Sha’ul’s Letter to the Galatians ~ Part 10

We pause the ongoing story of Sha’ul to examine his Letter to the Galatians.

 Note: To examine the graphics in this series, click on them for a pop-up version.

 In our last post, we left off in Chapter 3:29 with Sha’ul describing the Law & Faith. In this post, he continues to explain his Doctrine of Justification.

 Adoption As Sons & Daughters [1]

 4 ¹ What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a minor, he is no different from a slave, even though he is the legal owner of the estate; ² rather, he is subject to guardians and caretakers until the time previously set by his father. ³ So it is with us – when we were “children” we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe;

 Elemental spirits of the universe (the term is used again in v. 4:9, also in Colossians 2:8, 20). We, both Jews and Gentiles, were slaves to them. Gentiles served these demonic spirits as gods. Jews, though knowing the one true God, were sometimes led astray by demonic spirits, including the demonic spirit of legalism. Jews served this spirit whenever they perverted the Torah into a legalistic system. That Jews, too, were bound by demonic spirits is indicated in Ephesians 2:3.

 ⁴ but when the appointed time arrived, God sent forth His Son. He was born from a woman, born into a culture in which legalistic perversion of the Torah was the norm, ⁵ so that he might redeem those in subjection to this legalism and thus enable us to be made God’s sons.

God sent forth His son. In Philippians 2:6–8, Sha’ul speaks of Yeshua’s pre-human existence “in the form of God.” He was born from a woman. That is, He took human form. This is as close as Sha’ul comes to saying anything about the virgin birth of Yeshua.

 Born into a culture in which legalistic perversion of the Torah was the norm. Why was Yeshua born into such a society? So that He might redeem those in subjection to this legalism. Yeshua had to submit Himself to be in the same predicament as we humans are in order to redeem humanity; therefore, He was “born from a woman.” Additionally, He had to submit to being in the special circumstances Jews are in – namely, being legally bound by a covenant to obey the Torah (Exodus 24:7) and, at the same time, being in a culture where the norm is to pervert that Torah into a legalistic system – in order to enable us, both Jews and Gentiles, to be made God’s sons and daughters, adopted by God the Father. Romans 8:3 and Messianic Jews 2:14–18, 4:15 deal with the same subject and are essential commentary on this verse. Sha’ul’s empathizing with the situations of various classes of unsaved people may well be an imitation of the Messiah (1 Corinthians 11:1), as reflected in these two verses.

 

 

 

 

⁶ Now because you are sons, God has sent forth into our hearts the Spirit of his Son, the Spirit who cries out, “Abba!” (that is, “Dear Father!”). ⁷ So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if you are a son, you are also an heir. ^[2]

In our next post, we will continue to explore Sha’ul’s Doctrine of Justification, starting in chapter 4:8.

Click here for the PDF version.

^[1]  Please note that I believe that Scripture is applicable to both males and females, but I am not going to change the actual text of the Complete Jewish Bible as it is faithfully translated from the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages.

^[2]  Galatians 4:1-7.