Galatians 3:1-4:11

(Tina)Theresa Hannah-Munns
RLST 248-001 - Dr. William Arnal
Exegesis #4


Paul starts out very patronizing by using sarcasm, much as a father chastises a child. His point is emphatically stated of whether they received the Spirit of the Christ myth from doing the works of the law versus belief in the Christ myth itself. He sets up a polemic of works of the flesh versus belief in the Spirit, which is of divine origin and grace among his words of biting sarcasm to highlight his extreme disappointment in them.

Paul starts referring to the writings of the Old Testament (the label we know of today) to support his position on belief over works of the law. Since Abraham believed God, he received the benefits of God and the Gentiles will do well to follow his example in order for them to be part of the descendents of Abraham, which is only accomplished by those who have belief. He backs this up by quoting that God’s foresight was declared to Abraham about the Gentiles: “All the Gentiles (by faith is Paul’s argument) shall be blessed in you” (3:9).

He furthers his argument with another angle, one that sees the law as a curse since justification is not found in the law but in faith of the promise found in the Christ myth. If one chooses the law, he is bound by law and not within the benefits of the Christ myth since they turn their back on it. He continues to support his Abraham connection by showing how promise was not given to a plural form of offspring but to only one man, whom is believed in Jesus Christ(3:16). The law was utilized after the promise given in order to sustain faithfulness until the promise could be fulfilled. Paul points out that the
law is not opposed to God but has, over time, “imprisoned all things under the power of sin” (3:22). The law was “disciplinarian until Christ came” (3:24) and with Christ come faith that makes the Gentiles “children of God”, which Paul further postulates as systematically becoming one in Christ, first through belief and then followed by the action of baptism.

He reiterates all of this through another analogy using the relationship of parents and minors to stand for heirs to Christ’s kingdom (4:1-2). This exemplifies his idea that Gentiles are adopted into the family of Christ (4:5). The result is twofold: Paul is able to support his own general argument of faith while also moving into another specific issue of pagan worship (5:9). Paul twists analogy within analogy as he also compares favorably a child under a trustee of higher powers versus to a slave in trust of lower powers. As children of God, they are heirs to his inheritance through faith, whereas they are slaves to lower elemental spirits (4:8-11). Much like faith reverting back to the lower power of following the law, the act of elemental worship is a reversion from the promise of God in order to continue their own enslavement by the lower powers. Both of these are being argued as imprisoning the followers “under the power of sin” (3:22). Paul continues to show his disappointment through sarcastic means as he ends this patronizingly with his fear of wasting his time with them.