Grace, Goodness and the Grammar of Galatians

Following Richard's excellent sermon last night on Galatians 5, here is an extract from G. Walter Hansen's commentary on Galatians in The IVP New Testament Commentary Series published by IVP USA. These commentaries can be accessed online for free through the Bible Gateway site - just look up a New Testament passage and click "View commentary related to this passage".

"All these major themes of slavery, freedom and the liberating work of Christ are now summed up in the ringing affirmation of 5:1: It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. That indicative is followed by an imperative, Stand firm, then. This may sound like a dull lesson in grammar, but it is actually central in Pauline ethics. What we must do (the imperative) is always based upon what God has already done (the indicative). Or to put it another way, what God has done gives us the opportunity and power to do what we must do. This indicative-imperative structure is seen here in verse 1 and also in verses 13 and 25. So it provides the structure for the whole chapter: God's gift of freedom must be defended (v. 1); God's gift of freedom must not be abused but must be used to serve (v. 13); God's gift of life by the Spirit must be expressed through the Spirit (v. 25)."

(To go straight to this bit of the commentary, click here.)

The dynamic Hansen is picking up is one we find throughout Scripture. So, in the Old Testament, God's covenant precedes his commands. This is why the Ten Commandments begin with "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery" (Exodus 20:2; Deuteronomy 5:6). God's saving activity precedes his giving of a pattern of life for the redeemed people of God to follow.

The tension between the Law as bringing life (as in Deuteronomy 30:11-20) and the Law as bringing death (as in Galatians 5:1-15) is one that Richard mentioned in his talk. The relationship between these functions of the Law is one I haven't quite figured out yet (and neither have the theologians, as evidenced by this book), but where I've got to so far is to see the Law as the pattern of life appropriate for God's covenant people, which thereby condemns those who are outside the covenant and marks out those within the covenant, although the covenant is entered by grace through faith and is continued in by grace through faith and not by observing "the works of the Law"! I'm not quite sure exactly how this is affected by the switch from OT to NT (but I'm in good company there).

Although I think we need to guard against the mentality many Christians seem to have that God saves us and then it's up to us by ourselves to do things in return for God (the biblical assertion being rather "for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" - Philippians 2:13), I still think there is much value in this epigrammatic summary:

"The essence of biblical doctrine is grace; the essence of biblical ethics is gratitude."