Galatians 3:1-9, 23-29 Neither slave nor free
Faith and Law
Faith and law have been held in tension in our theology since, well, since Christ. We heard the tension in the Jerusalem Council, and in the readings from last week. We have struggled with the law given, the law broken, and the place of justice, grace, and forgiveness. We have struggled with Bonhoeffer’s cheap grace, as well as with the rigidity of law.
Paul sets up law as a precursor to faith, and also pulls on the faith of Abraham who believed God. Hear the difference here – not Abraham who believed in God, but Abraham who believed God. Paul asserts that the relationship has changed once Christ came. Now, Paul says, we are children of God through faith.
How is our lived faith, our belief, our theology, our practice of Christianity, different, if we are responding out of faith, and not out of the threat of the law? If we are one in Christ, have put on Christ, then how are we to be in the world? Or are we still playing by the rules of the law?
49 – The God of Abraham Praise
61 – Your Law, O God, is Perfect
490 – Wash, O God, Your Sons and Daughters
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