Galatians 4

Galatians 4:1-7

The apostle in this chapter, in correspondence with his great delight, shows us, (1.) The great excellence of the gospel-that above the legal, ver. 1—8. (2.) The happy change that was made in them at their conversion, ver. 8—12. (3.) The affection they had had for him and his ministry, ver. 12—17. (4.) The character of the false teachers by whom they had been perverted, ver. 17, 18. (5.) The very tender affection he had for them, ver. 19, 20. (6.) The history of times and likeness, by a comparison taken from which he illustrates the difference between faith as reflected in Christ and faith as reflected in the law.

1. NOW I say, that the heir as long as he is a child, different nothing from a servant, though he be Lord of all; 2. But is under tutors and governors, until the time appointed of the father. 3. Even to we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 4. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law. 5. To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

The apostle had hinted before, that the state of those who were under the law, was a kind of minority. He here enlarge on that subject, showing the vast superiority of the gospel above the legal dispensation.

1. Before Christ came, they were in a state of non-age. Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, different nothing from a servant, though he be Lord of all, and entitled to the inheritance, but is under tutors and governors, until the time appointed of the father, when he should be declared of age, and enter upon the management of his own affairs. Even to me, and all the people of God under the Old Testament, when we were children, in the infantile state of the church, were in bondage under the elements of the world, subject to the law, with all the carnal ordinances, which were, as the first letters of the alphabet, designed as had us on to higher attainments, and kept us, during this time of non-age, in a state of fear, as children who dread correction, if they perform not their appointed tasks. But,

2. Under the gospel dispensation our condition is much happier. When the fulness of the time was come, appointed in the eternal decree, God sent forth his Son, his only begotten, one in the same divine nature and essence, born of a woman, that he might be manifested in the flesh, made under the law, appointed both to endure the penalty due to our transgressions, and by his obedience to the precept in our stead, to bring in an everlasting righteousness for us, that he might redeem them that were under the law, under its bondage and curse, that we, who believe in him, might receive the adoption of sons, admitted to that high privilege, with all its happy consequences. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, through the glorified Redeemer, who hath all fulness of the Spirit to be flown on his people, and forms their hearts, by his divine operations, to the temper becoming the high dignity and relations with which they are hypocrites; to that, through the effectual working of the Holy Ghost, we are enabled, with financial dependence, filial love, and Sacred joy, to approach a throne of grace, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore, wherever this Spirit is given, then we are not a servant, but a son, admitted to that honourable place in God’s family; and if a son, then an heir

of God through Christ, and entitled to everlasting blessings: so that to return to the law for acceptance with God, is absurd and needless. Now, (1.) God manifest in the flesh is the foundation of every hope to the sinner. (2.) If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his; the grace of adoption always accompanies the privilege of adoption. (3.) ‘Tis happy for the soul, that is enabled with humble kindness to approach an holy God, crying, Abba, Father; and claiming this kindred with him, which he will not disown. (4.) Our present adoption is the earnest of our eternal redemption.

8. Howbeit, then when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. 9. But now after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye define again to be in bondage? 10. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Galatians 4:8-11

To flow them the placing folly of their having recourse to the law for justification, he reminds them,

1. Of their former state of Gentilem. Heudest, then when ye knew not God, grossly ignorant of his being, perfections, and attributes, and, in fact, without God in the world, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods, worshiping sendeless idols, and ascribing divinity to stocks and stones. In this state of horrid ignorance and guilt did the gospel find them, and called them out of darkness into marvellous light.

2. How absurd then was their defection from the truth which they had received? But now after that ye have known God, that the gospel of his dear Son, or rather are known of God, approved and accepted of him in the Redeemer, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye define again to be in bondage? What infatuation hath found you, to leave the gospel dispensation of light, love, and liberty, for the bondage, darkness, and fear of the Mosical institutions, weak and insufficient to cleanse the soul from guilt, or to obtain acceptance with God; and beggarly, when compared to the superior riches of gospel grace. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years, placing dependence on the ceremonial ordinances of the Jewish ritual, as essential to your justification before God. And where this is the case, I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain, and departing that from the fundamentals of the gospel, notwithstanding all our preaching, you should finally perish. Now, (1.) Many who make, for a while, fair profession, prove, in the end, soul apolizes. (2.) Nothing more effectually destroys the soul, than a departure from that fundamental point of the gospel, justification by faith alone. (3.) It is a deep concern to the true ministers of Christ, when they, in whom they hoped to see the fruit of their labours, disappoint their expectations.

3. Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. 13. Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh, I preached the gospel unto you at the first. 14. And my temptation which was in the flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. 15. Where is then the blessedness you shake of? for I hear you record, that if it had been justified, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. 16. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

Galatians 4:12-16

The apostle here,

1. With affectionate address desires to win upon them. Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am, correct with me in affection as I am to you, and imitate my example, leaving these Jewish rites as matters of indifference, and claiming to Christ and his righteousness only for justification before God; for I am as ye are, one with you in fervent charity, and we are equally entitled to the privileges of the gospel: ye have not injured me at all; the injury you do is to Christ, and your own souls; and what I say proceeds not from any private resentment, but purely from a zeal for his glory and your good; and if any disrespect may have been cast on me, I entirely overlook it. Now, The rebuke, that is tempered with love, will always be most effectual.

2. He reminds them of the former affection and esteem which they had showed him. Ye know, how through infirmity of the flesh, I preached the gospel unto you at the first. And my temptation to the flesh, (whether his sufferings, weakness of body, or ungraceful appearance, they knew what he meant, though we do not for certain; but whatever it was, he could say) ye despised not, nor rejected; did not therefore slight my ministry, nor treat my person with contempt, but received me as an angel of God, with all veneration and regard, as a messenger sent from heaven, yea, even as Christ Jesus; had he himself appeared in the flesh among you, religious adoration excepted, ye could not have paid him greater respect. Where is then the blessedness you shake of? those ardent writers for my happiness, and the delight you expressed in

the gospel which I preached unto you? for I hear you rested, that if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have grown them unto me, counting nothing too great to testify the sense of your gratitude towards me. Note, Many, in their first love, are all on fire for Christ, and never think they can enough testify their regard to the ministers of their conversion, who by and by grow cold or perverted from the truth, and treat with contempt those whom they once respected as almost angelical.

3. He expeditates with them on the strange alteration which now appeared. On I therefore know your enemy, herself I tell you the truth, and kindly warn you of the deadly consequences of your defection from the purity of the gospel? Note, (1.) Truth, honestly spoken, often creates us enemies. (2.) Ministers may expect that their fidelity will offend. (3.) Whether men will hear or bother, we must speak, not fear any consequences.

2 Rom. 4.1. 6b, 6b.

17. They * zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that you might affect them. 18. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.

18. 7—18. St. Paul knew the spirit and temper with which the judaizing teachers acted, and he,

19. Warns the Galatians of it. They zealously affect you, and pretend great zeal for you, but not well; their pretensions are dissembled, and their designs crafty; yea, they would exclude you from me and your true friends, who preach the pure gospel to you, that you might affect them, and yield your consciences up to their direction. Note, All is not gold which glitters; we should try, before we trust; hypocrisy, for infidit ends, can put on the lairett guile of truth.

20. He points out to them the rule they should follow. But it is good, and the proof of an excellent spirit, to be zealously affected always in a good thing, or to a good man, and not only when I am present with you, whilst an unthonly, wavering conduct, shows that the heart is not well grounded in the truth, and discovers a dishonourable levity and inconstancy.

21. • My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you, 20. I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice, for I stand in doubt of you. 21. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? 22. For it is written, that Abraham had two sons; * the one by a bond-maid, * the other by a free-woman. 23. But he who was of the bond-woman, * was born after the flesh; but he of the free-woman was by promise. 24. Which things are an allegory; for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, * which gendeth to bondage, which is Agar. 25. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26. But * Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27. For it is written, * Rejoice, thou barren, that beareth not: break forth and cry, thou that travailett not: for the desolate hath many more children than the which hath an husband. 28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, * are the children of promise. 29. But as then * he that was born after the flesh perfected him that was here after the Spirit, * even so it is now. 30. Nevertheless, what saith the scripture? * Cast out the bond-woman and her son: * for the son of the bond-woman shall not be left with the son of the free-woman. 31. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, * but of the free.

22. 19—31. To engage their hearts, and prevail on them to return from their sad defection from the truth,

23. He expresses his tender affection towards them. My little children, dear to me as such, amidst all the weakness you discover, of whom I travail in birth again, with such agonies of spirit, longing for your present recovery, as when I first desired to turn you from your soul idolatry, until Christ be formed in you, your souls effectually brought under the influence of his gospel, and his image stamped upon your hearts; I desire to be present with you, that I might more fully enter upon the subject, compound the gainsayers, and defend the fundamental articles of Christianity from which you have swerved; and, if it so pleased the Lord to make my preaching effectual to your conversion, to change my voice from rebukes to confidit; for I own at present, I stand in doubt of you, whether you have ever truly believed to the saving of your souls, and may not yet be cast away. Note, (1.) Ministers travail in birth for immortal souls, and feel an affection for those whom they have begotten in the gospel, like the tender mother’s fendibility towards her infant offspring. (2.) Christ can never be formed in the heart, where self-righteousness and self-dependance still prevail. (3.) * is no charity to think

well, when we see evidently what is evil, though we wish to change our voice, and to behold a happy reformation.

2. He expeditates with the Judaisms, who fought justification by the deeds of the law. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? If you attentively considered the history of Abraham, you would see the folly of your attempt. For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bond-maid, Hagar an Egyptian, the other by a free-woman, Sarah. And he who was of the bond-maid, Ishmael, was born after the flesh, in the ordinary course of nature: but he of the free-woman, Isaac, was by promise, given of God, which hath his parents were naturally incapable of issue. Which things are an allegory, or alligerious, and have a spiritual meaning, beyond the mere bones of the words; for these, Hagar and Sarah, are the figures of the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendeth to bondage, begetting a fawish spirit, and leaving the soul under condemnation, which is Agar, and represented by her. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia; and her being cast out with her son, is a lively figure of the rejection of those who are under the law, which was delivered on that mountain, and this bond-woman answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children, abandoned for their infidelity, and excluded from all the blessings of the covenant. But Jerusalem which is above, the church of the redeemed, who by faith in Christ look for glory and immeasibility, is free from all the condemnation of sin and the law, of which Sarah is the type, and may be considered as the mother of us all, whether Jews or Gentiles, who, like her son Isaac, are entitled to all the perennial blessings. For it is written, with particular reference to Sarah and Hagar, Rejoice, thou barren, that beareth not; break forth and cry, thou that travailett not; thou Gentile land, which, like Sarah, hath long been without ever bringing forth one child for God, now exult in thy vast progeny, for the desolate hath many more children than the which hath an husband, more converts springing from among the heathen, where all hope of such a seed was impaired of, than are to be found among those who, under the Sinai covenant, were, during so many hundreds of years, reposed to the Lord as their husband. Now we, brethren, who through grace are joined to Christ by faith, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise, and heirs of the eternal inheritance. But as then he may not be found among those who, under the Sinai covenant, were, during so many hundreds of years, reposed to the Lord as their husband. Now we, brethren, who through grace are joined to Christ by faith, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise, and heirs of the eternal inheritance. But as then he may not be found among those who, under the Sinai covenant, were, during so many hundreds of years, reposed to the Lord as their husband. Now we, brethren, who through grace are joined to Christ by faith, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise, and heirs of the eternal inheritance. But as then he may not be found among those who, under the Sinai covenant, were, during so many hundreds of years, reposed to the Lord as their husband. Now we, brethren, who through grace are joined to Christ by faith, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise, and heirs of the eternal inheritance. But as then he may not be found among those who, under the Sinai covenant, were, during so many hundreds of years, reposed to the Lord as their husband. Now we, brethren, who through grace are joined to Christ by faith, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise, and heirs of the eternal inheritance. But as then he may not be found among those who, under the Sinai covenant, were, during so many hundreds of years, reposed to the Lord as their husband. Now we, brethren, who through grace are joined to Christ by faith, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise, and heirs of the eternal inheritance. But as then he may not be found among those who, under the Sinai covenant, were, during so many hundreds of years, reposed to the Lord as their husband. Now we, brethren, who through grace are joined to Christ by faith, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise, and heirs of the eternal inheritance. But as then he may not be found among those who, under the Sinai covenant, were, during so many hundreds of years, reposed to the Lord as their husband. Now we, brethren, who through grace are joined to Christ by faith, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise, and heirs of the eternal inheritance. But as then he may not be found among those who, under the Sinai covenant, were, during so many hundreds of years, reposed to the Lord as their husband. Now we, brethren, who through grace are joined to Christ by faith, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise, and heirs of the eternal inheritance. But as then he may not be found among those who, under the Sinai covenant, were, during so many hundreds of years, reposed to the Lord as their husband. Now we, brethren, who through grace are joined to Christ by faith, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise, and heirs of the eternal inheritance. But as then he may not be found among those who, under the Sinai covenant, were, during so many hundreds of years, reposed to the Lord as their husband. Now we, brethren, who through grace are joined to Christ by faith, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise, and heirs of the eternal inheritance. But as then he may not be found among those who, under the Sinai covenant, were, during so many hundreds of years, reposed to the Lord as their husband. Now we, brethren, who through grace are joined to Christ by faith, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise, and heirs of the eternal inheritance. But as then he may not be found among those who, under the Sinai covenant, were, during so many hundreds of years, reposed to the Lord as their husband. Now we, brethren, who through grace are joined to Christ by faith, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise, and heirs of the eternal inheritance. But as then he may not be found among those who, under the Sinai covenant, were, during so many hundreds of years, reposed to the Lord as their husband.