Ephesians 2:11 Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “uncircumcision” by that which is called “circumcision,” (in the flesh, made by hands); 12 that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition, 15 having abolished in the flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace; 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility thereby. WEB
This starts off as a rather miserable list but this is how the Judaizers feel about anyone not circumcised. They would argue that you can only be united with Christ through circumcision and following the Law as a Jew. Not true as the Gentiles have been brought near and are no longer strangers to the promise by the death and resurrection of Jesus on the cross.
Galatians 3:22 But the scripture imprisoned everything and everyone under sin so that the promise could be given – because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ – to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners until the coming faith would be revealed. NET
This imprisonment occurs because the Law condemns us. We might be able to boast that we are better than most of the people we know but it isn’t a comparison to how well we do against other people. The comparison is the Law so no matter how good we might be today, there can be failure tomorrow (and God doesn’t grade on a curve). Paul doesn’t link this to original sin but clearly, there is something not quite right with us (otherwise we wouldn’t need a savior). The rest of the story is salvation by faith as the system of Law is a preparation for faith.
Romans 1:16…… it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. WEB
This is Paul’s thesis statement in Romans regarding the Gospel. He follows this good news with three chapters of why it is we need saving but truth be told, we know why need saving – it is from the fear generated by our inability to live up to the moral standard that we know exists.
Galatians 3:24 So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by faith. WEB
A tutor is the household servant who took the children to school, making sure they were safe and that they remained focused until returning home with them at the end of the school day. So now that we are no longer under the law, it is easy to argue that behavior doesn’t matter. Paul is trying to balance the idea that we aren’t saved by our behavior with the idea that if we are saved, our behavior will change as the person we were has died and been replaced by a new person raised to live in a new life.
The term “Christ” doesn’t mean much to Paul’s Gentile audience as they had no expectation of a Messiah. To them, “annointed” sounds like someone who has been smeared with grease. Paul typically uses “Lord” as a term more relevant to his audience but uses Christ Jesus here to put the title with the name of the holder of the title.
Galatians 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. BLB
Genesis chapters 1 through 11 are about all of humanity. The Jewish people don’t show up until Chapter 12 when God calls Abraham so that the whole world can be blessed through him (Genesis 12:3). Abraham did nothing to merit this honor just like Mary did not earn the right to be the mother of Jesus. Both of these people were picked simply because God picked them. (There is the Midrash story in Judaism about a young Abraham destroying all of the idols except one in his father’s idol making shop and then blaming the destruction on the one remaining idol. There are similar stories in Islam but there is nothing in the actual Biblical text to support such ideas).
Paul wants it clear that all of the earlier covenants point to this new covenant that arises from the death, burial and resurrection of Christ but this new covenant doesn’t negate any of the earlier covenants. In context, Paul is addressing a group who have been told that they cannot access God because they are not Jews. Paul’s criticism of the Judaism of his time is that it has moved into the wrong direction with a hyper focus on the Law. One might ask, “so why the Law”? Why not grace first instead of law? The answer is that it is the Law that prepares us for grace.
Galatians 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. NET
Baptism is the outward sign of an internal act. We started with the parable of the wedding feast where the king finds one of the guests without his garment. He asks how the person got in without the garment and then kicks him out for not wearing the garment. The garment came with the wedding invitation so there is no reason for the guest to be not wearing it. Our garment (i.e., righteousness) comes from being clothed in Christ.
Acts 19:1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul went through the inland regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples there 2 and said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3So Paul said, “Into what then were you baptized?” “Into John’s baptism,” they replied. 4 Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, NET
Baptism is what happened when people professed faith. The baptism itself isn’t what saves us, rather is faith that saves us. Baptism is an outward sign of what it is going on inside us. Christian baptism is different than what is going on in Acts 19 as John’s baptism was one of repentance rather than a symbol of faith. As a result, people baptized by John the Baptist still have to baptized into Christ.