Galatians 4:1-7
IF WE ARE HIS WE ARE NOW ALL FULL SONS OF GOD (GALATIANS 4:1). Now he comes to the very heart of the matter, and that is that in Jesus Christ, all who are His now become full grown, adult, children of God.... [ Continue Reading ]
IF WE ARE HIS WE ARE NOW ALL FULL SONS OF GOD (GALATIANS 4:1). Now he comes to the very heart of the matter, and that is that in Jesus Christ, all who are His now become full grown, adult, children of God.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But I say that as long as the heir is a child he does not differ in any way from a bondservant, even though he may be lord of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the term appointed by the father.' The thought of our being heirs of God now leads on to a further illustration. The idea of... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the rudiments (elements) of the world.' All men are under some restraint, whether through the Law, or tradition, or their own laws, or regulations and rules, or the principles by which their society is governed, or by philosophical idea... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But when the fullness of the time came God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.' But the God Who made the covenant, when the time allotted had fully run its course, sent forth His Own... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying “Abba, Father”, so that you are no longer a bondservant but a son, and if a son then an heir through God.” Having adopted us as sons God has ‘sent forth the Spirit of His Son' into our hearts. We receive the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But at that time, not knowing God, you were in bondage to those who by nature were no gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known of God, how do you turn back again to the weak and beggarly rudiments to which you to be in bondage over again? You observe days, and months, and... [ Continue Reading ]
IS IT NOT THEN FOOLISH TO TRY TO TURN BACK TO THEIR FORMER STATE? (GALATIANS 4:8). Granted then that we have received these great privileges from God, would it not be foolish to revert back to being a child under the control of tutors?... [ Continue Reading ]
‘I am afraid of you lest by any means I have bestowed labour on you in vain.' Having up to this moment shown them that he still sees them as true children of God he now expresses a doubt. Their behaviour makes him wonder whether they really can have known God, for if they had really known God it se... [ Continue Reading ]
‘I plead with you, brothers, be as I, for I as you.' We could possibly translate ‘I am as you were.' (As we have shown in the translation there is no verb in the last phrase in the Greek). Then Paul is saying ‘be like me because I am as you were when you were first converted.' In other words, ‘come... [ Continue Reading ]
PAUL NOW REVEALS HIS CONCERN AND LONGING FOR THEM (GALATIANS 4:12). Paul now pleads with them from the heart. He cannot bear to think what they are losing by their foolishness.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And you know that because of an infirmity of the flesh I preached the Gospel to you the first time (or ‘previously'), and you did not despise, nor did you reject with loathing (literally ‘spit out') that which tested you out in my flesh. But you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Where then is that experience of blessing (makarismos - blessedness) that you spoke of? For I bear you witness that if possible you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.' And they had then spoken of the wonderful blessedness that had become theirs. So he is seeking to bring back t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So then am I become your enemy because I tell you the truth?' What then is their response now that he is speaking stern but true words in order to try to put them right. Will they treat him as an enemy? Or will they remember the reasons for their welcome, and the blessedness they enjoyed while he... [ Continue Reading ]
‘They seek you zealously, but not in a good way. No, they desire to shut you out that you may look to them. But it is good to be zealously sought in a good matter at all times, and not only when I am present with you.' The Judaisers have indeed come with great zeal seeking to press their teachings.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘My little children, for whom I am again suffering birth pains until Christ be formed in you.' Paul is now almost in anguish, and he presses home his plea tenderly and with passion. They are again putting him through the deep spiritual concern that he had already once suffered on their behalf. ‘My... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Yes, I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my voice. For I am perplexed about you.' He wishes that he could be with them again, and then they would hear a change of voice. Probably he means that he hopes that he would then be able to change his tone to a gentler one, but perhaps h... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Tell me, you who desire to be under the Law, do you not hear the Law?' So some of the Galatians want to come ‘under the Law', being circumcised, observing the Feasts and Feast days, using ritual washings, abstaining from ‘unclean food, and so on? Well, let them now consider the Law. Are they deaf... [ Continue Reading ]
A LESSON FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW (GALATIANS 4:21). Paul now turns to the Old Testament for examples of what he is trying to say.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid and one by the free-woman. But the son by the handmaid is born after the flesh, while the son by the free-woman is born through promise.' For the Law itself indicates two ways, one the way of freedom, and the other the way of bondage... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Which things contain an allegory. For these two women are two covenants. One from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that now is, for she is in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For it is written, “Rejoice you who are barren and do not bear, Break forth and cry you who do not suffer birth pains, For the children of the desolate are more than she who has a husband.' A quotation is now cited from Isaiah 54:1. It refers to the divine principle that those who initially ‘have n... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise.' So Sarah, as mother of the child of promise, represents the covenant of promise, and the new heavenly Jerusalem which is ‘above'. This new Jerusalem is the ‘mother' of Christians, and we Christians are like Isaac, being children resulting f... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But as then he who was born after the flesh persecuted he who was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the handmaid and her son, for the son of the handmaid shall not inherit with the son of the free-woman”.' But significantly, just as initially the... [ Continue Reading ]
THE APPLICATION (GALATIANS 4:31 TO GALATIANS 5:12). Paul will now apply the ideas that he has put forward in depth. For he wants them to recognise what they are turning away from.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Wherefore, brothers, we are not children of a handmaid, but of the free-woman. Christ set us free with a view to our freedom, therefore stand fast continually, and do not be entangled again in a yoke of bondage.' The consequence of what had been said is that we are not to be children of slavery bu... [ Continue Reading ]