December 20
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CLOTHE YOURSELVES IN CHRIST JESUS
23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law, being confined for the faith that was destined to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26 For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
– Galatians 3:23-29
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According to a commentary, before we were saved by faith; before we lived our lives by faith, we were kept under guard by the law. Here, Paul uses a different word and a different idea than when he wrote the Scripture has confined all under sin in the previous verse. The idea behind confined is imprisonment; the idea behind under guard is protective custody. There is a sense in which we were imprisoned by our own sin under the law; but there is also another sense in which it guarded us in protective custody.
In verse 24, the commentary says that it protects us by showing us God’s heart and by showing us the best way to live. It protects us by showing what should be approved and disapproved among men. It protects us by providing a foundation for civil law. In these ways and more, we were kept under guard by the law. The whole purpose of the law is to bring us to Jesus. Therefore, if someone doesn’t present the Law in a manner that brings people to faith in Jesus, they aren’t presenting the Law properly. The way Jesus presented the Law was to show people that they could not fulfill it, and needed to look outside of their law-keeping to find a righteousness greater than the Scribe and the Pharisees (Matthew 5:17-48). Using the picture of baptism, Paul illustrates what it means to have faith in Christ Jesus. He doesn’t say we were baptized into water, but baptized into Christ. Just as in water baptism a person is immersed in water, so when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, we are immersed in Jesus.
If we clothe ourselves in Christ Jesus, we will be free and have life. We will all be heirs to God which he promised to all of Abraham’s descendants. When we believe in Jesus, we become one with God as well.
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REFLECTION
• How can we clothe ourselves with Christ?