Commentary on Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians Thessalonians Timothy Titus and Philemon John Calvin
John Calvin
Galatians 4:6-11
Galatians 4:6-11
6. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
6. Quoniam autem estis filii, misit Deus Spiritum Filii sui in corda vestra, clamantem, Abba, Pater.
7. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
7. Itaque non amplius es servus, sed filius; si antem filius, etiam haeres Dei per Christum.
8. Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
8. At tunc quum nondum cognoveratis Deum, serviebatis eis qui natura non sunt dii.
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 desire again to be in bondage?
9. Nunc autem postquam cognovistis Deum, vel potius cogniti fuistis a Deo; quomode convertimini rursus ad infirma et egena elementa, quibus rursus Deuteronomy integro servire vultis?
10. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 10. Dies observatis, et menses, et tempera, et annos. 11. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. 11. Timeo Deuteronomy vobis, ne forte in vobis frustra laboraverim. 6. And because ye are sons. The adoption which he had mentioned, is proved to belong to the Galatians by the following argument. This adoption must have preceded the testimony of adoption given by the Holy Spirit; but the effect is the sign of the cause. In venturing, he says, to call God your Father, you have the advice and direction of the Spirit of Christ; therefore it is certain that you are the sons of God. This agrees with what is elsewhere taught by him, that the Spirit is the earnest and pledge of our adoption, and gives to us a well-founded belief that God regards us with a father's love.
hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.'' (2 Corinthians 1:22.)
he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.'' (2 Corinthians 5:5.)
But it will be objected, do not wicked men, too, carry their rashness so far as to proclaim that God is their Father? Do they not frequently, with greater confidence than others, utter their false boasts? I reply, Paul's language does not relate to idle boasting, or to the proud opinion of himself which any man may entertain, but to the testimony of a pious conscience which accompanies the new birth. This argument can have no weight but in the case of believers, for