Question about Galatians 4

[Barnpreacher]

How do we keep from confusing people about the fact that OT saints were saved by grace through faith when Paul uses the illustration of slavery to describe the OT Church?

It would seem a whole lot easier from a preaching perspective to be individualistic with Galatians 4:1-3 but that's not how Calvin and the WCF and others see it.

 

[Barnpreacher]

Here is Poole on verse 3:

Such children were all believers, the seed of Abraham; from the first designed to a gospel liberty, but that was not to be fully enjoyed, until the fulness of time should come when God intended to send his Son into the world; and during the time of their nonage they were kept under the law, as a tutor and governor, leading them unto Christ. He chiefly intendeth the ceremonial law, which, Ac 15:10, Peter calleth a yoke, which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear. He calls these ordinances the elements of the world; so also Col 2:20: he means that discipline by which God instructed, and under which God by Moses at first tutored, the world, that is, the Jews, who were that part of the world to whom God pleased to make his oracles known. He calls those ritual observances, elements, or rudiments, because they were the first instructions God gave believers, leading them to Christ; like the first elements or rudiments in grammar learning.

 

[Prufrock]

I think the best way to keep from confusing people is by keeping it in context of the rest of the passage. The church, as Paul has been describing, until the coming of Christ and the full, legal ratification of the Covenant in his blood, was yet in a infantile, or childish state. Thus it was under wards. Paidagogos is sometimes translated tutors, but this isn't really the best translation: it refers to the servant who forces, who makes sure that the child does their lessons, and listens to the teachers, and finishes their exercises, etc. Thus, until Christ came, and the spirit was given in full measure, and the church established in its present form, Torah and its regulations served as the paidagogos that kept the infant church's eyes upon Christ, and believing and obeying him. Its rituals, its feats, its sacrifices, etc., all these things forced the people to continually look to the promise, look to the coming Christ. And so was the church treated as a servant, or a slave--being required to do many things which a free and adopted son does not have to do, a son who is at liberty and in possession of his inheritance as we are. Israel was treated as a servant, not because it was saved differently, but because it was still awaiting to come to full age (i.e., to receive full revelation, and the spirit working in the church to guide, direct and discipline her), and so required taskmasters to keep her focused and on track.

 

[Barnpreacher]

I think the best way to keep from confusing people is by keeping it in context of the rest of the passage. The church, as Paul has been describing, until the coming of Christ and the full, legal ratification of the Covenant in his blood, was yet in a infantile, or childish state. Thus it was under wards. Paidagogos is sometimes translated tutors, but this isn't really the best translation: it refers to the servant who forces, who makes sure that the child does their lessons, and listens to the teachers, and finishes their exercises, etc. Thus, until Christ came, and the spirit was given in full measure, and the church established in its present form, Torah and its regulations served as the paidagogos that kept the infant church's eyes upon Christ, and believing and obeying him. Its rituals, its feats, its sacrifices, etc., all these things forced the people to continually look to the promise, look to the coming Christ. And so was the church treated as a servant, or a slave--being required to do many things which a free and adopted son does not have to do, a son who is at liberty and in possession of his inheritance as we are. Israel was treated as a servant, not because it was saved differently, but because it was still awaiting to come to full age (i.e., to receive full revelation, and the spirit working in the church to guide, direct and discipline her), and so required taskmasters to keep her focused and on track.

Thank you so much, brother. That was a very helpful paragraph. Sometimes it is difficult for me having come out of my dispensational background just about 5 years ago to see things through covenantal eyes.

 

[Prufrock]

May God bless you in your work.

 

[fredtgreco]

Not Slaves, But Sons

A sermon on that text.

 

[Rev. Todd Ruddell]

I often remind my folks that the OT religion was a "primary color religion". In other words, if you were to go into a house, and the inhabitants had moved out and left all their furnishings behind, it wold become immediately obvious which room was the baby's room--it's the one with the crib, changing table, and primary colors on the walls. The Lord furnished His Church under age with a primary colored room in wich to live-- she at that time, because of the state of His revelation to her, and His equipment of her, being unable to see and experience her "majority".

 

[Semper Fidelis]

I often remind my folks that the OT religion was a "primary color religion". In other words, if you were to go into a house, and the inhabitants had moved out and left all their furnishings behind, it wold become immediately obvious which room was the baby's room--it's the one with the crib, changing table, and primary colors on the walls. The Lord furnished His Church under age with a primary colored room in wich to live-- she at that time, because of the state of His revelation to her, and His equipment of her, being unable to see and experience her "majority".

Well noted.

The analogy is pretty easy to understand if we consider how we treat our own children. Somehow when we think of spiritual matters, however, we think we gain instant discernment simply because we're old enough to have mature discernment of the world around us.

Biblical child-rearing, in fact, is a gracious application of the Law. You give minors simple rules that become principles and form the foundation of ethics in later life. A good example is attentiveness. In a small child you may have to discipline repeatedly to get the child to sit still in Church or during school. Over time the discipline recedes and the child's attention span increases and he is able to listen well, take notes, etc. If you never invest the time in a small child (i.e. just put in children's Church) then they remain immature and fidget through long sermons, can't pay attention, etc.

Remember that Paul says that the Law is not opposed to Grace but only the Pharasaical corruption that saw the Law as an end to itself. If the Law is not an end to grace, then, Paul notes that it actually serves a purpose to point toward grace. That is, if used correctly, it has the pedagogical effect of training hearts and minds in the direction of Christ and their need of a perfect Savior in its second use.

Incidentally, this is why I normally grimace when threads are started that ask something to the effect of "How much of x can I do before I violate the Yth Commandment". It approaches the Law from a point of immaturity like a 20 year old man worrying about jaywalking because he'll get a spanking if he does. It is looking for permission of the Law to behave in a certain way rather than being trained by the Law to point us to fulfillment in Christ and then seeing in the command the nature of the God that has redeemed us.

 

[Barnpreacher]

Thanks guys. Helpful responses.

 

[Barnpreacher]

Fred,

Great message. It was very helpful to listen to. I liked how you gave the context of the OT Church, but then you showed the individual application of what Jesus has done for the elect in verses 6 and 7.