Galatians - Chapter 4

The apostle Paul starts off chapter 4 with an example of a child who is an heir, but unable to receive any money until he becomes the age which the father sets. A guardian or trustee watches over the child until that time comes. Then Paul says in verse 4, "But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons." Now that Jesus came, there is no need for the trustee/guardian/law. As believers in Jesus Christ, we become a part of the family of God with full rights, and not only are we His child, we are also an heir. Paul then asked the church in Galatia who had added works to their faith, "Do you wish to be enslaved all over again" (vs. 9)? Paul feared he wasted his efforts. He reminded them of their first joyous encounter with Paul, and he wished he could be there now instead of writing this harsh letter to them. The chapter ends with an allegory about Hagar and Sarah, whose story is found in Genesis 12 with the first call of Abram, Genesis 15 with the second call of Abram, Genesis 16 when Sarai gives Abram her servant, Hagar who has a son, Genesis 18 with the promise that Sarai will have a child even in her old age, "For nothing is too hard for the Lord (vs. 14), and the birth of Isaac in Genesis 21, who was born, "at the very time God had promised him" (vs. 2). Hagar is like the covenant of the law and the earthly city of Jerusalem, and Sarai like the covenant of the promise and the heavenly Jerusalem. Non-believers in Jesus, and those who trust the laws and rules for salvation, are born of the slave woman, and those who believe in Jesus and live by faith are born of the free woman, the woman of promise, and are a part of the heavenly Jerusalem as children of the King and heirs to the promise!