he Law is properly used its value cannot be too highly appraised. It
will take me to Christ every time.

VERSE 24. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto
Christ.

This simile of the schoolmaster is striking. Schoolmasters are
indispensable. But show me a pupil who loves his schoolmaster. How
little love is lost upon them the Jews showed by their attitude toward
Moses. They would have been glad to stone Moses to death. (Ex. 17:4.)
You cannot expect anything else. How can a pupil love a teacher who
frustrates his desires? And if the pupil disobeys, the schoolmaster
whips him, and the pupil has to like it and even kiss the rod with
which he was beaten. Do you think the schoolboy feels good about it? As
soon as the teacher turns his back, the pupil breaks the rod and throws
it into the fire. And if he were stronger than the teacher he would not
take the beatings, but beat up the teacher. All the same, teachers are
indispensable, otherwise the children would grow up without discipline,
instruction, and training.

But how long are the scolding and the whippings of the schoolmaster to
continue? Only for a time, until the boy has been trained to be a
worthy heir of his father. No father wants his son to be whipped all
the time. The discipline is to last until the boy has been trained to
be his father's worthy successor.

The Law is such a schoolmaster. Not for always, but until we have been
brought to Christ. The Law is not just another schoolmaster. The Law is
a specialist to bring us to Christ. What would you think of a
schoolmaster who could only torment and beat a child? Yet of such
schoolmasters there were plenty in former times, regular bruisers. The
Law is not that kind of a schoolmaster. It is not to torment us always.
With its lashings it is only too anxious to drive us to Christ. The Law
is like the good schoolmaster who trains his children to find pleasure
in doing things they formerly detested.

VERSE 24. That we might be justified by faith.

The Law is not to teach us another Law. When a person feels the full
force of the Law he is likely to think: I have transgressed all the
commandments of God; I am guilty of eternal death. If God will spare me
I will change and live right from now on. This natural but entirely
wrong reaction to the Law has bred the many ceremonies and works
devised to earn grace and remission of sins.

The Law means to enlarge my sins, to make me small, so that I may be
justified by faith in Christ. Faith is neither law nor word; but
confidence in Christ "who is the end of the law." How so is Christ the
end of the Law? Not in this way that He replaced the old Law with new
laws. Nor is Christ the end of the Law in a way that makes Him a hard
judge who has to be bribed by works as the papists teach. Christ is the
end or finish of the Law to all who believe in Him. The Law can no
longer accuse or condemn them.

But what does the Law accomplish for those who have been justified by
Christ? Paul answers this question next.

VERSE 25. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a
schoolmaster.

The Apostle declares that we are free from the Law. Christ fulfilled
the Law for us. We may live in joy and safety under Christ. The trouble
is, our flesh will not let us believe in Christ with all our heart. The
fault lies not with Christ, but with us. Sin clings to us as long as we
live and spoils our happiness in Christ. Hence, we are only partly free
from the Law. "With the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with
the flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7:25.)

As far as the conscience is concerned it may cheerfully ignore the Law.
But because sin continues to dwell in the flesh, the Law waits around
to molest our conscience. More and more, however, Christ increases our
faith and in the measure in which our faith is increased, sin, Law, and
flesh subside.

If anybody objects to the Gospel and the sacraments on the ground that
Christ has taken away our sins once and for always, you will know what
to answer. You will answer: Indeed, Christ has taken away my sins. But
my flesh, the world, and the devil interfere with my faith. The little
light of faith in my heart does not shine all over me at once. It is a
gradual diffusion. In the meanwhile I console myself with the thought
that eventually my flesh will be made perfect in the resurrection.

VERSE 26. For we are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Paul as a true apostle of faith always has the word "faith" on the tip
of his tongue. By faith, says he, we are the children of God. The Law
cannot beget children of God. It cannot regenerate us. It can only
remind us of the old birth by which we were born into the kingdom of
the devil. The best the Law can do for us is to prepare us for a new
birth through faith in Christ Jesus. Faith in Christ regenerates us
into the children of God. St. John bears witness to this in his Gospel:
"As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name." (John 1:12.) What tongue
of man or angel can adequately extol the mercy of God toward us
miserable sinners in that He adopted us for His own children and
fellow-heirs with His Son by the simple means of faith in Christ Jesus!

VERSE 27. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put
on Christ.

To "put on Christ" may be understood in two ways, according to the Law
and according to the Gospel. According to the Law as in Romans 13:14,
"Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ," which means to follow the example of
Christ.

To put on Christ according to the Gospel means to clothe oneself with
the righteousness, wisdom, power, life, and Spirit of Christ. By nature
we are clad in the garb of Adam. This garb Paul likes to call "the old
man." Before we can become the children of God this old man must be put
off, as Paul says, Ephesians 4:29. The garment of Adam must come off
like soiled clothes. Of course, it is not as simple as changing one's
clothes. But God makes it simple. He clothes us with the righteousness
of Christ by means of Baptism, as the Apostle says in this verse: "As
many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." With
this change of garments a new birth, a new life stirs in us. New
affections toward God spring up in the heart. New determinations affect
our will. All this is to put on Christ according to the Gospel.
Needless to say, when we have put on the robe of the righteousness of
Christ we must not forget to put on also the mantle of the imitation of
Christ.

VERSE 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor
free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ
Jesus.

The list might be extended indefinitely: There is neither preacher nor
hearer, neither teacher nor scholar, neither master nor servant, etc.
In the matter of salvation, rank, learning, righteousness, influence
count for nothing.

With this statement Paul deals a death blow to the Law. When a person
has put on Christ nothing else matters. Whether a person is a Jew, a
punctilious and circumcised observer of the Law of Moses, or whether a
person is a noble and wise Greek does not matter. Circumstances,
personal worth, character, achievements have no bearing upon
justification. Before God they count for nothing. What counts is that
we put on Christ.

Whether a servant performs his duties well; whether those who are in
authority govern wisely; whether a man marries, provides for his
family, and is an honest citizen; whether a woman is chaste, obedient
to her husband, and a good mother: all these advantages do not qualify
a person for salvation. These virtues are commendable, of course; but
they do not count points for justification. All the best laws,
ceremonies, religions, and deeds of the world cannot take away sin
guilt, cannot dispatch death, cannot purchase life.

There is much disparity among men in the world, but there is no such
disparity before God. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory
of God." (Romans 3:23.) Let the Jews, let the Greeks, let the whole
world keep silent in the presence of God. Those who are justified are
justified by Christ. Without faith in Christ the Jew with his laws, the
monk with his holy orders, the Greek with his wisdom, the servant with
his obedience, shall perish forever.

VERSE 28. For ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

There is much imparity among men in the world. And it is a good thing.
If the woman would change places with the man, if the son would change
places with the father, the servant with the master, nothing but
confusion would result. In Christ, however, all are equal. We all have
one and the same Gospel, "one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of
all," one Christ and Savior of all. The Christ of Peter, Paul, and all
the saints is our Christ. Paul can always be depended on to add the
conditional clause, "In Christ Jesus." If we lose sight of Christ, we
lose out.

VERSE 29. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to the promise.

"If ye be Christ's" means, if you believe in Christ. If you believe in
Christ, then are you the children of Abraham indeed. Through our faith
in Christ Abraham gains paternity over us and over the nations of the
earth according to the promise: "In thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed." Through faith we belong to Christ and Christ to
us.

CHAPTER 4

VERSE 1. Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth
nothing from a servant, though he be Lord of all; VERSE 2. But is under
tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

THE Apostle had apparently finished his discourse on justification when
this illustration of the youthful heir occurred to him. He throws it in
for good measure. He knows that plain people are sooner impressed by an
apt illustration than by learned discussion.

"I want to give you another illustration from everyday life," he writes
to the Galatians. "As long as an heir is under age he is treated very
much like a servant. He is not permitted to order his own affairs. He
is kept under constant surveillance. Such discipline is good for him,
otherwise he would waste his inheritance in no time. This discipline,
however, is not to last forever. It is to last only until 'the time
appointed of the father.'"

VERSE 3. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the
elements of the world.

As children of the Law we were treated like servants and prisoners. We
were oppressed and condemned by the Law. But the tyranny of the Law is
not to last forever. It is to last only until "the time appointed of
the father," until Christ came and redeemed us.

VERSE 3. Under the elements of the world.

By the elements of the world the Apostle does not understand the
physical elements, as some have thought. In calling the Law "the
elements of the world" Paul means to say that the Law is something
material, mundane, earthly. It may restrain evil, but it does not
deliver from sin. The Law does not justify; it does not bring a person
to heaven. I do not obtain eternal life because I do not kill, commit
adultery, steal, etc. Such mere outward decency does not constitute
Christianity. The heathen observe the same restraints to avoid
punishment or to secure the advantages of a good reputation. In the
last analysis such restraint is simple hypocrisy. When the Law
exercises its higher function it accuses and condemns the conscience.
All these effects of the Law cannot be called divine or heavenly. These
effects are elements of the world.

In calling the Law the elements of the world Paul refers to the whole
Law, principally to the ceremonial law which dealt with external
matters, as meat, drink, dress, places, times, feasts, cleansings,
sacrifices, etc. These are mundane matters which cannot save the
sinner. Ceremonial laws are like the statutes of governments dealing
with purely civil matters, as commerce, inheritance, etc. As for the
pope's church laws forbidding marriage and meats, Paul calls them
elsewhere the doctrines of devils. You would not call such laws
elements of heaven.

The Law of Moses deals with mundane matters. It holds the mirror to the
evil which is in the world. By revealing the evil that is in us it
creates a longing in the heart for the better things of God. The Law
forces us into the arms of Christ, "who is the end of the law for
righteousness to every one that believeth." (Romans 1:4.) Christ
relieves the conscience of the Law. In so far as the Law impels us to
Christ it renders excellent service.

I do not mean to give the impression that the Law should be despised.
Neither does Paul intend to leave that impression. The Law ought to be
honored. But when it is a matter of justification before God, Paul had
to speak disparagingly of the Law, because the Law has nothing to do
with justification. If it thrusts its nose into the business of
justification we must talk harshly to the Law to keep it in its place.
The conscience ought not to be on speaking terms with the Law. The
conscience ought to know only Christ. To say this is easy, but in times
of trial, when the conscience writhes in the presence of God, it is not
so easy to do. As such times we are to believe in Christ as if there
were no Law or sin anywhere, but only Christ. We ought to say to the
Law: "Mister Law, I do not get you. You stutter so much. I don't think
that you have anything to say to me."

When it is not a question of salvation or justification with us, we are
to think highly of the Law and call it "holy, just, and good." (Romans
7:12) The Law is of no comfort to a stricken conscience. Therefore it
should not be allowed to rule in our conscience, particularly in view
of the fact that Christ paid so great a price to deliver the conscience
from the tyranny of the Law. Let us understand that the Law and Christ
are impossible bedfellows. The Law must leave the bed of the
conscience, which is so narrow that it cannot hold two, as Isaiah says,
chapter 28, verse 20.

Only Paul among the apostles calls the Law "the elements of the world,
weak and beggarly elements, the strength of sin, the letter that
killeth," etc. The other apostles do not speak so slightingly of the
Law. Those who want to be first-class scholars in the school of Christ
want to pick up the language of Paul. Christ called him a chosen vessel
and equipped with a facility of expression far above that of the other
apostles, that he as the chosen vessel should establish the doctrine of
justification in clear-cut words.

VERSES 4, 5. But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were
under the law.

"The fullness of the time" means when the time of the Law was fulfilled
and Christ was revealed. Note how Paul explains Christ. "Christ," says
he, "is the Son of God and the son of a woman. He submitted Himself
under the Law to redeem us who were under the Law." In these words the
Apostle explains the person and office of Christ. His person is divine
and human. "God sent forth His Son, made of a woman." Christ therefore
is true God and true man. Christ's office the Apostle describes in the
words: "Made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law."

Paul calls the Virgin Mary a woman. This has been frequently deplored
even by some of the ancient fathers who felt that Paul should have
written "virgin" instead of woman. But Paul is now treating of faith
and Christian righteousness, of the person and office of Christ, not of
the virginity of Mary. The inestimable mercy of God is sufficiently set
forth