Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. His Son, miraculously made of the substance of a woman - A virgin, without the concurrence of a man. So also every Christian must send away the idea of relating to God on the principle of law, the principle of what we do for Him instead of what He has done for us in Jesus Christ. (Arabic) تفاسير – اللغة العربية, © Copyright - Enduring Word       |      . Compiled by Eric Johnson. And the more mercy God has shown, in bringing any to know the gospel, and the liberties and privileges of it, the greater their sin and folly in suffering themselves to be deprived of them. Second, you can compliment yourself because you keep the rules better than others do. The contrast presented in the previous chapter between imprisonment under the law (3:23-25) and new relationships in Christ (3:26-29) is now clarified by an illustration drawn from a household where sons were treated as slaves until they received the … Instead, it is associated with the Jerusalem above – God’s own New Jerusalem in heaven. Salem Media Group. His reference to Hagar and Ishmael were pictures, meant to illustrate his point. It is important that Paul refer back to the Scriptures again and again. We learn the happier state of Christians under the gospel dispensation. Read. Chapter 4. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. It is generally supposed that by the ‘fulness of time’ Paul means to indicate that Christ came at the moment when the world was especially prepared to receive Him, and no doubt that is a true thought. Let those professors look to it, who have a violent, harsh, imposing spirit, towards the people of God. Let us rest our souls on the Scriptures, and by a gospel hope and cheerful obedience, show that our conversation and treasure are indeed in heaven. Real Christianity comes from heaven and not earth. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 4:8-11 The happy change whereby the Galatians were turned from idols to the living God, and through Christ had received the adoption of sons, was the effect of his free and rich grace; they were laid under the greater obligation to keep to the liberty wherewith he had made them free. 4. The folly of returning to legal observances for justification. For it is written that Abraham had two sons: The legalists who troubled the Galatians protested that they were children of Abraham, and therefore blessed. Keith Simons. i. Isaac was Abraham’s son, and he was the son of God’s promise and faith and God’s miracle for Abraham. Galatians 4… KJV Galatians 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Click to enable/disable _gat_* - Google Analytics Cookie. “The better legalist a man is, the more sure he is of being damned; the more holy a man is, if he trust to his works, the more he may rest assured of his own final rejection and eternal portion with Pharisees.” (Spurgeon). c. Born according to the flesh: Ishmael was Abraham’s son, but he was the son according to the flesh and unbelief and trying to make your own way before God. Galatians 4:2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. Patristic Bible Commentary . So language was not a problem. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, Jump to: Clarke Commentary • Barne's Notes • Coffman Commentaries • Gill's Exposition • Geneva Study Bible • Commentary … Galatians 4:2 "But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father." The first covenant spirit is of bondage unto sin and death. In Galatians Chapter 4, Paul also talked about the two sons that Abraham had. Click to enable/disable _ga - Google Analytics Cookie. To begin, understand that in the Hebrew, Greek and Roman culture that dominated the world in which Galatians was written, the word adoption had a different meaning than as we think of it today. Galatians. “Guardians” were slaves entrusted with the care of an underage boy, while “managers” managed their property for them until they came of age. So we should not be surprised that the modern day people who follow God in the flesh persecute those who follow God in faith through the promise. Compiled & Edited by BibleStudyTools Staff, Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Under the grace of God we receive the covering won through sacrifice that God provides. 6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. This passage from Galatians 4 reflects on God’s sending of his Son in the context of a larger theological argument about what it means to be children of God and co-heirs with Christ. First, you always have the outward certainty of a list of rules to keep. The fifth contrast Paul draws between Christianity and legalism is the contrast between persecuted and persecuting. Now he would bring in another picture. The law is under a Christian; it is for him to walk on, to be his guide, his rule, his pattern… Law is the road which guides us, not the rod which drives us, nor the spirit which actuates us.” (Spurgeon), b. “Cast out the bondwoman and her son”: The answer to this problem is clear, though not easy. This is living like a descendant of Abraham – but it is living like Ishmael. Than she who has a husband.”. Proud member Paul makes his appeal personal, asking why the Galatians moved from blessing him to rejecting the message of Christ. Galatians 4:3: Galatians 4: Galatians 4:5. This commentary has received Advanced Theological Checking, by an independent Theological Checker. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. ii. > Chapter 4 > Verse 13. 4 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. [Gal 3:26] The position of sonship certainly has privileges, and with those privileges there are responsibilities. ii. Chapter 1; Verses 1–5; Verses 6–9; Verses 10–24 ; Chapter 2; Verses 1–10; Verses 11–21; Chapter 3; Verses 1–5; Verses 6–18; Verses 19–92; Chapter 4; Verses 1–7; Verses 8–11; Verses 12–16; Verses 17–18; Verses 19–20; Verses 21–31; Chapter … The real Christian life is connected to God’s promised miracle and not the flesh. “Tutors and governors” or “Guardians and managers”. ii. Under the law it is what you do for God that makes you right before Him. He described them as one from a bondmaid while the other one was of a free woman. For what a man loves most, and cares most for, that is his god: some have their riches for their god, some their pleasures, and some their lusts. Although by nature children of wrath and disobedience, they become by grace children of love, and partake of the nature of the children of God; for he will have all his children resemble him. e. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free: For Paul, one of the great issues in this was freedom. My one word title for this lesson is "adoption". Search this site ... Chapter 4 > ‎Chapter 5 ... Having previously shown that the Galatians were sons of Abraham, now, in that the Patriarch's sons were not of equal dignity, one being by a bondwoman, the other by a free-woman, … In reproving others, we should take care to convince them that our reproofs are from sincere regard to the honour of God and religion and their welfare. Resources » Matthew Henry's Commentary » Galatians. Verses 28-31 The history thus explained is applied. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. This was the way most Jewish people in Paul’s day tried to be right with God – by trusting in their ability to please God by keeping the law. These things are an allegory, wherein, beside the literal and historical sense of the words, the Spirit of God points out something further. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. May 9, 2016 In this passage Paul’s emotions become more sorrowful, and his pleas more personal. 5 questions for chapter 4 (to answer before you study chapter 4) According to verse 4, it is possible to be “adopted as sons.” Do you know someone who was adopted by parents? i. It also means judging other believers on the basis of these standards.” (Wiersbe), iii. i. d. He of the freewoman through promise: Abraham’s second son was named Isaac. Galatians 4:4-5 {R.V.}. For those who may have missed Mary’s feast day or any who are inclined to take this lesson as an opportunity for a meditation on Mary, feel free. This covenant is associated with Hagar, the “surrogate mother” who gave birth to Ishmael. We need 2 cookies to store this setting. Please enter your email address associated with your Salem All-Pass account, then click Continue. It is good to be zealous always in a good thing; not for a time only, or now and then, but always. Paul brought it right down to the issues confronting the Galatian Christians. Cities in Galatia included … Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. What … It is not above a Christian – it is under a Christian. Also, the advantages Christians enjoy under the gospel. Galatians Chapter 4. It is an explanation of the subject, not an argument in proof of it. The Christian has no business living under the law. b. Commentary on Galatians chapter 4. The two covenants of works and grace, and legal and evangelical professors, are shadowed forth. We must not be content because we have some good things in ourselves. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. i. But neither was he blessed with the promise of inheriting the glorious covenant of God given to Abraham and his descendants. “The emphatic position of the phrase suggests that Paul’s original plan had been to go elsewhere (perhaps westward toward Ephesus) and that his missionary visit to the Galatians … … Continue reading "Commentary on Galatians 4:4 … This is the lesson of history… Today the greatest enemies of the believing church are found among the members of the unbelieving church, the greatest opposition emanating from pulpits and church hierarchies.” (Boice). You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. ii. i. Galatians 4 Exposition (scroll down for multiple homilies) WILLIAM MITCHELL RAMSAY ... and are in themselves valuable commentaries upon the separate chapters.—Bibliotheca Sacra. Under the grace of God, the focus is on who Jesus is and what He has done. c. The one from Mount Sinai: One covenant is associated with Mount Sinai, the place where Moses received the Law (Exodus 19-20). Every Christian through the centuries belongs to this new covenant, the covenant of the heavenly Jerusalem. The*Roman rulers had good roads to all places. The apostle reminds the Galatians of the difficulty under which he laboured when he first came among them. Paul's Doubts about the Galatians… For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. MINISTRY OF SERMONAUDIO. 1 Think of it this way. 4 but when the completion of the time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law,. The second contrast Paul draws between Christianity and legalism is the contrast between a work done by God’s promised miracle and a work done by the flesh. Galatians 4:1-11 Sons of God; Galatians 4:12-20 A Contrast in Character; Galatians 4:21-31 A Tale of Two Women; JOSEPH STOWELL. 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. Law and grace cannot live together as principles for our Christian life. (8-11) The apostle reasons against following false teachers. Verses 12-18 The apostle desires that they would be of one mind with him respecting the law of Moses, as well as united with him in love. iii. The point is that God told Abraham to send Hagar away. InPaul’s days, it was a very important event. Under the law the focus is on my performance. Under the grace of God, it is what God has done for us in Jesus Christ that makes us right before Him. I acknowledge that Scripture is the most rich and inexhaustible fount of all wisdom. Biblical Commentary (Bible study) Galatians 4:4-7 EXEGESIS: THE CONTEXT: Whereas many of Paul’s letters were written to churches in a particular city, such as Rome or Corinth, this letter was written to “the assemblies of Galatia”—a region in the central part of what we know today as Turkey. d. But the Jerusalem above: The other covenant is associated with Jerusalem, with Mount Zion – but not the Mount Zion of this earth. The first contrast Paul draws between real Christianity and legalism is the contrast between freedom and slavery. An excellent rule is given. iii. i. b. The happy change made in the Gentile believers. He expresses his earnest concern for them. of You who are not in labor! Yet how very uncertain are the favour and respect of men! All rights reserved. Tell me, you who desire to be under the law: Now Paul writes directly, both to those who promoted legalism and to those who succumbed to legalism. Father. 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