Paul gives the ultimate purpose of the Law as a sort of baby-sitter, protecting humans from harming others and from self-harm until the Time for Jesus Christ came. He came to bring freedom, not freedom to do whatever we like-that is just another form of slavery, as many communes in the 1960's discovered-but freedom to be able to obey the Law. Jesus Christ did not come to break the Law of God as it is in the Torah, but through faith in Him we can all experience true unity: those astonishing words of Paul, given the context, oneness whether man or woman, Jew or Gentile, free or enslaved, all one! In the days of the Roman Empire, when slaves were often considered less than human, Paul elevates them to true personhood. We can't quite grasp the enormity of this statement, because we live in a land run generally, on Christian principles, but imagine you are a 18th century slave in the United States, or a woman in 1950's Great Britain, or a black man in 1960's South Africa and you are hearing these words. The Good News is revolutionary, it brings freedom to all! You are united with the greatest of saints to the street cleaners, the Untouchables of Kolkata, to the most notorious of criminals, turned to Jesus. We are all clothed in Him through baptism. We die to the old life and are raised dressed in new clothes to the eternal life of God!
top of page
Search
Recent Posts
See AllThe reader is reminded afresh in these few verses that Paul cared nothing about himself or his reputation, but wholly sought God's glory and the growth of His Kingdom. He also had a great heart of lov
0
Paul again has to resort to irony in his exasperation at the accusations of some of the Corinthian believers. It is as if they were searching minutely for anything they could hold up against him and
2
As so often happens, when someone is pushed back by unfair questions and accusations, their response is to tell their story: they may come out with reasons as to how things are or their life story o
1
bottom of page