Galatians 4 – Devotional & Commentary
Posted on December 17th, 2009 by debbiefitz in Devotions, SyndicatedDevotional Sharing, Submitted by Jeannie Lee, Gracepoint Berkeley
Galatians 4:1-11
Reflect on the meaning of the word “heir” and the fact that through Jesus we have become sons, and therefore, heirs of God. What would it look like for me to deeply embrace this truth and live out its implications?
- An heir is “a person legally entitled to the property or rank of another.” The fact that through Jesus, I am an heir of God is an unbelievably astounding truth. I am no longer a slave! What it would look like for me to deeply embrace this truth and live it out is that I ought not act like a slave, doing things b/c I “have to,” acting out of fear of being punished, afraid that I am not welcome or don’t belong, worried that I’m not “earning my keep” here. To live it out also means that as a daughter, an HEIR, that I take ownership, that my values conform to the Father’s values, that I uphold His standards in my life and in our household, that I care about the things He cares about and get angry at the things that anger Him.
Galatians 4:19-20
Am I willing to go through “the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed” in people that I am spiritually nurturing? What are some pains I might have to endure if I am to mature as a minister of the gospel?
- Yes. I am reminded of the pains of childbirth, and that raising and forming a spiritual child is just as painful. I am willing to go through death for my own children, willing to forgo sleep, willing to sacrifice my own comforts for their well-being, I’m basically willing to do whatever it takes to raise them well and to love them; and this is the same kind of attitude I need to have in raising those I am spiritually nurturing as well. I will have to endure emotional pain as well as physical sacrifice. Endure the pain of seeing people possibly make the wrong decisions, the pain of being misunderstood, the pain of people turning away from the truth, the pain of people struggling against their own sins and wishing I could help them more, and much much more. I am thankful for those who went through these kinds of pains for me to be where I am today and I commit to doing likewise.
Devotional Questions:
Galatians 4:1-11
- Reflect on the meaning of the word “heir” and the fact that through Jesus we have become sons, and therefore, heirs of God. What would it look like for me to deeply embrace this truth and live out its implications?
Galatians 4:12-16
- Somehow, Apostle Paul’s opposition to the teachings of the Judaizers made some in the Galatian church think of him as their enemy. Reflect on my own response to people who tell me things I do not want to hear. Am I able to receive truth that I do not want to hear, and also welcome the one who brings it?
Galatians 4:19-20
- Am I willing to go through “the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed” in people that I am spiritually nurturing?
- What are some pains I might have to endure if I am to mature as a minister of the gospel?
Additional Questions:
Galatians 4:21-31
- The Galatians’ insistence on keeping ceremonial law, especially the rite of circumcision, derived from the need to bear proof in the flesh that they were indeed descended from Isaac. What kind of attitude toward God and others would this type of “assurance” foster? How does this run contrary to the very core of the Gospel message?
- Why would the Judaizers be interested in continuing their religion of achievable, tangible actions rather than ushering in the era of the New Jerusalem?
Commentary:
v.3 “[…] the expression refers to the elementary principles the Galatians previously followed, which for Jews would be the Mosaic law and for Gentiles the basic concepts of their pagan religions. But the additional overtones of demonic bondage in this phrase should not be ignored; they were, in terms of their mind-set and life situation, under a legalistic system and enslaved.”[1]
v.4 “God sent his Son at the right moment in human history, when God’s providential oversight of the events of the world had directed and prepared peoples and nations for the incarnation and ministry of Christ, and for the proclamation of the gospel.”[2]
v.12 “The ancient Mediterranean world took role modeling very seriously. To assess the meaning or truth of any philosophy, it was necessary to examine the lives of its exponents. This cultural assumption was carried over into the early church; the meaning of the gospel was to be embodied in the lives of the community’s leaders. Paul has modeled a life set free from the Law, a life willing to sacrifice all claims of racial or ethnic privilege for the truth of the gospel that calls Jews and Gentiles together at one table. That is the example he holds before the Galatians’ eyes. […] But we also need living embodiments of the gospel in our own time, real people in our communities to whom we can point and say, ‘There is what a life lived faithfully in Christ looks like.’ […] This may appear disturbingly antidemocratic, because it necessarily implies that some people among us know better than others how to practice the faith. Christian fidelity is not just a matter of untutored intuition so that everybody’s opinion about it is of equal worth; rather, discipleship is a craft that must be learned from others with superior knowledge and experience.”[3]
vv.13-14 “The exact nature of the ‘illness’ that Paul is referring to is not known. Although the NIV translates the Greek term as ‘illness’, the actual word is more along the lines of NRSV’s ‘weakness of the flesh.’ This is the same word used in 2 Cor 12:9 which is translated as ‘weakness’ in the NIV. Some have suggested that it was a form of chronic illness while others have speculated that Paul was referring to the injuries and scars from the physical persecution he often received (cf. Gal 6:17; Acts 14:19; 2 Cor 6:4-5; 11:23-25).”[4]
vv.15 “Some have taken the language in v.15 as an indication that Paul was suffering from some visual impairment which was his ‘weakness in the flesh’ (cf. 2 Cor 11:23-25). However others have argued that Paul was just using a common idiom of his day analogous to our expression ‘You would have given your right arm for me.’”[5]
vv.15-20 “It is worth observing that the gospel created deep personal relationships between believers. The Galatians, to whom Paul writes, are not merely an audience to be manipulated, not a ‘market’ for a commodity he is selling. Rather, they are his brothers and sisters. Their earlier gratitude to him for bringing them the gospel forged a bond of love between them. Paul is genuinely distraught over the prospect of seeing that bond broken, and he cares urgently about the fate of his ‘children.’ All of this provides us with an appealing model of relationships in Christ. Are we a people whose common joy in the gospel would lead us to tear out our eyes for one another—or if we prefer, give our right arms for one another? Or have we been courted and seduced, for no good purpose, by missionaries of consumerism that would prefer to keep us apart and aloof?”[6]
vv.21-28 “The original Greek for v.21 ‘are you not aware of what the law says’ says literally ‘do you not hear the Law?’ Paul is calling the Galatians to hear God’s voice anew in the full narrative of the Law, he wants them to abandon their narrow view of Old Testament law, to give up the slight advantage over others to be gained by keeping track of rules and behavior, that is, to set aside the endless cycle of human-based religion which is devoid of any real power to free, but actually results in enslavement to ceremonial regulations. Instead, Paul wants them to ‘hear a word of gracious promise from God, a word that predates all human striving for righteousness. He expects them to hear a call to rejoice in the unimaginable superabundance of God’s grace toward those who were formerly enslaved and deprived (v.27). Most of all, he expects them to hear themselves named as God’s children, heirs of the promise (v.28).’”[7]
v.29 “Just as Ishmael persecuted Isaac (not explicitly mentioned in the OT, but suggested by Gen. 21:9), so now the Jews who seek justification by human effort are persecuting Christians who trust God’s promise of justification by faith. In Gen. 16:4, when Hagar conceived, ‘she looked with contempt on her mistress.’ This too is mirrored in the fact that now non-Christian and pseudo-Christian Jews are persecuting Christians like Paul (as seen in Gal. 6:17). History is repeating itself.”[8]
v.30 “Cast out the slave woman and her son, and, by implication, all those represented by them in this allegory, i.e., those who seek justification through their own efforts. This implies that those who teach the false gospel of justification by works should not be allowed to remain and teach in a church that follows Christ.”[9]
[1] ESV Study Bible, Notes for Galatians (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008) 2251.
[2] ESV Study Bible, Notes for Galatians (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008) 2251.
[3] Richard B. Hays, “The Letter to the Galatians,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. XI (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2000) 298.
[4] Richard B. Hays, “The Letter to the Galatians,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. XI (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2000) 294.
[5] Richard B. Hays, “The Letter to the Galatians,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. XI (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2000) 294.
[6] Richard B. Hays, “The Letter to the Galatians,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. XI (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2000) 297.
[7] Richard B. Hays, “The Letter to the Galatians,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. XI (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2000) 307.
[8] ESV Study Bible, Notes for Galatians (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008) 2253.
[9] ESV Study Bible, Notes for Galatians (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008) 2253.
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