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Free in Christ - The Message of Galatians (Welwyn Commentary Series)

Free in Christ - The Message of Galatians
By Edgar H Andrews
Evangelical Press (Welywn Commentary Series). 334 pages
ISBN 08523 43531

This is a beautifully produced, easy-to-read commentary. The book is divided into three sections: The Gospel of Grace, The Nature and Necessity of Faith, and The Spirit and the Believer.
It has 32 short chapters, each consisting of introduction, verse by verse comment and application, ending with summary and footnotes.
It is suitable for use as daily Bible reading notes or to be read through like an ordinary book. Professor Andrews writes with clarity and there is much that is heart-warming and encouraging. He is a Baptist who loves the doctrines of grace. The controversial areas are his view of the law in the believer's life and the nature of the covenants. This review will only deal with the law.
Professor Andrews's view is that the law cannot be divided into moral, ceremonial and civil but has to be seen as one. The law, having preserved a people and revealed the need for Christ, has no further function, as a means of justification or as a way of pleasing God nor as a rule for the believer's life. He writes the 'law has become redundant. Paul seems to teach the law has no ongoing function in the believer's life'. Yet he sees the law as Scripture and therefore it still continues 'to emphasise God's holy character and man's inability to meet the requirements'. He sees the indwelling Spirit as being the motivator and empowerer of the believer's drive for holiness. He avoids practical anti-nomianism.
This reviewer believes the 1689 Confession to be a helpful summary of Christian doctrine. In chapter 19 the law is described as a 'rule of life'. Section 7 says: 'The aforementioned uses of the law of God do not run contrary to the grace of the gospel but are most happily in line with it, for the Spirit of Christ subdues the will of man and enables it to do freely and with cheerfulness that which the will of God, as revealed in the law, requires to be done'.
Doesn't the indwelling Spirit write the law on the heart of the New Covenant believer (Hebrews 8.7-13, 10.15-18), giving him an inward desire and joy to obey the whole will of God, including the Ten Commandments? Doesn't this law still define sin for the believer, 1 John 3.4, where sin is described as 'lawlessness'? God's love and free grace are the motivating forces in both systems and this leads both to seek to love God and be like Christ. So in practice the differences may be narrower than they seem. Yet in today's climate of 'lawlessness' the commentary should be read with caution.

Dr. John Hall,
Westerleigh