Once in Custody, Now in Christ

By S. Lewis Johnson, Jr. *

An Exposition of Galatians 3:23–29 [1]

Introduction

Warren Wiersbe, former pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago, has written, “In the Old Testament, we have preparation for Christ; in the Gospels, the presentation of Christ, and in the Acts through Revelation, the appropriation of Christ.” [2] He is right. The Old Testament is a preparation for Christ, with its prophecies, ceremonies, and institutions that point forward to him.

There may be a further way in which the Old Testament is preparation for Christ, and the apostle Paul may have that in mind in the section of Galatians we are studying together. He has just indicated that God gave Abraham a promise, or promises, in an unconditional manner. They included such blessings as a righteous standing before him and the possession of the Holy Spirit (cf. 3:1–14). Furthermore, when Moses came upon the scene and was given the Law, that Law did not nullify the promises of God. In fact, the Law could not give anything to anyone, other than a sense of sin and transgression, for it was not given for life or righteousness (cf. 2:21; 3:21). Therefore, if a man was to be justified before God, he could not be justified by the Law. Only through the Abrahamic promises could life be found, and those promises had now found their culmination in the coming of Abraham’s true Seed, Jesus Christ. Thus, there is a progression from the promises to Abraham through the Law to the fulfillment of the promises in Christ. In a sense then, the preparation of the Old Testament for Christ becomes the biography of every man, that is, of every Christian man. He usually comes to Christ through the experience of conviction of sin brought about by the truth found in the Law of Moses. [3]

Stott writes, “God’s purpose for our spiritual pilgrimage is that we should pass through the law into an experience of the promise. The tragedy is that so many people separate them by wanting one without the other. Some try to go to Jesus without first meeting Moses. They want to skip the Old Testament, to inherit the promise of justification in Christ without the prior pain of condemnation by the law. Others go to Moses and the law to be condemned, but they stay in this unhappy bondage. They are still living in the Old Testament. Their religion is a grievous yoke, hard to be borne. They have never gone to Christ, to be set free.” [4] The picture is probably accurate.

But, to come to the text. The apostle is still proving for the benefit of the Galatians and the Judaizers that a man is not justified by the Law, but by faith in Christ. Answering an implicit objection to his teaching, namely, that it gives the Law of Moses no place as a saving instrument, he points out that the Law was never intended to give life. It was intended by God to reveal to men their sin—the exceeding sinfulness of it (cf. 3:19–22). In the remainder of the chapter the apostle expands upon the subject of the inferiority of the condition of men under the Law and the temporary character of the statutes. Those under it are in custody (cf. 3:23–24). But now, since the period of the Law is over, the confinement is over. Sonship, union, and heirship are the blessings of the delivered. These are the themes of the verses to be expounded.

The Confinement of the Law

The Figure of the Prison, verse 23

But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.

The apostle gives another answer to the question of the purpose of the Law in this section. It was a jailer and a slave-guardian of the nation. The “faith” is that of which he has just spoken, the faith in Christ, which came at the end of the reign of the Law. He refers to the justification that one receives by resting upon him, rather than upon legal merit. [5]

Two of the verbs of the verse emphasize the confinement of the Law, or the “protective custody” of it. [6] The first verb, “were kept in custody” (φρουρέω, phroureō), was used of guards doing sentry duty. It meant to protect by military guards (cf. Acts 9:24; 2 Cor. 11:32; Phil. 4:7; 1 Pet. 1:5), [7] and its imperfect tense (ἐφρουρούμεθα), expressing durative action in past time, extends over the whole period of the Law. Thus was Israel held in custody. [8]

The second verb, translated “shut up” (συγκλείω, sygkleiō), meant “to enclose, to shut in on all sides” (cf. Luke 5:6; Rom. 11:32; Gal. 3:22). [9] It, too, is a vivid picture of continuous custody, so that the nation was unable to escape.

The Figure of the Slave-Guardian, verse 24

So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith (ESV).

The apostle introduces a conclusion from the preceding statement. The Greek word translated “guardian” (ESV), “tutor” (NASB) or “disciplinarian” (NRSV) (παιδαγωγό̑, paidagōgos) literally meant a “boy leader.” The KJV’s rendering of “schoolmaster” is mistaken. [10] The παιδαγωγό̑ was usually a trustworthy slave who escorted the family’s child to school, stayed during the session, and saw him home safely again. A boy from a wealthy family might have also one or more slaves to carry his satchel and tablets for him. The παιδαγωγό̑ was usually elderly and almost always of good character. He was both a moral and a physical guard for the child, a companion, adviser, and director. The boy called him “master,” and he seems to have had the right to punish the child. His duties ended when the boy put on the man’s toga, although much affection continued between the young man and the guardian. An epigram of Martial describes a παιδαγωγό̑ who still lectured and scolded his former charge after he had become a grown man. [11]

There is some tradition to the effect that in Paul’s day the slave-guardian was a very unpopular person, known as one who constricted freedom. [12] I mention this, for it seems plain that Paul did not have in mind, by the use of this figure, the Law as educating Israel for the coming of Christ. The stress of the context is not on the Law as preparing Israel for Christ, in the sense of training them for the coming of Christ. The stress of the passage is on the Law as an agent of confinement. It is upon “the destitution and impotence of being its subject,” as Berkouwer puts it. [13] It sets man under servility, guilt, condemnation, and a curse.

The phrase, “until Christ came” (εί̑ Χριστόν, eis Christon), then, is simply the terminus ad quem, that is, the Law served as slave-guardian up to the time of the coming of Christ. [14] He refers to the historic succession of one age of revelation upon another, and to the displacement of the Law by Christ. [15] “The immediate context makes it clear that Paul is speaking of successive periods in salvation history, first that of the reign of the law and then that associated with the coming of Christ.” [16]

The Freedom of Sonship

Sonship by Faith, verses 25–26

But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Since the coming of faith in Christ, things are different. The “but” (δέ, de) is adversative and introduces the different age in which we now stand. It is characterized by the absence of the slave-guardian of the Law of Moses. And, on the contrary, instead of being under the tutor or slave-guardian, we are sons. The apostle might have been expected to mention a new leader, rather than simply to refer to our new position in the family. He will do that later, pointing the Galatians to the Holy Spirit as their new guide (cf. 4:6; 5:18; Rom. 8:14). For the moment he says that believers are now “sons.”

The word ὑιοί (huioi) means sons (NASB) not children (KJV). Under the Law the Galatians were in their minority and under a guardian. Now, since Christ has come and they have believed in him, they have attained to their majority and become full-fledged sons. The word son, then, emphasizes their position and standing, together with the privileges pertaining to it, in the family of God. The apostle may be alluding to the Roman custom of the changing of togas when a male son came to his majority. No special ceremony marked a girl’s passing into womanhood, but when a boy reached maturity (it was often at a relatively young age, between fourteen and seventeen), he discarded the crimson-bordered toga, the toga praetexta (“bordered toga”) that boys wore. He then, in the presence of the family, donned the pure white toga, the toga virilis (“virile,” “manly,” or “adult” toga) and was received into the counsels of the family hierarchy. He took his place as an adult son, enjoying all the privileges of that relationship. [17]

Thus, God is no longer simply a judge, by means of the Law. He is no longer through the Law a slave-guardian, condemning and cursing. He has become, since the coming of faith, a Father, and the sons are adult sons.

The remaining words of verse 26, “through faith in Christ Jesus,” must be emphasized. This sonship is not a sonship by divine creation. “The doctrine of God as a universal Father was not taught by Christ nor by his apostles,” Stott contends. [18] He is right. All men are creatures of God, but not all are spiritual sons of God. We might say that all men are sons of God by creation (Cf. Luke 3:38), but they are not sons of God by the new creation. In fact, we sometimes forget that there are two fatherhoods in the Word, that of God and that of the devil. When men who do not know our Lord Jesus Christ as Savior pray, “Our Father,” one wonders if their prayers are not in reality addressed to the other father, Satan! (cf. John 8:38–44). We reiterate: We are sons of God “by faith in Christ Jesus.”

Union with Christ, verses 27–28

For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

The “for” (γάρ, gar) of verse 27 explains how this sonship came about. Baptism by the Holy Spirit into Christ is the way. The words “all of you who” (ὅσοι, hosoi) do not mean that only some have put on Christ, as if there were some of the believers who had believed, but had not been baptized in water and, therefore, had not really put on Christ. The apostle does not know anything of baptism as a sacramental means of entrance into Christ. The “all” (πάντε̑, pantes) of the preceding verse is the key to the meaning of the “all of you who.” They all had believed, and they all had put on Christ through the baptism of the Spirit. He alone is able to consummate union with Jesus Christ (cf. Rom. 6:3; 1 Cor. 12:12–13).

The figure of putting on Christ may refer to the custom of removing garments before water baptism and putting them back on after the completion of the ceremony. It was, of course, true that water baptism, the confession of Christ as Savior, was closely related to the salvation of a soul, symbolizing the baptism of the Spirit by which the relation to Christ was established. On the other hand, the figure of putting on Christ may be an allusion to the custom of putting on the new toga.

In verse 28 the apostle adds, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The depth of the union of the individual believer with Christ and with one another is amazing. The Greek literally says, “You are all one” (i.e., one person; the word [εἷ̑, heis] is masculine in gender). The oneness is the oneness of relationship, not the oneness of essence. [19] There are, in Christ, no distinctions of rank and no distinctions of sex. There is need for caution here. As many know, the verse has been misused by feminists in support of the contention that, in the church, no distinctions regarding sex in Christian service are justified. [20] That is manifestly not the apostle’s point. Racial, social, and sexual distinctions are clearly continued in the New Testament. The apostle refers to spiritual blessings in Christ, specifically to union with him. [21] In this relationship there is no difference. But in the family, in the state, and in the church, there are differences of place and function. Individually, we are equally blessed in him, and we most please him when we recognize our God-given and God-determined roles and seek to serve him in them to his glory. [22] His rewards are not based upon role, but upon faithfulness in our role.

Abraham’s Seed and Heirs, verse 29

And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

Paul reaches his triumphant conclusion in the last verse of the section. In Christ we belong to him and to one another, and in Christ we also belong to Abraham, for Christ is his seed. If we are part of Christ, then we are the “descendants” (literally “seed” [σπέρμα, sperma]) of Abraham. And, if we are the seed of Abraham, then we are heirs of the promise made to Abraham. So believers follow in the train of faithful Abraham. Doers of the Law of Moses are rejected. What a glorious refutation of those who proclaimed heirship and salvation through the Law!

The apostle’s affirmation that believers in the present age are “Abraham’s descendants” is not unique. The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews affirms the same thing (cf. 2:16). The connection of believers with Abraham is one of faith on the human side and divine election on the Godward side. We, too, belong to the company of faithful saints who have been strangers and sojourners on this globe. Stott writes, “No longer do we feel ourselves to be waifs and strays without any significance in history, or bits of useless flotsam drifting on the tide of time. Instead, we find our place in the unfolding purpose of God. We are the spiritual seed of our father Abraham, who lived and died 4, 000 years ago, for in Christ we have become heirs of the promise which God made to him.” [23]

Conclusion

The Law, then, cannot justify, for it was never meant to give life or righteousness. Its place was the place of the slave-guardian, the place of the jailer, to condemn and to confine. It was preparation for Christ, but not education in Christ (aside from the ceremonies which pointed forward to him). It was moral preparation, designed to reveal to Israel and men the curse and condemnation of sin, that they might flee to Christ. The larger question in this study, then, is this: Have we come to the sense of our sin, guilt, and condemnation, and have we fled to him? Are we Christ’s?

* Lewis Johnson regularly ministered the Word at Believers Chapel in Dallas for more than thirty years. During his academic career he held professorships in New Testament and Systematic Theology at Dallas Theological Seminary and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. At the time of his death in January 2004 he was Professor Emeritus of New Testament Studies at Dallas Seminary.

Notes

1. This is article nine in a sixteen-part series, “Expositional Studies in the Epistle to the Galatians.”
2. Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Free: An Expository Study of Galatians (Wheaton: Victor, 1975), 85; idem, The Bible Exposition Commentary (Wheaton: Victor, 1989), 1:704.
3. John R. W. Stott, The Message of Galatians, BST (London: InterVarsity Press, 1968), 95.
4. Stott, The Message of Galatians, 95–96.
5. Lightfoot notes that in verses 22–25 Paul links together two senses of the term faith (πίστι̑). (1) In verse 22 he speaks of the subjective state of the Christian, i.e., personal belief in Jesus Christ who imparts life (cf. v. 21). Cole speaks of a “conscious dependence upon God” in those who “have heard and accepted the ‘good news.’” (2) In verse 23 Paul uses the article which probably suggests the Christian faith, “the objective teaching, the system of which ‘faith’ is the leading feature.” Lightfoot translates, “Before the dispensation of faith came.…” See J. B. Lightfoot, The Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians (1865; reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 148; Alan Cole, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, TNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), 107.
6. Cole, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, 107.
7. BDAG (s.v. “φρουρέω,” 1067) has “to hold in custody, detain, confine.”
8. F. F. Bruce takes a broader view of those who “were kept in custody.” He writes, “As Gentiles and Jews alike are ‘confined under sin’ in v. 22, so Gentiles and Jews alike are ‘confined under law’ here” (The Epistle to the Galatians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, NIGTC [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982], 182). Longenecker, however, adopts the view expressed in this article. He writes, “The verses, however, differ in their subjects and in their depictions of the functions of the law. For while v. 22 portrays ‘everyone without distinction’…as under the law’s curse, v. 23 portrays Jews (note the first person plural suffix ‘we’ of the verb ἐφρουρούμεθα and the participle συγκλειόμενοι) as having been under the law’s guardianship” (Richard N. Longenecker, Galatians, WBC [Dallas: Word, 1990], 145).
9. BDAG (s.v. “συγκλείω,” 952) has “to confine to specific limits, confine, imprison.”
10. Lightfoot, The Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, 148; Longenecker, Galatians, 146–48; cf. BDAG, s.v. “παιδαγωγό̑,” 748; Georg Bertram, “παιδεύω,” in TDNT, 5:620.
11. Cf. William Barclay, The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians, DSB, rev. ed. (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1976), 31.
12. Schneider notes that the παιδαγωγό̑ was distinguished from the διδάσκαλο̑ (“teacher”). He argues that the word carries both a positive (“tutor/supervisor”) connotation as well as a negative one (“taskmaster/disciplinarian”). See G. Schneider, “παιδαγωγό̑,” in EDNT, 3:2; cf. D. Fürst, “Teach,” in NIDNTT, 3:779.
13. Berkouwer’s emphasis, then, is on the more negative sense of the term. See G. C. Berkouwer, Studies in Dogmatics: Sin, trans. Philip C. Holtrop (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971), 168–69.
14. The prepositon εἰ̑ signifies motion into or toward something and has a variety of uses. In the present passage the prepositional phrase εί̑ Χριστόν has been understood in three ways: (1) “to lead us to Christ” [NASB, NIV], i.e., the prepositon εἰ̑ has a telic sense suggesting the purpose of being under the supervision of the law was “to lead us to Christ.” As a guardian led the boy under his care to his teacher, so the law led men to Christ. In this context, however, Christ is viewed not as a teacher but as a redeemer [Cole, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, 108]. (2) “to bring forth Christ,” i.e., the preposition εἰ̑ is “pregnant,” or intentionally ambiguous. How the law accomplished its task is not indicated but may be suggested by the following clause and verse 19. “The ‘shutting up’ was not an end in itself, it was necessary that they should know and feel the constraints of the taskmaster in order that they might welcome the Deliverer when he came” [C. F. Hogg and W. E. Vine, The Epistle to the Galatians (1922; reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Kregel, n.d.), 165; Ernest De Witt Burton, The Epistle to the Galatians, ICC (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1921), 200; on “pregnant” meanings, cf. Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 120]. (3) “until Christ came,” i.e., the preposition εἰ̑ is temporal in force. As the slave-guardian “kept the boy under his control until he came of age, so the law kept the people of God in leading-strings until, with the coming of faith, they attained their spiritual majority in Christ” [Bruce, The Epistle to the Galatians, 183; Longenecker, Galatians, 149].
15. Burton, The Epistle to the Galatians, 200.
16. Longenecker, Galatians, 149.
17. Barclay, The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians, 34.
18. Stott, The Message of Galatians, 99.
19. Oneness of essence is found in John 10:30 where the Lord Jesus says, “I and the Father are one.” In that verse the word “one” (ἕν) is neuter in gender.
20. For a contemporary defense of the egalitarian (Christian feminist) position, cf. Gordon D. Fee, “Male and Female in the New Creation: Galatians 3:26–29, ” in Discovering Biblical Equality, eds. Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis (Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press, 2004), 172–85.
21. “This great statement of verse 28 does not mean that racial, social and sexual distinctions are actually obliterated. Christians are not literally ‘color-blind,’ so that they do not notice whether a person’s skin is black, brown, yellow or white. Nor are they unaware of the cultural and educational background from which people come. Nor do they ignore a person’s sex, treating a woman as if she were a man or a man as if he were a woman. Of course every person belongs to a certain race and nation, has been nurtured in a particular culture, and is either male or female. When we say that Christ has abolished these distinctions, we mean not that they do not exist, but that they do not matter. They are still there, but they no longer create any barriers to fellowship” (Stott, The Message of Galatians, 100).
22. For a contemporary rebuttal of the Christian feminist position, cf. S. Lewis Johnson, Jr., “Role Distinctions in the Church: Galatians 3:28, ” in Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, eds. John Piper and Wayne Grudem (Wheaton: Crossway, 1991), 154–64.
23. Stott, The Message of Galatians, 101.