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Read Introduction to Galatians

 

“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

 

Verse 27 shows how our sonship (adult privilege) came about.

For

The word “for” explains how we received the same identity that Jesus has before God forever.

as many of you

The words “as many” are equivalent to the “all” of the previous verse. God baptizes every Christian without exception into Christ and puts the status of “Christ” on him.

as were baptized into Christ

This phrase does not refer to water baptism but spiritual baptism at the instant we place our faith in Christ. We enter into a living union with Christ at salvation. The word “baptized” means to identify. God identifies us with Christ at the point of redemption.

“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4).

“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13).

have put on Christ

At the moment of salvation, Christians enter into an eternal and actual relationship with Christ. The words “put on” allude to the act of putting on the toga (cloak) of manhood, the toga virilis. The idea is New Testament era believers put on the mantle of adulthood, the garment of spiritual adult privilege. We have freedom and prerogative with God forever from the moment of salvation.

The words “put on” signify enter or get into, as into clothes. The indwelling Holy Spirit envelops the believer at salvation. God dons very Christian with Christ without exception. This clothing is more than being dressed with the ethics of Christianity. This is being clothed with the status of Christ Himself.

Principle:

God gives us the same status that Christ has in God’s eyes by identifying us with Him at salvation.

Application:

This verse does not mean God saves us by water baptism. The idea is God views us as having the same status Jesus has. All of our resources before God are because we are in Christ. Our standing with God lasts forever because we carry the same status Jesus Christ has with the Father.

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