Galatians 4:7 Commentary

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Galatians 4:7

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Every believer, Jew and Gentile, has been elevated above the status of a servant to that of a son. This is a cause of great joy, for the decision to adopt us was not ours but God’s alone. Adoption brings with it many privileges and God lavishes his gifts on every one of his children. One great privilege is the entitlement to an inheritance, for it is normal for a son to expect an inheritance from his father. Christians who are God’s adopted sons are no different and they too have an inheritance which is theirs by right. The blessings of heaven are presented to us as an inheritance to which we are entitled and this is extraordinary. It is remarkable enough for God to give us heaven freely when we do not deserve it. It is more marvellous still that he gives it to us as a right which nothing can cancel or annul. This is done so that we have a strong assurance that we can lose nothing of what he has promised us. We will inherit God’s vindication, the removal of our sinful nature, immortality, glorified bodies, an eternal place in heaven, and God himself, our exceeding great reward. This is much more than a land on earth. We cannot take that or any other physical benefits with us when we depart this life, and yet Peter says we have an inheritance which is ‘incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away’ (1 Peter 1:4). This is an inheritance which will never diminish, or lose its value, or lose its ability to thrill the soul. The land was therefore only a symbol of heaven and not the real thing. The promise of an inheritance was part of what was promised to Abraham, which he has already argued was ultimately a promise to Christ. He came into the world to earn the inheritance for us so that the promises made to Abraham might be fulfilled, promises not just to an earthly land but to heaven itself which is not subject to the curse of this fallen world.When do we receive the inheritance? While we are in this world we wait to receive what we have been promised. We have an entitlement but we have not actually received it yet. We are under the tutorship of the Spirit, but the tutorship of the Spirit is very different to the tutorship of the law. We are saved by hope, a hope which we did not have before we believed, and a hope will turn to sight at the point either when we go to be with the Lord, or when Christ returns.

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In the Old Testament God spoke of Israel as his people: ‘I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God’ (Exodus 6:7), and ‘I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people’ (Leviticus 26:11-12). He calls Israel his children: ‘I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born’ (Jeremiah 31:9). How could God speak this way of Israel and yet Paul insists that none truly become the sons of God until they put their trust in Christ? Paul’s answer is that while they were children in God’s household they were no better than servants, for they were under the tutorship and governorship of the law, in bondage under the elements of the world. The law only stipulated worldly, that is earthly and physical, ceremonies and rituals, which have no power to address the real need of those who are spiritually dead. Now they have received the promise of the Spirit and this alone tells them that they are released from the bondage of the law and have entered a permanent and blessed relationship with God as their heavenly Father.

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Galatians 4:7 Commentary and Bible Study