The Fullness of Time, Part 2

Hey everybody!

Today we will continue our discussion of Galatians 4.  Through verse 3 Paul has been explaining to the Galatians how the Law had served as a guardian for thme, in the way that a man might appoint one of his slaves to be a guardian of his son until that son reaches maturity.  Now, Paul is going to explain Jesus sets us free from the Law, and we are no longer under the care of the guardian.  Here is Galatians 4:4-7:

4 But when the fullness of time came, God sent His son, born of a woman, and born under the law, 5 so that we might be set free from the law, so that we can receive our adoption as His children. 6 Since you are His children, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”  7 So you are no longer slaves, but children of God, and if you are His child, then God has also made you his heir. 

You may remeber that in the previous post we discuss Στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου (stoicheia tou kosmou), the principles of the world.  This is what guided us until Jesus came into our lives.  So, Paul is saying that the world is just moving along, being guided by its own principles, then, in verse 4, in the fullness of time, Jesus came. Paul has been making an analogy of the boy, who at the proper time, has a status change from boy to man, and is given the benefits of adulthood and receives his inheritance.  For us, Jesus came at the time set by God.  

Paul makes the point that he was born of a woman, just like the rest of us.  He also makes the point that Jesus was born under the Law.  Doulgas Moo makes the point here that in saying that God ‘sent’ his son indicates the pre-existence of Jesus, and the two qualifiers that Paul adds indicate that Jesus left God’s side to take on humanity and Jewishness.  (Moo, 265.) 

Back in Galatians 3:13, Paul talks about ‘the curse of the Law’ and how Jesus took on that curse for us.  Here, Jesus was willingly born under the curse of the Law, so that he could take on that curse for us. 

Jesus was born under the Law, and kept it in a way that we never could.  His ability to keep the Law, enabled him to free us from that Law. It follows, then, that his freeing us from the Law, in turn brings us to our maturity and enables us to receive our adoptions as children of God, and our inheritance, as well.   

In his commentary on 4:5, Thomas Schreiner makes an interesting point.  He says, “Paul constantly depicts the power of sin with the “under” phrases in Galatians.  Those who are “under law” (3:23, 4:4) are “under a curse” (3:10) and “under sin” (3:22) and “under a custodian” (3:25) and “under the elements” (4:3). Sin has placed people under its tyranny.” (Schreiner, 270.) 

Verse 5 tells us why Jesus was born of a woman, under the Law.  Paul uses the Greek word, Ἐξαγοράσῃ (exagorasē). The Lexicon defines this word: to secure the deliverance of, deliver, liberate.  It is often translated as 'redeem.'  I chose to translate it as ‘set free.”  The point here is that Jesus was sent to redeem or set free those who were under the law of sin.  Paul used the same word back in 3:13 to talk about how Jesus freed us from the curse of sin.  

What does all of the this mean? Jesus takes our punishment upon himself in his death on the Cross, freeing us from the power of sin, and opening the door for our adoption as children of God. Now, because of Jesus, we are His children, and because we are His children, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, and we are able to cry out God and call him 'Father.'  

An interesting sidenote: Paul does not call the Spirit, the "Holy Spirit" here, instead he says Πνεῦμα τοῦ Υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ (pneuma tou huiou autou) “Spirit of His Son.”  It indicates the closeness of these three, The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit, as such phrases can be used so interchangeably.  The presence of the Spirit authenticates and verifies our relationship as God’s children, and by extension, an heir to His promise. 

       Douglas Moo, Galatians, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2013.

        Thomas Schriener, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Galatians, Zondervan Academic, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2010.