The Fullness Of Time
Paul, in his Epistle to the Galatians, makes it quite clear that there was, during the old covenant period, a great difference between the religious experience of Israel and that of the Gentiles.
A Difference in Life-style
His first allusion to this difference comes as he relates what he said to Peter when he rebuked him in Antioch. This is what he said, "If you, being a Jew, are living in a Gentile and not a Jewish manner, why are you compelling the Gentiles to live like Jews" (Gal 2:14)?
There was an obvious difference between the way that the Jews lived under the law and the way that the Gentiles lived apart from the law. In the following verse Paul reminds Peter of the privileges that they had enjoyed as those who were Jews by nature and not "sinners of the Gentiles." He is not suggesting by this statement that those who were Jews by nature were not sinners. He goes on to say that they, being Jews by nature, had recognized that there was no hope for them apart from the redemptive work of Christ (v.16). They, too, are sinners just like the rest. He is simply stating that the Gentiles, during the period of Israel's tutelage under the law, were sinners who enjoyed no communion with the God of heaven. They were severed from the privileges that Israel enjoyed as God's covenant people under the law.
Paul continues the contrast between Israel and the Gentiles in chapters three and four, referring to Israel as "we" and "us" and to the Gentiles as "you." It must be acknowledged, however, that he is not completely consistent in the way he uses these pronouns. For example, in Gal 3:14 and 4:5-6, he uses "we" and "us" to refer not to Jews under the law but to new covenant believers, both Jew and Gentile, who now enjoy the blessings of that covenant. It could be that he departs from this mode of contrast in these instances because he understands that under the new covenant, "in Christ" there is no more "us" and "you." Jewish and Gentile believers are now one people of God. It seems obvious, however, in spite of these anomalies, that such a distinction existed in the apostle's mind.
One of the passages in which this distinction might be observed is Gal 3:13-14,
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: as it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree: in order that unto the Gentiles [note the emphatic position of this phrase] might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; in order that we [believing Jews and Gentiles alike] might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Who was Under the Curse
of the Law?
It has generally been assumed that when Paul wrote, "Christ has redeemed us form the curse of the law," his reference was to the redeeming work of Christ for all believers. There are compelling reasons, however, for understanding the pronoun "us" as referring rather to believing Israelites.22
The Curse Is Only on Those
Who Are Under the Law.
In the first place, the "us" can only refer to those who were under the curse of the law. And, who was that? Paul has answered in Gal 3:10, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse." He then cites Deut 27:26 in support of his statement--"Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things that are written in this book of the law to do them." But, on whom was this curse pronounced? Was it universal in scope? No, it was pronounced on the members of the covenant community of Israel if they refused to obey the Mosaic covenant. In other words, only those who were under the law were under the curse of the law. The Gentiles could not be redeemed from the curse of the law because they were never under the curse of the law. The Gentiles were under the universal curse that was placed on Adam and all his posterity. It was the function of the law, in giving sin the character of transgression, to reveal the awful plight of man for what it really is. The curse of the law is but a more specific manifestation of the sinners predicament as a child of fallen Adam, under the curse of sin.
How Do the Gentiles Benefit
from Christ's Work?
It might be asked, at this point, how the Gentiles could receive any benefit from Christ's work in relation to the law and its curse if they were not under the law or its curse. The answer is that both Israel and the Gentiles possessed the same sinful nature (though the nature of the Gentiles had not been as clearly defined in relation to the law as that of Israel). Both had the same spiritual needs (They were guilty and needed a perfect righteousness in the presence of God (Rom 3:23). They needed to be cleansed from the defilement of sin). What Christ accomplished, in fulfilling the more specific demands of the Mosaic law, established a righteous basis on which God can justify believers, both from Israel, on whom stricter requirements were imposed, and from the Gentiles who live under a less clearly defined revelation of God's righteous requirements. T.L. Donaldson, in an excellent article on Galatians 3:13-14, has written,
Only Israel is under this curse, because only Israel is `under law.' But because of the way in which Israel's plight is related to the universal human plight, the redemption of Israel from the curse of the law can have universal consequences (Donaldson 1986,105).
The Contrast between "Us" and "The Gentiles"
Another indication that the "us" of Gal 3:13 refers to Israel and not to all believers, is the emphatic position of the phrase "in order that unto the Gentiles" in the next clause. Paul placed this phrase in the emphatic position to set it over against the "us" of the previous clause. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law . . . in order that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles in Christ Jesus. . ." It would not make sense to say "Christ has redeemed us (Jewish and Gentile believers) from the curse of the law, in order that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles. Why only on Gentile believers? Would not Paul, in this case, have said something like, "in order that we (Jewish and Gentile believers alike) might receive the blessing promised to Abraham?" But, this is not the point he is making. What he is saying is that the promise that God made to Abraham concerning universal blessing in Christ, could never be fulfilled as long as the curse of the law remained. The curse of the law is but a more extensive curse than the universal curse that resulted from Adam's transgression. This is true because it was incurred by breaking a covenant in which God's righteous requirements were more extensively revealed. Christ, in removing the curse of the law in which the plight of man is more specifically defined, has also accomplished the removal of the curse that has fallen on all creation in Adam. Thus, believing Gentiles now enjoy the blessing promised to Abraham, "in Christ" their covenant head and representative. He has delivered them from the old creation in which Adam stood as their representative head. Christ, in removing the curse of the law in which the plight of man is more specifically defined, has also accomplished the removal of the curse that has fallen on all creation in Adam. Thus, believing Gentiles now enjoy the blessing promised to Abraham, "in Christ" their covenant head and representative. He has delivered them from the old creation in which Adam stood as their representative head. Christ, at His resurrection, inaugurated, entered into and became the head of the new creation. It is the grand consummation of Christ's redemptive accomplishments for which the whole creation now groans in confident expectation (Rom 8:19-25). Of course, the universal blessings that flow from His redemptive work will be enjoyed only by those who are "in Christ."
Galatians 3:13-14 and 4:4-7,
Parallel Passages.
A third reason that the "us" of Gal 3:13-14 should be regarded as a reference to Israel alone is the similarity between this passage and the verses that set forth the theme of this epistle (4:4-7). As we have already shown (see chapter six), Gal 4:4 relates the redemptive work of Christ not only to the universal human plight (made of woman, cf. Gen 3:15), but also, more specifically, to the plight of Israel (made under the law). In verse five Paul states the purpose for which Christ was placed under the Mosaic covenant. It was in order that he might redeem those who were under the law, i.e., the covenant nation of Israel. In both Gal 3:14 and 4:6-7 the result of Christ's redemptive work, as defined by the "under law" relationship that He assumed at birth, is universal blessing "according to the promise" which is effected and characterized by the universal effusion of the Holy Spirit--"that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (3:14), cf. "God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts . . ." (4:6).
To Whom Does "We" Refer?
As shown in Chapter Seven, it was the condition of Israel, under the Mosaic law, that Paul was describing when he wrote, "Wherefore, the law was our child-trainer (paidagogos) until Christ, that we might be justified by faith (3:24). This was never the condition of Gentiles. They were, during the entire period of Israel's confinement under the law, allowed to walk in their own ways (see Acts 14:16). In this section of the Epistle, Paul used five different phrases to describe Israel's condition under the old covenant. They were "under the curse of the law" (3:10), "under the law" (3:23; 4:5), "under a child-trainer" (3:25), "under tutors and governors" (4:2), an illustration of Israel's bondage "under the elemental principles (stoicheia) of the world" (4:3). Not one of these phrases has reference to Gentiles. The only reference to the Gentiles in Gal 3:19-25, is found in v.22 in which Paul states that the Scripture (which we take to mean the testimony of Scripture as a whole, cf.Rom 3:9-19) has shut up all, i.e., Jews and Gentiles alike, under sin. But, even here he does not say "we were all under sin." He seems to reserve "we" for referring to Israel under the law.
An Objection
Someone might object that believing Gentiles are also described as having been "under powerless and poverty stricken elements23 (stoicheia) . . . " prior to their conversion (4:9). Their subjection to the law would involve a return to the "weak and beggarly elements" under which they now desire to be in bondage cf, Gal 4:3. Would not the fact that Paul describes such subjection to the Mosaic law as a "return" to these impoverished `elements,' indicate that they were also under the law prior to their conversion? The answer, in this case, seems to lie in the epochal distinctions that Paul has drawn in this section of the Epistle. He has argued that the epoch of Israel's nonage has ended. The fullness of the time has come. She has been set free from the elemental spirits/principles to which she was in bondage in her infancy, prior to the advent of Christ (4:3-5). Gentile believers, too, have been set free from the elemental bondage of pagan religion. Both systems of bondage belonged to the old creation that was characterized by the flesh.24 They belonged to this (old) age in which the believer still lives, but from which he has been delivered (Gal 1:4). He has, in union with Christ, become a partaker of the new creation, the age to come (see Chart #3). For Gentiles to submit now to the terms of the Mosaic covenant would be a return, not to the elemental principles of that covenant (They could not return to that which they were never under), but to the old age that was characterized by bankruptcy and bondage. Both Israel and the Gentiles were in bondage under the `elements' of the world, but the principles by which their lives were governed (as well as the spirit beings through whom those principles were mediated) were decidedly different. The bondage of Israel under the law was different not in character but only in intensity from the bondage experienced by the Gentiles. It would be good at this point to consider again the helpful comment that T.L. Donaldson made concerning Israel as a representative sample of the entire race. He wrote, "Being under is a special way of being under , because only under the former can the true nature of the bondage to the latter be clearly seen" (Donaldson 104, 1986).
God's Blessings on the
Gentiles.
It is not until 3:26 that Paul begins to describe the experience and privileges of believing Gentiles. In Gal 3:26-29 and 4:6-7, he consistently uses the pronoun "you" (pl.) to refer to believing Gentiles in the churches of Galatia. As noted above, the fact that they are now enjoying the blessings of the new covenant demonstrates that the old covenant has been fulfilled. Not one of the blessings mentioned in these verses could be enjoyed by Gentiles if the old covenant were still in force.
We will now seek to answer the question, What relationship does God's present blessing on Gentile believers bear to Israel's confinement under and redemption from the law? The answer to this question lies in the "in Christ" relationship that exists between Christ and His elect people, and in the faith[fulness] of Christ in fulfilling the terms of the old covenant.
Christ, as the head and representative of His people, was born into the old creation, under the old covenant (4:4), in order that He, by becoming a curse in the place of those who were under the curse of that covenant (3:10), might redeem them from both the covenant and its curse (3:13). In that relationship, He fulfilled every demand of the old covenant and removed it as the obstacle that stood in the way of the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham. In His crucifixion, the ultimate expression of His humiliation, He ratified the new covenant, according to which the blessings promised to Abraham now flow to both believing Jews and Gentiles "in Christ." In fulfilling the old covenant, He established the basis of the new. It is not necessary for the Gentiles to have been under the Mosaic law in order to reap the benefits of Christ's faithfulness to that covenant. It is enough that they are "in Him" who was under that covenant (and therefore were, by representation, "under the law") and has satisfied its every demand. He has exhausted all its curses. He has merited all its blessings.
At His resurrection, Christ inaugurated, entered into and became the head of the new creation. He was determined to be or constituted the Son of God with power . . . by the resurrection (Rom 1:4).25 As a result of His being installed in an exalted position of sovereignty and power, as the incarnate Son of God, He has sent the Holy Spirit into the hearts of His people as the administrator of the new covenant. There seems to be a connection in Paul's mind between Christ's being installed as powerful Son of God at His resurrection (Rom 1:4) and the son-placing (adoption) of new covenant believers (Gal 4:5). In both cases, "son-placing" results from Christ's successful completion of His God-given work. In both cases, the evidence of "son-placing" (in the case of Jesus, His investiture with sovereign power as the incarnate Son of God--Acts 2:32-33) is the effusion of the Holy Spirit (Gal 4:6). The blessings of the new covenant, of which the Holy Spirit is the "first-fruits" (Rom 8:23), now flow to believing Jews and Gentiles from the hand of the risen, exalted Christ.
There is a clear distinction, in the Epistle to the Galatians, between Israel which was confined under the Mosaic covenant and the Gentiles who were allowed to walk in their own ways. This distinction can be observed most clearly in the "we"/"you" contrast that Paul draws in chapters three and four of his Epistle to the Galatians.
Although the Gentiles were never under the law (Mosaic covenant), they, nonetheless, benefit from the redemptive work of Christ that was defined by that covenant. Believers, both Jew and Gentile, enjoy the fruits of Christ's redemptive work, not because they were under the old covenant, but because they are "in Him" who was made under the law that He might fulfill it in all of its intricate detail. Through His faithfulness, Christ has removed the old covenant as an obstacle to the free bestowal of God's promised blessings. He gives to His believing people a righteousness that more than satisfies those requirements that God, in a general way, revealed to the Gentiles.
Since both Israel and the Gentiles possessed the same sinful nature (though the nature of the Gentiles had not been as clearly defined in relation to the law as that of Israel) and, therefore, had the same spiritual needs (both were guilty and needed a perfect righteousness in the presence of God (Rom 3:23); both needed to be cleansed from the defilement of sin), what Christ accomplished, in fulfilling the more specific demands of the Mosaic law, established a righteous basis on which God can justify believers, both from Israel, on whom stricter requirements were imposed, and from the Gentiles who live under a less clearly defined revelation of the law of God. We quote again from T.L. Donaldson who writes,
Within Israel's experience, the nature of the universal human plight--bondage to sin and to the powers of this age--is thrown into sharp relief through the functioning of the law. The law, therefore, cannot accomplish the promise; but by creating a representative sample in which the human plight is clarified and concentrated, it sets the stage for redemption. Christ identifies not only with the human situation in general ( , 4.4), but also with Israel in particular ( ), thereby becoming the representative individual ( ,3.13) of the representative people. Due to the very nature of Israel's special role, the redemption of Israel is at the same time and on the same terms the redemption of the Gentiles. As Israel's representative, Christ is the representative of all humankind;26 all can participate 'in him' (Donaldson 1986,106).
22 As will be shown later, we are not denying that it is this redeeming work of Christ that forms the exclusive basis for the Gentile believer's right standing before God. We are simply contending that Christ, in His redeeming work, had a special concern for the removal of the curse of the law and the redemption of those who were "under the law."
23 There has not been full agreement concerning the way that Paul uses the word stoicheia in this pericope. John Bligh has identified the following uses of the term. Stoicheia can be used to describe "(1) the four `elements' out of which, according to ancient cosmology, the material universe was created, namely, earth, air, fire, and water; (2) the heavenly bodies . . . (3) the letters of the alphabet and hence 'elementary instruction'." (4) "angelic guardians and stewards to whom Israel was subject in the period of the law" (Bligh 1969,337). It is in the fourth sense that he understands Paul to be using the term in Gal 4:3. If this is the case, then the same term must be assigned to demonic powers with reference to the pagans prior to conversion. It is, of course, possible that Paul used the term in the third sense, i.e., `elementary instruction' or elemental principles--principles belonging to childhood.
24 Dr. Gaffin has described the most prominent usage of the term "flesh" in Paul's letters as having "an atmospheric quality." He wrote,"The term refers to the sphere of human existence, man's environment, the natural, earthly order with all that is characteristic of human life and necessary for its maintenance. It brings into view a comprehensive state of affairs, a world order" (Gaffin 1987, 107).
25 Romans 1:3-4, should be viewed, not as setting forth two natures in the person of Christ, the human and the divine, but as describing "two successive phases in Christ's history, implying two successive modes of incarnate existence" (Gaffin 1987,112). It is a contrast between Christ's humiliation and exaltation. In both cases, the Son of God (In Rom 1:3, the phrase "His Son" is an ontological designation concerning Christ's essential oneness with the Father), became something that He was not before. He became the incarnate Son of God--"born of the seed of David" (Rom 1:3). This stage of His incarnate existence was characterized by weakness, dependence, and, indeed, all that is intrinsic to the human condition. It was in Paul's words, "according to the flesh." It was into the old creation, the Adamic order, that he came. It was in the old order that he lived. It was under the old covenant that He died.
Rom 1:4 describes the entrance of the incarnate Son into a state of exaltation and glory. He became the Son of God in power (powerful Son of God). As John Murray has written, "The apostle is dealing with some particular event in the history of the Son of God incarnate by which He was instated in a position of sovereignty and invested with power, an event which in respect of investiture with power surpassed everything that could previously be ascribed to him in his incarnate state" (Murray 1971,10). Paul does not say that He was constituted "Son of God" by the resurrection. He says that He was constituted "Son of God in power." As Murray has written, "This addition makes all the difference" (Ibid). Christ was certainly the powerful Son of God prior to His incarnation. At His resurrection, He became the powerful Son of God incarnate.
For a fuller treatment of this subject, see Murray. Epistle to the Romans. pp. 5-12. and Gaffin. Resurrection and Redemption. pp. 98-114).
26 Christ is "the representative of all humankind", only as distinguished from being the representative of Israel exclusively, i.e.,He is the representative of Jews and Gentiles alike.