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Sermon Summary
In “Under the Law or In Christ?” Nate Roten explains that being under the law represents an inferior relationship, symbolized by a guardian who confines and disciplines, whereas being in Christ signifies full rights and blessings. The sermon uses the analogy of guardianship to illustrate how faith in Christ liberates us from the law’s imprisonment, adopting us as sons of God with equal rights and inheritance.
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Sermon Text
Under the Law or In Christ?
Nate Roten / Galatians 3:23–4:7
Main Idea
To be under the law is to remain connected to an inferior relationship. To be in Christ is to have full rights as a son and heir.
Picture a wooden table with two distinct chains resting on its surface. The first is short, just three links long, forged from rough, blackened iron. Its final link clasps onto a tiny prison cell, its bars cold and unyielding. The second chain, slightly longer with four radiant links, gleams with polished gold. Instead of shackling something lifeless, it is tethered to an ornate golden treasure chest containing a large golden seed. One chain leads to captivity, the other, the promise of blessing and inheritance. If you can picture this in your mind, you have already grasped the meaning of today’s sermon.
Passage
Galatians 3:23–4:7 CSB
23 Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. 24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. 25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus.
27 For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. 28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise. 1 Now I say that as long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything. 2 Instead, he is under guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elements of the world. 4 When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.
The Logical Argument. Last week, Paul compared the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants to a human will, noting that a more recent agreement does not override the original. The first agreement serves as the binding commitment, while the second provides additional clarity to elements of the first. Today, we will explore another analogy: guardianship. In today’s passage, Paul will establish two logical chains, each with a definite beginning and a definite end. Even the language we use to describe our relationship with these two logical chains is significant, as we will soon discover.
I – Under the Law
II – In Christ
I – Under the Law (vv. 3:23-25, 4:1-2)
The verbiage is important. The term under implies that whatever we are under has:
1. control of us – Jesus will crush Satan’s head under His feet (Rom. 16:20).
2. authority over us – like the centurion speaking to Jesus in Matt. 8:9 (I am a man under authority…)
3. protect us from something else – like Jesus wanting to gather Israel’s children like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings in Luke 13:34.
This can have positive and negative connotations. In the case of the law, it contains elements of both, but it is largely negative.
Link #1 – Law
Before Jesus arrived, the Jews were bound by the law. The first description Paul offers us is confinement. We are ‘confined under the law.’ By using this term, Paul creates a mental image of God’s people being detained or kept in custody. As we discussed last week, the law was added to Abraham’s covenant as a clarifying covenant that uncovers the identity, substance, and influence of sin while also showing that we can never meet the standards God established in His law. Consequently, we all stand condemned. This is why Paul refers to the Law as having “imprisoned everything under sin’s power” in verse 22.
Link #2 – Guardian
The law is personified as a legal guardian. In Roman culture, a trusted slave could be entrusted with one or more of the master’s children. This slave was responsible for the children’s safety, welfare, transportation, and sometimes disciplinary actions. They served as a strict guardian, or what we might refer to as a pedagogue. Paul was likely capitalizing on this cultural norm to explain the law to a largely non-Jewish audience, which remains helpful to us today for several reasons.
1. By definition, a guardian is not a parent, so there is not always a familial relationship between the two. While we may have an aunt or uncle willing to become a guardian, in the example above, there is no family bond between the slave and the child. This means that the guardian didn’t give life to the child; he managed life for the child.
2. A core function of a pedagogue is to teach and instruct. While a child is still a child, he or she must be taught and guided. That is what the law did while Israel was waiting for the Seed; it taught, guided, and disciplined.
3. The child was under the guardian’s care until he or she became fully mature. Once they reached maturity, they were no longer under the guardian’s care, control, or authority. In Roman society, this occurred at puberty, but throughout human history, it was up to God the Father’s sovereign timing for when Jesus would be sent.
Link #3 – Slavery
This logical chain ultimately leads to one conclusion. While many aspects of guardianship are positive, the inevitable outcome for anyone under legal guardianship of the law is imprisonment—much like the witness in a courtroom drama who must remain under the protective custody of a state or federal agent. These scenes typically portray the witness being taken to a grim, secluded safehouse where they must stay until the trial. Over time, the witness often feels trapped like a prisoner in that safehouse. To survive until the trial, they must follow every rule set by the agent. Let’s take it a step further: suppose the witness is the son of a visiting King who witnessed something he shouldn’t have while accompanying his father. Although he is highly esteemed and holds a higher social status than the law enforcement agents, the Prince is still under their authority.
Only this is worse. Yes, the Jews were under God’s law and thus under its guiding demands, but remember, it also revealed their inability to live up to God’s standards. Not only are they taught and disciplined by it, but they are also condemned by it. As long as anyone is under the law, they benefit from its teaching, guidance, and disciplinary action, but they are also trapped. They are enslaved to the sin the law has pointed out. It is a prison to which the guardian doesn’t have the key. The law cannot liberate you from your prison; it can only show you that you are behind the iron bars.
Lest we feel that Paul is starting to beat a dead horse, we should remember the stakes. The false teachers in Galatia were undermining and discrediting Paul while spoon-feeding a distorted gospel to the churches he had just established. This distorted gospel is not a gospel at all, meaning it lacks the power to save. Paul will not ease up here. He is reiterating the same point in various ways for a reason. He must ensure the church understands. There is no salvation in the law. It is God’s law, so it is good, but it was given for a specific purpose. It served as a guardian that kept His people in line until the fulfillment of His promise arrived in Jesus. The law pointed to Him as the Savior, but it never claimed to have that role; yet, that is precisely what the false teachers were teaching.
Our job is to listen to what Paul is telling us and stop pursuing an inferior relationship. Trusting in the law, our works, or religious rituals for salvation enslaves us like underage children to a strict, unrelated guardian. It represents a regression, not progression. Don’t do that to yourselves. It’s time to move beyond the basics to more substantial truths of the Christian faith.
II – The Fullness of Time (vv. 4:3-5)
These three beautiful verses signify the handoff of God’s children from the guardian to Jesus. Until Christ arrived, the time was not yet complete, but at the turn of the 1st century AD, the time of guardianship had reached its conclusion. The law maintained custody from Moses to Jesus. This was the Father’s predetermined timeframe to bring Israel to maturity. The fullness of knowledge that the Law had to impart was given. The child has reached adulthood and no longer needs its controlling authority. The fullness of time ushered in the eternal beneficiary of Abraham’s inheritance. In this fullness, God sent Jesus, born of a woman (so he is human) and born under the law (and is therefore in the same position as everyone else).
Jesus came at this exact time in this exact circumstance for two main reasons:
1. To redeem those under the law.
2. So that we can be adopted as sons.
These are the things that we will explore in the next chain.
III – In Christ (vv. 3:26-29; 4:6-7)
Link #1 – Faith
As Paul has mentioned numerous times before, the way to be in Christ is to have faith in Him. In the first chain, we were placed under the law. However, through faith, we are positioned in Christ. Those two little words carry immense significance. Although we are imprisoned and enslaved, through faith in the ‘Coming faith’ (a description of Christ Himself), we are justified. Because we have placed our faith in Jesus, we are now declared innocent and in right standing with God. Our new owner has opened the door, releasing us from our prison cell and freeing us from the authority of our guardian.
We are, therefore, no longer under the elements of the world. In terms of guardianship, this likely refers to how God’s people were still underage and in need of foundational learning, which is what Paul is alluding to. The elements of the world, then, are the basic components or foundational principles. Others believe this is a reference to spiritual powers because some translations, like the NIV, say the elemental spiritual forces of the world. This would imply that we are no longer slaves to the spiritual powers behind the elements of this world, such as the demonic influences behind the pagan worship many of the gentile Galatians walked away from. In either case, the next step is clear enough: you are not enslaved to those things any longer.
Link #2 – Redemption
If we are all slaves under the law, then we all need to be liberated from our enslaver. To redeem someone means to buy them out of slavery. The Redeemer has paid the price for their freedom and has released them to a whole new life they have never experienced before. Jesus came to set the captives free!
Link #3 – Adoption
Jesus did not buy us to be slaves to something or someone else. The story we get to live out is far more glorious than that. We have a rags-to-riches story that is 1,000 times better than the Cinderella story. He redeemed you from slavery so that you could be established in the Royal Household. A term we often use for this incredible truth is ‘sonship,’ because in the ancient world (and even today), lineage and inheritance pass through the firstborn son. By saying, ‘you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus,’ Paul declares that we all possess the rights of lineage and inheritance. Although we are male and female, this term refers to both who receive full rights of adoption as God’s children.
As adopted children with equal rights and shares in our Father’s blessings, we all receive sonship in the same ways; four of which Paul mentions in verses 27-29:
1. Baptized in Christ. Jesus modeled it for us when He was baptized by John the Baptist. Since the head was baptized, the rest of the body must also follow. Because we have died with Him in the likeness of His death, we also live with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. At our conversion, we are baptized and sealed by the Holy Spirit into the New Covenant family. It is the outward declaration of the inward renewal that has taken place, made publicly to the church family to show that you have been united with Christ.
2. Clothed with Christ. In ancient Rome, various types of togas indicated a Roman’s rank, role, or circumstances in life. When a boy reached adulthood (typically around 14–16 years old), he underwent a formal ceremony marking his transition into manhood. He would remove the toga praetexta (a white toga with a purple border worn by boys and magistrates) and don the toga virilis (a plain white toga), symbolizing his new status as a full citizen. This event, often celebrated during the festival of Liberalia (March 17), included prayers and sacrifices to the gods, followed by the young man being presented in the Forum by his father or guardian. This rite of passage conferred legal adulthood, civic responsibilities, and the ability to engage in public life. This cultural practice parallels a spiritual reality: when we reach out in faith and accept Jesus as Lord, we shed the sin-stained garments of our former selves and are clothed in Christ. We receive His righteousness and official standing as sons and daughters. In Christ, we have taken off the toga praetexta, so to speak, and put on the toga virilis, which showcases our entrance into adulthood, our legal citizenship in heaven’s kingdom, and our full rights of sonship.
3. One in Christ. Regarding our adoption and status of sonship, there are no distinctions. There are no MVPs or benchwarmers. In Roman culture, individuals were judged based on their ethnicity, social status, and gender. The Romans were the elite conquerors of other tribes and nations, which they viewed as lesser. Slaves were looked down upon, as were women. But God doesn’t look at His people in these terms. When you are baptized into and clothed with Christ, you stand on equal ground with everyone else, and the dividing walls that mattered so much in Roman culture—ethnicity (Jew or Greek), social status (slave or free), and gender (male or female)—hold no significance whatsoever! All adopted children receive the same blessings and inheritance (which also confirms that Paul is not suggesting that there are no such things as gender distinctions in general, or that designed roles for men and women in the church no longer exist). This deeply powerful verse affirms that we all receive the same benefits of sonship in Christ because we are all one in Christ!
4. Belong to Christ. The first three points culminate in this final assertion: being baptized into, clothed with, and one in Christ signifies that we belong to Him. We are not merely under His authority and rule as we were under the law. Instead, there exists a profound and loving familial connection that is eternal. We are all sons in the Son! And those whom the Father has given to the Son will never be lost (John 6:39).
Link #4 – Heirs
Faith leads to redemption, which leads to adoption, and the final link in the chain of this passage is heirs. Paul states in verse 29 that if we belong to Christ, we are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise. Earlier, Paul clarified that the beneficiary of the promise was a person (the ‘Seed’), who is Jesus. All the promises are given to Him. Now, by faith, we are all sons of God, meaning we have been adopted into the family and granted the rights of sonship without distinction. Every adopted child receives the same status. We are all baptized into Christ, clothed with Christ, one in Christ, and we fully belong to Christ.
All of these elements share one commonality: they are in Christ. By faith, I am in Christ. You are in Christ, and if we are fully and eternally connected to the main heir of the promises, then we are also heirs of those promises. This is why Paul can say that Jesus is the heir as the ‘Seed,’ and we are also the ‘seed’ and heirs! You, me, and all who receive the gospel of Christ in faith are inheritors of the Kingdom, the blessings, and the promises our Father has planned for us.
Bringing it all together. In the first section, we learned how misguided it is to regress in our spiritual maturity by intentionally placing ourselves back under the law, which was designed to serve as a guardian until we reach maturity and highlights our imprisonment by sin. The law represents an inferior relationship compared to Jesus. In Jesus, however, we are set free from that prison by His sacrifice. His blood serves as the key to liberating us from the dungeon and into the King’s palace.
If you have reached out to Jesus in faith, you are eternally secure.
You are baptized into Christ, clothed with Christ, one in Christ, and belong to Christ. You are in the palm of His hand, and no one or nothing can ever take you away. He loses none of His sheep, and if you are His, you are a son or daughter of the King with full rights of the family inheritance.
Why would you ever go back to a powerless, inferior relationship when all you could ever want is given to you in Christ?
Questions to Consider
In what ways can you identify instances in your life where you’ve felt confined under a set of rules rather than in a relationship with Christ?
In what ways does the concept of guardianship enhance our understanding of God’s law?
What does it mean to be ‘under the law’ according to Paul in this passage?
Why is it important to grasp the idea that we receive full rights of sonship regardless of gender or social status?
How can understanding your identity as a child of God help you in your personal struggles?
FAQs
1. What does it mean to be “under the law”?
To be “under the law” means to be confined and imprisoned by the law’s demands, unable to meet its standards and thus remaining in a state of condemnation. The law serves as a guardian that teaches, guides, and disciplines, but it cannot liberate us from our prison of sin (Galatians 3:23-25).
2. How does the law relate to guardianship?
The law is personified as a guardian in Roman culture, responsible for the safety, welfare, and discipline of children until they reach maturity. Similarly, the law kept God’s people in line until the fulfillment of God’s promise arrived in Jesus (Galatians 3:24-25).
3. What is the significance of being “under guardians and trustees”?
Being under guardians and trustees signifies a state of immaturity and dependence. Just as children are under the care of guardians until they reach adulthood, believers were under the law until they reached spiritual maturity through faith in Christ (Galatians 4:1-2).
4. Why did Jesus come at the fullness of time?
Jesus came at the fullness of time to redeem those under the law and to adopt believers as sons of God. This marked the end of the law’s guardianship and the beginning of a new era of sonship in Christ (Galatians 4:4-5).
5. What is the role of faith in being in Christ?
Faith is the key to being in Christ. Through faith, believers are justified and declared innocent, released from the prison of sin and the authority of the law. Faith positions us in Christ, where we are clothed with His righteousness and stand on equal ground with all other believers (Galatians 3:26-29).
6. How does baptism relate to our adoption as sons of God?
Baptism is the outward declaration of our inward renewal and union with Christ. It signifies our entry into the Kingdom and our death and resurrection with Him. Through baptism, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and united with Christ, marking our transition from slavery to sonship (Galatians 3:27).
What does it mean to be “clothed with Christ”?
Being clothed with Christ means shedding the sin-stained garments of our former selves and receiving His righteousness. This spiritual reality parallels the Roman rite of passage where a young man donned the toga virilis, symbolizing his new status as a full citizen. In Christ, we have taken off our old selves and put on His righteousness, entering adulthood and full citizenship in heaven’s kingdom (Galatians 3:27).
7. Why are we heirs according to the promise if we belong to Christ?
Because we belong to Christ, we are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. This inheritance includes all the blessings and promises given to Jesus, who is the main heir of the promises. Through faith, we are adopted into God’s family and granted the rights of sonship without distinction, making us heirs of the Kingdom and its blessings (Galatians 3:29).
These questions and answers help clarify the main points of your sermon, emphasizing the superiority of being in Christ over being under the law.