Chapter 4

The subject of chapter four is the principle of grace. In verses 1-7 we have the position of grace; verses 8-20, the permanence of grace; in verses 21-31, the allegory of grace.

In verses 1-7, the position of grace, every believer is an adult son as from the moment of salvation. Jesus Christ is said to be u(ioj which means “adult son.” Christ is an adult Son and always was. At the same time, when we enter into temporal fellowship with God in time, we start out as a teknoj, a child. The background for these first seven verses is the doctrine of adoption. The word “adoption” means one thing today but back in the time when the New Testament was written it meant something entirely different. Adoption to us today means placing someone outside of the blood ties legally into a family. A child who is not a natural child of the family, someone else’s child, is placed into the family. That is not what adoption means in the Bible. As long as we have modern day adoption in mind we will never understand the concept which is coming up in the next few verses.

The word for adoption in the Greek is a compound word made up of two words — u(ioj (a son), and qesij (a placing), which means to place someone in the family who is already in the family to recognise them as an adult son — u(ioqesia. The background is very simple. A boy in a Roman family was no better off than a slave until he became fourteen. Until then he was a teknoj, which meant that he was under tutors, administrators, and under the pedagogue. Sometime after the fourteenth birthday of the Roman boy in the time of the New Testament, throughout the Roman empire, there was a ceremony in the home. The father gathered all of the family together and said that his son was no longer a teknoj but was now a u(ioj, an adult son. He then put on his son a special Roman robe which was usually white and trimmed in purple or crimson. It was called the robe of manhood. The moment the father placed this robe around the boys shoulders this boy could now administer his own funds, he could choose his own wife, he could serve in military life, he could serve in the senate. He had all of the responsibilities of an adult.

When you accept Christ as saviour positionally you are an adult son immediately. This is positionally; you are in union with Christ. This is the doctrine of adoption. Entering into union with Christ you share His sonship, and Christ is an adult son, a mature son. That is why the believer is not under the law. The law is the tutor, the administrator, the pedagogue, all of whom were slaves and the child is under the slaves. So in the doctrine of adoption the unbeliever is said to be a teknoj, a child. He is under the law, and the unbeliever should be under the law. The law restrains him; the law teaches him; the law keeps him in order. But the believer is not under the law, he is no longer under the slaves, the believer positionally becomes a u(ioj, an adult son. This happens at the moment of salvation. Positionally, as of the moment of salvation, we receive the robe of manhood. We are adult sons and therefore not under the law. The Galatian believers were trying to get rid of the robe of manhood and put on a child’s robe.

Verse 1 — “Now I say” — present linear aktionsart: I keep on repeating this; “that the heir [the bona fide son in the family] as long as he keeps being a child.” The word for child is nhpioj, a child who can’t speak, a child on his mother’s breast; “differeth nothing from a slave, though he be lord of all.” Even though he will someday own all of the family estates and have charge of the family purse strings, as long as he is a child he does not differ from a slave. In the analogy this is the unbeliever. As long as an unbeliever is an unbeliever he is under the Mosaic law. He is no better off than a bond slave. The unbeliever is treated like an immature person in this analogy. And while the adult is old enough to be responsible for his actions and to make his decisions the child, the unbeliever, needs protection and instruction from the Mosaic law.

The Judaisers are trying to get the Galatians who have received the robe of manhood and put them back under the law. The word “lord” here means the legal owner. Even though he is the legal owner of all, until he receives his adoption he is still a child.

Verse 2 — during his minority the heir needs protection. He receives protection by governors and tutors. We have, as of the completion of verse 2, three different types of slave mentioned. In chapter three we found in verse 24 that the law was our schoolmaster — pedagogue, which means a slave which took the children to and from school. So the law escorts us to the cross but it can’t take us any further. Now we have two other words to describe the slave during the minority of the heir: tutors and governors. These three words all describe the Mosaic law.

“But” — conjunction of contrast; “is” — present linear aktionsart, absolute state of being verb: but keeps on being; “under [under the authority of, under the control of] tutors and governors” — the tutor was a slave who had charge of the person of the heir during the period of his minority. He was sometimes called the guardian of the heir, in the sense of a body guard. And, again, the Mosaic law is a body guard to the unbelieving segment of the human race. The Mosaic law teaches the human race how to dress, i.e. how to conduct themselves as far as morality is concerned. Then the word “governors” is a slave who had charge of the property of the heir, he administered the estate of the child. And, again, a reference to the Mosaic law: a child in minority, before age fourteen, was no better off than a slave; “until the time appointed of the father.” The “time appointed” is a noun, not a verb. It refers to the ceremony of adoption when the family are all gathered together and the son receives from his father the robe of manhood and he then becomes a full-fledged adult. He is released from his tutor, from his slaves, and he has all the privileges of an adult. The words “of the father” should be “by the father”, this is a genitive of source. The father was the one who made the decision as to when the ceremony of adoption would take place. God the Father has appointed a time of adoption for us and the time takes place the moment we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, when we receive Him as our saviour. At that moment of time we enter into union with Christ and we become adult sons positionally. We are called “sons of God” — Galatians 3:26.

Verse 3 gives one more look at the past of the adopted one. “Even so we, when we were children.” Now we have a different word. Instead of the word for adult sons the word children means little babies, children in minority, children under fourteen. “Were” is present linear aktionsart: we were constantly children in the past; “we were in bondage.” This is one word in the Greek. It is a perfect tense referring to a permanent status until changed by something unusual, such as the adoption. The passive voice: they received the status of bondage. They remained in that particular status until salvation; “under [under the authority of, control of] the elements of the world.” The elements of the world refer to the restrainers of the world such as the law. The word “elements” is sometimes used for religion but it is primarily used for the law. Until we accept Christ as saviour we are under the human restraints which God has provided for the human race to protect the human race. The elements of the law, then, refers to the Mosaic law. Legalism comes in and says to go back to the law, it is a part of the Christian way of life. It isn’t a part of the Christian way of life. Paul wants the Galatians to see that by going back to the Mosaic law they are little children.

Verses 4 & 5, the foundation of adoption.

Verse 4 — the incarnation, the basis of adoption. “But when the fullness of time was come.” The fullness of time means that God picked the perfect time for the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. God the Father waited until the perfect time in history. What is the perfect time? God the Father waited until every system of legalism, every religious system, had proven itself false, proven itself bankrupt and unable to provide anything for the human race. This means that every religious system which has been developed since the cross is merely a repetition of some system that existed before. The last to prove itself bankrupt was Judaism, and therefore the fullness of time is that point in the history of the human race when all systems of works and all systems of religion had proven themselves bankrupt and unable to provide salvation, eternal life, regeneration, forgiveness and cleansing of sin, for the human race. “Was come” is aorist tense, a point of time. The fullness of time produced itself by exhausting and bankrupting every conceivable type of religious system.

The fullness of time means something else too. It means that Pax Romana, the peace provided by Rome, had reached its peak. There were many things that Pax Romana had provided. First of all, the Romans had just completed a great system of communication. They built some of the finest roads the world has ever known and they set up a revolutionary system of communications for that day. The second great advantage was that at this time Pax Romana had provided an administrative legal language — Latin, but a universal language of culture, Koine Greek. So this was the perfect time for Jesus Christ to be born of a virgin, to come into the world, from the standpoint of linguistic communication. Koine Greek was the universal language of the world at that time.

It was also a time of great advantage from another standpoint. The Romans had reached the peak

of their military power. And God has ordained that the human race can only have a maximum amount of peace until Christ comes through strong military power in the hands of those who are beneficent.

It was also an ideal time from another standpoint. There was a minimum amount of Satanic activity in the realm of miracles. Satan is a miracle worker. There was a fantastic amount of disease and ill health in Palestine and therefore there were a maximum amount of suffering people, which means that at the time that Messiah entered His public ministry His credit card was to be miracles, and there was a wide field for the execution of miracles to demonstrate that Christ was the Messiah, the saviour of the world.

So, “But when the fullness of time was come, God [the Father, the author of the divine plan] sent forth” — aorist tense: in a point of time, in the fullness of time, at the right time, He sent forth. The word ‘sent forth” is the Greek word which means to send on a mission. God the Son had a specific mission, the provision of eternal salvation; “his Son [u(ioj, adult son: His deity], made of a woman [His humanity].” The word “made” is the Greek word became [ginomai] — “made [became: ginomai] under the law.” The word “under” is, again, the preposition of authority” under the authority of the law. Christ was born a Jew in the Age of Israel; He was therefore born under the Mosaic law. Therefore in His humanity He was subject to the law and He fulfilled the law perfectly — Matthew 5:17. He fulfilled it by living up to it perfectly. Because He fulfilled it in the power of the Spirit in the realm of His humanity believers are not under the law — Romans 10:4.

Verse 5 — “To redeem them that were under the law” — the purpose of coming into the human race was to redeem. “To redeem” is an aorist tense: once and for all redeemed. When you receive Christ as saviour you are once and for all purchased from freedom, you can never go back into the slavemarket of sin; “them” refers to the human race. Christ died for the entire human race, not for some, not for the elect, but for all people who are born into this world; “that were under the law” — the entire human race is born under the law; “that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

Verse 6 — the reality of adoption. “And because ye are sons.” This was addressed originally to the Galatians and it is addressed to every believer; “God hath sent forth the Spirit.” Because we are adult sons God has given us the robe of manhood, the Holy Spirit indwelling us. “Sent forth” is aorist tense, once and for all sent forth. And again, this means to send forth on a mission. The Holy Spirit has a mission: to execute the Christian way of life. This word “sent forth” is exactly the same word as we find in verse 4, ‘God sent forth his Son’. Only God the Holy Spirit can execute the Christian way of life. No one can do it in the energy of the flesh.

“God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son” — Why does he call it the Spirit of his Son? This is a functional title. If he were talking emphasising His person he would say Holy Spirit, the title of the third person of the Trinity which emphasises His person, that He is God. But “Spirit of” always emphasises a function: Spirit of truth. It is the Holy Spirit who teaches us doctrine; Spirit of grace — it is the Holy Spirit who provides for the Christian life. Here we have “Spirit of his Son.” It is the Holy Spirit who glorifies the Son — John 16:14.

“into your hearts” — in your inner life. And as a result we are able to keep on “crying, Abba, Father.” “Abba” is an Aramaic word for “Father.” So the Holy Spirit causes us to cry Father, Father. In other words, it is the Holy Spirit who makes our heirship and our sonship a reality.

Verse 7 — the result of adoption. “Wherefore thou art no more a slave” — no longer in bondage to the Mosaic law; “but an adult son; and if an adult son [and we are], then an heir of God through Christ.” The point that Paul is going to make is that if you are the heir of God, live under God’s provision. Live under the bank account which God has provided and that bank account is not the Mosaic law. Why go back to the slave and ask him for a few pennies when you can write any amount that you want from the Father’s cheque account.

The doctrine of heirship

1. Christ is the heir of all things — Hebrews 1:2.

2. Heirship is based on sonship — Romans 8:16,17.

3. Heirship demands eternal life — Titus 3:7.

4. Heirship means to share the destiny of Christ - Ephesians 1:11.

5. Heirship is based on election — Hebrews 9:15.

6. Heirship means eternal security — 1 Peter 1:4,5.

7. Heirship is based on concept grace, we don’t earn or deserve it — Galatians 3:29.

8. The Holy Spirit is the down payment on our inheritance — Ephesians 1:14; Galatians 4:6.

Verses 8 and following: helps and hindrances to grace. In verses 8-11 we have our first hindrance: religion hinders grace. This section deals with the greatest enemy to grace — religion and the product of religion which is known as legalism.

Verse 8 — “Howbeit then, when ye knew not God” — ‘knew not’ is a perfect tense used as a present tense for information in the frontal lobe, plus the negative referring to the time when these Galatians were unbelievers. As unbelievers they did not know God. There is a principle involved in this phrase, ‘ye knew not God.’ Because of the Greek word which is used here the implication is that the only way to know God is to have doctrine in the frontal lobe, and the more you know about doctrine the more you know about the Lord. You don’t get closer to the Lord apart from knowledge of His Word. 1 Corinthians 2:16 says, “We have the mind of Christ.” The Bible is the mind of Christ. You do not get to know a person until you know how they think. No one gets to know the Lord until he knows His Word. There is no such thing as drawing close to the Lord through some emotional experience. It is from knowledge of doctrine that we come to know the Lord, and you can’t even know the Lord until you accept Christ as saviour because you are not even equipped to know spiritual phenomena until you believe.

This refers to the status quo of these Galatians when they were unbelievers. Here is something that happened to them before they were saved. They were ignorant of God before they were saved. In that status we read, “ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.” The words ‘ye did service’ is a mistranslation really because the Greek word means ‘you became slaves’ or ‘you were in bondage unto them’, and ‘unto them’ is a reference to the heathen gods which were worshipped. They had no information with regard to God but they had a lot of information about Jupiter or Zeus, etc. They knew a lot about the pantheon of heathenism and Satan himself was behind all of this idolatry. Behind every idol was demonism - 1 Corinthians 10:16-21; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15. The purpose of these heathen religions was to blind the minds of the human race with regard to the person of Christ.

But now these Galatians have accepted Christ as saviour and under the teaching of the apostle Paul they broke free from all of the heathenism which had entangled them before. They were no longer in bondage to heathenism, to these false gods. But what had they done? They leave one trap, polytheism, and they fall right into another trap, the religion of Judaism. Legalistic monotheism is the trap they fall into. They just went from one kind of a religion to another.

“Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, you were in slavery unto them which by nature” - ‘by nature’ is literally ‘by essence’; “are not gods.” You call them gods but they are not gods in essence. In essence they are just idols they are figments of the imagination or they are the result of demon activity. Verse 9 — “But now” — conjunction of contrast: now you are saved, now you are a believer in Jesus Christ; “after that ye have known God” — ‘ye have known’ is a Greek word which is used to know by experience. They have now accepted Christ as saviour and as a result they have learned doctrine from Paul, they have applied this doctrine to their experience in the past with the result that they had a good start in the Christian life; they now know from experience of study, perception. This is an aorist tense referring to those points of time when they had actually studied the Word or listened to the teaching of doctrine as it was presented by the apostles. “After that ye have known God” means God in essence in contrast to the heathen gods which are not gods in essence. He says, “you know God” — active voice, which means the subject produces the action of the verb, and they actually studied or they listened to learn something about God. But now a change: “and are known of God” — from the active to the passive voice. God now knows them. The aorist tense that goes with this passive refers to billions of years ago when God knew every person in Galatia who would receive Christ as saviour. Therefore, billions of years ago God made provision for them in grace to live a life which would glorify Him. And they started in grace but they have now switched over to legalism. They have now picked up a do-it-yourself kit from the Mosaic law; “how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?”

Paul can’t understand how they could turn again to the weak and beggarly elements. To “turn again” is present indicative active, and the present tense means they are in the process of turning. They are in the process of leaving the principles of grace, leaving the doctrines of the Word, and they are in the process of going to legalism, going to spirituality by means of energy of the flesh, by means of the law. The Greek word “weak” means that these elements to which they are turning have no power to save. The law cannot save. The word “beggarly” means no power to provide capital, no power to provide riches, no power to provide wealth. This is a description of Judaism, legalism under the Mosaic law. Judaism is called weak here because it cannot save; it is called beggarly because it cannot produce blessing in time. It can’t produce inner happiness or power or stability or peace or anything else. “How turn ye” — the Galatians themselves have a free will. Everyone has a free will. Of their own free will they are turning away from grace and going back into legalism, another religion. “Ye desire” is present indicative active. They have changed their minds and they keep on lusting again to be in slavery. The word for ‘desire’ is a Greek word which means volition based on emotion. Some people live by their emotions and therefore their desires come from their emotional patterns. He says then, “ye keep on desiring to be once and for all in bondage” — aorist tense.

Verse 10 — “Ye observe,” present middle indicative. The present tense means that they are in the process of going into this particular rat race. The middle voice means you yourselves are doing it, it is reflexive. They have actually chosen this for themselves. This goes with the previous verse where it said “ye desire”, a desire which stems from the emotions. Then we have the indicative mood which is the reality of their apostasy.

They have left one trap — heathenism which is a religious trap — and they have moved into another religious trap — Judaism. Then Paul tells them something about their bondage. Here is their fourfold bondage described: the observation of “days and months, and times, and years.” The first word is ‘days’, referring to the Sabbath. They have become Sabbath keepers now. Then they also observe months, referring to the four fasts of the seventy years captivity. When the Jews went into Babylon they observed four particular fasts, holy days. The first was the fast of the fourth month which recalled the capture of Jerusalem in the reign of Zedekiah - Jeremiah 39:2. Then their was second in the fifth month called the fast of the fifth month and it recalled the destruction of Jerusalem by fire — Jeremiah 52:12,13. Then, a fast of the seventh month which recalled the murder of Gedeliah, the governor of the remnant — Jeremiah 41:1. The fourth fast was the fast of the tenth month which recalled Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem — Jeremiah 39:1. The Galatians are also observing times, referring to the feasts. The feasts in the Old Testament had a very important purpose and they were a bona fide function in the days of Israel. The Passover spoke of Christ dying on the cross for the sins of the world and the observation of the Passover was very significant. Remember that many of these people in the past could not read and they derived their doctrine by watching this. They operated under shadows and had a complete shadow Christology. But we no longer have the shadows, we have historical doctrine because we look back in retrospect. The cross made the difference. So they had the Passover and the Passover speaks of the principle of redemption, reconciliation, and so on. The eating of the lamb was a testimony that they had personally trusted in Christ as saviour. As they ate the lamb the lamb became part of them, so they had partaken of Christ and Christ was a part of them. After the Passover there was the feast of unleavened bread. Unleavened bread was a picture of fellowship with Christ in time — temporal fellowship. Then they had the first fruits in the middle of that. It depicted the resurrection of Christ. They went through certain activities at that time which were very significant and very important but now they had been taken over by religion and they had lost all their significance by simply observing them for spirituality or, in some cases, even for salvation. Then there was the feast of trumpets, the atonement and the tabernacles, the eschatological feasts that dealt with the second advent of Christ and with the Millennial reign of Christ. So they were observing times, which was the seven year feast cycle which the Jews had in the past - the Levitical feasts.

Then, finally they observed years.

Verse 11— “I am afraid for you” — I am anxious about you. “I am afraid” is a present middle indicative and in the middle voice it means I myself am afraid, which means you aren’t. This is a case of where they are too dumb to be afraid, too ignorant of the right doctrine. The present tense indicates that Paul is constantly anxious for them. Why is he afraid? because he spent a lot of time in the Galatian churches and he is afraid that all of that labour is in vain — “I have bestowed labour” — the Greek word means to labour until exhaustion. This is the type of labour that doesn’t come by digging ditches, it comes by studying until your brains fry. The perfect tense means that he had laboured in the past with results that would stand. The indicative mood indicates the fact that his labour in the past on their behalf was a reality.

Verse 12 — Doctrine helps grace. “Brethren [Believers], I beseech” — I beg you. Middle voice: I beseech you for my benefit. For his benefit he is now using the word beseech because he has previously stated in verse 11 ‘I am afraid that I have bestowed my labour to no purpose,’ so I beseech you for my benefit; “be [become] as I am” — get back with doctrine. This is present middle imperative: keep on becoming as I. Paul started in grace, 1 Timothy 1:12-16; he continues in grace, 1 Corinthians 15:7-10. He doesn’t change horses in the middle of the stream.

“Brethren, I keep on beseeching you [for my sake], become [four your benefit] as I am; for I as you” — a lot of these verbs are missing. “And” is repeated twice here and it is not found at all in the Greek. This is elliptical and therefore it is the syntactical way of underlining. The removal of verbs means that Paul is speaking very forcefully — “you haven’t injured me at all.” He is saying, I am not the issue. This is really an idiomatic expression. Paul isn’t saying, I’m not hurt. The issue is not a personality by the name of Paul; doctrine is the issue. This is in the aorist tense which refers to this point of time of apostasy you are not hurting me, you are going contrary to doctrine. So legalism is not simply a personal attack upon Paul though, of course, the Judaisers did that. Rather it is an attack upon the doctrine of God’s Word, as well as God’s plan. When he says, Become as I” he is saying get back to doctrine; get back to the principle of grace.

Verse 13 — Paul’s handicap. “Ye know” — again we have that verb which means knowledge in the frontal lobe. It is always in the perfect tense and it is always used as a present tense to indicate the result of previous information received. This information is buried away in the frontal lobe. This is something they know well; “how through [because of: dia plus the accusative] infirmity of the flesh” — this is a reference to Paul’s chronic eye trouble, mentioned in Galatians 4:15 and 6:11. This handicap made Paul realise that he was dependent on the grace of God rather than his human ability — “I preached the gospel unto you at the first [the first contact].”

Verse 14 — human viewpoint hinders grace. “And my temptation” is literally, “Your temptation.” Paul wasn’t tempted, they were; “which was in my flesh.” Their temptation was that it was very difficult to listen to Paul because he looked so awful. In my flesh means that Paul’s physical appearance plus his repulsive eye troubles made him a horrible orator as far as looks were concerned and therefore they were tempted not to listen, it was that bad. This is human viewpoint. The principle is that human viewpoint hinders grace; “ye despised not” — which means you didn’t make light of it, you didn’t set me at naught because of my repulsive appearance; “nor did you reject” — the word means to spit out, to spew out; “but received me as an angel of God.” The word “angel” here means messenger. The grace of God and the content of his message was what was great about Paul’s message. So in spite of the fact that he was a very poor public speaker and had none of the equipment of a great orator he was received as the god of speech — Hermese. Now there is a little sarcasm behind this. The real good public speakers were the Judaisers. They were great salesmen, eloquent and persuasive. They have persuaded the Galatians to adopt legalism. They had actually courted the Galatians with a great degree of success and Paul now reminds them they are suckers. They have become suckers for the fast line.

Verses 15 and 16 — instability and fickleness also hinder grace.

Verse 15 — “Where is then this blessedness?” The Greek says, “Where, therefore, your blessedness?” It has gone. You lost your blessing when you departed from grace. Principle: God only blesses through the doctrine of grace, through the concept of grace, and God does not bless through any other concept for grace means what God provides apart from human merit, apart from human ability. When a believer becomes involved with legalism he dedicates himself to perpetual misery; “ye spake of” is not found in the original; “for I bare you record” or “I stand as a witness” — “if possible [second class condition: but it isn’t]” — ‘possible’ is a noun. There is no verb here because this word must be underlined; “ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and given them to me.” Why? Because in the past when they heard grace they responded, they received Christ as saviour. They broke from the bondage of heathenism. Grace took them out of slavery to heathenism and made them regenerate individuals. Paul reminds them of their attitude to him as a result of him teaching them grace. They would have pulled out their own eyes and given them to Paul if it had been possible. And now they have changed completely; now they despise Paul; now they have adopted the attitude of the Judaisers toward him. Instability and fickleness hinder grace. They no longer listen to the message of divine doctrine or adopt the divine viewpoint. They have no use for grace, they are too busy working under religiosity.

Verse 16 — “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” Notice what he says: I speak the truth; I tell you the truth, or actually, I keep on telling you the truth — present active participle, linear aktionsart. Everything that he has said so far is true and everything that he will continue to say to the Galatians is true.

Verses 17 and 18: flattery hinders grace.

Verse 17 — “They zealously affect you”; ‘they’ refers to the legalistic Judaisers who seek the place of Paul among the Galatians. They want to be number one with the Galatians; “zealously affect” means they court, they woo. Present linear aktionsart: they are still doing it. The present tense means the action is in the process. God’s business is done through divine power, not through human pressure methods; “not well” — the adverb plus the negative means not truly, not honestly, not justly; “yes, they would exclude you” — this means they would separate you from me [Paul], so that I can’t woo you with grace; “that” introduces a purpose clause; “that they might affect [court or woo] you.” They want to get you away from me so that they can do a good job of wooing you into legalism. They have done everything they can to discredit Paul.

Verse 18 — “But good to be properly courted” - present passive infinitive. The infinitive expresses Paul’s purpose; “and not only when I am present with you.” When Paul is absent they should have those who teach the truth, not the Judaisers, not the legalists. When Paul is present he courts them through grace, through doctrine.

Verse 19 — the filling of the Spirit helps grace. “My little children” (my little born again ones).” Paul reminds them that he led them to the Lord, and they haven’t advanced much since that time. They are still immature; “I travail” means to be in birth pangs. It means that Paul is under extreme pressure, he is in great agony over this situation; “until”, introduces a future temporal clause in the Greek. It hasn’t happened yet; “Christ be formed in you.” What does this mean? There are three phases which are parallel — Ephesians 3:16,17 which says in the Greek, ‘Christ is at home in your life [or body]’; Philippians 1:20, ‘Christ is glorified in your body’; Galatians 4:19, ‘Christ is formed inside of you’.

How is Christ formed in you? The Holy Spirit sustained the humanity of Christ during His earthly ministry and formed in the humanity of Christ specific character. This specific character will be covered in the fifth chapter. This was the character of Christ formed in them by the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can produce these characteristics in them. “Be formed” is an aorist tense: in a point of time when they are filled with the Spirit. Passive voice: they receive this formation, they do not work for it, earn it, or deserve it. The subjunctive mood is potential. It depends on whether they are filled with the Spirit or not. This particular verb has an interesting etymology which comes down to mean a form which expresses itself in a likeness or in an essence. It is the essence of Christ formed in us. This means that the Holy Spirit facilitates the modus operandi of grace for phase two.

The seven points of spirituality, or Christ being formed in you

1. Christ fulfilled the law. He fulfilled Codex #1 by living a perfect life; Codex #2 by dying on the cross; Codex #3 by observing it perfectly. He fulfilled it in the power of the Spirit.

2. Therefore Christ is the end of the law for believers. Believers are not under the Mosaic law - Romans 10:4.

3. But we are not lawless, we have a new law, a higher law, a supernatural law — Romans 8:2-4.

4. The new law is accompanied by a new commandment — Ephesians 5:18, “Be habitually filled with the Spirit.”

5. The purpose of this new law is to glorify Christ and to produce His character in believers by means of the Holy Spirit — Galatians 4:19.

6. The Holy Spirit is the one who glorifies Christ in phase two — John 16:14; 7:39. Therefore the only one who can glorify Christ is the Holy Spirit. When we are filled with the Spirit we glorify Christ because of the one who controls us.

7. Operation glorification takes place inside of the believer — 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19,20.

Verses 20 and 21 — a contrast of desires. In verse 20 we read, I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.” In verse 21 — “Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? We have Paul’s desire in verse 20 and then the Galatian desire in verse 21.

Paul says, “I keep on desiring to be with you” — we have the imperfect tense which is linear aktionsart in past time. Ever since he left them and found out that they had succumbed to legalism he wanted to get back and to be with them. This was a desire which came from his emotions but not a desire which comes from rationalism. In other words, he knew that it was God’s will for him to be elsewhere and doing other things, nevertheless emotionally he wanted to be with the Galatians in order that he might straighten out this matter of legalism.

Just before the words “I desire” here we have one of those connective particles which correlates with that which has gone before in verse 18. “I desire to be present” — the present active infinitive expresses his purpose. It was Paul’s purpose. He wanted to be with the Galatians because to be with them would be to straighten out their problems and their apostasy. The present tense means to be with them in a dramatic way. Then notice the purpose which he expresses: “to change my voice”. The word ‘change’ means to transform it. His voice in the epistle is rough and very tough, and he can transform it and make it very soft and very pleasant by their being straightened out. So the point is that if he was with them he could straighten them out in a hurry and then change his voice. Since he is absent he has to keep pounding the table and shouting. But it is a good thing that he did because here is one of the greatest dissertations in the Word of God on the problem of legalism and the existence of the Judaisers.

“for I stand in doubt of you” — ‘stand in doubt’ is a verb in the present tense which means he is continuously in doubt. There is nothing that has happened yet to change his doubt. When we get to the sixth chapter we will see that he anticipates that things will be changed. The middle voice means that Paul is personally benefited by doubting the Galatians. It is to his benefit to be suspicious and doubting of them because this means he can clarify and straighten out the situation.

Obviously Paul’s desire and God’s will were two different things, and the big application from verse 20 is the fact that often, not always, our desires and God’s will may be two entirely different things. This can only be straightened out by doctrine, by knowing the Word. As far as Paul was concerned his desire was to be with them, but God’s will was for him to be ministering in another place so he would have to write this so that 2000 years later we would have this dissertation existing in God’s Word on the subject of legalism. So all things work together for good.

Verse 21 — “Tell me,” — an imperative. Present linear aktionsart: keep on telling me; “ye that desire to be under the law” — ‘ye that desire’ is a present active participle and it expresses the desire which comes from their emotional pattern. It is a continuous desire, present tense; ‘to be’ is a present active infinitive, and again we have purpose. It is their purpose to be under the law. It is not only a desire but a desire which has been crystallised into a positive purpose; “under,” the preposition of authority or dominion, and we translate it “under the dominion of” or “under the authority of” the law; “do ye not hear the law?” In the Greek this means to hear and to understand. It is one thing to hear, it is something else to understand. The Judaisers had been teaching the law to them and he says, Do you understand it? Do you realise its implications? Do you see how it is absolutely contrary to all that is involved in the concept of grace? Can you see the difference? Can you see that you are getting into something that is contrary to the Word of God?

Now he is going to illustrate. The Judaisers had been teaching them all about Abraham, so he is going to take advantage of that fact and tell them about Abraham. In verses 22 and 23 we have the historical incident. The allegory is based upon something that really happened. This is not pure allegory in that fictitious things are set up and then allegorised. But these things literally, historically, actually happened, and from these literal historical events we have an allegory.

Verse 22 — “For it is written” — perfect tense. It stands written in the past with the result that it continues to be written forever. The passive voice is included here to show that ultimately we receive divine revelation. We do not earn it or deserve it. The fact that we have the completed canon of scripture is grace; “that Abraham had two sons.” There was a vast difference between the two sons. This was an actual historical incident; “the one by a bondmaid.” The word ‘by’ is a Greek preposition for source: one from the source of a bondmaid. The bondmaid means a slave. Ishmael was born technically a slave, even though he is the son of Abraham, because his mother is a slave. Ishmael in the allegory is going to represent the human solutions to man’s problems, i.e. legalism, that which the Judaisers had been teaching, that man can do it himself. This is contrary to the Word of God. Then we read, “the other [Isaac] by a free woman” — literally, ‘out from the source of a free woman’, and the free woman, of course, is Sarah. This brings us down to the historical principle: How did Isaac get into the world? We have to recognise that not only did Isaac come into the world in a supernatural manner but later on he had a supernatural birth.

In order to get a little more information on the historical aspect before we hit the allegorical concept we must go back now to Romans. The first passage is Romans 4:16. Abraham had a son named Ishmael and Abraham at this point was looking at Ishmael as the solution to his problem — the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant. At the time that verse 16 opens up Sarah is 90 years old and barren. “Therefore, it is out of the source of faith, that by grace, to the end that the promise might be stabilised to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is out of the source of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all [he is the pattern].”

Verse 17 — (“As it stands written, I have made thee a father of many nations [Quotation from Genesis 17:5], — the only hope for Abraham and Sarah was this promise. Up until this time Abraham’s name was Abram, which means father of high and windy places. Now it was changed to Abraham which means father of many nations; “before him whom he believed, even God, who makes alive the dead.” This is not talking about resurrection. Abraham is 99 years old, therefore he is no longer able to have children. And because Sarah is also unable to have children it is impossible for them to have children. The dead means the deadness of their reproductive organs; “and [God] calls [in spite of that] those things which are not, as though they were.”

Verse 18 — “Who against hope” — a phrase for the human viewpoint. It was humanly impossible; “believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to the norm of that which was spoken, So shall they seed be.”

Verse 19 — “And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead.” In other words, he did not take cognisance of his hopeless human situation; “when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb.”

Verse 20 — “He staggered not because of the promises of God.” The promises of God stabilised instead of staggered him; “through unbelief, but was strong by means of faith, giving glory to God.”

Verse 21 — “And being fully persuaded that, what God had promised, he [God] was able also to perform.”

That is how Isaac came into the world. God provided again the reproductive organs in response to their faith, and therefore Isaac came into the world.

Romans 9:6 — “Not as though the word of God hath taken no effect. For they are not all Israel, who are of Israel” — Abraham was the first Jew but he was a Gentile before he was a Jew. The Jewish race starts with Abraham and it did not go down through his eldest son, Ishmael. It went down through Isaac. Why? Because Isaac was born again. The secret to the Jewish race was not the physical birth which was emphasised by the Judaisers, the secret to the Jewish race was to be born again. Ishmael was eliminated from the Jewish race for one reason: he was an unbeliever.

Galatians 4:23 — two historical births. “But he of the bondwoman was born after the flesh” — the preposition ‘after’ means according the norm or standard of the flesh. In other words, Ishmael had a natural birth but that is the end of it. That is the only birth he ever had. He lived his whole life according to the standard of the flesh because he was never born again. By way of contrast the birth of Isaac was supernatural, dependent on God’s Word and God’s power, and here we have the illustration of grace; “but [by way of contrast] he of the free woman [Isaac] by the promise” — ‘by the promise’ is another preposition entirely. It is dia plus the genitive and it means ‘by instrumentality of the promise.’ So the birth of Isaac depended upon the grace of God and the promise of God rather than on man’s works. The birth of Isaac depended on who and what God was; the birth of Ishmael depended on who and what Abraham and Hagar were.

The allegory: verses 24-27.

Verse 24 — “Which,” a qualitative relative pronoun which should be translated ‘Which class of things’ [the historical class of things here]; “are an allegory.” So the relative pronoun here is qualitative, indicating the fact that this allegory is based upon something that literally and historically happened. If you have an allegory which is not based on something literal then where do you stop this in the analysis of God’s Word? Then you could make the Bible say anything you want, and Paul would never permit such a thing to happen. God the Holy Spirit who directed Paul’s mind wouldn’t permit it. Even in the allegories of the scripture they are based on something that literally happened, with one exception: a parable. A parable is an allegory or an analogy which is based on something which is fictitious. In a parable you never have a proper name, you have “a certain man”, “a householder,” “a king,” etc. This is one way in which you can distinguish between a parable and an historical analogy.

“Which class of things are to be treated as an allegory” — the word ‘allegory’ is in itself a participle, it is not a noun. So it should be: “Which class of things are being allegorised” — present passive participle; “for these [these two men] are the two covenants [law and grace].” The allegory now emphasises a contrast. And the two covenants are going to be brought out in a very interesting contrast, first by a mountain in a geographical location and then a city in another geographical location. The two covenants are law and grace; “the one from the mount Sinai.” The first is Mount Sinai which is noted in the allegory as well as literally. Mount Sinai is outside of the land, not inside of the land. Not only is it outside of the land but it is in the land of cursing, the land of Ishmael — Arabia, whereas Zion is inside of Jerusalem, inside of the land, the place of blessing. So immediately we have a contrast between cursing and blessing. The law can only curse you; grace can only bless you. It is impossible for grace to curse you; it is impossible for the law to bless you. Yet the Galatians are about to slide into the law. In fact, they have one foot in already. They have one foot on Mount Sinai and they have one foot in Zion. They can’t stay that way because if they are in a little bit of legalism they are in the whole thing — a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

“from” is a preposition connoting ultimate source, not intermediate source or temporary source. The ultimate source of the Mosaic law is Sinai; “which gendereth to bondage” — the word ‘gendereth’ is an old English word not used much any more. It simply means in the Greek to give birth to something. It is a present active participle showing that it is subordinate in the allegory to the word “Sinai.” The allegory says that the Mosaic law gives birth to bondage, and the present tense and the participle says the Mosaic law keeps on giving birth to bondage. If you put a foot in the Mosaic law you are back in slavery. You have been redeemed — Galatians 3:13 — from the cursing of the law and now you are going right back into it. In the analogy we have the phrase, “which is Hagar.” Hagar represents the law and the law can only produce slaves. Hagar was a slave; Hagar produced a slave.

Verse 25 — we now have two Jerusalems. (In verse 24 we have two covenants). This is a very interesting analogy and to follow it you have to realise that what has happened to the Jew. The Judaisers advocated going back to the law. They came from Jerusalem. What has happened to the Jews in Jerusalem, outside of the born again ones? Judaism has become decadent because they have taken Sinai and transferred it into Jerusalem. Now you have Jerusalem in bondage, shackled by Sinai. So then we have another Jerusalem, a heavenly Jerusalem. Paul is saying to the Galatians that when they believed in Christ they wound up in the heavenly Jerusalem, so what on earth to they want to go back to the other dump for? What did the Jews take from Sinai? The Mosaic law. And they took the Mosaic law into Jerusalem and it helped them up to a point but there came a time when the Mosaic law was twisted and distorted, and it became a means of slavery. When Jesus Christ came in the fullness of time religion was bankrupt — the scribes, the Pharisees, the Saduccees were the products of Judaism and the Mosaic law. Yet now these Galatians who had been liberated from the law wanted to go right back into it.

“For this Hagar is mount Sinai.” That isn’t what the Greek says. It says literally, “For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia.” Arabia is a long way from the land of promise. Anyone who identified with Arabia is a long way from grace. The Galatians now have a foot in Arabia, the land of bondage. Those who abandon grace for the law wind up in Arabia; “and answereth to Jerusalem which now is.” Because the law was the heart and centre of religious modus operandi in Jerusalem at this time. “Answereth to” is a military word. It means to be in the same rank as someone. It should be translated, “and is in rank with the Jerusalem which now is [on the earth].” The Jerusalem which now is has moved over to Arabia. What is Paul saying? The religion of Judaism, headquarters Jerusalem, is no longer a bona fide holy city. They have become so legalistic over the past 400 years that they have taken their Jerusalem which now is and they’ve put it out in Arabia, or they have turned Jerusalem into Arabia.

The now Jerusalem: 1. It was in bondage to sin; 2. It was in bondage to the Mosaic law; 3. It was in bondage to its religious leaders; 4. It was in bondage to the Roman empire.

And the Galatians are trying to put themselves under the same bondage that the Judaisers had been putting themselves in for 400 years; “and is in bondage with her children.” “Is in bondage is a present indicative active and it means to be in slavery; “with”, preposition of association — “in accompaniment with her children”; ‘children’ is the Greek word teknon, there is no adult sonship involved here, this is the religious crowd. Teknon is a Greek word which refers to the natural children of Abraham in contrast to the spiritual children of Abraham which would be u(ioj.

Verse 26 — there is another Jerusalem. Since the law has taken over Jerusalem there is no an heavenly Jerusalem. “But” — conjunction of contrast.. In contrast with the new Jerusalem, the lower Jerusalem which existed at that time on the earth and which is a part of the allegory, the Jerusalem which has been taken over by legalism, and so much so that the legalism of the religious crowd has infiltrated the church in Jerusalem and the church in Jerusalem is legalistic and is no longer headquarters for anything. It lost out to Antioch — “which is above.” Here is the second Jerusalem, the contrast. It should literally be “the above Jerusalem”, and it is a reference to the Church. The Church began on the Day of Pentecost, hence Jerusalem is used to refer to the Church. The first Jerusalem: the Jews of Paul’s day in bondage to legalism: the Mosaic law; the second Jerusalem was under freedom and blessing of God’s grace and it refers to the Church, those who were born again, those who appropriated grace at the cross. So the see the problem once again. In the analogy we have the Galatians with one foot in heavenly Jerusalem and one foot in the now Jerusalem, and this will not work. The worst enemy of the Church is legalism.

“is free” — there is no verb here. If there were a verb it wouldn’t be emphatic. Where you expect a verb and find a noun it underlines, it emphasises what is said. So it is: “the above Jerusalem free.” It is not only a noun here but it is a singular noun and it gathers up into one point all of the concepts of grace which lead to the same road — freedom. Grace always leads to freedom. It is very interesting that the gender is feminine; “which is” — present indicative active: ‘which keeps on being’; “the mother of us all.” The word ‘mother’ means mother city, the place where the believer has his heavenly citizenship; “of us all” means all believers.

Verse 27 — the application. The application is now a quotation from Isaiah 54:1. The second Jerusalem, the Church, has more children than the first Jerusalem which is legalism. “It is written” — perfect tense, passive voice: It stands written. The writing is received from God, it stands forever: “Rejoice, thou barren.” Rejoice means to have inner happiness. It is an aorist imperative but is a very interesting form that means rejoice once and for all. The imperative mood is an order but it is a passive imperative, it is a joy we receive from grace. The passive voice is the voice of grace. Everything that comes to us by grace we receive it, we don’t earn it, we don’t deserve it. So this would be translated, “Receive inner happiness”. Now who is the barren one? When Isaiah speaks of barren in chapter 54:1 he is speaking about Israel about to be restored in the future, but Paul uses this phrase in application to the Church. Here he regards Sarah as the one who is hopelessly barren in a hopeless situation, and therefore in a hopeless situation you must have outside help. The outside help is grace. “Rejoice ye thou barren” means those who are helpless. You can never serve the Lord until you know that you are helpless and must use what God has provided. The Galatians do not know this, obviously.

The next phrase: “the barren that bearest not” — present active participle, you keep on not bearing, a hopeless situation. Hopelessness and helplessness is the basis of grace. God does not help those who help themselves, that is a cliché which is not found in the Bible. Question: How could Sarah keep on having inner happiness if she was in a hopeless situation? Because she had the Word and the Word spells out divine provision, divine deliverance, divine faithfulness. That’s why. it is the same with you and with me; “break forth and cry.” The word “break forth” means to shatter or to break in pieces or to rend. This is what happens to a person who is under the law. They are shattered. It is an aorist active imperative and for the one who is under the law, he is shattered. He might as well once and for all be shattered. “Cry” is the wail of those who are under the law - aorist active imperative. When a person is under the law in a point of time they might as well cry, they have perpetuated in their life misery; “thou that travailest not” — to make an effort to bring forth that which is spiritual. You can’t do it, it has to be done by God. You are not in the throws of childbirth. Why? because you are trying to do it in your own strength.

Notice Romans 9:30 — “What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which did not pursue righteousness” — they didn’t try to keep the law to be saved; “have attained righteousness.” They didn’t try to keep the law yet they have once and for all attained righteousness, “even the righteousness which is by faith”.

Verse 31 — “But Israel, which pursued righteousness based on the law.” That’s why they couldn’t travail. They kept bursting out and trying but they couldn’t bare. Why? because they pursued righteousness of the law; “did not attain to the law of righteousness.”

Verse 32 — “Why? Because they sought it not by faith but, as it were, by the works of the law, For they stumbled at the stumbling stone”, and so on. They tried and the cried but they couldn’t travail, they couldn’t produce.

So here is the contrast in the middle of Galatians 4:27 — “for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband (referring to Israel).” The desolate is applied here to the church. Sarah’s prolonged barrenness is used as the analogy to the supernatural character of the new birth. And the principle of grace is a hopeless situation which can only be remedied by grace. Notice that “the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband”. Many more children means grace produces but legalism cannot.

Verse 28 — application. “Now we [believers], brethren, as Isaac.” The word ‘as’ is a preposition and it means according to the standard of Isaac — “are the children of promise.” Isaac was child who came by promise; we are children by promise.” It is better translated: “But we and only we, brethren, according to the standard of Isaac, are the children of promise.” The word ‘children’ here are the born ones of promise, which is toe be born again.

Verses 29-30 — two different attitudes.

Verse 29 — the attitude of legalism toward grace. “But as then he that was born according to the flesh persecuted him that was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.” “As the” refers to Ishmael who persecuted Isaac. He went around and mocked Isaac. And just as Ishmael persecuted Isaac so legalism always persecutes grace. This is the history of the middle ages. In the middle ages Romanism was legalism and legalism persecuted grace wherever it found it. That is why history refers to it as the dark ages. For four hundred years they had the darkest ages simply because legalism was in the saddle persecuting grace wherever it found grace. Romanism had four hundred years of the most vicious persecution the world has ever known, persecuting those who stuck to the Bible. The word “persecuted” in verse 29 is imperfect linear aktionsart — “kept on persecuting.” Right now, in this day and age, there are legalists who are persecuting grace, who are maligning grace, who are running down grace. Wherever you find legalism you find legalism trying to bully grace.

Verse 30 — the attitude of grace toward legalism. “Nevertheless, what saith the scripture?” — a reference to Genesis 21:9,10. What should be the attitude of grace toward legalism? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son.” The attitude should be one of separation. ‘Cast out’ is an aorist active imperative: aorist tense, in a point of time when it is discovered; the imperative is an order. This means to cast out in the sense of separating them from you. Separation is the attitude of grace toward legalism; persecution is the attitude of legalism toward grace. And there is one obvious principle from these two verses: Law and grace cannot coexist and more than communism and free enterprise can coexist. Why? “For the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.” They cannot coexist.

Verse 31 — “So then, brethren, we are not the children of the bondwoman, but of the free.” ‘So then’ is literally, therefore. Believers are children of the free. Believers, therefore, who put one foot into legalism line up with the unbeliever in persecuting the Church. It has been happening for centuries.

Law and grace cannot coexist; legalism cannot inherit with grace; there is not eternal inheritance for legalism. Believers are under grace and therefore they must stay away from legalism. But that doesn’t mean they do. Lack of understanding of doctrine means lack of discernment, lack of discernment means that believers will fall into legalism every time. God does not give us what we deserve but what Christ deserves. God gives us what He gives us because of who God is, not because of who we are. The law can only make us slaves, grace can only make us sons, therefore you Galatians, keep your feet out of legalism.