Paul explains to the Galatian Christians the privilege of being full-fledged adult sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

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   Paul continues his extended argument documenting that the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ was God's intent from the beginning. Presenting his argument in response to the reasonings of the infiltrating Judaizers in Galatia, Paul has explained that the promise to Abraham preceded the Law (3:15-29), and the promises of blessing are received by faith rather than by the performance of law-observances (3:1-14).

   The legalistic Judaizers advocated that the neophyte Galatian Christians needed to connect with the legacy of Abraham and become "sons of Abraham" by the performance of the demands of the Law, thus achieving a full status and stature of spiritual maturity as "sons of God." Paul, on the other hand, wanted to reiterate to the Galatian Christians that by God's grace in Jesus Christ received by faith they were already "sons of God" (3:26), Abraham's spiritual progeny (3:7,29), and heirs of all the blessings and promises of God (3:9,14,22,29). The period of immature childhood and adolescence was historically past. As Christians, the Galatians were "complete in Christ" (Col. 2:10), having received "all the things of God" (I Cor. 3:21-23), including "every spiritual blessing" (Eph. 1:3) and "everything pertaining to life and godliness" (II Pet. 1:3). Paul wanted the Galatians to recognize how spiritually rich (Eph. 3:8,16) they were as the heirs of God's promised blessings, so that they might enjoy their privileges as mature sons of God in Christ. That did not mean that they could not "grow in grace" (II Pet. 3:18), allowing for a more adequate representation of Christ's character in their behavior by faithful receptivity of His activity, but the maturity of sonship could not be meritoriously achieved through performance. Employing slightly altered metaphors comparing sons and heirs with slaves, Paul emphasizes the privilege of being full-fledged, adult sons of God in Jesus Christ.

4:1 ­ Continuing the word-pictures of "sons" (3:26) and "offspring" who are "heirs" (3:29), Paul presents a variation of his analogous theme by writing, "Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything." "Let me explain it this way," he begins. During the period of time when an heir to the estate is still a minor child, he has no functional advantage over a slave in the same household. Though the minor child may be "master" and "lord" of the entire estate de jure (by law), he is deprived of any independent function over the estate, being de facto (in fact) subject to the supervisory restrictions of designated guardians. The actions of both a minor child and a slave are determined by another.

   Keying off of the previous figures that Paul has used to explain the historically progressive revelation of God, i.e. the protective custody (3:23) and the custodial oversight of the paidagogos (3:24), Paul is making the point to the Galatian Christians that they are not minor children waiting or striving for the de facto realization of all the divine inheritance in Jesus Christ. The privilege of mature, adult sonship is ours, both de jure and de facto in Jesus Christ.1

4:2 ­ A minor child "is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father," Paul explains. The minor child, like the slave, is subordinated to other decision-makers and authority-figures. He is not free to make his own decisions concerning the utilization of the estate. The "guardians" and the "managers," distinct from the paidagogos (3:24), are the legal controllers both of the child and the estate, serving as legal guardians and governors of the child and administrators or trustees of the property and finances.

   The chronological parameters of this arrangement were previously ordained and appointed by the father of the child. He laid down a fixed time or age that would serve as the terminus of this condition of subservience, at which time the child would be regarded as having reached adulthood with the full functional privilege of enjoying all of the assets of the estate de facto. The commentators have long speculated whether Paul had in mind a father, still living, who had established a "trust fund" for an under-aged child which could be possessed at a certain age of majority, or whether Paul was picturing a father who had died leaving a "last will and testament" with details concerning the welfare of the son and the administration of the estate. If the latter was intended, which seems more reasonable, the concept might correspond with the "ratified covenant" mentioned in 3:15, with the analogous difficulty being that God cannot die, though the death of Jesus Christ could serve as the death of the testator if the figure were pressed into an allegory.

   Either way, it should be noted that the timing was determined "by the father." Likewise, Paul will point out in verse 4 that the Father, God, made the timing arrangements for the Son to move into the New Covenant era of Lordship in control of the divine estate, the kingdom. The point that Paul is making to the Galatians is that the time of full appreciation and enjoyment of the inheritance of God has come, and they should recognize the privilege of living in God's grace as sons.

4:3 ­ Explaining the pictures he has painted in verses 1 and 2, and seeking to make application to the Galatian believers, Paul reminds them, "So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world." Comprehensively it is true both of Paul and the Galatians, both for Jews and Gentiles, that we have all endured a childhood period of restrictive subservience to "the powers that be." In our pre-regenerate period we were all enslaved to performance-oriented principles and premises that controlled and dominated the way we walked in the world. The world-system is comprised of such cause and effect principles based on humanistic premises of how man can exert his self-effort to "get ahead" and be productive in life. Such performance incentives always involve a slavery to self-effort as we strive to reach a utopian goal that is neither attainable or satisfactory.

   Commentators have long debated the meaning of "the elemental things of the world" that Paul mentions in this verse. Suggestions have included (1) the cosmic material substances or components of earth, water, air and fire, which were regarded by some ancient peoples as the constitutive elements that dictated events, (2) the astrological alignment of heavenly bodies which many through the centuries have relied on for the fate of all circumstances, and (3) the spiritual and demonic powers of the cosmos that have generated fear and superstition which have held many peoples in bondage and enslavement. The latter of these three categories, relating to the spiritual rather than the physical, is broad enough to include all religious activity and all the utilitarian endeavors promoted by the natural humanistic objectives of fallen mankind. As Satan is "the god of this world, blinding the minds of unbelievers" (II Cor. 4:4) and "holding them captive to do his will" (II Tim. 2:26), he energizes "the powers, the world forces of darkness, the spiritual forces of wickedness" (Eph. 6:12) that are contrary to God's intent, inclusive of all religious disguise (II Cor. 11:13-15). The bondage of Judaic religion "under the Law" served as the childhood restrictions and temporary time of minority for the Jewish peoples (3:19), while the Gentile peoples had their own variations of "weak and worthless elemental things" (4:9) in the restrictive regulations of their pagan religions. Writing later to the Colossians, Paul asked, "If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why do you submit yourself" (Col. 2:20) to those restrictive regulations again? "See to it that no one takes you captive... according to the elementary principles of the world" (Col. 2:8). It was that same tendency of reversionism that Paul was cautioning the Galatians about, asking, "How is it that you turn back to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?" (4:9). Jesus' prayer was that Christians might function "in the world," but not be "of the world" (Jn. 17:11,16).

   Paul is reminding the Galatian Christians of the "bondage" of performance-oriented religion and humanistic human-potential incentives that are contrary to the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ. The word "religion" in the English language is even derived from the Latin word religare which means to "bind up" or "tie back." Religion binds a person to ethical rules and regulations and ties them to rituals of devotion that enslave them in the performance of such duties. In the natural, preliminary stage of our pre-regenerate lives, we were all enslaved like minor children and slaves to the elements of worldly induced behavior patterns. But Paul's argument is that Christians have already reached the age and stage of adult sons of God who need no longer submit to the enslaving bondage of the performance standards such as those that the Judaizers were seeking to impose, but are free to enjoy the privileges of spiritual inheritance in Christ by God's grace.

4:4 ­ The "date set by the father" (4:2) was that "when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son" in order to provide for mankind the privileges of full spiritual sonship in Jesus Christ. The historical terminus of the restrictive times of having to perform in accord with legal determinations and external decision-makers is marked by the incarnational advent of Jesus Christ and the availability of God's grace-dynamic. In His sovereign determination of time and human history, unregulated by necessity or social setting, God completed what He intended to do in the preliminary era of the Law, and "sent forth His Son" at a definite point in time which was to become the dividing point of all history (His-story). "What the Law could not do, God did by sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Rom. 8:3). A proper philosophy of history does not commence with predetermined dispensational segments of time complete with cyclical patterns of divine activity, but must begin with the focal point of Christ's advent and interpret all events from the perspective of His Person and work, both antecedently and subsequently. The Christ-event is the center-point of human history. At that time the eternal God at His own initiative and appointment "sent forth" His Son ek theos, "out of Himself," and out of His pre-existent eternal state to be invested in time, space and humanity. In the Christological formulation of the God-man, God acted out of His triune Deity to invest His life in His Son (cf. Jn. 5:26) in order to redeem and restore created humanity. This was no unforeseen event or secondary plan of God, but constituted "the fulness of the times" (Eph. 1:10) and "the ends of the ages" (I Cor. 10:11) as Jesus Himself indicated when He said, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand" (Mk. 1:15).

   The pre-existent Christ was "born of a woman" as "the Word became flesh" (Jn. 1:14). Though conceived supernaturally by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20; Lk. 1:35), Jesus was delivered by natural childbirth to Mary, "a descendant of David, according to the flesh" (Rom. 1:3). The incarnational begetting of "the man Christ Jesus" (I Tim. 2:5) being "born of a woman," completely human, emphasizes the humanity of the Son of God. Though some have attempted to push the meaning of the phrase "born of a woman" to imply that it means "born without human paternity," and thus seek to provide additional documentation of His supernatural conception (often called "virgin birth"), the uniqueness of conception is not implicit within these words, though not diminished or denied by these words. Paul's words simply indicate that Jesus was born a human being in the context of time.

   Additional context of time and humanity is provided by the notation that He was "born under the Law." Though the historical parameters of the Jewish Law were terminated by His redemptive and restorational work (3:19), He was born a Jewish male in the context of the old covenant Judaic law jurisdiction. Jesus was circumcised according to the Law (Lk. 2:21), was taught the Torah, and went to synagogue. He knew from personal experience the bondage of that performance-based system of Law, even though He lived perfectly "without sin" (II Cor. 5:21).

4:5 ­ The purpose of the Son of God being sent as a Jewish man by God the Father was "in order that He might redeem those who were under law." The Christology of Jesus' Person was the basis of the soteriology of His redemptive mission. The Being of the God-man acted with saving significance as the Savior.

   Employing the language of the agora, the marketplace, which was often the location where slaves were sold and purchased in the first-century Roman world, Paul explains the Messianic mission as that of purchasing mankind out of slavery. Enslaved to sin (Jn. 8:34; Rom. 6:6,17), to Satan (II Tim. 2:26), to idols (Gal. 4:8), to corruption (II Pet. 2:19), to the elementary principles of the world (Gal. 4:9), and to the Law (Gal. 3:13,23), mankind needed to be delivered and redeemed. The price that was paid to buy man out of his miserable, fallen condition of spiritual solidarity with Satan was the death of Jesus Christ which alone could vicariously and substitutionally satisfy the just consequences of sin (cf. Gen. 2:17; Rom. 6:23). By Jesus' death we were "bought with a price" (I Cor. 6:20;7:23), and the death consequences were "paid in full" (Jn. 19:30) on our behalf.

   As slaves in the first-century were often purchased and redeemed from slavery in order to be set free, in like manner the redemptive action of Jesus Christ sets men free to function as God intended. Not only are we delivered from slavery, but that with the express purpose "that we might receive the adoption as sons." When we receive Jesus Christ we receive the glorious privilege of instatement as "sons of God." All human adoption procedures, be they ancient Roman practices or modern Western legalities, are inadequate to portray the spiritual union (I Cor. 6:17) and solidarity that the Christian has in being placed and appointed as a "son of God." Being the "first-born among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29), the redemptive purpose of God in Christ was "to bring many sons to glory" (Heb. 2:10) as "fellow heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:17). This adoptive placement as a "son of God" is both objective in the sense of a reconciled relationship with God that replaces the previous estrangement and alienation, as well as subjective in the vital internal emplacement of the life of God in regeneration, whereby we share the life of our Father as sons. Paul wanted the Galatian Christians to understand the ontological intimacy that was their spiritual birthright as "sons of God" in Christ Jesus, based not on performance but only on the spiritual reception of Jesus Christ in faith.

4:6 ­ Sons of God are only sons because the Spirit of the Son of God, Jesus, dwells in them. "Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'" Contrary to what the English translation seems to indicate, Paul is not advocating a cause and effect sequence whereby in becoming a Christian one first becomes a "son of God" and then receives the Spirit of Christ. These spiritual realities are concomitant rather than consequential. "In that" or "since" you are "sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus" (3:26), this is evidence that God has sent forth the Spirit of Christ into your heart, your "inner being" (Jn. 7:38; II Cor. 4:16; Eph. 3:16), your "spirit" (Rom. 8:10,16; Gal. 6:18). The parallel in Paul's epistle to the Romans reads, "You have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Rom. 8:15,16).

   Once again, Paul's concern was that the Galatian Christians might recognize the privilege they had as completed sons of God, allowing for the intimate relationship with God wherein they might passionately and affectionately solicit the Father-God with a Spirit-prompted cry of the heart. First-century Palestine was a bilingual society, so the Aramaic Abba and the Greek pater are duplicated for intensity in this passionate plea, which was quite possibly a Christian tradition based on Jesus' importunate prayer in the garden of Gethsemane (Mk. 14:36). This is not to be regarded as the cry of infancy calling for "Daddy," but rather the solicitation of intimacy that recognizes the ontological spiritual relationship that we, as Christians, have with God the Father. This was a radically new and uniquely Christian concept of God, which did not view God as an intimidating and powerful authority-figure or Judge (as in many religions), but as an intimately personal Father. Whereas the Jewish religion tended to view God as somewhat distant and "wholly other," reverencing the name of Yahweh as unpronounceable and unspeakable, Paul was advocating that Christians could address God with familial intimacy - a practice the Jews rejected as irreverent familiarity.

   Theological consideration recognizes the distinct Trinitarian reference in this verse to "God," "the Spirit," and the "Son." The unity of the Three-in-One must be recognized, as the indwelling presence of Christ in the Christian (cf. II Cor. 13:5; Gal. 2:20; Col. 1:27) is also the presence of God the Father in the Christian (cf. Jn. 14:23; II Cor. 6:16; I Jn. 4:12,15,16), as well as the presence of the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom. 8:11; II Cor. 1:22; James 4:5; I Jn. 3:24). The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of Christ are all one (cf. Rom. 8:9). On the other hand, Paul's reference to "God sending forth the Spirit of His Son" evidences the distinct functional procession among the three personages of the Deity, consideration of which led to the filoque formulation and the unfortunate division of the Eastern and Western churches.

4:7 ­ Paul's objective was not to formulate precise Trinitarian theology, but to impress upon the Galatian Christians the privilege that was theirs in their intimate spiritual union and communion with God as sons. In summary of the slave/son contrast that he has drawn (4:1-6), Paul draws the conclusion that "Therefore," since the Spirit of Christ dwells in you, "you are no longer a slave, but a son." Whether Jew or Gentile, we were all previously enslaved to some form of law or performance standard, which may have been religious rules and regulations, or simply the elemental principles of linear cause and effect unto utilitarian productivity. In Jesus Christ, by the dynamic of God's grace activity the bondage of performance expectations are removed. We have new identities as "sons of God" with full privileges in the "Family of God." That means we are not minor sons (4:1,2) still awaiting maturity and full privileges, but we are fully completed sons, "and if a son, then an heir through God." All the inheritance that God promised to Abraham (3:18,29) has been granted to every Christian in Christ. "Every spiritual blessing in heavenly places is ours in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 1:3). We are "fellow heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:17) of everything that God intends for and bestows upon mankind. But it all comes "through God" by the dynamic of His grace, incapable of being added to or amplified by the performance of man. Thus Paul counters the argument of the Judaizers who were demanding legal performance to become fully mature sons of God.

4:8 ­ Paul seems to backtrack in order to reiterate that the Galatian Christians who had Gentile backgrounds were equally enslaved to their pagan performance standards as were those of Jewish heritage who were "under the Law" (4,5). In the midst of doing so, he will also point out the absurdity of reverting back to such enslaving performance after having entered into an intimate relationship with God (vs. 9) as Christians ­ the primary theme of this epistle.

   Reference to "that time when you did not know God" most likely refers to pre-regenerate Gentiles, especially in conjunction with the subsequent allusion to idolatry. Writing later to the Thessalonians, Paul mentioned "the Gentiles who do not know God" (I Thess. 4:5). To the Ephesians he wrote of the Gentiles who "were without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12). These were consistent with the Old Testament references to "the nations that do not know God" (Ps. 79:6; Jere. 10:25). Although all peoples are spiritually ignorant of God apart from Jesus Christ (cf. I Cor. 2:14; Jn. 14:7), the Gentiles were regarded as particularly estranged from God in their paganism.

   The additional mention of their being "slaves to those which by nature are not gods" further serves to indicate that Paul was probably referring to pre-Christian Gentiles and their superstitious devotion to idols. Writing to the Corinthians, Paul explained "that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the dumb idols" (I Cor. 12:2). While the Jewish peoples were instructed by God to avoid idols (Exod. 20:4; Deut. 4:25;5:8), the Gentile nations were known for their superstitious reliance on the pantheon of Greek and Roman false-gods. It was an enslaving bondage indeed trying to perform what they perceived to be the whims and desires of the idolatrous deities. But Paul indicates that these idolatrous images were not essentially or constitutionally gods. Elsewhere Paul asserts that behind every idol there is a demon (cf. Acts 17:22; I Cor. 10:19-21), but here he denies that an idol is in reality, by nature, a god. Certainly they cannot be compared to or classified in the same sense as God, who is by nature the essence of all goodness, righteousness, love, etc., with the absolute singularity of being all-powerful and holy.

   It must be admitted that since no one can "know God" except through Jesus Christ (Jn. 14:7; 17:3), and since the Jewish religion had essentially deified the Law and its interpretations in idolatrous adoration (cf. Jn. 5:39), being thus enslaved to those things "which were by nature not gods," this verse could be interpreted as inclusive of both Gentiles and Jews, even though the more probable reference is specifically to those who were Gentiles. The primary emphasis of Paul, regardless of his ethnic intent, is upon the universally enslaving factor of all religious performance, which is not conducive to the Christian life lived by God's grace.

4:9 ­ Encouraging the Galatians to recall the radical spiritual exchange that transpired in their regeneration and conversion, Paul writes, "But now that you have come to know God..." In contrast to the idols which are "not gods," the Galatians had come to know the one and only living God in a personal relationship through Jesus Christ (cf. Jn. 14:7). "This is eternal life, to know God, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent" (Jn. 17:3). Within the context of highlighting the intimacy of the Father/son relationship, Paul is obviously not referring to epistemological knowledge about God. He is not asserting that the Galatian Christians have arrived at more accurate ideological information about God by intellectual assent to a theistic belief in a monotheistic God. Rather, it is obvious that Paul is referring to an ontological knowing wherein the very Being of God is received by the believer in the intimacy and intensity of personal relationship.

   Paul's recollection that the Galatian Christians "have come to know God, or rather to be known by God," obviates that this is the knowing of a personal relationship, and emphasizes that it was God who took the initiative to know us through His Son Jesus Christ. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (Jn. 3:16). "...not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation of our sins" (I Jn. 4:10). Consistent with the theme of God's grace throughout this epistle, Paul is noting that the initiative of action and performance is accomplished by God, and cannot be supplemented by any human performance. We did not take the initiative to know God; He took the initiative to know us through His Son. We do not take the initiative to perform in a manner that we think will please Him; He takes the initiative of grace to provide the dynamic to manifest His character and to "do His works" (cf. Jn. 14:10) in our behavior, unto His own glory.

   In light of all that God in Christ has done and continues to do, "how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things," Paul asks the Galatians. It is incomprehensible to Paul that a Christian who had experienced God's grace in Christ should want to revert back to the restrictive regulations of religious performance. In fact, as the root word that Paul uses for "turn back" is the word for "convert" (Matt. 18:3; Acts 26:18,20), he could be intimating that to revert back to the former functionality is a "reverse conversion." Such reversion had a dire warning in Jewish history when God said, "if you or your sons shall indeed turn away from following Me,...then I will cut them off...and cast them out of My sight" (I Kings 9:6,7). It seems that the Galatian Christians were in danger of the apostatizing reversionism proverbially illustrated by "a dog returning to his vomit" (Prov. 26:11; II Pet. 2:22). Contrary to the forward progression unto maturity that the Judaizers held out as an incentive for engaging in legalistic "works", Paul indicates that what they were doing was a backwards regression to "the weak and worthless elemental things" of religious bondage. As noted previously in verse 3 the "elemental things" are probably best understood as the performance-oriented principles that promote self-effort under the guise of human potential. These are the core of religious inculcation to obey and keep the divine Law or ecclesiastical law in order to please God, as well as general humanistic premises of pragmatic utilitarian productivity ­ thus equally applicable to Jewish and Gentile backgrounds. They both focus on man's activity, rather than on receptivity of God's activity, and are based on the fallacious premise that "doing constitutes being." Paul calls all such "works" agendas "weak and worthless"; having no power and no value before God. The power and the value are only derived from what God does by His grace in manifesting His character through His people.

   If we, as Christians, "have died to the elementary principles of the world, why then would we submit ourselves" (Col. 2:20) to "be taken captive again to such elementary principles" (Col. 2:8), "desiring to be enslaved all over again?" The "desire" for such seems to be the natural, fallen tendency of man to seek pre-set parameters of performance which he can try to attain and credit himself with any visible progress. In conjunction with such, it is attractive to many people to have programmed rituals that do not require any thought or decision, allowing the authority-figures to make all the decisions for them (like the minor children mentioned in vss. 1,2). But such determined procedures of human activity constitutes slavery to "the powers that be," be they religious, fraternal, or the pressures of social philosophy. They ultimately culminate in the enslaving idolatry of worshipping man and his ways.

4:10 ­ Specifically, the Galatian Christians were being enslaved by reverting back to "observing days and months and seasons and years." The Judaizing intruders were undoubtedly advocating Jewish observances, but some of the Gentile believers may have been lapsing back into pagan social customs, surmising that they could be mediums through which God might be pleased with their devotional efforts. Writing to the Colossians, Paul explained that "a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day were things which are but a shadow...for the substance belongs to Christ" (Col. 2:16,17). Religion inevitably has the tendency for programmed scheduling of rituals in order to allow for visible expression of human activity. This was certainly true of the Jewish religion and its observances of Sabbath days (Exod. 20:8-11; 31:16,17), monthly festivals (Numb. 10:10; 28:11; II Kgs. 4:23), seasonal feasts (Exod. 23:14-17; 34:22,23), and year-long observances (Exod. 23:11; Lev. 25:4-17). It was also true of the pagan observances of astrological "new moons" and the "signs of the seasons" among the Gentiles. But what about the observances of "holy days" in the ecclesiastical calendar of Christian religion? To the extent that they are attributed with having any merit or favor before God for participation therein, they, too, can become "elemental things" that enslave and hold people captive to superstition and performance. But that is not to say that certain days (cf. Acts 20:7) and seasons cannot be utilized to celebrate the grace of God in Christ Jesus (cf. Rom. 14:5,6).

4:11 ­ Paul expresses his personal concern for the Galatian Christians by writing, "I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain." From deep within his pastor's heart Paul had a heartfelt fear that his personal involvement with the Galatians might come to naught with no lasting effects, if the Galatians would not see the error of their ways and repent, recognizing once again the grace of God. If they failed to appreciate the grace and liberty extended to them in Jesus Christ, there was the real possibility that they would apostatize against grace (5:4), and the fruit of Paul's labors of ministry would not remain in the cities and churches of Galatia. This was similar to Paul's appeal to the Thessalonian Christians, when he wrote, "I sent to you to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor should be in vain" (I Thess. 3:5). Paul's mention of his "labor" should not be misconstrued as self-effort, for to the Colossians he explains that "I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me" (Col. 1:29). Paul was quite cognizant of the source of his endeavors, as he wrote to the Romans, "I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me" (Rom. 15:18).

4:12 ­ Continuing his personal appeal to the Galatian Christians, based on the spiritual bond they had with him as their spiritual father, Paul writes, "I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are." Despite his masterful logical ability, Paul's emotional empathies shine through as he implores and beseeches those who he still regards as his "brothers in Christ" to reconsider what they are doing.

   His request that they "become as he is" is not a request that they become imitators of him, for such smacks of self-effort, but is an appeal to the Galatians to adopt his stance toward law and grace. Paul had "died to the Law, that he might live to God" (2:19), and his prayer for the Galatians was that they might likewise reject the Judaizers' coercive persuasion to keep the legalistic observances of the Torah, and instead enjoy the freedom of living by grace in all the blessings of the promises to Abraham. Paul knew from experience the frustrating misery of legalistic bondage, having been a meticulous Jewish Pharisee (cf. Phil. 3:4-10). But he rejected and broke free from all the Jewish conventionalities of religion and culture, disregarding all their legalistic performance standards of the Law, in order to become like most of the Galatians were, "living like a Gentile" (2:14). This was more than just cultural accommodation (cf. I Cor. 9:21), for it involved a repudiation of the Law so as to live solely by the grace of God in Christ, which was exactly what Paul wanted the Galatians to do.

   Paul's statement, "You have done me no wrong," is extremely difficult to interpret contextually. While some have suggested that Paul was advising the Galatians that it was not him whom they had wronged by their reversion to Law-performance but the Lord Jesus Christ, the word-order of the original Greek does not seem to place the emphasis on the pronoun "me" to elicit such a meaning. Others have suggested that the Judaizers were using this argument with the Galatians, that there was "no wrong done to Paul" by their continuing on in the Christian life in adherence to the Law, but that is speculative at best. Since this phrase seems to be contextually linked to the following verses, perhaps the best interpretation is to understand Paul to mean that, "When I was with you in Galatia, you did me no wrong. You received me warmly and with respect despite my limitations (13-15). That is why I find it so inexplicable that your attitude has changed so radically from empathy (15) to enemy (16). But, still, I will not hold that against you, and simply appeal for what is for your own best interest, that you not be used by others (17), but allow the character of Christ to be formed in you (19) by God's grace."

4:13 ­ Almost reminiscing, Paul reminds the Galatians, saying, "You know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time...". Although Paul was providentially directed in his ministry ­ "sent, went and put" by the Lord into the particular circumstances that he encountered ­ this does not mean that his evangelizing ministry in Galatia was not secondarily occasioned by or enacted through the physical limitations of a "weakness of the flesh." The particular health problem that Paul suffered from is probably impossible to ascertain. But some have suggested that it was the effects of the physical violence that he encountered in Galatia (cf. Acts 14:19; II Tim. 3:11). Others have linked his "weakness of the flesh" to the "thorn in the flesh" (II Cor. 12:7) that Paul refers to in his epistle to the Corinthians, but that affliction cannot be definitively identified either. Further speculations of Paul's infirmity have abounded including malaria acquired in the swampy regions of South Galatia, epileptic seizures, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, and ophthalmological eye diseases. These latter suggestions (including diabetes and hyperthyroidism which can have direct effects on the eyes) find some contextual support in Paul's references to their willingness to "pluck out their eyes and give them to him" (15) and the "large letters he writes with his own hand" (6:11), but the exact nature of his physical problem remains inconclusive. All we know is that on his original visit to the region of Galatia, probably on the first missionary journey (and we have no specific record of his having visited there subsequently prior to the writing of this letter), Paul was bothered by some physical ailment.

4:14 ­ In continuation of his sentence, Paul notes that "that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe...". Apparently the physical infirmity that Paul had in his fleshly body was repulsive and abhorrent, either symptomatically, aesthetically or behaviorally. We do not know whether there was deformity or disfigurement, or whether his physical limitation caused aberrant behaviors (as with epilepsy), but Paul admits to the Corinthians that his opponents indicated that "his personal presence was unimpressive" (II Cor. 10:10). In light of the fact that both Jews and Gentiles had a tendency to identify physical infirmities or adversities as the penalty of God's displeasure (cf. Jn. 9:2; Acts 28:4), it is indeed remarkable that however piercing Paul's problem was the Galatians did not react with disgust, disdain, contempt or scorn. The Greek word translated by the English word "loathe" is particularly graphic, for it literally means "to spit" or "to expectorate." Paul was appreciative that the Galatians were not so repulsed by his condition that they wanted to spit, gag, barf, or vomit; indirectly indicating that his appearance or actions were particularly repulsive.

   Rather than despising what you observed in me, Paul continues, "you received me as an angel of God, as Jesus Christ Himself." The Galatians had graciously welcomed Paul as their guest, treating him as a messenger or envoy sent from God, even as an angel. The writer to the Hebrews encouraged such "hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some have entertained angels without knowing it" (Heb. 13:2). The Galatians received Paul "as Christ Jesus," as though he were Jesus, which if we understand the indwelling presence of the risen Lord Jesus living in Paul (2:20) would rightfully make Paul an incarnational representative of Christ. Jesus Himself said that "he who receives whomever I send receives Me" (Matt. 10:40; Jn. 13:20).

4:15 ­ Based upon their reception of Paul and the gospel he shared, he now asks, "Where then is that sense of blessing you had?" The "blessing" referred to here is not the same as that mentioned previously (3:8,9,14), though the two Greek words are both translated "blessing" in English. Here Paul is alluding to the sense of appreciation, satisfaction and joy that the Galatians had for Paul's having shared the gospel with them. They felt blessed and favored by God for having heard of His revelation in Jesus Christ. They were enthused and excited about the liberating message of grace and liberty in Christ. This experiential "blessing" that the Galatians had is well expressed in the poetry of William Cowper:

Where is the blessedness I knew
When first I sought the Lord?
Where is the soul-refreshing view
Of Jesus and His Word?

What peaceful hours I once enjoyed!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void
The world can never fill.2

   "For I bear you witness," Paul continues, "that if possible you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me." The Galatians were so appreciative of Paul's having shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with them, that they would have done anything for him. Perhaps this is simply figurative language, signifying that their appreciation knew no bounds. On the other hand, it might imply that Paul's physical problem was related to his eyes. Was he "bug-eyed" with the protruding effects of hyperthyroidism (Graves disease)? Was he going blind with the effects of diabetes? Did he have grotesque pus-filled eyes due to some other ophthalmic disease? We do not know! Whether this statement is completely figurative or has physical reference, either interpretation employs the language of hyperbole just as did Jesus' pronouncement about "plucking out one's eyes and throwing them away" if what one sees causes offense (Matt. 5:29). The hyperbolic nature of the statement is evident by Paul's allusion to the physical impossibility of such an ocular transplant (at least at that point in time).

4:16 ­ In an abrupt shift based on his awareness of the Galatians' shift from open-heartedness to opposition, Paul asks, "Have I therefore become your enemy by telling you the truth?" Paul does not regard himself as an enemy of the Galatians, but as their spiritual parent (19). The projection of being an enemy was coming from other quarters. The Judaizers may have been attempting to paint Paul as an enemy, perhaps by implying that Paul was "an enemy of the Law" (Acts 21:28), and by insinuating that a real friend would have told them that they needed to keep the Law in order to be all they could be before God. In some sense the Galatian Christians seem to have transitioned from hospitality to hostility, from empathy for Paul to regarding him as their enemy. Paul questions how this change could have come about since he had simply told them the truth, both previously when he shared the gospel with them in Galatia and presently in this letter. The "truth of the gospel" (2:5,14) is, of course, Jesus Christ (Jn. 8:32,36; 14:6), and Paul only wanted the Galatians to experience the reality of God's grace and liberty in Jesus Christ.

4:17 ­ Paul knew who the culprits were who were poisoning the relationship he had enjoyed with the Galatians by painting him as an "enemy." Attempting, now, to reveal their true colors, Paul writes, "They eagerly seek you, not commendably..." "The Judaizers who came to visit you after I left are very zealous for you," Paul admits. "They pay attention to you, and make a 'play' for your sympathies and confidence. They woo you. They fuss and fawn and flatter in order to court your favor. But their motives are not good and pure, seeking your highest good before God. They have dishonorable intentions of selfish ends."

   Their real agenda is that "they wish to shut you out, in order that you may seek them." The Judaizers sought to isolate the Galatian Christians from the greater community of grace in the Body of Christ, in order to indoctrinate them with their legalistic demands. In so doing, they sought to drive a wedge between the Galatians and their founding father, Paul. If by casting Paul as the Galatians' "enemy," they could create an estranged and alienated attitude toward Paul, they could perhaps exclude the Galatians from any additional influence of the renowned "apostle of grace," and his gospel of grace. Their attempts to segregate and sequester the Galatians was ultimately an attempt to exclude them from the living Lord Jesus and the freedom of enjoying His life by God's grace.

   Like so many religious teachers throughout history, the Judaizers wanted to count the Galatians as their "disciples," and in order to do so they zealously sought to create dependency attachments upon themselves. Such personality cults wherein followers seek after human religious teachers are so contrary to the Christocentric gospel that advises believers to "seek Christ alone" and live by the grace-dynamic of His life as "Christ-ones."

4:18 ­ Recognizing that zealous actions are not wrong in themselves, for he himself was probably zealous in his presentation of the gospel to the Galatians, Paul adds, "But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner, and not only when I am present with you." If the motives behind the zeal are Godly motives, seeking only the highest good of the people to serve God's purposes, then zeal can indeed by the expression of the passion of God. The concerned Christian will not be indifferent, apathetic or dispassionate, but his motivations must be aligned with and derived from God's loving intentions. Paul wanted the Galatians to know that his desire for them was only that God's objective might be manifested in their lives as they were faithfully receptive to the grace of God expressive of the life of Jesus. Such motivation was true "not only when he was present with them" during his initial ministry, but remained true even in his absence, despite what the Judaizers might have been intimating.

4:19 ­ The affectionate passion of Paul's concern for the Galatians is revealed in his appeal, "My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you ­". Surprisingly it is not as a spiritual father that Paul expresses the intimacy of his concern for the Galatian Christians, but as a spiritual mother, for he employs the metaphor of childbirth. This is amazing imagery for a Jewish male to use. Remember that Jewish males looked down upon women condescendingly, thanking God that they were "not born a woman." For a Jewish male to cast himself in the role of identification with a woman was almost unheard of in Jewish thought, and reveals the extent to which Paul recognized the dissolution of gender barriers (3:28). But then again, Jesus Himself made a similar passionate appeal for the Jewish peoples, likening His concern to "a hen who gathers her chicks under her wings" (Matt. 23:37; Lk. 13:34). Later Paul would liken himself and his co-workers to "a nursing mother tenderly caring for her own children" (I Thess. 2:7). Desiring to explain the pain and anguish he was feeling for the Galatian Christians, Paul identifies with the labor pains of a pregnant mother facing delivery. Paul's figurative remarks were not intended to be a discourse on spiritual embryology, and we should not generate speculative allegories as some have attempted to do by suggesting that although Paul thought he had birthed and "delivered" the Galatians to regenerated new life in Christ, by their defection and reversion it was apparent that they were "still-born," so Paul is experiencing the travail of labor again with the hope that they will come to "full-term" in genuine regenerative spiritual birth. Others have suggested that Paul was desirous that Christ might be impregnated as an embryo in the womb of expectant Galatian Christians, being formed there in order to give birth to others. We must remember the limitations of a metaphorical allusion, and not press such into detailed allegories. Most likely, recognizing that Paul regarded the Galatians as having received the Spirit (3:2; 4:6) in regeneration and having received the life of Christ as "sons of God" (3:26; 4:6,7), Paul was simply expressing his anguished desire that the life of Christ might be formed into a living, behavioral formation of His character expressed in the soul and body of the Galatians. Being thus "transformed by the renewing of their minds" (Rom. 12:2) "into the same image, from the Lord the Spirit" (II Cor. 3:18), the Galatians would be "conformed to the image of Christ" (Rom. 8:29), allowing the "life of Jesus to be manifested in their mortal bodies" (II Cor. 4:10,11). Such a behavioral formation of Christ living in (2:20) and through the Galatians was Paul's passionate desire.

4:20 ­ Breaking off in mid-sentence, Paul writes, "but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed." Paul's desire was to meet with the Galatians person-to-person, for the straightforward and aggressive approach he was having to take in this letter could easily be misinterpreted. Serious discussions are often tempered by face-to-face interaction and explanation. But apparently Paul was not able to travel to Galatia at that time, possibly because he was actively engaged in putting out the fires that the incendiary Judaizing arsonists were enflaming in the hearts of young Christians in Antioch and Jerusalem, as well as Galatia. Perhaps he was at that time preparing to travel to Jerusalem (Acts 15:2) in order to attack the issue at its source. Regardless of the reasons, Paul admits that he was baffled and bewildered, worried and at his wit's-end, to understand why the Galatian Christians were rejecting God's grace for legalistic performance. Though "perplexed, he was not despairing" (II Cor. 4:8), for he still had hope that the Galatians would rely solely on God's grace.

   Paul's message of the privilege of functioning as sons of God and the foolishness of reverting to the religious restrictions of slaves and minor children is a much-needed reminder in every age. Christian religion today is mired in legalism and addicted to Judaizing tendencies; ignorant of and impervious to the liberty of God's grace in Jesus Christ. The message of Paul's epistle to the Galatians impinges upon the religious legalism and the Christianized forms of Judaism that are so prominent in Christian religion today. Many religious leaders want to avoid Galatians because they do not want their religion called into question. They prefer the status-quo of keeping the programs functioning by advocating loyalty to the ecclesiastical organization through pre-set ritualistic religious performance. Divine grace is beyond their human control, so they resist the unknown effects of encouraging Christians to live in the freedom of the spiritual dynamic of God's grace in Jesus Christ by His Spirit.

   Admittedly, there is a constant natural tendency among Christians, and men in general, to revert to performance-orientation in religion and life. When there are pre-set parameters of expected performance, people feel comfortable in knowing the rules and exerting themselves in self-effort to perform in accord with the expectations. Believing in themselves, that they can indeed perform and produce, people appreciate the cause and effect paradigm wherein they can see the results of their visible progress, and then take personal credit for what they have achieved and attained. In addition, it is attractive to many people to have religious authority-figures who will oversee and evaluate their progress. Like minor children under guardians and managers (4:2), they do not have to think or make decisions, but simply allow the authority-figures to make the decisions for them as they continue to do what they are told.

   The genuine Christian life, on the other hand, does require personal decision-making in the moment-by-moment choices of faith whereby we choose to allow for the receptivity of divine activity in our lives. Freedom always entails responsibilities! Granted, grace is full of unknowns, since we never know what God might do (always consistent with His character, however!). Operating by grace through faith is like depending on Someone to lead you into unknown areas. It is as risky as walking across a swinging-bridge without handrails, trusting Another to keep you on. Yes, the slavery of religious performance can be difficult, but at least it is predictable! And the freedom to function as sons of God in grace is gloriously unpredictable! Many, like the Galatians, opt for the slavery of programmed religious performances, unwilling to trust God in the receptivity of His activity. They thereby miss the fulfillment of restored humanity ­ the freedom to be man as God intended man to be by allowing the dynamic of God's grace in Jesus Christ to be all and do all in them.

   Paul would remind the Christians of Galatia and the Christians of every age in every place of their glorious privilege as "sons of God" through faith in Christ Jesus (3:26) ­ the privilege of functioning in the freedom of God's grace. He would caution all Christians of the absurdity of returning to the slavery of "elemental principles" of performance criteria, since God has given us all that He has to give by His grace in Jesus Christ.

1    cf. Fowler, James A., Christianity de facto. Fallbrook: CIY Publishing. 1997.
2    Cowper, William, unknown source.