Sons in Christ: Galatians 3:23-4:5, especially vs. 26: "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." When St. Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia, he was reacting in horror that they were "turning away...from Him Who called [them] in the grace of Christ" (Gal. 1:6). But, let us ask: 'Turning away' in favor of what, or 'turning toward' what? Early in the letter the Apostle clearly stated the cause of his dismay: a teacher had come into the region of Galatia preaching a 'gospel' other than the one St. Paul had proclaimed, the one by which the people of Galatia had received the grace of Christ (Gal. 1:9). This teacher was requiring that Jews and Gentiles alike in Galatia "live as Jews" (Gal. 2:14). To St. Paul, the uniqueness of being "sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:26) was under serious threat.
Even today there are those who think: "What would be so terribly wrong for Christians 'to live as Jews?' After all, Judaism teaches the Law of God, a high standard of morality that encourages the fear of the Lord, pious worship, and decent relationships with one's fellow man. Do not circumcision and the kosher food requirements appear to be reasonably positive marks of a noble, monotheistic religion and moral way of life? Yet the Apostle warns all men plainly against such thinking: "if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing" (Gal. 5:2). Instead, he points out, one becomes "a debtor to keep the whole law" [and becomes] estranged from Christ...[and] fallen from grace" (Gal 5:3,4).
In today's reading, the Apostle presents the true alternative to estrangement - the gift that is ours as Orthodox Christians, "Baptized into Christ [we] have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27), and we "are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus" (vs. 26). Recall how often the Church sets this message before us! At every one of the great Feasts of the Lord, the hymn, "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal" is set aside for the singing of the hymn which is based directly on this exact verse: "As many of you as have been Baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia!"
In the present passage, St. Paul reminds his fellow Christians who "had been" Jews, as he himself once was, "before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law" (vs. 23). The law "is not of faith, but 'the man who does them shall live by them'" (Gal. 3:12). Worse, the law is a impersonal guard which demands perfect obedience which no one can fulfill. However, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us" by being crucified (Gal 3:13,14). But for the one who adopts the law as the basis for life before God, the law makes him a slave (Gal. 4:1), holding him in custody "until Christ" (Gal 3:24).
Now read on: the Apostle presses us to remember that since the Faith has come, "we are no longer under a custodian" (vs. 25 RSV). Instead, we are a new creation in Christ, and all of us, former Jews and pagan idolaters, are "sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus" (vs. 26). Later, St. Paul actually describes the signs of our sonship: we have "the Spirit of His Son [in our] hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!'" (Gal. 4:6), reminding us that we are no longer slaves but sons, "and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ" (Gal. 4:7).
Beloved of the Lord, let us rejoice in the uniqueness of our Baptism into Christ; for having "put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27), ethnic, economic, and biological distinctions have no power to stand in the way of our being "heirs according to the promise" which God made to Abraham (vss. 28,29) and gave us in Christ. By believing God in our hearts, and receiving Baptism, we are Christ's, and the promise is ours, since in Christ Jesus we "are all sons of God" (vs. 26).
O Master, Who hast revealed the water of Baptism as redemption, sanctification, the loosing of bonds and the gift of adoption to sonship, renew us after Thine image, O our Creator.