Ver. 1–3. Now I Say, That The Heir, As Long As He Is A Child, Differeth Nothing From A Servant, Though He Be Lord Of All
CHAPTER 4
VER. 1–3. NOW I SAY, THAT THE HEIR, AS LONG AS HE IS A CHILD, DIFFERETH NOTHING FROM A SERVANT, THOUGH HE BE LORD OF ALL; BUT IS UNDER TUTORS AND GOVERNORS, UNTIL THE TIME APPOINTED OF THE FATHER. EVEN SO WE, WHEN WE WERE CHILDREN, WERE IN BONDAGE UNDER THE ELEMENTS OF THE WORLD.
The word child in this place denotes not age but understanding; meaning that God had from the beginning designed for us these gifts, but, as we yet continued childish, He let us be under the elements of the world, that is, new moons and sabbaths, for these days are regulated by the course of sun and moon. Now those who would bring you under the Law, act just as if they were to draw you back to years gone by when you will come to full age. And see what is the consequence of observing days; the Lord, the Master of the house, the Sovereign Ruler, is thereby reduced to the rank of a servant.
Ver. 4, 5. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent His Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Here he states two objects and effects of the Incarnation, deliverance from evil and supply of good, things which none could compass but Christ. They are these; deliverance from the curse of the Law, and promotion to sonship. Fitly does he say, that we might receive, [be paid,] implying that it was due; for the promise was of old time made for these objects to Abraham, as the Apostle has himself shewn at great length. And how does it appear that we have become sons? he has told us one mode, in that we have put on Christ who is the very Son; and now he mentions another, in that we have received the Spirit of adoption.
Ver. 6, 7. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Had not we been first made sons, we could not have called Him Father. If then grace hath made us freemen for slaves, for children full-grown, for aliens heirs and sons, is it not utter absurdity and stupidity to desert this grace, and to turn away backwards?
Ver. 8, 9. Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. 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.
Here turning to the Gentile believers he says that it is an idolatry, this rigid observance of days, and now incurs a severe punishment. To enforce this, and inspire them with a deeper anxiety, he calls the elements “not by nature Gods.” And his meaning is,—Then indeed, as being benighted and bewildered, ye lay grovelling upon the earth, but now that ye have known God or rather are known of Him, how great and bitter will be the chastisement ye draw upon you, if, after such a treatment, ye relapse into the same disease. It was not by your own pains that ye found out God, but while ye continued in error, He drew you to Himself. He says weak and beggarly elements, in that they avail nothing towards the goods held out to us.
Ver. 10. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Hence is plain that their teachers were preaching to them not only circumcision, but also the feast-days and new-moons.
Ver. 11. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
Observe the tender compassion of the Apostle; they were tossed to and fro, and he is in trembling and dread. And hence he has put it so as thoroughly to shame them, I have bestowed labour upon you, saying, as it were, Frustrate not the so great labour of my brow. By saying I fear, and subjoining the word lest, he both inspires alarm, and encourages good hope. He says not I have laboured in vain, but lest, which is as much as to say, the wreck has not happened, but I see the storm big with it; so I am in fear, yet not in despair; ye have the power to set all right, and to return into your former calm. Then, as it were stretching out a hand to them thus tempest-tost, he introduces his own person in these words,
Ver. 12. Be as I am; for I am as ye are.
This is addressed to his Jewish disciples, and he brings his own example forward, to induce them thereby to abandon their old customs. Though you had none other for a pattern, he says, to look at me only would have sufficed for such a change, and for your taking courage. Therefore gaze on me; I too was once in your state of mind, especially so; I had a burning zeal for the Law; yet afterwards I feared not to abandon the Law, to withdraw from that rule of life. And this ye know full well how obstinately I clung hold of Judaism, and how with yet greater force I let it go. He does well to place this last in order: for most men, though they are given a thousand reasons, and those just ones, are more readily influenced by what comes home to them, and more firmly hold to that which they see done by others.
Ver. 12. Brethren, I beseech you, ye have not injured me at all.
Observe how he again addresses them by a title of honour, which was a hint moreover of the doctrine of grace. Having chid them seriously, and brought things together from all quarters, and shewn their violations of the Law, and hit them on many sides, he gives in and tempers his words, speaking more tenderly. For as to do nothing but temper causes negligence, so to be constantly talked at with sharpness sours a man; so that discretion fittingly comes in according to the particular case. See then how he excuses to them what he has said, and shews that it proceeded not simply because he did not like them, but from anxiety. After giving them a deep cut, he pours in this encouragement like oil; and, shewing that his words were not words of haste or enmity, he reminds them of the love which he had evinced towards them, mixing his self-vindication with praises. Therefore he says, I beseech you, ye have not injured me at all.
Ver. 13, 14. Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the Gospel unto you at the first. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, [nor rejected.]
Not to have injured one is indeed no great thing, for no man whatever would choose to hurt wantonly and without object to annoy another who had never injured him. But for you, not only have ye not injured me, but ye have shewn me great and inexpressible kindness, and it is impossible that one who has been treated with such attention should speak thus from any malevolent motive. My language then cannot be caused by ill-will; it follows, that it proceeds from affection and solicitude. I beseech you, Ye have not injured me at all; ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the Gospel unto you. What can be gentler than this holy soul, what sweeter, or more affectionate! And the words he had already used, arose not from an unreasoning anger, nor from a passionate emotion, but from much solicitude. And why do I say, ye have not injured me? Rather have ye evinced a great and sincere regard for me. For ye know, he says, how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the Gospel unto you; and my temptation which was in the flesh ye despised not, neither rejected. What does he mean? While I preached to you, I was driven about, I was scourged, I suffered a thousand deaths, yet ye thought no scorn of me; for this is meant by my temptation which was in the flesh ye despised not, neither rejected. Observe his spiritual skill; in the midst of his self-vindication, he again appeals to their feelings by shewing what he had suffered for their sakes. This however, says he, did not at all offend you, nor did ye reject me on account of my sufferings and persecutions; or, as he now calls them, his infirmity and temptation.
Ver. 14. But received me as an Angel of God.
Was it not then absurd in them to receive him as an Angel of God, when he was persecuted and driven about, and then not to receive him when pressing on them what was fitting?
Ver. 15, 16. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
Here he shews perplexity and amazement, and desires to learn of themselves the reason of their change. Who, says he, hath deceived you, and caused a difference in your disposition towards me? Are ye not the same who attended and ministered to me, counting me more precious than your own eyes? what then has happened? whence this dislike? whence this suspicion? Is it because I have told you the truth? You ought on this very account to have paid me increased honour and attention; instead of which I am become your enemy, because I tell you the truth,—for I can find no other reason but this. Observe too what humbleness of mind appears in his defence of himself; he proves that his language could not possibly have proceeded from unkind feeling, not by his conduct to them, but by theirs to him. For he says not; How is it supposable that one, who has been scourged and driven about, and ill-treated a thousand things for your sakes, should now have schemes against you? But he argues from what they had reason to boast of, saying, How can one who has been honoured by you, and received as an Angel, repay you by conduct the very opposite?
Ver. 17. They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.
It is a wholesome emulation which leads to an imitation of virtue, but an evil one, which seduces from virtue him who is in the right path. And this is the object of those persons, who would deprive you of perfect knowledge, and impart to you that which is mutilated and spurious, and this for no other purpose than that they may occupy the rank of teachers, and degrade you, who now stand higher than themselves, to the position of disciples. For this is the meaning of the words that ye might affect them. But I, says he, desire the reverse, that ye may surpass them, and become a pattern of a higher perfection: a thing which actually happened when I was present with you. Wherefore he adds,
Ver. 18. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.
Here he hints that his absence had been the cause of this, and that the true blessing was for disciples to hold right opinions not only in the presence but also in the absence of their Master. But as they had not arrived at this point of perfection, he makes every effort to place them there.
Ver. 19. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.
Observe his perplexity and perturbation, Brethren, I beseech you: My little children, of whom I travail in birth again: he resembles a mother trembling for her children. Until Christ be formed in you. Behold his paternal tenderness, behold this despondency worthy of an Apostle. The cry which he utters is far more piercing than of a woman in travail;—Ye have defaced the likeness, ye have lost kindred, ye have changed the form, ye need another regeneration and refashioning; nevertheless I still call you children, abortions and monsters though ye be. However, he does not express himself in this way, but spares them, unwilling to strike, and to inflict wound upon wound. Wise physicians do not cure those who have fallen into a long sickness all at once, but little by little, lest they should faint and die. And so is it with this blessed man; for these pangs are more severe than any bodily ones, inasmuch as the force of affection was stronger, and the offence of no trivial kind.—What I have ever said and ever will say is this, that a slight fault obliterates the appearance and distorts the figure of the whole.
Ver. 20. I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice.
Observe his warmth, his inability to refrain himself, and to conceal these his feelings; such is the nature of love; nor is he satisfied with words, but desires to be present with them, and so, as he says, to change his voice, that is, to change to lamentation, to shed tears, to turn every thing into mourning. For he could not by letter shew his tears or cries of grief, and therefore he ardently desires to be present with them.
Ver. 20. For I stand in doubt of you,
I know not, says he, what to say, or what to think. How is it, that ye who by dangers, which ye endured for the faith’s sake, and by miracles, which ye performed through faith, had ascended to the highest heaven, should suddenly be brought to such a depth of degradation as to be drawn aside to circumcision or sabbaths, and should rely wholly upon Judaizers? Hence in the beginning he says, I marvel that ye are so soon removed, and here, I stand in doubt of you, as if he said, What to speak, what to utter, what to think, I know not. And so he must needs weep, as the prophets do when in perplexity; for not only admonition but mourning also is a form in which solicitous attention is often manifested. And what he said in his speech to the Milesians, By the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one … with tears, he says here also, and to change my voice. When we find ourselves in embarrassments and difficulties unlooked for, and are being defeated, we are driven to shed tears; and so Paul admonished them sharply, then touched their affections, then in turn soothed them, and lastly he wept. And this weeping is not only a reproof but a blandishment; it does not exasperate like reproof, nor relax like indulgent treatment, but is a mixed remedy, and of great efficacy in the way of exhortation. Having thus softened and powerfully engaged their hearts by his tears, he again advances to the contest, and lays down a larger proposition, proving that the Law itself was opposed to its being kept. Before, he produced the example of Abraham, but now (what is more cogent) he brings forward the Law itself injoining them not to keep itself, but to leave off. So that, says he, you must abandon the Law, if you would obey it, for this is its own wish: this however he does not say expressly, but enforces it in another mode, mixing up with it an account of facts.
Ver. 21. Tell me, he says, ye that desire to be under the Law, do ye not hear the Law?
He says rightly, ye that desire, for it belonged not to the order of events, but to their own unseasonable particularity. It is the Book of Creation which he here calls the Law, which name he often gives to the whole Old Testament.
Ver. 22. For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
He returns again to Abraham, not in the way of repetition, but, inasmuch as the Patriarch’s fame was great among the Jews, to shew that the types had their origin from thence, and that present events were pictured aforetime in him. Having previously shewn 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 freewoman, he shews that they were not only his sons, but sons in the same sense as he that was freeborn and noble. Such is the power of Faith.
Ver. 23. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
What is the meaning of after the flesh? Having said that Faith united us to Abraham, and it having seemed incredible to his hearers, that those who were not begotten by Abraham should be called his sons, he proves that this paradox had actually happened long ago; for that Isaac, born not according to the order of nature, nor the law of marriage, nor the power of the flesh, was yet truly his own son. He was the issue of bodies that were dead, and of a womb that was dead; his conception was not by the flesh, nor his birth by the seed, for the womb was dead both through age and barrenness, but the Word of God fashioned Him. Not so in the case of the bondman; He came of the necessity of nature, and after the manner of marriage. Nevertheless, he that was not according to the flesh was more honourable than he that was born after the flesh. Therefore let it not disturb you that ye are not born after the flesh; for from the very reason that ye are not so born, are ye most of all Abraham’s kindred. The being born after the flesh renders one not more honourable, but less so, for a birth not after the flesh is more marvellous and more spiritual. And this is plain from the case of those who were born of old time; Ishmael, for instance, who was born according to the flesh, was not only a bondman, but was cast out of his father’s house; but Isaac, who was born according to the promise, being a true son and free, was lord of all.
Ver. 24. Which things are an allegory.
Contrary to usage, he calls a type an allegory; his meaning is as follows; this history not only declares that which appears on the face of it, but announces somewhat farther, whence it is called an allegory. And what hath it announced? no less than all the things now present.
Ver. 24. For these, he says, are the two Covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
These: who? the mothers of those children, Sarah and Agar: and what are the two Covenants? they are the two Laws. As the names of the women were given in the history, he abides by this designation of the two races, shewing how much follows from the very names. How from the names?
Ver. 25. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia:
The bond-woman was called Agar, and “Agar” is the word for Mount Sinai in the language of that country. So that it is necessary that all who are bom of the Old Covenant should be bondmen, for that mountain where the Old Covenant was delivered hath a name in common with the bondwoman. And it includes Jerusalem, for this is the meaning of,
Ver. 25. And answereth to Jerusalem which now is.
That is, it borders on, and is contiguous to it.
Ver. 25. And is in bondage with her children.
What follows from hence? Not only that she was in bondage and brought forth bondmen, but that this Covenant is so too, whereof the bondwoman was a type. For Jerusalem is adjacent to the mountain of the same name with the bondwoman, and in this mountain the Covenant was delivered. Now where is the type of Sarah?
Ver. 26. But Jerusalem which is above is free:
Those therefore, who are born of her are not bondmen. Thus the type of the Jerusalem below was Agar, as is plain from the mountain being so called; but of that which is above is the Church. Nevertheless he is not content with these types, but adds the testimony of Isaiah to what he has spoken. Having said that Jerusalem which is above is the Mother of us all, and having given that name to the Church, he cites the suffrage of the Prophet in his favour,
Ver. 27. Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not, break forth and cry thou that travailest not, for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Who is this who before was barren and desolate? Clearly it is the Church of the Gentiles, that was before deprived of the knowledge of God? Who she which hath an husband? plainly the Synagogue. Yet the barren woman surpassed her in the number of her children, for the other embraces one nation, but the children of the Church have filled the country of the Greeks and of the Barbarians, the earth and sea, the whole habitable world. Observe how Sarah by acts, and the Prophet by words, have described the events about to befal us. Observe too, that he whom Isaiah called barren, Paul hath proved to have many children, which also happened typically in the case of Sarah. For she too, when barren, became the mother of a numerous progeny. This however does not suffice Paul, but he carefully follows out the mode whereby the barren woman became a mother, that in this particular likewise the type might harmonize with the truth. Wherefore he adds,
Ver. 28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
It is not merely that the Church was barren like Sarah, or became a mother of many children like her, but she bore them in the way Sarah did. As it was not nature but the Promise of God which rendered Sarah a mother, (for He who said, At the time appointed I will return unto thee, and Sarah shall have a son, the Same entered into the womb and formed the babe,) so also in our regeneration it is not nature, but the Words of God spoken by the Priest, (the faithful know them,) which in the Bath of water as in the womb, form and regenerate him who is baptized.
Wherefore if we are sons of the barren woman, then are we free. But what kind of freedom, it might be objected, is this, when the Jews seize and scourge the believers, and those who have this pretence of liberty are persecuted? for these things then occurred, in the persecution of the faithful. Neither let this disturb you, he replies, this also is anticipated in the type, for Isaac, who was free, was persecuted by Ishmael the bondman. Wherefore he adds,
Ver. 29, 30. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
What! does all this consolation consist in shewing that freemen are persecuted by bondmen? By no means, he says, I do not stop here, listen to what follows, and then, if you be not pusillanimous under persecution, you will be sufficiently comforted. And what is it that follows? Cast out the son of the bondwoman, for he shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. Behold the reward of tyranny for a season, and of recklessness out of season! the son is cast out of his father’s house, and becomes, together with his mother, an exile and a wanderer. And consider too the wisdom of the remark; for he says not that he was cast forth merely because he persecuted, but that he should not be heir. For this punishment was not exacted from him on account of his temporary persecution, (for that would have been of little moment, and nothing to the point,) but he was not suffered to participate in the inheritance provided for the son. And this proves that, putting the persecution aside, this very thing had been typified from the beginning, and did not originate in the persecution, but in the purpose of God. Nor does he say, the son of Abraham shall not be heir, but, the son of the bondwoman, distinguishing him by his inferior descent. Now Sarah was barren, and so is the Gentile Church; observe how the type is preserved in every particular, as the former, through all the by-gone years, conceived not, and at last became a mother, so the latter, when the fulness of time is come, brings forth. And this the prophets have proclaimed, saying, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. And hereby they intend the Church; for she knew not God, but as soon as she knew Him, she surpassed the fruitful synagogue.
Ver. 31. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
He turns and discusses this on all sides, desiring to prove that what had taken place was no novelty, but had been before typified many ages ago. How then can it be otherwise than absurd for those who had been set apart and gifted with freedom so long ago, willingly to subject themselves to the yoke of bondage?
Next he states another inducement to them to abide in his doctrine.