My Insight Article
Among the wide variety of courses in university, at least some of them would teach us a little bit about life. And for those that don’t, those people would twist their course material until it does (the engineers). Luckily for me, I don’t have to wait for the right opportunity for my engineering courses to come up with some obscure connection with something at the least life-related, because of the elective that I’m taking this term. Along with some brother and sister in CCF, I’m taking a course on the Apostle Paul and his epistles. This course gives a very fresh and unique perspective on the Bible that a Christian would never have. Some of the things that we read in the New Testament may be very typical sounding and almost trivial to us after hearing it so much, but with an in depth knowledge of the context, as well as an idea of the mind of the Apostle Paul, a much more rich understanding can be developed about his message, and of course, Christian living.
There is much that can be read in the text just by knowing more about the recipients of the letter. Paul’s purpose in writing letters is because there are issues in the church that require a higher authority in the early Christian faith to deal with. Since each church has its own problems, then the premise of each letter is also very different. Depending on the degree of the church’s problems, Paul’s tone and attitude toward them could be different as well. In addition, it is important to regard the social and cultural make-up of the church. The early church was established first in Jerusalem, and by the spread of the gospel, other churches were formed in the surrounding area. Even before the arrival of Jesus Christ, the continent had been taken over by Alexander the Great, and hence, the Greco-Roman Empire. Countries were destroyed and taken over, and survivors not wanting to fight any more have no choice but to be assimilated by the Roman government. The Romans created new cities and reconstructed old cities by their own form. The survivors try their best to retain their own culture and resist complete Greek domination. The result of this is an amalgamation of cultures and beliefs. This process, called Hellenization, is very prevalent among the churches that Paul addresses. After many years of the Greco-Roman takeover, the cities consist of a very wide range of people classes; from the slave to the rich. This too is reflective of the early Christian church. Did they have big churches back then? No, they would meet at separate homes and have small meetings, and then meet at the “marketplace” for large group meetings where they are susceptible to the message of other missionaries, Cynic philosophers, pagan mystery religion worshippers, or people that just want to scam for money.
Only with all these things in mind can one get a good image of what Paul has to deal with, and how he would respond to specific congregations. Paul generally follows a consistent letter structure in most of his letters, but in the letter to the Galatians, he does not use this structure. Unlike most other letters, he does not have a thanksgiving section after the salutation in the beginning of the letter. The reason for this is because Paul is absolutely furious at the Galatians. From a careful reading of Galatians, a few of their issues can be observed: the Galatians have been “preaching another gospel” (1:6), and have been holding onto the value of circumcision. Paul is angry at the Galatians because some of them have not accepted God’s free salvation for what it truly is, but have preached that the observance of the Law is needed to attain salvation, and are causing the entire congregation to follow this pattern. Paul responds in much anger and frustration for leading the congregation astray.
Paul uses the story of Abraham to challenge the Galatians, which is the main idea that I wanted to share with you. Whether Abraham was asked to pack up his life and move to a foreign land or to sacrifice his own son on the altar, he did so without complaining, and believed in the Lord. And this was “credited to him as righteousness”. For his faith, the Lord blessed him and blessed all the nations through Abraham. Later, Abraham was given the sign of the covenant, which was circumcision. Some years later, God also gave the Israelites the Law on Mount Sinai. But because the basis of God’s blessing was Abraham’s faith, then the Law is secondary to God’s promise to Abraham. It’s more important for us to have faith in God than to follow his Law and circumcision. In the new covenant, God has given us the gift of grace through Jesus Christ, and if one believes in him, he will have eternal life, and the seal of the Holy Spirit as the sign of the covenant. The motif of faith and trust is carried through in both covenants. Yet in Galatians 3:23, Paul describes the Galatians to be “held prisoners by the law” or “under the restraint of the law”. What Paul means is this: knowing that there is something much better being given to you, why would you stick with something less? A more accurate image can be seen in a better translation of the text. Paul uses the Greek word, paidagogos, to describe the law. Paul says so with a lot of contempt and sarcasm, because the meaning of the word will shock you. When families have children that are not mature enough to handle the freedom of walking to school on their own, the parents must hire someone to take them by the hand and guide them to school. Usually this person is a slave or a hired hand. This hired person is called a paidagogos. Paul equalized the Law, which God gave to the Jewish nations as a revelation of his will, to a babysitter or a nanny. Isn’t that a bit harsh? But why should you follow the Law when you are given the Holy Spirit, who intercedes and communicates with God on our behalf? If that is true, then why did God give us the Law? According to the analogy Paul has given, a paidagogos is needed for those not mature enough to handle themselves. A young child who is an heir cannot handle themselves, even though they have the status of an heir. They need to depend on someone to live, so the parents must hire a paidagogos. Before Christ, the Israelites needed someone to walk them through life by holding their hand through life. With the coming of Christ, we are a new creation. We believe in the power of Christ’s death and resurrection, and in Christ, we “grow” and become children of God and heirs according to God’s promise to Abraham.
Take a good read of Galatians 3 and think about this. After all this analysis into Paul’s letter, how should we as Christians today think about ourselves? Do you find yourself following some kind of legalistic ritual to work for your relationship with God? Are you trying to earn your salvation? Do you see your devotions failing, your prayer life slipping and your desire to seek God disappearing? And when that happens, do you desperately try to jump back on that speeding train of discipline? Of course there is good in discipline, but what good is it if you are trying to impress God with your works of piety? It is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by works, so that no one can boast. Why do you want to be a child and hold on to the paidagogos, when you are already adults? Are you like an adult that still wants to live like a child, not firmly grasping to your true level of maturity?
Recommended reading: Galatians 3, Romans 1-8, The Ragamuffin Gospel, by Brennan Manning.
