Sermon Tone Analysis

“In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

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

And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

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Astute readers of the BOOK OF GALATIANS will have noticed a transition at our text.

Before this TWENTY-SIXTH VERSE Paul has employed the first person plural pronoun “we” throughout the letter.

The first verse of our text, however, marks a change as from this point he uses the second person plural “you.”

We should be careful not to make too much of this transition; but neither should we ignore the change; for surely the Spirit of God has not directed the Apostle to write in a superfluous manner.

This TWENTY-SIXTH VERSE marks a transition that is central to the Apostle’s argument to these factious saints.

Before this, Paul has spoken of the promise [GALATIANS 3:6–14], which gave way to the Law [GALATIANS 3:15–22], which was in turn superseded by grace [GALATIANS 3:23–25].

Following this TWENTY-SIXTH VERSE the order will be reversed to form a rather complex chiasm.

Grace will now be exalted [GALATIANS 3:27–4:7] as greater than Law [GALATIANS 4:8–11], which came as result of the promise [GALATIANS 4:21–31].

What is crucial to our understanding of the message today is that the verses of our text are dependent upon this TWENTY-SIXTH VERSE.

Unfortunately, the TWENTY-EIGHTH VERSE has become a sort of battleground in the ongoing battle between the sexes.

Subject to isolation by well-meaning saints with a personal agenda, the verse is often distorted until even the Apostle would be confused as to what he must have meant when he wrote the words.

The verse cannot, however, be understood in isolation; it must be read in the light of the preceding verses and in light of the verses following.

ENTRANCE INTO THE FAMILY IS AN ISSUE OF FAITH — I do not doubt that the language of this TWENTY-SIXTH VERSE insults some women, especially those schooled in feminism.

Paul writes, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Nevertheless, the words are either those which were inspired by the Spirit of God or they are to be dismissed as mere remnants of Jewish patriarchal views of humanity.

The Bible is quite precise in stating that “You are all sons [huioì] of God.”

There is no doubt that we are to understand that this encompasses all humanity, but the language does not permit us to retranslate this clause to meet our own gender bias.

It may interest you to know that whenever Paul employs this particular phrase (huioì theoû) it refers to the mature position of a believer in Christ [see ROMANS 8:14; 9:26].

By faith we become “children of God” (tékna theoû) as outlined in JOHN 1:12; however, a regenerate sinner becomes a son of God by adoption [cf.

GALATIANS 4:5].

A child is a child because he or she has his or her parents’ nature, but the child is still immature and must grow into adulthood.

Whereas in the material world a child does not enjoy mature responsibilities and privileges until reaching a predetermined age, in the spiritual realm a regenerated child is immediately placed in the position of sonship, enjoying all the privileges and responsibilities of sonship.

The noun which is translated “adoption” in GALATIANS 4:5 (huiothesían) means “to be placed in the position of a son.”

That act of adoption, receiving the full rights of sons, was determined by God in eternity past and has been finalised by the work of the Holy Spirit at the point of conversion.

Christ came “to redeem those who were under law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights” [GALATIANS 4:5 NET BIBLE].

One under the tutelage of the school master of law could never be regarded as a son.

What a rich heritage we would sacrifice were we to insist on gender neutral language!

What a great sacrifice political correctness demands!

“You are all sons of God.” Paul is emphasising that those to whom he is writing are in his estimate mature.

Though they may not necessarily have been acting in a mature manner (actually they were acting in quite an immature fashion), they nevertheless were even then heirs with the full rights of sons of God.

You need not wait until some date far in the future to enjoy the full rights of sonship—the full rights of a son is your present possession by faith in Christ.

At the point you became a child of God you received the full rights of a son.

Even now you enjoy access into the presence of the Father, you enjoy the presence of His Holy Spirit, you hold unique spiritual gifts which He has distributed just as He decided, you have the promise of Heaven and all that God has planned for His precious sons.

Don’t permit yourself to get hung up on the issue of gender to the point that you are insulted by the language God chooses to employ.

The gender of the word is far less important at this point than is the truth conveyed.

Focus, if you will, on the fact that you no longer require a baby-sitter because you have entered into your full right as a son of God.

Before Him you are already a recipient of all that He has promised.

This is not to say that the Law no longer has any application in your life, but it does mean that the Law can no longer condemn you.

The Law need no longer imprison you or destroy you.

Whenever the wicked one comes to you pointing to your failure to keep the Law you need but remind yourself that you are no longer under the Law but under grace and that you have received the full rights of “a son of God.”

If you permit yourself to enter again into the condemnation of the Law you are permitting yourself to be shackled, to be bewitched, and thus you turn your life in Christ into a pitiful anachronism.

“You are all sons of God through faith.”

Your receipt of the full rights as a son of God has nothing to do with natural descent or with human effort.

It is through faith that you have received this inheritance.

We enter into this new relationship with God through faith.

We become children of God through faith in God just as John says in his Gospel.

“To those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God” [JOHN 1:12].

Similarly, we receive our inheritance as sons of God through faith.

We are not slaves, labouring in order that we might achieve freedom—we are sons of God enjoying our freedom now.

“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

The expression “in Christ” is found in Paul’s writings one hundred seventy-two times.

Sometimes the expression is used in the instrumental sense of “by” or “through Christ.”

However, it is more often used in the sense describing our participation in and union with Christ which is brought about for each believer by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Whatever else Paul may have meant in this TWENTY-SIXTH VERSE by using the phrase “in Christ Jesus,” it is obvious that Christ is central to the Christian’s right to access to the Father.

Christ is at the heart of the Christian’s salvation and service.

Christ is the centre of all that the Christian is or does.

The Apostle, however, uses this point to make the transition to the confession which each Christian will have made in baptism.

The baptism will not have saved one as a son of God; but because he is saved, a son of God will have been baptised.

The TWENTY-SEVENTH VERSE contains the only explicit mention of baptism in this book.

Baptism in the New Testament invariably speaks of a radical personal commitment requiring a decisive “No!” to one’s former way of life and an equally emphatic “Yes!” to Christ the Lord.

Thus, we boldly proclaim “one Lord, one Faith, one baptism” [cf.

EPHESIANS 4:5].

The verse does not provide us with a theology of baptism, but it likely refers to baptism which even at that early stage was well developed.

By the late Second Century the baptismal process involved ten steps.

1. Catechesis – involving a period of intense instruction in the rudiments of the Christian Faith, a probationary period that sometimes lasted several years.

2. Fasting and prayer – baptism was often performed on Easter eve, and so the forty days prior to this event was dedicated to rigorous spiritual exercises, especially fasting, prayer and the reading of Scripture.

3. Renunciation – at the point of baptism the candidate was called upon to renounce the devil and all his pomp.

Facing westward he would proclaim, “I renounce thee, O Satan, and all thy works.”

Then he would spit three times in the direction of darkness, signifying a complete break with the powers of evil and their former claim on his life.

4. Credo – turning toward the sunrise he would say, “And I embrace thee, O Lord Jesus Christ.”

At this point the one to be baptised would recite a baptismal confession of faith, sometimes presented in the form of questions and answers (“Do you believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth?”

The answer was “Credo,” “I believe” in English.

5. Disrobing – The candidate would remove all clothing and enter naked into the baptismal waters.

6. Immersion – An order of godly women known as widows or deaconesses assisted the women candidates, while the men were immersed by deacons and elders assigned to this task.

7. New robe – Coming up out of the baptismal waters, the candidates were invested in a new robe symbolising “putting on” Christ in newness of life.

8. Anointing – After all the candidates had come through the waters of baptism, each would then be anointed with oil symbolising the presence of the Holy Spirit with them.

9. Laying on of hands – This act represented a sealing and blessing given to each newly baptised Christian.

It also connoted a kind of unilateral commissioning of every baptised believer to go forth from the baptism as a sent-forth witness for Christ and for His truth.

10.

The Lord’s Supper – It was the universal practise of early Christians that only those properly baptised should partake of the Lord’s Table.

Thus their first communion often occurred at an Easter sunrise service when the newly baptised Christians joined the other members of the congregation around the Lord’s Table to celebrate the presence of the Risen Christ.

I am not arguing that these particular and individual steps can be supported by appeal to Scripture; nevertheless, it remains that in baptism each son of God openly puts on Christ the Lord.

We are baptised into Christ and baptised into His death.

We are united with Him in baptism and we have died with Christ that we may live with Him [cf.

ROMANS 6:1-10].

For the early Christians, baptism was no afterthought, but a deliberate act of dying to the past that he or she might ever after be alive to the Risen Christ.

Baptism was the frontier between two worlds, between two entirely different modes of existence, between life and death.

Being a Christian was risky business and baptism marked the son of God before all mankind.

Baptism was more than an initiatory rite of passage; it was a decisive transition from an old way of human life to a new way.

Baptism for the early believers was an act of radical obedience in which a specific renunciation was made and a specific promise was given.

Baptism involved a willingness “not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake” [PHILIPPIANS 1:29].

The vital point necessary to understanding the TWENTY-SEVENTH VERSE is summed up in an old adage which says “any text out of context is pretext.”

The TWENTY-EIGHTH VERSE has become a battleground in recent days.

The words of the verse have frequently been wrestled from their context to make a political or ideological statement by various groups who appear intent on promoting their own particular agenda.

If we will grasp the meaning of the verse as the Apostle intended it to be understood, we must understand it in the context in which it is found.

Paul is arguing for the unity of the Faith, a unity that is pictured through the fact that each individual member of the Body will have clothed himself or herself with Christ.

In the Apostolic view, there is to be unqualified submission to Christ as Lord within the Body of Christ.