New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Galatians 4
1
Here is what I have been saying. As long as your own children are young, they are no different from slaves in your house. They are no different, even though they own all of the property.
Reference
Parallel theme
Galatians 4:23
2
They are under the care of guardians and those who manage the property. They are under their care until the time when their fathers give them the property.
3
It is the same with us. When we were children, we were slaves to the basic things the people of the world believe.
Reference
4
But then the right time came. God sent his Son. A woman gave birth to him. He was born under the authority of the law.
Reference
Creation
Romans 1:3
Parallel theme
Isaiah 7:14
Ephesians 1:10
1 John 4:14
Luke 2:7
References God
Mark 1:15
Matthew 1:23
John 3:16
Luke 1:35
Word
John 1:14
5
He came to set free those who were under the law. He wanted us to be adopted as children with all the rights children have.
Reference
Parallel theme
Ephesians 1:5
Galatians 4:7
Galatians 3:26
Redemption
Hebrews 9:15
Ephesians 1:7
Revelation 5:9
Hebrews 9:12
Galatians 3:13
Romans 8:23
Word
Romans 9:4
6
Because you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. He is the Holy Spirit. By his power we call God "[Abba.]" Abba means Father.
Reference
Parallel theme
John 14:16
John 16:7
Spirit
Romans 5:5
Romans 8:9
Philippians 1:19
Ephesians 2:18
2 Corinthians 3:17
Ephesians 4:30
Luke 11:13
Jude 1:20
7
So you aren't slaves any longer. You are God's children. Because you are his children, he gives you what he promised to give his people.
Reference
Parallel theme
Lamentations 3:24
Jeremiah 10:16
Genesis 15:1
Psalm 16:5
References Christ
Galatians 3:26
References God
Psalm 73:26
Jeremiah 31:33
Revelation 21:7
8
At one time you didn't know God. You were slaves to gods that are really not gods at all.
Reference
9
But now you know God. Even better, God knows you. So why are you turning back to those weak and worthless beliefs? Do you want to be slaves to them all over again?
Reference
Parallel theme
Galatians 3:3
2 Peter 2:20
Hebrews 7:18
Exodus 33:17
1 Corinthians 13:12
References God
1 Corinthians 8:3
Romans 8:3
1 John 5:20
1 Chronicles 28:9
Ephesians 1:17
10
You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!
Reference
Parallel theme
Romans 14:5
12
I make my appeal to you, brothers and sisters. I'm asking you to become like me. After all, I became like you. You didn't do anything wrong to me.
Reference
14
My sickness was hard on you. But you didn't put me off. You didn't make fun of me. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God. You welcomed me as if I were Christ Jesus himself.
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 10:40
Hebrews 13:2
Malachi 2:7
References Christ
2 Corinthians 5:20
References God
1 Thessalonians 2:13
Zechariah 12:8
2 Samuel 14:17
2 Samuel 19:27
15
What has happened to all of your joy? If you could have torn out your own eyes and given them to me, you would have. I can give witness to that.
Reference
16
Have I become your enemy now by telling you the truth?
Reference
Parallel theme
Amos 5:10
Proverbs 9:8
Psalm 141:5
1 Kings 22:8
John 7:7
1 Kings 21:20
Truth
John 8:45
Galatians 5:7
Galatians 2:5
Galatians 2:14
17
Those people are trying hard to win you over. But it is not for your good. They want to take you away from us. They want you to commit yourselves to them.
Reference
18
It is fine to be committed to something, if the purpose is good. And you shouldn't be committed only when I am with you. You should always be committed.
Reference
Good
Titus 2:14
Parallel theme
Philippians 2:12
Revelation 3:19
Psalm 119:139
1 Corinthians 15:58
Galatians 4:13
Philippians 1:27
19
My dear children, I am in pain for you. Once again I have pain like a woman giving birth. And my pain will continue until Christ makes you like himself.
Reference
Parallel theme
Romans 8:29
Ephesians 4:24
Colossians 3:10
James 1:18
Philemon 1:10
References Christ
Ephesians 4:13
Romans 13:14
Colossians 4:12
Philippians 2:5
Colossians 1:27
20
I wish I could be with you now. I wish I could change my tone of voice. As it is, you bewilder me.
21
You who want to be under the authority of the law, tell me something. Don't you know what the law says?
Reference
22
It is written that Abraham had two sons. The slave woman gave birth to one of them. The free woman gave birth to the other one.
Reference
23
Abraham's son by the slave woman was born in the usual way. But his son by the free woman was born because of God's promise.
Reference
Covenant
Hebrews 11:11
24
Those things can be taken as examples. The two women stand for two covenants. One covenant comes from Mount Sinai. It gives birth to children who are going to be slaves. It is Hagar.
Reference
Covenant
Hebrews 13:20
Hebrews 12:24
Hebrews 7:22
Parallel theme
1 Corinthians 10:11
Matthew 13:35
Genesis 16:8
Genesis 25:12
Hosea 11:10
Hebrews 11:19
Sin
Galatians 4:25
25
Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia. She stands for the present city of Jerusalem. That's because she and her children are slaves.
Reference
Parallel theme
Hebrews 12:18
Acts 1:11
Luke 19:44
References Jerusalem
Matthew 23:37
Luke 13:34
Galatians 1:17
Sin
Psalm 68:17
Psalm 68:8
Deuteronomy 33:2
Judges 5:5
26
But the Jerusalem that is above is free. She is our mother.
Reference
Parallel theme
Philippians 3:20
Isaiah 50:1
Romans 6:18
Romans 6:14
John 8:36
References Jerusalem
Hebrews 12:22
Revelation 21:2
Revelation 3:12
Isaiah 66:10
Isaiah 65:18
27
It is written, "Be glad, woman, you who have no children. Start shouting, you who have no labor pains. The woman who is all alone has more children than the woman who has a husband." --(Isaiah 54:1)
Reference
29
At that time, the son born in the usual way tried to hurt the son born by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the same now.
Reference
30
But what does Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman. Get rid of her son. The slave woman's son will never have a share of the family's property with the free woman's son."--(Genesis 21:10)
Reference
Parallel theme
John 8:35
Summary of Galatians 4
Galatians 4 explains that Christ came at the appointed time to redeem people from spiritual slavery and make them God's adopted children, while Paul warns the Galatians against returning to religious bondage and uses the story of Hagar and Sarah to contrast dependence on human effort with the freedom received through God's promise.
Paul begins with the picture of an heir who is legally destined to receive an inheritance but remains under guardians and managers while still a child, explaining that God's people were similarly under a temporary system of supervision before Christ brought the promised freedom.
When the appointed time arrived, God sent His Son, who was born under the law and entered fully into human life so that He could redeem those under the law and provide believers with adoption as God's children.
Because believers are God's children, God sends the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, allowing them to call God their Father and demonstrating that Christian salvation is not merely legal forgiveness but a personal relationship with God.
Paul therefore declares that believers are no longer slaves but children and heirs through Christ, making it deeply inconsistent for the Galatians to return to systems of religious bondage after experiencing the freedom of the gospel.
Paul then reminds the Gentile Galatians that they once served false gods, but after coming to know God they are now considering returning to weak and powerless religious principles by carefully observing particular days, months, seasons, and years as though these practices were necessary for their acceptance before God.
His concern becomes deeply personal as he remembers how warmly the Galatians originally received him despite his physical weakness, treating him with extraordinary kindness and affection, but he now fears that other teachers have turned them against him by offering attention that is motivated more by personal influence than by genuine spiritual concern.
Paul describes his pastoral relationship with them using the emotional image of a mother experiencing childbirth again, because his deepest desire is to see Christ formed in the Galatians rather than merely to win an argument about religious practices.
He then turns to the story of Abraham's two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, using Hagar and Sarah as symbolic representations of two different approaches to God's covenant, with Hagar representing slavery connected with Sinai and Sarah representing freedom connected with God's promise.
Paul identifies the Galatians with Isaac because they are children of promise, meaning that their relationship with God comes through His gracious promise fulfilled in Christ rather than through human attempts to achieve righteousness by law.
The chapter concludes by emphasizing that believers belong to the family of the free woman rather than the slave woman, meaning that Christians should live according to the freedom of God's grace rather than returning to a system that places them under spiritual slavery.
The central message of Galatians 4 is that Christ came at the right time to redeem people from spiritual slavery and make them God's adopted children, so believers should live confidently in the freedom of God's grace rather than returning to religious systems that depend upon human effort and ceremonial observance.
Paul begins with an illustration from family life.
An heir may technically own an inheritance, but while still a child, that heir remains under guardians and managers.
The child does not yet experience the freedom associated with being a mature heir.
Paul uses this familiar picture to describe the situation of God's people before Christ.
The law had a real purpose, but it was not the final destination.
It served as a temporary guardian until God's appointed time arrived.
Then something extraordinary happened.
God sent His Son.
Jesus entered the human world, was born under the law, and lived within the Jewish covenant environment.
His purpose was to redeem those who were under the law and bring them into something greater: adoption as God's children.
This idea of adoption would have been particularly powerful in the Roman world.
Adoption could establish a new legal identity, provide inheritance rights, and place a person fully within a new family.
Paul uses this image to explain what God has done through Christ.
Believers are not merely forgiven servants.
They are adopted children and heirs.
God also sends the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, giving them the confidence to call Him Father.
Therefore, Christian salvation involves both a new legal standing and a new relationship with God.
This makes Paul's concern about the Galatians especially serious.
They had been Gentiles who once served false gods and were deeply involved in their former religious systems.
Then they heard the gospel, trusted Christ, and entered God's family.
Yet they were now considering returning to religious practices that Paul describes as weak and powerless principles.
They were carefully observing days, months, seasons, and years, apparently because other teachers had convinced them that these observances were necessary for spiritual acceptance.
Paul sees this as a return to slavery.
His question is essentially this: Why would people who have become God's children voluntarily return to the position of servants?
Paul then becomes deeply personal.
He remembers how the Galatians originally received him.
Although he came to them in physical weakness, they did not reject him.
Instead, they welcomed him warmly and treated him with extraordinary affection.
Their relationship had once been strong.
Now Paul is asking what happened.
He wonders whether telling them the truth has caused them to consider him an enemy.
This reveals something important about genuine spiritual leadership.
Paul is willing to risk the Galatians' displeasure because he cares more about their spiritual condition than their approval.
He describes himself as being like a mother experiencing childbirth again until Christ is formed in them.
His goal is therefore not simply to convince them that Paul is correct.
His goal is to see their lives increasingly shaped by Christ.
Paul then uses the story of Hagar and Sarah to explain the difference between slavery and freedom.
Abraham had two sons.
Ishmael was born through Hagar, the slave woman, while Isaac was born through Sarah, the free woman, according to God's promise.
Paul uses these events symbolically to represent two different covenant relationships.
Hagar represents the covenant associated with Mount Sinai and dependence upon the law.
Sarah represents the freedom associated with God's promise.
Paul then introduces the contrast between earthly Jerusalem and Jerusalem above.
Earthly Jerusalem represented the center of Jewish religious life and the covenant system associated with the law.
The Jerusalem above represents the spiritual community connected with God's promise and freedom.
Paul therefore tells the Galatians that they are like Isaac because they are children of promise.
Their identity does not depend upon physical ancestry.
Their standing before God does not depend upon circumcision.
Their inheritance does not depend upon keeping ceremonial requirements.
Their identity comes through God's promise fulfilled in Christ.
Paul's use of the story also acknowledges that conflict can arise between those who depend upon human effort and those who depend upon God's promise.
The story of Ishmael and Isaac becomes a picture of the opposition between the old way of relating to God through law and the new way of relating to God through Christ.
Paul's conclusion is therefore direct.
Believers are not children of the slave woman but children of the free woman.
They belong to the family of promise.
They have received freedom through Christ.
They have been adopted as God's children.
They possess an inheritance.
Therefore, returning to religious slavery would mean abandoning the practical freedom that Christ has already provided.
Overall, Galatians 4 teaches that Christ came at God's appointed time to redeem humanity, believers receive adoption and the Holy Spirit as God's children, returning to religious requirements as a means of gaining God's acceptance is a return toward slavery, and Christians should live as free children and heirs of God's promise while allowing Christ to be increasingly formed within their lives.
Paul begins with the picture of an heir who is legally destined to receive an inheritance but remains under guardians and managers while still a child, explaining that God's people were similarly under a temporary system of supervision before Christ brought the promised freedom.
When the appointed time arrived, God sent His Son, who was born under the law and entered fully into human life so that He could redeem those under the law and provide believers with adoption as God's children.
Because believers are God's children, God sends the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, allowing them to call God their Father and demonstrating that Christian salvation is not merely legal forgiveness but a personal relationship with God.
Paul therefore declares that believers are no longer slaves but children and heirs through Christ, making it deeply inconsistent for the Galatians to return to systems of religious bondage after experiencing the freedom of the gospel.
Paul then reminds the Gentile Galatians that they once served false gods, but after coming to know God they are now considering returning to weak and powerless religious principles by carefully observing particular days, months, seasons, and years as though these practices were necessary for their acceptance before God.
His concern becomes deeply personal as he remembers how warmly the Galatians originally received him despite his physical weakness, treating him with extraordinary kindness and affection, but he now fears that other teachers have turned them against him by offering attention that is motivated more by personal influence than by genuine spiritual concern.
Paul describes his pastoral relationship with them using the emotional image of a mother experiencing childbirth again, because his deepest desire is to see Christ formed in the Galatians rather than merely to win an argument about religious practices.
He then turns to the story of Abraham's two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, using Hagar and Sarah as symbolic representations of two different approaches to God's covenant, with Hagar representing slavery connected with Sinai and Sarah representing freedom connected with God's promise.
Paul identifies the Galatians with Isaac because they are children of promise, meaning that their relationship with God comes through His gracious promise fulfilled in Christ rather than through human attempts to achieve righteousness by law.
The chapter concludes by emphasizing that believers belong to the family of the free woman rather than the slave woman, meaning that Christians should live according to the freedom of God's grace rather than returning to a system that places them under spiritual slavery.
The central message of Galatians 4 is that Christ came at the right time to redeem people from spiritual slavery and make them God's adopted children, so believers should live confidently in the freedom of God's grace rather than returning to religious systems that depend upon human effort and ceremonial observance.
Paul begins with an illustration from family life.
An heir may technically own an inheritance, but while still a child, that heir remains under guardians and managers.
The child does not yet experience the freedom associated with being a mature heir.
Paul uses this familiar picture to describe the situation of God's people before Christ.
The law had a real purpose, but it was not the final destination.
It served as a temporary guardian until God's appointed time arrived.
Then something extraordinary happened.
God sent His Son.
Jesus entered the human world, was born under the law, and lived within the Jewish covenant environment.
His purpose was to redeem those who were under the law and bring them into something greater: adoption as God's children.
This idea of adoption would have been particularly powerful in the Roman world.
Adoption could establish a new legal identity, provide inheritance rights, and place a person fully within a new family.
Paul uses this image to explain what God has done through Christ.
Believers are not merely forgiven servants.
They are adopted children and heirs.
God also sends the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, giving them the confidence to call Him Father.
Therefore, Christian salvation involves both a new legal standing and a new relationship with God.
This makes Paul's concern about the Galatians especially serious.
They had been Gentiles who once served false gods and were deeply involved in their former religious systems.
Then they heard the gospel, trusted Christ, and entered God's family.
Yet they were now considering returning to religious practices that Paul describes as weak and powerless principles.
They were carefully observing days, months, seasons, and years, apparently because other teachers had convinced them that these observances were necessary for spiritual acceptance.
Paul sees this as a return to slavery.
His question is essentially this: Why would people who have become God's children voluntarily return to the position of servants?
Paul then becomes deeply personal.
He remembers how the Galatians originally received him.
Although he came to them in physical weakness, they did not reject him.
Instead, they welcomed him warmly and treated him with extraordinary affection.
Their relationship had once been strong.
Now Paul is asking what happened.
He wonders whether telling them the truth has caused them to consider him an enemy.
This reveals something important about genuine spiritual leadership.
Paul is willing to risk the Galatians' displeasure because he cares more about their spiritual condition than their approval.
He describes himself as being like a mother experiencing childbirth again until Christ is formed in them.
His goal is therefore not simply to convince them that Paul is correct.
His goal is to see their lives increasingly shaped by Christ.
Paul then uses the story of Hagar and Sarah to explain the difference between slavery and freedom.
Abraham had two sons.
Ishmael was born through Hagar, the slave woman, while Isaac was born through Sarah, the free woman, according to God's promise.
Paul uses these events symbolically to represent two different covenant relationships.
Hagar represents the covenant associated with Mount Sinai and dependence upon the law.
Sarah represents the freedom associated with God's promise.
Paul then introduces the contrast between earthly Jerusalem and Jerusalem above.
Earthly Jerusalem represented the center of Jewish religious life and the covenant system associated with the law.
The Jerusalem above represents the spiritual community connected with God's promise and freedom.
Paul therefore tells the Galatians that they are like Isaac because they are children of promise.
Their identity does not depend upon physical ancestry.
Their standing before God does not depend upon circumcision.
Their inheritance does not depend upon keeping ceremonial requirements.
Their identity comes through God's promise fulfilled in Christ.
Paul's use of the story also acknowledges that conflict can arise between those who depend upon human effort and those who depend upon God's promise.
The story of Ishmael and Isaac becomes a picture of the opposition between the old way of relating to God through law and the new way of relating to God through Christ.
Paul's conclusion is therefore direct.
Believers are not children of the slave woman but children of the free woman.
They belong to the family of promise.
They have received freedom through Christ.
They have been adopted as God's children.
They possess an inheritance.
Therefore, returning to religious slavery would mean abandoning the practical freedom that Christ has already provided.
Overall, Galatians 4 teaches that Christ came at God's appointed time to redeem humanity, believers receive adoption and the Holy Spirit as God's children, returning to religious requirements as a means of gaining God's acceptance is a return toward slavery, and Christians should live as free children and heirs of God's promise while allowing Christ to be increasingly formed within their lives.