31<\/strong>. So then<\/em> ] Better, wherefore<\/strong>. The conclusion is drawn from the whole preceding argument. It is the assertion of our liberty in the Gospel of Christ freedom from the curse of the law, from the yoke of ritual observances, from the bondage of sin and Satan, from the burden of an evil conscience an earnest of “the glorious liberty of the children of God”.<\/p>\n So then, brethren – <\/B>It follows from all this. Not from the allegory regarded as an argument – for Paul does not use it thus – but from the considerations suggested on the whole subject. Since the Christian religion is so superior to the Jewish; since we are by it freed from degrading servitude, and are not in bondage to rites and ceremonies; since it was designed to make us truly free, and since by that religion we are admitted to the privileges of sons, and are no longer under laws, and tutors, and governors, as if we were minors; from all this it follows, that we should feel and act, not as if we were children of a bondwoman, and born in slavery, but as if we were children of a freewoman, and born to liberty. It is the birthright of Christians to think, and feel, and act like freemen, and they should not allow themselves to become the slaves of customs, and rites, and ceremonies, but should feel that they are the adopted children of God.<\/P> Thus closes this celebrated allegory – an allegory that has greatly perplexed most expositors, and most readers of the Bible. In view of it, and of the exposition above, there are a few remarks which may not inappropriately be made.<\/P> (1) It is by no means affirmed, that the history of Hagar and Sarah in Genesis, had any original reference to the gospel. The account there is a plain historical narrative, not designed to have any such reference.<\/P> (2) The narrative contains important principles, that may be used as illustrating truth, and is so used by the apostle Paul. There are parallel points between the history and the truths of religion, where the one may be illustrated by the other.<\/P> (3) The apostle does not use it at all in the way of argument, or as if that proved that the Galatians were not to submit to the Jewish rites and customs. It is an illustration of the comparative nature of servitude and freedom, and would, therefore, illustrate the difference between a servile compliance with Jewish rites, and the freedom of the gospel.<\/P> (4) This use of an historical fact by the apostle does not make it proper for us to turn the Old Testament into allegory, or even to make a very free use of this mode of illustrating truth. That an allegory may be used sometimes with advantage, no one can doubt while the Pilgrims Progress shall exist. Nor can anyone doubt that Paul has here derived, in this manner, an important and striking illustration of truth from the Old Testament. But no one acquainted with the history of interpretation can doubt that vast injury has been done by a fanciful mode of explaining the Old Testament; by making every fact in its history an allegory; and every pin and pillar of the tabernacle and the temple a type. Nothing is better suited to bring the whole science of interpretation into contempt; nothing dishonors the Bible more, than to make it a book of enigmas, and religion to consist in puerile conceits. The Bible is a book of sense; and all the doctrines essential to salvation are plainly revealed. It should be interpreted, not by mere conceit and by fancy, but by the sober laws according to which are interpreted other books. It should be explained, not under the influence of a vivid imagination, but under the influence of a heart imbued with a love of truth, and by an understanding disciplined to investigate the meaning of words and phrases, and capable of rendering a reason for the interpretation which is proposed. People may abundantly use the facts in the Old Testament to illustrate human nature, as Paul did; but far distant be the day, when the principles of Origen and of Cocceius shall again prevail, and when it shall be assumed, that the Bible means every thing that it can be made to mean.<\/P> (These are excellent remarks, and the caution which the author gives against extravagant and imaginative systems of interpreting scripture cannot be too often repeated. It is allowed, however, nearly on all hands, that this allegory is brought forward by way of illustration only, and not of argument. This being the case, the question, as to whether the history in Genesis were originally intended represent the matter, to which Paul here applies it, is certainly not of very great importance, notwithstanding the learned labor that has been expended on it, and to such an extent as to justify the critics remark. vexavit interprets vehementer vexatus ab iis et ipse. Whatever be the original design of the passage, the apostle has employed it as an illustration of his subject, and was guided by the Spirit of inspiration in so doing. But certainly we should not be very far wrong, if since an apostle has affirmed such spiritual representation, we should suppose it originally intended by the Spirit; nor are we in great danger of making types of every pin and pillar, so long as we strictly confine ourselves to the admission of such only as rest upon apostolic authority. This transaction, says the eminently judicious Thomas Scott, was so remarkable, the coincidence so exact, and the illustration so instructive, that we cannot doubt it originally was intended, by the Holy Spirit, as an allegory and type of those things to which the inspired apostle referred it.)<\/P><\/p>\n Gal 4:31<\/span><\/p>\n We are not children of the bondwomn, but of the free.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Nature and the supernatural<\/strong><\/p>\n The whole force of this application of the allegory lies in the truth of the facts. It is because the birth of Isaac was supernatural that St. Paul was able to find in it what he here bids us see. What Isaac was in the miracle of his origin that is the Christian in the miracle of his regeneration. What Hagar and Ishmael hated in Isaac was the interference of God with the laws of nature. This spirit caused the strife and the ejection. So it is now.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Unbelief in rejecting the supernatural rejects pardon and Christ, grace and the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>This is a state of bondage. For what hope is there for man in nature?<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> None as he turns remorsefully towards the past. Nature crushes the sinner.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> None as he looks wistfully towards the future. Mark the poor tentative, vacillating peradventures in reconstructing himself in holiness. Mark the self-vexing O Baal, hear us of the man who will not grasp the Divine Sanctifier.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>If we would be free from the slavery of sin and despair, we must seek forgiveness through Christ and sanctification through-the Holy Spirit. (Dean Vaughan.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Christianity the home and the hope of the free<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The absence of all restraint.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The worldling is not free.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Man naturally desires freedom.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>It is a voluntary association.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>It is well adapted to promote human happiness.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>It is a state <\/strong>of preparation and training for higher scenes.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>What it has done.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Would do.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Can do, as the hope of the free.<\/p>\n Learn: gospel freedom is necessary, for it alone can–<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> make other freedom possible;<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> valuable;<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> permanent. (W. R. Williams.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Abrahams two sons<\/strong><\/p>\n We must keep this faith pure; For it is written that Abraham had two sons. This fact of history, the Holy Ghost shows us, is an allegory, exposing the fatal bondage into which the Galatians were gliding. In the two sons of Abraham we see–<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Hagars son was born after the flesh, in the common course of nature. That which is born of the flesh is flesh (Joh 3:6<\/span>).. We inherit an evil nature, inclined to sin, yet miserable in it. No natural man is really happy (Isa 57:21-22); he is always sinful (Jer 17:9<\/span>).<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Hagars son was born in bondage. She a bondwoman; her child, though Abrahams son, a bondslave, under the law of the house. Here is the old covenant: For this Agar denotes Mount Sinai. There Israel consented to a covenant of works (Exo 24:1-18<\/span>.; Deu 5:2-3<\/span>), which results in failure and bondage. Hagar brings forth only bondmen: this is all the law can do. The strength of sin is the law (1Co 15:5-6<\/span>).<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Hagars son was a persecutor. He derides, mocks, persecutes the promised seed. The world, Israel, hated Christ. The law cannot endure grace (Luk 15:2<\/span>). The natural cannot tolerate the spiritual (1Co 2:14<\/span>; 1Jn 3:1<\/span>). Here is the mind of Cain. Hagars son was Abrahams son. This increased the hostility. Religion is often religions greatest enemy. Our claim to be perfectly justified by faith, without the law, arouses animosity (Joh 8:33<\/span>).<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>Hagars son was cast out: he had no title; he could inherit nothing. His continuance in the house depended on his obedience. Obedience to law avails not for justification (Psa 143:2<\/span>); it only brings curse (Gal 3:10<\/span>), and wrath (Rom 4:15<\/span>), rejection (Gal 5:2<\/span>; Joh 8:35<\/span>); it confers no claim to inheritance. Christ the only way to God, to heaven (Joh 14:6<\/span>). If not in Christ, of the faith of Abraham (Rom 4:16<\/span>), we are yet in our sins (Joh 8:24<\/span>). But think of Christs–by no means cast out (Joh 6:37<\/span>).<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The freewomans son was the child of promise. Abraham and Sarah being as good as dead (Heb 11:12<\/span>), their child was born, not in the course of nature, but by Gods gracious power (Rom 4:17-21<\/span>). We, brethren, as Isaac was, i.e.,<\/em> after the manner of Isaac, are the children of promise (Rom 9:8<\/span>; 2Ti 1:1<\/span>). Our sonship is not the result of legal obedience, or culture, or of man in any way (Joh 1:12<\/span>). We are <\/strong>counted dead, and have been quickened by the Holy Ghost, by the grace of God (Rom 9:11<\/span>).<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The freewomans son was born free, free from the conditions of the bondslaves law. For us, who by faith are justified, the law is, in that respect, dead (Rom 7:4<\/span>; Gal 2:19<\/span>). Its condemning hold is broken. In Christ its claims are satisfied. It is no longer an outer law, restraining, convicting; but an inner law, in which we delight (Rom 7:22<\/span> : Psa 1:2<\/span>), and which, by love, we fulfil (Rom 8:4<\/span>), through the Spirit. This is real liberty. Whose service is perfect freedom.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>The freewomans son was persecuted. This we must expect if we are faithful, to be mocked (Joh 15:20<\/span>), especially in the last days (2Ti 3:12<\/span>). The offence of the cross has not ceased. Blessed are the meek, etc.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>The freewomans son was the heir. The children of promise are counted for the seed, and are heirs according to the promise. Jerusalem above is a city of freemen (Gal 3:19<\/span>; Rom 8:17<\/span>; 1Pe 1:3-4<\/span>).<\/p>\n Conclusion.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Let us hold fast (Gal 5:1<\/span>) our liberty in Christ, and beware of legal bondage.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Let us use our liberty in active, loving service (Gal 5:13<\/span>).<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Let us meekly suffer, in patient hope, for His sake. (J. E. Sampson,<\/em> M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The ways of religion are not and cannot be pleasant to irreligious men<\/strong><\/p>\n It is to renewed and holy persons that the assertion refers, and to them only; for our pleasures must be suitable to our prevailing dispositions and predominant tempers. Light itself affords no pleasure to the blind, nor can the most exquisite music yield any gratification to the deaf. An idle man has no enjoyment in labour, nor a glutton or a drunkard in temperance and sobriety. Those very things which the spiritual mind most relishes and desires are to the carnal mind distasteful and offensive. (Dr. Bruiting.<\/em>)<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Verse 31<\/span>. So then<\/B><\/I>] We<\/I>-Jews and Gentiles, who believe on the Lord Jesus, are not children of the bond woman<\/I>-are not in subjection to the Jewish law, but of the free<\/I>; and, consequently, are delivered from all its bondage, obligation, and curse.<\/P> <\/P> Thus the apostle, from their own Scripture, explained by their own allegory, proves that it is only by Jesus Christ that they can have redemption; and because they have not believed in him, therefore they continue to be in bondage<\/I>; and that shortly God will deliver them up into a long and grievous captivity: for we may naturally suppose that the apostle has reference to what had been so often foretold by the prophets, and confirmed by Jesus Christ himself; and this was the strongest argument he could use, to show the Galatians their folly and their danger in submitting again to the bondage from which they had escaped, and exposing themselves to the most dreadful calamities of an earthly kind, as well as to the final ruin of their souls. They desired to be<\/I> under the law<\/I>; then they must take all the consequences; and these the apostle sets fairly before them.<\/P> <\/P> 1. WE sometimes pity the Jews<\/I>, who continue to reject the Gospel. Many who do so have no pity for themselves; for is not the state of a Jew, who systematically rejects Christ, because he does not believe him to be the promised Messiah, infinitely better than his, who, believing every thing that the Scripture teaches concerning Christ, lives under the power and guilt of sin? If the Jews be in a state of nonage<\/I>, because they believe not the doctrines of Christianity, he is in a worse state than that of infancy<\/I> who is not born again<\/I> by the power of the Holy Ghost. Reader, whosoever thou art, lay this to heart.<\/P> <\/P> 2. The 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th verses of this chapter (Ga 4:4-7<\/span>) contain the sum and marrow of Christian divinity.<\/P> (1.) The determination of God to redeem the world by the incarnation of his Son.<\/P> (2.) The manifestation of this Son in the fulness of time.<\/P> (3.) The circumstances in which this Son appeared: sent forth;<\/I> made of a woman; made under the law<\/I>; to be a sufferer<\/I>; and to die<\/I> as a sacrifice<\/I>.<\/P> (4.) The redemption of the world, by the death of Christ: he came to redeem them that were under the law, who were condemned and cursed by it.<\/P> (5.) By the redemption price he purchases sonship<\/I> or adoption<\/I> for mankind.<\/P> (6.) He, God the Father<\/I>, sends the Spirit<\/I>, God the Holy Ghost<\/I>, of God the Son<\/I>, into the hearts of believers, by which they, through the full confidence of their adoption, call him their Father.<\/P> (7.) Being made children<\/I>, they become heirs, and God is their portion throughout eternity. Thus, in a few words, the whole doctrine of grace is contained, and an astonishing display made of the unutterable mercy of God. See the notes on these verses (Gal 4:4-7<\/span>).<\/P> <\/P> 3. While the Jews were rejecting the easy yoke<\/I> of Christ, they were painfully<\/I> observing days<\/I>, and months<\/I>, and times<\/I> and years. Superstition<\/I> has far more labour<\/I> to perform than true religion has; and at last profits nothing! Most men, either from false views<\/I> of religion, or through the power<\/I> and prevalency<\/I> of their own evil passions<\/I> and habits<\/I>, have ten thousand times more trouble to get to hell<\/I>, than the followers of God have to get to heaven<\/I>.<\/P> <\/P> 4. Even in the perverted Galatians the apostle finds some good; and he mentions with great feeling those amiable qualities which they once possessed. The only way to encourage men to seek farther good is to show them what they have got, and to make this a reason why they should seek more. He who wishes to do good to men, and is constantly dwelling on their bad qualities<\/I> and graceless state<\/I>, either irritates or drives them to despair<\/I>. There is, perhaps, no sinner on this side perdition who has not something good in him. Mention the good-it is God’s work; and show what a pity it is that he should not have more, and how ready God is to supply all his wants through Christ Jesus. This plan should especially be used in addressing Christian societies<\/I>, and particularly those which are in a declining state.<\/P> <\/P> 5. The Galatians were once the firm friends<\/I> of the apostle, and loved him so well that they would have even plucked out their eyes<\/I> for him<\/I>; and yet these very people cast him off, and counted and treated him as an enemy<\/I>! O sad fickleness<\/I> of human nature! O uncertainty of human friendships<\/I>! An undesigned<\/I> word, or look, or action, becomes the reason to a fickle heart why it should divest itself of the spirit of friendship; and he who was as dear to them as their own souls, is neglected and forgotten! Blessed God! hast thou not said that there is a friend that sticketh closer than a<\/I> brother? Where<\/I> is he? Can such a one be trusted long on this unkindly earth? He is fit for the society of angels and the spirits of just men made perfect; and thou takest him in mercy lest he should lose his friendly heart, or lest his own heart should be broken in losing that of his friend. Hasten, Lord, a more perfect state, where the spirit of thy own love in thy followers shall expand, without control or hinderance, throughout eternity! Amen.<\/P> <\/P> 6. On allegorizing<\/I>, in explaining the word of God, something has already been said, under Ga 4:24<\/span>; but on the subject of allegory<\/I> in general much might be said. The very learned and accurate critic, Dr. Lowth<\/I>, in his work, De Sacra<\/I> Poesi Hebraeorum<\/I>, has entered at large into the subject of allegory<\/I>, as existing in the sacred writings, in which he has discovered three<\/I> species of this rhetorical figure.<\/P> 1. That which rhetoricians term a continued metaphor<\/I>. See Solomon’s portraiture of old age, Ec 12:2-6<\/span>.<\/P> 2. A second<\/I> kind of allegory is that which, in a more proper and restricted sense, may be called parable<\/I>. See Matthew 13<\/span>, and the note on “<\/I>Mt 13:3<\/I><\/span>“<\/I>, &c.<\/P> 3. The third<\/I> species of allegory is that in which a double meaning<\/I> is couched under the same words. These are called mystical<\/I> allegories, and the two meanings are termed the literal<\/I> and mystical<\/I> senses.<\/P> For examples of all these kinds I must refer to the learned prelate above named.<\/P> <\/p>\n The church of the Gentiles was not typified in Hagar, but in Sarah; from whence the scope of the apostle is to conclude, that we are not under the law, obliged to Judaical observances, but are freed from them, and are justified by faith in Christ alone, not by the works of the law. By this conclusion the apostle maketh way for the exhortation in the following chapter, pressing them to stand fast in their liberty. <\/P> <\/p>\n 31. So then<\/B>The oldestmanuscripts read, “Wherefore.” This is the conclusioninferred from what precedes. In Gal 3:29<\/span>;Gal 4:7<\/span>, it was established thatwe, New Testament believers, are “heirs.” If, then, we areheirs, “we are not children of the bond woman (whose son,according to Scripture, was ‘not to be heir,’ Ga4:30<\/span>), but of the free woman (whose son was, according toScripture, to be heir). For we are not “cast out” asIshmael, but accepted as sons and heirs.<\/P><\/p>\n So then, brethren<\/strong>,…. This is the conclusion of the whole allegory, or the mystical interpretation of Agar and Sarah, and their sons:<\/p>\n we are not children of the bondwoman<\/strong>; the figure of the first covenant, which gendered to bondage, and typified the Jews in a state, and under a spirit of bondage to the law; New Testament saints are not under it, are delivered from it, and are dead unto it:<\/p>\n but of the free<\/strong>; of Sarah, that was a type of the new and second covenant; and answered to the Gospel church, which is free from the yoke of the law; and whose children believers in Christ are, by whom they are made free from all thraldom and slavery; so the children of the mistress and of the maidservant are opposed to each other by the Jews k. The Vulgate Latin version adds to this verse from the beginning of the next chapter, “with the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free”; and the Ethiopic version, “because Christ hath made us free”; and begin the next chapter thus, “therefore stand, and be not entangled”, &c. and so the Alexandrian copy, and three of Stephens’s.<\/p>\n k Tzeror Hammor, fol. 152. 1.<\/p>\n But of the freewoman <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). We are children of Abraham by faith (3:7<\/span>). <\/P> <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 1) “So then, brethren,”<\/strong> (dio adelphai) “Wherefore or in the light of this allegory, brethren”; This is the logical and truthful or correct conclusion of the issue, drawn from the allegory.<\/p>\n 2) “We are not children of the bondwoman”,<\/strong> (ouk esmen paidiskes tekna) “We are not children of a maidservant,” as the law was a maidservant to Israel till the true heir came. Soon thereafter, after Christ came, it was put away, fulfilled, tossed out; Just as Ishmael was “tossed out” of Abraham’s household soon after Isaac was born, See? Gen 21:8-14<\/span>; Mat 5:17-18<\/span>; Luk 24:44<\/span>; 2Co 3:7-11<\/span>; Col 2:14-17<\/span>.<\/p>\n 3) “But of the free,”<\/strong> (alla tes eleutheras) “but of the free woman”; Though Gentiles, under bondage of sin and. the flesh, heathens away from God, we are “born free”, free-born when born again, by the quickening Spirit, Joh 3:6<\/span>; Joh 6:63<\/span>; Joh 8:32<\/span>; Joh 8:36<\/span>. This liberty from the yoke and bondage of sin calls us to the yoke of voluntary service to Christ, Mat 11:29-30<\/span>; Eph 2:10<\/span>; Mar 8:34<\/span>. For voluntary service to Him each free-born child and voluntary obedient servant shall receive special rewards, positions of honor and service to Him in His millennial kingdom, 1Co 3:8<\/span>; Mat 25:14-23<\/span>; Luk 19:12-19<\/span>.<\/p>\n LIBERTY APPROVED OF GOD<\/strong><\/p>\n Three hundred years ago, in Holland, about one million people stood for Protestantism and freedom in opposition to the mightiest empire of that age, whose banners the Pope had blessed. William, the Prince of Orange, a man who feared God, was the champion of the righteous cause. In the heat of the struggle, when the young republic seemed about to be overwhelmed, William received a message from one of his generals, then in command of an important post, inquiring, among other things, if he had succeeded in effecting a treaty with any foreign power, as France or England, such as would secure aid. His reply was, “You ask me if I have made a treaty for aid with any great foreign power; and I answer, that before I understood the cause of the oppressed Christians in these provinces, I made a close alliance with the King of kings; and I doubt not that He will give us the victory.” And so it proved.<\/p>\n -Gray-Adams<\/p>\n 31. So then, brethren. He now exhorts the Galatians to prefer the condition of the children of Sarah to that of the children of Hagar; and having reminded them that, by the grace of Christ, they were born to freedom, he desires them to continue in the same condition. If we shall call the Papists, Ishmaelites and Hagarites, and boast that we are the lawful children, they will smile at us; but if the two subjects in dispute be fairly compared, the most ignorant person will be at no loss to decide. <\/p>\n 31<\/strong>. <\/strong> So then<\/strong> Wherefore. That is, it results as an inference from all this that we<\/strong>, uncircumcised believers. <\/p>\n The bondwoman<\/strong> In the Greek the article is significantly omitted from bondwoman<\/strong>, but inserted before free<\/strong>. There are many Churches in bondage, but there is but one Church free through Christ. The various false religions, even though they had not circumcision, had still severer rites, (see note Gal 5:12<\/span>,) and quite as cumbrous rituals; Christianity is the free <\/strong> religion of the heart. Professor Lightfoot gives in illustration an allegory on the same passage of Old Testament history by the eminent Jewish theologian of Alexandria, the contemporary (though earlier) of Paul, Philo.<\/p>\n Philo makes the allegory illustrate the principle that divine wisdom, in order to be fruitful to the human soul, must be aided by human science; a true and valuable doctrine. Abraham is the human soul; he marries Sarah, whose name, signifying “princess,” shows that she represents divine wisdom; but the marriage is barren. Divine wisdom advises that he form connection with Hagar, who comes from Egypt, the land of science, and whose name ”sojourning” indicates the human and transitory. Then, first, this marriage is fruitful, and the result is, that the barren becomes more prolific than the previously fruitful.<\/p>\n Professor Lightfoot shows several points in which Philo’s allegory is inferior; but one is most important of all; which is, that while Philo’s allegory is unbased, Paul’s is really contained in the history. The correspondences in Philo are imaginary, while in Paul they are real.<\/p>\n ‘Wherefore, brothers, we are not children of a handmaid, but of the free-woman. Christ set us free with a view to our freedom, therefore stand fast continually, and do not be entangled again in a yoke of bondage.’<\/p>\n The consequence of what had been said is that we are not to be children of slavery but children of freedom, children of liberty, equality and brotherhood (Gal 3:28<\/span>). For that is why Christ has set us free, so that we can be truly free (Joh 8:36<\/span>). Thus the Galatians must stand firm and refuse to be entangled by a yoke that will bring them into bondage.<\/p>\n But of what does that freedom consist? It is not freedom to behave just as we like. It is, first of all, freedom from the requirements and condemnation of the Law. No more shall we groan under its yoke as we strive to keep it with fear in our hearts lest we fail. It is freedom from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2<\/span>). It is also freedom from the power of sin (Rom 6:18<\/span>; Rom 6:22<\/span>), and indeed freedom from all requirements that man would load upon us. Its consequence is continual responsive faith and what results from it. It is freedom to let Christ live through us regardless of all else (Gal 2:20<\/span>), for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2Co 3:17<\/span>). It is freedom from the flesh to walk in the Spirit (Gal 5:16-22<\/span>). It is the glorious liberty of the children of God (Rom 8:21<\/span>).<\/p>\n ‘Christ set us free.’ Both by bearing our curse on the cross (Gal 3:13<\/span>) and by indwelling our lives (Gal 2:20<\/span>).<\/p>\n ‘Stand fast.’ Here we have the present tense – ‘go on standing fast.’ We must be continually firm and strong in order to ensure that we do not allow ourselves to be dragged back into legalism. Men, and especially religious leaders or the priesthood, will often seek to bind us with something and put restrictions on us, for it is to their benefit. But the Christian responds only in so far as it is his duty to God. He seeks only to please God.<\/p>\n ‘Entangled again in a yoke of bondage.’ The ox is bound by the yoke so that it must submit to the dictates of its master. The man who is under the Law is bound by the Law so that he must submit to all its dictates. His life is a constant grind. And this, says Paul, is something to be avoided. The man who is in Christ is free because the risen Christ Who dwells in him and lives through him is not bound by any law but walks simply in accordance with the Father’s will. He takes Christ’s yoke on him, a yoke which is easy, and of which the burden is light (Mat 11:28-30<\/span>).<\/p>\n The Application ( Gal 4:31<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> to Gal 5:12<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ).<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Paul will now apply the ideas that he has put forward in depth. For he wants them to recognise what they are turning away from.<\/p>\n Gal 4:31<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>So then, brethren,<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> The Apostle, by this allegorical history, shews the Galatians that they who are sons of Agar, <\/em>that is to say, under the law given at mount Sinai, are in bondage; the peculiar inheritance being designed for those only who are the free-born sons of God, under the spiritual covenant of the gospel. And thereupon he exhorts them in the following words, to preserve themselves in that state of freedom; for the exhortation in Gal 4:1<\/span> of the following chapter is so evidently grounded on what the Apostle has been saying here, that it should, by all means, be connected with it. It is made the close of this chapter in three of Stephens’s copies; which seems to be much more proper than to make it the beginning of another. We shall subjoin here a few observations on this chapter, particularly on Gal 4:4<\/span>.to prove that the time when Christianity was made known, was the fittest period possible,by way of <\/p>\n Inferences.<\/em><\/strong>The goodness of God is not only eminently displayed in the great and signal blessings which he has conferred on mankind; but it may appear likewise in the very time fixed upon for bestowing his favours. We all know, from our own experience, that the deferring a benefit frequently enhances the value of it, and, of consequence, heightens our obligation to the benefactor. This reasoning may well be applied to the argument now under consideration. <\/p>\n Captious men have been apt to abound in vain inquiries; and, among others of a like nature, to ask this question;”Why the Christian revelation, if it be really divine, was not communicated sooner?” To which St. Paul has plainly intimated, in the words before us, this solid and sufficient answer. “That the preceding ages of the world were not so proper for it; for, in the fulness of time, God sent forth his Son: <\/em>that is, at the time prescribed and pointed out in the ancient prophesies; not from mere arbitrary pleasure, but because it was in itself the fittest.” <\/p>\n Indeed, if the introduction of the Christian dispensation into the world, immediately after the fall, were absolutely necessary, <\/em>in the nature of the thing itself, to enable mankind to know, experience, and practise what it is their indispensable duty to know, experience, and practise, for eternal salvation, we should have had reason to conclude that it must have subsisted from the beginning, or as soon as this necessity <\/em>commenced; and not have been delayed in the manner it was. But this is not the just state of the case; because the infinitely wise and righteous Governor of the world can require nothing of his creatures but what he has given them, or offered to them, a capacity and power to perform: the natural consequence of which is, that every man answers the end of that particular station wherein he is placed, who receives and uses the grace offered to him, and accordingly acts up to the light and advantages which he enjoys, whatever they are; though, in point of merit, he can be accepted of God only through the great atonement of the Son of his love, who was the Lamb slain <\/em>in promise from the foundation of the world.<\/em> <\/p>\n The fixing, therefore, of the times of the different dispensations, had no regard to equity, but solely to the Divine wisdom and goodness; so that, whatever time was judged most proper in the Divine Mind for the introduction of the gospel dispensation, or for the incarnation of the eternal Son of God, and the mission of the Holy Ghost, Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>The Jew has his covenant from Sinai. Call that Hagar. Set it in the same row with Jerusalem that now is. See her gendering to bondage, bearing her offspring into a condition of spiritual servitude, the condition of all who trust in the flesh.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The Christian has his covenant, and its home is above. He is a child not of the flesh but of the Spirit. He is born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, but of supernatural graces.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>Nature cries out against grace, and regards it as an interference with creature rights and dignity, and mocks and persecutes, and must be ejected, at last, from the family and the home of the free.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>Apply this to scepticism. It is the boast of anti-supernaturalism that it is free. It has cast off the shackles of tradition, authority, priestcraft. Freethought is its watchword. Paul here brings a charge against it under the figure of Hagar and Ishmael, whose characteristic was dislike of the supernatural.<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>The nature of true freedom.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The Church of Christ as the home of the truly free.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>The province of the church in diffusing the true freedom of the race.<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>The bondage of the law.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The liberty of the gospel.<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n