COMMENTARY ON GALATIANS
LESSON NUMBER 36
Gal 4:6 “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Gal 4:6-7)
THE IDENTITY OF THE SAVED: SONS OF GOD
INTRODUCTION
All false doctrine, regardless of its tone and content, has the potential of appealing to those who do not know who they are in Christ Jesus. Our identity in Christ is something about which men must not philosophize. This is not an area for the expression of human opinion, or the cherishing of private views. As soon as the true identity of the children of God becomes hazy or questionable, the individual becomes vulnerable to the devices of the devil. The knowledge of who we are in the Christ Jesus is integral to spiritual maturity. Those who are not sure of their status are children in understanding, and are too close to the outer court. It is the business of those who speak to the people in the name of the Lord to clarify the current status and identity of the sons of God. This is not something that is unrevealed. The Lord has spoken to this issue with staggering clarity. This is nothing less than a Divine appeal to faith – the faith that was “obtained” from God in the first place (2 Pet 1:1). Faith and doubt cannot mingle nor can doubt and stability exist at the same time. Doubt, not faith, caused Peter to sink beneath the stormy wave (Matt 14:31). It is through our faith that we are “kept by the power of God” (1 Pet 1:5). As it is written, we are “Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith” (Col 2:7). Thus Paul now goes to work like a spiritual tactician, shoring up the faith of the Galatians which had been dealt a devastating blow by the introduction of “another gospel.” It must be clear to all that faith cannot be sustained in an environment of a spurious gospel. The message being delivered to the people must be correct, for it is the means through which Divine power is realized by those who believe it (Rom 1:16). Those who imagine that people can have a strong faith while entertaining erroneous concepts of Jesus, salvation, grace, and Divine objective are simply wrong. This is not the manner in which the Lord works. The benefits of salvation cannot be realized independently of the Gospel of Christ – the true Gospel. That may seem very apparent, but it has been successfully hidden from multitudes of professing believers. The Galatians themselves are a case in point. Their gravitation to the Law because of a false
BECAUSE YE ARE SONS
Gal 4:6 “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”
The point Paul is now developing is that of our sonship in Jesus Christ. From this perspective, the purpose for Jesus being “made of a woman, made under the Law,” was to redeem us, that we might “receive the adoption of sons.” This matter of being “the sons of God” (1 John 3:1) is a critical one, for it is the “sons” that Jesus is bringing to glory (Heb 2:10). Further, sonship does have its evidences. It is not a mere theory to be bantered back and forth as though it was nothing more than an idea. Solemnly we are told, “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom 8:14). Further, that leading has directly to do with mortifying “the deeds of the body” (Rom 8:13), or subduing sinful expressions. These facts, though stated with characteristic clarity, had been hidden from the Galatians when they embraced “another gospel.” Commencing with that embrace, the flesh was given the ascendency in their lives. Now Paul will show how the present experience of the Galatians contradicted and neutralized what had taken place when they first turned to the Lord.
BECAUSE YE ARE SONS. Other versions read, “As proof that you are children,” NAB “as you are sons,” NJB “Now that we are His children,” CEV “To show that you are His children,” GNB “You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as His own children.” MESSAGE There are a number of reasons adduced by men for the sending forth of the Spirit. Some would rather say, “Because you were baptized, God sent forth the Spirit.” Others would say, “Because we laid hands on you, God sent forth the Spirit.” Still others are more comfortable with saying, “Because you prayed, God sent forth the Spirit.” But this is not how Paul states the case. He does not relate God sending forth the Spirit with something men have done. It is rather associated with what men have become: “sons.”
In saying this, Paul has decimated the notion that men are justified by the Law, which could never make men “sons of God.” The sons of God are begotten of God (1 John 5:18), and born of God (1 John 3:9). They are God’s own creation (Eph 2:10). The fact of our sonship is strictly owing to God Himself, for we were born “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). Our salvation, which is the process through which we become sons, was “not by works of righteousness which we have done” (Tit 3:5). It is in view of the work of God Himself that He has sent forth the Spirit of His Son. It is a monumental point in time when the saved come to know that “salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9; Rev 7:10). Religious systems invariably credit salvation to the works of men. In the case of the Galatians, they had been taught to trace it back to circumcision (Gal 5:6,11,15).
GOD HATH SENT FORTH THE SPIRIT OF HIS SON. All versions read the same: “the Spirit of His Son.” The point is that the same Spirit that was “upon” Christ, has been sent to us (Isa 61:1; Lk 4:18). The same Spirit that descended and remained upon Jesus (Matt 3:16; John 1:32) has been ”sent forth” to the sons. But there is yet another perspective to be seen here. It is Jesus Himself who dispensed the Spirit, or shed Him forth. Thus Peter boldly announced on the day of Pentecost , “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear” (Acts 2:32-33). In this case, “of His Son” accents the origin of the Spirit, as well as His identity with the “only begotten Son” – He being exalted hath shed forth this.
INTO YOUR HEARTS. Other versions read, “into us,” GWN and “to enter your hearts.” WEYMOUTH From one perspective, this speaks of the inmost and most precise part of our persons. From another perspective, it is the “new heart” into which the Spirit is sent (Ezek 36:26). When the Scriptures say our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19), the body is viewed as the tabernacle, while “the heart” is the Holy of Holies.
Here we have the entire Godhead involved in the salvation of men. The Father – who purposed salvation; the Son – who implemented salvation; and the Spirit – who personalizes salvation. Salvation involves the deepest part of man, which, in turn, determines what men say and do.
CRYING ABBA, FATHER. This is another way of saying, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom 8:16). “Abba, Father” is not an infantile expression, but one of discerned dependence. Thus Jesus cried out to God in these very words, “Abba, Father” (Mk 14:36). In this text, the Spirit is depicted as originating the cry. However, the cry also comes from the ones in whom the Spirit dwells. As it is written, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Rom 8:15). Thus a glorious unity has been forged between the Father, the Son, the Spirit, and the saved ones. This is the answer to the prayer of Jesus, “That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me” (John 17:21).
NO MORE A SERVANT, BUT A SON
4:7a “ Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son . . .”
WHEREFORE. Other versions read, “therefore,” NKJV “so,” NIV “so that,” BBE and “now.” NLT The word from which “wherefore” is translated is a word of reasoning that builds upon the implications of what has been previously said. It means, “expressing consequence or result . . . defines more accurately the magnitude . . . in order to,” THAYER “therefore, for this reason . . . with the result that” FRIBERG and “implying an intended or indirect purpose.” LOUW-NIDA
In spiritual reasoning, everything leads to a grand summation or conclusion. That is, there is a purpose that drives whatever is being done. In this case, receiving the Spirit was not an end of itself – like a tremendous experience that superceded everything else. Rather, sending the Holy Spirit into our hearts was in order to solidify our status before God.
THOU ART NO MORE A SERVANT. Other versions read, “no longer a slave,” NKJV “no longer a bondservant,” ASV and “no longer bondman.” DARBY Because of its ineptitude, this expression is confusing to the flesh. Elsewhere those in Christ are described as “servants” (Rom 6:18; Eph 6:6; Phil 1:1; 1 Pet 2:16; Rev 1:1). Here, however, the word “servant” is used to denote someone who is enslaved by another for servile purposes alone. Such a person is in no way free, but is bound to his master whether he wants to be or not. Jesus said of such servants, “the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth” (John 15:15). He serves the master out of mere obligation, and is not informed about the intentions of the master, or of his grand objectives. This is a critical distinction, as Jesus went on to say, “Henceforth I call you not servants . . . but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you” (John 15:15).
Now service to God is given within the context of spiritual understanding and insight. The more a person discerns the will and purpose of the Lord, the more energetically they serve Him. That is why Paul “labored more abundantly than they all” (1 Cor 15:10).
Of particular note here is the fact that in Christ Jesus we are no longer under Law, but under grace. That is the appointed prerogative of the sons. For some, this is considered to be a liability, as though such freedom will inevitably result in serving sin. However, this is emphatically not the case. Elsewhere Paul reasons, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid” (Rom 6:14-15). Grace effectively teaches us how to live above sin (Tit 2:11-12). It never glosses, encourages, or approves of sin. However, those who ignore the grace of God inevitably become trapped by sin, and in some way serve it. Under this circumstance, their sonship is immediately in question. One may very well theorize about servitude to sin, tracing it to causes over which they supposedly have no control. But after all is said and done, the real issue is that the person who serves sin does not really know whether or not they are a son. The Spirit does not bear witness of sonship to such deluded souls, because He is quenched and grieved by the presence of sin.
Therefore, Paul boldly speaks to the Galatians in view of their conversion, not in view of their present state: “thou art no more a servant.” In doing this he is calling upon them to make their way back to the Lord, from whom they had been removed. They will have to come by way of acknowledging the truth and abandoning the path on which they were walking, but they will be able to do it if they will only believe what Paul is saying.
BUT A SON. This is the “son” that can mature to the place where he can participate in the inheritance and no longer require tutors and governors. The son has certain privileges, but as long as he is a child, he cannot exercise those prerogatives. The nature of the Kingdom will not allow him to do so. However, before that progress can be made, there must be a renewed awareness of the fact of sonship. No one who is in Christ is NOT a son. But there are multitudes of people in Christ who, by reason of their spiritual infancy and childhood, do not differ from mere servants. They require tutors and governors, and are not able to launch out into the deep, or fathom with discernment the height, and depth, and length, and breadth of the things of God, or know the love of Christ which passes all knowledge (Eph 3:18).
As confirmed in the Galatians, there is an approach to life in Christ that locks people in spiritual childhood, and therefore takes from them the privileges vouchsafed to the mature. Even those who have achieved some measure of spiritual maturity, or had “run well” (Gal 5:7), should they choose to listen to the purveyors of erroneous gospels, will lose ground, becoming vulnerable to the tactics of the evil one, and distancing themselves from the very God to whom they have been reconciled. You see, in Christ Jesus we have come into an area in which spiritual knowledge, discernment, comprehension, and perception are dominant. Should we choose to embrace a view of the Kingdom that allows for a lack of these traits, or encourages ignorance and a lack of awareness, we at once become vulnerable to the devices of the wicked one. Oh, that more people were aware of this dreadful circumstance!
AN HEIR OF GOD THROUGH CHRIST
4:7b " . . . and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
It is important that we note how Paul is reasoning with the people. One of the traits of false prophets is their lack of spiritual reasoning. They do not appeal to godly thinking, but choose to bind their private views upon the people. They cite their credentials, their education, and their successes in order to buttress what they say. But they cannot submit to either the consciences or the reasoning of the people to whom they speak (2 Cor 4:2). Rather than being “helpers of your joy,” they seek to have “dominion over your faith” (2 Cor 1:24). This, however, is not the manner of the Kingdom. Even the God of heaven says, “Come now, let us reason together” (Isa 1:18). Jesus reasoned with the people (Mk 12:24-27). When Jesus revealed himself to the two on the road to Emmaus, they were reasoning together (Lk 24:15). Paul reasoned with those in the synagogues “out of the Scriptures” (Acts 17:2; 18:4,19). When he spoke with Felix, he “reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come” (Acts 24:25).Now he reasons with the Galatian churches in an effort to recover them.
IF A SON. Other versions read, “Since you are a son,” NIV “if a child,” NRSV “if thou be a son,” GENEVA and “since you are God’s children.” GWN The word “if” is a proper translation. The original Greek word is a “conditional particle, if . . . and is connected to the variety of conditions”that have been specified. THAYER The specified conditions are being redeemed from the Law, receiving the adoption of sons, and God sending forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts (Gal 4:4-6). Paul does not assume these things have taken place in the people, and thus the versions that read, “since you are a son,” or “since you are God’s children” are not proper. That assumes the point in question.
The issue here is whether or not the people are really sons of God. That knowledge can only be acquired by diligent involvement in self-examination (2 Cor 13:5). What is said of “sons” must be confirmed to characterize our own persons. If, for example, the individuals are not purifying themselves as Christ is pure, sonship cannot be assumed. The sons of God are said to have a hope in Christ that constrains personal purity (1 John 3:2-3). The text before us affirms that they express a discerned dependence upon God: “Abba Father.” Elsewhere Paul states that “the sons of God” are “led by the Spirit” to mortify the deeds of the body (Rom 8:13-14). John says the world does not know “the sons of God” (1 John 3:1). There is also an inner witness to sonship that is attributed to the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:16).
All believers must engage in an effort to substantiate they are, in fact, the sons of God. The affirmation that follows can neither bless or edify those who are unsure of this identity. Nor, indeed, can they ultimately depend upon the assessment of one or more of their peers.
THEN AN HEIR OF GOD. Once the identity of a son has been verified to the conscience, then assurance of the following can be realized: “then an heir of God.” Other versions read, “heir through God,” NASB “God has also made you an heir,” NIV “then an heir,” RSV “the heritage of God is yours,” BBE “an heir, by God's own act,” NJB “everything He has belongs to us,” LIVING “an heir, too, through God's grace,” MONTGOMERY and “an heir by the aid of God.” AMPLIFIED
Here there is a significant difference in the various versions. Older translations, as well as some literal ones, read “of God,” indicating that God Himself is the inheritance. The other versions accent that God made them heirs. Both perspectives are true, but what is intended here?
I am more inclined to God Himself being what is inherited. This parallels His promise to Abraham: “I am thy Shield, and thy exceeding great Reward” (Gen 15:1). It also agrees with the announcement of Romans 8:17: “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:17). All of the modern versions retain “heirs of God” in this text. This would also equate to entering into “the joy of the Lord” (Matt 25:21), and the promise of the Revelation, “I will be his God” (Rev 21:7). The person who inherits God is also said to “inherit all things” (Rev 21:7). Of course, all of this will be realized in “the world to come” (Mk 10:30), when the fulness of “eternal life” will be realized. A person who serves God under the Law, by virtue of that circumstance, rarely thinks of the world to come, heaven, or being forever with the Lord.
THROUGH CHRIST. Sonship and all of the privileges associated with it, can only be realized through Jesus Christ. He is actually the appointed Heir, and the saved are “joint-heirs” with Him (Rom 8:17). The promise is not through the commandment, but “through Christ.” It is not through the institution, but “through Christ.” All legitimate obedience has to do with securing and maintaining one’s identity with Christ Jesus. That is why we believe on Him (1 Tim 1:16), are baptized into Him (Gal 3:27), and live unto Him (2 Cor 5:15). It is why we look for Him (Tit 2:13), look to Him while running the race (Heb 12:1-2), and set our affection where He is currently seated (Col 3:1-2). As soon as Jesus becomes vague, the promises all begin to fad. When Jesus is not prominent, holiness ceases to make sense, and the world tends to look attractive. The gospel that the Galatians had embraced resulted in them removing from God, and consequently Jesus was reduced to someone that was no longer