Galatians 4:31

So then, brethren,.... This is the conclusion of the whole allegory, or the mystical interpretation of Agar and Sarah, and their sons: we are not children of the bondwoman; the figure of the first

So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. So then [ ara (G686) oun (G3767), G.

The church of the Gentiles was not typified in Hagar, but in Sarah; from whence the scope of the apostle is to conclude, that we are not under the law, obliged to Judaical observances, but are freed from them, and are justified by faith in Christ alone, not by the works of the law. By this conclusion the apostle maketh way for the exhortation in the following chapter, pressing them to stand fast in their liberty.

31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. Ver. 31. We are not children, &c.] q.d. We are in a far better condition than legalists. "I have blessed Ishmael," saith God; "twelve princes shall he beget; but my covenant will I establish with Isaac," Genesis 17:20-21. And such honour have all his saints.

(21-31) The next eleven verses contain an elaborate argument from the history of the two sons of Abraham, as types of the two covenants, in further proof that freedom is the essential character of the Christian dispensation. We have seen that St. Paul applies the history of the natural Israel allegorically to the spiritual Israel; and not only does he do this with reference to the history of the formed theocracy, but he goes back to its origin in the time of the patriarchs, and traces there the first beginnings of the separation between the Law and the promise. The same history had been already allegorically treated by Philo. The treatment of it by St. Paul is, however, quite different, and in keeping with the line of argument followed in the context. The points of parallelism, which are drawn out in much detail, may be exhibited thus:— Jewish Church.Christian Church.The bondwoman, Hagar.The freewoman, Sarah.Son of the bondwoman, Ishmael.Son of the freewoman, Isaac.Natural birth (the flesh).Supernatural birth (the promise).Mount Sinai.Mount Zion.The Law.The Promise.The earthly Jerusalem.The heavenly Jerusalem.Enslaved.Free.Fruitful.Barren.Small offspring.Large offspring.Persecuting.Persecuted.Expulsion.Inheritance.The Jewish Church is enslaved.The Christian Church is free.

Verse 31. So then] We-Jews and Gentiles, who believe on the Lord Jesus, are not children of the bond woman-are not in subjection to the Jewish law, but of the free; and, consequently, are delivered from all its bondage, obligation, and curse. Thus the apostle, from their own Scripture, explained by their own allegory, proves that it is only by Jesus Christ that they can have redemption; and because they have not believed in him, therefore they continue to be in bondage; and that shortly God will deliver them up into a long and grievous captivity: for we may naturally suppose that the apostle has reference to what had been so often foretold by the prophets, and confirmed by Jesus Christ himself; and this was the strongest argument he could use, to show the Galatians their folly and their danger in submitting again to the bondage from which they had escaped, and exposing themselves to the most dreadful calamities of an earthly kind, as well as to the final ruin of their souls. They desired to be under the law; then they must take all the consequences; and these the apostle sets fairly before them. 1. WE sometimes pity the Jews, who continue to reject the Gospel. Many who do so have no pity for themselves; for is not the state of a Jew, who systematically rejects Christ, because he does not believe him to be the promised Messiah, infinitely better than his, who, believing every thing that the Scripture teaches concerning Christ, lives under the power and guilt of sin? If the Jews be in a state of nonage, because they believe not the doctrines of Christianity, he is in a worse state than that of infancy who is not born again by the power of the Holy Ghost. Reader, whosoever thou art, lay this to heart. 2. The 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th verses of this chapter (Galatians 4:4-7) contain the sum and marrow of Christian divinity. (1.) The determination of God to redeem the world by the incarnation of his Son. (2.) The manifestation of this Son in the fulness of time. (3.) The circumstances in which this Son appeared: sent forth; made of a woman; made under the law; to be a sufferer; and to die as a sacrifice. (4.) The redemption of the world, by the death of Christ: he came to redeem them that were under the law, who were condemned and cursed by it. (5.) By the redemption price he purchases sonship or adoption for mankind. (6.) He, God the Father, sends the Spirit, God the Holy Ghost, of God the Son, into the hearts of believers, by which they, through the full confidence of their adoption, call him their Father. (7.) Being made children, they become heirs, and God is their portion throughout eternity. Thus, in a few words, the whole doctrine of grace is contained, and an astonishing display made of the unutterable mercy of God. See the notes on these verses (Galatians 4:4-7). 3.

31. So then] Better, wherefore. The conclusion is drawn from the whole preceding argument. It is the assertion of our liberty in the Gospel of Christ—freedom from the curse of the law, from the yoke of ritual observances, from the bondage of sin and Satan, from the burden of an evil conscience—an earnest of “the glorious liberty of the children of God”.

So then, brethren - It follows from all this. Not from the allegory regarded as an argument - for Paul does not use it thus - but from the considerations suggested on the whole subject.

31. So then—Wherefore. That is, it results as an inference from all this that we, uncircumcised believers. The bondwoman—In the Greek the article is significantly omitted from bondwoman, but inserted before free.