Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson XIX)

One of Augustine’s early contemporary scholars, Marius Victorinus (280-355 AD), views these non-divine deities of worldly and other imaginary powers, are all made up by the devil who tries to pass them off as being real.^[1] Victorinus, no doubt, was concerned about all those who claimed to see visions, dreams, and apparitions of various saints to which they assigned special powers, but can find no backing in the Scriptures. He also goes on to say that all this relates more to pagans, who even think up gods for themselves from the elements of this world or make the elements themselves gods, to worship nature, wind, water, fire, sun, moon, and stars. For there is no doubt that they believe these single elements are gods or believe that these gods produced the elements themselves. So, it is not surprising that pagans use these very same elements to make gods which they worship as a substitute for the true living God. This belief spawned certain demons that operate in and through these elements. So, says Augustine, if the pagans do these things, it appears as if Paul is rebuking the Galatians for returning to their paganistic ways!^[2]

For me personally, I feel that Augustine and Victorinus are themselves culpable in promoting this type of belief while trying to explain it. There is no doubt that the devil and his demons are at work in the earth. Jesus Himself cast out several of these demons, one called Legion, because there were so many possessing one person. And we are also told that upon His death and resurrection, the Anointed One was given the keys (authority over) hell, death, and the grave.^[3] But to say, as Augustine did, that by worshiping them or using them to glorify is unknowingly worshipping God violates the first and second Commandments.

The possibility that these Gentiles first converted to Judaism before becoming Christians seems clear by what Paul says later on. So, in effect, they traded one form of religious slavery for another. Now looking back, didn’t they see that even this exchange did not improve on their knowing God any better than the way they came to know Him after being born again in union with the Anointed One? Couldn’t they see that the bondage that enslaved them before they were set free to be one with the Anointed One was now demanding their obedience only under a new name? To Christian Reformers in Luther and Calvin’s day, the heathen idols that the converted Galatians worshiped before, were now being replaced by Christian icons of saints and beatified individuals who were being credited with helping them with prayers and petitions to Jesus and God the Father.

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) writing about whether or not we can refer to God as “Nature” or to Nature as “God,”  He specifies that since divine nature cannot be multiplied (or evolve), it follows that the name “God” cannot be transmitted in reality but in imagination; just in the same way as this name “sun” would be transmitted according to the opinion of those who say there are many suns. Therefore, it is written here in verse eight of Galatians: “You served them who by nature are not gods.” But that does not mean many gods exist in nature, only in the human imagination. Nevertheless, this name “God” is transmitted not in its full signification, but in similitude; so that those who are called gods share only in divinity by likeness. This is what the Psalmist said, “I have said, you are gods.”^{[4] [5]}

If this seemed to be a problem back in Aquinas’ day, it is even more prevalent today. Some try to be civil and refer to God as “a Great Power,” or even dare to call Him “Our Creator.” But to the Israelites, the Hebrew noun “Elo’ah” means “Deity.”  Now we know why Moses asked the voice in the burning bush, “What is your name?” And Deity answered, “I AM who I AM and always will be.”^[6]

As Reformer Martin Luther sees it, Paul concludes his discourse on justification at this point. From now to the end of the Epistle, the Apostle writes mostly about the Christian’s conduct. But before he goes on with his doctrinal discourse with practical precepts, he feels the necessity of once more admonishing the Galatians. He is very displeased with them for relinquishing their divine doctrine. He faults them for listening to teachers whose intention is to make them subject once more to the Law. He called them out of the darkness of ignorance into the wonderful light of the knowledge of God, he led them out of bondage into the freedom of being children of God, not by using the Law or writing more laws for them to follow, but by the gift of heavenly and eternal blessings through the Gospel of the Anointed One Jesus. So, why did they so suddenly forsake the light and return to darkness? Why did they so quickly stray from the open pasture of Grace back into the sin-pen of bondage?^[7]

Luther goes on to make the point that God will and can be known in no other way than in and through the Anointed One. Some of those who did not know God through the Anointed One drew this erroneous conclusion: I will serve Him by doing this or doing that. I will become a member of this or that ministry. I will be active in this or that not-for-profit charitable organization. They were certain that God would endorse their good intentions and reward them with everlasting life. After all, He doesn’t just love me, He’s in love with me.

Not only that but hasn’t He been known to give blessings to the unworthy and ungrateful to show His love? How much more will He grant them everlasting life as a due reward for their hard work? Luther says this is the religion of human reasoning. This is the natural thinking of the world. The way a worldly person expects things from God, they will never realize. It’s their wish, not the desire of the Spirit of God.^[8] They don’t seem to understand this is not the way to God.^[9] That’s why there’s really no difference between a Jew, a Muslim, and an Atheist. There may be differences between people of different countries, races, ethnicities, religions, manners, and customs, but as far as their fundamental beliefs are concerned, they are all alike.^[10]

Then Luther continues by sharing his reaction to the situation in the church in his own day. He notes that God promised to save anybody for their religious observance of ceremonies and ordinances. Those who rely upon such things do serve a god, but it’s one of their own imagination and not the Living God. The true God says that no religion pleases Him that does not come through His Son Jesus. In other words, all who put their faith to His Son will have Him as their God and Father. Those are the ones He redeems, calls justifies, sanctifies, and makes them His chosen people. Everyone else is still sitting under His curse upon sin because they worship creatures instead of Him. Without the doctrine of justification, there can be only ignorance of God. Those who refuse to be justified by the Anointed One are idolaters, says Luther. They remain under the Law, sin, death, and the power of the devil. Everything they do is wrong and worth nothing as far as God is concerned.^[11]

Reformer John Calvin explains how God is distinguished from idols so that He may be the exclusive object of worship. He wants to get down to the bare facts and brings in what Paul says here in verse eight to the Gentiles reminding them that before they knew God, they were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. Calvin then points out that Paul does not use the Greek verb latreia, meaning “worship” – a form of reverence directed only to the Holy Trinity. Instead, he used the Greek verb dulia, which means “veneration.” This is the same distinction that the Roman Catholic Church uses to defend that while they worship God, they only venerate the blessed Virgin Mary. While such adoration expressed in praise and worship belongs only to God, Mary is deserving of adulation – excessive admiration and praise because of her unique role in the mystery of Redemption, her exceptional gifts of grace from God, and her preeminence among the saints. Unfortunately, she has replaced her Son as the object from whom alone grace and salvation is received.

Calvin then goes on to say that when the Anointed One repelled Satan who came to tempt Him, He did so as an insult by reminding the devil of the Scriptures where it says that we are to worship the Lord our God and serve only Him!^[12] Here, there is no question that worship and adoration are involved, not veneration and adulation. All Satan was asking our Lord was for proskyneō^[13] (“worship” KJV), which means to fall on one’s knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence. This was a sign of great respect for someone highly admired and honored. This is what happened to the Apostle John when he fell on his knees before the angel to worship him and was rebuked by the angel because he was not divine, only a servant of the Divine.^[14] Calvin says it wasn’t the case of John being so wrapped up that he forgot that it wasn’t possible for him to transfer the honor due to God alone through an angel. It wasn’t until later he realized that to show the angel adoration instead of adulation, he denigrated the glory of God.^[15]

This is a problem between Protestants and Catholics, both of whom think highly of the great saints in Scripture. A Roman Catholic priest will tell you that they “do not” pray to the saints, they only ask the saints to pray to God or the Anointed One on their behalf. In Calvin’s eyes, as it was in the eyes of the Apostle John, to do so denigrates the glory of God, who sits in His beautiful throne-room of grace and mercy where our prayers are delivered by the Holy Spirit to the Anointed One who then intercedes for us.^[16] To ask anyone lower than the Spirit of God to deliver our prayers is an insult to the merciful intercession of God’s Son and God, our Heavenly Father.

John Owen (1616-1683) is writing in defense of the Trinity and how the Scriptures fully express this divine truth as to leave no doubt about the makeup of the Godhead: – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit which are divine, distinct, intelligent, voluntary, principles of operation and working together. So, Owen is not writing to prove it but to substantiate what is already proven. He goes on to say that this oneness involves nothing more or less than the essence of God. The Father, Son, and Spirit are one in their shared essence. The reason why words such as Triune Godhead, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, and Omniscient are not used in Scripture is that it’s impossible to explain the unexplainable. They are of the same importance and significance, and none of them, include anything of imperfection, are properly used in the declaration of the unity of the Godhead.

[1] Marius Victorinus, Commentary on Galatians, loc. cit.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Revelation 1:18

[4] Psalm 82:6

[5] Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologica, Vol. 1, The First Part, Whether this name “God” is a name of nature?” Part 1, Question 13, Answer 9, p. 168

[6] Exodus 3:13-14

[7] Martin Luther: Commentary on Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[8] I Corinthians 2:14

[9] Romans 3:11

[10] Martin Luther, ibid

[11] Ibid.

[12] Matthew 4:10

[13] Ibid. 4:19

[14] Revelation 19:10; see 22:8-9

[15] John Calvin: Institutes, op. cit. loc. cit., Ch, 12, p. 136

[16] Cf. Acts of the Apostles 7:55-56; Romans 8:24; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson XVIII)

Now the Apostle Paul gives the same message he gave the Ephesians to the Galatians. He tells them here in verse eight that back when they didn’t know God, they slavishly served idols that were not real gods. But this should not come as a shock to them or to Paul. After all, Joshua told the Israelites that long ago their forefathers lived on the other side of the Jordan River. That included Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor. And they worshiped other gods. So, that’s why Joshua gave their descendants a choice, to go back to worshiping the false gods of their ancestors in Ur of the Chaldees (Babylon), or the false gods of the Amorites^[1] in whose land there were living. But as for him and his family, they were going to serve ADONAI.^[2]

One Psalmist described these false gods by telling us that they were made of silver and gold, the work of human hands. They were given mouths but could not speak. They had carved eyes but could not see. They wore ears but could not hear. They exhibited noses but could not smell. Hands were attached to their arms, but they could not touch. They retained legs and feet but could not walk. They could not make any sound come out of their mouths. Those who made them and trusted in them were bound to end just like them – lifeless.^[3] Then the prophet Isaiah gives us an even more extensive description of the false gods and how they were carved.^[4] The prophet Jeremiah also acquired excellent knowledge about these idols and about the tools used to make them.^[5]

By the time Paul arrived on the scene, the Greeks and the Romans already turned their gods into forms representing humans and animals, or a combination of both. In fact, when Paul and Barnabas healed a man who had never walked from birth through Jesus’ name when the people saw this miracle, they began to say that the gods became like men and came down to them. They said that Barnabas was Jupiter, Paul was called Mercury because he spoke more than Barnabas. An idol of the god representing Jupiter was in a temple near the gate leading into the city. The religious leaders of that place brought cattle and flowers to the gate. They and many others wanted to burn these as gifts in an act of worship to Paul and Barnabas.^[6]

When Paul wrote his letter to the Roman believers, he told them that while there were many among the Gentiles who were aware that there was a higher power who created the heavens and all things in nature, but they did not know Him. So, they gave all the honor to false gods that looked like people who can die and to birds and animals and snakes.^[7] He also told the Corinthians about the danger of worshiping false gods. But even more sinister were those who came to God’s table to receive His blessings, then going over to the temple of a false god to receive its favor.^[8]

It might be said that this would be like getting spiritually drunk on the new wine of the Spirit, and then visiting the nearest liquor store and buying cheap wine to get physically drunk. But the Jewish believers in Roman did not need such detailed instructions on idolatry. It was already being taught by the Rabbis. In fact, after all, their teachings were written down in the Mishnah then the compilers of the Talmud dedicated a whole section to the subject.^[9]

Early church writer Victorinus weighs in with his comment by saying that not knowing God is caused by not knowing the Anointed One because that was the only way to get to know Him. But now, since the Anointed One appeared to Paul, He revealed God to Paul through. So, that is the only way to know God now.^[10] Another early Christian writer, Ambrosiaster (366-384), sees a particular inference here in Paul’s statement concerning the fact that those who worshiped idols in the past did so out of ignorance. Says the scholar: “Paul shows that this came naturally to them,”^[11] as it did back in First Covenant times. Perhaps the apostle remembered what King Abimelech of Gerar once asked God after he almost committed adultery with Sarah, Abraham’s wife, because Abraham told a lie about her being his sister. Said King Abimelech: “Lord, will You slay an ignorant people?” In other words, these converted non-Jews were idol worshipers and did so ignorantly, not knowingly these idols had nothing to do with God.

It appears that Paul said all he felt led to speak to the Jewish believers and Judaizers and how their religious calendar of rituals fell short of the observances that lifted up the Anointed One to the glory of God. He reminds them of their heathen worship to gods made of wood, stone, and other materials; how they ignorantly venerated the power behind creation such as the sun, moon, and stars without knowing who the Creator was or His real name. So, out of respect, they also made images they believed represented this unknown God. These idols were not divine, nor did they possess any powers other than the ones the worshipers gave them credit for having, such as those that affected the days, months, years, and seasons.  All of this habitually enslaved them to religious rites, rituals, and regulations that often-required human sacrifice.

The great preacher of the early church, Chrysostom, makes a note of what he sees as Paul’s intentions here. In turning to the Gentile believers, he says that this rigid observance of days is idolatry, and deserves severe punishment. To enforce this and make them even more concerned, he tells them that the elements of the world are not the invention of the gods of nature. What he means is that at one time, they were confused and like a demon-possessed individual lay groveling on the ground. But now, since they know and worship the true God, who knows who they are, what a bitter and painful lesson they are forcing upon themselves if, after such good treatment, they jump back again into the same pit of despair. It was not by their own efforts that they encountered God while they were still going the wrong way. When they met, God drew them into His arms. Paul tells them it’s like an educated adult going back to learning the letters of the alphabet again. That makes it appear as though after receiving their diploma for being spiritually mature and ready to be teachers and counselors, they now showed no interest in serving God in any fashion.^[12]

Paul was obviously talking to the Gentiles who worshiped various idols before they were converted.  What we might ask here is this, “What makes a god?” The first answer usually given is “That which one worships, esteems, honors and considers to be divine.” This answer is only partially true. Those are the things commonly attributed to a god, but the gods themselves possess visible or invisible power. Any person can make an image of his or her god, but that will not transform a piece of wood or plaster into an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent being. In other words, a person may call it a god, and try and make it look like a god, and may even worship it as a god, but it is still a piece of wood or silver or gold.

Even though a person does everything they can to make them such, they remain inanimate objects. If then we take this indictment of Paul of the Gentile believers in Galatia and bring it forward to our day where idol worship, as practiced back then, is only found in places like India and Africa, what would our gods look like before we were converted. I’m sure each one of us could offer a few drawings or make up a rather long list. We wouldn’t mind serving a god if it was alive and real, but I’ll never worship anything else. And so far, I’ve only found one God, the living God, whose I am and whom I serve.

Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) gives us a curious interpretation of these gods that, by nature, were not divine in any sense of the word. He feels that when Paul earlier referred to custodians and trustees, he included these gods. Augustine’s reasoning is that there is no person, whether knowing that they were somehow really giving God the glory or they did so for their own glory, still, in Augustine’s mind, they both give glory to God whether knowingly or unknowingly. The person who does it knowingly with God’s help is doing a good thing. On the other hand, the person who gives God glory unknowingly still accomplishes something good because, in the end, it will work out for God’s glory.

 This is where many Bible scholars, even in the early Church, feel that Augustine was influenced by the humanism of Greek philosophers, which he read and admired. Therefore, he wants to know if it was not then permissible to call even the fallen angels, together with their prince, the Devil, as guardians or trustees with divine responsibilities. For instance, Paul says elsewhere: I handed them over to Satan so that they may learn not to blaspheme.^[13] And in another place, Paul uses the devil for the sake of salvation.^{[14] [15]}

But Augustine is not finished. He argues using deductive reasoning that just as a government official acts only to the extent permitted by the chief administrator, so the seen and unseen powers in and above the earth act only to the extent allowed by the Lord. Furthermore, since nothing is hidden from Him and He is all-powerful, then these powers under His authority are subject to His oversight even without knowing it. Yet they are rewarded, not based on the volume of work they accomplished, but because of the spirit in which their duties were performed. And even though God never denied freewill to His rational creatures, yet He retained for Himself the power by which He governs through the unreasonable in a reasonable way. So, whether it was the sun, the moon, the stars, heaven and earth, and even demons that the Gentiles worshiped, it is right to understand they did so with these seen and unseen powers in charge.^[16]

To express this in a less philosophical way, in Augustine’s mind, if God used Satan to show Job’s deep conviction of faith and trust in his redeemer, and if Pharaoh was used to play a major role in the deliverance of God’s people from Egyptian bondage, and if Goliath was used to show David’s courage and faith, and king Nebuchadnezzar used to portray the faith and trust of Daniel and the three Hebrew young men, or Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus so that He could complete the mission He came to earth to carry out, that means all things in God’s creation are subject to Him, and serve Him either willingly or unwillingly, knowingly or unknowingly to carry out His plan for mankind.

[1] The Amorites who occupied the land of Canaan when the Israelites arrived from the wilderness, were the children of Canaan, the grandson of Abraham through their father, Ham. See Exodus e:8, 17, 23:23; Joshua, 3:10, 24:11; I Kings, 9:20; Ezekiel 16:3, 45; Isaiah 17:9

[2] Ibid. 24:2, 15

[3] Psalm 115:4-8; See Psalm 135:15-18

[4] Isaiah 44:9-20

[5] Jeremiah 10:3-16

[6] Acts of the Apostles 14:11-13

[7] Romans 1:23

[8] 1 Corinthians 10:7-10, 18-22

[9] Babylonian Talmud: Seder Nezikin, Masekhet Abodah Zarah

[10] Edwards, M. J. (Ed.). On Galatians, op. cit. loc. cit., p. 58

[11] Ambrosiaster: Commentary on Galatians, loc, cit., p.22

[12] Chrysostom: Homilies on Galatians, loc. cit.

[13] I Timothy 1:20

[14] 1 Corinthians 5:3-5

[15] Augustine of Hippo: Commentary on Galatians, loc. cit.

[16] Ibid.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson XVII)

While Lancaster’s point of using the rendition of the Greek taken from Robert Young’s Literal Translation is correct, he fails to provide the rest of the text: “that the adoption of sons we may receive, and because you are sons, God did send forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’”^[1] It is clear that Paul is pointing back to his discussion about minors living under the Law who cannot inherit until they reach adulthood, which is a direct reference to the Law being the guardian under whom they were kept. So, it does not refer to redemption from sin or exile, because no sin existed without the Law, they go hand in hand. Therefore, when Jesus came, He did not die on the cross to free one hand of those who were under Law from sin and leave the other hand, still gripping onto the Law. Both hands must be released, or they are not free at all. And as Jesus said, “Whom the Son sets free is free indeed!”[2]

Let me illustrate: “Okay,” says the father of a large successful billion-dollar company to his youngest son, “Your older brother died in combat, but he left word that he wants you to take his place as the next owner and President of our company.”  “But Dad,” says the younger son, “I want to start at the bottom and work my way to the top as he did.”  “Your brother did all that for you, and everything he learned he wrote down for you to read and study, so you’ll know what he knew in a much shorter time,” says the father.  “But Dad, I want to do it on my own; I want to get credit for climbing to the top,” replies the boy. “Well, son, anyone can try that. But I must tell you, even if they went as high as possible, they still wouldn’t be allowed into this office or sit in this chair or inherit this company as owner and CEO when I retire unless they were there under the conditions offered by my first son.” I can hear Paul hollering now: You foolish Galatians, can’t you understand this? You can’t merit this position; you can’t compete for this; you can’t buy this! It’s a gift! If you don’t accept it on God’s terms, you can’t receive it any other way!

So, now all of God’s children can say to their former guardian, the Mosaic Law: I’m through with you!  Your position and power have been transferred to the Messiah. He’s on the throne of my heart as LORD and Savior. I’m free now, a child of God. You can’t restrict my movements anymore; I don’t need you to approve everything. I now serve God as He wills, and don’t need your permission. Yes, I submit myself to those over me in the LORD for guidance, instruction, and discipline. But they do not possess any power, nor did God give them any latitude to deny me my inheritance just because I failed one or two of their tests or do not measure up to one of their standards. Let them rebuke me if they want, I want my words and actions to correspond with God’s Word, not one of their pet peeves. We are all on the same level and same footing as children of God. Therefore, let us respect each other, love each other, prefer one another, and rejoice over each other’s gifts and talents, all meant to glorify and praise our Father in heaven.

Grant Osborne notes what Paul says about God sending the Spirit of His Son into the believer’s heart. He says that the sending of the Spirit builds on several First Covenant passages, such as “I will give you a new heart … and put my Spirit in you;”^[3] “And now the Sovereign Lord has sent me, endowed with His Spirit;”^[4] and, of course, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people.”^[5] Here, as often in Paul’s other writings;^[6] as well as the Acts of the Apostles and the Apostle Peter’s first letter,^[7] the Spirit is described as the “Spirit of His Son” to emphasize his connection with the Messiah, as well as with God the Father. Each member of the Trinity is involved in our salvation. When we speak of the Spirit as “Jesus in our heart,” it is actually the Spirit of Jesus who enters believers. He represents the Messiah in this world. He empowers and guides us as we engage in the Christian way of behaving, enabling us to live according to the will of the Triune God.^[8] So the Apostle Paul was not making up some new doctrine that just came to him in the dark of night. It is from the established, infallible, Word of God.

Bible Chinese scholar and writer Vincent Cheung points out that the Apostle Paul introduced the idea of sonship to Abraham back in chapter three, verse seven. No doubt, this was because the Judaizers who came over from Jerusalem were teaching that before anyone could become children of God to inherit God’s promises to Abraham, they first needed to become children of Abraham. If you were a Gentile, that meant you must submit yourself to the Law, if a male, be circumcised, and practice all the Jewish rites, rituals, customs, and ceremonial laws. But Paul destroyed this argument by showing the Abraham was considered right with God before any of these things were put into practice.

Cheung goes on to note that one becomes a child of God through grace and faith, this is what Abraham did, so it would qualify them as heirs of the promises God made to Abraham. As far as circumcision is concerned, some say that this is done through water baptism. But since Paul was stressing that a person is justified by faith alone, he certainly wouldn’t contradict himself by making water baptism a requirement for justification. Think of the thief on the cross next to Jesus. He was crucified along with the Messiah before he was given a chance to do good works or be baptized in water. And yet, Jesus said to him: “I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise.”^[9]

The point Cheung is making is that it is normal for any person who professes Jesus as their Lord and Savior to then be baptized in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In fact, there is no reason to refuse it. But we must keep this in mind, one can profess faith in the Messiah without baptism and still be justified as right before God. But no one can be baptized without faith in the Messiah and be justified.^[10] Remember, it’s all about becoming an adopted child of God, having their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, with the promise of full salvation, and everlasting joy.

Writer Duncan Heaster comments on what Paul says here in verse seven about the children of God being heirs to His promises through the Messiah. First of all, God, as our Father, did not die in order to leave His estate to His children. Rather, He passed that on to His Son, Yeshua,^[11] who did die so that those who believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. But God in His love, grace, and mercy fulfilled the prophecies He gave to the First Covenant prophets that the Messiah would live again, and raised Him from the tomb to live forever. But that inheritance will not be given to us as long as we are in the development stage of preparing for His return. The key to understanding this is what Paul told Timothy that if we suffer with Him, we will also reign with Him.^[12] The Greek verb hypomenō (“suffer” KJV) that Paul uses in his letter to Timothy can be used in two ways: It can either be taken as “to remain faithful,” or “to persevere under misfortunes and trials and hold fast to one’s faith in the Messiah.” Thayer, in his Greek Lexicon, says that Paul uses this verb in Timothy 2:12, meaning “to persevere and endure through trials and tribulations as we wait for His return.” One of the first guarantees that the Father gave us as heirs of this inheritance is that He sent the Spirit of His Son to dwell in us. This identifies us as children of God who came to Him through the Messiah and, therefore, are joint-heirs with Him.^[13]

4:8 Remember, in the past, you did not know anything about God. You were slaves to false gods with nothing of the one true God in them.

 When Moses was sent by God back down into Egypt to free His children enslaved there, and he went to see Pharaoh and told him that ADONAI sent him, Pharaoh said, who is Adonai, that I should obey when He says to let Israel go? I don’t know Adonai, and I also won’t let Israel go.”^[14] And the Prophet Jeremiah once prayed, “Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge You, also on the families that do not call out to you in prayer.”^[15]

But things didn’t change much by the time Paul’s day came around. On his visit to Corinth, he told some of the religious leaders and members of the Areopagus on Mar’s hill, as I was walking around and looking at the things you worship, I found an altar, where you worship, with the words: TO THE GOD WHO IS NOT KNOWN etched on it. You are worshiping Him without knowing Him. He is the One I will tell you about.^[16] And Paul told the Corinthians that the main reason so many heathens who think they know God indirectly aren’t the way He wants to be known. He did not allow people to come to know Him through the philosophical teachings of this world. God wanted to save people from the punishment of their sins through the preaching of the Gospel. But they found such sermons as foolish talk.^[17] That would be like throwing a lifesaver to a drowning person, but they refused to grab hold of it because it didn’t look like any lifesaver they’d ever seen.

The believers in Ephesus knew what Paul was talking about because he once told them that at one time, they did not understand who God was either. The Jews, who went through the religious act of becoming a Jew by being circumcised, concluded that if you were not circumcised that you didn’t know God.^[18] But then Paul told the Ephesians he was so glad they were not like the people of the world living around them who are still existing in ignorance, and they know nothing about a living Yahweh. This is because such ignorance keeps them from opening their minds, and so they resist knowing His will for their lives.^[19] So they end up only doing the things that please them because they don’t know there is a God higher than their gods.^[20] But they must be warned that when the ADONAI Yeshua is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in a fiery flame. Then He will punish those who don’t know the Father in heaven,^[21] that is, those who didn’t listen to the Gospel of our Lord Yeshua and obey it.^[22]

[1] Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible by Robert Young, Author of the Analytical Concordance to the Bible, Revised Edition, Edinburgh, 1898, loc. cit.

[2] John 8:36

[3] Ezekiel 36:26-27

[4] Isaiah 48:16

[5] Joel 2:28-29

[6] Romans 8:9; Philippians 1:19

[7] Acts of the Apostles 16:7; 1 Peter 1:11

[8] Osborne, G. R. On Galatians: Verse by Verse, op. cit., p. 129

[9] Luke 23:43

[10] Cheung, Vincent. On Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit. Location 2282-2295, Kindle Edition.

[11] See Romans 4:13-14, Hebrews 1:2

[12] 2 Timothy 2:12

[13] Heaster, Duncan. On Galatians, op cit., Location 1047-1071, Kindle Edition.

[14] Exodus 5:2 – Complete Jewish Bible

[15] Jeremiah 10:25

[16] Acts of the Apostles 17:23

[17] 1 Corinthians 1:21

[18] Ephesians 2:11; See 1 John 3:1

[19] Ibid. 4:18

[20] 1 Thessalonians 4:5

[21] See Isaiah 66:15; Jeremiah 10:25; Psalm 79:6

[22] 2 Thessalonians 1:7b-8 – Complete Jewish Bible

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson XVI)

David Worthington Simon (1830-1909), states that it’s one thing to just be called “father,” but it is quite another to discharge all the expected fatherly functions. Human fathers sometimes fail to behave like fathers for reasons lying solely in themselves or sometimes because of hindrances in the conduct or character of their children. No father can regularly discharge his fatherly functions toward children who are unchildlike. Yet, a rebellious son or daughter are still his children, even though they don’t act like it.”^[1] Simon is telling us that even those who do become children of God do not receive all the benefits of being God’s child because of their erratic and irreverent behavior. Therefore, they miss out on many blessings God holds in reserve for them. But worst of all, they miss out on the blessings meant to make their life as God’s children more exciting and joyful here on earth.

Methodist minister, evangelist, and writer of holiness material Aaron Merritt Hills (1847-1935) discusses the importance of not confounding “consecration” with “sanctification” since one occurs before the other. After their soul is “convicted of their spiritual need,” and knows the importance of having had the “old sinful self” crucified, and accepted the fact that the promise of the Holy Spirit is to them, and to obey and surrender and consecrate everything to Him, it becomes both their privilege and duty to believe that God hears their cry and accepts their consecrated heart.^[2] Hills is saying that although a person is a sanctified new believer of God’s own choosing, they still must do their part in consecrating themselves to the service of the Lord.

Dr. A. J. Gordon (1836-1895) states the same truth. It seems clear from the Scriptures that it is still the duty and privilege of believers to receive the Holy Spirit by a conscious, definite act of appropriating faith, just as they received Jesus the Anointed One. This conclusion is based on several grounds. Presumably, if the Paraclete is a person,[3] coming down at a certain definite time to make His abode in the believer for guiding, teaching, and sanctifying the body of the Anointed One, there is the same reason for accepting Paul for his special ministry in the same way we accept the Lord Jesus for His special ministry. To say that in receiving the Anointed One we necessarily received in the same act the gift of the Spirit seems to confound what the Scriptures make distinct. For it is as SINNERS that we accept the Anointed One for our justification, but then as SAINTS, we accept the Spirit for our sanctification. And as Paul says here in verse six, because we are His children, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.

So, says Gordon, the gift of the Holy Spirit is grounded on the fact that we are children by faith in union with the Anointed One. The Scriptures show that we are required to appropriate the Spirit as His children, in the same way, that we appropriated the Anointed One as sinners. Let the believer receive the Holy Spirit by a definite act of faith for their consecration, as they received the Anointed One by faith for their justification. So, can they not then be sure that they are in a safe and Scriptural way of acting? We know, says Gordon, of no plainer form of stating the matter than to speak of it as a simple acceptance by faith, which is an affirmation and an act which bids eternal truth to be a fact.^[4] It is important to understand that sanctification comes before consecration. Otherwise, by putting consecration first, we are saying that sanctification can be earned through works. Rather, we are sanctified in order to qualify for consecration so that we are ready to do the work the Holy Spirit has planned for us. But we will still need the power of the Spirit to use the Gifts that He brings, and for that, we are baptized in the Spirit just as the disciples were on the Day of Pentecost.

R. A. Torrey (1856-1928), commenting on the Holy Spirit praying on our behalf, mentions that Paul told the Corinthians that the Spirit of God searches the deep things of God,^[5] by which He then reveals to us the things which He discovers. Then John in his Revelation^[6] and many other passages, says the Holy Spirit is represented as speaking. Paul made this clear to the Romans by pointing out that the Spirit helps us because when we are weak, He helps us with our weakness. We don’t know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself speaks to God on our behalf. He petitions God on our behalf, speaking to Him with feelings too deep for human expression.^[7]

And now in verse six, by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us we can say with certainty that we are His children. As a result, we may not only address Him as our Father in heaven, but we can also run to Him when we need His help and like a child we can say, Daddy, Daddy I need Your help! As Torrey sees it, here the Holy Spirit is represented to us as praying, not merely as an influence that leads us to pray, or an illumination that teaches us how to pray, but as a Person who Himself prays in and through us. There is immeasurable comfort in the thought that for every regenerate man or woman, two Divine Persons are praying for them, Jesus the Anointed One the Son of God up there at the right hand of the Father, praying for them;^[8] and the Holy Spirit praying through us down here. How secure and how blessed is the position of the believer with these two Divine Persons, whom the Father always hears, praying for them.^[9]

Ernest DeWitt Burton (1856-1925) makes it clear that here in verse seven that Paul’s statement that the believer is no longer a slave but a son, is not to be taken simply as someone having confessed their sins and asked forgiveness. Paul is assuming the possession of the Spirit of God’s Son is already a known fact to them,^[10] and the Apostle finds confirmation of this as expressed in verses five and six. Not only that but being God’s child is also contingent on being set free from the bondage of the Law since those still under the Law are servants, not sons or daughters.^[11] So having the indwelling Spirit of the Son (not to be confused with the baptism of the Holy Spirit) is necessary before we can call ourselves children of God. Many stand or go to the altar to repeat the sinner’s prayer but leave with only the preacher’s promise that they are now a child of God. That’s like calling a fetus a living being before its brain begins to function and its heart begins to beat.

Rather than this being seen as a fracturing of the Trinity, it only proves its unity – three-in-one. It’s what binds them inseparably together. God is Spirit,^[12] so without the Spirit, there is no God. He is the Spirit that came upon Jesus at His baptism, led Him into the wilderness to be tempted, so without the Spirit there would be no Messiah. To human logic, this seems impossible and contradictory. Think of it this way, there is air all around us and in us. Without air, we cease to be alive. If you go beyond the boundary of the earth’s atmosphere, there is no air to breathe. We also fill our automobile tires with air; scuba divers must take air in tanks with them to survive, even the whales must come up for air. So it is with God’s Holy Spirit. Without Him dwelling in us, we are spiritually dead. He is the one who gives us His fruit and gifts. He is just as indispensable to believers as He is to the Godhead. That’s what ties us so closely together as believers and as children of God. And when the trumpet sounds, the same Spirit that raised the Messiah from the grave will be the same one to resurrect us to meet Him in the air.^[13]

Cyril W. Emmet (1875-1924), says it is very instructive how the Apostle Paul passes nimbly from this metaphor of the coming age of the young heir to having been adopted as children, and the emancipation of a slave here in verses five through seven. One reason may be that he is dealing with the position of both Jews and Gentiles in the congregation. The Jews were known as God’s children from the time of Jacob, and the Gentiles were redeemed and then adopted from slavery through Jesus the Anointed One. However, Paul does not mention this at all as part of his narrative.

As Emmet sees it, the real fact is that all metaphors are inadequate to define or describe the facts of the spiritual life in the Messiah. Paul cannot be accused of constructing his word pictures in such a way that they fit nicely into his theological system. Rather, he uses each one to suit his purpose illustrating his point as being some aspect of the truth. From the time of Adam, we are all children of our Creator, waiting for our complete emancipation from the slavery of our sinful tendencies. On the other hand, we are also strangers that He adopted into His family by setting us free as slaves and then adopting us as sons and daughters. You will only know that your liberation is complete once you finally realize that you are now a child of God.

Emmet believes that many of the mistakes of theologians and Bible scholars in their theology are that they show a tendency to take a single metaphor and then disassemble it into pieces which they then interpret literally to reach what they call a logical conclusion. Spiritual things are not meant to be logical but understood by faith. When they try to put the metaphor back together with each piece marked as literal and logical they see that the whole word picture becomes distorted.^[14] When someone tries to understand a parable with human logic, they become like the disciples of Jesus who needed a full explanation in order to comprehend the spiritual truths being illustrated.^[15]

Messianic Jewish writer Thomas Lancaster spots several difficulties with the traditional Christian scholarly view of what Paul is saying here in verse seven about being freed from the Law, especially the understanding that the Anointed One came to fulfill the Law and thereby redeem Jews under the iron fist of Law, and for that to mean they no longer are required to respect the Torah, the Sabbath, or any of the Jewish festivals and feasts. He points out that a literal translation of Galatians 4:5 does not use the Greek verb exagorazō in the past-tense. It literally says “that those under the Law He may redeem.” They are still under the Law. To be under the Law is just Paul’s way of saying “legally Jewish” and obligated to observe the Torah as part of their salvation process. The Messiah did not redeem the Jewish people from observing the Torah. He rescued them from the sentence of condemnation for not being able to perfectly fulfill the Law to acquire salvation, not from the obligation to obey the commandments

[1] David Worthington Simon: Reconciliation by Incarnation, Published by T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1898, p. 81

[2] Aaron Merritt Hills: Holiness and Power, Part III, Ch. 15, pp. 196-197

[3] Paraclete is the Greek word translated as “Comforter,” referring to the Holy Spirit

[4] A. J. Gordon: The Ministry of the Spirit, American Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1894, pp. 68-69

[5] 1 Corinthians 2:10

[6] Revelation 2:7

[7] Romans 8:26

[8] Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 2:1

[9] The Fundamentals – A Testimony to the Truth, Ch. 15, The Personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit by R. A. Torrey, pp. 278-279

[10] Cf. Galatians 3:2

[11] Ernest DeWitt Burton: On Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit., p. 224

[12] John 4:24

[13] Romans 8:11

[14] Cyril W Emmet: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 39

[15] Matthew 13:36ff

Faith, hope, and love are often referred to as three theological virtues—or three divine sisters. The whole Christian life, in terms of our living in response to God and His new work in us, springs from faith, hope, and love. Everything we do as Christians relate to these three virtues. These theological virtues are graces given to us from a gracious God. With faith, hope, and love, we may say to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in response to His promises, “a threefold cord is not quickly broken”[1]

1. What is saving faith?

Saving faith is the Spirit-enabled embrace of and resting on our faithful God in Christ for the redemption offered by Him through the promise of the Gospel.

2. What does it mean that faith is supernatural?

That faith is supernatural means that it cannot be experienced according to the natural order of things, specifically the natural ability of man.

3. How should we respond in the trials God sends us?

We should respond by faith in trials, which come as gifts from a good, wise, and powerful God, as He refines and perfects our faith.

4. Is hope necessary for the Christian?

Yes, because we are born into a living hope through regeneration, this grace necessarily manifests itself in this life in expectation of good things from God.

5. Of what use is hope in times of suffering?

In suffering, hope comforts our souls and allows us to live patiently while the church waits for her entrance into glory.

6. How do we show our love for God?

As Christ did before us, we show our love for God by keeping His commandments.

7. What is the chief end of our love shown to others?

The chief end of our love shown to others is to glorify God and Christ by loving them first and foremost.

8. Of faith, hope, and love, which is the greatest?

Love is the greatest because it alone will remain in eternity and because it makes us most like God. – This article is adapted from Faith. Hope. Love. By Mark Jones.

The Apostle John has an even more powerful statement about Love, which shows why it is considered the most important. He says: Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.[2] That makes it even more significant to know what Love is. The answer is found in John’s Gospel.[3] Love is giving, not getting; Love offers, does not demand; Love saves, does not throw away; Love is a benefit to others, not a burden. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

[1] Ecclesiastes 4:12

[2] 1 John 4:8

[3] John 3:16

RUNNING WITHOUT GETTING WEARY

Glenn Cunningham was just 7 years old when he nearly died in an explosion that killed his brother. He had gone to his one-room schoolhouse on the Indiana prairie with his several siblings one cold January morning. Finding the school empty and cold, Glenn’s brother Floyd started to light a fire in the small coal stove. Floyd didn’t know the stove had some hot coals in it from the previous night’s community meeting, or that the Kerosene can really contain gasoline. Fire exploded out of the stove as soon as Floyd began pouring the fuel. Flames burned Floyd terribly and reached Glenn’s legs as he stood nearby. They both ran the two miles home through the snow and were put to bed while the other children went to find their mother.

The doctor that attended Glenn and Floyd told their parents that Floyd would not live – the burns were too severe. But Glenn would probably live unless infection set in. Either way, the doctor warned the family that Glenn would never walk again. His legs were useless now. But Glenn didn’t want to be a burden on his family. After overhearing a neighbor tell his mother to face the fact that he would be an invalid for the rest of his life, Glenn made an important decision. He would walk again. Fortunately, his mother believed him when he tearfully told her this. And Glenn resolved to walk again, no matter how much it hurts or how hard it was to do. He would repeat, “I’ll walk!  I’ll walk,” whenever he’d lose courage.

After his legs healed, Glenn started to work on walking. His first hurdle was standing, then moving. He would stand up, holding onto a kitchen chair, pushing it slowly before him.  He called that ‘walking’ and practiced until he was too tired to continue. Later he got outside and walked along the fence, holding on, so he didn’t fall. His legs were twisted, and he seemed to walk ‘crooked.’ He was just glad he was walking! His favorite scripture was: “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”[1]

Soon he was grabbing the tail of the family mule when they went for water. He’d try to stay up with the mule as he strolled along. And he’d play with his siblings however he could. When he was able to go outdoors, his dad assigned him chores again. It was great for Glenn to be useful!  Glenn was walking! Now he set his sights to running. After all, he wasn’t yet 10 years old and running as part of being a kid, part of playing with friends. Besides, it hurt less to run than walk. Glenn said that walking felt like daggers in his feet, running felt better. All the while, Glenn kept massaging his scarred, twisted legs and continued to try to run. If his legs were stretched out by massaging first, he could run pretty well. His legs didn’t seem so twisted, and only infrequently would they just give out from under him.

Glenn’s family moved a lot as they tried to make a living as farmers. After moving to another small town, he found himself a mile from the school. Most kids that lived that far brought lunch, but Glenn ran home to eat. That was good for his legs. Glenn cemented in his mind that he wanted to become a doctor like his grandfather and that he wanted to run in the Olympics. He had some trouble with his schoolwork and getting credit for 4^th grade, and missed all of the 5^th grade after they moved to Colorado. His hopes of going to college to become a doctor were a longshot. But nevertheless, he had been walking, and now he was running! He kept his hopes alive, and when they moved back to Elkhart, Indiana, he got back into his studies even while working.

Amazingly, with no toes on his left foot and scarred legs, Glenn also played on his high school football team! He enjoyed all sports, knowing that with some massage and stretching, he could now do what most other kids did – run and play! His rehabilitation amazed everyone, but Glenn didn’t make a big deal out of it. Most people didn’t even realize he conquered so much to be there.

Glenn made it to college, refusing to accept a scholarship to attend. Instead, he worked his way through. He didn’t want to owe anyone anything. He ran on the track team, gaining the attention of the coach. Glenn ran so fast that they thought he’d be able to break the 4-minute mark. His best time was 4:04 set in 1938. Remember that Roger Bannister finally broke the 4-minute mile in 1954. Glenn ran in the 1932 Los Angeles and in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, as he had dreamed as a boy. He won Silver in the 1500-meter race in Berlin. He retired from running in 1940 after the Olympics were canceled due to the war. Many still consider him the most significant American miler of all time.

Eventually, he became a doctor, married and raised a family of 10 children. He and his wife created a home for wayward boys that helped thousands of boys with dashed dreams reach them. For years he was a motivational speaker. So, we can see how the power of God’s Word can work when that power is tapped into with resolve and commitment. As the Apostle Paul so courageously said, “I can do all things through the power of Christ who gives me the strength.”[2] – Dr. Robert R Seyda

[1] Isaiah 40:31

[2] Philippians 4:13

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson XV)

Now, says John Wesley, the testimony of the Spirit of God must, in the very nature of things, come before the testimony of our own spirit. We must be holy in heart and life before we can be conscious that we are indeed that way. But we must love God before we can be holy at all, this being the root of all holiness. Now, we cannot love God until we know He loves us: “We love Him because He first loved us.”^[1] And we cannot know His love for us until His Spirit gives witnesses to our spirit that we are loved. Till then, we cannot believe it, nor can we say, “The life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”^[2] Then Wesley shares the inspiring words from an old Methodist hymn that goes:

No one can truly say that Jesus is the Lord
unless thou take the veil away
and breathe the living Word.

Then, only then we feel

Our interest in His blood,

And cry, with joy unspeakable,

Thou art my Lord, my God!^[3]

Since, therefore, the testimony of His Spirit must preach the love of God and all holiness in sequence, it must precede our own consciousness of it being a reality.^[4]

Adam Clarke (1760-1851) feels that the reader must understand that by Paul telling the believers as children of God they are permitted to refer to Him as Father, that this be coupled with Paul’s other references to Jesus as the Son of God and the Holy Spirit of God, as clearly providing the “most satisfactory evidence that God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, became the portion of every believer.”^[5]  Clarke also invites us to look into his commentary on this in the Gospel of Mark, which reads as follows:

In Paul’s day, slaves were never permitted to refer to their master with the term Father. They gave that privilege only to their children. Not only that but when a child calls out, “Father,” or “Daddy,” as we say today, the father knows immediately whether the call is for his attention or they need help. There existed no place under Jewish ceremonial law where such permission is outlined. After all, only a priest was allowed near the altars, and only the High Priest was allowed behind the veil into the Holy of Holies. No wonder it ripped in two when Jesus cried, “It is finished!” Once more, what were these Galatian believers thinking? As Paul saw it, they weren’t thinking at all. I can almost hear Paul take a deep breath, as he continues to dictate: “You’re not servants anymore; you are God’s children! And since you are now His children, you’re in His last will and testament as joint heirs to His kingdom!”

John Brown (1784-1858) tells an interesting story that makes his comments on Galatians all the more interesting.^[7] So here on the subject of sonship and servanthood in verses six and seven, Brown feels that Paul is not talking about one individual, but of the church as a whole. We see the change in this verse where he says to the Galatians, that because they are God’s sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, and it is the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So, the term “sons” is obviously to be understood as equivalent to grown-up sons who reached the age of accountability and, therefore, eligible to receive their inheritance. And this was the intended purpose of their being adopted as sons in order to become mature children able to handle all that God prepared for them.

Once they make the transition into sonship, they are no longer to be treated as servants who cannot claim any inheritance since that goes only to those who are sons and daughters of God. And the evidence that their servanthood status is over and that the Spirit within them witnesses to their sonship with God, is that the Spirit calls out, “Abba, Father!” In Brown’s mind, merely being adopted and becoming sons and daughters is still not enough, it is only when they exhibit the maturity of being grown-up sons and daughters that the Holy Spirit calls God, Abba, Father.^[8] Brown does not say it here, but the implication is that the needed evidence of maturity as children of God is seen in the Fruit of the Spirit.

John Edmunds (1801-1874) says that because we are God’s children,[9] not just anyone, He wanted to give us proof of our adoption. He wanted to give us something that appealed to our own feelings. That way, we could sense in our hearts the assurance of being in the family of God. Edmunds sees one of the best ways to experience this blessed assurance is through baptism. Let that be a symbol for your adoption. You go down in the water as a believer, but you come up as one of His children as in a new birth. Once God sees His Spirit dwelling in you, He wants to make it permanent by sealing His hold on you. This way, we can see that first God made us His children through faith, then sent His Spirit to live in us as gift announcing our adoption into His family.[10] We should take this as an illustration rather than a doctrine in order to help us grasp the concept of adoption into God’s family.

Greek word study expert Marvin Vincent (1834-1922) takes special notice here of what Paul says about why God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. Since there are not three Holy Spirits (the Father’s, the Son’s, and the Spirit Himself), we must understand the presence of the Spirit as the Divine force which animated Jesus in His human life, and in Him as the risen Anointed One. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of the Anointed One by Paul when he wrote the Romans,^[11] where he uses Spirit of God, Spirit of Messiah as interchangeable terms. The phrase “Spirit of Jesus Messiah” found only in his letter to the Philippians.^[12] Then in John’ Gospel, the Messiah is represented as dispensing the Spirit.^[13] He is also fully endowed with the Spirit:^[14] He sends the Spirit from the Father to the disciples, and He is the source of the Spirit’s testimony.^[15] The Greek noun Paraclete (Divine Comforter) is given in answer to the Messiah’s prayer.^[16] The Messiah identifies His own coming and presence with those of the Spirit.^[17] Paul identifies him personally with “the Spirit.”^{[18] [19]}

August H. Strong (1836-1899) in his Systematic Theology, comments on Paul’s teaching about fatherhood, servanthood, and sonship. As he sees it, from the past, even until today, being a son, or even a daughter, is a fundamental part of any family. But when it comes to the family of God, the actual realization of sonship is possible through God’s only Son, the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. So what Paul is saying here in chapter four in the first seven verses indicates universal sonship of humankind through Adam in which as children, they do not differ from a bondservant although they were meant to be the future heir of everything God created. But real sonship is only possible through adoption as sons.

Strong goes on to say that because all humans are naturally children of God by creation, it does not follow that all humankind will be saved. Many who are by human nature sons of God are not spiritually sons of God; they are only “servants” who “are stuck in their bodily house forever.”^[20] God is their Father, but they must yet to “become” his children.^[21] What I hear Strong saying is that we are all descendants of the first human, Adam, who was created by God to love and honor Him. But sin caused him to be evicted from the Garden of Eden to live like all other life forms which needed to search for food and procreate to enlarge their number. It was only when God sent His only Son to also become a human being (the second Adam), to lift that curse from all who believe. So instead of remaining as stewards of God in their home here on earth to take care of the earth,^[22] they were given the opportunity of becoming children of God whose final destination is in heaven to be with God eternally.^[23]

[1] Ibid. 4:19

[2] Galatians 2:20

[3] Spirit of Faith, Come Down, by Charles Wesley, United Methodist Hymnal Number 332, Stanza Two

[4] The Works of John Wesley: op. cit., Vol. 5, Sermon 11, Discourse 2, pp. 187-191

[5] Adam Clarke: Commentary on Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[6] Ibid. Commentary on Romans 8:15

[7] Early one morning in 1738, as a sixteen-year-old shepherd boy with home woven clothes and bare feet, stood at the counter of Alexander McCulloch’s bookshop in the university city of St. Andrews. The surprised shopkeeper was even more astonished when he heard the youth ask for a Greek New Testament. “Boy,” exclaimed the Professor of Greek who happened to be in the shop at that moment, “if you can read that book, I’ll give it to you for free.” Soon a rather thick leather volume was in the lad’s hands, and to the astonishment of all present, he read a passage and won his prize. By that afternoon, John Brown himself was back shepherding his flock on the hills of Abernathy, having walked some forty-eight miles since the previous evening to obtain his treasure. From the Puritan magazine: The Banner of Truth

[8] John Brown: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 198

[9] See 1 Corinthians 12:15

[10] John Edmonds: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 59

[11] Romans 8:9, 10

[12] Philippians 1:19

[13] John 3:34

[14] See Mark 1:10; John 1:32

[15] John 15:26; 16:7, 9, 10, 15

[16] Ibid. 14:16

[17] Ibid. 14:17, 18

[18] 2 Corinthians 3:17

[19] Marvin Vincent: Word Studies on Galatians, op. cit., p. 137

[20] John 8:3

[21] Matthew 5:45

[22] Genesis 1:28

[23] August H. Strong: Systematic Theology, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 188

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson XIV)

Medieval church scholar Nicholas of Lyra (1210-1270) tells us that for him, the two terms [Abba and Patēr] are placed next to each other here to signify the same thing. The first term – Abba (Papa), is Hebrew or, more precisely, Aramaic, for that was the language that the Hebrew people commonly spoke at that time. The Aramaic and Hebrew languages are very similar. The second term – Patēr (Father), is Greek, although the Latin’s also use it to signify the fact that God the Father unites in faith converts from both Judaism and paganism since they are joined together by their confession in faith.^[1]

This same scholar says that it was on this basis, the Apostle then infers the conclusion in what he says next in verse seven. As Nicholas sees it, the Apostle is clearly rebuking the Galatians for their ingratitude. After all, it was through their adoption as children of God that they were liberated from the servitude of the Law. Their ingratitude was immense. It led them to accept this servitude to the Law as if it were a gift from God, yet it did nothing to further their salvation. The ingratitude of the Gentiles, who converted from idolatry, was even greater than that of the Jews because the Gentiles were not nourished in the legal observances as were those who converted from Judaism.^[2]

Chrysostom sees this as a stern warning to the Jewish believers in Galatia who made the switch, and, for the non-Jews, it was an unconscionable decision. He sees Paul’s message this way: If we were not first made His children, we could not have called Him Father. If then, grace has made us freedmen and freedwomen instead of servants or slaves, adults instead of children, heirs and siblings instead of aliens, is it not utter absurdity and stupidity to desert this grace, and to turn away backward?^[3] We can clearly see how this may also apply to any believer today who once freed from sin’s bondage, who, through temptation or ignorance, goes back into the darkness of sin, giving up their freedom paid for through the death of the Anointed One on the cross.

Anglican Bible commentator John Trapp (1601-1669), starts his comments on verse six by saying: “God has no stillborn children.” Paul was no sooner converted than he began to pray. Not only that, but he also had a vision seeing Ananias coming to lay hands on him.^[4] This shows that the spirit of grace is a spirit of supplication.^[5] And when God sends this spirit of prayer into our hearts it is a sure sign that He means to answer our desires; like as when we encourage our children to ask, and so they come and civilly say, “I pray you, father, bestow this upon me,” we do not comply. However, when they come politely and plead, “Please, please, Daddy, can I have this?” it’s hard to say, no. Likewise, when we go to God and cry with affection “Abba, Father,” those are the words given to us to use as soon as we are made children of the Most High God.^[6]

William Burkitt (1650-1703) raises an important topic in his comments on verse six here in this chapter. He points out that Paul says here that the “Spirit of God’s Son,” was sent by God to live in our hearts. How is that different from the Spirit God sent to land on Jesus’ shoulder after his baptism by John the Baptizer? Was it a different Spirit that led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan? Was the Spirit Jesus breathed on His disciples and told them to receive it a dissimilar Spirit? Or is there another Spirit He said He would ask the Father to send to us a Comforter that arrived on the Day of Pentecost?

Theologians struggled over this for centuries, with some becoming Unitarians, others Trinitarians, and others Multiple-Personality-Arians. Instead of God in three persons, they believe that God possesses three personalities. Since the human mind is incapable of understanding all about God at any level of intellectual competitiveness, it’s hard to explain the unexplainable. But Burkitt starts by saying that the Spirit is not a quality or operation, but a divine force with essence and subsistence, or else the phrase of being sent could not be properly applied to Him.^[7]

Let me explain it the way I did long ago when asked by a seminary student to explain the Trinity. I started by describing the smallest unit of matter in our universe, which is the “atom.” The atom is made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. The protons and the neutrons make up the center of the atom called the nucleus, and the electrons fly around above the nucleus in a small cloud. The electrons carry a negative charge, and the protons carry a positive charge. In a typical (neutral) atom, the number of protons and the number of electrons is equal. If you separate any one of these particles, it ceases to be an atom. If you make one more massive than the others, it will not be a stable atom. And yet, altogether, they are called an atom. They never leave each other, they work together in perfect harmony, by touching the atom you touch them all. So, no matter where the Father is, the Son and the Spirit are also present. And wherever the Son is the Father and Spirit are present. And, likewise, wherever the Spirit is the Father and Son are present. How does all this work? You can ask God someday.

Church of England priest William Law (1686-1761) who lost his position at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, because he refused to take an oath of allegiance to any king other than the King of Kings, wrote that when Paul said, “I can do all things through the Anointed One who strengthens me” he found that nothing hinders such faith except a person’s total disregard for the presence of the Anointed One within them. They are choosing a religion of self, of intensive learning, and seeking worldly recognition rather than becoming a “fool for the Anointed One.”^[8] Instead, they should renounce all such things to please themselves and others, give little thought to earthly fame and fortune, and desire nothing, know nothing, and seek nothing but that which the Spirit of God and the Anointed One knows, wills, and seeks in them.

William Law also says that in making such a commitment and in it alone lies the Christian’s full and dependable power of overcoming self, the devil, and the world. The Christians, seeking and turning to anything else, to be led and inspired by the one Spirit of God and the Anointed One, will give rise to a form of Christianity that in the sight of God deserves no other title than a spiritual Babylon, a spiritual Egypt, and a carnal Sodom, a scarlet harlot, a devouring beast, and red dragon. For all these names belong to all those however well-educated, and to all churches in which the spirit of this world exhibits any greater or lesser share of power. This was the fall of the whole church soon after the apostolic ages.

That’s why Mr. Law believes that every attempt to bring reformation to such a church, inspired by religious learning and supported by any power outside the church, will make little difference. In fact, it may even make things worse. That is until all churches, surrendering their will, wisdom, and promotion, seek for no other reforming and transforming power than that of the Spirit of God which converted sinners, publicans, harlots, Jews, and heathens, into a holy apostolic church at the beginning of Christianity, a church which knew they were of God, that they belonged to God, by that Spirit which He gave them, to operate in them.

As Paul told the Romans, you are not ruled by your sinful selves. You are governed by the Spirit if that Spirit of God really lives in you. But whoever in whom the Spirit of the Anointed One does not dwell, do not belong to the Anointed One. And that this is the state to which God appointed, and called all the Christians, that’s why Paul declares here in verse six since you are now God’s children, He sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts. The Spirit cries out, “Abba, Father.” It’s as if the Apostle said, nothing in you can cry, or pray to God as your Heavenly Father, but the Spirit of His Son the Anointed One resident in you. Which is also as accurate of every inclination in the soul towards God. Mr. Law says there is so much of it, like that of a woman striving to give birth to a child. Only here in Galatians, Paul is wanting to birth a soul in the Anointed One.^[9]

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) reflects on what Paul says here in verse seven about believers no longer being slaves of the Law, but children of God. He is all for believers being promoted and advancing in the world in all arts and sciences, as long as they do so as children of God. It results from the excellent and glorious degree of honor and dignity they gained by being adopted by God as His own. What infinite glory and incomprehensible majesty and excellence that brings every believer because their relationship with God is not so personal and honorable.

Edwards goes on to say, it is a great honor to be a servant of God. John the Baptizer said that although he was a servant of God, the One coming after him was so great that he was not worthy to kneel down and loosen His sandals. But John was a servant under the Law. The Anointed One came so that those who believe in Him might become God’s sons and daughters, even as He was God’s Son. And by being sons and daughters, believers become joint-heirs with the Anointed One of all God’s glory and riches. And how do believers know they are God’s children? His indwelling Spirit testifies to that reality.^[10] No wonder the Apostle John exclaimed his admiration for the love God the Father bestowed upon believers to be called sons and daughters of God.^[11] And what a privilege that we now are able to freely call Him, Abba, Father. So, what were the Galatians thinking by moving out of God’s house as children into the servant’s quarters under a slave master – the Law?^[12]

John Wesley (1703-1791) in one of his sermons on Romans 8:16 about the witness of the Spirit that we are God’s children, says that anyone who truly believes that the Scriptures are the Word of God, cannot doubt what Paul says about the privileges of being children of God. This is something believers must explain and defend as the truth. If they don’t do so, then our religious faith will degenerate into mere formality, where they demonstrate a form of godliness but deny its power.^[13] That’s why our outward witness is not enough; we must also contain the inner witness of the abiding Spirit.

Wesley points out that the Apostle John says that God gave us His testimony that as His children, we are given eternal life through Jesus the Anointed One His Son.^[14] And God gave us His approval by giving His Spirit to dwell within us so that His Spirit ensures our spirit that this is so. As Wesley sees it, as soon as that witness is confirmed through sanctification, then the Fruit of the Spirit will begin to grow. Along with this, we can enjoy the honor of being able to call God our heavenly Father. And this is the core of Paul’s message here in verse six to the Galatians. That’s because His Spirit dwelling in our hearts cries out for us, “Abba,

[1] Nicholas of Lyra, op. cit.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Chrysostom, op. cit., loc. cit.

[4] Acts of the Apostles 9:11

[5] See Zachariah 12:10

[6] John Trapp: On Galatians, op. cit., p 582

[7] William Burkitt: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 322

[8] 1 Corinthians 4:10

[9] William Law: A Humble, Earnest, and Affectionate Address to the Clergy pp.23-24

[10] Romans 8:16-17

[11] 1 John 3:1

[12] Edwards, Jonathan. The Complete Works of Jonathan Edwards: op. cit., (Kindle Location 74961-74977).

[13] 2 Timothy 3:5

[14] 1 John 5:11 Father.”

NEW TESTAMENT CRITICAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson XIII)

What the Apostle Paul wrote the Ephesians sure sounds a lot like what he said to the Romans when he scolded them by saying, don’t let your old sinful tendencies get a hold of you and tell you what to do. You are supposed to be doing what the Holy Spirit tells you to do if He is living in you. No person belongs to the Anointed One if His Spirit is not dwelling in them. You should not act like people who are owned by someone other than God. They are always afraid of failing. Instead, the Holy Spirit makes us God’s sons and daughters, we can call Him, “Papa, my Father.”^[1]

Paul is able to say this because he believes in what the Scriptures say about how the first man, Adam, became a living soul.^[2] But the last Adam (the Anointed One) is a life-giving Spirit.^[3] In fact, the Apostle Peter says that the prophets tried to find out how to be saved. They told of the loving-favor that comes to mankind and wondered at what time and to what person this may happen. The Spirit of the Anointed One dwelling in them talked to them and told them to write about how the Anointed One will suffer, and about the grace that comes to all who believe.^[4]

No doubt, the Apostle Paul got a hint of this when reading the scroll of Isaiah, where it is said: I will pour out My Spirit on your children and will bring good to your children’s children. They will grow like grass in the fields, and like poplar trees by the rivers. They will say, “I am the LORD’S.”^[5] And God showed some frustration when He talked to Israel and Judah and said to them: you just call out to Me, saying, “Papa, our Father?” Didn’t you tell me that you’ve been my friend since you were a child?^[6] The Lord reminded them of a time when He told them that He wanted to treat them as His own children. He wanted to give them a fertile land, a land more beautiful than any other nation, and then He thought they would call Him their “Father.”^[7] That’s why Paul was able to tell the Romans that now all of us can go to the Father through the Anointed One by way of the one Spirit.^[8] And they do that by praying at all times as the Holy Spirit leads them to pray. Pray for the things that are needed, not wanted. So, they must watch and keep on praying. Not just for themselves, but all believers.^[9]

That certainly opened the door for the writer of Hebrews to say that we now have a great high priest who went to live with God in heaven. He is Jesus, the Son of God. So let us continue to express our faith in Him. Jesus, as our high priest, is able to understand our weaknesses. When Jesus lived on earth, He was tempted in every way. He was tempted in the same ways we are tempted, but He never sinned. With Jesus as our high priest, we are free to come before God’s throne, where there is grace. There we receive mercy and kindness to help us when we need it.^[10] Even the Apostle Jude echoed this truth by telling his readers to use their most holy faith to build themselves up even stronger. Pray with the help of the Holy Spirit.^[11]

One thing the Jews were very particular about was inheritances. There were many rules governing how estates were distributed among the heirs. And none were more important to them than what God promised to Abraham and his children and their children. It all started when Yahweh spoke to Abram and told him, “Don’t be fearful, Abram, for I will defend you. And I will give you great blessings.”^[12] Yahweh went on and told him that He was establishing His covenant between Himself and them, along with their descendants after them. Yes, generation after generation, as an everlasting covenant, to be their God and God for their descendants who follow them. He will give them and their descendants the land in which they now live as foreigners, all the land of Canaan, as their permanent possession.^[13]

King David found a reason to say with confidence and assurance, the LORD Himself is my inheritance.^[14] That’s why later on, the Psalmist and musician Asaph confidently sang, “My mind and body may fail, but God is the Rock for my mind and my portion forever.”^[15] But when things did not go as well as expected, and they were invaded and conquered by the king of Babylon, God sent them good news when He said He would bring them back to this very city, so they may live in peace and safety. And they will still be His people, and He will be their God. And He will give them one heart and one mind to worship Him forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants. And He will make an everlasting covenant with them, promising never again to desert them but only to do them good. He will put a desire into their hearts to worship Him, and they will never leave Him. It will make Him happy to do good things for them and will replant them in the land He gave them great joy.^[16]

These things may be running through Paul’s mind when he wrote to the Corinthians and told them, “You belong to the Anointed One, and the Anointed One belongs to God.”^[17] And when he wrote them a second time he warned them against becoming too familiar with the world and their way of life. He asked why should God’s Temple and the temples of idols share anything in common? They are God’s temple, the home of the living God, because God said of them, “I will live in you and walk among you, and I will be your God, and you will be my people.” That is why the Lord told them to leave the heathens and their idols; have nothing to do with them; don’t get involved in their filthy activities, and I will welcome you and be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters.”^[18]

Rabbi Moises Maimonides (1135-1204) gave a clearer interpretation of this restriction when he said that a person should not call a servant Papa Joe or a maidservant Mama Sarah lest this lead to an undesirable outcome and a blemish be placed on their lineage. Therefore, if some servants or maidservants were very distinguished personages, their reputations are well-known, and everyone in the community recognizes them and the children and servants of their master. For example, for the servants of the nasi^[19] – it is permitted for the children of that household to refer to the servants by their names.^[20] It is said that in Rabbi Gamaliel’s house, he and his family referred to the head servant as Father Tabi, and his wife as Mother Tabiatha. However, in the Mishnah, we read where possible referred to those by name who were what were called “freed servants” who decided to stay on and serve as part of the extended family.^[21]

In examining what Paul says here in verse six about God sending the Spirit of His Son into our hearts to enable us to call Him Papa, Father, Thomas Aquinas is answering the specific question of whether each of the Divine Persons of the Trinity was able to assume human nature as Jesus did? Aquinas notes that a spiritual adoptive sonship is a peculiar form of natural sonship, but it takes place in us, by being chosen for such a relationship with the Father. The principle involved is seen as a gift of the Holy Spirit, who has the same love for us as He does His Only Son. It’s done by God sending the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, allowing us to call Him Papa, Father. And, therefore, even as by the Incarnation of the Son in becoming one of us, we receive adoption in the likeness of His Son. So, Aquinas sees all members of the Trinity involved in granting us this family relationship with God the Father. In so doing, all three become incarnate in us.^[22]

John Gill tells us that the very learned Rabbi John Selden (1584-1654), England’s Chief Rabbi during the renaissance, thinks the Apostle Paul alludes to a custom among the Jews who allowed only those who were freed from servanthood, not ordinary servants nor handmaids, to call anyone Papa – Father or Imma – Mother.^[23] This seems to be based upon a mistaken interpretation and rendering of a passage in the Talmud, where it says: It’s been taught elsewhere that male and female slaves are not called “Father so-and-so” or “Mother so-and-so,” even though in Rabban Gamaliel’s house, however, they were called “Father so-and-so” and “Mother so-and-so.”^[24]

So when Paul said that only those who were freed from the slavery of the Law by the sacrifice and blood of the Lamb of God and offered to serve God out of love and dedication were allowed to do something that even the freed slave of a city mayor or head of the local council were given permission to do, they call God in heaven their Papa or Father, which is the reverse of the Jewish custom mentioned here.

Ambrosiaster feels that Paul is trying his best to get the Jewish believers to go from being known as the children of Israel and began to accept their status as children of God. As such, instead of finding synonyms or euphemisms to address God by calling Him LORD (Adonai) or HaShem (The Name), they called Him Father. And we can call Him Father as adults because that’s what Jesus told His disciples to do when they prayed to God. Ambrosiaster goes on to say that for the non-Jews, the same privilege applies because although they were never part of the children of Israel, they too are now the children of God through adoption, and therefore, are eligible as heirs through the Anointed One to all that God promised to Abraham.

But most of all, says Ambrosiaster, “It shows that the Father will give His children what He wants to give them out of His own possessions, and calls this gift their inheritance.”^[25] And this was also at the heart of the Judaizers’ argument that salvation is earned, not given, while Paul made it clear that salvation is a gift from God that cannot be earned by man’s good works. So the next time you encounter someone who believes that salvation must be earned, asked them if they believe their eyesight was a gift or did they earn it, is their heartbeat a gift or did they earn it, and you can go on and on. Just as our sight, hearing, breathing, heartbeat, touch, taste, and feel are instilled in our being during conception and incubation in the womb, so our spiritual relationship with God is instilled in our hearts and minds at the moment of our new birth, made possible through the Anointed One.

[1] Romans 8:9, 15

[2]  Genesis 2:7

[3] 1 Corinthians 15:45

[4] 1 Peter 1:10-11

[5] Isaiah 44:3b-5a

[6] Jeremiah 3:4

[7] Ibid. 3:19

[8] Ephesians 2:18

[9] Ibid. 6:18

[10] Hebrews 4:14-16

[11] Jude 1:20

[12] Genesis 15:1

[13] Ibid. 17:7-8

[14] Psalm 16:5

[15] Ibid. 73:26 – Complete Jewish Bible

[16] Jeremiah 32:37b-41

[17] 1 Corinthians 3:23

[18] 2 Corinthians 6:16-18

[19] In the Jewish communities, an important person such as a town mayor or head of the local council or any such high official was referred to as a nasi.

[20] Moises Maimonides: Mishneh Torah, Sefer Mishpatim, Nachalot, Ch. 4, Sect. 5

[21] Mishnah: Nashim, Gittin, Ch. 4, sect. 4

[22] Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, op. cit., Vol. 5, Of the Mode of Union on the Part of the Person assuming, Part 3-Question 3- Article 5-Responses and Objections-2, p. 60

[23] Ioannis Seldeni (John Seldon): de Successionibus ad Leges Ebraeorum in Bona Defunctorum Liber Singularis in Pontificatum, Ex Officina Elfeviriorum, 1808, Ch. 4, p. 33

[24] Babylonian Talmud: Seder Zera’im, Masekhet Berakoth, folio 16b.

[25] Ambrosiaster, op. cit., loc, cit., p. 22

NEW TESTAMENT CRITICAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson XII)

Jewish Christian writer W. A. Liebenberg notes that some people take Paul’s statement here about Yeshua being under the Law even as all Jews were. These are those who believe that the phrase “under the Law” is a metaphor for a person committing a sin. But this isn’t true because while Yeshua was born under the Law, He did not commit sin. Yeshua was born under the Law and kept the Law to absolute perfection. Something no other Jew was able to do. For this reason, He is the Righteous One who is able to redeem those who were under the Law but condemned as sinners, held in bondage to the rudimentary moral rules of the world.^[1] The most critical factor was that they could not bring themselves to give up the rites, rituals, regulations, and ceremonies of Judaism’s salvation by works, and embrace the crucifixion of the Messiah whose sacrifice covers all sin.

In one commentary, the writers deal with the concept of adoption in a very real and stark way. They point out that parents initiate the search for a child to adopt. They believe that it was God’s pleasure and will before creation to set His affections on us. He sought us out, we did not seek Him out. But there’s a big difference between what we know as physical adoption in our society and spiritual adoption in God’s economy. Earthly adoptions are often filled with emotion and often glamorized as selfless acts on the part of those who are well-off taking in an underprivileged child to enjoy the abundance of good things, they will offer them. As such, those being adopted are thought of as sweet, precious, innocent children from all over the world just waiting to be adopted by a loving family.

However, they say in the commentary, that when we look at what Paul said to the Ephesians about the people being adopted by God, how they were objects destined for His wrath because they followed the ruler of this world, Satan, gratifying the cravings of their sinful nature. Is that the kind of child, any of us, would want to adopt? Yet, says Paul, God was rich in mercy, and He loved us very much in spite of our pitiful condition. We were spiritually dead because of all we did against Him. But He gave us new life together with the Anointed One. And it was all because of God’s love, mercy, and grace.^{[2] [3]}

In a book about adoption by Russell Moore, he gives a graphic scenario to consider when comparing earthly adoption to heavenly adoption. He says that we should imagine for a moment that we are adopting a child. We meet with the social worker in the last stage of the process, we’re told that this twelve-year-old kid has been in and out of psychotherapy since he was three. He persists in burning things and attempting repeatedly to skin kittens alive. The social worker gives a little family history. The boy’s family on his father’s side, going all the way back three generations, all compiled a history of violence, ranging from spousal abuse to serial murder. Each of them ended their life the same way, death by suicide – each found hanging from a rope of blankets in their respective prison cells.

Now ask yourself, says Moore, would you still want to adopt this boy? And if you adopted him, wouldn’t you keep your eye constantly as he played with your other children? Wouldn’t you watch enviously as he looks at the butcher knife on the kitchen counter? Would you dare leave the room as he watched a movie on television with your daughter, with the lights on low? Well, as Paul describes it, that’s how many believers were before they were rescued by adopting. As we can see again, that was only possible by the love, mercy, and grace of God through the death of the Anointed One who paid the price for our sins.^[4] Is there any reason then that anyone would need to ask us, “Do you love God the Father? Do you love Jesus, His Son? Do you love God’s Holy Spirit?” Never, we should put everyone at ease by willingly declaring openly and loud how much we love them because they first loved us.

Don Garlington makes an interesting remark on the phrase “the fullness of time” here in verse four. As it relates to the minor child expecting the inheritance, he ties the child’s coming of age in verse two, with the coming of faith in chapter three, verses twenty-three through twenty-five. But rather than thinking of the container of time having been filled to the brim, we should think of it as being filled up to a particular mark and that it is still being steadily filled until one day it is completely filled.^[5] And since it reached the mark where God sent His Son to be the Messiah and Savior of sinners, there is another line when God will send back His Son to resurrect all those who died in faith that He would return and those still living who also believe He is coming back to meet Him in the air. But there are other marks still left – the Millennial Reign of Messiah here on earth,^[6] and the final destruction of all that is evil, including Satan and his hordes. Then a new heaven and new earth will appear for eternity.^[7]

In a Final Covenant commentary from a Jewish perspective, we find the phrase “fullness of time” used as implying the coming of the Messiah.^[8] They note that this did not come to the Apostle Paul by way of some new revelation. In fact, it was part of what he learned from his rabbinical teachers during his growing years and bar mitzvah. In one place, Rabbi Judah taught that whoever lived in Babylon during the exile will be accounted as living in Israel because of the promise in Zechariah.^[9] But Rabbi Abaye states that they that live in Babylon recalled their traditional teaching that they would not endure the sufferings that would precede the coming of the Messiah.^[10] And more is said about this in the Talmud concerning the times and conditions preceding the arrival of the Messiah.^[11]

4:6-7 And now that we are His children, God sent the Spirit of the Anointed One, His Son, into our hearts. That’s why we now address Him as Father because He really is our Father. As a result, we are no longer under guardianship but free; no longer slaves but children, God’s own children. And since we are now His children, we stand to inherit everything that belongs to Him.

 The Aramaic Version of verse six reads, “God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, who cries, Father, our Father,” for us. So, it is not we who call God “our Father,” but the Son’s Spirit within us. For without that Spirit, no person can call Him “Father.” We must keep in mind that in light of what Paul said in the previous verses, he is still speaking primarily to the Jewish contingent in the churches in Galatia. But as Paul closes this part of his discourse by emphasizing the benefits believers enjoy because of their elevated relationship with God the Father, it is aimed at the non-Jewish members as well.

It was more than just a judicial act or a legal matter that changed their status; it was a significant and critical change that took place in the heart. Under Mosaic Law, the vital principle of cooperation with Mosaic Law came from the person’s own carnal spirit. That’s why many of the original religious rituals and regulations became more and more complex as the human spirit tried to improve on their effectiveness and guaranteed outcome. You were looked at as a more pious and holy believer through Mosaic Law by carrying out even the smallest detail with precision.

Even today, some Christians attempt the same thing. Some are known to crawl on their knees from the church door to the altar, some even on shattered glass to show their utmost devotion, or taking communion every day, or using their prayer beads and prayer book to earn God’s grace. How might the Apostle Paul respond today to this salvation-by-one’s-own-efforts approach to God? But God effected a critical change. He replaced the carnal spirit with the Spirit of His Son. Since Paul mentions Father, Son, and Spirit, He spoke to the Gentiles concerning the Trinity. Since the Jews only accepted the Father and Spirit, Paul made sure they understood that the Spirit of the Father is also one with the Son, so they are three-in-One. Paul also clearly implies that the Spirit cannot be received from the Father until and unless one is already one with the Son.

So, you Judaizers, now do you get it? Since God gave you the same Spirit the Son is in union with, it allows you to approach God as His children, and use the reverent, tender, and affectionate language of which a child addressing their father with, why would you trade that for communicating with the Father through animal sacrifices, religious rituals, and ceremonies? What a joy to use the title “Father” that clearly identifies one as a child of God, a term that expresses warmth and togetherness, allowing us to confidently approach our God and address Him as a divine parent. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He used the same term, “Our Father.” Again, Paul’s inspiration speaks volumes when he indicates that we use this affectionate title when “calling out” to God.

Paul seems to follow the Aramaic text by telling the Romans that our hope never makes us ashamed because the love of God came into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who was gracefully given to us.^[12] That allows the Spirit to call out to the Father for us. Whose voice will He listen to first, ours, or the Holy Spirit’s? Paul adds more to this by telling the Romans that they should not act like people who are owned by someone that is always afraid. Instead, the Holy Spirit makes us God’s children, so each of us can call out to Him, “Father, my Father.” The Holy Spirit speaks to us and tells our spirit that we are children of the Most High God. If we are children of God, we will receive everything He promised us. We will share with the Anointed One all the things God gave to Him. But we must share His suffering if we are to share in His glory.^[13]

Paul writes the Corinthians and gives them a similar message, only he refers to the indwelling Holy Spirit as God’s Mark or Seal on us as His property.^[14] He tells the Ephesians the same thing.^[15] But he also warns them, don’t make the Holy Spirit sad. God gave you His Spirit as proof that you belong to Him and that He will keep you safe until the day He makes you eternally free.^[16] And the way believers cause the Holy Spirit grief is that they start lying to each other when they ought to tell their fellow Christians the truth. After all, we all belong to the same body. So, if you get angry, don’t let it become sinful hate. Get over your anger before the day is finished. Don’t let the devil start working in your life. Anyone who steals must stop it! They must work for what they expect to earn so they will obtain what they need and can still give to those who need help. Watch your talk! No curse words should be coming from your lips. Speak positive words. Your words will help others to grow as strong believers.^[17]

[1] W. A. Liebenberg: On Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit., p. 74

[2] Ephesians 2:1-5

[3] Platt, David; Merida, Tony. Exalting Jesus in Galatians, op. cit., p. 77)

[4] Russell Moore: Adopted for Life, Published by Crossway, 2009, p. 27

[5] Don Garlington: On Galatians, op. cit., p. 118

[6] See Isaiah 2:2-3; 30:20-21; Zechariah 8:4; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Peter 5:17; 2 Peter 3:9; Revelation 5:10

[7] Isaiah 65:17, 20; 66:22; Hebrews 12:26-27; 2 Peter 3:12-13; Revelation 21:1-4

[8] Cf. Mark 1:15; Ephesians 1:10

[9] Zechariah 2:11

[10] Babylonian Talmud: Seder Nashim, Masekhet Ketuboth, folio 111a

[11] Ibid. Masekhet Sanhedrin, folio 97a-97b

[12] Romans 5:5

[13] Ibid. 8:15-17

[14] 2 Corinthians 1:22

[15] Ephesians 1:13

[16] Ibid. 4:30

[17] Ibid. 4:25-29