Commentary - Galatians 3:23-29

Bird's-eye view

In this magnificent conclusion to the third chapter of Galatians, the apostle Paul brings his argument to a crescendo. Having established that justification is by faith alone from the very beginning with Abraham, he now explains the interim period, the time of the Mosaic Law. What was its purpose? It was a temporary arrangement, a guardian, a tutor, designed to keep God's people in custody until the arrival of the promised Seed, Jesus Christ. With the arrival of faith personified in Christ, the age of the tutor is over. We have graduated. We are no longer children in the nursery but are now declared to be mature sons of God. This new identity is not based on ethnic lineage, social status, or gender, but is received through faith, signified in baptism, and results in a profound unity in Christ. As a result, all who belong to Christ are the true children of Abraham and the rightful heirs of the promise made to him.

This passage is a charter of Christian freedom and identity. It dismantles every man-made system of earning favor with God and demolishes all worldly distinctions that we use to elevate ourselves over others. The ground at the foot of the cross is level, and we stand there together, clothed not in our own righteousness or identity markers, but in the righteousness of Christ alone. Paul's logic is relentless: if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, and the inheritance is yours by promise, not by performance.

Outline

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 23 But before faith came, we were held in custody under the Law, being shut up for the coming faith to be revealed.

Before "faith came" does not mean that no one had faith in the Old Testament. Abraham, our father in faith, certainly did. Paul means before the objective reality of the Christian faith, centered on the finished work of Jesus Christ, was publicly revealed and established. Before Christ, the Law acted as a jailer or a guard. The word for "held in custody" is a military term, suggesting we were guarded, kept under lock and key. This was not a punitive imprisonment in the ultimate sense, but a protective one. The Law kept Israel corporately hemmed in, preventing them from dissolving into the pagan nations around them. It preserved a people, a lineage, until the appointed time. It shut them up "for the coming faith," meaning it corralled them and pointed them toward the future fulfillment that would be their release. The Law created a sense of confinement and inability, which in turn creates a longing for a savior.

v. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor unto Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.

Paul shifts the metaphor from a jailer to a tutor. In the Greco-Roman world, a tutor (paidagogos) was not the primary teacher but a trusted slave who was responsible for a boy's conduct. He would walk him to school, watch over his behavior, and discipline him when necessary. His authority was temporary; it ended when the boy reached maturity. This is precisely the role of the Mosaic Law. It was our disciplinarian. It taught us our ABCs of sin and righteousness. It showed us God's holy standard and our constant failure to meet it. It was strict, and its purpose was to lead us "unto Christ." By revealing our sin and our helplessness, the Law makes us look outside ourselves for a solution. It prepares the heart for the gospel. The goal of this whole arrangement was singular: "that we may be justified by faith." The Law was never intended to be a means of justification, but rather the schoolmaster that drives us to the one who justifies.

v. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

The conclusion is inescapable. The coming of Christ marks a monumental shift in redemptive history. The "faith" has now been fully revealed. The Son has come of age. Therefore, the tutor's job is finished. To go back to the Law for justification, as the Judaizers were insisting, is like a grown man demanding to be put back under the authority of his childhood nanny. It is a regression, a turning away from maturity and freedom. We have graduated. The era of the Law as our guardian has been fulfilled and has come to its appointed end. We are now in a direct relationship with the Father through the Son.

v. 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Here is the glorious result of our graduation. We are not just freed prisoners or former pupils; we are "sons of God." This is our new status, our new identity. Paul uses the word "sons" (huios) deliberately, which in that culture signified a mature heir, one who has full rights and privileges in the family. This status is not earned through works of the Law or achieved by ethnic descent. It is received "through faith in Christ Jesus." Faith is the open hand that receives the gift of sonship. It is an objective reality for all who believe. You are not striving to become sons; if you are in Christ by faith, you are sons.

v. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Paul connects this new identity as sons to the public sign of that identity: baptism. Baptism is not a mere symbol; it is the formal instrument of our union with Christ. When we are baptized "into Christ," we are plunged into His life, His death, and His resurrection. It is our enlistment ceremony. And in this, we have "clothed yourselves with Christ." Think of putting on a uniform. A soldier puts on his uniform and is identified with his army and his king. We put on Christ. His identity becomes our identity. His righteousness becomes our covering. When the Father looks at us, He sees the righteousness of His Son. This is not a legal fiction. It is a covenantal reality. We are wrapped up in Him, and this is true for "all of you who were baptized."

v. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

This is one of the most revolutionary statements in all of Scripture. Because we are all clothed in the same Christ, all our former worldly distinctions lose their ultimate significance. In the ancient world, these three pairs represented the most fundamental divisions in society: ethnicity/religion (Jew/Greek), social status (slave/free), and gender (male/female). Paul is not saying these distinctions are erased in some physical or social sense. A man is still a man, and a woman is still a woman. But in terms of our standing before God, these things are irrelevant. They do not determine our value or our access to God. Our unity in Christ is more profound than any earthly division. We are "all one." This is not a call for a bland uniformity, but for a rich, textured unity within the body of Christ. We are one new man in Him.

v. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.

Paul brings his argument full circle. The central question in Galatia was about who the true people of God are. The Judaizers said it was about physical descent from Abraham and adherence to the Mosaic Law. Paul demolishes that. He says the defining criterion is this: do you "belong to Christ?" If you are His, by faith, then the conclusion is simple and staggering. "Then you are Abraham's seed." The true children of Abraham are not defined by bloodline but by faith-line. And if you are his seed, then you are "heirs according to promise." The great inheritance God promised to Abraham, blessing, land, a people, and blessing for the nations, is yours. It comes not through the Law, which brings a curse, but through the promise, which is received by faith. The Gentile believer in Galatia is just as much an heir of Abraham as any Jerusalem-born Jew, because their shared identity is not in Abraham, but in Christ, the ultimate Seed of Abraham.

Application

This passage calls us to live in the reality of our graduation. We are no longer under the harsh discipline of the Law as a means of earning God's favor. We are mature sons, adopted into the family of God. This means we should stop trying to relate to God as slaves who are constantly afraid of punishment, and instead relate to Him as beloved children who are secure in our Father's love.

Our identity is not found in our performance, our ethnicity, our job, or our gender. Our identity is found in Christ. We are clothed in Him. This should free us from both pride (thinking our earthly status makes us better) and despair (thinking our earthly status makes us worthless). Our worth is fixed and established in Jesus. This truth should transform how we view one another in the church. We must actively dismantle the worldly barriers we erect and live out the radical unity we have in our Lord.

Finally, we are heirs. We have a glorious inheritance waiting for us, secured by the promise of God. This should give us a profound sense of security and hope. We are not working for an inheritance; we are living from it. We are heirs of the promise, and this promise is as certain as God Himself. Let us therefore live as free sons and daughters of the King, united in our Savior, and confident in the promise that is ours in Him.