Now let's go back to a question we
left hanging earlier. The law is a guardian and a tutor until faith comes. When
is that? What is the timeline? Once faith comes, the guardianship and tutor
relationship ends. When is that? Does that mean when we trust Christ and are
saved? Let’s continue reading.
In Galatians 4:1-3 we learn that
the law is like the parent or guardian to an under-aged child. A child, Paul
says, is not much different than a slave even though he is the heir of
everything. Many children probably feel like that! He is under the rule of his
parent until he comes of age. Even though he is an heir, he still has to go to
bed when told, has to go with mom to the store, has to eat his vegetables and
so on. In the same way, when we were children we were in bondage under the
elements of the world. My question is still the same – when were we children
and when did adulthood come?
Paul answers that question in Galatians 4:4. He says, “But
when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His son, born of a
woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we
might receive the adoption as sons.”
So there's the timing answer. God
sent forth his son more than 2000 years ago when Christ came into the world.
That's when childhood ended. That's when adulthood started. That's when the
law's guardianship and tutelage ended. It doesn't have anything to do with our
growth from childhood to adulthood or with our conversion to Christ.
During this time of childhood, Paul
describes it as a time of bondage under the elements of the world. What are
those elements? We'll look at that next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment