Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
It’s Time to Grow Up!
One of the tragedies of legalism is that it gives the appearance of spiritual maturity when, in reality, it leads the believer back into a “second childhood” of Christian experience. The Galatian Christians, like most believers, wanted to grow and go forward for Christ, but they were going about it in the wrong way. Their experience is not too different from that of Christians today who get involved in various legalistic movements, hoping to become better Christians. Their motives may be right, but their methods are wrong.
This is the truth Paul was trying to get across to his beloved converts in Galatia. The Judaizers had bewitched them into thinking that the law would make them better Christians. Their old nature felt an attraction for the law because the law enabled them to do things and measure external results. As they measured themselves and their achievements, they felt a sense of accomplishment and no doubt, a little bit of pride. They thought they were going forward, when actually they were regressing.
Such people are in a situation similar to the airplane passengers who heard their pilot announce: “Our navigator has lost our position, folks, and we have been flying rather aimlessly for over an hour. That’s the bad news. But the good news is that we are making very good time.”
Paul took three approaches in this section as he sought to convince the Galatians that they did not need legalism in order to live the Christian life. They had all they needed in Jesus Christ.
1. HE EXPLAINS THEIR ADOPTION (4:1–7)
Among the blessings of the Christian experience is adoption (Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5). We do not enter God’s family by adoption the way a homeless child would enter a loving family in our own society. The only way to get into God’s family is by regeneration, being “born again” (John 3:3).
The New Testament word for adoption means “to place as an adult son.” It has to do with our standing in the family of God: We are not little children but adult sons with all of the privileges of sonship.
It is unfortunate that many translations of the New Testament do not make a distinction between children of God and sons of God. We are the children of God by faith in Christ, born into God’s family. But every child of God is automatically placed into the family as a son, and as a son, he has all the legal rights and privileges of a son. When a sinner trusts Christ and is saved, as far as his condition is concerned, he is a “spiritual babe” who needs to grow (1 Peter 2:2–3); but as far as his position is concerned, he is an adult son who can draw on the Father’s wealth and who can exercise all the wonderful privileges of sonship.
We enter God’s family by regeneration, but we enjoy God’s family by adoption. The Christian does not have to wait to begin enjoying the spiritual riches he has in Christ. “If a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Gal. 4:7). Now follows Paul’s discussion about adoption. He reminds his readers of three facts.
(1) What we were: children in bondage (vv. 1–3). No matter how wealthy a father may be, his infant son or toddling child cannot really enjoy that wealth. In the Roman world, the children of wealthy people were cared for by slaves. No matter who his father was, the child was still a child, under the supervision of a servant. In fact, the child himself was not much different from the servant who guarded him. The servant was commanded by the master of the house, and the child was commanded by the servant.
This was the spiritual condition of the Jews under the age of the law. The law, you recall, was the “guardian” that disciplined the nation and prepared the people for the coming of Christ (Gal. 3:23–25). So, when the Judaizers led the Galatians back into legalism, they were leading them not only into religious bondage, but also into moral and spiritual infancy and immaturity.
Paul states that the Jews were, like little children, in bondage to “the elements of the world.” This word elements means “the basic principles, the ABCs.” For some fifteen centuries, Israel had been in kindergarten and grade school, learning their “spiritual ABCs,” so that they would be ready when Christ would come. Then they would get the full revelation, for Jesus Christ is “the Alpha and the Omega” (Rev. 22:13); He encompasses all the alphabet of God’s revelation to man. He is God’s last Word (Heb. 1:1–3).
Legalism, then, is not a step toward maturity; it is a step back into childhood. The law was not God’s final revelation; it was but the preparation for that final revelation in Christ. It is important that a person know his ABCs because they are the foundation for understanding all of the language. But the man who sits in a library and recites the ABCs, instead of reading the great literature that is around him, is showing that he is immature and ignorant, not mature and wise. Under the law, the Jews were children in bondage, not sons enjoying liberty.
(2) What God did: redeemed us (vv. 4–5). The expression the fullness of the time (Gal. 4:4) refers to that time when the world was providentially ready for the birth of the Savior. Historians tell us that the Roman world was in great expectation, waiting for a Deliverer, at the time when Jesus was born. The old religions were dying; the old philosophies were empty and powerless to change men’s lives. Strange new mystery religions were invading the empire. Religious bankruptcy and spiritual hunger were everywhere. God was preparing the world for the arrival of His Son.
From the historical point of view, the Roman Empire itself helped prepare the world for the birth of the Savior. Roads connected city with city, and all cities ultimately with Rome. Roman laws protected the rights of citizens, and Roman soldiers guarded the peace. Thanks to both the Greek and Roman conquests, Latin and Greek were known across the empire. Christ’s birth at Bethlehem was not an accident; it was an appointment: Jesus came in “the fullness of the time.” (And it is worth noting He will come again when the time is ready.)
Paul was careful to point out the dual nature of Jesus Christ (Gal. 4:4), that He is both God and man. As God, Jesus “came forth” (John 16:28); but as man, He was “made of a woman.” The ancient promise said that the Redeemer would be of the woman’s seed (Gen. 3:15); and Jesus fulfilled that promise (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18–25).
Paul has told us who came—God’s Son; he has told us when He came and how He came. Now he explains why He came: “to redeem them that were under the law” (Gal. 4:5). Redeem is the same word Paul used earlier (3:13); it means “to set free by paying a price.” A man could purchase a slave in any Roman city (there were about sixty million slaves in the empire), either to keep the slave for himself or to set him free. Jesus came to set us free. So, to go back into the law is to undo the very work of Christ on the cross. He did not purchase us to make us slaves but sons! Under law, the Jews were mere children, but under grace, the believer is a son of God with an adult standing in God’s family.
Perhaps at this point a chart will help us understand better the contrast between being a “child of God” and a “son of God.”
(3) What we are: sons and heirs (vv. 6–7). Once again, the entire Trinity is involved in our spiritual experience: God the Father sent the Son to die for us, and God the Son sent His Spirit to live in us. The contrast here is not between immature children and adult sons, but between servants and sons. Like the prodigal son, the Galatians wanted their Father to accept them as servants, when they really were sons (Luke 15:18–19). The contrasts are easy to see.
The son has the same nature as the father, but the servant does not. When we trust Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us; this means we are “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). The law could never give a person God’s nature within. All it could do was reveal to the person his desperate need for God’s nature. So, when the believer goes back into law, he is denying the very divine nature within, and he is giving the old nature (the flesh) opportunity to go to work.
The son has a father, while the servant has a master. No servant could ever say “Father” to his master. When the sinner trusts Christ, he receives the Holy Spirit within, and the Spirit tells him that he is a child of the Father (Rom. 8:15–16). It is natural for a baby to cry, but not for a baby to talk to his father. When the Spirit enters the heart, He says, “Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6); and in response, the believer cries, “Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15). The word Abba is an Aramaic word that is the equivalent of our English word papa. This shows the closeness of the child to the Father. No servant has this.
The son obeys out of love, while the servant obeys out of fear. The Spirit works in the heart of the believer to quicken and increase his love for God. “The fruit of the Spirit is love” (Gal. 5:22). “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy [Spirit]” (Rom. 5:5). The Judaizers told the Galatians that they would become better Christians by submitting to the law, but the law can never produce obedience. Only love can do that. “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
The son is rich, while the servant is poor. We are both “sons and heirs.” And since we are adopted—placed as adult sons in the family—we may begin drawing on our inheritance right now. God has made available to us the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:7; 2:7), the riches of His glory (Phil. 4:19), the riches of His goodness (Rom. 2:4), and the riches of His wisdom (11:33ff.)—and all of the riches of God are found in Christ (Col. 1:19; 2:3).
The son has a future, while the servant does not. While many kind masters did provide for their slaves in old age, it was not required of them. The father always provides for the son (2 Cor. 12:14).
In one sense, our adoption is not yet final, because we are awaiting the return of Christ and the redemption of our bodies (Rom. 8:23). Some scholars think that this second stage in our adoption corresponds to the Roman practice when a man adopted someone outside his family to be his son. First there was a private ceremony at which the son was purchased; then there was a public ceremony at which the adoption was declared openly before the officials.
Christians have experienced the first stage: We have been purchased by Christ and indwelt by the Spirit. We are awaiting the second stage: the public declaration at the return of Christ when “we shall be like him” (1 John 3:1–3). We are “sons and heirs,” and the best part of our inheritance is yet to come (see 1 Peter 1:1–5).
2. HE LAMENTS THEIR REGRESSION (4:8–11)
What really happened when the Galatians turned from grace to law? To begin with, they abandoned liberty for bondage. When they were ignorant sinners, they had served their false gods and had experienced the tragedy of such pagan slavery. But then they had trusted Christ and been delivered from superstition and slavery. Now they were abandoning their liberty in Christ and going back into bondage. They were dropping out of the school of grace and enrolling in the kindergarten of law! They were destroying all the good work the Lord had done in them through Paul’s ministry.
The phrase weak and beggarly elements tells us the extent of their regression. They were giving up the power of the gospel for the weakness of law, and the wealth of the gospel for the poverty of law. The law never made anybody rich or powerful; on the contrary, the law could only reveal man’s weakness and spiritual bankruptcy. No wonder Paul weeps over these believers as he sees them abandon liberty for bondage, power for weakness, and wealth for poverty.
How were they doing this? By adopting the Old Testament system of religion with its special observations of “days, and months, and times, and years” (Gal. 4:10).
Does this mean that it is wrong for Christians to set aside one day a year to remember the birth of Christ? Or that a special observance of the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, or the blessing of the harvest in autumn is a sin?
Not necessarily. If we observe special days like slaves, hoping to gain some spiritual merit, then we are sinning. But if in the observance we express our liberty in Christ and let the Spirit enrich us with His grace, then the observance can be a spiritual blessing.
The New Testament makes it clear that Christians are not to legislate religious observances for one another (Rom. 14:4–13). We are not to praise the man who celebrates the day, nor are we to condemn the man who does not celebrate. But if a man thinks he is saving his soul, or automatically growing in grace, because of a religious observance, then he is guilty of legalism.
Our evangelical churches have many different kinds of observances, and it is wrong for us to go beyond the Word of God in comparing, criticizing, or condemning. But all of us must beware of that legalistic spirit that caters to the flesh, leads to pride, and makes the outward event a substitute for the inward experience.
3. HE SEEKS THEIR AFFECTION (4:12–18)
Paul was a wonderful spiritual father; he knew just how to balance rebuke with love. Now he turns from “spanking” to “embracing” as he reminds the believers of their love for him and his love for them. At one point they were willing to sacrifice anything for Paul, so great was their love, but now he had become their enemy. The Judaizers had come in and stolen their affection.
Bible students wish Paul had been more explicit here, because we are not sure just what events he is talking about. When Paul had originally visited them, he was suffering from some physical affliction. If, as noted in Galatians 1, Paul wrote this letter to the churches of south Galatia, then he is referring to his first missionary journey, recorded in Acts 13—14. Apparently Paul had not intended to visit these cities but was forced to do so because of some bodily infirmity. We can only speculate as to what this was. Some have suggested malaria; others, an affliction of the eyes (see Gal. 4:15). Whatever it was, it must have made Paul somewhat repulsive in appearance, because he commended the Galatians for the way they received him in spite of the way he looked. To them, he was an angel of God. It is a wonderful thing when people accept God’s servants not because of their outward appearance but because they represent the Lord and bring His message.
Now Paul asked them, “What has happened to that love? What has happened to the blessedness—the happiness—you experienced when you heard the gospel and trusted Christ?” Of course, Paul knew what had happened: The Judaizers had come in and stolen their hearts.
One of the marks of a false teacher is that he tries to attract other men’s converts to himself and not simply to the truth of the Word or to the person of Jesus Christ. It was not the Judaizers who originally came to Galatia and led them to Christ; it was Paul. Like the cultists today, these false teachers were not winning lost sinners to Christ but were stealing converts from those who were truly serving the Lord. Paul had proved to be their loving friend. He had “become as they were” by identifying himself with them (Gal. 4:12). Now they were turning away from Paul and following false shepherds.
Paul told them the truth, but the Judaizers told them lies. Paul sought to glorify Christ, but the Judaizers glorified themselves and their converts. “Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them” (Gal. 4:17 NIV).
A true servant of God does not “use people” to build up himself or his work; he ministers in love to help people know Christ better and glorify Him. Beware of that religious worker who wants your exclusive allegiance because he is the only one who is right. He will use you as long as he can and then drop you for somebody else—and your fall will be a painful one. The task of the spiritual leader is to get people to love and follow Christ, not to promote himself and his ministry.
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Prov. 27:6). Paul had proved his love to the Galatians by telling them the truth, but they would not accept it. They were enjoying the “kisses” of the Judaizers, not realizing that these kisses were leading them into bondage and sorrow. Christ had made them sons and heirs, but they were rapidly becoming slaves and beggars.
They had not lost the experience of salvation—they were still Christians, but they were losing the enjoyment of their salvation and finding satisfaction in their works instead. Sad to say, they did not realize their losses. They actually thought they were becoming better Christians by substituting law for grace, and the religious deeds of the flesh for the fruit of the Spirit.
Is your Christian life moving forward into liberty or backward into bondage? Think carefully before you answer.
QUESTIONS FOR PERSONAL REFLECTION OR GROUP DISCUSSION
1. What does adoption mean for a Christian?
2. How is legalism a step back into childhood?
3. What does “redemption” mean? How is it important to you?
4. What are some differences between being a servant and being a son? How does this apply to the Christian life?
5. Is there anything you would do differently if you more fully saw yourself as God’s adult son and heir? If so, what?
6. “If we observe special days like slaves, hoping to gain some spiritual merit, then we are sinning.” What role, if any, do special days have in your Christian life?
7. What are some characteristics of a false teacher?
8. “The task of the spiritual leader is to get people to love and follow Christ, not to promote himself and his ministry.” Give some examples of both of these kinds of leaders.
9. How does legalism cause Christians to lose the “enjoyment” of their salvation?
10. What will enjoying your salvation involve for you?