Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Galatians 4:7
Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
7. The conclusion of the argument is not stated didactically, but made emphatic by its personal form, passing from ‘we’ to ‘ye’, from ‘ye’ to ‘thou’.
no more a servant ] rather no longer in bondage ( Gal 4:4).
then an heir ] By the Roman law all the children whether sons or daughters inherited equally, whereas by the Jewish law females succeeded only in default of heirs male. Comp. Rom 8:17.
of God through Christ ] The reading which has most authority is ‘through God’. It is unlikely that any transcriber would have adopted this reading, which is less usual, if he had had the received text before him. The expression ‘through God’ has the same sense as in ch. Gal 1:1. It stands in antithesis to all human effort or merit, by the appointment and grace of God.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Wherefore – In consequence of this privilege of addressing God as your Father.
Thou art no more – You who are Christians.
A servant – In the servitude of sin; or treated as a servant by being bound under the oppressive rites and ceremonies of the Law; compare the note at Gal 4:3
But a son – A child of God, adopted into his family, and to be treated as a son.
And if a son … – Entitled to all the privileges of a son, and of course to be regarded as an heir through the Redeemer, and with him. See the sentiment here expressed explained in the the note at Rom 8:17.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Gal 4:7
Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son.
Servitude and sonship
I. Sonship is here contrasted with servitude.
1. It is a change from ignorance to knowledge.
2. A change from bondage to self-control.
3. A change from a temporal relationship to an eternal one.
II. This sonship is the gift of God.
1. God intervenes with the offer of sonship at the fitting time.
2. God sends the only Being who can win us to sonship.
3. God accompanies the gift of sonship with the only infallible witness–the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
III. This gift of sonship makes us heirs of God. (S. Pearson, M. A.)
The Christians inheritance
For what purpose did God make the worlds? Not that He might in solitary joy behold their glittering brightness; but that they might minister to our sense of beauty, and cast lights on our devious way. If we truly understood our relation to the world in which we live, and indeed to the universe of which we form a part, we should see that the material has been made for the sake of the moral, that all things have been put under our feet because we are sons of God Who has more right to the worlds riches and wealth than a child of Him to whom the world belongs? Let him erect his machinery, carry on his transactions, dive into the mine, cross the ocean, span yawning gulfs, and pierce hard rocks, assured that He is doing his Fathers will in thus obtaining and using his leathers wealth All things are yours–things present and things to come. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. But higher things are ours if we are children of God. We become partakers of the Divine nature. That nature is spirit, and our spirits overcome and subjugate the grosset part of our being. That nature is righteous, and we become pure in heart, single in purpose, simple in behaviour, lust toward all men. That nature is mercy, and we, having ourselves obtained the blessings of Divine pity, look with compassion on the fallen, and long to win them to the home from which they have been so long exiles. That nature is changeless power, and our weakness becomes strength, and an inward energy is granted enabling us to triumph over time, the world, and self. That nature is infinite wisdom, and by dwelling ever in the presence of God we see the worlds troubles and our own in the light of higher purposes, and when we cannot understand we learn in quiet repose to trust in Him who doeth all things well. That nature is world-embracing and unquenchable love; He takes away the patriarchs when their weary pilgrimage is finished, that He may give them perfect rest. He makes us ask, The fathers, where are they? because He wants them home with Him; and soon the doors of His presence-chamber will open for us, new visions of bliss and joy will open upon us, and we shall see God as He is, and be like Him. In the meanwhile our rejoicing is, that now are we the sons of God. (S. Pearson, M. A.)
The Christians scorn of the world
Whoever could believe without any doubt that it were true, and certainly comprehend how immeasurably great a thing it is, that one should be Gods child and heir, such an one would without doubt take little account of the world, with all that therein is esteemed precious and honourable, such as human righteousness, wisdom, dominion, power, money, possessions, honour, pleasure, and the like; yea, all that in the world is honourable and glorious, would be to him loathsome and an abomination. (Luther.)
Sons and heirs
I. No inheritance without sonship. Spiritual blessings are only for those who are in a spiritual condition.
1. The lower orders of creatures are shut out from gifts which belong to the higher forms of life because they are so organized that these cannot enter into their nature.
2. So the soul must be adapted to the enjoyment of spiritual salvation.
3. The final inheritance depends on character. To possess God for ever we must love Him for ever.
II. No Sonship Without A Spiritual Birth.
1. We are sons in some sense by nature.
2. But we become spiritual sons by grace.
III. No spiritual birth without Christ.
1. The very figure shows us that the process of becoming sons does not; lie within our own power.
2. Christ has come to give the spirit of adoption and regeneration.
IV. No Christ without faith.
1. Ceremonies are nothing.
2. Trust in Christ is everything. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Sonship through Christ
Christ has effected an actual change in the possible aspect of the Divine justice and government to us; and He has carried in the golden urn of His humanity a new spirit and a new life which He has set down in the midst of the race; and the urn was broken on the Cross of Calvary, and the water flowed out, and whithersoever that water comes there is life, and whithersoever it comes not there is death. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Adoption and confidence
A train dashed into a tunnel with a warning whistle. The whistle and darkness startled a child in his mothers arms, and caused him to scream with fear; but directly the mothers voice was heard, and he felt the soothing hand upon his face, all fear vanished. Yet the child knew not why the train went through the darkness, but immediately the parents voice reached him, he trusted. When we go through any dark or laborious way, let us also trust our Father in heaven, and nothing will harm us. The darkness and the light, O Lord, are both alike to Thee.
Privileges of adoption
By it God the Father is made our Father. 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, and privileges.
3. Joint-heirs with Him of His glory. The Holy Ghost is our Indweller, Guide, Advocate, Comforter, and Sanctifier. All believers being subjects of the same adoption are brethren. (A. A. Hodge.)
The Christian a Son of God
I. Then we are to notice the gracious relation in which good men stand to God. They are not servants, but sons. As I have before intimated, this privilege belongs to believers alone; they only can properly be called the sons of God.
1. That true believers are the sons of God by a new creation. By nature they are the children of wrath even as others. They are the offspring of degenerate, fallen man, the posterity of Adam, the sinful representative of mankind. The temper of the mind is renewed, and the outward conduct is reformed. A spiritual and vital influence is felt, and a spiritual and vital principle is imparted.
2. Believers are the sons of God, by their union with Christ. Wherefore, my brethren, says the apostle to the Romans, ye are also become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him that is raised from the dead, that ye should bring forth fruit unto God.
3. Believers are the sons of God by adoption. Adoption was an act frequent among the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans.
II. The happy consequence which results from the privilege of our being the sons of God. If a son, then an heir of God, through Christ. They are heirs of all that God possesses. The treasures to which they are entitled are vast and immeasurable. Believers, too, are heirs of all that God has promised. Christians are said to be heirs of the promise. If they have but little in possession, they have much in prospect; if not rich in enjoyment, they are rich in faith and hope. Believers, too, are heirs of the righteousness of Christ. Believers, too, are heirs of salvation, and angels are their ministering spirits. Those happy beings have charge over the people of God, and minister to them in their path to glory. They are called, too, heirs of the grace of life. Salvation is all of grace. Believers, too, are heirs of the kingdom. God has provided a kingdom for them that love Him, and of this kingdom they are heirs. They are also heirs of the world. This promise primarily refers to the land of Canaan, which Abraham and his seed were to possess; but here heaven is typically promised and represented.
III. Notice the means by which this privilege is obtained. If a son, then an heir of God, through Christ. Now we are heirs of God through Christ, because he has purchased this privilege for us. Christ, too, can only give this glorious privilege. He is the Head and Representative of His Church. Believers are the members of His body, and receive their spiritual nourishment from Him. It is through Christ we obtain this privilege as joint-heirs with Him. To Him the birthright blessing properly belongs. The Father loved the Son, and hath given all things into His hands. In conclusion, let me inquire–If not heirs of God, what are we? We are heirs of Satan–that prince of darkness, who now employs us in the drudgery of sin in order that he may reward us with the damnation of hell. (Isaac Clarkson.)
A servant or a son
The apostle had laid down some broad, simple rules of the gospel (verses 4, 5).
Here he points out
I. The believers change: he was a servant; he is a son.
1. A servant to sin (Rom 6:16). Unconverted mans virtues are splendid sins. Servants in a large house have different work, but if well done, master is satisfied.
2. Slave to the world–its fashions, opinions, pleasures.
3. In bondage to the law. He cannot see the freeness of the gospel (Rom 3:28; Rom 5:1). But there is a change (verse 6; Rom 8:15). There is now an interest in God; filial affection to Him; freedom of access (Eph 2:18; Pro 15:8); an abode in the Fathers house (Joh 8:34-35; Eph 2:19-22).
II. The believers hope. An inheritance is not purchased by ourselves–it descends. It implies–
1. Full forgiveness. One unpardoned sin is certain hell (Eze 18:4; 1Jn 1:7).
2. Inward righteousness–imperfect, but improving (Luk 23:41; Heb 12:14).
3. That God Himself will be the portion of His believing people (1Co 3:21-23). Whatever Christ has, we have.
In conclusion–
1. Is it not a wonder that privileges such as these should be so much overlooked, undervalued? Can every one here say; I was a servant of sin, but I am now a son of God? (Rom 10:10).
2. If not a son of God, what is the alternative? (Gal 6:7-8). An heir of the one or of the other is every one present at this moment. We must expect opposition, but we are well led, supported (2Co 12:9; Rev 21:7). (H. M. Villiers.)
No more a servant, but a son:
He simply reminds those Christians of their early state, and calls them to consider their present condition. Once they were servants, now they are sons; once in bondage, now free.
I. Every believer will find it to his advantage occasionally to recall his former condition under the Divine law, previous to the glad day in which grace came to him with full redemption. They say it is the custom in the city of Munich to arrest every mendicant child that is caught begging in the street, and put him immediately at school under some proper supervision until he is able to obtain a moderate support. As he enters the institution, his portrait is taken by an artist precisely as he appears in his uncleanliness and rags. This picture is always carefully preserved, so that when he is educated and matured enough to appreciate his position it may be shown to him. Then he will know how much has been done for his good, even while he was thinking unkindly of the restraint he resisted. Furthermore: he is made then to promise that he will keep She likeness ever afterwards, in order not only that it may remind him of his abject career as a beggar, and so keep him humble, but also make him think of others as companions in misfortune, and so render him charitable to the poor. And it is said in the reports that some of these castaways thus saved to usefulness, make the strongest and the most hopeful friends for the recovery and rescue of any young lad, however unpromising he may at first sight appear, a mere waif and wanderer in the world. Here in our lesson the apostle seems to have a very similar purpose in mind. For he begins with the description of men in a state of nature (verses 1-3), and having shown how deeply in bondage they are, he proceeds to set forth the glorious interposition of grace in the gospel (verses 4-6), by which they might receive the adoption of sons. It is as if we all looked steadily back for a moment to see what we were once, and in the height of our gratitude looked around to see what we now have become, and to inquire how best we could glorify our Saviour.
II. In the next place, the apostle dwells upon the lofty position of those who are the children of God. They are not any more bound by the drudgeries of service; they are not under tutors and governors any longer; they are sons. It remains for us only to understand what adoption implies, and then this liberty will be defined, and this relationship established.
1. A son by adoption takes the name of his new father for all the future. No matter how honourable that may be; no matter how clear the aristocratic blood may have run in the ancestral veins; no matter what the worlds heraldry has to say of ancient prowess or feudal right; any one who is legally adopted bears the same proud designation. Although the forefathers never knew him, the Children of this generation must hereafter call him a brother, the mother must consider him the same as her son. The analogy holds perfectly here. To be sons of God means to bear His name. Christians are called such after Christ; it is said that the Germans often call a true believer a Christ.
2. An adopted child receives the care of his father. The privileges bestowed upon the other children are exactly the privileges bestowed upon him. Indeed, a son by adoption is often more likely to want peculiar help, simply because on entering an entirely fresh line of relations and duties he has everything to learn and much to unlearn. He hardly knows the first rules of the house, and he does not at all understand the dispositions of those within the family circle. He cannot be expected to arrive at once, as if by a flash of intuition, at a full apprehension of even his fathers will; he will need time to be instructed in the delicate solicitudes of watchful obedience. Hence, he must have more forbearance, more patient instruction, more provident guardianship, perhaps than all the rest together. To be the adopted sons of God means just in this way to share His peculiar parental care. Jesus our Lord left on record an engagement of it for His brethren (Joh 16:27). Even the Father Himself has made a covenant promise for help (2Co 6:17-18).
3. An adopted child takes the honours of his father. The child goes away from the old condition wholly into the new. A prince might bring a peasants son into a royal household; then he will be a peasant-boy no longer; he is a kings son. That sets him on a level with the nobles of the realm; for he takes the condition of his parent as if he had been born under the same roof.
4. A child by adoption receives an appropriate share in the wealth of his father. Numbered in the household, bearing the common name, he can also draw on the joint resources. Former poverty is forgotten. Avenues of influence are suddenly thrown open to him.
5. An adopted child receives at last the inheritance of his father. What God has laid out for His people is much, what He has laid up for them is more. The Saints Inventory contains a list of spiritual possessions, most rare and valuable (1Co 3:21-23).
III. It would seem now as if there could be no need for the apostle to press his closing consideration. How could any one wish to go back into service after he had experienced these advantages of sonship? How could he desire again to be in bondage? We are told that the Israelites, even when they had manna, wished for onions and leeks of Egypt; and, even when God was feeding them, sighed for garlic. But what is this beside the folly of those who accept times and seasons in the place of the blessedness of a sonship of God with Christ! (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Son and heir
I. What we were–servants. The idea of bondage is implied, and refers to the twofold influence of sin.
1. Its entire sway over ourselves. The language of Scripture is decisive on this matter. Sin has not only affected a part of human nature, but the whole.
2. Its power to exclude every good influence. The slave has no intercourse with the outside world. Others must not speak to him, or offer him any counsel. His master will not allow any foreign influence. Sin keeps out the light; the sinner does neither see himself nor his surroundings.
II. What we are–sons, Adoption is the term used by the apostle to designate the change. No comparison, however, will exactly represent the altered state.
1. As sons we are partakers of the Divine nature. The Spirit of God has imparted a heavenly disposition to our hearts.
2. As sons we are partakers of Gods care and government. Correction is a necessary part of the relationship.
III. What we shall be–heirs. There is a present right, but minority excludes full possession for want of fitness.
1. Maturity There is a stage in our experience when restrictions and limitations will be removed. We now only know in part.
2. Indebtedness–through Christ. He is the!ink between us and the inheritance. (The Weekly Pulpit.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. Thou art no more a servant] Thou who hast believed in Christ art no longer a slave, either under the dominion of sin or under obligation to the Mosaic ritual; but a son of God, adopted into the heavenly family.
And if a son, then an heir] Having a right to the inheritance, because one of the family, for none can inherit but the children; but this heirship is the most extraordinary of all: it is not an heirship of any tangible possession, either in heaven or earth; it is not to possess a part or even the whole of either, it is to possess Him who made all things; not God’s works, but God himself: heirs of GOD through Christ.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thou that art a believing Gentile, as well as the believing Israelites,
art no more a servant, not in that state of servile subjection to the law;
but a son; but in a more excellent state of liberty, like unto that of sons that have attained to a full and ripe age. Christ told his disciples, Joh 15:15, that he did not call them servants, for servants knew not what their lord did; but he had freely communicated to them what he had received from the Father. The apostle here saith, they were sons, sons by adoption; which is the highest notion of freedom and liberty. And this entitled them to an inheritance:
if a son, then an heir of God through Christ: which agreeth with Rom 8:17. And as it is with sons and heirs, though the inheritance cometh not fully to them till the death of the parent, yet while they live they are in a far better condition than servants; so the believing Gentiles, being made sons and heirs of God through Christ, though they were to stay a while for the inheritance reserved for the sons of God in the heavens, yet their state was much better than that of servants; for though they were obliged to serve the Lord, yet they served him without servile fear, and were no otherwise servants than sons are also servants to their father.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. WhereforeConclusioninferred from Ga 4:4-6.
thouindividualizingand applying the truth to each. Such an individual appropriation ofthis comforting truth God grants in answer to them who cry, “Abba,Father.”
heir of God throughChristThe oldest manuscripts read, “an heir through God.”This combines on behalf of man, the whole before-mentioned agency, ofTHE TRINITY:the Father sent His Son and the Spirit; the Son has freed us from thelaw; the Spirit has completed our sonship. Thus the redeemed areheirs THROUGH the TriuneGOD, not through the law,nor through fleshly descent [WINDISCHMANNin ALFORD]; (Ga3:18 confirms this).
heirconfirming Ga3:29; compare Ro 8:17.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Wherefore thou art no more a servant,…. This is a benefit resulting from adoption, and the manifestation of it to the children of God, and supposes them to have been formerly servants; as whilst in a natural state they were the servants of sin, the vassals of Satan, slaves to the world, and the lusts of it, and in bondage to the law; but now being declared to be the sons of God under the witnessings of the Spirit, they are freed from the servitude of sin, from the captivity of Satan, from the slavery of the world, and particularly from the law, and that spirit of bondage which it brought upon them, which is chiefly designed; and from which they are delivered by the spirit of adoption, enabling and encouraging them to cry “Abba”, Father; so that they are now no more under the former servile spirit, the spirit of a servant,
but a son; whose spirit, state, and case, are vastly different from those of a servant: the servant has not that interest in his master’s affections as the son has; nor that liberty of access to him; nor is he fed and clothed as he is, or shares in the same privileges he does; nor is his obedience performed in the same free generous manner, from a principle of love and gratitude, but in a servile and mercenary way; and though he may expect his wages, he cannot hope for the inheritance; nor does he always abide in the house as the son does. He that is once a son, is always so, and no more a servant: predestination to sonship is immutable; it is God’s act to put any among the children, and none can put them out; the covenant of grace, in which this blessing is secured, is unalterable; union with Christ, the Son of God, on which it is founded, is indissoluble; the spirit of adoption, wherever he witnesses, abides as such. They that are the sons of God may be corrected and chastised, as they often are, in a fatherly way; but these corrections are proofs for, and not against their sonship; they may indeed judge themselves unworthy to be called the sons of God, and may be in such frames of soul as to conclude, at least fear, they are not; but still the relation abides, and ever will. They will never more be servants, but always sons. The very learned Mr. Selden i thinks the apostle alludes to a custom among the Jews, who allowed only freemen, and not servants and handmaids, to call any Abba, Father such an one, or “Imma”, Mother such an one: but this seems to proceed upon a mistaken sense, and rendering of a passage in the Talmud k, which is as follows,
; which he thus renders, “neither servants nor handmaids use this kind of appellation, Abba”, or “Father such an one”, and “Imma”, or “Mother such an one”; whereas it should be rendered, “servants and handmaids, they do not call them Abba, Father such an one”, and “Imma, Mother such an one”; this is clear from what follows. “The Family of “R. Gamaliel” used to call them Father such an one, and Mother such an one”; which in the other Talmud l is, “the family of” R. Gamaliel “used to call their servants and their handmaids Father Tabi, and Mother Tabitha”; which were the names of the servant and handmaid of Gamaliel. Rather therefore reference is had to a tradition m of theirs, that
“a servant, who is carried captive, when others redeemed him, if under the notion of a servant, or in order to be one, he becomes a servant; but if under the notion of a freeman, , “he is no more a servant”.”
Or to the general expectation of that people, that when they are redeemed by the Messiah, they shall be servants no more; for so they say n,
“your fathers, though they were redeemed, became servants again, but you, when ye are redeemed,
, “shall be no more servants”;”
which in a spiritual sense is true of all that are redeemed by Christ, and through that redemption receive the adoption of children, and is what the apostle here means.
And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ; which is another benefit arising from adoption. Such as are the children of God, they are heirs of God himself; he is their portion and exceeding great reward; his perfections are on their side, and engaged for their good; all his purposes run the same way, and all his promises belong to them; they are heirs of all the blessings of grace and glory, of righteousness, of life, of salvation, and a kingdom and glory; and shall inherit all things, and all “through Christ”: he is the grand heir of all things; they are joint heirs with him; their sonship is through him, and so is their heirship and inheritance; their inheritance is in his possession, it is reserved safe in him; and by him, and with him they shall enjoy it. The Alexandrian copy, and some others, only read, “an heir through God”, and so the Vulgate Latin version; and the Ethiopic version only, “an heir of God”.
i De Successionibus ad Leg. Ebr. c. 4. p. 33. k T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 16. 2. Vid. Maimon. Hilch. Nechalot, c. 4. sect. 5. l T. Hieros. Niddah, fol. 49. 2. Vid. Massech. Semachet, c. 1. sect. 13. m Misn. Gittin, c. 4. sect. 4. n T. Hieros. Sheviith, fol. 37. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
No longer a bondservant ( ). Slave. He changes to the singular to drive the point home to each one. The spiritual experience (3:2) has set each one free. Each is now a son and heir.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Servant [] . Bondservant. See on Mt 20:26; Mr 9:35; Rom 1:1.
Then an heir [ ] . Kai marks the logical sequence. Comp. Rom 8:17. The figure is based upon Roman, not upon Jewish, law. According to Roman law, all the children, sons and daughters, inherited alike. According to Jewish law, the inheritance of the sons was unequal, and the daughters were excluded, except where there were no male heirs. Thus the Roman law furnished a more truthful illustration of the privileges of Christians. Comp. chapter Gal 3:28.
Of God through Christ. The correct reading is dia qeou through God, omitting Christ.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1 ) “Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son,” (hoste oukete ei doulos alla huios) “So that thou art not at all a slave-servant but a son, an heir,” no more, not at all hereafter are you all in slave-bondage to any deeds of law, Jewish law, or religious ceremonies, but are an heir or heirs of Jesus Christ.
2) “And if a son,” (ei de huios) “and if an heir-son”; one restored to birth-rights as heirs of Abraham and joint-heirs and coming administrators of Christ in the Millennial Age- Rom 8:17; Rev 5:10; Rev 20:6.
3) “Then an heir of God through Christ,” (Kai kleronomos dia Theou) “Even an heir-set one through (Christ) of God,” not through the law of Moses or compliance with its processes and requirements. Though to Abraham, and his heirs thru the Law, repossession of the Promised Land was committed under the Old Testament; A supplemental administrative reign-right was pledged by Jesus Christ to the twelve apostles and His church; that is to be fulfilled in a literal manner when Jesus returns, Luk 22:30; Luk 19:12-19; Rom 8:16-17.
HE REDEEMED US
A gentleman was once passing through the auction mart of a Southern Slave State, when he noticed the tears of a little girl who was just going to be put up for sale. The other slaves of the same group did not seem to care about it, while each knock of the hammer made her shake. The kind man stopped to inquire why she alone wept. He was told that the others were used to such things, and might be glad of a change from hard harsh homes, but that she had been brought up with much care by a good owner, and she was terrified to think who might buy her. The stranger asked her price. It was a great sum, but he paid it down. The tears fell fast on the signed parchment which her deliverer brought to prove to her freedom. She only looked at him with fear. She had been born a slave and knew not what freedom meant. When the gentleman was gone, it began to dawn upon her what her freedom was. With the first breath she said, “I will follow him! I will follow him! I will serve him all my days,” and when reasoned with against it, she only cried, “He redeemed me! He redeemed me! He redeemed me!” -Cunningham
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
7. Wherefore thou art no more a servant. In the Christian Church slavery no longer exists, but the condition of the children is free. In what respect the fathers under the law were slaves, we have already inquired; for their freedom was not yet revealed, but was hidden under the coverings and yoke of the law. Our attention is again directed to the distinction between the Old and New Testaments. The ancients were also sons of God, and heirs through Christ, but we hold the same character in a different manner; for we have Christ present with us, and in that manner enjoy his blessings.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Thus, by your redemption, adoption, and the gift of the Spirit, it is distinctly proved that the old state of servitude and minority is past. You have entered upon the full privileges of the adult son. And the son is also called to the Messianic inheritance.
Thou.The singular is used in order to individualise the expression and bring it home pointedly to each of the readers.
No more.Since the coming of Christ, and your own acceptance of Christianity.
If a son, then an heir . . .The Roman law (which the Apostle seems to be following) treated all the sons as heirs, and provided for an equal division of the property between them.
Of God through Christ.The true reading here appears to be, through Goda somewhat unusual expression. The Christian is admitted as an heir, not through any merits of his own, but through the process of redemption and adoption wrought for him by God.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. No more a servant Even in form and law like the minor child in Gal 4:1.
A son In the full privileges of thy majority, and the full abundance of thy inheritance.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Gal 4:7. And if a son, then an heir, &c. From the Galatians having received the Spirit, as appears ch. Gal 3:2. St. Paul argues, that they are the Sons of God without the law; consequently, heirs of the promise without the law: “For,” says he, Gal 4:1-6 the Jews themselves were obliged “to be redeemed from the bondage of the law by Jesus Christ, that as sons they might attain to the inheritance; but you, Galatians, (he goes on,) have, by the Spirit which is given you through the ministry of the gospel, an evidence that God is your Father; and being sons, are free from the bondage of the law, and heirs without it.” St. Paul uses the same sort of reasoning to the Romans, ch. Rom 8:14-17.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gal 4:7 . ] Inference from Gal 4:5-6 .
] no longer as in the pre-Christian condition, when thou wast in bondage to the .
] The language, addressing every reader, not merely the Gentile readers (Hofmann), advances in its individualizing application: Gal 4:5 , ; Gal 4:6 , ; Gal 4:7 , . Comp. Gal 5:26 , Gal 5:1 .
, ] But if thou art a son (and not a slave, who does not inherit from his master), thou art also an heir , as future possessor of the Messianic salvation, and art so (not in any way through the law, but) through God ( ; see the critical notes), who, as a consequence of His adoption of thee as a son, has made thee also His heir . To Him thou art indebted for this ultimate blessing, to be attained by means of sonship. This cannot also apply to (Hofmann), so that should include all the rest of the verse in one sentence. With a new sentence begins. Otherwise Paul must have written: , . Rckert unjustly blames the apostle for having, in , ., departed from the right track of his thoughts, because in Gal 4:1 he had started at once from the idea of . But in Gal 4:1 the apostle, in fact, has not started from the Messianic idea of , but from its lower analogue in civil life. With respect to the legal aspect of the conclusion itself, , . (comp. Rom 8:17 ), in which, by the way, the father is conceived as dividing the inheritance during his lifetime, the idea is not based on the Jewish law of inheritance, [184] according to which the (legitimately born) sons alone, [185] if there were such, the first-born among these taking, according to Deu 21:17 , a double portion, were, as a rule, intestate heirs (see Keil, Archol . II. 142; Ewald, Alterth . p. 238 f.; Saalschtz, M. R . p. 820 f.). The apostle’s idea is founded on the intestate succession of the Roman law , with which Paul as a Roman citizen was acquainted, as in fact it was well known in the provinces and applied there as regarded Roman citizens. Comp. also Fritzsche, Tholuck, and van Hengel, on Rom 8:17 . According to the Roman law sons and daughters, whether born in marriage or adopted children (and Paul conceives Christians as belonging to the latter class), were intestate heirs. It is evident in itself, and from Gal 3:28 , that , which Paul used here on account of its correlation with , does not, in the popular mode of expression, exclude the female sex. On the whole of this subject, see C. F. A. Fritzsche, utrum Pauli argumentatio Rom 8:17 et Gal 4:7 , Hebraeo an Romano jure aestimanda sit , in Fritzschior. Opusc . p. 143 ff. To assume a mere allusion to general human laws of succession (Wieseler) is not sufficient; for Paul has very distinctly and clearly conceived and designated the of the Christian as a relation of adoption , which presupposes for his conclusion as to the heirship a special legal reference, and not merely the general and vague correlation of the ideas of childship and heirship. The clear precision of his thought vouches for this, and it ought not to be evaded by declaring such a legal question even foolish (Hofmann), a dogmatical judgment which is all the more precipitate, as the specific Johannean idea of the divine begetting of the children of God (comp. Weiss, bibl. Theol . p. 717 ff.) can by no means be found in the Pauline [186] (see on Rom 8:15 ). Besides, is, and after all remains, nothing else than the quite definite legal idea of adoption , which separates the or (Pollux, iii. 21) from those begotten or .
[184] So Grotius, who says: “Jure Hebr. filii tantum haeredes, sed sub illo nomine indicantur omnes fideles cujusque sint sexus.” The fact that Christians are the adopted children of God, is decidedly opposed to this.
[185] In Pro 17:2 nothing is said of adoption.
[186] The adoption into the state of children takes place on God’s part along with justification, and is on man’s part certain to the believing self-consciousness, to which the also attests it. Beyschlag ( Christol . p. 222) wrongly holds that the communication of the Spirit is itself the . No, those who receive the Spirit are already believing, justified, and thereby , and obtain through the Spirit the testimony that they are , a testimony which agrees with that of their own consciousness, , Rom 8:16 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Ver. 7. And if a son, &c. ] See Trapp on “ Rom 8:17 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
7 .] Statement of the conclusion from the foregoing, and corroboration, from it, of ch. Gal 3:29 . The second person singular individualizes and points home the inference. Meyer remarks that this individualization has been gradually proceeding from Gal 4:5 , , .
] The rec. seems to have been an adaptation to the similar passage, Rom 8:17 .
On the text, Windischmann remarks, “ combines, on behalf of our race, the whole before-mentioned agency of the Blessed Trinity: the Father has sent the Son and the Spirit, the Son has freed us from the law, the Spirit has completed our sonship; and thus the redeemed are heirs through the tri-une God Himself, not through the law, nor through fleshly descent.”
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Gal 4:7 . . This language is unusual, and many variations are found in MSS. and versions, amidst them the Received Text , but there can be little question on MS. evidence that the above is the genuine text. As for the true force of the words, the Epistle has now traced the scheme of redemption and design of bestowing a heavenly inheritance in Christ as far back as the patriarchs, and has shown that from the time of Abraham downwards God was disciplining Israel with a view to their becoming sons of God, and again that He was really ordering the lives of Gentiles likewise, though they knew Him not, with the same intent. With good reason therefore it is here said “through God through His original design and providential care thou hast now become son and heir”.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
no more = no longer. Greek. ouketi,
if. App-118.
then an heir = an heir also.
of God through Christ. The texts read “through God”.
through. Greek. dia App-104. Gal 4:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
7.] Statement of the conclusion from the foregoing, and corroboration, from it, of ch. Gal 3:29. The second person singular individualizes and points home the inference. Meyer remarks that this individualization has been gradually proceeding from Gal 4:5-,-,-.
] The rec. seems to have been an adaptation to the similar passage, Rom 8:17.
On the text, Windischmann remarks, combines, on behalf of our race, the whole before-mentioned agency of the Blessed Trinity: the Father has sent the Son and the Spirit, the Son has freed us from the law, the Spirit has completed our sonship; and thus the redeemed are heirs through the tri-une God Himself, not through the law, nor through fleshly descent.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Gal 4:7. -, thou art-a son) Paul passes with a sweet effect from the plural to the singular, as in ch. Gal 6:1; and there is at the same time expressed in this passage the fatherly answer of God towards [in relation to] individuals who cry out, Abba, Father, in the spirit.-, a servant) in the manner of inferiors.-) an heir in reality.[36]
[36] , of God) See App., p. 11, on this passage, where the great variety renders it probable that was inserted from Rom 8:17.-Not. Crit. Yet the margin of the 2d Ed. gives less countenance to the omission, and the Germ. Vers. expresses the words of God, as if they were not doubtful.-E. B.
ABC corrected later, g Vulg. Memph., read . G reads . Rec. Text reads , , with D()f.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Gal 4:7
Gal 4:7
So that thou art no longer a bondservant, but a son;-Under the Jewish law they had felt that they were slaves or servants. Now through faith they can feel that they are sons-children. A son obeys from love, a servant from fear. Now they are no longer servants, but sons, and the son is the heir of the heritage of the father.
and if a son, then an heir through God.-Then as son an heir of the Father, and that kinship comes through Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God. He redeemed them, he purchased them, he pardoned them. They entered into him through faith, and in him they became heirs with him of his Father and their Father. Their Father because Jesus is his Son, and they are in him.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
thou: Gal 4:1, Gal 4:2, Gal 4:5, Gal 4:6, Gal 4:31, Gal 5:1
but: Gal 3:26
if: Gal 3:29, Rom 8:16, Rom 8:17
heir: Gen 15:1, Gen 17:7, Gen 17:8, Psa 16:5, Psa 73:26, Jer 10:16, Jer 31:33, Jer 32:38-41, Lam 3:24, 1Co 3:21-23, 2Co 6:16-18, Rev 21:7
Reciprocal: Gen 21:10 – heir Psa 51:12 – free Eze 46:16 – If the prince Hos 1:10 – Ye are the sons Joh 20:17 – your Father Gal 3:3 – having Tit 3:7 – made Heb 10:19 – Having
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gal 4:7. , -Wherefore thou art no longer a slave, but a son. The first term introduces the statement as a result from what precedes, and it is followed here by the indicative, as often at the commencement of a sentence. Winer, 41, 5; Klotz-Devarius, ii. p. 771. See under Gal 2:13. The comparative term refers back to the in Gal 4:3. The address is narrowed down in this pointed appeal from the first person plural in Gal 4:5, through the second person plural in Gal 4:6, to the second person singular. Compare Rom 11:17; Rom 12:20, 1Co 4:7; 1Co 10:29, for a similar form of individualizing appeal.
, -but if a son, also an heir. The two positions are identical-the one is bound up in the other. The slave is no heir, but he who is a son is also an heir by the fact of his being a son. Rom 8:17, , . If thou art a son, in addition to such sonship thou art an heir-an heir of the promise made by God to Abraham and his seed. See under Eph 1:11. That thou art a son is proved from thy possession of the Spirit; no longer a slave-thou canst say, Abba; and if a son, then also an heir.
The Received Text reads, -an heir of God through Christ-a reading quite in harmony with the context. This reading is found in C3, D, K, L, 3, the Claromontane which reads et haeres Dei per Christum, and the Gothic version. Chrysostom and Theodoret follow the same reading, and there are other smaller variations. The simpler and shorter reading- -is supported by A, B, C1, 1, the Vulgate which has haeres per Deum, Ambrosiaster, Augustine, Pelagius, with Clement, Basil, Athanasius, Cyril, Didymus among the Greek fathers. F reads , and some MSS. have . Some versions seem made from a text which read simply , while others must have read . This variety of reading shows that emendation has been at work, and that the similar phrase in Rom 8:17 – -has suggested the different readings. Some indeed-as Rckert and De Wette, and as Griesbach thinks probable-suppose that all the words after are spurious additions, as in Gal 3:29. But the MSS. all declare, with one exception (C at first hand), for some addition. Rinck and Usteri maintain the reading , as if from Rom 8:17 were first written above and then exchanged for it. Lachmann and Tischendorf adopt the shorter reading. It is needless to object with Matthaei that the orthodox wrote for , for the reading is as old as Clement of Alexandria; nor could the hostility to Arianism suggest such a change. Reiche, Fritzsche, and Hahn defend the Received Text. Fritzsche supposes that the copyists first confounded with per oculorum errorem, then omitted , and then wrote -a critical hypothesis not very credible. If we accept , the curter reading, all the others can be, by a series of natural emendations, easily accounted for, and by the desire to express the mediation of Christ. But is in harmony with the whole passage. The agency of God in the process of adoption has special prominence. The time appointed of the father is the express terminus of the in the figure. Then it is , then -that Spirit which cries ; and the clear and undeniable conclusion is, we are brought into the position of sons -through God’s agency. Thus there is no occasion to adopt the view of Windischmann which takes in its widest sense of God-Father, Son, and Spirit,-the Father sending the Son and the Spirit, the Son redeeming us, and the Spirit completing our sonship. The noun is anarthrous, as it often is after prepositions. Winer, xix. It would seem, too, that God the Father is directly referred to; for He adopts, sends His Son to provide for it, and His Spirit as the proof of it, so that we become sons, also heirs, through Him. No genitive follows in this clause, but it has in Rom 8:17; , Jam 2:5. The inheritance is also referred to in Gal 3:18; Gal 3:29.
The declaration, if a son, then an heir, is based on a general law or instinct-The parents lay up for the children. Perhaps this common practice is enough for the apostle’s argument. But if the statement is regarded as a special declaration based on legal enactment, the reference cannot be to the Hebrew law which gave the first-born a double portion and excluded daughters; for there is in Christ neither male nor female, and each one is an heir. The allusion is rather to Roman law, under which all the children inherited equally. Thus Gaius: sui autem et necessarii heredes sunt velut filius filiave.-Sui autem heredes existimantur liberi qui in potestate morientis fuerint, veluti filius, filiave, nepos neptisve ex filio . . . nec interest utrum naturales sint an adoptivi, suorum heredum numero sunt.-Institut. 2.156, Gal 3:2, ed. Bcking. Sui et necessarii heredes were quite in this position-if children, then heirs. The Athenian law, which, however, made no distinction between real and personal estate, was not so precise: it gave sons an equal right, the son being merely bound to give his sisters a marriage-portion.
The apostle now turns to the Gentile portion of the church, and impresses on them the folly of placing themselves under bondage to the Mosaic law.
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Verse 7. This verse is explained by the comments on verse 5, with an added thought as to the advantage of being a son. It entitles one to share in the riches of the Father in Heaven, who is the Creator and owner of all things.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Gal 4:7. So that thou art no longer a slave, but a son, etc. Inference from Gal 4:5-6. The second person individualizes and Brings it home to each reader.Son, in opposition to slave, but not, of course, to the exclusion of daughter. For the Apostle had distinctly declared, Gal 3:28, that the sexual, as well as other differences, disappear before Christ in the general religious equality. He had here in view probably not the Jewish, but the Roman law, which was most familiar to his readers and which gave daughters and sons, adopted as well as native children, a title to the inheritance; while the Jewish law excluded the daughters, except in default of male heirs (Num 27:1 ff.; Num 36:1 ff.), but required the first born son to support them till they were married.
And if a son, then an heir through God. This is the most approved reading, of which the received text: of God through Christ, is a correct explanation, in conformity with Rom 8:17. The word God is here used in the widest sense of the triune God, from whom we derive our sonship and heirship in opposition to the law and to carnal descent from Abraham. For the Father sends His only begotten Son, the Son delivers us from the slavery of the law and reconciles us to the Father, the Holy Spirit applies the sonship to our heart and bears witness to it.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Note here, 1. That the spirit of the first covenant was a servile spirit, a spirit of fear and bondage, and they that were under that covenant, were rather servants than sons; not but that true believers, in and under the Old Testament, were the sons and daughters of the Most High God, and we find them challenging their privilege, Isa 63:16. Doubtless thou art our Father: But yet it was in so defective a degree, that they seemed more like to servants than to sons, and were trained up under suitable discipline: Hence, says the apostle here, thou art now no more a servant; implying, they were once so.
Note, 2. That the Spirit of the new covenant is a free and ingenuous Spirit, and the gospel state a more filial state than the legal state was: Thou art now no more a servant, but a son; and if sons, then are you heirs of God, and have a right to the inheritance of heaven when you die, and to the blessed privileges, and royal immunities contained in that great charter, the covenant of grace, whilst you live: If a son, then an heir of God, through Christ.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
So that thou art no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. [And being made sons by the Son through the operation of faith (Joh 1:12), the Spirit of Christ is bestowed upon us to bring us to blissful realization of our sonship, so that we may speak to God, calling him Abba, Father. Abba is the Syriac for father. The Syriac and Greek names are both used by Paul, probably that all the tender associations which, to either Jews or Greeks, clustered around the paternal name, might be, at the sound of the sacred word, transferred to God. Thus, by the blessed ministration of Christ, all who believed on him in Galatia passed from servitude and wardship to the estate of sons and heirs– Rom 8:17]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
We are now full sons, mature and ready to take our place beside our father – full heirs of God through the work of Christ the promised seed.
Again, how can you consider this passage and not sit in awe and wander at the workings of God behind the scenes to bring all this to pass for your worthless soul. You must have a great and wonderful value to the Father and to the Son that gave His life for you.
And we complain about taking a couple three hours out of our week to go to church and learn of his wondrous love for us. Indeed, we have pastors preaching everything under the sun but the Son.
Christians, we are far from worshiping the God that orchestrated our salvation, we are far from worshiping the God of Abraham, and we are far from worshiping the God that yet has plans for the future that will just as surely come to pass – just as surely as our salvation, just as surely as our heirship, will those future events come to pass.
And who do we worship – the god of contemporary music, the god of bringing lost people into the church, the god of convenience, and the god of entertainment and ease. May God have mercy on the church leaders of our day.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a {h} servant, but a son; and if a son, then an {i} heir of God through Christ.
(h) The word “servant” is not taken here for one that lives in sin, which is appropriate for the unfaithful, but for one that is yet under the ceremonies of the Law, which is proper to the Jews.
(i) Partaker of his blessings.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Consequently believers this side of the Cross are full sons and, in keeping with the custom of that day, full heirs. How foolish it would be then to go back under the bondage of the Law!
"All Christians are heirs of God by faith alone. But like the Old Testament there are two kinds of inheritance: an inheritance which is merited and an inheritance which belongs to all Christians because they are sons, and for no other reason." [Note: Dillow, p. 89.]