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4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth
nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 4:2 But is under
tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
4:3 Even so we, when we were
children, were in bondage under the
elements of the world: 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come,
God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 4:5 To
redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption of sons.
4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son
into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father.
4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son,
then an heir of God through
Christ.
4:8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which
by nature are no gods.
4:9 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? 4:10 Ye
observe days, and months, and
times, and years.
4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have
bestowed upon you labour in vain.
4:12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have
not injured me at all.
4:13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I
preached the gospel
unto you at the first.
4:14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor
rejected; but received me as an
angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
4:15 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.
4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
4:17 They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude
you, that ye might affect them.
4:18 But it is good to be
zealously affected always in a good thing,
and not only when I am present with you.
4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ
be formed in you, 4:20 I desire to be
present with you now, and to
change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.
4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the
law? 4:22 For it is written, that
Abraham had two sons, the one by a
bondmaid, the other by a
freewoman.
4:23 But he who was of the
bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he
of the freewoman was by promise.
4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants;
the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is
Agar.
4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to
Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us
all.
4:27 For it is written, 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.
4:28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that
was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
4:30 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.
4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of
the free.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to:
Galatians
Book: Galatians
Chapter: 4
Overview:
The folly of returning to legal observances for
Justification.
(1-7) The happy change made in the Gentile believers.
(8-11) The
Apostle reasons against following false teachers.
(12-18) He
expresses his
Earnest concern for them.
(19,20) And then
explains the difference between what is to be expected from the
Law, and from the
Gospel.
(21-31)
1-7 The
Apostle deals plainly with those who urged the
Law of
Moses together with the
Gospel of
Christ, and endeavoured to
bring believers under its
Bondage. They could not fully
understand the meaning of the
Law as given
By Moses. And as that
was a
Dispensation of
Darkness,
So of
Bondage; they were tied to
many burdensome rites and observances,
By which they were taught
and kept subject like a
Child under tutors and governors. We
learn the happier state of Christians under the
Gospel
Dispensation. From these verses see the wonders of Divine
Love
and
Mercy; particularly of
God the
Father, in sending his Son
into the world to redeem and save us; of the
Son of God, in
submitting
So low, and suffering
So much for us; and of the Holy
Spirit, in condescending to
Dwell in the hearts of believers,
for such gracious purposes. Also, the advantages Christians
enjoy under the
Gospel. Although
By nature children of wrath and
disobedience, they become
By Grace children of
Love, and partake
of the nature of the children of
God; for he will have all his
children resemble him. Among men the eldest son is
Heir; but all
God's children shall have the inheritance of eldest sons. May
the temper and conduct of sons ever show our
Adoption; and may
the Holy
Spirit Witness with our spirits that we are children
and heirs of
God.
8-11 The happy change whereby the
Galatians were turned from
idols to the living
God, and through
Christ had received the
Adoption of sons, was the effect of his free and rich
Grace;
they were laid under the greater obligation to keep to the
liberty wherewith he had made them free. All our knowledge of
God begins
On his part; we know him because we are known of him.
Though our religion forbids
Idolatry, yet many practise
spiritual
Idolatry in their hearts. For what a
Man loves most,
and cares most for, that is his
God: some have their riches for
their
God, some their pleasures, and some their lusts. And many
ignorantly
Worship a
God of their own making; a
God made all of
Mercy and
No Justice. For they persuade themselves that there is
Mercy for them with
God, though they repent not, but go
On in
their sins. It is possible for those who have made great
professions of religion, to be afterwards drawn aside from
purity and simplicity. And the more
Mercy God has shown, in
bringing any to know the
Gospel, and the liberties and
privileges of it, the greater their
Sin and folly in suffering
themselves to be deprived of them. Hence all who are members of
the outward
Church should learn to fear and to suspect
themselves. We must not be content because we have some good
things in ourselves.
Paul fears lest his labour is in vain, yet
he still labours; and thus to do, whatever follows, is true
Wisdom and the fear of
God. This every
Man must remember in his
place and
Calling.
12-18 The
Apostle desires that they would be of one mind with
him respecting the
Law of
Moses, as
Well as united with him in
Love. In reproving others, we should take care to convince them
that our reproofs are from sincere regard to the honour of
God
and religion and their welfare. The
Apostle reminds the
Galatians of the difficulty under which he laboured when he
first came among them. But he notices, that he was a welcome
Messenger to them. Yet how very uncertain are the favour and
respect of men! Let us labour to be accepted of
God. You once
thought yourselves happy in receiving the
Gospel; have you now
reason to think otherwise? Christians must not forbear speaking
the
Truth, for fear of offending others. The false teachers who
drew the
Galatians from the
Truth of the
Gospel were designing
men. They pretended
Affection, but they were not sincere and
upright. An excellent rule is given. It is good to be zealous
always in a good thing; not for a time only, or now and then,
but always. Happy would it be for the
Church of
Christ, if this
zeal was better maintained.
19,20 The
Galatians were ready to account the
Apostle their
enemy, but he assures them he was their friend; he had the
feelings of a parent toward them. He was in doubt as to their
state, and was anxious to know the result of their present
delusions. Nothing is
So sure a proof that a sinner has passed
into a state of
Justification, as
Christ being formed in him
By
the renewal of the Holy
Spirit; but this cannot be hoped for,
while men depend
On the
Law for acceptance with
God.
21-27 The difference between believers who rested in
Christ
only, and those who trusted in the
Law, is explained
By the
histories of
Isaac and
Ishmael. These things are an
Allegory,
wherein, beside the literal and historical sense of the words,
the
Spirit of
God points out something further.
Hagar and
Sarah
were apt emblems of the two different dispensations of the
Covenant. The heavenly
Jerusalem, the true
Church from above,
represented
By Sarah, is in a state of
Freedom, and is the
mother of all believers, who are born of the Holy
Spirit. They
were
By Regeneration and true
Faith, made a part of the true
seed of
Abraham, according to the promise made to him.
28-31 The history thus explained is applied.
So then, brethren,
we are not children of the
Bond-
Woman, but of the free. If the
privileges of all believers were
So great, according to the new
Covenant, how absurd for the Gentile converts to be under that
Law, which could not deliver the unbelieving Jews from
Bondage
or condemnation! We should not have found out this
Allegory in
the history of
Sarah and
Hagar, if it had not been shown to us,
yet we cannot doubt it was intended
By the Holy
Spirit. It is an
explanation of the subject, not an argument in proof of it. The
two covenants of
Works and
Grace, and legal and evangelical
professors, are shadowed forth.
Works and fruits brought forth
in a
Man's own strength, are legal. But if arising from
Faith in
Christ, they are evangelical. The first
Covenant Spirit is of
Bondage unto
Sin and
Death. The second
Covenant Spirit is of
liberty and
Freedom; not liberty to
Sin, but in and unto duty.
The first is a
Spirit of
Persecution; the second is a
Spirit of
Love. Let those professors look to it, who have a violent,
harsh, imposing
Spirit, towards the people of
God. Yet as
Abraham turned aside to
Hagar,
So it is possible a believer may
turn aside in some things to the
Covenant of
Works, when through
unbelief and neglect of the promise he
Acts according to the
Law, in his own strength; or in a way of violence, not of
Love,
towards the brethren. Yet it is not his way, not his
Spirit to
do
So; hence he is never at
Rest, till he returns to his
dependence
On Christ again. Let us
Rest our souls
On the
Scriptures, and
By a
Gospel Hope and cheerful obedience, show
that our
Conversation and treasure are indeed in
Heaven.