About Jesus  -  Steve Sweetman

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Chapters 3:26 through 4

ch. 3:26 - 4:7    ch. 4:9-20    ch. 4:31-30

Sons Of God (ch. 3:26 – 4:7)

Paul opens this section by saying that "you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus". Paul is not only saying that you are sons of Abraham, but he is actually saying that those who trust Jesus are sons of God. We became sons of God when we were "clothed by Him", or united with Him when we were baptized.

Paul is linking water baptism with being united with Christ, or being saved. Practically speaking, how and when are we united with Christ? We are united with Christ when we receive His Spirit. This happens at initial salvation, when we first rely on Jesus and receive His Spirit. It is my opinion that Paul is not saying that water baptism is the way in which we are united with Christ. What I believe he is saying is that he is equating water baptism with getting saved. His mind set is that once a person comes to Jesus and gets saved, he then is water baptized. There would be no waiting period between getting saved and getting water baptized. The two happen almost simultaneously. If we interpret Paul saying that water baptism causes us to receive God’s Spirit then you are saying that a good work, even water baptism gets us saved. We know that there is no good work, even baptism, that can save us. Paul simply equates water baptism with salvation. Both are part of our initial salvation package of events.

Catholic doctrine equates salvation with baptism, and that is why Catholics believe one is saved when he gets baptized as a baby.  I certainly don't believe that.  

There is something else to think about with verse 27. The NIV, 1973 version which I am using differs from newer versions of the NIV. The 1973 version says, "..all of you who were united with Christ in baptism have been clothed with Christ". This suggests as I have said, that it is baptism that "unites" us with Christ, or gets us saved. The newer NIV translations say, "for all of you who have been baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ". The newer translations omit the word "unite". This solves the problem of baptism as a good work uniting us with Christ. It suggests that when we are baptized, we are clothed with Christ.

My RSV Interlinear Greek – English New Testament says, "for as many as - into – Christ – you were – baptized – Christ – you put on" There is no Greek word for "unite" in this Greek manuscript. Therefore the newer NIV translation seems to be more accurate. This too may solve the problem, since the Greek does not suggest we are "united" with Jesus because of baptism. It says we have put on Christ because of baptism. There is a difference. The "putting on of Christ" may be more symbolic than "uniting with Christ". There is no symbolism with uniting. It is a Scriptural fact that we have actually been united with Jesus by the Holy Spirit.

Some commentators feel that Paul is not talking about water baptism here, but the baptism in the Holy Spirit that they say happens some time after initial salvation.  I personally don't believe in such a second work of grace.  I don't think Paul is talking about this here.

Paul says a very interesting thing in verse 29. He says, "if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed". Once again note the word "seed" is singular. Remember back in verse 18 Paul told us that the Seed is Jesus. Now he says that the seed are those who believe in Jesus. What verse is right? What is Paul saying? Is this doubletalk? No. The point is simple. Jesus indeed is the Seed, but if we are united with Him by His Spirit and are one with Him, then we have become the seed as well. Therefore we are in Christ, and are Abraham seed along with Jesus. We also are heirs of the promises God gave to Abraham.

What is an heir? An heir is someone who inherits something because he is a family member. If a father dies and leaves all that he has to his son, the son is considered an heir. By trusting Jesus we also become heirs of Abraham, receiving all of the inheritance promised to Abraham. 

In the first couple of verses in chapter 4 Paul compares a minor son, with a slave. That is, there is no difference between an under-aged son and a slave. They both have someone looking after them. Paul says that Israel in Old Testament times was like young sons. They needed someone to look after them until they could receive their father’s inheritance. That someone was the Law. When the time came, when the son grew up, he did not need someone to look after him any longer. When the time came for Jesus to be born of a woman, Israel grew up, no longer needing the Law. They could receive God’s promise of salvation, including receiving His Spirit.

Paul says that "we were enslaved by the basic principles of the world". He did not say that we were enslaved by the Law here. Most commentators believe this refers to the Law and those in charge of teaching the Law and leading Israel .

In verse 4 Paul says that God sent His son, "born of a woman". This shows the humanity of Jesus, the human side of His nature. Remember, Jesus was fully human and fully God.

Paul also says that Jesus was "born under the Law". This is important. Jesus Himself was still under the Law. His death and resurrection had not yet come. This would answer some tough questions concerning some hard things that Jesus said. For example, in Mat. 5:48 Jesus tells us to be perfect, as He is perfect. Why and how could He say such a hard statement. There are two reasons. Reason one is that Jesus was perfect and as a result could not ask for anything less in His followers. Reason number two is that Jesus was still under the Law. He had to uphold the demands of perfection laid out in the Law. He had no other choice. To me this helps explain why Jesus tells us to be perfect. This also explains why Jesus said other statements that are hard for us to understand.

Paul says that Jesus was born under the Law in order to "redeem those under the Law". Jesus paid the price in order to take us out of the prison of the Law. Jesus paid the price to free us from the dictatorship of the Law. The reason why we have been redeemed from the Law is so that "we might receive the whole rights of sons".  In actuality Jesus lived the life of the Law on our behalf since we can't and never could. 

We have now become sons of the Living God. We have also become sons of Abraham, and all of what God promised Abraham can come to us. The number one thing we receive because we are sons is the very Holy Spirit of God. (ch. 4:7) The Holy Spirit unites us with God our Father.

One thing we should understand as Gentile believers is that we have become children of Abraham.  In one real sense of the word, Gentile Christians are Jews.  We have a Jewish heritage that most Gentile Christians know little about since we've westernized this Jewishness out of existence.   

Paul’s Concern For The Galatians (ch. 4:8 – 20)

In verse 8 Paul directs his thoughts to the Gentile Christians. The last few verses were directed more towards the Jews. The reason why I say this is due to the phrases, "you were slaves to those by nature who were not gods … and weak and miserable principles". These Gentile Christians were not enslaved by the Law, but enslaved by false gods and the principles they believed in. But now these people know God, but rather are known of God. This is interesting. Paul seems to shift his thinking in mid stream. He says that these people know God, then he switches to, "but rather are known by God. (ch. 4:8) Sometimes I think that I don’t really know God. In fact none of us really knows God in His totality. This is why Paul says, "but rather are known by God". God knows us far better than we know Him.

Paul can’t understand that once meeting the God of the universe, once receiving His Spirit, why would these people  begin to contemplate reverting back to their old life. In verse 11 Paul says, "I fear for you that somehow I have wasted my effort with you". Do you see Paul’s feelings coming through here. He had spent much time with these people, and it was looking like his time might be wasted. Paul was always concerned about not wasting time.

"I plead with you, become like me, for I became like you…" (ch. 4:12) Paul was a Jew and lived according to the Law . When he came to rely on Jesus, he stopped living by the Law. He lived like the Gentiles. These Gentiles never did live by the Law. In that sense, Paul became like the Gentiles by not living according to the Law. Now these Gentiles are becoming like Paul once was, that is, living according to the Law. Paul pleads with them to come back and live as he presently lives, that is, by the Spirit, and not by the Law.

In verse 13 Paul said that he actually got to preach the gospel to these people because of some kind of illness he had. This is interesting, in light of some present day teaching that states that we can be free from illness. Paul seemed very sick. His sickness was a "trial" to these people. They must have had to look after him for a period of time. The Galatians did not seem to be bothered by this. Even though it was a trial for them, they took pleasure in helping Paul. They welcomed Paul as if he was Jesus Himself. These people had a great love for Paul.

Whatever the illness was that Paul had, they could have treated him with scorn and contempt. (ch. 4:14) Certain diseases, like leprosy carried severe social consequences. People did scorn those with leprosy. They stayed away from them and treated them as second class citizens. I am not saying that Paul had leprosy, but whatever he had seemed to have carried some social consequence.

Paul said that these people loved him so much that if it were possible they would have "torn out their eyes" to help him. Because of this reference to eyes, and the fact that Paul wrote this letter with large letters, (ch. 6:11) some think that Paul’s illness was a vision problem.

Paul says in verse 15 , "what has happened to me is for your joy". It is evident from our experience that Jesus brings a certain measure of joy to our lives when we trust Him. These people lost their joy as a result of living by rules. This is what legalism does. It takes away your joy.

Paul was reminding these people of their love for him. These people really loved Paul, but now the Judaizers were trying to "alienate" them from Paul. They were trying to disrupt this good relationship. In verse 18 Paul says, "my dear children, for whom I am in pains of child birth…" See the pain in Paul’s life here. He equates this pain to a woman giving birth to a baby. Women can certainly relate to what Paul is trying to portray here. This was no small matter for Paul.

Paul says the words, "until Christ is formed in you". This is God’s will for all of our lives. He wants Christ to be formed in us. He wants the life of Jesus to be clearly seen in our lives. The life of Christ was not being seen in the Galatian’s lives. The Law was what was being seen,  not Jesus.

Jesus life "being formed" in the Galatians speaks to the unborn baby being formed within the mother before birth.  

Paul closes this section by saying "...I am perplexed about you". (ch. 4:20) The Greek word "aporeo" is the word translated as "perplexed" in the NIV. the KJV says, "I stand in doubt of you. "Aporeo" literally means, "to be without a way". To me Paul was beside himself. He just couldn’t figure these people out. Why would they want to give back their inheritance? Why would they even think of going back to the Law. If you had inherited one million dollars from your father and put it in your bank account, that would surely make you happy. Then after having all that money for a while you decide that you don’t want it any longer, so you took all the money out of the bank and burned it. Now that doesn’t make any sense does it. This is exactly what the Galatians were doing with their inheritance. They were throwing away their inheritance.

Hagar And Sarah (ch. 4:21 – 31)

You should note in this section that Paul takes a literal historical event and gives it a present day spiritual meaning. We can only conclude that God Himself has given Paul the right to do this. We as normal Christians do not have this same right. If we did, we would have thousands of interpretations of Old Testament events. It is poor Biblical interpretation for us to do as Paul does in this chapter. Paul can do this. We cannot. We need to realize that Paul was an Apostle above all other apostles. For those who believe in modern day apostles, you have to admit that any modern day apostle is not on the same level as Paul. The modern day apostle takes what Paul has already said and repeats it to others. He does not say anything new. He does not preach his own gospel but Paul’s gospel, which is in fact Jesus’ gospel.

Paul relates the historical event that Abraham had two sons, one son (Ishmael) born from a slave woman named Hagar, and another son (Isaac) born of a free woman named Sarah, who was Abraham’s wife.

In verse 24 Paul says that these things should be "taken figuratively". By this Paul is saying that you can take this literal event and give it a non-literal meaning for us today. In short, Paul is spiritualizing this historical event.

Paul says that Hagar, the slave woman, stands for Mount Sinai, where God gave Moses the Law, where the city of Jerusalem is located. Hagar stands for the Jews in Jerusalem who are under the Law. Yet Sarah, Abraham’s wife stands for a spiritual Jerusalem , a Jerusalem that is above, meaning those who rely on Jesus for their salvation. Sarah stands for Christians.

In verse 28 Paul says that the Galatians are like Isaac, born of a promise, that is the promise of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:5 – 8)

In verse 30 Paul quotes Gen. 21:10 where it says, "get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman‘s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son". Paul is spiritualizing this event. It was Sarah who actually said these words. Sarah was very angry with Hagar and so she wanted to vanish her and her son from her presence. Paul is saying that the present day meaning of this is that those who follow the Law will not share in the promise of the Spirit. You cannot mix Judaism and Christianity. You cannot mix law and faith. Throw out anything that has to do with Law and embrace Jesus and faith in His grace.