Paul supplies the tenth argument in Galatians 4:4–5: “After the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, born from a woman, made subject to the Law, to redeem those who had been subject to the Law, that we might receive adoption.” The apostle teaches that Christians were redeemed from that bondage of the Law through Christ, who became subject to the Law by His voluntary humiliation, who by nature was not placed under the Law. [460b] For He was not subject to the Law for Himself, because, first, He became subject to the law, when He who by nature was free from the law voluntarily made Himself subject to the Law. He was not subject to the Law for Himself, second, because the apostle would not have so greatly preached that subjection, if Christ had been obligated to it for Himself, which would have been common to Him with us. Now what is common to Christ with us, why is it of concern to preach so greatly as something peculiar, singular, and great? Surely Paul alleges that Christ became subject to the law as a singular and great benefit, by which we were redeemed from the bondage of the law. He was not subject to the law for Himself, third, because the end of that subjection brought it about that it was done in our place. For Christ was made under the law for the sake of those to be redeemed. He truly subjected Himself to the law in their place. But indeed for the sake of redeeming us, Christ was made under the law. Therefore, He subjected Himself to the law in our place. This declares a similar example: when many debtors are bound to the same creditor for themselves, if one pays his debt, the others are not redeemed, because the one was held for himself and therefore paid for himself alone. But Christ, paying our debt to the law, has redeemed us. Therefore, Christ was not held to the law for Himself but for us, whom He has redeemed. Ambrose, in the first book On Faith to Gratianus Augustus, in the sixth chapter, in the exposition of this passage, says, “Christ made by woman through the taking up of the flesh, made under the law through the observance of the law. This very quotation is cited in the second volume of councils, in the first action of the Council of Chalcedon, page 81. Theodoretus, in the Epitome of the Divine Decrees, on the chapter on the dispensation or incarnation of the Savior, writes: “For as much as it applies to humanity, since subject to the law He fulfilled the law, He set those free from the curse who had transgressed the Law.” Hence, we argue in this way: The perfect conformity to the law of Him who became subject to the law for us is imputed to us for righteousness. But Christ was made subject to the law for us. Therefore, Christ’s perfect conformity to the law is imputed to us for righteousness…Therefore, Christ even for us became subject to the law and not for Himself.
Amandus Polanus, The Free Justification of Man the Sinner Before God (1615) in Justification By Faith Alone: Selected Writings From Theodore Beza (1519–1605), Amandus Polanus (1561–1610), Francis Turretin (1623–1687), trans. Casey Carmichael, Volume 6: Classic Reformed Theology Theology (Reformation Heritage Books, 2023), 150–52.
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