Galatians 3: 23-29

Monday, September 09, 2013     Galatians 3: 23-29

In this passage Paul speaks of before and after: “Before the way of faith in Christ, and “now that the way of faith has come” (Galatians 3: 23, 25). However, there is a bit of nuance in the Greek that makes this passage difficult to translate. I believe N. T. Wright comes closest to Paul’s intent when he renders these verses as, “Before this faithfulness arrived” and “now that faithfulness has come.” “The way of faith” can imply that it is our personal way of faith that means “we no longer need the law as our guardian” (v.25). However, in this passage Paul is celebrating the faithfulness of Jesus, not our way of faith. Our salvation is only made possible by the faithfulness of Jesus. Our right standing with God is initiated and maintained, moment by moment, by the faithfulness of Jesus. It will never be my ambition to be a man of great faith. I always strive to be a fully devoted follower of the man of great faith, Christ Jesus. It is not my great faith I am interested in because I am possessed by the great faithfulness of Jesus and his passion for me.

One of the fruits of my faith in the faithfulness of Jesus is revealed at the end of this chapter. Paul writes that when “you belong to Christ there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).This is impossible when you live by the law. This is reality when you live by faith in Christ.

By the way, I am convinced that if Paul was writing this letter to the churches in our era, he would write, there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female, Methodist or Baptist, Presbyterian or Episcopal, Protestant or Catholic. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

God wants unity more than He wants denominations.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  In addition to this BLOG they are distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        When Christ Thinks of Me: Meditations for the Followers of Jesus will be released on Amazon Kindle October, 1, 2013.

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.