Shingi’s Bible Commentary: Galatians Chapter 3 Part 2
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Study Guide
“Galatians 3: Abraham’s Seed – Heirs According To The Promise”
Teacher Shingi summarizes key theological concepts from Galatians chapter 3, “Abraham’s Seed: Heirs According To The Promise,” focusing on the nature of sonship in Christ, the purpose and limitations of the Law, the significance of Abraham’s blessing, and the dismantling of societal barriers in Christ.
1. The Transformation to Sonship in Christ (Huiothesia)
The core message revolves around the concept of “sonship” (huiothesia) being raised by the Holy Spirit and being placed into the “sonship of Christ”, contrasting it with a prior state of a Christian being “children
(of God)” (teknon) which is being just offspring that are born of Him.
- Baptism and “Putting on Christ”: Being “baptized into Christ” means to “put on Christ,” which is “put[ting] on the sonship of Christ.” This has nothing to do with water baptism but an immersion or being “dipped into, to put into” Christ/the Spirit of Christ through being born again.
- Teknon vs. Huios (Sons): Initially, Christians are “teknon” or “children of God” as in “offspring” by being “born again of the Word of God.” However, the receipt of the Holy Spirit elevates them to “sonship” (huiothesia).
- Teknon (Children): This state implies immaturity and a need for guidance, akin to being “in bondage under the elements of the world” and “under a schoolmaster.”
- Huios (Sons): The Holy Spirit “places you into sonship,” signifying maturity, readiness to “reign,” and the ability to “dominate and reign over the elements of the world.”
- Huiothesia- Not Adoption (as commonly understood): Shingirai Mudyirwa strongly refutes the common English translation of huiothesia as “adoption” in the sense of taking on a child not previously one’s own. Instead, it signifies a “placing into sonship from being a child who was under a schoolmaster, which was the law of Moses.” It’s a maturation process, not an external legal adoption.“No, it’s not adoption like as you go there to say, this was not my child, and now I want to adopt them to become my child. No, no, no, that’s not what he’s talking. That’s not the adoption of sons.”“The adoption of sons that the that the King James translated the huiothesia, the adoption of sons is talking about the placing into sonship from being a child who was under a schoolmaster, which was the law of Moses.”
- The Role of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is crucial for this transition to sonship.
“When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you are brought into the huiothesia where the spirit of God takes you from being just teknon offspring and now places you into sonship.”2. The Purpose and Limitations of the Law
The Law of Moses is presented as a temporary, preparatory measure, ultimately replaced by Christ.
- The Law as a “Schoolmaster”: The Law served as a “schoolmaster” or “caretaker,” “nanny,” “tutor,” or “guardian” to humanity, specifically the children of Israel. Its purpose was to “guard” them, “reveal sin, to expose sin in us,” and demonstrate humanity’s inability to achieve righteousness through their own efforts.
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith, it says the law was a schoolmaster.”“God wanted to show the world and wanted to use the law as an example to show us that you cannot, out of your own ability, out of your own ability, you cannot meet the requirements of God’s righteousness by doing things, by fulfilling laws, by obeying laws and commandments.”
- The Law and the Curse: Both Jews and Gentiles were under a “curse” related to the Law.
- Jews: Cursed because “they couldn’t keep it. They couldn’t keep the law they couldn’t fulfill.“The law was “impossible to keep.”
- Gentiles: Cursed “by exclusion, by not even being involved in even having the opportunity… to receive a blessing.” They were “alienated from the covenants of promise… having no hope and without God in the world.”
- Redemption from the Curse: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us.” This redemption applies to “both the Jews and the Gentiles.”
- The Law’s Temporality: The Law “was added because of transgressions… till the seed should come.” Once “faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”
3. Abraham’s Blessing and the Promise of the Spirit
The Abrahamic covenant is presented as foundational, preceding and superseding the Law.
- The Covenant’s Unchangeability: God’s covenant with Abraham and his “seed” (Christ) is unalterable, much like a confirmed human contract cannot be “disannulled” or have terms added later. The Law, coming 430 years later, “cannot disannul that it should make the promise of non effect.”
“Saying that even you as men, that is us as people, us as human beings, as men, all right? When we write contracts, covenants, agreements, and we sign to it, okay? And if it is confirmed, and if it is signed by both people, no man can disannul that covenant.”
“The law that came 430 years later cannot now override and disannul this agreement that God made with Abraham.” - Abraham’s “Seed” is Christ: The “seed” in the Abrahamic promise refers specifically to Christ, not to his physical descendants.
“Now, to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He said not, and to seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.”(Galatians 3:16) - The Blessing through Faith: The “blessing of Abraham” comes “on the Gentiles through faith in Jesus Christ that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith,” not “through observing the law and the commandments with its ordinances.”
4. Dismantling Societal Barriers in Christ
A significant theme is the breaking down of divisions — racial, class, and gender — by Christ.
- Neither Jew nor Greek (Racial Barriers): Paul’s message directly challenges the “exclusivity” and “superiority issues” of Jewish Christians who wanted to impose their traditions (circumcision, dietary laws, Sabbath observance) on Gentiles.“So now he says there is neither Jew nor Greek. So what he’s talking about? And why did he specifically address the Greeks there specifically? And not only just that, why didn’t he just say Gentiles, okay. What was the Greeks issues? Okay, now he’s talking about the societal and the identity issues. That is what he’s saying, that Christ came to break those identity barriers, those identity strongholds that men had at the time to say, ‘I’m a Jew’, all right? And this one is saying, ‘but I’m a Greek’.”
This is extended to modern racial divisions: “Even now in our time, you can say there is neither black nor white. There is neither African nor American… There is neither African nor Asian. All right? There is neither European or American. There is neither American or. It says, we are all one in Christ. Hallelujah.” - Neither Bond nor Free (Classism and Slavery): Teacher Shingi vehemently denies that the God of the Bible sanctioned slavery, arguing that God actively works to free people from bondage. The type of “slavery” seen in the Roman Empire, which stripped individuals of all rights, was a human invention, not a divine one.“God is not the one that sanctions slavery. The people at the time had been raised up in a world where man had created this slavery thing. God is the one that was sending people to free people from slavery.”
“Christ comes and sets the slaves free.”
The Old Testament terms “bondman” or “bondwoman” are clarified as “servant,” not “slave” in the Roman sense, with Abraham cited as an example.
“He destroys classism. Christ destroys all classism everywhere and anywhere in the world. There’s nobody that is a more superior race than one person. There’s nobody that is of a more superior class than the other person.” - Neither Male nor Female (Gender Roles): Christ’s coming “reimagines gender roles.” This is presented as an attack on the brutal marginalization of women prevalent in society at the time of Paul’s writing. “No more marginalizing women. Hallelujah. He says we are all ONE in Christ.”
While emphasizing unity, Shingi Mudyirwa clarifies that “we are all one” does not mean men and women are “equal” in a way that negates distinct gender roles that are distinguished in the bible, hinting at a nuanced understanding beyond simple “equal rights.”
5. Conclusion: Heirs According to the Promise
Ultimately, being “in Christ” means being “Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.” This implies inheriting the blessings promised to Abraham, not through legalistic observance, but through faith and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit that brings believers into mature sonship. “You are the seed of Abraham. If you belong to Christ, if you are in Christ, if you are baptized into Christ, then you have put on Christ, and you are Abraham’s seed according to the promise. You are the children of Abraham, you are the sons of Abraham, and you are heirs. Heirs according to the promise. You are heirs of the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus.”