Galatians 4:31
So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.
Truth to Learn
We are spiritually born free; therefore, we should live as freeborn sons and not as slaves to the law.
Behind the Words
The word translated “So then” is ara. Technically, this is called an inferential particle. Its basic function is to mark a transition to what naturally follows from the words preceding. We could paraphrase the first part of this verse as, “So, it naturally follows, brethren, that we …”
The word translated “free,” as we have discussed previously, refers to someone who is free to move about wherever he or she wants to go. It refers to someone who is not a slave but is a free man. This word is normally written as a masculine noun; whereas, here it is written as a feminine noun. Hence, this should have been translated as “freewoman.”
Meaning Explained
In chapter three of Galatians, Paul explained to us that the law was given to show man just how sinful he is. Paul pointed out that a person cannot be justified by the law because no one, except Christ Himself, can keep the whole law. But the law served as a guard to keep us aware of just how sinful we are until the Messiah (the Christ) should come. It also served as our tutor to lead us to Christ so that we might eventually become justified by faith in Him. Paul completed the chapter by telling us that through faith we are now sons of Abraham and heirs according to the promise made to him.
In chapter four Paul showed us that when the Son of God came, born of a woman, He perfectly fulfilled the law so that He might redeem us (purchase us and take us out of the marketplace). Then, because we are redeemed, we can receive the adoption as sons of God, and we can call God Abba, Father. And, since we are adopted, we have become heirs of God.
The only weakness of this line of reasoning is that the Jews could have responded that they were already the sons of Abraham by birth through the flesh. These same Jews were teaching the Galatians that they, too, had to become as a Jew to be fully saved. This is why Paul then presented the Allegory of Ishmael and Isaac. The children of Abraham by birth through the flesh (Jews) are like Ishmael who was the result of Abraham and Sarah taking matters into their own hands to produce a son for Abraham.
We, who are adopted sons of God through faith (Christians), are like Isaac, who came from Abraham and Sarah through faith even when they were too old to have children. And, as a result of the mocking of the child of promise (Isaac) by the child of the flesh (Ishmael), the child of the flesh was cast out and declared to not be an heir with the son of promise.
Now, Paul tells us that we cannot be the sons of the bondwoman because we have already been declared as heirs, and it naturally follows that we are not sons of the bondwoman but of the freewoman. Therefore, we are free born.
Application
When we were saved through faith in the blood of Christ, we became born spiritually and adopted into the family of God. Therefore, we should live as freeborn children of God and not as slaves under the bondage of the law.
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2008 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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