For the first Sunday after Christmas in Series B, the three assigned readings are Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Galatians 4:4-7 and Luke 2:22-40. The sermon text is Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
While there are many ways to distinguish between Law and Gospel, my favorite is the two columns entitled, “Living Under the Law” and “Living Under the Gospel.” The primary passage for this concept is Romans 6:14 which reads, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” These distinctions are different than those between the proper three uses of Law (curb, mirror and rule) and the Gospel.
Instead, “living under the Law” interprets one’s progress in life on the basis of one’s works. While there is some truth in that in regard to the temporal realm, it is not at all true in regard to the spiritual realm where one needs to get right with God. To live under the Law is to live with the assumption that your works make a difference as to whether you go to heaven or hell.
Another way of distinguishing these two views of reality is to speak of living under the law as salvation by works which we merit through effort while living under the Gospel is salvation by grace which we inherit through faith. Being “born under the Law” therefore means that the curse of the Law faces every human being which says, “In the day that you sin, death is the result.”
Jesus took upon Himself that curse to redeem those of us who were already under the curse. What He did on the cross was to complete the work of forgiving our sins which means that we are no longer held accountable for sins of thought, word and deed. Jesus took that punishment upon Himself with the words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
The result according to the Galatians reading is that we are no longer a slave to the curse of the Law but a son of God through Christ. That occured not through our works as we gain entrance to the family of God but by grace through faith as we enter into the family of God by adoption.
Name:Tom Baker