Sons and Heirs Through Christ
Galatians 4: Illustrations of the Doctrine of Justification by Faith
In Galatians Chapter 4, the Apostle Paul continues to establish the superiority of the gospel of grace by making several illustrations.
A legal illustration (4:1–7)
In verses 1-7, he draws on the imagery of the legal process for adoption in the Roman world. A child was not recognized as a son “until the date set by his father” who then acknowledges him as a son (Galatians 4:1). Until then, he was not free, being under the bondage of “guardians and managers” and was in effect no different “at all from a slave" even though "he is the owner of everything" (Galatians 4:2). In like manner, while Israel was “held in bondage under the elemental things of the world” through the Mosaic covenant, the Gentiles were held in bondage through their paganism (Galatians 4:3).
God, in His mercy, did not leave Israel nor the Gentiles in bondage. The people of God had been awaiting the Messiah, the Savior, since the fall in the Garden (cf. Genesis 3:15). So, in "the fullness of time", "God sent forth His Son, born of a woman (Galatians 4:4). Jesus, the Messiah, was “born under the Law” (Galatians 4:4) to fulfill its requirements on our behalf “so that He might redeem those who were under the Law" (Galatians 4:5).
Peter gave the opportunity to accept the Messiah at Pentecost and afterward so the nation of Israel could enter spiritual adulthood and fulfill the Abrahamic promises. However, because of the national collective rejection of Christ, God opened the blessings up, which were supposed to flow to the Gentiles through Israel, to everyone on an individual basis, Jews and Gentiles alike. Under this new program, the church, Jews and Gentiles can “receive the adoption as sons" (Galatians 4:5).
The Galatians could choose to return to bondage under the Law or they can receive “the Spirit of His Son into their hearts" and have the wonderful privilege of calling out to God with the wonderful endearment term, “Abba! Father!” (Galatians 4:6). While the Judaizers were attempting to keep the Galatians as slaves, the gospel of grace allows them to be sons and heirs through God.
A personal plea (4:8-20)
In verses 8-20, the Apostle Paul makes an intense and fervent plea to the Galatians not to turn to legalism, namely thinking they can earn their righteousness by observing the Law, rules, and regulations. He makes an appeal to the effect of legalism, the loss of joy (Galatians 4:15). Legalism robs the believer of joy because it emphasizes one's adherence to rules rather than the relationship with Christ. The result is that the believer will feel guilty and depressed rather than joyful and loved; the believer will feel condemned rather than seek to express genuine repentance from a loving heavenly Father.
An appeal against turning to legalism (4:8-11)
Paul here appeals to the Galatians not to turn to legalism. Prior to putting their faith in Christ, the Galatians were in bondage to “weak and worthless elemental things”, referring to false gods and pagan practices. However, now that they came to know and be known by God, the one true God, Paul asks, rhetorically and perhaps mockingly, how they could desire to forfeit their freedom by putting themselves under a different kind of bondage, the Law, by observing “days and months and seasons and years.” Paul cannot help but express his frustration that his ministry among them might have been “in vain.”
An appeal to remember their relationship (4:12-16)
Paul builds up his appeal by challenging the Galatians, “become [free] as I am, for I also have become as you are [like the Gentiles].” Paul references his first visit to them (Acts 13-14) when he “preached the gospel” to them even though his "bodily illness.” The Galatians “did not despise or loathe” Paul as a weak apostle but “received [him] as [a messenger] of God” in fact “as Christ Jesus Himself” by genuinely receiving the message of God through him with great respect to him as the servant of God. He reminds them of the “sense of blessing” they had when he preached among them that they “would have plucked out [their] eyes and given them to [him].” Now, under the confusion from the Judaizers, they are treating Paul like an enemy because he is telling them the truth, out of all things. How fickle were the Galatians to turn away from the Lord and the gospel of grace, and against the messenger who brought them the news of justification by faith.
An appeal to consider Paul’s attitude towards them (4:17-20)
False teachers, like the Judaizers, draw people after themselves instead of pointing them to Jesus Christ as Paul did. While the modern semantic range of "zealous" is usually limited to the negative sense, Scripture says that God is zealous (Exodus 20:5; 34:14). The Judaizers were “eagerly” but also dishonorably and “not commendably” “seeking” (zealous for) the Galatians. Their motives were not pure. “It is good to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner.” However, while Paul told the Galatians “the truth” (3:16), the Judaizers were “shutting them out” (alienating them) from Paul and the true gospel so that the Galatians “will seek them” (to be zealous for the Judaizers), a mark of false teachers. Although Paul acknowledges that it is good to be sought after in the right way which he desired from Galatians not “only when [he is] present with [them]”, he alerts the Galatians to the sinister motives of the Judaizers who only wanted “to use you to show off their spiritual conquests! (See 6:12–14.)”
Paul appeals to the Galatians warmly calling them “my children." He makes a metaphor comparing his ministry to them as a spiritual form of gestation by being “in labor” with them “until Christ is formed” in them (cf. 1 Cor. 4:15; Philem. 10). He was laboring among them and “in labor” with them until he saw them being transformed into the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). Paul may have also been hinting that he was “the true spiritual parent” of the Galatians, not the Judaizers. However, Paul could not shake the feeling that their spiritual development was being arrested by their apostasy and he desired to be with them so that he could gently speak to them face to face. They had shown themselves worthy of being sought after, but now, Paul is not so sure that he is not with them.
A scriptural illustration (4:21-31)
Paul ends his theological treatise with an analogy drawn from the Old Testament (OT). It has been suggested that this is the strongest argument in the entire doctrinal section of Galatians (Chapters 3-4) which Paul intentionally left to the end to help the Galatians discover the truth for themselves through an analogy from the OT.
The historical facts (4:21-23)
Paul leaves such a powerful analogy and perhaps turns it around on the Judaizer because the Galatians had not yet been completely swayed but they desired to. Desperately wanting to halt this abdication of grace, he challenges the Galatians to understand what the Law said and its implication for their relationship with God. In verse 21, Paul uses the word “law” in two distinct senses, one to mean the rules and regulations when they come “under the law”, and the other to mean the OT Scriptures, especially the Pentateuch when asking them to really “hear the law”. The law is holy, righteous, and good, but it was never intended to be a means of justification. Paul gives the proper interpretation of the Law which points beyond itself. The Law point both backward, toward the Abrahamic covenant, and forward, toward its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. This is diminished when it is filtered through the lenses of the Judaizers’ aberrant teaching.
Both John the Baptist and Jesus declared that the true sons of Abraham were not necessarily those of physical descent, which was not enough to guarantee spiritual blessing (Matt. 3:9; John 8:37–44). Paul bolsters this argument by contrasting how the sons were conceived.
The typological interpretation (4:24-27)
This analogy was most likely used by the Judaizers who claimed that only the physical descendants of Isaac, the legitimate heirs, are the true sons of Abraham to whom belonged the blessings and the promise. Therefore, for the Galatians to become part of the family of God, they must get circumcised and become under the Law to receive the promise as well.
Paul, however, illustrates the story (Genesis 16 and 21) differently to show that the new covenant of grace has superseded the old covenant of law. Paul says that while the old covenant “proceeds from Mount Sinai” and “corresponds to the present Jerusalem” which is under spiritual bondage “in slavery with her children”, the new covenant however proceeds from Mount Zion and corresponds to the “Jerusalem above” which is “free.” While the old covenant is symbolized by Hagar, the slave girl, who birthed Ishmael, a son “according to the flesh” and a type of those under the Law, the new covenant is symbolized by Sarah, the free woman, who birthed Isaac, a son “of the promise” and a type of those born supernaturally “according to the Spirit."
In verse 27, Paul refers to Isaiah 54:1 where Israel before her Babylonian Captivity was likened to a woman with a husband and prophesied the upcoming joy when it will have numerous children. Paul applies this prophecy to the church. Just as Sarah was barren and had to wait for many years for her son, the Jews had to wait many years before God's promises to Abraham were fulfilled. Isaiah described the joy of Jerusalem after the return from exile. Paul sees a deeper meaning: joy in the church despite its persecution and suffering.
The personal application (4:28-31)
Paul compares the supernatural birth of Isaac, a child of a promise, to the supernatural spiritual rebirth of the believer in Christ (John 3:3, 5) who is also a recipient of the promise of salvation (Gal. 3:22, 29). Paul then compares Ishmael’s persecution of Isaac to the Judaizers' opposition to believers in Christ and the gospel of grace. Just like Sarah asked Abraham to “cast out the bondwoman and her son”, namely Hagar and Ishmael, Paul is instructing the Galatians to cast out the Judaizers and their corrupt so-called gospel from their midst. The Galatians are being forced to choose again because there is a fundamental incompatibility between Law and grace, between works-based salvation and grace-based salvation, and between legalism and having a personal relationship with Christ.
Have you lost your joy?
Are you trying to earn your righteousness by following rules?
Are you trying to measure up to man-made demands and expectations or are you walking by faith in Christ?
Remember, you are a son and an heir with Christ.
In Galatians Chapter 4, the Apostle Paul continues to establish the superiority of the gospel of grace by making several illustrations.
A legal illustration (4:1–7)
In verses 1-7, he draws on the imagery of the legal process for adoption in the Roman world. A child was not recognized as a son “until the date set by his father” who then acknowledges him as a son (Galatians 4:1). Until then, he was not free, being under the bondage of “guardians and managers” and was in effect no different “at all from a slave" even though "he is the owner of everything" (Galatians 4:2). In like manner, while Israel was “held in bondage under the elemental things of the world” through the Mosaic covenant, the Gentiles were held in bondage through their paganism (Galatians 4:3).
God, in His mercy, did not leave Israel nor the Gentiles in bondage. The people of God had been awaiting the Messiah, the Savior, since the fall in the Garden (cf. Genesis 3:15). So, in "the fullness of time", "God sent forth His Son, born of a woman (Galatians 4:4). Jesus, the Messiah, was “born under the Law” (Galatians 4:4) to fulfill its requirements on our behalf “so that He might redeem those who were under the Law" (Galatians 4:5).
Peter gave the opportunity to accept the Messiah at Pentecost and afterward so the nation of Israel could enter spiritual adulthood and fulfill the Abrahamic promises. However, because of the national collective rejection of Christ, God opened the blessings up, which were supposed to flow to the Gentiles through Israel, to everyone on an individual basis, Jews and Gentiles alike. Under this new program, the church, Jews and Gentiles can “receive the adoption as sons" (Galatians 4:5).
The Galatians could choose to return to bondage under the Law or they can receive “the Spirit of His Son into their hearts" and have the wonderful privilege of calling out to God with the wonderful endearment term, “Abba! Father!” (Galatians 4:6). While the Judaizers were attempting to keep the Galatians as slaves, the gospel of grace allows them to be sons and heirs through God.
A personal plea (4:8-20)
In verses 8-20, the Apostle Paul makes an intense and fervent plea to the Galatians not to turn to legalism, namely thinking they can earn their righteousness by observing the Law, rules, and regulations. He makes an appeal to the effect of legalism, the loss of joy (Galatians 4:15). Legalism robs the believer of joy because it emphasizes one's adherence to rules rather than the relationship with Christ. The result is that the believer will feel guilty and depressed rather than joyful and loved; the believer will feel condemned rather than seek to express genuine repentance from a loving heavenly Father.
An appeal against turning to legalism (4:8-11)
Paul here appeals to the Galatians not to turn to legalism. Prior to putting their faith in Christ, the Galatians were in bondage to “weak and worthless elemental things”, referring to false gods and pagan practices. However, now that they came to know and be known by God, the one true God, Paul asks, rhetorically and perhaps mockingly, how they could desire to forfeit their freedom by putting themselves under a different kind of bondage, the Law, by observing “days and months and seasons and years.” Paul cannot help but express his frustration that his ministry among them might have been “in vain.”
An appeal to remember their relationship (4:12-16)
Paul builds up his appeal by challenging the Galatians, “become [free] as I am, for I also have become as you are [like the Gentiles].” Paul references his first visit to them (Acts 13-14) when he “preached the gospel” to them even though his "bodily illness.” The Galatians “did not despise or loathe” Paul as a weak apostle but “received [him] as [a messenger] of God” in fact “as Christ Jesus Himself” by genuinely receiving the message of God through him with great respect to him as the servant of God. He reminds them of the “sense of blessing” they had when he preached among them that they “would have plucked out [their] eyes and given them to [him].” Now, under the confusion from the Judaizers, they are treating Paul like an enemy because he is telling them the truth, out of all things. How fickle were the Galatians to turn away from the Lord and the gospel of grace, and against the messenger who brought them the news of justification by faith.
An appeal to consider Paul’s attitude towards them (4:17-20)
False teachers, like the Judaizers, draw people after themselves instead of pointing them to Jesus Christ as Paul did. While the modern semantic range of "zealous" is usually limited to the negative sense, Scripture says that God is zealous (Exodus 20:5; 34:14). The Judaizers were “eagerly” but also dishonorably and “not commendably” “seeking” (zealous for) the Galatians. Their motives were not pure. “It is good to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner.” However, while Paul told the Galatians “the truth” (3:16), the Judaizers were “shutting them out” (alienating them) from Paul and the true gospel so that the Galatians “will seek them” (to be zealous for the Judaizers), a mark of false teachers. Although Paul acknowledges that it is good to be sought after in the right way which he desired from Galatians not “only when [he is] present with [them]”, he alerts the Galatians to the sinister motives of the Judaizers who only wanted “to use you to show off their spiritual conquests! (See 6:12–14.)”
Paul appeals to the Galatians warmly calling them “my children." He makes a metaphor comparing his ministry to them as a spiritual form of gestation by being “in labor” with them “until Christ is formed” in them (cf. 1 Cor. 4:15; Philem. 10). He was laboring among them and “in labor” with them until he saw them being transformed into the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). Paul may have also been hinting that he was “the true spiritual parent” of the Galatians, not the Judaizers. However, Paul could not shake the feeling that their spiritual development was being arrested by their apostasy and he desired to be with them so that he could gently speak to them face to face. They had shown themselves worthy of being sought after, but now, Paul is not so sure that he is not with them.
A scriptural illustration (4:21-31)
Paul ends his theological treatise with an analogy drawn from the Old Testament (OT). It has been suggested that this is the strongest argument in the entire doctrinal section of Galatians (Chapters 3-4) which Paul intentionally left to the end to help the Galatians discover the truth for themselves through an analogy from the OT.
The historical facts (4:21-23)
Paul leaves such a powerful analogy and perhaps turns it around on the Judaizer because the Galatians had not yet been completely swayed but they desired to. Desperately wanting to halt this abdication of grace, he challenges the Galatians to understand what the Law said and its implication for their relationship with God. In verse 21, Paul uses the word “law” in two distinct senses, one to mean the rules and regulations when they come “under the law”, and the other to mean the OT Scriptures, especially the Pentateuch when asking them to really “hear the law”. The law is holy, righteous, and good, but it was never intended to be a means of justification. Paul gives the proper interpretation of the Law which points beyond itself. The Law point both backward, toward the Abrahamic covenant, and forward, toward its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. This is diminished when it is filtered through the lenses of the Judaizers’ aberrant teaching.
Both John the Baptist and Jesus declared that the true sons of Abraham were not necessarily those of physical descent, which was not enough to guarantee spiritual blessing (Matt. 3:9; John 8:37–44). Paul bolsters this argument by contrasting how the sons were conceived.
The typological interpretation (4:24-27)
This analogy was most likely used by the Judaizers who claimed that only the physical descendants of Isaac, the legitimate heirs, are the true sons of Abraham to whom belonged the blessings and the promise. Therefore, for the Galatians to become part of the family of God, they must get circumcised and become under the Law to receive the promise as well.
Paul, however, illustrates the story (Genesis 16 and 21) differently to show that the new covenant of grace has superseded the old covenant of law. Paul says that while the old covenant “proceeds from Mount Sinai” and “corresponds to the present Jerusalem” which is under spiritual bondage “in slavery with her children”, the new covenant however proceeds from Mount Zion and corresponds to the “Jerusalem above” which is “free.” While the old covenant is symbolized by Hagar, the slave girl, who birthed Ishmael, a son “according to the flesh” and a type of those under the Law, the new covenant is symbolized by Sarah, the free woman, who birthed Isaac, a son “of the promise” and a type of those born supernaturally “according to the Spirit."
In verse 27, Paul refers to Isaiah 54:1 where Israel before her Babylonian Captivity was likened to a woman with a husband and prophesied the upcoming joy when it will have numerous children. Paul applies this prophecy to the church. Just as Sarah was barren and had to wait for many years for her son, the Jews had to wait many years before God's promises to Abraham were fulfilled. Isaiah described the joy of Jerusalem after the return from exile. Paul sees a deeper meaning: joy in the church despite its persecution and suffering.
The personal application (4:28-31)
Paul compares the supernatural birth of Isaac, a child of a promise, to the supernatural spiritual rebirth of the believer in Christ (John 3:3, 5) who is also a recipient of the promise of salvation (Gal. 3:22, 29). Paul then compares Ishmael’s persecution of Isaac to the Judaizers' opposition to believers in Christ and the gospel of grace. Just like Sarah asked Abraham to “cast out the bondwoman and her son”, namely Hagar and Ishmael, Paul is instructing the Galatians to cast out the Judaizers and their corrupt so-called gospel from their midst. The Galatians are being forced to choose again because there is a fundamental incompatibility between Law and grace, between works-based salvation and grace-based salvation, and between legalism and having a personal relationship with Christ.
Have you lost your joy?
Are you trying to earn your righteousness by following rules?
Are you trying to measure up to man-made demands and expectations or are you walking by faith in Christ?
Remember, you are a son and an heir with Christ.
Posted in Galatians
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