seed, Jesus Christ.
P6: Faith has Come
Here, Paul uses the word “faith” to refer to the promised seed, Jesus Christ. In Him, people are delivered from sin and death. If the purpose of the Law was to lead people to Christ, it succeeds when any person comes to Christ. We are saved through faith, not by the Law—which is the point of the Law (cf. Genesis 15; Exodus 20:20).
P7: Faith in Christ Makes all Believers Sons of God
Whereas the Law could not nullify the promise of faith but only create a fear of God in people, Christ comes to deliver people according to the promise of faith. Since we do nothing to earth justification or righteousness, all people are equal under Christ. When we are under the Law, the Law humbles us and shows us how incapable we are to attain the righteousness of God by works. That is its self-stated purpose. When we are under Christ through faith, we are no longer under the Law. We are under grace. Since no one could earn such grace, no one is any better than another. Paul’s statement does not mean that there are no distinctions between men and women or ethnic groups or cultures or positions on this earth. But, we are all of equal standing before God—like things were in the Garden prior to the Fall.
In essence, Jesus restored to order of things to what it was in the Garden. People will often say that we are awaiting the future restoration of Eden, but I think we see Eden progressing on the earth as history progresses. In Genesis 8, God lifted the Genesis 3 curse from the ground. In Genesis 12 and 15, God provided the foundation of faith for the salvation of the world. In the Gospels, that faith is revealed in Christ. Those who believe are made equal together, undoing the curse’s effects upon the woman—who, as a result of her sin “desired her husband.” In Christ, all things are being made new. One day, all sickness, pain, crying, and death will be finished.
So, Paul’s view of the Law comes from the Law itself. Men and women are given equal status in the kingdom of God.
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