Dedicated to Truth

Dedication · Senior Member

The Old Covenant that holds people in Slavery

Eriel · Veteran Member

Not sure I agree. The Israelite's commitment was not a faulty response. Even God said to Moses, "The people have rightly said all they have promised, oh that there was a heart in them to do it."

There was no fault in or with the covenant itself, the fault was with the people to do it. So the covenant is not faulty, the people are.
The sinful human mind must be changed, not the covenant.
To claim the covenant itself was legalism only leads to more confusion.

Dedication · Senior Member

Thank-you for your response.

I just have a few questions:

When the people said, "All that the Lord hath said we will do," was this a response of faith? Or did the people expect to keep the covenant and the law in their own strength?

The covenant that was ratified with animal blood in Exodus 24, was this the Old Covenant?
When the covenant was re-established was it based on the same promises as the broken covenant? Or was it based on "better promises".?
Did this covenant continue throughout the Old Testament period?

Also the text you quoted -- where is it found, I can't seem to locate it?
But I do see in it the problem with their promise -- they didn't have the heart to do it.
The words may have been right, but something was wrong with the heart.

Eriel · Veteran Member

The text is in Deut. 5:28-29

Was it a response of faith?
No doubt it was mixed with faith, however feeble or weak.  In all probability they didn't understand their weakness and their inability to do all they ideally promised to do.

But the people's response doesn't define the covenant. God desires His people to commit themselves to obedience.

Jer. 7:23   But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

The "obey and live" concept continues throughout earth's history. Some think "obey and live" is legalism, but it isn't legalism unless one thinks they can earn merits to enter heaven.

In Hebrews we read concerning Jesus:
5:8   Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
5:9   And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

As to your question on the continuity of the covenant:

The old and new covenant run parallel as well as consecutively. Unless we see the perfect unity and only see the contrast, we will always misunderstand the covenants.

If you say there is only one covenant God makes with man, you are correct. It outlines the duty of man.
Now there is another covenant God and Christ made with each other, and its bearing should be obvious, for it encompasses forgiveness of sin, the sending of the Holy Spirit, and the work of God upon the human heart to bring about the rebirth.

So we read in Hebrews:
8:10   For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people"

I think its important not to call the old covenant a system of legalism, they both work together for all true believers before and after the cross event.

Dedication · Senior Member

I agree and disagree!

First I agree that God desires people to commit themselves to obedience to His will, and that obedience is important.

I also believe that God's covenant -- the everlasting covenant -- carries through from the beginning till the end of earth's history.

However, I also have questions concerning this "covenant that enslaves" and needs to be "thrown out", spoken of in Gal. 4:22-31.

How can Gal. 4 be speaking of the covenant that you present? There must be another meaning. Many people, today are ready to throw out obedience to the ten commandments based on that very text.

Also the covenant God makes with mankind isn't just the "duty of man", the very text you quoted says "this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel" -- thus signifying it is a covenant made with mankind, not just between God the Father and Son.

I still believe the covenant that needs to be "thrown out" spoken of Galatians 4 is a covenant that was entered into by the people with a "works" attitude.
Hebrews 10 says it was based on faulty promises.

Committing themselves in obedience to God was not the problem -- that was good.

Their problem was in their not seeking and praying for the presence of the Lord in their lives so they could follow God's commands.
They didn't recognize their own deceitful hearts. They trusted in self, instead of seeking the Savior to be that abiding, transforming presence in their lives.

That old covenant lasted only six weeks before it was disannulled!
"they had broken their covenant with God, so God had broken His covenant with them." {PP 320.1

PP 371.4 is a most revealing paragraph, for it says after the huge apostasy and subsequent punishment, mediation, repentance etc.

"They could not hope for the favor of God through a covenant which they had broken; and now, seeing their sinfulness and their need of pardon, they were brought to feel their need of the Saviour revealed in the Abrahamic covenant and shadowed forth in the sacrificial offerings. Now by faith and love they were bound to God as their deliverer from the bondage of sin. Now they were prepared to appreciate the blessings of the new covenant. [PP 371.4]

Eriel · Veteran Member

The old covenant was not just a six week period that terminated when they broke it. All of the old testament dispensation was called the "old " covenant.

It consisted of the sacrifices which pointed to Christ, the earthly tabernacle, the earthly priesthood. All that is the old covenant. As long as it was necessary and meaningful to participate in all these ceremonial laws, it was the "old" covenant.

The earthly city of Jerusalem was the center of all these temple based ceremonies. Three times a year every male was to appear in Jerusalem.
Worship was centered in one place, and that worship, revolving around animal sacrifices that could never take away sin or cleanse the heart.

The point is this, the new covenant, complete with Christ's better blood, better sanctuary, better priesthood, which still includes the obey and live, with God's law written upon the heart, can exist without the old, but the old covenant can not have any meaningful existence without the new. Thus we see parallel and contrast without confounding the two. Thus, those who were spiritually minded in the old covenant dispensation, were also participating in the new.

The book of Hebrews tells us what is vanishing within the old covenant.
--the human priesthood based on Aaron's lineage
--the sacrifices
--the earthly temple
Now those of us in the new covenant dispensation do not participate in the old.

Dedication · Senior Member

Yes, Hebrews definitely contrasts the old shadows (earthly sanctuary, earthly priests, animal sacrifices) with the new and better reality of Christ our High Priest, entering the heavenly sanctuary with His own far superior blood.

In Hebrews "the old covenant" had its temple and sacrificial services
Now in the new covenant Christ is our High Priest, which is infinitely better, for the blood of sheep and goats can never forgive sins, BUT Christ can.

But now back to Galatians.

Paul is contrasting Hagar and Sarah as representatives of two covenants.
God gave Abraham a promise of many descendants who were to fill the land. Abraham counted his children and the count was 0 .
This zero count continued for many years. Time was ticking by, Sarah was past the age of bearing children.

SO
They deside to help God and do it THEIR way. Abraham gets a much younger woman who conceives. and bears a son. But this was not God's way.

Sarah, on the other hand, conceived many years after having reached a stage where women can't conceve any more. Her child didn't come by the will of man, but by the will of God!

Hagar represents a covenant of "doing it our way"
While Sarah represents a covenant of "trusting and depending on God".

Are you saying Hagar represents the sacrificial/temple ceremonial system, and this represented doing things their own way instead of God's way?

Eriel · Veteran Member

Maybe we complicate the covenant issue more than necessary. Paul holds up Abraham as the ideal "new covenant" believer.

It seems some phrases are centered on and interpreted in a way that lends itself to more confusion than clarity.

One such phrase being "All the Lord has said, we will do and be obedient."

It is then assumed such a response was a faulty response, and so the Lord made a "new" covenant.

We could ask, "Did Abraham respond by saying 'All the Lord has asked me to do, I will do?'"

Apparently, he did. And was God displeased with his response? I think not.

Yet we are keenly aware of many of the failures of Abraham in his on going relationship with God. And we are aware of Abrahams's need to grow into a clearer and more dynamic awareness of his need of grace. And we see he finally passed a significant test in his willingness to offer his son a sacrifice to God according to God's instructions.

Even when the children of Isreal responded as they did, God did not chide them for their commitment. He did say, "The people have well said all they have said, Oh that there was such a heart in them to do it."

Now supposing the people had said, "We don't like your covenant, God, and we have a better idea."

And so the Lord said, "OK, what is your idea?"

And they respond, "We will do as we please, and you will accept and bless us anyway."

It seems to me, this is pretty much how many interpret what they call the "new covenant" today.

But if we correctly understand and interpret the bible rightly, we conclude there was no need for a "new" covenant as it is explained today. Rather, there was a need for a "new heart", and what needed to be changed was not the covenant, but the heart of the people.

And Paul rightly says in Hebrews, "The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin." and "The people can not be purified with these sacrifices."

And then Paul goes on to show that the blood of Jesus can. Is this some "new" thought, or "new" covenant? NO. Paul is simply correcting the false idea people had developed in his day and returned to the true and only viable meaning of the ceremonial law that many had clearly understood in the past, but which had been largely lost.

Much of our error and mis-understanding of scripture is based on the faulty idea that the Jews of Jesus' and Paul's day had a correct view of the old and new covenant. They did not. And Jesus and Paul are simply correcting false ideas that had originated over the decades.

And so we assume when Paul says, "The law is our schoolmaster, to lead us to Christ......", this is some "new" idea never known before and now it negates the law and is a "new" covenant based on Christ, without the moral law.

But no "true believer" in Paul's day would think God's moral was done away with! And every "true believer" would simply say about Paul's declaration, "Yes, we always knew the law was a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ. For in Him we have forgiveness of sin and eternal life"

Then how is the "new" covenant "new"? It is not. It is simply the "covenant re-newed" in light of the reality that all looked forward to in the beginning. In this context, it is better to think of "covenant renewal" than "new" covenant. Jesus simply re-newed the covenant based on the reality of His life, death and priestly ministry in all they had looked forward to from the beginning.

And our commitment, like the believers of old, is still, "All the Lord has said, we will do and be obedient."

In conclusion, we need no "new" covenant as it is often explained in Christanity today. Where the conclusion seems to be, "We will do as we please, and God will accept us anyway."

Obviously, such a response, implies the law of God has been negated by the sacrifice of Christ. And instead of sinful human beings going through the born again experience and receiving a "new" heart that they might walk in God's laws, the covenant has been "changed" to suit sinful people.
"Love God and do as you please" has taken the place of "Love God and keep His commandments."

Dedication · Senior Member

Thank you for your comments.
While I agree with most all you have written, I still feel the question has not been addressed in the context in which Paul writes.

We need to have an accurate and Biblical understanding of these verse.

How do you explain them in the context of your comments above?

4:1   Now I say, [That] the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
4:2   But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
4:3   Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
4:4   But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
4:5   To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
4:6   And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
4:7   Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
4:8   Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
4:9   But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
4:10   Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
4:11   I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
4:12   Brethren, I beseech you, be as I [am]; for I [am] as ye [are]: ye have not injured me at all.
4:13   Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.
4:14   And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, [even] as Christ Jesus.
4:15   Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if [it had been] possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.
4:16   Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
4:17   They zealously affect you, [but] not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.
4:18   But [it is] good to be zealously affected always in [a] good [thing], and not only when I am present with you.
4:19   My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
4:20   I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.
4:21   Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
4:22   For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
4:23   But he [who was] of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman [was] by promise.
4:24   Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
4:25   For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
4:26   But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
4:27   For it is written, Rejoice, [thou] barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
4:28   Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
4:29   But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him [that was born] after the Spirit, even so [it is] now.
4:30   Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
4:31   So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Dedication · Senior Member

Ps. 89:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

Ps. 105:7   He [is] the LORD our God: his judgments [are] in all the earth.
105:8   He has remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.
105:9   Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac;
105:10   And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:

Dedication · Senior Member

The verses above tell me the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob AND Israel is for ever, God does not change it.

This brings me right back to conviction that Galatians is not contrasting the true covenant made with Israel in the years prior to cross, with God's covenant after the cross.

We should go through Galatains 4 step by step,
but first let's define some phrases going back a chapter:

Gal. 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law

Before Faith came

Faith was something many Old Testament followers of God had! We just need to read the faith chapter in Hebrews to realize this is true.
It's more reasonable to see this as refering to Christ's coming -- the object of all faith.

God's moral law imprisoned everything under sin, as we read in Gal. 3:22.

This shows the state and condition the Jews were in under the law, for the law condemned them as sinners worthy of death; but they were also prisoners with hope.

Through the sacrificial system they placed their hope and expectation in the Messiah’s coming, who would fulfil the promise found in Isaiah 42:7 “to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house,” was their hope.

For the blood of goats and sheep could not open that prison house of death.
Nothing that they could do would open that prison — they were kept there but they had the hope.

Only Christ can open that prison house.
He does this, NOT by doing away with the moral law, no, never.
He does it by fulfilling the ceremonial law, taking our sins upon Himself, dying the death we deserve so we may be forgiven and released from the prison house of death!

Tutor to bring us to Christ:

Now which law was the tutor instructing them in the coming Messiah?

God's moral law showed their desperate need, but it was the ceremonial law that taught them about Christ and His redemptive mission.

And as Eriel wrote: " And every "true believer" would simply say about Paul's declaration, "Yes, we always knew the law was a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ. For in Him we have forgiveness of sin and eternal life"

The moral law still points out our need, but the ceremonial law is now no longer needed as we have the historical saving event which took place on the cross at Calvary.

Ruth · Veteran Member

Hi,
Interesting discussion here!
I'd like to add a thought on the subject of Galatiansconcerning the phrase “under the law”. This phrase is often used negatively to characterize those who defend the observance of the Sabbath commandment; as if obedience to God is to be under the curse of God!

Now I'd like to look for the meaning of the phrase straight from Galatians itself? Let’s see how Paul deals with this subject in Gal. 5:16-25:

“I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that, ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”.

What is this saying?
We see a contrast between those who are “led by the Spirit” and those who are “under the law”.
And notice, those “led by the Spirit” produce those fruits listed in vs. 22.
In contrast, those who are NOT “led by the Spirit” what are they doing? They are breaking all God's commandments doing those sins listed in vs. 19-21.
Now which of these groups is "under the law"?
Contrary to the interpretation of anti-sabbatarians, those who are “under the law” ARE NOT those who obey it, but, the ones who commit sin.
They are “under the law” for the law condemns them and marks them as sinners.

Now, let's turn to Rom. 8:3-8.
The language is very similar: people either follow and live by the Spirit or they live after the flesh.   Now, I realize some will jump into a "Spirit-led antinomianism" which puts such trust in the Holy Spirit's inward prompting as to deny any need to be taught by the law how to live.
But this is NOT what Paul means.

“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God”.

Notice that Paul is saying SINNER's (those who live after the flesh) are not subject to law of God. The words “NOT subject to the law of God” is clearly referring to sinners, not to those who obey the law.

The opposite group do  “the righteousness of the law”, because they “walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (vs. 4).

And what “law of God” is being addressed in Romans 7-8?   Paul himself identified it as the one that points out sin (Romans 7:7) that contains the command “ye shall not covet”—vs. 7, 8?

So, to be "under the law" is to be in living outside of God's law, and being condemned by the law, it is not speaking of the forgiven Christian led by the Holy Spirit, who by the Spirit puts to death the deeds of the flesh (See Romans 8:13)

Eriel · Veteran Member

Galatians must be read in its historical context. The book obviously deals with the ceremonial law.

The biggest issue in the book is circumcision. That is easily discerned. For example; we read in chapter two that Titus was not circumcised and certain brethren spied on their liberty that they might bring him into bondage.

Another issue Paul brings up is the segregation policies the Jews held concerning Gentiles.

So Paul takes us into the heat of the Jewish mindset. A person was "a heathen" unless he was a Jew. The only way one could be a Jew was to undergo circumcision and purification rituals and take studies in the Torah. The "Jewish party" was insisting that a person FIRST had to become a "Jew" before they could be offered any salvation privileges from God.

And it may well be acceptable to super-impose other applications, but not at the expense of ignoring the original context. Only when we acknowledge the original context and its historical application can we honestly show how the principle may be used in other applications.

So, the moral law is not the primary issue in the mind of Paul in writing this epistle. And if we want to show how the moral law may also be applied, we must be careful to explain in what way and how it applies. Otherwise, we will pervert and corrupt the bible and end up with false doctrine.

EGW has said, "The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24). In this Scripture, the Holy Spirit through the apostle is speaking especially of the moral law. The law reveals sin to us, and cause us to feel our need of Christ, and to flee unto Him for pardon and peace by exercising repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. {1MR 130.2}
But she does not say that Paul is referring primarily to the moral law in the book of Galatians because he is not.

Paul was not angry with the Judaizers for following him everywhere he went teaching the people they must keep the moral law. The issue of contention was the ceremonial law.

Now the moral law is certainly a "schoolmaster" to lead us to Christ. But to understand from this book that Paul is abolishing God's law because it is a yoke of bondage enslaving the people, is utterly false.

Dedication · Senior Member

I wrote:
We should go through Galatains 4 step by step,

Under the law
Gal. 3:23   But before faith came, we were kept under the law

We know that whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23) Therefore under the law, means UNDER SIN. Condemned by the law because of our sin.

4:1   Now I say, [That] the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
4:2   But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
4:3   Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

Galatians is addressing the spiritual maturing process of people which is true in every age.
The term, "Children" are those who have no faith in Christ, and are living after the carnal nature and need OUTWARD restraint to keep them in line.
They are living under the FIRST use of the law. (See our thread on the three uses of the law)
Notice in verse 5 that these children still need the "adoption of sons".
So these are not "children of God" as distinguished from worldlings, but like the children referred to in Eph. 4:14  .." children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine,"

The elements of the world --

Col 2:8 "See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ."

The "elements of this world" here are the constitutive elements, traditions, philosophies, practices, etc., of man's existence prior to His acceptance of Christ.

4:4   But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
4:5   To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Made of a woman -- He was a real human being.

Made under the law --
For Christ there was no second or third use of the law.   Only the first -- one step outside of the law and He would have lost the war against sin and death.
And yet, we find the sinless Son of God, standing under the condemnation of the law. Not for any sin He committed, but He carried our sins upon Himself. Dying the death that we deserved so we can have eternal life!
Redeeming or "buying back" those who were condemned to eternal death by the law and offering them adoption into the family of God.

Ruth · Veteran Member

Hi!
The question that usually surfaces when dealing with these verses is:
What are the weak and beggarly elements?

You mentioned they constitute traditions, practices etc. of people before they accept Christ.
Compare this verse with another verse in Galatians:

Galatians 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

4.8: Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

An article by A.T. Jones in the Review
and Herald, # 20, 1900

The Galatians, having been Gentiles, knew not God, and, accordingly, were in bondage to them which by nature were no gods at all. To them the gospel had been preached. They had believed the gospel, and so were delivered from bondage, and had received the adoption of sons of God, and were, therefore, no more bondmen, but sons; and, being sons, were heirs of God, through Christ. But the Pharisees which believed, knowing nothing of true faith and the freedom which Christ gives, had, come among the Galatians, with their perverted gospel, which was not the gospel at all, had confused them, and turned them from faith to works: from the Spirit to the flesh, as the means of justification, and the hope of salvation. Galatians 3:1-3.

But when the "Galatians were turned from faith to works, they did not stop with the works which the Pharisees recommended and urged. Having at first been heathen, and having now been driven back from faith to works, they took up their own heathen works, as well as the works which the Pharisees recommended. Having been turned from the Spirit to the flesh, it was only to be expected that they would do this: seeing that the ways of the heathen were more satisfying to their flesh than the ways of the Pharisees could be, because these were the things to which their flesh had formerly been accustomed.

This is certain from the very words of the text, in the inquiry: "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?" The apostle had just stated that before they knew God, they were in bondage unto them which by nature are no gods, and now, having been turned from God, they turned AGAIN to those things, and AGAIN to that bondage. And, as seen in the former lesson, these elements whereunto they were formerly in bondage, and to which they were now AGAIN in bondage, were "the elements of the world:" and the only elements of the world are "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life: " the works of the flesh - in a word - are only sin.

Ruth · Veteran Member

Here is E.J. Waggoner's comments on the "elements of the world."
Taken from his book "The Glad Tidings; Studies in Galatians" p. 93-94

The apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, said, "Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led." 1Cor.12:2.

Even so it was with the Galatians. To them he wrote, "Not knowing God, ye were in bondage to them which by nature are no gods." If this fact is borne in mind, it will save the reader from falling into some very common errors in opinion concerning this Epistle. The Galatians had been heathen, worshiping idols, and in bondage to the most degrading superstitions. Bear in mind that this bondage is the same as that which is spoken of in the preceding chapter -- they were "shut up" under the law.

It was the very same bondage in which all unconverted persons are, for in the second and third chapters of Romans we are told that "there is no difference; for all have sinned." The Jews themselves, who did not know the Lord by personal experience, were in the same bondage,--the bondage of sin. "Every one that committeth sin is the bond-servant of sin." John 8:34, R.V. And "he that committeth sin is of the devil." 1Joh.3:8. "The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God." 1Cor.10:20.

If a man is not a Christian, he is a heathen; there is no middle ground. If the Christian apostatizes, he immediately becomes a heathen. We ourselves once walked "according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2), and we "were aforetime foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another" (Titus 3:3, R.V.). So we also were "in bondage to them which by nature are no gods."

The meaner the master, the worse the bondage. What language can depict the horror of being in bondage to corruption itself?

Dedication · Senior Member

So what is your conclusion as to the
BEGGARLY ELEMENTS OF THE WORLD?

It really boils down to understanding the problem there in Galatia.

Like Eriel pointed out -- Paul's introductory illustrations concerned ritualistic laws that separated Jews and Gentiles.

1. People of the covenant had to be circumcised in order to be under the covenant.
2. Jews had segregation laws that prohibited free mingling with Gentiles
3. "The only way a Gentile could be "a Jew" was to undergo circumcision and purification rituals and take studies in the Torah. The "Jewish party" was insisting that a person FIRST had to become a "Jew" before they could be offered any salvation privileges from God."

Paul, in chapter three, confirms that the promises of salvation were made to Abraham.

3:7   Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
3:8   And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, [saying], In thee shall all nations be blessed.
3:9   So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Notice carefully what Paul is saying, --
He is talking to the former "heathen" Galatians assuring them that faith in Christ would place them in the same favored position with God as Abraham had!

The chapter ends with the affirmation that God does not distinguish between Gentiles and Jews, all are one in Christ, and if they are in Christ they are heirs with Abraham of the promises!

The law was given to point out sin and lead people to Jesus.   It didn't destroy the promises.

So from all these clues we can reconstruct the situation.

Galatians, a heathen people, heard Paul preaching concerning Christ, the cross and redemption and they responded in faith beginning their walk as Christians.

As always some Jewish zealots arrived on the scene and started telling them that the promises of God are for the Jews and if they wanted to be part of it they had to be circumcised, and go through several purification rituals (which included sacrifices as we see from Paul's experience in Acts 21).
We need to remember that as long as the temple stood in Jerusalem, the Jewish people continued their whole ceremonial ceremonies and feasts complete with animal sacrifice.

Also, the pagans had their temples, their festivals and animal sacrifices as well.

So I would see A.T.Jone's explanation as being the most accurate.

"But when the "Galatians were turned from faith to works, they did not stop with the works which the Pharisees recommended and urged. Having at first been heathen, and having now been driven back from faith to works, they took up their own heathen works, as well as the works which the Pharisees recommended."

Dedication · Senior Member

3:21   [Is] the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
3:22   But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

The law is not against God's promises or against grace. That's what Paul is saying in the above verses.   The law does not conflict with the covenant made to Abraham.
What does the law do? It concludes that ALL are under sin. It cannot give life to the sinner, it points out sin and concludes that ALL are under sin.
And what do people under sin (under the law's condemnation) need?   They need the promise of a Savior to deliver them from sin.


3:23   But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

Without faith it is impossible to please Him Heb. 11:6
Many of God's people prior to the cross had tremendous faith as the book of Hebrews chapter eleven reveals.

But what was that faith based upon?
It was based on the coming Messiah, the Lamb of God that would take away the sins of all who believed.

Those living prior to the cross were forgiven when they confessed their sins trusting in the coming Messiah, but that forgiveness depended on Christ taking those sins upon Himself and dying, taking the punishment for their guilt.
Legal justification could not be given until Christ died for the sins of the world.

3:24   Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

The school master, or custodian, represents both the moral and ceremonial law. The moral law points out the need for Christ. Sinners need a Savior.
The ceremonial law, outlined the ministry of Christ which He would do to liberate people from sin and cleanse them of sin.

While prior to the cross justification (forgiveness) was given in anticipation of the coming of our Savior, after the cross justification become a legal reality.

1 Cor. 15:17,18 "If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished."

If Jesus would have failed in His mission, He would not have been raised from the dead, and no Old Testament believer, no matter how good they were (or anyone for that matter) would have been granted eternal life -- they would never be raised from their graves.

3:25   But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

We are no longer under the condemnation of the law, looking at the ceremonial process through eyes of faith in the coming of the Messiah!  Now the reality of that Faith has come.  We have faith in the reality of Christ's death, resurrection and ministry in heaven, when we come to Christ giving Him ours sins and accepting His will for our lives -- we are justified, no longer under the death penalty for sin.

3:26   For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
John 1:12   But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:

3:27   For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Romans 6:3   Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
6:4   Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
6:5   For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6:6   Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
6:7   For he that is dead is freed from sin.
6:8   Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

3:28   There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
3:29   And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Ephesians 2:19   Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
2:20   And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
3:6   That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

4:1   Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differs nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
4:2   But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

John 15:15   Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant doesn't know what his lord does: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Heb.9:8   The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holy places was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
9:9   Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
9:10   Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
9:11   But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
9:12   Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

4:3   Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

The bondage is sin.
The elements of the world are related to sin.
The moral law's purpose was to point out sin,
but the ceremonial, sacrificial law is the one basically being referred to that was the tutor concerning the work and mission of Christ.   It could not of itself remove sin and was a rather cumberson ritual, though rich in symbolic meaning, that people were obliged to do in order to find forgiveness. It has been called "carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. Hebrews specifically calls these rituals of the temple "carnal ordinances" or "Ordinances of the flesh" outward rituals.

4:4   But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
4:5   To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

That which the law could not do...redeem sinners condemned by the law, Jesus did! Taking our sins, our guilt and condemnation, He died that we might live.

Romans 8:3   For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
8:4   That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

4:6   And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
4:7   Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Romans 8:12   Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
8:13   For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
8:14   For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
8:15   For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
8:16   The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

4:8   Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.

This is talking to Gentile Galatians -- who at one time were pagans involved in the pagan sacrifices and rituals.

4:9   But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

The Galatians were confused by Jewish teachers coming in and telling them they had to submit to circumcision and other purification rituals before the God of Israel could accept them. Remember too, that as long as the temple in Jerusalem stood (it was destroyed in 70 AD) all the sacrificial ceremonies continued there, and many Jewish Christians continued in them, as we see from Paul's experience in Acts 21.

The Galatains were turning AGAIN--

They couldn't be turning to the Jewish rituals here -- for they had NEVER practiced them, they were heathen's before Paul came to teach them.

They were turning AGAIN-- to the weak and beggarly elements of sin, or more precisely, the rudiments of pagan worship.

4:10   Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

Could this have been the pagan days, months and times that later entered the church?
Could they be based on the pagan annual earth seasons and festivals?   However, those days, months, times and years were linked with bondage to sin and "according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:"


4:11   I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

This was serious!   Paul could NOT have been refering to activities he himself followed.

4:12   Brethren, I beseech you, become as I ; for I become as you are: you have not injured me at all.

Be as I am ....
What was Paul's example concerning God's holy day?
Acts 13:14, 42-44; 16:13, 17:2, 18:4

4:13   Ye know how because of infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.
4:14   And you didn't despise or reject me because of my trial which was in my flesh; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
4:15   Where is then the blessedness you spoke of? for I bear you witness, that, if it had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.

Paul is appealing to them. These Galatains had obviously accepted him and loved him.   They sympathized with his ailment (his eyes) and received his message as light from heaven.   It was inconceivable to Paul that their love and dedication could so soon be turned to resentment toward himself and alienation from Christ.

4:16   Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
4:17   They are so concerned about you, but not with good intentions; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might seek them.
4:18   But it is fine to be zealous, as long as the purpose is good, and not only when I am present with you.

Back to the Judizers, who put a lot of pressure on these Galatains, while in actuality excluding them from the graces of God, and destroying their faith in Christ.


4:19   My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

Paul's deepest longing is to see them accept Christ again -- accept His salvation and experience the inner spiritual renewal in which Christ's character is formed within.

4:20   I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand perplexed concerning you.
4:21   Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?

To be under the law -- condemned by the law.
Don't they know the law condemns sin?
Why seek for forgiveness and newness of life outside of Christ?
Can the rituals bring them into favor with God?

Temple worship in Jerusalem demanded that they be circumcised and engage in other purification rituals before they could enter, and the Judaizers now said the Galatians must submit to these carnal ordinances of the flesh before they can be accepted by and worship the Mighty One of Israel.

TO BE CONTINUED

-- Edited by Dedication on Friday 18th of March 2011 06:58:49 PM