Paul Further Elaborates on the Galatians Sonship
through Christ
Galatians
4:1-7 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth
nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and
governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were
children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into
your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a
son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. KJVPaul again reiterates what he has said earlier in the last Chapter about the Galatians and our “sonship” through “faith in Christ Jesus”, but he now explains his concept by comparing a child in a wealthy family with one of the servants of that same family. Paul’s explanation here in this first verse can be better understood by looking at Prince George of England born to Prince William and his wife Kate just a few years ago, however, right now he is no different than the Nanny that is hired by the family to care for him daily. As long as he is still a toddler or minor child, he cannot share in his Father’s wealth, even though it is his legal right as heir to his Father, he is still excluded from all of the Father’s wealth and the knowledge of it until he comes of age and therefore, Prince George be the Master of nothing at all now. As a child Prince George (though he be an heir), is under the governing rule of his Father’s family and house rules of conduct and behavior as is the case in any family who truly love their children they are restrained by these rules of conduct and behavior, not for their punishment, but because of love in order for their protection.
Paul declares that likewise the Jewish Nation was tied to the Mosaic Law as a restraint for them until the appointed time when the Messiah would come and fulfill every one of those meticulous (i.e. marked by precise accordance with details) Ceremonial Laws given to them by Moses and passed downed or handed down to every Generation that would follow. The observance of the Mosaic Law was bondage for the Jewish Nation and they could never live up to its requirements and this is why they began to add-on their own man made traditions as our Lord Jesus protested in opposition to them doing so in Mark 7:1-13. Paul wants the Galatians and us to understand that those Jews now who still see the need to add the “Law” to “faith in Jesus Christ” are misguided not realizing that before Christ came the Jews were loaded down with all of these meticulous laws to teach or instruct them and prepare them for the “One” who these Ceremonies pictured and pointed to who would fulfill them all in Himself as Paul said in Colossians 2:9-23.
Paul wants the Galatians and us to understand that the Old Testament Jews were “servants” of God and not “sons” being commanded and obligated to carry out all of those Ceremonial rites without even fully understanding why they were required, but as for the Galatians and us today, we are no longer looked upon as mere “servants”, but Christ Jesus our Lord has procured for us the right to adoption as full grown adult “sons of God” and the Galatians and us know His will through the Holy Spirit “in us” and the Word of God given to us in the manner our Lord Jesus declared to the first Apostles with these words, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another.” (John 15:12-17).
These words would have been foreign to the Old Testament Jew and this is one of the reasons why they rejected our Lord Jesus Christ as being their long awaited Messiah, because they could not understand this speech from Him, it was hidden from their understanding as they were expecting their Messiah to come in as a conquering King to destroy the Gentile Roman dogs and then sit on the Throne of David ruling over the entire world with them as loyal subjects. The idea that God would look upon every individual Jew as His son was not what the Jews anticipated. Paul (being a Jew) once believed in the same manner, and therefore, he wants the Galatians and us today to see the great contrast between the Gospel of Grace verses the Law of Moses.
Our Lord Jesus was born through a woman just like every other baby, with the exception of God providing the “Seed” being His Father (Luke 1:35). Our Lord Jesus was born a Jew under the Mosaic Law being like every other Jew subject to it as we see when Mary and Joseph brought Him to the Temple to be circumcised the 8th day as every Jewish boy was, “And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’), and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, ‘A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.’ (Luke 2:21-24).
Our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled every jot and tittle of God’s Law in His Perfect Life and His Sin bearing death as He declared with these words, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18). Paul wants these Galatians and us to see that no Old Testament Jew (not even Moses) kept every part of God’s Law down to the smallest jot or tittle and that is why it is futile for them to add the “Law” to “faith in Christ”, when “in Christ” all of God’s Law is fully, completely, and finally fulfilled in Him only. Henceforth, He (Christ) alone could redeem the Galatians and us or buy us back from the sure penalty of death (physical, spiritual, and eternal death) that God’s Law demands for all of its transgressors (Ephesians 1:7-14).
It is solely and only through regeneration and the new birth that these Galatians and us today are adopted as sons and daughters of God and become privileged as heirs to all that is in the Father’s House. Therefore, it is God the Father (upon seeing the Galatians and us “in Christ”) who sends forth the “promise” Paul talked about we have as “sons of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7) which is God the Holy Spirit in our hearts or inner man producing in us the desire to pray or commune with our Heavenly Daddy as any earthly child wants to talk long and often with his or her earthly daddy. For the Spirit of adoption is the Spirit of Prayer with God the Father as we just documented our Lord Jesus saying in John 15:16 above and it is only by the Holy Spirit that we declare Jesus Christ Lord of our lives as Paul wrote in this manner to the Corinthians, “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3).
My own Personal Note: It is not the desire of a full grown son to please his Father by observing and keeping rules or laws, but because the son loves his Father, he wants to do everything to please him and when he does anything that he knows will displease or grieve the heart of his Father, he immediately ask for forgiveness in order that there be no broken fellowship with the Father he loves so dearly. This is the true and only picture of all those who have received the Spirit of Adoption (through regeneration and new birth) crying out in prayer “Daddy”, Father!
“The Apostle often uses the word elements or “rudiments,” Galatians 4:3; Galatians 4:9; Colossians 2:8; Colossians 2:20. High and holy as was the Mosaic legislation in itself, yet when it was imposed upon inquiring minds as necessary to salvation, Paul spoke of it as belonging to an age that had passed away and to a system that was already antiquated. The whole purpose of God in sending forth His Son was to redeem us from under the Law, that we might enjoy the liberty and joy of the Father’s home. We are no longer infants under age, or servants, but sons, and if sons, then heirs of God. There is often a slavishness among professing Christians that is sadly out of keeping with their rightful position in Christ. Do not be scrupulous or over-anxious. Do not be punctilious. Live in your Father’s house in constant freedom of heart. Remember that you are under the same roof as Christ, and are therefore allowed to avail yourself of all His grace and help. Refuse no task, however irksome, that God sets before you; and do not worry about irksome rules or petty vexations.” F. B. Meyer
“The son obeys out of love, while the servant obeys out of fear. The Spirit works in the heart of the believer to quicken and increase his love for God. ‘The fruit of the Spirit is love’ (Galatians 5:22). ‘The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit’ (Romans 5:5). The Judaizers told the Galatians that they would become better Christians by submitting to the law, but the law can never produce obedience. Only love can do that. ‘If ye love Me, keep My commandments’ (John 14:15). Warren Wiersbe
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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