Galatians - Chapter 4
Slavery or Freedom in Adoption as an Heir
Paul’s sense of urgency continues from the last chapter as he strives to persuade the Galatian Christians not to revert to their previous position as slaves under the law.
In chapter 3, Paul put forward two separate positions concerning the law:
The law was a jailer, who locked up the prisoners and kept guard over their confinement. No escape was possible until Christ came to liberate them (3:22-23).
The law then served as custodian (schoolmaster), one who takes care of the children, directed all their activities, and tended to their discipline.
Now in chapter 4, Paul puts forth a third image with strong language that seems most effective. Before Christ’s arrival, the plight of the people is compared to that of an heir, whose father has died and has set a time in his will when the children can have access to their father’s estate. Until the heir comes of age, he has no rights and no legal status. He is under the control of a guardian who manages his affairs and directs his life.
In verse 4 Paul reveals his real message:
“When the time had fully come (that is the time set by the father), God sent forth his Son…”
In these first 11 verses we see three important messages:
God is the prime figure. He determines the proper time for the new age to come to man, and first sends His Son, and then His Spirit to believers. Notice that the emphasis is not on the Gentile coming to know God, but rather on God coming to know the Gentile.
God’s Son is sent forth “born of a woman, born under the law”. He became the second Adam, but formed from the Holy Spirit and a woman, living sinless under the law, therefore fulfilling it, but also took upon Himself the mortality of a man by suffering death. Remember: Jesus was not given in our flesh which is sinfully depraved, but came in the likeness of our flesh (Romans 8:3)
God sent the Spirit to confirm the new status of the faithful believer, that of becoming a child adopted and an heir in Christ.
Verses 12-20 reveal Paul’s appeal to the faithful as an appeal to the heart:
12A: Paul begs the Galatians to follow him in becoming free from the law.
12B-16 Paul reminds them of their initial reception of him and now questions whether he may have become their enemy.
17-20 Paul accuses the opponents of having bad motives in courting the Galatian believers and he shows his own feelings of anxiety and desire to be there with them in this difficult time.
In these few verses we see Paul as a pastor who is struggling with the actions of his congregation. He sees them wandering off into who knows where and he urgently wishes his words can bring them back to the proper path.
Verses 21-31 bring an entirely new pathway for Paul’s efforts to bring back the Galatian followers into the true road that Christ has marked for them through his own teaching.
Paul now brings to the Galatians the history of the family of Abraham. His logic is interesting and different than any seen elsewhere in scripture.
Paul reminds the followers of the issue of Abraham and the promise from God of a son to come. We remember Abraham had two sons, one from the Egyptian handmaid, Hagar, approved by Sarah when she felt she was too old to conceive. His other son, Isaac, was the son promised as God kept the covenant even though both Abraham and Sarah were past child bearing age.
Paul links Hagar and her son with the old covenant given upon Mt. Sinai that became the law. Sarah and her son are linked by Paul to the Jerusalem above, that is his image of the freedom in Christ and is the new covenant. Paul says the birth of Ishmael came “according to the flesh” while the birth of Isaac was brought forth “according to the spirit”. The birth of Isaac represents the freedom of the new path in Christ and moves the believer away from the old path of slavery to the law as represented by the birth of Ishmael to Hagar.
FREEDOM FROM SIN & DEATH IS ONLY SECURED IN JESUS CHRIST.