Galatians 4:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything,

NIV: What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.

NASB: Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave, although he is owner of everything,

CSB: Now I say that as long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything.

NLT: Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had.

KJV: Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;

NKJV: Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all,

Paul is writing to the Christians in Galatia, helping them understand why it is not necessary for them to begin following the law of Moses. A group of false teachers known as the Judaizers has been working to convince these new believers that after trusting in Christ, they must be circumcised and follow the law in order to be truly right before God (Galatians 2:4).

In the previous verse, Galatians 3:29, Paul declared that everyone who is in Christ has become Abraham's offspring. This refers to everyone who has faith in Jesus. In that way, along with Christ, believers are heirs to the promises God gave to Abraham. Now Paul begins to use the idea of being an heir to illustrate a different point.

In the Greek culture of Paul's day, the child of a wealthy family lived from day to day with very little freedom. Ultimately, he would own everything the family owned. He was the lord of the estate, in the sense that everything was under his eventual authority. Still, at that age, he didn't get to decide when to rise in the morning, when to go to bed at night, where to go, and what to do. His position as the heir didn't entitle him to true freedom until he reached the agreed-upon age.

Paul will make the case in the following verses that something similar was going for Israel, while living under the law of Moses, before Christ came.

Galatians 4:1–7 paints the picture of the heir of a wealthy son, who remains without freedom himself until he actually receives his inheritance. This corresponds to the customs of the time, when even wealthy children lived under the control of teachers and guardians. Paul insists that the crucial day has already come for all who trust in Christ. We are no longer under the supervision of the law of Moses. Christ has bought us out of slavery and into God's family. In Him, Christians are adopted as full children—we are God's heirs. We are given the Holy Spirit, making it possible to call Him our ''Abba,'' meaning ''Father.''

In this chapter, Paul uses three new methods to teach his Galatian readers an important lesson. It is futile to follow the law of Moses in order to be made right before God, since justification comes only by faith in Christ. First, Paul shows that the arrival of Christ made it possible for all people to become God's children through faith in Him. Next, Paul makes a more personal appeal, asking what has changed to cause the Galatians to turn on Paul's teaching of the gospel. Finally, Paul builds an allegory from Scripture, illustrating the difference between being born into slavery and being born into the promise by faith in Christ.

Galatians 3 ends with Paul stating, once more, that those who are in Christ are Abraham's offspring, just as He is, making us heirs along with Him. Galatians 4 continues that idea, showing how Christ's arrival signaled the moment all people could receive the inheritance with Him and be adopted as God's children. Paul makes his appeal personal, asking why the Galatians moved from blessing him to rejecting the message of Christ. The chapter ends with Paul's allegory about the difference between being born into slavery under the law and being born into freedom by the power of the Spirit through faith in Christ. Chapter 5 will continue by expanding on the freedom we have in Christ.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.