Listen with me in your Bibles to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians 3, we're going to focus on 26 to 29, but I'll begin reading in verse 1. O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you.
Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain?
Therefore, he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Just as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Therefore, know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, In you all the nations shall be blessed.
So then, those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, curse it is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith. Yet the law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them.
Christ has 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, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak in the manner of men, though it is only a man's covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.
He does not say, and to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to your seed, who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was 430 years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer a promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise." Excuse me. What purpose then does the law serve?
It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come, to whom the promise was made. And it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God?
Certainly not. For if there had been a law which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confirmed all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.
Therefore, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
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.
And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, we thank you for the Word of God, and we thank you for the Gospel of our salvation.
We thank you that it's by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone, as is so evident and so clearly set forth in this book of Galatians. God, help us now to be encouraged at the thought of what Christ has accomplished on our behalf. We thank you for His life, His death, His resurrection, and we thank you that He has secured for us every benefit, every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. how we praise you that we are enabled to call you Father, that we are able to come before you through the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit. And we would pray that tonight God would be all in all in this place, that you would be exalted and glorified, that you would be praised and worshiped, and that as we take the bread and drink the cup, we would remember particularly our blessed Lord's work on our behalf.
How we praise You that You made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Do forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions. Please fill us with Your Holy Spirit and guide our thoughts as we consider this passage of Holy Scripture. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. Now, it would certainly be difficult to sort of just parachute into Galatians chapter 3 and give a sort of a good sense of the whole, but suffice it to say that up to verses 26 to 29, Paul has basically been tracing God's activity in history, how God worked through the old covenant. In fact, I submit that in verses 24 and 25, law there takes or has the connotation Not of the Ten Commandments or the moral law of God, but primarily the Mosaic or the Old Covenant. The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ.
That was one of the functions of Old Covenant religion. It was to show them their sin, their depravity, and their need for Messiah, their need for the one alone in whom there is forgiveness. So that law was our tutor to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith, but after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. Again, that does not mean we can go murder, we can commit adultery, we can break the Sabbath.
The moral law is abiding. It is for not only the old covenant, but the new covenant, the idea being is that we're not under the tutelage of old covenant religion. So Paul has been drawing sort of in broad strokes up to verse 26 in terms of what we might call the history of salvation, how God has worked out His plan to save His people from their sins. With 26 to 29, he focuses in on what we might call the order of salvation, those benefits that we have been given freely by God's grace, the ordo salutis, those redemptive benefits secured for us by Christ.
Now, we know ultimately it's because of what Christ has done. Notice in Galatians 3.13, Paul says, Christ has 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. So that is the hinge upon which our salvation comes. It's through the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
He has become a curse for us. For it is written, curse it is everyone who hangs on a tree. It's a blessed reality. We're not here tonight, we're not confessing faith in Jesus Christ, we're not saved by our works.
That is abundantly clear in this epistle to the Galatians. We are here because of God's free grace. We are here because of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are here because God has redeemed us, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us.
Now, one of the particular objects that Paul has in mind as he writes Galatians is to argue against what's called Judaizing. Basically, in the early church, Paul's first missionary journey, he founded these churches in Galatia. And after he left to depart back to Jerusalem, before going on a second missionary journey, there were these men that came along to the churches and said, yes, it's good for you to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. It's good for you to trust in Christ, but you must also be circumcised.
You must also obey the ceremonial law. you must also oblige yourself to what was commanded in the Old Testament. In other words, the Judaizers were saying, it's not enough to believe the gospel, you also have to become Jews. They were Judaizing, and Paul preaches, and Paul condemns that reality because it smacks of faith plus works, and that's what he condemns in this particular epistle. So having sort of set our text in its context,
The Believer's Filial Identity
let's look at three things in verses 26 to 29. In the first place, we see the believer's filial identity in verses 26 and 27. Now, filial simply means of relating to or befitting a son or daughter. In other words, we'll develop briefly the doctrine of adoption from verses 26 to 27.
Secondly, we note the believer's redemptive unity. In other words, in verse 28, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, but we are one in Christ Jesus. And then thirdly, and finally, we'll look at the believer's covenantal solidarity in verse 29. Solidarity simply means union or fellowship arising from common responsibilities and interests.
In other words, we are where we're at because of God's promise made to Abraham fulfilled in and through our Lord Jesus. But note first, the believer's filial identity, the blessing of adoption. Verse 26, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. That ought to put a smile on your face, right?
You may have missed the contextual explanation concerning Paul's larger purpose. You may have missed the idea concerning the Historia Salutis, but let this sink in. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. The for you all refers to both Jew and Gentile, the all who believe the gospel.
It's not all men everywhere without exception, but rather without distinction. There's no longer these sort of boundary markers. There's no longer this Jew-Gentile distinction. But in Christ Jesus, those who believe are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Adoption Defined
What is adoption? The Westminster Shorter Catechism says it is an act of God's free grace whereby we are received into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God. So all of the privileges that are available to those in God's household are ours in and through Christ Jesus the Lord. The doctrine of justification by faith concerns the sinner before God, the judge.
The doctrine of adoption concerns the sinner before God, the father. Adoption is a necessary consequence of justification. In other words, when you believe the gospel, when you are justified freely by His grace, you are brought in to the very family of God. The doctrine of adoption highlights the sinner's restoration to God's favor and family.
Adoption Grounded in Scripture
Turn back to John chapter 1. John chapter 1, just to see a few other texts that specify this blessed truth that we are adopted. We have now been brought nigh through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 10 of John 1, he was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him.
He came to his own and his own did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God. to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. We have become children of God." Again, it's not by words, it's not by effort, it's not by law, it's not by merit. It is specified clearly to those who believe in His name.
That's one of the most glorious truths that was at least recovered or highlighted or the light was shone upon in the Reformation. Protestantism didn't develop sola fide. Protestantism didn't develop this idea that we're justified by faith alone. Protestantism only cleared away the fog and the smoke and the dust that had settled over this truth for so many centuries under Popery.
This truth is set forth clearly throughout Scripture. We're not justified by our works. We're not justified by a conglomerate of faith plus works. We're justified freely by His grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice in Ephesians chapter 1, This is the grand purpose for election, for predestination, for the exercise of sovereign grace. Notice in Ephesians 1, 4, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him. In love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will. to the praise of the glory of His grace by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. And then in Ephesians 1.11, in Him also we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.
So this means inclusion into the family of God according to God's sovereign grace. It is appropriated by or it is received as a result of faith exercised toward our Lord Jesus. This means, Ephesians chapter 2, notice there, that we are members of the household and family of God. Notice in Ephesians 2.19, now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners.
Again, a primarily Gentile audience, persons that had not grown up in the covenant community of Israel. Paul's demonstrating clearly that in Christ Jesus there is no longer this dividing line. You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Notice in 3.14, for this reason, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.
Go back to Ephesians 1.13, as adopted members of this household, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. Notice in 13, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 8 that we're not somehow second-class citizens. In other words, adoption in this particular context.
When a father adopted a son in this civil society, that son had a right and entitlement to all the privileges of sonship. In other words, he wasn't treated as sort of a lower Echelon, son. That the sons who were born in that particular family had extra benefit. No, they were brought in and conferred upon all the benefits consistent with sonship.
Paul tells us in Romans 8, 17 that we are joint heirs. with Christ Jesus. We're not, you know, second class citizens in this family of God. We are joint heirs with Christ. In other words, all that is blessed, all that Christ receives in terms of his blessed position before the Father is true of us as well.
Notice in Hebrews 2, just sketching some texts to sort of flesh out this blessed privilege of adoption. Notice in Hebrews chapter 2, very specifically at verse 10, For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one. For which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare your name to my brethren.
In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you. You see that the Lord Christ Most High calls us brethren. That is one of the blessed privileges of the doctrine of adoption. We are called brethren.
On a very unrelated side note, look at the glory of Christian worship. You know, we believe in the real presence of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. When we read the book of Revelation, we see Christ in the midst of the lampstand. We ought to realize that when we wake up on Sunday morning, that we're going to this particular building, not simply to see one another, but to be in the presence of our Christ.
And note that Christ is the worship leader, as the people of God attend the public worship of God. Verse 12, I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you. We don't have a worship leader taken from our own ranks, but rather we have a worship leader provided to us by the Father, even our Lord Jesus Christ. So going back to Galatians chapter 3, just a brief sketch concerning the blessedness of the doctrine of adoption.
Note the means by which we come into saving contact with Christ. Verse 26, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. It would be difficult to sketch for you each and every time in the book of Galatians, Paul highlights this reality that it's by faith. Again, not by faith plus works, certainly not by works.
Remember that the Galatian heresy was not strictly works-oriented. It was not the case that they thought, we've got to obey the law in order to be saved. No, we have faith plus. That's Paul's condemnation.
It's more of a sort of a Romanistic kind of a thing. It's not that Roman Catholicism denies grace or denies faith or denies the necessity of the Lord Jesus. It's just that they want to supplement it with their own particular works. Well, Paul's argument throughout Galatians is that if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.
So that's why he continually emphasizes this by faith reality. Notice, just for a few specimen passages, Galatians 2, 16, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified.
Notice in verse 20. Paul's own experience, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
We ought never to tire of presenting this truth. We live in a world with sinners that are burdened down by their sin. And you may be here tonight as a sinner burdened down by your sin. This morning I had the privilege of attending the Children's Sunday School and talking.
One of the kids brought up Pilgrim's Progress. One of these little children encouraged me. That meant that somebody at home was reading Pilgrim's Progress to their little ones. Boy, what a blessing it was to be with them.
And this little girl brought up Pilgrim's Progress and how Christian had this heavy burden. Well, certainly. If you're not here tonight and you're not in Christ Jesus, you have that heavy burden. If you've ever read Pilgrim's Progress, if you see the pictorial edition, specifically the Banner of Truth edition, some of those sketches are just superb and beautiful.
You've got this man Christian, he's got this heavy burden upon his back. It's the weight of sin. It's the heaviness of his own wickedness before God. Where does that burden fly off at?
It's at the foot of the cross when he believes the gospel. You see, brethren, as Christians, we're not out in society first and foremost preaching our morality. We're not out first and foremost preaching our example. We ought to be out preaching Christ and Him crucified because the only means by which those burdens are ever taken care of is through the cross.
Notice verse 13 in chapter 2, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law because you tried hard. No, because he's become a curse for us. As it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. We need to emphasize, perhaps more than ever than today, a recent book has been released, Salvation by Allegiance Alone.
That's Roman Catholic. Is Bates actually a papist? Maybe he's not, okay. But that's not sola fide, not justification by faith alone.
That implies our obedience as a means by which we are saved. Nothing in my hand I break. This is what Toplady said, and I think he's far more correct. Simply to thy cross I cling.
Foul I to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die. There is no contribution that we can make. In fact, that's the emphasis in the book of Galatians.
You can't contribute. You can't participate. You're not a co-redeemer alongside of Jesus Christ. Either Jesus Christ saves to the uttermost, or he doesn't save at all.
And if you mingle faith plus works, you have put yourself outside of His saving power because either He gets the glory or we do. Notice Galatians chapter 3 verse 2. This only I want to learn from you. Did you receive the Holy Spirit or the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?
Notice in verse five. Therefore, he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Notice in verse six. Just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Notice in 7, 8, and 9. Therefore, know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. and the scripture foresaying that God would justify the Gentiles by faith. Preach the gospel to Abraham beforehand saying in you all the nation shall be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
You see it couldn't be more conspicuous. couldn't be more insistent, Paul couldn't be more consistent, emphasizing justification by faith alone. The believer is not a son of God through the works of the law, the believer is the son of God through faith in Christ Jesus. John Eady says, but now we are sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus. by that faith forgiven, accepted, regenerated, adopted, born of God, and reflecting the paternal likeness, loved, blessed, and disciplined by Him, trained to do His will and to submit to it, enjoying the free spirit which cries, Abba, Father, and prepared in all ways for His house of many mansions.
Baptism and Union with Christ
Notice in verse 27, Paul appeals to baptism. Verse 27, for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Now this probably functions the way it does in Romans 6. In other words, recall your baptism, what's happening at your baptism.
You're publicly identifying your commitment to the triune God, again, by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul tells them to remember that. Paul tells them to have a conscious realization of that. Or it may just reference the reality that when we, by grace through faith, come to the Lord Jesus, we are immersed in Christ Jesus.
We have union with Christ Jesus. We have newness of life. The old man is dead. One man uses this or defines this language at the end of verse 27, as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Isn't that a beautiful phrase? Have put on Christ. You probably remember it from Romans 13, 14. but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. This idea of put on our clothes with a personal object means to take on the characteristics, virtues, and or intentions of the one referred to and so to become like that person.
But Paul is not commanding here, Paul is describing what has happened. In Romans 13, 14, it's an argument for sanctification. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, be clothed with Him, be characterized by what characterizes Him, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. Here Paul is simply describing what happened when we by grace came to the Lord Jesus Christ.
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ had Put him on. You are members of the family of God. You are joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. You are in union with Him.
You are blessed immeasurably.
The Believer's Redemptive Unity
Now notice, secondly, the believer's redemptive unity. This is beautiful. He says, there is neither Jew nor Greek. Now, why do you think he's doing this? because these Gentiles in the churches of Galatia are being told they need to become Jews.
Vis-a-vis circumcision, right? That's the point. That's Paul's whole argument. Those of you who choose circumcision as a path of obedience to commend yourself to God, you are obligated to keep the whole law.
It's what he says in Galatians chapter five. And so wouldn't this be a breath of fresh air to the original readers? You've got these Judaizers who have visited your church and somehow, someway, they got access to the pulpit or they had a home Bible study and they invited you over and they said to you, it's a good thing that you believe in Jesus as the Messiah. But let me turn you back to Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy.
You need to also be circumcised in order to be truly the people of God. So Paul comes along and says, uh-uh. Now, this grace through faith salvation is the great leveler of man. In other words, 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.
F.F. Bruce makes this observation. by similarly excluding the religious distinction between slaves and the freeborn and between male and female. He's already noted this exclusion of the religious distinction between Jew and Gentile. He says, "...by similarly excluding the religious distinction between slaves and the freeborn, and between male and female, Paul makes a threefold affirmation which corresponds to a number of Jewish formulas in which the threefold distinction is maintained." In other words, a Jewish man would wake up in the morning.
And he'd probably recite the Shema in Hebrew. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. I'm smiling because James White often recites the Shema in Hebrew. It's a good thing, right?
I'm just making sure we all knew that the Jewish man did that. And then he would go on to thank God that he wasn't born a woman, he wasn't born a Gentile, and he wasn't born a slave. How do you like that as a prayer, right? Ladies don't go home and cry and say, those feministic wretches.
Yeah, well, this is what Paul is combating. That's why I just don't get this whole mindset that Paul was this great enemy of women. Paul was not an enemy of women. Paul was a champion of free grace, and he realized that that free grace brought unity, redemptive unity among the people of God.
So Bruce goes on, a number of Jewish formulas in which the threefold distinction is maintained, as in the morning prayer in which the male Jew thanks God that he was not made a Gentile, a slave, or a woman. Now, Gentiles, slaves, and women were oftentimes disqualified from certain privileges in religion. Paul's point specifically is that race, social status, nor gender renders someone a second-class citizen in the household of God. In other words, there's no Jew, no Gentile, no slave, no free, and no male or female.
We have redemptive unity because of God's grace and that faith that He has given to us in Christ Jesus the Lord. Now, this unity of Jew and Gentile is seen in several places in the New Testament. I just want to look at one for time's sake. Notice in Ephesians 2.
Ephesians chapter 2, this whole idea of slave and free is also noted in various places, or at least in one other place in the New Testament. But note specifically the solidarity that believers have, whether Jew or Gentile, in Christ Jesus. One specimen passage is in Ephesians 2, verses 14 to 18. Notice, for he himself is our peace.
Christ is our peace. That's the reason why this distinction no longer exists. It's the reason why this barrier is no longer present. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus, notice this, making peace.
Look at the apostle's argument. Christ is our peace. Christ makes peace through His blood-shedding at Calvary. And notice, Christ preaches peace, verses 16 and 17, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. And then notice, through Christ, this one new man, has access to the Father, for through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. So you see the way that Christ does this at the cross is not to minimize the Jews or to elevate the Gentiles, but it is through His own precious blood to bring that redemptive unity to all the people of God. As Gil says, being alike chosen in Him, united to Him, redeemed by His blood, justified by His righteousness, regenerated by His Spirit, the children of God by faith in Him, and heirs of the same grace and glory, they make both Jews and Gentiles, bond and free, male and female, as it were, but one new man in Him, one body of which He is the head, one spiritual seed of Abraham and of Christ.
It's a beautiful thing, isn't it? Those distinctions are not there. Redemptively. And we need to make sure that we qualify this because this has become a battleground for women pastors.
Because the obliteration of these distinctions means that women can now enter into the gospel ministry. It is intriguing, commentaries of a few centuries ago never deal with this. It was just unheard of, right? I mean, you just didn't have to spend time like I'm gonna do right now qualifying what Galatians 3.28 does not mean.
He said,
Unity and Role Distinction
we have to do that because of what's called egalitarianism and this idea that redemptive unity means no more gender distinction. Yes, it does. It absolutely does. When Paul wrote Galatians, those who were slaves in the churches did not immediately become emancipated.
They didn't say to their masters, I'm in Christ now. I have to go free. No. Jews didn't stop being Jews ethnically.
And as long as Jews didn't participate in their particular customs in a religious sense, in terms of trying to commend themselves to God, Paul had no problems with them obeying those customs or engaging in those customs. So you see, role distinctions are maintained. This redemptive unity does not obliterate the reality that God in creation and upheld at redemption has particular roles for men and women. Paul himself maintains role distinction with reference to the church, 1 Corinthians 11, 1 Timothy 2.
Paul says, I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority. No one in Ephesus who had read Paul or heard Paul in 1 Timothy said, but what about Galatians 3, verse 28? That's the text that says that women can teach or exercise. Don't we follow this simple argument?
Has it become so difficult to maintain a basic rational thought that my position in Christ renders me on the same footing as everybody else who has that position in Christ. But that doesn't make me a white man a black man, it doesn't make a black man a white man, it certainly doesn't make a man a woman, and it certainly doesn't make a woman a man. Paul maintains role distinctions in the church in 1 Corinthians 11 and in 1 Timothy chapter 2. Paul says, I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man.
No one said, but what about Galatians 3? No, they understood that redemptive unity does not obliterate gender distinction. Paul maintains gender distinction in the home, doesn't he? In Ephesians chapter 5, wives submit to your own husbands.
I doubt the women in Ephesus said, but what about Galatians 3.28? You said there's no distinction. You see, it's just a no-brainer. Persons prior to the 21st century were able to grapple with such things and have no problems with it whatsoever.
Our redemptive unity does not obliterate role distinction. I think Peter summarizes this point very clearly in 1 Peter 3, 7. Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel. Wow, he would just be pummeled today, wouldn't he?
I mean, Mike Pence doesn't want to go out on dates with other women and he's, you know, part of the rape culture. I still don't know how we got there. I don't know what twist or turn got to the point where Mike Pence is contributing to rape culture because he doesn't want to go out to dinner with another woman. How do liberals turn these things and how does it continue to perpetuate?
But notice what Peter says as to the weaker vessel. Again, I don't think anybody in Peter's audience, the ladies didn't say, but I'm as strong as my husband. Galatians 3.28 says so. No, that's not what they would have responded with.
Because since creation, everybody embrace that men and women are different. I know that's revolutionary today, but they're different, and God made them different for a very specific purpose, and it's beautiful. I'm glad we're not the same. I'm glad my wife's not just my buddy.
I am glad that the Lord, in his infinite goodness, kindness, and wisdom, made us different to complement one another, to complete one another, to be a blessing for one another. But Peter goes on, giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel. I would suggest this means he has a role distinction maintained. The husband is to dwell with his wife with understanding.
I love that text. It's translated elsewhere, I think NASB. Dwell with them according to knowledge. Men, we'd all agree that we need knowledge to dwell with our wives, don't we?
And they need knowledge to dwell with us. You see, Peter, Pastor Peter, is saying that if you want to navigate through your home life successfully, you better get busy and start learning a few things. And I think specifically, I don't think Peter's saying, I want you to understand, you know, the general concept of marriage and the general idea behind, no, know your wife. Go with her according to understanding.
Know her. Understand that if she's got, you know, these particular pet peeves, don't do them. Pastor Peter wants you to abide by this role distinction. But then he goes on to say, as to the weaker vessel and as being heirs together of the grace of life.
You see, while there's role distinction, you mean we can actually be heirs together of the grace of life? Yes, up until the 21st century, no one had a problem with that. You could have redemptive unity in the Lord Jesus Christ and still remain a slave by calling, still remain a Jew by ethnicity, still remain a Gentile by ethnicity. If you were a Gentile, you didn't need to identify as a Jew.
If you were a Jew, you didn't need to identify as a Gentile. You just embrace what God made you to be. The unity that we see is through redemption, by grace, through faith in Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek.
There is neither male nor female, slave nor free, male or female, for you're all one in Christ Jesus.
The Believer's Covenantal Solidarity
And then finally, notice in verse 29, this idea of covenantal solidarity. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Repeated emphasis, notice in 3.7, therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. Verse 9, so then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
Again, the revolutionary nature of this letter. He's telling Gentiles that they're sons of Abraham. Remember Jesus' discourse, or rather dispute with the religious leaders in John 8? Didn't they hang their hat on their pedigree?
We are sons of Abraham. Christ says, if you're sons of Abraham, why are you trying to kill me? Why would you try to murder me if you are the sons of Abraham? It's in that context he said, you are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.
So imagine these Judaizers getting a good whiff of the book of Galatians, where Paul is telling these Gentiles, no doubt they woke up, these Judaizers, would have at one time at least praised God they weren't men, they weren't women, they weren't Gentiles, and they weren't slaves. So Paul tells them, Gentile believers, that by faith they are sons of Abraham. And then notice in verse 16, this is the hinge upon which it all flows. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.
He does not say, and to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to your seed, who is Christ. It's because of what Christ has wrought that we are sons of Abraham. It's a beautiful thing. Christ is the seed of Abraham.
That's what verse 16 says. Because of what Christ accomplishes on the cross, those who by God's grace look to Christ in faith participate alongside of the seed and hence are considered seed. It's a beautiful thing. Westminster Larger Catechism, number 31, says, Isn't that a beautiful thing?
That same document teaches paedo-baptism, which is absolutely mystifying, based on what we find here in Galatians 3.29. If you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. This is not a proof text for paedo-inclusion. In other words, it's the opposite.
Who is the seed of Abraham? Those who by grace look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. The promise is applied to the elect by God's grace through faith in Christ Jesus. Well, that's a bit of exposition.
A lot more could be said.
Application
I just want to conclude with a few thoughts. In the first place,
Theological Implications of Adoption
the theological implications of adoption. The theological implications of adoption, the right of circumcision or any work of the law does not bring completion to the believer. It's grace through faith. I love verse 26, and you should too.
For you're all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. This is the means. This is access. This is entrance.
This is how we have become the inheritors of every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. It's not by the works of righteousness that we did. It's by the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The blessing of adoption is a consequence of justification by faith in Christ Jesus alone.
The unity of Jew and Gentile is seen, again, through faith in Christ Jesus. The unity of husbands and wives. And I think this is Peter's point in 1 Peter chapter 3. Don't mistreat your wife.
She is a co-heir with you of the grace of life. I mean, what an impetus to be a good husband, right? to appreciate that God's grace is operative in your wife's heart, that she is a child of God, she is a son of God, she is a blood-bought one of God. Treat her with dignity, treat her with respect. This is what Peter says, honor her.
She is a co-heir of the grace of life, and then he appends a threat to that. It's an amazing thing. He says, so that your prayers may not be hindered. I've always been intrigued by that, a man who says, God just doesn't seem to be answering my prayer.
I'd like to ask him, how are you treating your wife? What does that have to do with it? Everything, according to 1 Peter 3, 7. If you treat your wife like she's a second class citizen, or you treat your wife like she's a dog, or you treat your wife, the Lord God most high forbid, with any degree of abuse, whether it be emotional or physical, and you actually go to your knees to pray, Do not think for a moment that your prayers are going to be answered.
Your prayer life will be greatly hindered if you are not honoring your wife, if you are not loving your wife, if you are not treating her as a co-heir of the grace of life that Peter and Paul everywhere tell us that she is. We need to appreciate the theology of the book of Galatians as a whole that's encapsulated here. Secondly,
Ethical Implications of Adoption
there are ethical implications with reference to adoption. Ethical implications, in other words, we have been considered or brought into the family of God. What does that mean for us? It means there's some sort of demand upon us, isn't there?
Robert Raymond sort of defines adoption this way, or gives us this fourfold sort of explanation. The biblical theology of adoption then encompasses, one, the Father's love from all eternity, just as He chose us in Him, in love, having predestinated us unto adoption as sons. Two, redemption from past enslavement. This whole idea of redemption in Galatians 3.13.
Three, a status and way of life in the present, and four, a future expectation of glory. What is this status and way of life in the present? The status is that we are members of the household of God. What's the way of life?
How are we supposed to conduct ourselves as members of the house of God? Turn to Ephesians. This won't take long. We're coming to a conclusion.
Three quick things with reference to our present status, or life in the present rather, as God's people. Very simply, verses 1 and 2 in Ephesians 5, we are to walk in love. What do the adopted sons and daughters of God do? They walk in love. 5.1, therefore, be imitators of God as dear children and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
Be imitators of God as dear children and walk in love. That's an ethical implication of our adoption. We are to imitate the Father. God, according to John, is love, and therefore we are to walk in love.
Notice in Ephesians 5, 8 to 11, we're to walk in light. Verse 8, for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Spirit or the fruit of the light is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Finding out what is acceptable to the Lord and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
And then notice in Ephesians 5, 15 to 21, where to walk in wisdom. So walk in love, walk in light, walk in wisdom. These are the ethical implications of the doctrine of adoption. This is how we ought to be walking.
Notice verse 15, see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise. It's good advice because there's enough fools out there already. So walk as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit." You've heard about this before. You know, the charismatics of the Pentecostals say, well, a mark of being filled with the Spirit is speaking in tongues. Paul doesn't say so. Now, I know it happens in redemptive history.
In the book of Acts, persons receive the Holy Spirit and they speak in tongues, but to take that sort of extra or not ordinary event in the book of Acts and make it the normative expectation for the people of God really is a hermeneutical leap. To say that the mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit is to speak in tongues has no taproot in the specific ethical places that the Scriptures deal with being filled with the Spirit. Notice, the end of verse 18, be filled with the Spirit. We ask the question, what does that mean?
Paul fleshes it out. In the first place, speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord. Give thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.
That's what it looks like to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Those four participles, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father, submitting to one another in the fear of God. the evidences of the manifestation that one has been filled with the Holy Spirit, not that he speaks in tongues. A man may speak in tongues, that doesn't necessarily mean it's wrought by the Holy Spirit. Thirdly,
Doxological Implications of Adoption
we ought to appreciate the doxological implications of adoption. Doxological means the doctrine of praise, the doctrine of worship, the doctrine of adoration, the doctrine of giving glory to God. I submit, we ought to walk in gratitude, adoration, devotion, and worship toward the one who has saved us and forgiven us and included us in his blessed family. Doesn't that reality of verse 26 demand praise to God?
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Do you kids ever just say, you know, Dad, I'm just thankful you're my dad? Or Mom, I'm just thankful you're my mom? I hope you do.
I've never thought through that. Yes, do that. Your parents are decent human beings. Express your love for them.
Tell them you're thankful that you were born into this family. Shouldn't we do that with our Father? Thank you, Father, that I'm in this family. Thank you, Father, that you have saved me.
Thank you that you've included me. Thank you for the doing and the dying and the rising of the Lord Jesus, the elder brother. Thank you for all the blessings that this life entails for me as a child, a blood-bought child of the living God. And it's not by my works, because I have not.
It's not by my merit, because I have not. It's not by my goodness, because I certainly have not. But it's by your grace through faith in Christ. Shouldn't the doctrine of adoption and inclusion in the family of God elicit from us a doxological response when we come and sing these hymns of praise as we sing the rest of the songs tonight?
Think about the reality that you're a son of God. through faith in Christ Jesus, and let that motivate you to sing praise to God. And then finally,
Eschatological Implications of Adoption
we ought to consider the eschatological implications of adoption. Eschatological, in other words, there is an inheritance laid up for us. We are heading to heaven. We are adopted sons and daughters of God Most High.
We are going to a place where there's no more sorrow, and no more pain, and no more suffering, and no more death. We are going to be with God Most High and the Lamb who sits upon the throne. That's our future. This world can be a bit depressing, can't it?
Especially when you look at the news or especially when you step outside, right? Everything was great and then I got out of bed. It can be quite depressing. The people of God need that eschatological orientation.
I'm not talking about prophecy conferences. I'm not talking about charts. I'm not talking about combing through scripture and trying to find dates or who the Antichrist is, but the eschatological hope associated with our adoption in Christ Jesus. We are headed for glory.
May that promote a bounce in our step and a smile on our face and joy in our hearts because God Most High has included us in these blessings. Now let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank You for Your Word and we thank You for this doctrine of adoption. Thank You that we are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. We just praise You, we bless You, we want to glorify Your holy name. and how we thank you for this plan of salvation that you have wrought, that you chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that in the fullness of the time you sent him forth, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law. And thank you for the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit, that one who is the seal and the guarantee, that one who applies that that work of redemption to the elect.
God certainly, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit deserve all praise and glory and honor for so great a salvation. And we praise you through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.