32. Galatians 3:27-4:2
For our baptism meditation this morning, please turn to Galatians 3:27-4:2. Paul has spent two chapters showing that believing Gentiles are not outside the covenant. They are just as much members of the Abrahamic covenant as believing Jews were. And for that matter, in chapter 3 he points out that Abraham was a Gentile before he came to faith. Look at the comforting conclusion in verse 26: “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” Unbelieving Jews were broken off from the covenant. Believing Gentiles become sons of God and members of the covenant by faith. The Judaizers had no right to exclude believing Gentiles. But now he begins to outline what happens to these Gentiles who have put their faith in Christ. First, there is baptism. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Baptism is publicly identifying with Christ just as circumcision identified Gentiles as members of God’s people in the Old Covenant. “There is neither Jew nor Greek.” You see, the promise to Abraham was: “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The Judaizers tried to divide up the body into two parts. But Paul has finished saying that even in the Old Covenant that didn’t happen. Many Midianites joined Israel and were treated as part of Israel. When Ruth and Rahab came to faith, they weren’t treated as second class citizens. They became Jews. In Esther it says that many Babylonians became Jews. In the body there is only one people.
A second group that the Judaizers looked down upon was slaves. In fact, the Romans treated them as less than human. Should we really give slaves privileges in the church? But the slaves were part of the covenant in the Old Testament. God commanded Abraham to include all of his slaves as full covenant members. And that continued into the New Testament. “there is neither slave nor free.” Baptism illuminates that distinction. Slaves are heirs of the Abrahamic covenant just as Abraham’s slaves were.
He goes on, “there is neither male nor female.” God’s promise went to both. In fact, in the Old Testament, baptism was treated as if it were a circumcision for the women. All males were circumcised on the eighth day and both males and females were baptized. The baptism was treated as a circumcision. As a blood rite, circumcision passed away, but the baptism remained and stood for it. In Colossians 2:11,12 baptism is called circumcision. So Paul is systematically uniting what the Judaisers had been taking apart.
“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 neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” No one quibbles about the role that Gentiles, slaves, and women have in the covenant today. The question they have is, “Can an infant child continue to be treated as belonging to Christ, as being an heir of the promise given to Abraham?” Children were heirs in the Old Testament and we would assume that would continue since at the very heart of the Abrahamic promise was children. God said, “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Not just individuals, but families. Every promise given to Abraham was given to Abraham and his descendants.
But you know, we don’t need to assume. While verses 26-29 don’t mention infants as being heirs, the paragraph hasn’t stopped yet. It continues in chapter 4:1 where Paul settles the question of whether children are heirs. We’ve already seen that all who are heirs are Christ’s and all who are Christ’s are baptized into the covenant as a sign of His covenant ownership. Nobody quibbles about that in chapter 3. But chapter 4 says, “Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child” [and that word for child is the Greek word napios, which means infant]... Can a child be an heir? That’s what the text says. And that is the heart of the issue between Baptists and the historic church. Are our children heirs of the covenant? Paul says they are. But he makes three further points about these children. They are not only included in the covenant, but there are three other issues that need to be addressed.
He says that this child in the covenant “does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all…” Slaves don’t make choices do they? Baptists want children to be able to make their own decisions about baptism. But they are not consistent. They don’t wait till their children grow up to teach them to pray, to sing, to sit in church, and to love the Lord. But you can’t have it both ways. They are either in the covenant or out of the covenant. In Genesis 17 God said that if they were not willing to circumcise their children, the children were cut off from the covenant because they had broken it. Our attitude is different. We choose other blessings for our children, and we choose spiritual blessings for them as infants as well. With Joshua we say, “but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” So the first thing Paul says is that they are heirs. The second thing he says is that these children don’t have a choice initially about being heirs. They may later grow up to reject the covenant. But parents should include them young.
The third thing he says about this child is, “but is under guardians and stewards” God has given these children as a stewardship trust, and you cannot raise your children as you please. You are bringing children to baptism in part because they belong to God and you are acknowledging your responsibility to God to raise them His way.
The fourth thing that Paul says is “until the time appointed by the father.” And in context he is talking about bringing them to faith. Chapter 3:23 says, “But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.” And I want to leave all the parents with this admonition. Baptism is not just a promise of what God will give to your children; it is a vow of what you will pray for, nurture, and seek to bring your children into. Each of us needs to ask our children to come to faith and to express their faith before the church.
As we witness this baptism, let us be thankful that God’s grace comes before there are any good works. God blesses us out of grace alone. What he wants from us is not the earning of salvation for our kids, but merely responding to His covenant grace by accepting our side of the covenant vows. God promises, we respond. You children can respond to what you see this morning by thanking God for his promise and believing. You parents can respond by renewing your vows to God and expecting His grace in your children’s lives.