Глава III

To prove that Christians are free from subjection to the law of Moses, the Apostle refers to the readers' own experience and to the example of Abraham (1-6). Believers are made sons of Abraham through their faith (7–14). Temporal significance of the law of Moses in the history of God's economy (15–29) Gal.3:1–6. From the 1st verse of the third chapter to the 12th verse of the fifth there is a dogmatic-polemical section, in which the Apostle finds out that Christians are free from submission to the law of Moses. First of all, the Apostle convicts the readers of the inconstancy that they now discover in relation to the Gospel preached to them by Paul. It is they who, having begun to live by faith, now seek justification through the fulfillment of the Law of Moses, not paying attention to the fact that even the founder of the people who received the law was himself justified by God thanks to faith. Gal.3:1. O foolish Galatians! Who deceived you not to submit to the truth, you, who had before your eyes Jesus Christ as if he were crucified? Feeling irritation against the readers, the Apostle does not call them “brothers,” as in Gal. 1:11, but simply “Galatians,” that is, inhabitants of the province in which various nationalities lived: Phrygians, Lycaonians, Celts, Roman colonists and Jews. He calls them “fools” because of their behavior in relation to the Gospel (cf. Gal. 3:3). - “Who deceived you.” The act of the Galatians so struck the Apostle Paul that he sees in it something mysterious (“deceived” - more precisely: jinxed - εβάσκανεν), some kind of magic or dark demonic power (cf. 2 Cor. 11:3, 13-15 and 1 Sol. 3:5). - “Do not submit to the truth,” i.e., the true teaching brought to Galatia by the Apostle Paul (these words, however, are not found in many codes). - “It was destined...”, that is, depicted with all the vividness of Paul, so that the Galatians stood before their eyes as if crucified before them (“with you,” that is, among you. This expression is not read in many codes). The apostle, therefore, wants to say that it is extremely incomprehensible how the Galatians, having experienced the strong impression they received from Paul’s preaching about the crucified Christ, having understood the full meaning of the death of Christ, still fall away to a different gospel... Gal.3:2. I just want to know this from you: did you receive the Spirit through the works of the law, or through instruction in faith? Wanting to show the Galatians the absurdity of their course of action, the Apostle asks them only about (τοῦτο μόνον - the most important point of proof) where they received the “Spirit” that they still possess, that is, the Holy Spirit with all the variety of spiritual gifts (Rom. 8:2-16; 1 Cor. 12:13 and 1 Cor. 1:7) - whether from that fulfilled the works of the law, or from what they heard with faith, that is, they accepted the preaching of Paul (ακοῆς πίστεως of believing hearing). The Galatians, of course, greatly valued these gifts, and therefore the Apostle first of all refers to them in order to prove the benefit of the Gospel, thanks to which they were received. Of course, the Galatians had to give only an affirmative answer to Paul's question. Yes, they received spiritual gifts not through the law, but through the Gospel. Gal.3:3. Are you so foolish that, having begun in the spirit, you are now ending in the flesh? But since the Galatians began life in the spirit, they act absurdly when they want to complete it in the flesh. In fact, their new Christian life has its basis in the spiritual, internal events of their lives (cf. Gal. 5:5, 16, 25; Rom. 2:29; John 4:23), and the life they lead now, all consisting of external actions, depends directly on material causes. Even a non-Christian, a hypocrite and a wicked person can do the works of the law... Gal.3:4. Have you really suffered so much without benefit? Oh, if only there was no benefit! It also seems strange to the Apostle how the Galatians can forget about the suffering they endured for the Gospel (undoubtedly, the readers of the epistle had to experience the same thing that is said about the suffering of the Christians of southern Galatia in Acts 13:50 et seq.; Acts 14:2, 5, 19, 22; 2 Tim. 3:11). “Without benefit” – more precisely: “in vain, without purpose.” This is how the Galatians suffered for Christ now, when they fell away from Christ and became under the yoke of the law of Moses. - “Oh, if only for no benefit” - more precisely: “if the matter - which I do not want to allow - is really in such a situation” (cf. Gal. 4:11: “I fear for you”)... The Apostle still does not want to believe that the Galatians have seriously and definitively taken a new road. Gal.3:5. Does He who gives you the Spirit and performs miracles among you do these things through the works of the law, or through instruction in faith? The gifts of the Holy Spirit are still manifested among the Galatians (this is indicated by the present tense of the parables επιχορηγῶν and ενεργῶν). God continues to send the Galatians the Holy Spirit or spiritual forces necessary for the development of the Church (cf. 1 Cor. 1:4-7) and works miracles among them (cf. Matt. 7:22, 11:20 et seq.). – “Through instruction” is more correct: through listening with faith (ακοῆς πίστεως). So Paul himself then healed the lame man in Lystra, when he heard Paul speak and when Paul saw that the lame man had faith sufficient to be healed (Acts 14:9). – The answer to the question posed is not given, but there could only be one and consist in repeating the last words of the 5th verse. Gal.3:6. So Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness The supposed answer is accompanied by a subordinate clause, which makes up the 6th verse (in Russian it is incorrect: “so” - in Greek χαθώς as, likewise). To what the Galatians' own experience says, the Apostle also adds a historical fact, indicating that in general salvation or justification was obtained through faith. It was in this way that Abraham himself was justified. The example of Abraham, to whom faith, and not works, was credited with righteousness (Gen. 15:6 according to the 70th translation) should have had a special effect on readers, to whom the Judaizers, no doubt, had already managed to impress upon them that by fulfilling the law, through this very thing they would become true children of Abraham, especially through the acceptance of circumcision, which Abraham himself was the first to accept. Let us assume that the faith of Abraham was not the same as the faith that Paul demanded: it was not faith in Christ as the Son of God, who by His death must save the entire human race. But still Abraham believed in future happy times that would come with the appearance of the Messiah promised to the forefathers, he saw His day (Jn. 8:56), and it was for this faith that he received justification 3. Apparently, it was enough if the Apostle proved that anyone, like Abraham, can receive justification through faith. But this seemed not enough to the Apostle. He wanted to prove that only people of faith can be the children of Abraham and that those who are established by the works of the law cannot be such. Gal.3:7. Know then that those who believe are the sons of Abraham. “That believers” - more precisely: “that it is precisely (οῦτοι) believers who are the sons (of course in the spiritual sense) of Abraham.” No one else deserves such a name. Gal.3:8. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, foreshadowed to Abraham: in you all nations will be blessed. Here the Apostle explains the meaning of the previous verse. Therefore, he called the believers the true sons of Abraham, because the Word of God itself or God foretold (more precisely: “first the good news” - προευηγγελίσατο) to Abraham that in him all nations would be “blessed” or receive salvation, and not just the Jewish people who had descended from him. In his person, everyone who subsequently had the same faith in God that Abraham had received this promise received this promise. Gal.3:9. So the believers are blessed with faithful Abraham, From here, as a consequence, comes the position that it is the believers in all countries and among all peoples who receive the blessing with the “faithful” or distinguished by his faith, firm in faith, Abraham. This means that it is not the law that saves people, but faith. Gal.3:10. and all who are established in the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: Cursed is everyone who does not continually do all that is written in the book of the law. Now the Apostle proves his thought “by contradiction.” Holy Scripture - he says - curses every person as soon as he does not fulfill the law in the entirety of its instructions (Deut. 27:26). Obviously, a person who was under the law could no longer expect to receive the promises. On the contrary, he constantly felt a curse hanging over him like the sword of Damocles. True, this curse fell only on the condition that the one subject to the law did not fulfill all the prescriptions of the law, without exception, but the one who fulfilled them all received even life (Gal. 3:12). But, as the Apostle further shows, there was not a single person who satisfied the last condition. Gal.3:11. But that by law no one is justified before God is clear, because the righteous will live by faith. Gal.3:12. But the law is not of faith; but whoever does it will live by it. Gal.3:13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree), Gal.3:14. so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. The Russian translation of verse 11 cannot be considered accurate, because the elliptical δῆλον (implied εστίν) although sometimes refers to the previous thought, is nowhere behind the particle ότι or ως governing this previous sentence. Here this is all the more impossible because behind δῆλον there is also a particle ότι, which must already be made dependent on δῆλον. Then, if we accept that the second half of verse 11 represents the proof of the thought contained in the first, then this acceptance will be unfounded, because in the second half we are talking about “life” and not about “justification” - these two points do not coincide with each other. It will be more natural if we recognize the second half of the 11th verse and the 12th verse as interpolated sentences and, after highlighting them, make the following translation from the 11th and 13th verses: “and since” (ότι δέ - in Russian: “that”) within the boundaries of the law no one will be justified by God, then Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become for us curse." Introductory sentences will need to begin with the particle δῆλον, which has the meaning here: “obviously, self-explanatory”, the next particle ότι should be translated in Russian as “that” (and not “because”, as in the Russian text). The Apostle wants to say: “after all, now from what has been said above (Gal. 2:16 et seq.), it is clear to you that the righteous will live because of his faith, and not because he will fulfill the works of the law (the Apostle speaks here in the words of the prophet Habakkuk Habakkuk 2:4, to which he probably already repeatedly referred to in conversations with the Galatians). If the Judaizers insist that with faith, which they, of course, could not deny as a condition of justification, the law should also be observed, then the Apostle goes against such a combination of such heterogeneous elements: “the law is not by faith,” that is, it cannot have faith as its vital guiding principle. He demands, mainly, the fulfillment of his instructions, so that a person can receive life (Lev. 18:5). – In this way the Apostle proved the correctness of the position stated at the beginning of the 11th verse. Now it has become quite clear the conclusion that the Apostle makes in the 13th verse. Christ redeemed us, the Jews, from the curse with which the law punished us, as its subjects, for failure to fulfill its instructions. For this, He Himself suffered and took upon Himself a curse from God, as from the Supreme Judge of people. At the same time, the Apostle refers to the decree of the Mosaic Law, in which there is a hint of the meaning of nailing Christ to the cross (Deut. 21:23). It was the custom of the Jews for some especially serious criminals, after stoning them, to hang them on a tree for fear of others. But by nightfall such criminals must be removed from the tree so that the land of the Lord is not desecrated (cf. Joshua 10:26; 2 Samuel 4:12). If the Lord hung on the tree of the cross already dead, then in the minds of the Jews He was “cursed,” rejected from the society of Israel and from God. – But if Christ redeemed the Jews from the curse by His death, then He also meant that the pagans would also receive the blessing of Abraham. How could this happen? Very simple. The redemption of Israel from the curse was at the same time its liberation from further submission to the Mosaic law, since “to be under the law” (Gal. 4:4 et seq.) meant the same thing as “to be under the curse” (Gal. 3:10). Only the religion of Israel, liberated from the boundaries of the law, could become the religion of the whole world, because the law isolated Israel and its religion from other nations. Now that the requirements of the law have been fulfilled by Christ, the law no longer holds Israel and the promises given to it in Abraham in its bonds, and they can become the property of all mankind. Now, in particular, that cherished dream of all Gentile Christians is being fulfilled, to have the promised Holy Spirit with His gifts (Gal. 3:2-5). In this receipt of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we all - the Apostle here means Christians of both Jewish and pagan origin - we all accept those promises that were given to Abraham. After all, it is impossible to literally apply to the pagans those promises that were given to Abraham (about numerous descendants, about the land of Canaan). Thus, in the last expression of verse 14, the Apostle gives a clear answer to the question he posed in Gal. 3:2: in what way did the Galatians receive the Spirit - through doing the works of the law or through faith? Obviously through faith, because the law itself, since the death of Christ on the cross, has ceased to have the significance of the guiding principle of human life. Gal.3:15–29. Having thus confirmed in the minds of the Galatians the idea that it was through faith, and not through the law, that they became children of Abraham and achieved the possession of Abraham's blessings, the Apostle now finds it necessary to show that the condition under which God promised Abraham to bless all his descendants, that is, faith, was not canceled with the conclusion of the covenant under Moses (the Apostle, in fact, needed to clarify this, because the Judaizers could say that with With the advent of the Law of Moses, the conditions for receiving God's blessings changed). The law, which came many years after the promise, could not change it. But in that case, why was it given? He had a temporary meaning, as an educator of the Jewish people, preparing this people to accept Christ. At present, when the law has already fulfilled its work, he must leave his pupil. Now, in Christ, we have come out of the position of being educated and have become sons of God, who no longer need such an educator as the Law of Moses. Gal.3:15. Brethren! I speak from human reasoning: even a will approved by a person cannot be canceled or added to by anyone. "Brotherhood". The Apostle’s anger has already subsided, and he again addresses the readers with an affectionate word: “brothers.” - “According to human reasoning,” that is, in the way that an ordinary person who does not stand on the point of view of Holy Scripture tends to reason. – “Wills” – διαθήκη. The apostle does not mean the law of God with Abraham, but the ordinary “testament” of the dying father of the family. Such a will, once it was correctly drawn up, no one else except the testator himself had the right to cancel or change in any way through any additions. Gal.3:16. But promises were given to Abraham and to his seed. It is not said: and to descendants, as if about many, but as about one: and to your seed, which is Christ. Now the Apostle is presented with the idea that the promise given by God to Abraham can be compared with an ordinary human will (since he said that he speaks “according to human reasoning,” he is no longer embarrassed by this comparison of testators, one of whom is a dying man, and the other is the eternal God...). But he does not develop this idea, because he wants to find out more quickly who exactly was bequeathed the benefits that God told Abraham about. These benefits were promised to Abraham and his descendants (καί τῶ σπέρματι σου). But the Apostle immediately, in order to avoid any confusion, asserts that from the various descendants of Abraham - from Hagar, from Sarah, from Keturah - one descendant was chosen as the heir of the promises - the one that came from Sarah, namely Isaac, while other descendants were not worthy of receiving these promises. The book of Genesis speaks about this clearly (Gen. 17:18–21; cf. Gen. 21:9–13), and the Apostle Paul himself in the last chapter. to the Romans (Rom.9:7). To this statement the Apostle now adds a new one: “such an heir is Christ.” This statement does not stand in direct connection with the previous one, like its conclusion, but occupies a completely independent position; it is better to convey it this way: “and it (this seed in whose name the divine will was made) is Christ.” – The question arises: did the Apostle have reason to understand the Hebrew word zera (σπέρμα seed) to mean “a separate descendant, a separate person”? Yes, we answer, he had such a basis, firstly, in the example of the Old Testament writers, who sometimes use the word zera in this exact meaning (Gen. 4:25, 21:13; 1 Sam. 1:11; cf. 2 Sam. 7:12-15), and secondly, and this is the main thing, he had such a basis in the very essence of the matter about which he speaks. In fact, the only thing that has been said about the content of the divine testament is that “in Abraham all nations should be blessed” (Gen. 18:18). If someone asked how this will was to be fulfilled, then, of course, it would be impossible to say in response: “the Jewish people, descended from Abraham through Isaac, in their integrity and plurality, inherited this promise or blessing and passed it on to other nations.” This actually didn't happen. One could answer the question posed above only this way: “Christ, the son of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Matthew 1:1 et seq.), is the One Heir, Who makes His co-heirs all the others who were to share in the benefits promised to Abraham. They are all made heirs in Christ (Gal.3:14).” Thus God made Christ heir in his will. And this idea was repeatedly expressed in the Old Testament. Eg. St. Isaiah calls Palestine not the Jewish country, but the country of Emmanuel (Is. 8:8). This means, according to the prophet, Emmanuel, or the Messiah, was recognized by everyone as the seed of Abraham who was supposed to take possession of this land. And in the letter to the Hebrews, the Apostle Paul himself calls the Messiah the heir of all things (Heb. 1:2), so that, according to his teaching, we can become heirs of God in no other way than through the Messiah, who makes us partakers of the inheritance given to Him by God. Gal.3:17. What I am saying is that the covenant about Christ, previously established by God, is not abolished by the law, which appeared four hundred and thirty years later, so that the promise loses its validity. So the will was, as it were, drawn up in the name of Christ. Therefore no one could take His place. In the same way, the law, with its appearance among the people of Israel, did not change the state of affairs at all and could not introduce new additions to the testament of God received by Abraham. And this is all the more certain since the law appeared only 430 years after the promise was given to Abraham: as it came later, it could not abolish what had existed and was recognized by everyone for as long as 430 years. – “Covenant of Christ” – in the best codes (Syn., Vat., etc.) the word “about Christ” is not present. - “Four hundred and thirty years”. This number is obviously taken from the book. Exodus (Ex. 12:40 et seq.). In the book. Genesis (Gen.15:13) and in the book. Acts (Acts 7:6) instead of it there is a round number 400. Most likely, the Apostle here considers the time from the conclusion of the covenant of God with Abraham (Gen. 17) to the Sinai legislation, moreover, according to the text of 70, which says that the Jews lived in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan for 430 years. In the Hebrew text, the stay of the Israelites only in the land of Egypt is reduced to this sum of years. - “So that the promise loses its force.” This, of course, was not what Paul’s enemies wanted either. But the Apostle nevertheless points out the consequences to which their attitude to the Law of Moses must have led, and at the same time gives instructions to readers how dangerous it is to insist on the idea of ​​​​the need to fulfill the law in Christianity. Gal.3:18. For if the inheritance is by law, it is no longer by promise; but God gave it to Abraham according to promise. But the law could not exist next to the promise as some kind of auxiliary means. Any one of two things: either a law or a promise. After all, the law, as proven above (Gal. 3:10-12), requires works from a person, and the promise requires faith in the grace of God. Meanwhile, strictly speaking, there is no choice to be made here: God gave the inheritance to Abraham precisely according to the promise, without demanding the fulfillment of the works of the law. – “Inheritance” (κληρονομία) – in the Old Testament meant the land of Canaan (Deut. 4:21), and in the New – the kingdom of Christ (Acts 20:32; 1 Cor. 6:9), eternal life with Christ (Titus 3:7). Gal.3:19. What is the law for? It was given after the transgressions, until the time of the coming of the seed to which the promise relates, and was given through Angels, by the hand of a mediator. But if the Apostle resolved the question of the relationship of the law to the salvation of man in this way, then he could be asked: “Why, in this case, was the law given?” The Apostle, as if warning this question, himself poses it and gives an answer to it. The law was “given after” (προσετέθη - this verb shows that the law did not have any independent meaning in the promise and did not influence it at all - cf. Rom. 5:20) and was given “because of transgressions.” Greek the expression παραβάσεων χάριν can, indeed, mean: “due to or in connection with crimes,” as can be confirmed by some places in the N. Testament (for example, Luke 7:47; 1 John 3:12). But here this expression can hardly have such a meaning, because, firstly, the Apostle used such a word - παράβασις, which can only refer to the violation of already existing regulations of the law, and here he takes the time before the law (cf. Rom.4:15 – “where there is no law, there is no crime” ουδέ παράβασις); and secondly, if only the reason for the granting of the law were indicated here, then this would not be sufficient as an answer to the question posed: “what is the law for?” The reason is not the same as the purpose, but the question is posed precisely regarding the purpose of the law. Then, in this case, one must assume that before the law there were a lot of crimes and sins, which contradicts Paul’s well-known view of the pre-law state of man (Rom. 7:9) and, then, contradicts his view of the law as a means that does not at all achieve the reduction of crimes (Rom. 3:20, 7:4-13, etc.). Therefore, it is better to accept another translation (Fr. Galakhova and Tsana): “for the sake of crimes,” that is, in order for crimes to appear or for simple sins to be revealed as real crimes against God. In this sense, the expression χάριν is sometimes used in the New Testament (Titus 1:5, 11; Jude 1:16). “The whole merit of the law, therefore, was expressed in the fact that with its advent, man’s sins acquired a certain character of crimes” (Fr. Galakhov). - “Until the time of the coming of the seed...”. The law thus had only a temporary purpose; it was to exist only until the coming of Christ (cf. Gal. 3:16). It is clear that he cannot stand on the same level as the eternal promise. - “Taught through Angels, by the hand of an intermediary.” These two instructions were again made by the Apostle for the purpose of showing how much lower the law is than the promise. This was given directly by God Himself to Abraham, without any intermediary, and the law was given through Angels (cf. Acts 7:53; Heb. 1:1, 2:2 and Deut. 33:2 - 70 each). In addition, on the part of the people there was also a mediator - Moses (Exodus 20:19; Deut.5:19–25, 18:16 and Acts 7:38). Thus, when the law was given, there were two intermediate authorities between God and the people and, consequently, the law was lower than the promise given, so to speak, from hand to hand. Gal.3:20. But there is no mediator with one, but there is only one God. There are more than three hundred interpretations of this most difficult verse to understand, all of which can be divided into three groups. Thus, some say that the Apostle here proves the superiority of the promise over the law by the fact that the concept of mediation requires the recognition of not one, but two sides, while God tends to be the “single” side - deciding everything without any intermediaries... Others, seeing the same goal in this verse, see in the giving of the law through an intermediary a contradiction to divine unity in the fact that at Sinai there were a lot of people present or, as others interpret, many Angels, while it is characteristic of God to enter into a covenant with someone alone. Still others completely arbitrarily explain the word ενός as neuter. Finally, according to the ancient patristic interpretation, here the Apostle points to the One Mediator - Christ (for details, see Father Galakhov, pp. 224-232). But the idea of ​​the place seems pretty clear. The Apostle says that there is no need for a mediator at all “for one” (the one giving the covenant). “One” will explain everything he needs and wants. This means that if a “mediator” acts, then he is a representative of many, a whole mass of persons interested in concluding an agreement. But whose side was supposed to act as a mediator in concluding the covenant at Sinai? Here hundreds of thousands of Jews came forward on one side, and on the other, the One God (“and God is one”). It is clear that the mediator was needed by the people, and not by God, Who, as the One constituting party concluding the agreement, could Himself express His demands. So Moses appeared as a mediator and representative not of God, but of the people of Israel. This means that the law was not received directly by the people from God, but through an intermediary, which, of course, humiliates it in comparison with the promise to Abraham, which Abraham received from God directly. Ap. obviously wants to say that the crowd of thousands of Jews was not capable of communicating with God directly, while the one Abraham easily entered into communication with the one God and understood the will of God absolutely correctly, without introducing any of his own additions to it, which could not be said about the law, which also accepted some customs established among the people of Israel (for example, the custom of bloody revenge, the custom of slavery). The law, thus, had an individual, narrowly national character and could not be assimilated by all peoples, as could be the case with respect to the promise. Gal.3:21. So the law is contrary to the promises of God? No way! For if a law had been given that could give life, then true righteousness would have come from the law; Gal.3:22. but the Scripture has concluded all under sin, so that the promise might be given to those who believe through faith in Jesus Christ. Is it possible, after all that has been said, to say that “the law of Moses is contrary,” that is, it wants and can replace the promises of God given to Abraham (κατά means against)? No way. He could make such a claim if he could “give life,” that is, renew a person morally (ζωοποιῆσαι - here, as in other letters of Paul - Rom. 7:5 et seq. Rom. 7: 9-13, 8: 2-11; 2 Cor. 3: 6-9; Eph. 2: 1, 5 - means moral revival, which can be equated to the revival of the dead). But the Apostle has already shown (Gal. 2:16, 3:10–12) that the law is not capable of this work. And if this is so, then it is clear that in the Old Testament righteousness was not acquired through the law and that, therefore, the law cannot compete with the promise and offer any way as accessible as faith - which the promise required - to justification and to receiving the promised inheritance. On the contrary, “Scripture”, i.e. the entire Old Testament, imprisoned or locked everyone, as it were, “under sin” or otherwise everything (πάντα), i.e. and he declared people and their deeds, recognized them as worthy of the name “sinners,” and thus placed everyone, as it were, in a prison from which there is no escape (cf. Rom. 3:9-18). - “So that the promise...”. The Jews and Judeo-Christians, to whom the Scriptures are closest, should learn from the concordant testimony of these Scriptures concerning the sinfulness of all men and all human actions, that never in the history of the nation of Israel was there a time when there existed a righteousness derived from or by the law. From here they must come to the conclusion that in order to receive justification, everyone must believe in Jesus Christ and through Him already receive the inheritance promised to Abraham and his descendants. Gal.3:23. And before the coming of faith, we were imprisoned under the guard of the law, until the time when it was necessary to open ourselves to faith. Now Ap. finally moves on to explain the positive meaning of the Law of Moses. The law "kept us in custody" until the time when faith was to be revealed. Although faith already had a meaning in the Old Testament (Gal. 3: 6–9, 11; Rom. 4; Heb. 11), it was still the law that determined the entire religious life of the Jew, and not faith, which became the determining factor for a person’s life and religiosity only from the time of Christ. Faith existed, so to speak, in a hidden form, but through Christ it revealed itself in all its strength. It is remarkable that at the same time the Apostle calls the law the guardian of Israel. By this he wants to show that he did not let anyone out of his hands, he kept all the Jews, as it were, locked up. Other people could escape subjection to their own law by moving to another state, but nowhere could a Jew feel free from the yoke of the law. Thus, the law protected the Jew from any step that he would want to take on his own in order to be released. The law did not allow freedom, as if leaving it to Christ who was about to come. Gal.3:24. So the law was a guide for us to Christ, so that we might be justified by faith; This verse is a conclusion from the previous thought. The law, therefore, according to the Apostle, can be called a “schoolmaster” or teacher who gradually led the Jews to receive justification through Christ, thanks to their faith in Him. A teacher was a slave who, in a decent Greek house, as well as in a Roman one, watched over the owner’s son when the former was between the ages of 7 and 17 years. He followed every step of his pupil, especially when he visited school and gymnasium, and was obliged to protect the young man from any act inappropriate for his position. Although the Romans did not value the title of this teacher highly, among the Jews this term “teacher” had a high meaning (for example, Moses, Aaron and Miriam in the Midrash are called “teachers of Israel”), and the Apostle here undoubtedly uses this term in the sense accepted among the Jews. The Law educated Israel, but its activity had to continue for a certain time. He had to protect Israel from mixing with the pagan nations so that the people could remain the chosen people of God. Gal.3:25. after the coming of faith, we are no longer under the guidance of a teacher. But just as the teacher was not called to remain the leader of the master’s son even after this son reached adulthood, so the law itself should not and did not strive to forever remain the ruler of the religious life of Israel. – “We” – the Jews, of whom there were many among the readers of the Apostle’s message. Gal.3:26. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus; Gal.3:27. all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Having fulfilled its duty, the law must leave its pupil. Further subordination of the Jews to the law would be inconsistent with their new high title - “son of God”, with their new position, which the Apostle calls “clothing in Christ.” The Apostle here, however, begins to speak not only to the Jews, but to all members of the Galatian church, as the expression “all of you” shows. Christians are called here “sons of God” because they have Christ, the Son of God, in themselves, and they are likened to Him, taking the same image with Him (Chrysostom). – “By faith in Christ Jesus” is an incorrect translation, because after the word πίστεως (faith) there should be Χριστοῦ Ιησοῦ (gen. fall), and not εν Χριστῶ Ι. It is more correct to consider the expression εν Χρ. Ιησ. independent, independent of the expression εκ πίστεως, and convey the whole expression as follows: “through faith you have become sons of God, and you remain such as long as you are in Christ.” - “All of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” The apostle speaks of the meaning of baptism as something that is well known to the readers. The image that he uses in this case is the image of putting on clothes, which was found in the Apostle in the last. to Rome (Rom.13:14). This clothing is Christ for him: all believers, as one body, put on this clothing. Gal.3:28. There is no longer Jew or Gentile; there is neither slave nor free; there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Together with the putting on of Christ among believers, as members of the church, as individuals standing in relation to God, national, social and sexual differences cease to have any meaning. In the ancient, pre-Christian world, sages sometimes expressed solemn thanks to the gods that they created them men, and not women, Greeks, and not barbarians (the saying of Thales in Diogenes Laertius I7), and the Jewish rabbis added gratitude to this that God created them not pagans and not slaves... Now in Christianity, as the Galatians themselves obviously feel, there cannot be any particular grief over the fact that someone for example does not belong to the male sex or to the Jewish people: through Christ, people of all positions now have access to God. - “There is no longer Judea...”. It is necessary to add the expression “among you,” that is, in the Church. - “For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” – “Everything” – more precisely: all together (άπαντες) – according to Tischendorf. – “One”, i.e. one person, as they previously formed one body (Gal. 3:27). This unity is acquired through the union of each individual, who by nature strives for separation and independence, with Christ. Gal.3:29. If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. From the fact that the Galatian believers became Christ's (see above Gal. 3:26, 27), belong to Christ (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 3:23), it immediately follows (άρα) that they represent the descendants of Abraham and the heirs of the promises given to him. Of course, the Apostle speaks here of the Galatians as a part of the Church, made up of Jews and pagans, but still the part is, within its borders, what the Christian Church in general is. On them the divine promise to Abraham was fully realized: the first and completely legitimate heir - Christ - is with the Galatians, accepted by them by faith. United with Him through faith, through baptism, the Galatians, who have become one body with Him, form a single person, one united community in Christ, in which - in idea - all differences and oppositions of nationalities, states and genders that separate people are erased. The state of the community, as it was at the time of the legislation at Sinai (cf. Gal. 3:19 et seq.), has changed significantly. At the same time, it has already been said that the promise that through Abraham and his descendants salvation would be transmitted to the pagans came into fruition, since the Galatians are mostly pagans and, like the Jewish Christians, received the Spirit as the beginning and guarantee of all good things from God (Gal.3:2-5, 14) and together with them they came into possession of the promised inheritance (Gal.3:28). But, of course, it cannot be allowed that a son who is recognized as capable of entering into the paternal inheritance should still remain under the restrictive supervision of a teacher. In the same way, it is unacceptable that - in the present state of life of the Galatian community, as depicted by the Apostle in Gal. 3: 2-5 - the Jewish Christians in Galatia, as well as in other places, who grew out of submission to the law, were still subject to the law as a teacher, and would like to subject Gentile Christians to it. Note: In our time, cosmopolitan tendencies towards the establishment of universal brotherhood in all areas of life have become extremely intensified. This is how the “peace conference” interprets disarmament and wants, through peaceful solutions, to put an end to the modern development of militarism and to make brothers out of all people. “Religious Congresses” are working to bring together different religions in order to gradually, through various amendments and concessions, form one universal world religion that would contain the best elements of currently existing religions, would meet the requirements of the highest culture and would be suitable for the needs of every people. Whether it will be a Christian religion is still a question... Finally, modern “social democracy” wants all national special interests to be sacrificed to the social idea and for all nations to form a single society in which all members would have equal rights and responsibilities... But all these undertakings are doomed to failure, because the path they have chosen for themselves is completely false. The Apostle Paul speaks of universal brotherhood not as just an idea, but as a fact that already exists before his eyes, although on a very small scale. He shows us a new humanity, in which national, social and sexual differences no longer constitute a dividing barrier. This new humanity is one family and all members of this family have equal rights and responsibilities. The principle of unity here is the same attitude of everyone towards God, the unity of faith and the resulting spiritual communion of love. Christ is the Head of the new humanity, the force that forms it, the restraining force of its connection. A universal religion, therefore, already exists in Christianity. It just needs to be spread to the world. It does not destroy social differences, but deprives them only of their hostile and divisive character and even makes them institutions of conciliation and mutual benefit. She does not strive for a false equation of both sexes, but helps them reach the full disclosure of their powers and fulfill their destiny through the unconditional recognition of their religious and moral equal dignity. It makes of the various peoples of the earth not a mass devoid of any plan, but helps each national individual to fully reveal its inner being and binds them all with such a strong spiritual union that people of different countries begin to see brothers in each other. This is the only way to achieve universal brotherhood: we must recognize that this brotherhood has already been realized in Christ, that Christianity is a world religion and that people will only become members of a single family when they become conscious Christians. To many modern theologians the proof given here by the Apostle has no meaning. First of all, they look at Abraham not as a historical figure, but as a mythical image, and then they say that the words of the Apostle Paul cannot be convincing for our time, although perhaps he convinced his opponents with them. After all - these are the grounds for criticism - Abraham's faith related to the promise that numerous bodily offspring would come from him and, therefore, had nothing in common with the saving faith of the Apostle Paul. Then the words: “and it was credited to him as righteousness” only mean that “Abraham pleased God with this faith,” and this is not at all the same as the justifying faith of the Apostle Paul... But it is strange, firstly, the assertion of modern critics that they understand the Old Testament better than the disciple Gamaliel and at the same time the God-enlightened Apostle. And then, in the present case, what is important is not what Abraham believed, but that it was he who believed - the very fact of his faith, and that it was this faith, as firm confidence in the fulfillment of divine promises, that was imputed to him as righteousness... The essence of the saving faith of the Apostle Paul also consists in nothing other than precisely such confidence. Finally, there is no difference between the results of the faith of Abraham and Paul: in both cases, God’s “favor” is acquired, that is, salvation or, in other words, justification. Thus, the cavils of modern criticism regarding the evidence given by the Apostle from the life of Abraham remain nothing more than completely empty, unfounded cavils... You might be interested in: