Galatians 4:9

vain, Gal 4:8-11 . He mentions his trials among them, and their kindness to him, Gal 4:12-16 . Shows his tender affection for them, and exhorts them to return to the Gospel, Gal 4:17-20 . Shows the excellence of the Gospel beyond that of the law, by the allegory of Mount Sinai and Jerusalem, Gal 4:21-27 . Shows also that the believing Gentiles are children of the promise, as Isaac was; and have been elected in the place of the Jews, who have been cast out according to the Scriptures, Gal 4:28-31 . Verse 1 The heir, as long as He is a child - Though he be appointed by his father's will heir of all his possessions yet till he arrive at the legal age he is master of nothing, and does not differ from one of the common domestics. Verse 2 But is under tutors - Επιτροπους· Guardians and governors; οικονομους· those who have the charge of the family. These words are nearly similar; but we may consider the first as executor, the last as the person who superintends the concerns of the family and estate till the heir become of age; such as we call trustee. Until the time appointed of the father - The time mentioned in the father's will or testament. Verse 3 Even so we - The whole Jewish people were in a state of nonage while under the law. The elements of the world - A mere Jewish phrase, יסודי עולם הזה yesodey olam hazzeh, "the principles of this world;" that is, the rudiments or principles of the Jewish religion. The apostle intimates that the law was not the science of salvation, it was only the elements or alphabet of it; and in the Gospel this alphabet is composed into a most glorious system of Divine knowledge: but as the alphabet is nothing of itself, unless compounded into syllables, words, sentences, and discourses; so the law, taken by itself, gives no salvation; it contains indeed the outlines of the Gospel, but it is the Gospel alone that fills up these outlines. Verse 4 When the fullness of the time was come - The time which God in his infinite wisdom counted best; in which all his counsels were filled up; and the time which his Spirit, by the prophets, had specified; and the time to which he intended the Mosaic institutions should extend, and beyond which they should be of no avail. God sent forth his Son - Him who came immediately from God himself, made of a woman, according to the promise, Gen 3:15 ; produced by the power of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary without any intervention of man; hence he was called the Son of God. See Luke, Luk 1:35 , and the note there. Made under the law - In subjection to it, that in him all its designs might be fulfilled, and by his death the whole might be abolished; the law dying when the Son of God expired upon the cross. Verse 5 To redeem them - Εξαγορασῃ· To pay down a price for them, and thus buy them off from the necessity of observing circumcision, offering brute sacrifices, performing different ablutions, etc., etc. That we might receive the adoption of sons - Which adoption we could not obtain by the law; for it is the Gospel only that puts us among the children, and gives us a place in the heavenly family. On the nature of adoption see the notes on Rom 8:15 . Verse 6 And because ye are sons - By faith in Christ Jesus, being redeemed both from the bondage and curse of the law; God - the Father, called generally the first person of the glorious Trinity, hath sent forth the Spirit - the Holy Ghost, the second person of that Trinity, of his Son - Jesus Christ, the third person of the Trinity - crying, Abba, Father! from the fullest and most satisfactory evidence that God, the Father, Son, and Spirit, had become their portion. For the explanation of the phrase, and why the Greek and Syriac terms are joined together here, see the notes on Mar 14:36 , and on Rom 8:15 (note). 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. Verse 8 When ye knew not God - Though it is evident, from the complexion of the whole of this epistle, that the great body of the Christians in the Churches of Galatia were converts from among the Jews or proselytes to Judaism; yet from this verse it appears that there were some who had been converted from heathenism; unless we suppose that the apostle here particularly addresses those who had been proselytes to Judaism and thence converted to Christianity; which appears to be most likely from the following verses. Verse 9 Now, after that ye have known God - After having been brought to the knowledge of God as your Savior. Or rather are known of God - Are approved of him, having received the adoption of sons. To the weak and beggarly elements - After receiving all this, will ye turn again to the ineffectual rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic law - rites too weak to counteract your sinful habits, and too poor to purchase pardon and eternal life for you? If the Galatians were turning again to them, it is evident that they had been once addicted to them. And this they might have been, allowing that they had become converts from heathenism to Judaism, and from Judaism to Christianity. This makes the sense consistent between the 8th and 9th verses. Verse 10 Ye observe days - Ye superstitiously regard the Sabbaths and particular days of your own appointment; And months - New moons; times - festivals, such as those of tabernacles, dedication, passover, etc. Years - Annual atonements, sabbatical years, and jubilees. Verse 11 I am afraid of you - I begin now to be seriously alarmed for you, and think you are so thoroughly perverted from the Gospel of Christ, that all my pains and labor in your conversion have been thrown away. Verse 12 Be as I am - Thoroughly addicted to the Christian faith and worship, from the deepest conviction of its truth. For I am as ye are - I was formerly a Jew, and as zealously addicted to the rites and ceremonies of Judaism as ye are, but I am saved from that mean and unprofitable dependence: "Be therefore as I am now; who was once as you now are." Others think the sense to be this: "Be as affectionate to me as I am to you; for ye were once as loving to me as I am now to you." Ye have not injured me at all - I do not thus earnestly entreat you to return to your Christian profession because your perversion has been any loss to me, nor because your conversion can be to me any gain: ye have not injured me at all, ye only injure yourselves; and I entreat you, through the intense love I bear to you, as my once beloved brethren in Christ Jesus, to return to him from whom ye have revolted. Verse 13 Ye know how through infirmity - The apostle seems to say that he was much afflicted in body when he first preached the Gospel to them. And is this any strange thing, that a minister, so laborious as St. Paul was, should be sometimes overdone and overcome by the severity of his labors? Surely not. This might have been only an occasional affliction, while laboring in that part of Asia Minor; and not a continual and incurable infirmity, as some have too hastily conjectured. Verse 14 And my temptation which was in my flesh - On this verse there are a great many various readings, as there are various opinions. Instead of μου, My temptation, ABC*D*FG, some others, with the Coptic, Vulgate, Itala, and several of the primitive fathers, have ὑμων, Your temptation. The word πειρασμον, which we translate temptation, signifies trial of any kind. The verse therefore may be read, "Ye despised not the trial which was in my flesh;" or, "Ye despised not your trial, which was in my flesh:" i.e. what my flesh suffered on your account, the afflictions I passed through in consequence of my severe labors on your account. You did not consider me less an apostle of God on account of my sinking for a time under the weight of my work. Had they been disaffected towards him at that time, they would have used this to the prejudice of his apostolic mission. "What! do you pretend to be an extraordinary messenger from God, and yet are suffered to fall into sickness under the severity of your labor? If God sent you, would he not sustain you?" This would have been quite natural, had they not been well affected toward him. But, on the contrary, notwithstanding these afflictions, they received him as an angel of God - as a messenger from heaven, and as Jesus Christ himself. This appears to me to be the simple meaning of the apostle, and that he neither alludes to a bodily nor mental infirmity, which generally or periodically afflicted him, as some have imagined. Nor does he appear at all to speak of the same case as that mentioned 2Cor 12:7 , where I wish the reader to consult the notes. That St. Paul had frequent and severe afflictions, in consequence of his constant and severe exertions in the Gospel ministry, we may readily believe, and of this his own words bear sufficient testimony. See his affecting account, 2Cor 11:23-29 , and the notes there. Verse 15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? - Ye spake of should be in italics, there being no corresponding word in the Greek text. Perhaps there is not a sentence in the New Testament more variously translated than this. I shall give the original: τις ουν ην ὁ μακαρισμος ὑμων· What was then your blessedness! Or, How great was your happiness at that time! Or, What blessings did ye then pour on me! It is worthy of remark, that, instead of τις, what, ABCFG, several others, the older Syriac, the later Syriac in the margin, the Armenian, Vulgate, one copy of the Itala, and some of the fathers, have που, where; and ην, was, is omitted by ACD, several others, also the Vulgate, Itala, and the Latin fathers. According to these authorities the text should be read thus: Where then is your blessedness? Having renounced the Gospel, you have lost your happiness. What have your false teachers given you to compensate the loss of communion with God, or that Spirit of adoption, that Spirit of Christ, by which you cried Abba, Father! If, however, we understand the words as implying the benedictions they then heaped on the apostle, the sense will be sufficiently natural, and agree well with the concluding part of the verse; for I bear you record, that, if possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. You had then the strongest affection for me; you loved God, and you loved me for God's sake, and were ready to give me the most unequivocal proof of your love. Dearer than one's eyes, or to profess to give one's eyes for the sake of a person, appears to have been a proverbial expression, intimating the highest tokens of the strongest affection. We find a similar form of speech in Terence, Adelphi, act iv., scene 5, ver. 67. - Di me pater Omnes oderint, ni magis te quam oculos nunc ego amo meos. "O father, may all the gods hate me, if I do not love you now more than my own eyes." Verse 16 Am I therefore become your enemy - How is it that you are so much altered towards me, that you now treat me as an enemy, who formerly loved me with the most fervent affection? Is it because I tell you the truth; that very truth for which you at first so ardently loved me? Verse 17 They zealously affect you, but not well - It is difficult for common readers to understand the meaning of these words: perhaps it would be better to translate Ζηλουσιν ὑμας ου καλως, these false teachers endeavor to conciliate your esteem, but not in honest or true principles; they work themselves into your good graces; they wish you to place all your affection upon themselves. They would exclude you - They wish to shut you out from the affection of your apostle, that you might affect them, ἱνα αυτους ζηλουτε, that you might love them alone, hear them alone, abide by their directions only, and totally abandon him who called you into the grace of the Gospel of Christ. Some MSS. read ἡμας, us, instead of ὑμας, you; they wish to shut us entirely out from among you, that you may receive and believe them alone. The sense is nearly the same but the former appears to be the more authentic reading. Verse 18 It is good to be zealously affected - It is well to have a determined mind and an ardent heart in reference to things which are laudable and good. Not only when I am present - You were thus attached to me when I was among you, but now ye have lost both your reverence and affection for me. Your false teachers pretended great concern for you, that you might put all your confidence in them; they have gained their end; they have estranged you from me, and got you to renounce the Gospel, and have brought you again into your former bondage. Verse 19 My little children - Τεκνια μου· My beloved children. As their conversion to God had been the fruit of much labor, prayers, and tears, so he felt them as his children, and peculiarly dear to him, because he had been the means of bringing them to the knowledge of the truth; therefore he represents himself as suffering the same anxiety and distress which he endured at first when he preached the Gospel to them, when their conversion to Christianity was a matter of great doubt and uncertainty. The metaphor which he uses needs no explanation. Until Christ be formed in you - Till you once more receive the Spirit and unction of Christ in your hearts, from which you are fallen, by your rejection of the spirit of the Gospel. Verse 20 I desire to be present with you - I wish to accommodate my doctrine to your state; I know not whether you need stronger reprehension, or to be dealt with more leniently. I stand in doubt of you - I have doubts concerning your state; the progress of error and conviction among you, which I cannot fully know without being among you, This appears to be the apostle's meaning, and tends much to soften and render palatable the severity of his reproofs. Verse 21 Ye that desire to be under the law - Ye who desire to incorporate the Mosaic institutions with Christianity, and thus bring yourselves into bondage to circumcision, and a great variety of oppressive rites. Do ye not hear the law? - Do ye not understand what is written in the Pentateuch relative to Abraham and his children. It is evident that the word law is used in two senses in this verse. It first means the Mosaic institutions; secondly, the Pentateuch, where the history is recorded to which the apostle refers. Verse 22 For it is written - Viz. in Gen 16:15 ; Gen 22:1 , etc., that Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac; the one; Ishmael, by a bond maid, Hagar; the other, Isaac, by a free woman, Sarah. Verse 23 Was born after the flesh - Ishmael was born according to the course of nature, his parents being both of a proper age, so that there was nothing uncommon or supernatural in his birth: this is the proper meaning of the apostle's κατα σαρκα, after or according to the flesh, and answers to the Hebrew phrase, על דרך בשר al derec basar, according to the manner of the flesh, i.e. naturally, according to the common process of nature. By promise - Both Abraham and Sarah had passed that age in which the procreation of children was possible on natural principles. The birth, therefore, of Isaac was supernatural; it was the effect of an especial promise of God; and it was only on the ground of that promise that it was either credible or possible. Verse 24 Which things are an allegory - They are to be understood spiritually; more being intended in the account than meets the eye. Allegory, from αλλος, another, and αγορεω, or αγορευω, to speak, signifies a thing that is a representative of another, where the literal sense is the representative of a spiritual meaning; or, as the glossary expresses it, ἑτερως κατα μεταφρασιν νοουμενα, και ου κατα την αναγνωσιν· "where the thing is to be understood differently in the interpretation than it appears in the reading." Allegories are frequent in all countries, and are used by all writers. In the life of Homer, the author, speaking of the marriage of Jupiter and Juno, related by that poet, says: δοκει ταυτα αλληγορεισθαι, ὁτι Ἡρα μεν νοειται ὁ αηρ-Ζευς δε, ὁ αιθηρ· "It appears that these things are to be understood allegorically; for Juno means the air, Jupiter the ether." Plutarch, in his treatise De Iside et Osir., says: ὡσπερ Ἑλληνες Κρονον αλληγορουσι τον χρονον· "As the Greeks allegorize Cronos (Saturn) into Chronos (Time.)" It is well known how fond the Jews were of allegorizing. Every thing in the law was with them an allegory. Their Talmud is full of these; and one of their most sober and best educated writers, Philo, abounds with them. Speaking (De Migrat. Abrah., page 420) of the five daughters of Zelophehad, he says: ἁς αλληγορουντες αισθησεις ειναι φαμεν· "which, allegorizing, we assert to be the five senses!" It is very likely, therefore, that the allegory produced here, St. Paul had borrowed from the Jewish writings; and he brings it in to convict the Judaizing Galatians on their own principles; and neither he nor we have any thing farther to do with this allegory than as it applies to the subject for which it is quoted; nor does it give any license to those men of vain and superficial minds who endeavor to find out allegories in every portion of the sacred writings, and, by what they term spiritualizing, which is more properly carnalizing, have brought the testimonies of God into disgrace. May the spirit of silence be poured out upon all such corrupters of the word of God! For these are the two covenants - These signify two different systems of religion; the one by Moses, the other by the Messiah. The one from the Mount Sinai - On which the law was published; which was typified by Hagar, Abraham's bond maid. Which gendereth to bondage - For as the bond maid or slave could only gender - bring forth her children, in a state of slavery, and subject also to become slaves, so all that are born and live under those Mosaic institutions are born and live in a state of bondage - a bondage to various rites and ceremonies; under the obligation to keep the whole law, yet, from its severity and their frailness, obliged to live in the habitual breach of it, and in consequence exposed to the curse which it pronounces. Verse 25 For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia - Το γαρ Αγαρ Σινα ορος εστιν εν τη Αραβια. This is the common reading; but it is read differently in some of the most respectable MSS., versions, and fathers; thus: το γαρ Σινα ορος εστιν εν τῃ Αραβια, for this Sinai is a mountain of Arabia; the word Αγαρ, Agar, being omitted. This reading is supported by CFG, some others, the Ethiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, and one copy of the Itala; by Epiphanius, Damascenus, Ambrosiaster, Jerome, Augustine, Hilary, Sedulius, and Bede; and the word is sometimes, though not always, omitted by Cyril and Origen, which proves that in their time there were doubts concerning the common reading. Of the word Agar in this verse, which renders the passage very obscure and difficult, Professor White says, forsitan delendum, "probably it should be expunged." Griesbach has left it in the text with a note of doubtfulness. Answereth to Jerusalem - Hagar, the bond maid, bringing forth children in a state of slavery, answereth to Jerusalem that now is, συστοιχει, points out, or, bears a similitude to, Jerusalem in her present state of subjection; which, with her children - her citizens, is not only in bondage to the Romans, but in a worse bondage to the law, to its oppressive ordinances, and to the heavy curse which it has pronounced against all those who do not keep them. Verse 26 But Jerusalem which is above - The apostle still follows the Jewish allegory, showing not only how the story of Hagar and Sarah, Ishmael and Isaac, was allegorized, but pointing out also that even Jerusalem was the subject of allegory; for it was a maxim among the rabbins, that "whatsoever was in the earth, the same was also found in heaven for there is no matter, howsoever small, in this world, that has not something similar to it in the spiritual world." On this maxim, the Jews imagine that every earthly thing has its representative in heaven; and especially whatever concerns Jerusalem, the law, and its ordinances. Rab. Kimchi, speaking of Melchizedec, king of Salem, says: זו ירושלם של מעלה zu Yerushalem shel malah, "This is the Jerusalem that is from above." This phrase frequently occurs among these writers, as may be seen in Schoettgen, who has written an express dissertation upon the subject. Hor. Hebr., vol. i. page 1205. Is free, which is the mother of us all - There is a spiritual Jerusalem, of which this is the type; and this Jerusalem, in which the souls of all the righteous are, is free from all bondage and sin: or by this, probably, the kingdom of the Messiah was intended; and this certainly answers best to the apostle's meaning, as the subsequent verse shows. There is an earthly Jerusalem, but this earthly Jerusalem typifies a heavenly Jerusalem: the former, with all her citizens, is in bondage; the latter is a free city, and all her inhabitants are free also. And this Jerusalem is our mother; it signifies the Church of Christ, the metropolis of Christianity, or rather the state of liberty into which all true believers are brought. The word παντων, of all, is omitted by almost every MS. and version of antiquity and importance, and by the most eminent of the fathers who quote this place; it is undoubtedly spurious, and the text should be read thus: But Jerusalem, which is above, is free, which is our mother. Verse 27 Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not - This quotation is taken from Isa 54:1 , and is certainly a promise which relates to the conversion of the Gentiles, as the following clause proves; for the desolate - the Gentile world, hath many more children - is a much larger and more numerous Church, than she - Jerusalem, the Jewish state, which hath a husband - has been so long in covenant with God, living under his continual protection, and in possession of a great variety of spiritual advantages; and especially those offered to her by the Gospel, which she has rejected, and which the Gentiles have accepted. Verse 28 Now we - Who believe in the Lord Jesus, are the children of promise - are the spiritual offspring of the Messiah, the seed of Abraham, in whom the promise stated that all the nations of the earth should be blessed. Verse 29 But as then he - Ishmael, who was born after the flesh - whose birth had nothing supernatural in it, but was according to the ordinary course of nature, Persecuted him - Isaac, who was born after the Spirit - who had a supernatural birth, according to the promise, and through the efficacy, of the Holy Spirit, giving effect to that promise - Sarah shall have a son, Gen 17:16-21 ; Gen 21:1 , etc. Persecuted him; the persecution here referred to is that mentioned Gen 21:9 . It consisted in mocking his brother Isaac. Even so it is now - So the Jews, in every place, persecute the Christians; and show thereby that they are rather of the posterity of Hagar than of Sarah. Verse 30 What saith the Scripture? - (In Gen 21:10 ): Cast out the bond woman and her son: and what does this imply in the present case? Why, that the present Jerusalem and her children shall be cast out of the favor of God, and shall not be heirs with the son of the free woman - shall not inherit the blessings promised to Abraham, because they believe not in the promised seed. Verse 31 So then - We - Jews and Gentiles, who believe on the Lord Jesus, are not children of the bond woman - are not in subjection to the Jewish law, but of the free; and, consequently, are delivered from all its bondage, obligation, and curse. 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; 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 under the law; then they must take all the consequences; and these the apostle sets fairly before them. 1. We sometimes pity the Jews, 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, because they believe not the doctrines of Christianity, he is in a worse state than that of infancy who is not born again by the power of the Holy Ghost. Reader, whosoever thou art, lay this to heart. 2. The 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th verses of this chapter ( Gal 4:4-7 ) contain the sum and marrow of Christian divinity. (1.) The determination of God to redeem the world by the incarnation of his Son. (2.) The manifestation of this Son in the fullness of time. (3.) The circumstances in which this Son appeared: sent forth; made of a woman; made under the law; to be a sufferer; and to die as a sacrifice. (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. (5.) By the redemption price he purchases sonship or adoption for mankind. (6.) He, God the Father, sends the Spirit, God the Holy Ghost, of God the Son, into the hearts of believers, by which they, through the full confidence of their adoption, call him their Father. (7.) Being made children, 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 Gal 4:4-7 (note). 3. While the Jews were rejecting the easy yoke of Christ, they were painfully observing days, and months, and times and years. Superstition has far more labor to perform than true religion has; and at last profits nothing! Most men, either from false views of religion, or through the power and prevalency of their own evil passions and habits, have ten thousand times more trouble to get to hell, than the followers of God have to get to heaven. 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 and graceless state, either irritates or drives them to despair. 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, and particularly those which are in a declining state. 5. The Galatians were once the firm friends of the apostle, and loved him so well that they would have even plucked out their eyes for him; and yet these very people cast him off, and counted and treated him as an enemy! O sad fickleness of human nature! O uncertainty of human friendships! An undesigned 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 brother? Where 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. 6. On allegorizing, in explaining the word of God, something has already been said, under Gal 4:24 ; but on the subject of allegory in general much might be said. The very learned and accurate critic, Dr. Lowth, in his work, De Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum, has entered at large into the subject of allegory, as existing in the sacred writings, in which he has discovered three species of this rhetorical figure. 1. That which rhetoricians term a continued metaphor. See Solomon's portraiture of old age, Ecc 12:2-6 . 2. A second kind of allegory is that which, in a more proper and restricted sense, may be called parable. See Matthew 13, and the note on Mat 13:3 (note), etc. 3. The third species of allegory is that in which a double meaning is couched under the same words. These are called mystical allegories, and the two meanings are termed the literal and mystical senses. For examples of all these kinds I must refer to the learned prelate above named. Introduction The apostle exhorts the Galatians to stand fast in the liberty of the Gospel, and not by receiving circumcision bring themselves into a yoke of bondage, Gal 5:1-4 . Shows the superior excellence of Christianity, Gal 5:5 , Gal 5:6 . Mentions their former steadiness, and warns them against the bad doctrine which was then preached among them, Gal 5:7-9 . Expresses his confidence that they will yet return; and shows that he who perverted them shall bear his own punishment, Gal 5:10-12 . States that they are called to liberty, and that love is the fulfilling of the law, Gal 5:13 , Gal 5:14 . Warns them against dissensions, and enumerates the fruits of the flesh, which exclude those who bear them from the kingdom of God, Gal 5:15-21 . Enumerates also the fruits of the Spirit, which characterize the disciples of Christ,

nstrance. ( a. d. 56.) 8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. 9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. In these verses the apostle puts them in mind of what they were before their conversion to the faith of Christ, and what a blessed change their conversion had made upon them; and thence endeavours to convince them of their great weakness in hearkening to those who would bring them under the bondage of the law of Moses. I. He reminds them of their past state and behaviour, and what they were before the gospel was preached to them. Then they knew not God; they were grossly ignorant of the true God, and the way wherein he is to be worshipped: and at that time they were under the worst of slaveries, for they did service to those which by nature were no gods, they were employed in a great number of superstitious and idolatrous services to those who, though they were accounted gods, were yet really no gods, but mere creatures, and perhaps of their own making, and therefore were utterly unable to hear and help them. Note, 1. Those who are ignorant of the true God cannot but be inclined to false gods. Those who forsook the God who made the world, rather than be without gods, worshipped such as they themselves made. 2. Religious worship is due to none but to him who is by nature God; for, when the apostle blames the doing service to such as by nature were no gods, he plainly shows that he only who is by nature God is the proper object of our religious worship. II. He calls upon them to consider the happy change that was made in them by the preaching of the gospel among them. Now they had known God (they were brought to the knowledge of the true God and of his Son Jesus Christ, whereby they were recovered out of the ignorance and bondage under which they before lay) or rather were known of God; this happy change in their state, whereby they were turned from idols to the living God, and through Christ had received the adoption of sons, was not owing to themselves, but to him; it was the effect of his free and rich grace towards them, and as such they ought to account it; and therefore hereby they were laid under the greater obligation to adhere to the liberty wherewith he had made them free. Note, All our acquaintance with God begins with him; we know him, because we are known of him. III. Hence he infers the unreasonableness and madness of their suffering themselves to be brought again into a state of bondage. He speaks of it with surprise and deep concern of mind that such as they should do so: How turn you again, &c., says he, v. 9 . "How is it that you, who have been taught to worship God in the gospel way, should not be persuaded to comply with the ceremonial way of worship? that you, who have been acquainted with a dispensation of light, liberty, and love, as that of the gospel is, should now submit to a dispensation of darkness, and bondage, and terror, as that of the law is?" This they had the less reason for, since they had never been under the law of Moses, as the Jews had been; and therefore on this account they were more inexcusable than the Jews themselves, who might be supposed to have some fondness for that which had been of such long standing among them. Besides, what they suffered themselves to be brought into bondage to were but weak and beggarly elements, such things as had no power in them to cleanse the soul, nor to afford any solid satisfaction to the mind, and which were only designed for that state of pupillage under which the church had been, but which had now come to a period; and therefore their weakness and folly were the more aggravated, in submitting to them, and in symbolizing with the Jews in observing their various festivals, here signified by days, and months, and times, and years. Here note, 1. It is possible for those who have made great professions of religion to be afterwards drawn into very great defections from the purity and simplicity of it, for this was the case of these Christians. And, 2. The more mercy God has shown to any, in bringing them into an acquaintance with the gospel, and the liberties and privileges of it, the greater are their sin and folly in suffering themselves to be deprived of them; for this the apostle lays a special stress upon, that after they had known God, or rather were known of him, they desired to be in bondage under the weak and beggarly elements of the law. IV. Hereupon he expresses his fears concerning them, lest he had bestowed on them labour in vain. He had been at a great deal of pains about them, in preaching the gospel to them, and endeavouring to confirm them in the faith and liberty of it; but now they were giving up these, and thereby rendering his labour among them fruitless and ineffectual, and with the thoughts of this he could not but be deeply affected. Note, 1. A great deal of the labour of faithful ministers is labour in vain; and, when it is so, it cannot but be a great grief to those who desire the salvation of souls. Note, 2. The labour of ministers is in vain upon those who begin in the Spirit and end in the flesh, who, though they seem to set out well, yet afterwards turn aside from the way of the gospel. Note, 3. Those will have a great deal to answer for upon whom the faithful ministers of Jesus Christ bestow labour in vain. Affectionate Remo

servitude in the worship of false gods, and had been admitted to the freedom found in the worship of the true God, it was absurd that they should return again to that which was truly slavery or bondage, the observance of the rites of the Jewish law. That ye have known God. The true God, and the ease and freedom of his service in the gospel. Or rather are known of God. The sense is, "Or, to speak more accurately or precisely, are known by God." The object of this correction is to avoid the impression which might be derived from the former phrase, that their acquaintance with God was owing to themselves. He therefore states, that it was rather that they were known of God; that it was all owing to him that they had been brought to an acquaintance with himself. Perhaps, also, he means to bring into view the idea that it was a favour and privilege to be known by God, and that, therefore it was the more absurd to turn back to the weak and beggarly elements. How turn ye again, Marg., back. "How is it that you are returning to such a bondage?" The question implies surprise and indignation that they should do it. To the weak and beggarly elements. To the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish law, imposing a servitude really not less severe than the customs of paganism. On the word elements, Gal 4:3. They are called "weak" because they had no power to save the soul; no power to justify the sinner before God. They are called "beggarly," (Greek, πτωχα, poor,) because they could not impart spiritual riches. They really could confer few benefits on man. Or it may be, as Locke supposes, because the law kept men in the poor estate of pupils from the full enjoyment of the inheritance, Gal 4:1-3. Whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage. As if you had a wish to be under servitude. The absurdity is as great as it would be for a man who had been freed from slavery to desire again his chains. They had been freed by the gospel from the galling servitude of heathenism, and they now again had sunk into the Jewish observances, as if they preferred slavery to freedom, and were willing to go from one form of it to another. The main idea is, that it is absurd for men who have been made free by the gospel to go back again into any kind of servitude or bondage. We may apply it to Christians now. Many sink into a kind of servitude not less galling than was that to sin before their conversion. Some become the slaves of mere ceremonies and forms in religion. Some are slaves to fashion, and the world yet rules them with the hand of a tyrant. They have escaped, it may be, from the galling chains of ambition, and degrading vice, and low sensuality; but they have become slaves to the love of money, or of dress, or of the fashions of the world, as if they loved slavery and chains; and they seem no more able to break loose than the slave is to break the bonds which bind him. And some are slaves to some expensive and foolish habit. Professed Christians, and Christian ministers too, become slaves to the disgusting and loathsome habit of using tobacco, bound by a servitude as galling and as firm as that which ever shackled the limbs of an African. I grieve to add, also, that many professed Christians are slaves to the habit of "sitting long at the wine," and indulging in it freely. Oh that such knew the liberty of Christian freedom, and would break away from all such shackles, and show how the gospel frees men from all foolish and absurd customs! (1) "turn ye again" "back" (2) "beggarly elements" "rudiments" (+) "whereunto" "to which" (++) "bondage" "servitude"Verse 10. Ye observe. The object of this verse is to specify some of the things to which

f the Gospel, should all of a sudden revert from the true knowledge of His will in which I thought you were confirmed, to the weak and beggarly elements of the Law which can only enslave you again?” V.9. Or rather are known of God. The Apostle turns the foregoing sentence around. He fears the Galatians have lost God altogether. “Alas,” he cries, “have you come to this, that you no longer know God? What else am I to think? Nevertheless, God knows you.” Our knowledge of God is rather passive than active. God knows us better than we know God. “Ye are known of God” means that God brings His Gospel to our attention, and endows us with faith and the Holy Spirit. Even in these words the Apostle denies the possibility of our knowing God by the performance of the Law. “No man knoweth who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.” ( Lu 10:22.) “By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” ( Isa 53:11.) The Apostle frankly expresses his surprise to the Galatians that they who had known God intimately through the Gospel, should so easily be persuaded by the false apostles to return to the weak and beggarly elements of the Law. I would not be surprised to see my church perverted by some fanatic through one or two sermons. We are no better than the apostles who had to witness the subversion of the churches which they had planted with their own hands. Nevertheless, Christ will reign to the end of the world, and that miraculously, as He did during the Dark Ages. Paul seems to think rather ill of the Law. He calls it the elements of the world, the weak and beggarly elements of the world. Was it not irreverent for him to speak that way about the holy Law of God? The Law ought to prepare the way of Christ into the hearts of men. That is the true purpose and function of the Law. But if the Law presumes to usurp the place and function of the Gospel, it is no longer the holy Law of God, but a pseudo-Gospel. If you care to amplify this matter you may add the observation that the Law is a weak and beggarly element because it makes people weak and beggarly. The Law has no power and affluence to make men strong and rich before God. To seek to be justified by the Law amounts to the same thing as if a person who is already weak and feeble should try to find strength in weakness, or as if a person with the dropsy should seek a cure by exposing himself to the pestilence, or as if a leper should go to a leper, and a beggar to a beggar to find health and wealth. Those who seek to be justified by the Law grow weaker and more destitute right along. They are weak and bankrupt to begin with. They are by nature the children of wrath. Yet for salvation they grasp at the straw of the Law. The Law can only aggravate their weakness and poverty. The Law makes them ten times weaker and poorer than they were before. I and many others have experienced the truth of this. I have known monks who zealously labored to please God for salvation, but the more they labored the more impatient, miserable, uncertain, and fearful they became. What else can you expect? You cannot grow strong through weakness and rich through poverty. People who prefer the Law to the Gospel are like Aesop’s dog who let go of the meat to snatch at the shadow of the water. There is no satisfaction in the Law. What satisfaction can there be in collecting laws with which to torment oneself and others? One law breeds ten more until their number is legion. Who would have thought it possible that the Galatians, taught as they were by that efficient apostle and teacher, Paul, could so quickly be led astray by the false apostles? To fall away from the Gospel is an easy matter because few people appreciate what an excellent treasure the knowledge of Christ really is. People are not sufficiently exercised in their faith by afflictions. They do not wrestle against sin. They live in security without conflict. Because they have never been tried in the furnace of affliction they are not properly equipped with the armor of God and know not how to use the sword of the Spirit. As long as they are being shepherded by faithful pastors, all is well. But when their faithful shepherds are gone and wolves disguised as sheep break into the fold, back they go to the weak and beggarly elements of the Law. Whoever goes back to the Law loses the knowledge of the truth, fails in the recognition of his sinfulness, does not know God, nor the devil, nor himself, and does not understand the meaning and purpose of the Law. Without the knowledge of Christ a man will always argue that the Law is necessary for salvation, that it will strengthen the weak and enrich the poor. Wherever this opinion holds sway the promises of God are denied, Christ is demoted, hypocrisy and idolatry are established. V.9. Whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage. The Apostle pointedly asks the Galatians whether they desire to be in bondage again to the Law. The Law is weak and poor, the sinner is weak and poor. Two feeble beggars trying to help each other. They cannot do it. They only wear each other out. But through Christ a weak and poor sinner is revived and enriched unto eternal life. V.10. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. The Apostle Paul knew what the false apostles were teaching the Galatians: The observance of days, and months

But now being known of God - As his beloved children. How turn ye back to the weak and poor elements - Weak, utterly unable to purge your conscience from guilt, or to give that filial confidence in God. Poor - incapable of enriching the soul with such holiness and happiness as ye are heirs to. Ye desire to be again in bondage - Though of another kind; now to these elements, as before to those idols.