“I really don’t know what to make of these phrases: ‘Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us’ (3:13); ‘we were kept under the law’ (3:23); ‘the law was our schoolmaster’ (3:24); ‘we are no longer under a schoolmaster’ (3:25); ‘turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements’ (4:9); ‘and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage’ (5:1). ‘Would you be able to help with clarification?’ ”

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us…” (Gal. 3:13). Galatians was written to Gentiles who placed themselves under the law of Moses. This took place when Judaizers joined the assembly (cf. Acts 15:5). Paul is just reminding them that as members of the Body of Christ, they were redeemed from the law’s curse (through Christ), just like we are today. The law, though spiritual (Rom. 7:14), is a curse for everyone because it’s impossible to keep it. We should thank God that the Lord Jesus Christ paid the penalty the law demanded for sin.

“…we were kept under the law…” (Gal. 3:23). Backing up to verse 22 helps. Scripture has concluded all under sin—both Jew and Gentile. “But before faith came” (v. 23), both Jew and Gentile were kept under the law. In other words, both (Jews and Gentiles [as proselytes]) would have to keep the law in faith, like the parents of John the Baptist (Luke 1:6) and as the Pentecostal believers in Acts 2.

“…the law was our schoolmaster…” (Gal. 3:24). Before the revelation of the mystery, the law itself could never save because it was (and is) impossible for anyone to keep it perfectly. Its purpose was to show, even under the prophetic program, that no one could keep it. The same is true today; the only purpose of the law is to show our need to trust in Christ alone for salvation.

“…we are no longer under a schoolmaster” (Gal. 3:25). Paul was just reminding the Galatians (and us), that we’re not under the law, as Paul writes in Romans 6:14-15.

“…turn ye again…” and “…be not entangled again…” (Gal. 4:9; 5:1). Before they were saved, the law pronounced them guilty before God. Once saved, though, Paul is asking them why they would “turn ye again” to the law that condemns and then commands them to “stand fast” in the liberty that’s in the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Can a color or an item mentioned in Scripture have more than one meaning?”

A color or an item used in Scripture can carry more than one meaning. For example, leaven is often used to symbolize sin in Scripture. The Lord Jesus Christ warned His disciples in Matthew 16:6, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” The Apostle Paul also used leaven to symbolize sin. In 1 Corinthians 5:8 he wrote, “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of…wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” However, leaven can also represent growth. This is how the Lord Jesus used it when describing the growth of the Millennial Kingdom in Luke 13:21-22.

The same principle is applied to the color white. It is true that white often symbolizes righteousness and purity. In the Book of Isaiah, we read, “…though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (1:18), but the color white is also used to show the deceitfulness of the Antichrist (2 Thes. 2:9-10). It will appear to the unbelieving world that the man of sin will bring righteousness and peace when he comes on a white horse and conquers with a bow but no arrows—meaning peaceably (Dan. 9:27; 11:21,24; 1 Thes. 5:3; Rev. 6:1-2). Remember, Satan knows Scripture, and the Antichrist is imitating the Lord Jesus Christ Who will return in judgment on a white horse, but He will rule in TRUE righteousness and peace (Isa. 9:6; Rev. 19:11-21).

“I believe that all believing Old Testament and Pentecostal assembly (church) believers are ‘in Christ,’ but are not in the Body of Christ and will not be included in the Rapture, but will be resurrected in Revelation 20:4. Am I right or wrong and what Scripture location will give me some kind of assurance of my thinking?”

You are correct regarding the Old Testament saints and those saved under the Kingdom program in the early chapters of Acts. They are “in Christ” but not in the Body of Christ. No matter the dispensation, any person must be “in Christ” to be saved. The Apostle Paul wrote about those saints in Romans 16:7, “Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.” These saints would’ve been saved under the ministry of Peter and the eleven apostles.

Old Testament and Pentecostal saints, though “in Christ,” have a different hope and will be resurrected to enter the Millennial Kingdom when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to rule on the earth (Rev. 20:4 cf. Dan. 12:2). Our hope, as members of the Body of Christ, will take place at the Rapture. This resurrection is our “blessed hope,” at which time we will meet the Lord in the air; He will change our bodies to be like His, and we’ll forever be with Him (1 Thes. 4:13-18; Titus 2:13 cf. Rom. 8:23; Phil. 3:20-21). What a day that will be!

“In John 6:64-66 some disciples went back and walked no more with Jesus. Jesus said He knew there were those who did not believe. How does this fit in with the eternal security of the Christian? It seems to be saying that those so-called disciples never believed.”

The Lord Jesus had just finished explaining that He was the “Bread of Life” (Jn. 6:48). Many of the Jews did not understand what He was talking about (Jn. 6:52) and many of the disciples that were following Him were offended at His words and complained about it:

“Many therefore of His disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, Doth this offend you?” (John 6:60-61).

The disciples offended in John’s Gospel are like those the Lord spoke about in Matthew 13:21 where, during the seven-year Tribulation, we read:

“Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.”

During this terrible time of judgment on the earth, some will follow (“dureth”) for a while, but when trials and troubles come along, they will fall away (Lk. 8:13 cf. Matt. 13:21), proving they never believed (Jn. 6:64).

In the dispensation of grace, when someone believes the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4), that person is eternally sealed (Eph. 1:13) even if not “following” the Lord’s instructions in His Word. Members of the Body of Christ do not have to “prove” salvation because it’s by God’s grace—not of works (Eph. 2:8-9). However, we should “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4) and “as children of light” (Eph. 5:8) as a testimony to a lost and dying world.