that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children. And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
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Galatians 4:5-7 sits inside this longer paragraph.
But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a bondservant, though he is lord of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the day appointed by the father. So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental principles of the world. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children. And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Parallel Translations
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that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.
And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”
So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
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to redeme the which were vnder the lawe: that we thorow eleccion myght receave the inheritaunce that belongeth vnto the naturall sonnes.
Because ye are sonnes God hath sent the sprete of his sonne in to oure hertes which cryeth Abba father.
Wherfore now thou art not a servaunt but a sonne. Yf thou be the sonne thou arte also the heyre of God thorow Christ.
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That hee might redeeme them which were vnder the Law, that we might receiue the adoption of the sonnes.
And because ye are sonnes, God hath sent foorth the Spirit of his Sonne into your heartes, which crieth, Abba, Father.
Wherefore, thou art no more a seruant, but a sonne: now if thou be a sone, thou art also the heire of God through Christ.
Cross-references (63)
- Romans 8:15-17 (v6) For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The…
- Hebrews 9:15 (v5) For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions that were under…
- Ephesians 1:5 (v5) having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire,
- Romans 5:5 (v6) and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
- 1 Peter 1:18-20 (v5) knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your…
Show all 62 cross-references
- Romans 8:9 (v6) But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of…
- Romans 8:16-17 (v7) The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God; and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with…
- Galatians 3:29–4:2 (v7) If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise. But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he is…
- Galatians 3:26 (vv5, 7) For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus.
- Ephesians 1:7 (v5) in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
- 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 (v7) Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or…
- 2 Corinthians 3:17 (v6) Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
- Ephesians 2:18 (v6) For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
- Galatians 3:13 (v5) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”
- Philippians 1:19 (v6) For I know that this will turn out to my salvation, through your prayers and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
- Hebrews 9:12 (v5) nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained…
- Revelation 5:9 (v5) They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your…
- Galatians 4:5-6 (v7) that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children. And because you are children, God sent…
- Romans 8:23 (v5) Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption,…
- Galatians 4:7 (v5) So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
- Galatians 4:31–5:1 (v7) So then, brothers, we are not children of a servant, but of the free woman. Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us…
- Ephesians 4:30 (v6) Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
- Psalms 73:26 (v7) My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
- John 1:12 (v5) But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name:
- Jude 1:20 (v6) But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.
- Romans 9:4 (v5) who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises;
- 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 (v7) What agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them and…
- Colossians 1:13-20 (v5) who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have our redemption,…
- Titus 2:14 (v5) who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for…
- Lamentations 3:24 (v7) “Yahweh is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.”
- John 15:26 (v6) “When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify…
- Romans 8:19 (v5) For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
- Genesis 15:1 (v7) After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great…
- Genesis 17:7-8 (v7) I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to…
- Jeremiah 10:16 (v7) The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is…
- Luke 11:13 (v6) If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to…
- John 16:7 (v6) Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I don’t go away, the Counselor won’t come to you. But if…
- Ephesians 5:2 (v5) Walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.
- Revelation 21:7 (v7) He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.
- Psalms 16:5 (v7) Yahweh assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure.
- Jeremiah 31:33 (v7) “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward…
- Jeremiah 32:38-41 (v7) Then they will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their…
- Luke 1:68 (v5) “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people;
- John 14:16 (v6) I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever:
- 2 Corinthians 1:22 (v6) who also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.
- Galatians 4:21 (v5) Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, don’t you listen to the law?
- Matthew 20:28 (v5) even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
- Luke 11:2 (v6) He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on…
- John 3:34 (v6) For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure.
- Ephesians 1:13 (v6) In him you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with…
- Hebrews 1:3 (v5) His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who, when he had…
- Jeremiah 3:4 (v6) Will you not from this time cry to me, ‘My Father, you are the guide of my youth?’
- Matthew 6:6-9 (v6) But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who…
- John 7:39 (v6) But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus…
- Acts 20:28 (v5) Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the…
- Romans 8:26-27 (v6) In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession…
- Hebrews 4:14-16 (v6) Having then a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let’s hold tightly to our confession. For we…
- 1 Peter 1:11 (v6) searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and…
- Revelation 19:10 (v6) I fell down before his feet to worship him. He said to me, “Look! Don’t do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers…
- Isaiah 44:3-5 (v6) For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on…
- Jeremiah 3:19 (v6) “But I said, ‘How I desire to put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!’…
- Ephesians 6:18 (v6) with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all…
62 distinct cross-references across this passage (63 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Martin Luther 1535 · Public Domain On vv5–7 VERSE 5. That we might receive the adoption of…
VERSE 5. That we might receive the adoption of sons.
Paul still has for his text Gen 22:18, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." In the course of his Epistle he calls this promise of the blessing righteousness, life, deliverance from the Law, the testament, etc. Now he also calls the promise of blessing "the adoption of sons," the inheritance of everlasting life.
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What ever induced God to adopt us for His children and heirs? What claim can men who are subservient to sin, subject to the curse of the Law, and worthy of everlasting death, have on God and eternal life? That God adopted us is due to the merit of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who humbled Himself under the Law and redeemed us law-ridden sinners.
Martin Luther — Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), English translation by Theodore Graebner (Zondervan, 1939) — public domain (U.S. copyright not renewed). Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv5–7 5. That we might receive the adoption. The fathers,…
5. That we might receive the adoption. The fathers, under the Old Testament, were certain of their adoption, but did not so fully as yet enjoy their privilege. Adoption, like the phrase, “the redemption of our body,” (Romans 8:23,) is here put for actual possession. As, at the last day, we receive the fruit of our redemption, so now we receive the fruit of adoption, of which the holy fathers did not partake before the coming of Christ; and therefore those who now burden the church with an excess of ceremonies, defraud her of the just right of adoption.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv5–7 The adoption of the sons of God, is from…
The adoption of the sons of God, is from everlasting, but is revealed and showed in the time appointed for it.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv5–7 5 To redeem them that were under the law,…
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Ver. 5. To redeem them, &c.] To buy them off, who were in worse case than the Turkish galley slaves chained to an oar.
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That we might receive the adoption] That is, the possession of our adoption, the full enjoyment of our inheritance.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv5–7 This makes it appear, that Christ’s being under the…
This makes it appear, that Christ’s being under the law must be understood as well of the moral as of the ceremonial law, that is, subject to the precepts of it, as well as to the curse of it; for if the end of this being born under the law, was to redeem those that were under it, that he had not reached by being merely under the ceremonial law; for the Gentiles were not under that law, but only under the moral law; and they also were to be redeemed, and to receive the great privilege of
adoption, or rather, the rights of adopted children; which (some think) is to be understood here, rather than what is strictly to be understood by the term of adoption, viz. a right to be called and to be the sons of God. Others, by adoption, understand that full state of liberty of which the apostle had been before speaking, in opposition to that state of childhood and nonage in which believers were until the times of the gospel; for, Gal 5:1, we shall find that that was a liberty wherewith Christ made us free: and indeed this last sense seemeth best to agree with what the apostle had before said, Gal 4:1-3, though the other senses are not to be excluded.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv6–7 As if the apostle had said, "That you are…
As if the apostle had said, "That you are now, under the gospel, become and made the sons of God, appeareth by this, that God hath sent the Spirit of his natural Son into your hearts to authorize and enable you to call upon him, not only as your God, but as your Father: The gospel assuring you, that you are no longer in that servile condition you were in whilst under the law; but God will deal with you now upon gospel terms, and justify you by faith, without the deeds of the law: Now God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts."
Observe here, 1. The title given to the Holy Spirit; it is called the Spirit of God’s Son; that is, the Spirit of Christ, because it is the same Spirit which abode upon him that resteth upon us, and because the Spirit is purchased and procured for us by the blood of the Son. Those rivers of living water, by which the effusion of the Spirit is expressed, do flow out of Christ’s pierced side; Christ purchased the spirit for us, before he sent him from heaven to us.
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Observe, 2. The act respecting his person, God hath sent forth. This imports not any change of place, as if he were more distant from the Father when he was thus sent, than he was before; but it notes his commission for some special work in and upon the creature.
Observe, 3. The objects which have the benefits of this act; God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts; that is, into the hearts of believers; signifying that the work here intended is an inward work, and a saving work, I will put my Spirit in them; Eze 36:27 not into the brain, to dwell there by common unsanctified gifts, but into the heart, where all the habits of grace are planted, and from whence all the issues of life proceed.
Observe, 4. The office which the Holy Spirit performs in the believer’s heart: First, it cries; secondly, it cries, Abba, Father: The Spirit cries, by enabling us through his gracious influences and assistances to cry or pray unto God; and it cries, Father, Father: The repetition made, and the word redoubled, denotes the strength and vehemency of the desire, and speaks a passionate and extraordinary concernment of soul, for obtaining the mercy desired, and the blessings prayed for.
Learn hence, 1. That there are three sacred persons in the blessed Godhead, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: all are held forth to us in this single verse, yea, in this single clause of the verse, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son.
Learn, 2. That the Spirit is not a quality or operation, but a person that has a real being and subsistence; else the phrase of being sent could not be properly applied to him.
Learn, 3. That the Holy Spirit proceeds both from the Father and Son; for he is the Spirit of the Son, and is sent by the Father: There is an order among the divine persons, though no priority of being.
Learn, 4. That the spirit of adoption is a spirit of supplication; and this spirit of supplication is the great privilege and advantage of believers under the gospel, for it teaches us what to pray for, and the manner how we are to pray; it joineth with our prayers his own effectual intercession; it gives us a right and privilege to come unto God as unto a Father, and gives us also confidence and assurance, as sons, to be accepted with him.
Learn, 5. That the great privilege of adoption is both discovered and improved by the help of the Spirit of Christ: Our privilege of sonship under the gospel excels by far theirs under the law:
1. In point of manifestation and clearness.
2. As to fulness and amplitude of enjoyment.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv5–7 To redeem them that were under the law,.... By…
To redeem them that were under the law,.... By whom are meant chiefly the Jews, who are elsewhere represented as in and under the law, in distinction from the Gentiles who were without it; see Rom 2:12 the Gentiles indeed, though they were not under the law of Moses, yet were not without law to God, they were under the law of nature. The law was given to Adam as a covenant of works, and not to him as a single person, but as a federal head to all his posterity; hence he sinning, and they in him, they all came under its sentence of condemnation and death, God's elect not excepted, and who are the persons said to be redeemed; for Christ was not sent to redeem all that were under the law; for as all mankind were included in it as a covenant of works made with Adam, and all are transgressors of it, the whole world is pronounced guilty before God by it, and liable to the curse of it; but not all mankind, only some out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation, are redeemed by Christ, even all the elect, whether among Jews or Gentiles. The chosen among the Jews seem to be here principally designed; the redemption of them, which is the end of Christ's being sent, intends not only a deliverance of them from sin and Satan, and the world, to whom they were in bondage, but from the law under which they were; from the bondage of the ceremonial, and from the curse and condemnation of the moral law:
that we might receive the adoption of children; by which may be meant, both the grace, blessing, and privilege of adoption, and the inheritance adopted to; both are received, and that in consequence of redemption by Christ; and such as receive the one will also receive the other. Adoption, as a blessing of grace, exists before it is received; nor does the reception of it add anything to the thing itself; it was in God's designation from all eternity, who predestinated his chosen ones unto it by Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will; it was provided, laid up, and secured for them in the everlasting covenant; and is part of that grace given them in Christ before the world began; but sin intervening, whereby the law was broken, obstacles were thrown in the way of God's elect receiving and enjoying this privilege in their own persons; wherefore Christ was sent to redeem them from sin and the law, and by so doing remove these obstructions, that so they might receive this privilege in a way consistent with the righteousness and holiness of God, as well as with his grace and goodness: receiving of it shows it to be a gift, a free grace gift, and not owing to any merit of the creature; faith is the hand which receives it, as it does all other blessings, as Christ himself, grace out of his fulness, righteousness, pardon, &c. and has no more causal influence on this than on any of these; faith does not make any the sons of God, or put them among the children; but receives the power, the authority, the privilege from God through Christ, under the witnessings of the spirit of adoption; whereby they become such, and have a right to the heavenly inheritance, which they shall hereafter enjoy.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv5–7 To redeem those under the law - From the…
To redeem those under the law - From the curse of it, and from that low, servile state. That we - Jews who believe. Might receive the adoption - All the privileges of adult sons.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Verse 5. To redeem them] εξαγοραση. To pay down…
Verse 5. To redeem them] εξαγοραση. To pay down a price for them, and thus buy them off from the necessity of observing circumcision, offering brute sacrifices, performing different ablutions, c., &c.
That we might receive the adoption of sons.] Which adoption we could not obtain by the law for it is the Gospel only that puts us among the children, and gives us a place in the heavenly family. On the nature of adoption See Clarke on Ro 8:15.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv5–7 To redeem them - By his death as an…
To redeem them - By his death as an atoning sacrifice; see the note at Gal 3:13.
Them that were under the law - Sinners, who had violated the Law, and who were exposed to its dread penalty.
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That we might receive the adoption of sons - Be adopted as the sons or the children of God; see Joh 1:12, note; Rom 8:15, note.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v6 Crying, Abba. That is, Father; Christ taught us in…
Crying, Abba. That is, Father; Christ taught us in prayer to call God our Father, he having made us his adoptive sons by his grace, and heirs of heaven. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv5–7 To--Greek, "That He might redeem."
To--Greek, "That He might redeem."
them . . . under the law--primarily the Jews: but as these were the representative people of the world, the Gentiles, too, are included in the redemption (Gal 3:13).
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receive--The Greek implies the suitableness of the thing as long ago predestined by God. "Receive as something destined or due" (Luk 23:41; Jo2 1:8). Herein God makes of sons of men sons of God, inasmuch as God made of the Son of God the Son of man [AUGUSTINE on Psalm 52].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv5–7 5. Them—The we of Gal_4:3.
5. Them—The we of Gal_4:3.
Receive the adoption of sons—Parallel to the emancipating the child from his servile minor state as a servant into his free sonship and inheritance.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv5–7 5. Born under the law, our Blessed Lord not…
5. Born under the law, our Blessed Lord not only in His most holy life fulfilled all the commandments of the law, but in His death He satisfied its conditions by bearing its penalty, and redeeming us from its curse; born of a woman, He became the Head and representative of the human race, that in Him we might become sons of God. Possibly the wider rendering ‘under law’ may be correct, in which case the redemption includes expressly what it does by implication—all mankind.
the adoption of sons] Men become sons of God by adoption; Christ is the Son of God by eternal generation.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv5–7 (5) To redeem them that were under the law.—To…
(5) To redeem them that were under the law.—To redeem, or ransom, at the price of His death, both Jew and Gentile at once from the condemnation under which the law, to which they were severally subject, placed them, and also from the bondage and constraint which its severe discipline involved.
That we might receive the adoption of sons.—Redemption is followed by adoption. The admission of the believer into the Messianic kingdom, with its immunities from sin and from law, implies an admission into the Messianic family, of which God is the Father and Christ the Eldest Son, “first born amongst many brethren.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv5–7 To redeem them that were under the Law (ina…
To redeem them that were under the Law (ina touv uJpomon ejxagorash); that he might redeem (Greek, buy off) them which were under the Law. In what way Christ bought God"s people off, not only from the curse, but also from the dominion of the Law, has been stated by the apostle above, at Gal_3:13, "Christ bought us off (Cristorasen) from the curse of the Law by being made on our behalf a curse" (see note). But why, in order to effect this object, was it prerequisite, as it is here implied that it was, that he should be himself "brought under the Law"? The directions which the Law in Deu_21:22, 23 gave with respect to those "hanged on a tree" were apparently held by Joshua (Jos_8:29 Jos_10:26, Jos_10:27) to apply also to the case of persons so hanged who were not Israelites. If so, does it not follow (an objector may say) that Jesus, even if not an Israelite under the Law, would, however, by being crucified, have fallen under the curse of the Law, and thereby annihilated the Law for all who by faith should become partakers with him, whether Jews or Gentiles? why, then, should be have been brought under the Law? The objection is met by the consideration that, in order that Christ might abrogate the Law by becoming subject to its curse, it was necessary that he should himself be perfectly acceptable to God, not only as being the eternal "Son of his love," but also in the entire completeness of his life as a man, and, therefore, by perfect obedience to the will of God as declared in the Law, under which it had pleased God to place his people. The Law, whatever the degradation which its ceremonial institute inferred for "the sons of God" subjected to it, was, nevertheless, for the time, God"s manifest ordinance, to which all who sought to serve him were bound to submit them selves. They could not be righteous before him unless they walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. (Luk_1:6) That we might receive the adoption of sons (ina than ajpolabwmen); that is, that our adoptive sonship might be actually and in full measure made over to us. The" we" recites God"s people; the same persons as those indicated by the preceding phrase, "those which were under the Law," which phrase was not meant to define one particular class among God"s people, but to describe the condition in which God"s people had been placed. Their Father had put them under the Law with the view of their being at his appointed time bought off from the Law and admitted to the full enjoyment of their filial privileges. This purpose of their Father, signified beforehand in the promises to Abraham, explains the article before uiJoqesian: it was the adoptive sonship which had been guaranteed to them. Hence the use here of the verb ajpolabwmen instead of labwmen: for the prepositional prefix of this compound verb has always its force; generally denoting our receiving a thing in some way due to us, answering to its force in the verb ajpodidwmi, repay: sometimes our receiving a thing in full measure. (comp. Luk_6:34, 35 16:25 18:30 23:41; Rom_1:27; Col_3:24 2Jn_1:8) Ina Luk_15:27 it is receiving back one lost. The second ina is subordinate to the first; the deliverance of God"s people from the Law was in order to their introduction into their complete state of sonship. The noun uiJoqesi does not appear to occur in any Greek writer except St. Paul; though qesqai uiJon uiJov, uiJoqetov oJ katasin pathr, are found in various authors. After the analogy of other compound verbal nouns with a similar termination (oJrkwmosia ajgwnoqesia qesmoqesia, etc.), it means first the act of adoption, as, perhaps, Rom_8:23; Eph_1:5; and then, quite naturally, the consequent condition of the adopted child, as in Rom_8:15 Rom_9:4; and this seems its more prominent sense here. Rom_9:4 suggests the surmise that the term had been in use before among Palestinian Jews, with reference to Israel"s state under the theocracy, and that St. Paul borrowed it thence with reference to the Christian Church, in which it found a more complete realization.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv6–7 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth…
Gal_4:6
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts.
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The spirit and the cry of adoption
I. The dignity of believers. Adoption gives us the rights of children; regeneration gives us the nature of children: we are partakers of both of these, for we are sons.
1. This sonship is a gift of grace received by faith.
(1) Faith brings us justification.
(2) Faith sets us free from the bondage of the law.
(3) Faith is the mark of sonship in all who have it.
2. Adoption comes to us by redemption.
3. We now enjoy the privilege of sonship. Not only sons, but full-grown sons.
II. The consequent indwelling of the Holy Ghost in believers.
1. Here is a Divine act of the Father.
2. He comes as the Spirit of Jesus.
3. He takes up His residence in the believers heart. Coming into the central fortress and universal citadel of our nature, He takes possession of the whole.
4. This wonderful blessing is fraught with marvellous results. Sonship sealed by the indwelling Spirit brings us peace and joy; it leads to nearness to God and fellowship with Him; it excites trust, love, and vehement desire; and creates in us reverence, obedience, and actual likeness to God.
III. The filial cry.
1. It is the Spirit of God that cries.
2. It is literally the cry of the Son.
3. This cry in our hearts is exceedingly near and familiar. A cry is a sound which we are not anxious that every passer-by should hear; yet what child minds his father hearing him cry?
4. How earnest a thing is a cry.
5. The most of this crying is kept within the heart, and does not come out at the lips. At all times and in all places we can lift up our hearts and cry to God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The gain of adoption
By adoption God gives us
(1) a new nature (2Pe_1:3);
(2) a new name (Rev_3:12);
(3) a new inheritance (Rom_8:17);
(4) new relations (Rom_8:15-16);
(5) a new hope (1Pe_1:3). (John Bate.)
What is implied in adoption
1. Derivation of nature from God (Joh_1:13; Jam_1:18; 1Jn_5:18).
2. Being born again in the image of God, bearing His likeness (Rom_8:29; 2Co_3:18; Col_3:10; 2Pe_1:4).
3. Bearing His name (1Jn_3:1; Rev_2:17; Rev_3:12).
4. Being the objects of His peculiar love (Joh_17:23; Rom_5:5-8; Tit_3:4; 1Jn_4:7-11).
5. The indwelling of the Spirit of His Son; who gives an obedient spirit (1Pe_1:14; 2Jn_1:6), a spirit free from sense of guilt, legal bondage, fear of death (Rom_8:15; Rom_8:21; 2Co_3:17; Gal_5:1; Heb_2:15; 1Jn_5:14), a spirit elevated with a holy boldness and royal dignity (Heb_10:19; Heb_10:22; 1Pe_2:9; 1Pe_4:14).
6. Present protection, consolations, and abundant provisions (Psa_125:2; Isa_66:13; Luk_12:27-32; Joh_14:18; 1Co_3:21-23; 2Co_1:4).
7. Present fatherly chastisements for our good, including both temporal and spiritual afflictions (Psa_51:11-12; Heb_12:5-11).
8. The certain inheritance of the riches of our Fathers glory, as heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ (Rom_8:17; Jam_2:5; 1Pe_1:4; 1Pe_3:7), including the exaltation of our bodies to fellowship with Him (Rom_8:28; Php_3:21). (A. A. Hodge.)
Divine adoption contrasted with human
1. Men generally adopt when they have no children of their own. But God had a Son, His dear Son, His well-beloved Son. He also had angels.
2. Men generally adopt such as they think deserving; God adopts criminals, traitors, enemies.
3. Men adopt living children; God, those who are by nature spiritually dead.
4. Man generally adopts one only: God, many. (G. S. Bowes.)
Privileges of adoption
By adoption--
1. God the Father is made our Father.
2. The incarnate God.Man is made our elder Brother, and we are made
(1) like Him;
(2) intimately associated with Him in community of life, standing, relations, privileges;
(3) joint-heirs with Him of His glory.
3. The Holy Ghost is our indweller, teacher, guide, advocate, comforter, sanctifier.
4. All believers, being subjects of the same adoption, are brethren (Eph_3:6; 1Jn_3:14; 1Jn_5:1). (A. A. Hodge.)
Heathen and Christian conceptions of God
A Jew entered a Persian temple, and saw there the sacred fire. He said to the priest, How! do you worship fire? Not the fire; it is to us an emblem of the sun and of his animating light, said the priest. Then asked the Jew, Do you adore the sun as a deity? Do you know that he also is a creature of the Almighty? The priest explained that the sun was to them only an emblem of the invisible light which preserves all things. The Israelite continued, Does your nation distinguish the image from the original? They call the sun their god, and kneel before the earthly flame. You dazzle the eye of the body, but darken that of the mind; in presenting to them the terrestrial light you take from them the celestial. The Persian asked, How do you name the Supreme Being? We call Him Jehovah Adonai; that is, the Lord who was, and is, and shall be. Your word is great and glorious; but it is terrible, said the Persian. A Christian approaching, said, We call Him Abba, Father. Then the Gentile and the Jew regarded each other with surprise, and said, Your word is the nearest and the highest; but who gives you courage to call the Eternal thus? The Father Himself, replied the Christian; and with that he proceeded to expound to them the plan of redemption. Then they believed, and lifted up their eyes to heaven, saying, Father, dear Father; and, joining hands, called each other brethren. (Krummacher.)
I. The spirit sent.
1. There are Three Persons in the Godhead who are often mentioned together as here (Mat_3:16-17; Mat_28:19; 2Co_13:14; 1Jn_5:7).
2. The Spirit is the third Person because He proceeds from the Father and the Son (Joh_14:26; Joh_15:26; Joh_16:15, and here).
II. Who sent him?
1. God sent His Son (Gal_4:4).
2. By the mediation of His Son. He sent the Spirit too (Joh_16:6-7; Luk_24:49; Act_1:4; Act_2:1).
III. why?, Because ye are sons.
1. All believers are Gods sons (Joh_1:12).
2. There fore, because they believe, and so are His Sons, God gives them His Spirit.
IV. Whither? Into your hearts.
1. Because the heart is the fountain of life (Pro_4:23).
2. The seat of true grace.
V. What to do?
1. To be a pledge of Christs presence (Joh_14:16-18; Mat_28:20).
2. To teach us all things needful (Joh_14:26).
3. To guide us into all truth.
4. To comfort us (Joh_15:26; Joh_16:7).
5. To seal our redemption (Eph_1:13-14; Eph_4:30).
6. To uphold us under all afflictions (Psa_51:12).
7. To witness our adoption (Rom_8:15-16).
VI. Uses.
1. Examine yourselves whether you have this Spirit.
(1) He is a convincing Spirit (Joh_16:9-11)
(a) of sin in ourselves,
(b) of righteousness in Christ,
(c) of Christs power and judgment to come.
(2) A renewing Spirit (Tit_3:5; Joh_3:3-5).
(3) A quickening Spirit (Rom_8:2; Joh_6:63)
(4) A leading Spirit (Rom_8:1; Rom_8:14).
(5) A praying Spirit (Rom_8:15; Rom_8:26).
2. Use all the means to get the Spirit in your hearts.
VII. Motives. Consider--
1. Till then you are not Christs (Rom_8:9).
2. Can do no good thing (Joh_15:5; Rom_8:26).
3. Are exposed to all sin.
4. In continual danger of hell.
5. Can have no true comfort.
VIII. Means.
1. Pray to God for it (Luk_11:13).
2. Frequent all public ordinances (Act_2:1). (Bishop Beveridge.)
The work of the Spirit
I. The worker. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of the Son because--
1. Of His eternal procession from the Son.
2. He was given to the Son as Head of the Church for the unction, consecration, and sanctification of His human nature.
3. He is communicated through the Son to all believers.
(1) Authoritatively, by virtue of the covenant of redemption (Act_2:33; Act_5:32).
(2) Formally, in that all the graces of the Spirit are derived by us from Him (Col_1:19; Col_2:19; Col_3:1-4; Eph_4:16).
II. The work. He enables Gods adopted children to behave themselves suitably to their state and condition.
1. Not as strangers, foreigners, or even servants, but
2. as children and heirs by becoming in them the Spirit of power, love, and sobriety (2Ti_1:7).
III. The effects of the working.
1. Freedom of access to the Father is secured.
2. He becomes to us the Spirit of grace and of supplications,
(1) by exerting graces and gracious affections in our souls in the duty of prayer: especially those of faith, love, and delight;
(2) by enabling us to exercise those graces and express those affections in vocal prayer. (J. Owen, D. D.)
Abba Father
I. The first, a Hebrew word, and the second, a Greek, signifies the union of Jews and Gentiles in our Church. In Christ the corner-stone both are joined by becoming sons: circumcision from one place, wherefore Abba--uncircumcision from another, wherefore Father is named, the concord of walls being the glory of the corner-stone.
II. The word Abba is retained because it is full of affection; but Father is added not only to expound the same, but the better to express the eager moving, the earnest and vehement desires and singular affections of believers in their crying unto God. (Brooks.)
You are to look unto your experience, and try and find out whether there there be not working with your soul, working through it, working beneath it, distinct from it, but not distinguishable from it by anything but its consequences and fruitfulness--a deeper voice than yours--a still, small voice. No whirlwind, nor fire, nor earthquake, but the voice of God speaking in secret, taking the voice and tones of your own heart and your own consciousness, and saying to you: Thou art My child, inasmuch as, operated by My grace, and Mine inspiration alone, there rises tremlingly, but truly, in thine own soul the cry Abba, Father. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
It involves that the Father and the child shall have kindred life--the Father bestowing, and the child possessing, a life which is derived; and because derived, kindred; and because kindred, unfolding itself in likeness to the Father that gave it. And it requires that between the Fathers heart and the childs heart there shall pass in blessed interchange and quick correspondence, answering love, flashing backwards and forwards, like the lightning that touches the earth, and rises from it again. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The character and privileges of the children of God
I. The distinguishing characteristics of the children of God. Believing Christians enter into a higher condition. The servant becomes a son. Everything which would obstruct the view of a God of love is done away in Christ.
1. A spirit of filial confidence, as opposed to servile fear.
2. A spirit of holy love, as opposed to the bondage of sin.
3. A spirit of ready obedience, as opposed to the gloomy spirit of servitude. As love is the most powerful and self-devoted passion of our nature, it explains the character as well as the principle of Christian obedience. It is self-denying; for we no longer live to ourselves, but to Him who died for us and rose again (2Co_5:15). It is soul-absorbing; for it is not so much we that now live, as Christ that liveth in us (Gal_2:20). It is devoted, for our will is swallowed up in His, and the cry of the heart is, Lord, what wouldst Thou have me to do? Hence the bold assertion of St. Paul, For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Rom_8:3-4).
II. We now proceed to consider some of the distinguishing privileges of the children of God. It will be at once acknowledged that the characteristics which we have mentioned are also exalted privileges. To have a satisfactory sense of sin being pardoned; to walk in the light of Gods countenance, with a secret assurance of His love and favour; to be freed from the degrading bondage of Sin, and the servile fear of a holy law; to possess the moral power of holy obedience, and to have this heavenly principle pervading the soul; these are distinguishing gifts of Divine mercy. Whilst the spirit of a son has its characteristic endowments, the condition of a child has its peculiar prerogatives. The one is the family genius, the other the family privileges.
1. The child of God has a part in the Fathers love and care.
2. The child of God has a filial resemblance to his heavenly Father. In the households of earth there is what is termed a family likeness. Some distinguishing trait of feature often marks the countenances of all the offspring. However varied may be the form and hue of their faces, there is some identity of expression which makes them like their parent, and like to one another. So it is with the family of God, Being born from above, they possess the characteristics of a heavenly nature. They differ in the proportion and intensity of their spiritual graces, but they are all marked with the lineaments of virtue. One is more eminent for faith, another for zeal, another for wisdom; some excel in patience, or meekness, or fervid hope, or gentle love; but all have the fundamentals of these holy principles. They all bear the marks of a noble lineage. You might see in each of their hearts the peculiar traits of royalty. You might readily perceive that each inherits his Fathers holiness. He is the child of a King, a prince of God (1Pe_2:9; Rev_1:6).
3. Children of God have the privileges of family communion and fellowship. It is not now granted to man to hold conversational intercourse with angelic or sainted members of the heavenly family. He must be satisfied with knowing that they have some communion with his spirit. This is often alleged in the Scriptures, And who can tell what benefits we receive from holy thoughts, counsels, and promptings, whispered to the soul by hovering spirits of an ethereal nature? But we are privileged with the communion of saints. We may associate with the wise and good, the saints that are in the earth, and the excellent (Psa_16:3). Above all, the Christian has access to the throne of grace, and holds communion with the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit.
4. Children of God have a share in the family provisions. There is a common stock of mercies, of which all the children have a right to partake. A certain property in blessings belongs to the household of faith. Exceeding great and precious promises have been provided by their heavenly Father. There is a fulness in Christ out of which His Church are permitted to receive. Every one is exhorted to take largely of these Divine gifts. Unlike property of an earthly nature, these riches never diminish by using. There could, therefore, be no reason for withholding them from any seeking soul. All are at liberty to ask and receive, that their joy may be full.
5. Children have a title to the future inheritance. If a son, then an heir of God through Christ; or, as the apostle writes in another place, If children then heirs, etc. Heirs of God--it is a strange expression! What does it mean? (R. M. Macbraire, M. A.)
Adoption
I. In what does adoption consist? It is the translation of a person out of one family into another. The act of grace by which God takes the children of the wicked one out of the world, and makes them the sons and daughters of His spiritual family.
1. Points of similarity between natural and spiritual adoption.
(1) In adoption we cease to have our former name, and are designated after the name of God, who adopted us; then sinners, now saints; then enemies, now reconciled; then aliens and rebels, now brought nigh and the friends of God.
(2) In adoption we change our abode. Once in the world, in the kingdom of darkness, in a far country; now in the Church, in the kingdom of Gods dear Son, in the household of faith, and family of heaven.
(3) We change our costume. Conform to the family dress.
2. Points of difference between natural and spiritual adoption.
(1) Natural adoption was to supply a family defect. Because there was no son. God had hosts of sons--the angels, etc.
(2) Natural adoption was only of sons. God makes no distinction as to sex, race, etc.
(3) In natural adoption there was only a change of condition; the child never became really the son of the adopter. But God makes His children partakers of His own nature, and imprints on them His own image.
(4) In natural adoption only one was adopted; but God adopts multitudes.
(5) In natural adoption only temporal advantages were derived; but in spiritual, the blessings are eternal.
II. The signs of adoption.
1. Internal (see Gal_4:6; Rom_8:14-16). The Spirit will produce within us
(1) peace of mind,
(2) comfort of heart,
(3) spiritual joy.
2. External.
(1) Language. Conversation such as becometh the gospel of Christ.
(2) Profession. We shall appear as the sons of the family of God; have the family badge, be enrolled in the family book, be found in the family circle, and sit at the family table.
(3) Obedience. Gods family has its laws, its specific rules for the government of itself, and for the direction of its conduct towards those who are without,
III. Its privileges.
1. Deliverance from all the miseries of our pristine state. Poverty, rags, misery, ruin.
2. Investiture into all the benefits of Christs family on earth.
3. A title to the celestial inheritance which Christ has bought and prepared for all who lave Him.
Application:
1. Learn the essential importance of this blessing. What would pardon and regeneration be without it? Let us seek the good of Gods family. We are in it to labour as well as enjoy.
2. Invite strangers to become the sons and heirs of God. (J. Burns, D. D.)
Sons by adoption
Great indeed is the rank and privilege of a son of God. The son of Adam, that is taken to be the Son of God, is taken out of the company of the rebels against God, into the company of those that adore and bless His name with thanksgiving, and perform His service with diligence, in His glorious presence. But he always remembers whence he has been taken; that if as a son of Adam he was taken from the comparatively vile dust of the earth, as a son of God he has been taken into a spiritual nature out of the comparatively much viler fleshly nature. He remembers that he is not a real son, but an adopted. Now a real son is always a son to his father, happen what will. And having been born and bred in his house, he knows all that is required of him, and does naturally all the duties of a member of the family. But very different is the condition of an adopted son; he has been born and bred in another family, and therefore under different rules; and hence, however respectable his family may be, he cannot accommodate himself so freely and fully as he could wish, nor sufficiently know the mind of a father, whom he has not known from childhood. Much more then if he be taken out of a family whose habits are quite contrary, and disreputably contrary, to the habits of that into which he has been adopted, he must be in continual fear and perplexity. All is quite strange to him, and let him be ever so willing to accommodate himself to his new situation, still he is in continual doubt as to what he should do, and what he should not do, and is continually, notwithstanding all his watchfulness, letting out the secrets of the corrupt habits of his old family. But on the very account of this natural infirmity, God hath put him under an instructor, to give him the proper knowledge, to form his habits, to influence his will, and by such a thorough change, to qualify him for the duties of the new station to which he has been admitted. And this instructor is the Holy Spirit, called also, from this His very office amongst us, the spirit of adoption, as in Rom_8:14-15. (R. W. Evans, M. A.)
Comfort of assurance
Death, like the proud Philistine, comes marching out in his hideous shape, daring the whole host of Israel to match him with an equal combatant. The atheist dares not die for fear non esse,--that he shall not be at all; the profane dares not die, for fear male esse--to be damned; the doubtful conscience dares not die, because he knows not whether he shall be, or be damned, or not be at all. Only the resolved Christian dares die, because he is assured of his election; he knows he shall be happy; and so lifts up pleasant eyes to heaven, the infallible place of his eternal rest. He dares encounter with his last enemy, trample on him with the foot of disdain, and triumphantly sing over him, O death! where is thy sting? O gravel where is thy victory? He conquers in being conquered; and all because God hath said to his soul, I am thy salvation. (T. Adams.)
Assurance of adoption
In 1768 Mr. Wesley visited Glasgow, where the greatest part of the members had found peace with God. Three years before Thomas Taylor had been sent there, and had for his first congregation two bakers boys and two old women. He kept off preaching, and his hearers increased also to two hundred, but for want of means he never kept so many fast days in his life. He hired a room, formed a society, and paid a precentor fourpence for each service to lead off the psalms, but the money falling short, he had to dismiss both the psalms and the precentor; but he left a society of seventy members. One of these was old Janet, of whom John Pawson records this anecdote. Meeting the minister of the kirk she had long attended, she was thus accosted: Oh, Janet, where have ye been, woman? I have no seen ye at the kirk for long. She replied, I go among the Methodists. Why, what gude get ye there, woman? Glory to God! said Janet; I do get gude; for God, for Christs sake, has forgiven me a my sins. Ah, Janet, be not highminded, but fear; the deil is a cunning adversary. I dinna care a button for the deil, said Janet; Ive gotten him under my feet. I ken the deil can do muckle deal, but there is ant thing he canna do. What is that, Janet? He canna shed abroad the love of God in my heart; an I am sure Ive got it there! Weel, weel, said the minister, If ye have got that there, hold it fast, Janet, and never let it go. Benefit of assurance:--Latimer writes to Ridley, When I live in a settled and steadfast assurance about the state of my soul, methinks I am as bold as a lion; I can laugh at all trouble; no affliction daunts me; but, when I am eclipsed in my comforts, I am of so fearful a spirit, that I could run into a very mouse-hole.
Sonship of the believer
I. The true position of the Christian. Sons. Many fail to see it. They admit believers, Christians, disciples, soldiers, servants. True. Each has a truth. Just as Jesus, Christ, Master, Lord; but Emanuel reveals a new connection. So with the believer. Son. Christ took our nature, and we receive His in degree (2Pe_1:4). This is often urged in Scripture. Rom_7:1-25. plainly describes law of nature and law of grace. Why urge this?
1. Because of privileges, of which we shall speak soon.
2. Because it is a necessity of life. Many fail in efforts. They try to be good, and fail. Because they begin wrongly. Must be so. Ostrich cannot soar as eagle. Nature is fitted to habits. So in grace. God requires great things. A new life begins. How? Not by laws or precepts--it is a new gift. Adoption transfers from Satans family to Gods, and then a new nature is given.
II. The power by whom this adoption is wrought. By Gods Spirit. In every aspect--redemption, sanctification, preservation, fruitfulness--the believer is a Divine work. Often forgotten. We are surrounded by human instruments, and the agent is not seen. Insufficient. Only the statue, not the man. Form without life. Both solemn and assuring.
III. The necessary results of this indwelling. Whereby, etc. Immediate connection between life and action. The means may lie dormant, but the grace never. What results?
1. God is known. In daily life such knowledge must be imparted. Very true of spiritual things. This knowledge surpasses that imparted by Scripture or human teachers. Examples: 1Sa_3:7; 2Co_4:6; Gal_3:16-17. Samuel and Paul both taught by man, and yet they were spiritually ignorant. So, however much we may study, prize, increasingly value the Bible, each must go beyond it.
2. Confidence is enjoyed. Point of argument lies in son and slave. The difference, the unwavering confidence of son. So boldness in prayer, conflict, work, is believers privilege. The Father never deserts His child.
3. Consistent life. A great name should never be disgraced. What so noble as this? where else is such honour entrusted? Be imitators of God. (H. T. Cavell.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv5–7 5. To redeem them that were under the law.…
5. To redeem them that were under the law. Those under bondage need redemption in order to secure freedom. Paul has shown that those under the law were in bondage. From this bondage Christ came to redeem us. How the redemption was wrought is shown in 3:13. That we might receive. This “adoption of sons” is bestowed as a gift. We cannot have it, and still be in bondage.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv5–7 that he might redeem them that were under the…
that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. [In this paragraph Paul resumes the metaphor begun at Gal_3:24 ; but from a slightly different point of view. There, law, or the tutor, was prominent; here, the son, or pupil, is the chief object of consideration. The point now illustrated is the reason why the bondage of the law preceded the liberty of the gospel. It was for purposes of development, similar to those by which youth is trained to manhood. The child in this instance is regarded as wholly subject to the terms of a will (though that of a living father, as appears later). Though the will provides that the son shall eventually be heir of all things, yet for the present he is so hampered, governed and restricted by the inflexible terms of the will that his condition differs, so far as comfort and freedom are concerned, in no respect from that of a bondservant, or slave. His person is under the care of guardians, and his estate is under the direction of stewards, and he can in no way expect to have his affairs bettered until the time has elapsed which is fixed by the will as the period of his subserviency, or minority. Thus, says the apostle, both Jews and Gentiles, as one common, congregate body, or heirs in God's sight, were held in bondage either to the law of Moses or some other form of law, which laws are collectively described as the rudiments of the world. But when the time arrived which was stipulated in the will for the termination of this period of tutelage, then God took the steps for the liberation of the ward (which steps were also outlined beforehand in the promise to Abraham, and referred to in the types of the will as recorded by Moses), and sent forth his Son to effect the liberation of the ward. At Gal_3:13 the apostle has already suggested that this liberation was to be effected by the son taking the place of the ward, etc. He shows, therefore, the steps by which the Son took upon him this wardship. He took upon him the nature of the ward by becoming flesh, being born of a woman ( Joh_1:14 ), and he assumed the state of the ward, for he was born under the law and thus came under the wardship. And his gracious purpose in all this was to redeem all those under ward and bring them to the estate of sons ( 2Co_8:9 )--adopted sons.]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v6 you are sons ... you are no longer a…
you are sons ... you are no longer a slave, but a son
Paul uses the word for male child here because the subject is inheritance. In his culture and that of his readers, inheritance passed most commonly, but not always, to male children. He was neither specifying nor excluding female children here.
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God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls out, "Abba, Father."
By calling out "Abba, Father" the Spirit assures us that we are God's children and he loves us.
sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts
The heart is metonym for the part of a person that thinks and feels. AT: "sent his Son's Spirit to show us how to think and act" (See: Metonymy)
his Son
This is an important title for Jesus, the Son of God. (See: Translating Son and Father)
who calls
The Spirit is the one who calls.
Abba, Father
This is the way a young child would address his father in Paul's home language, but not in the language of the Galatian readers. To keep the sense of a foreign language, translate this as a word that sounds as much like "Abba" as your language allows.
you are no longer a slave ... you are also an heir
Paul is addressing his readers as though they are one person, so "you" here is singular. (See: Forms of You)
heir
The people to whom God has made promises are spoken of as if they were to inherit property and wealth from a family member. (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
son
God
Holy Spirit
Son of God
servant
heir
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v6 4:6 The Holy Spirit provides an inner testimony to…
4:6 The Holy Spirit provides an inner testimony to assure us that we are God’s children (see Rom 8:16; Eph 1:13-14). • Those who have the Spirit of his Son are able to address God as Father, just as Christ did (Mark 14:36; cp. Matt 6:9).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.