The Trinity at Work (Galatians 4:1-7)
Paul continues with explaining to his readers why they should not have followed the teaching of the false messengers regarding the role of the ceremonial law in the new covenant period. He reminds them that the role of the ceremonial law was like that of a guardian or a manager who looked after young children who have a large inheritance until the child is mature enough to appreciate his inheritance. The date of this taking place has been set up the child’s father. As far as believers are concerned, the dates had been set by the Heavenly Father. The date for the cessation of the ceremonial law had passed with the coming of Jesus and therefore the law should not be practised as a way of becoming right with God.
Paul also continues to use different plural pronouns. In verses 3-5, he uses the pronoun ‘we’ because he is describing the experience of the Jews regarding how their relationship to the law was changed. Then in verses 6 and 7, he uses ‘you’ to include the effects of the gospel on the Galatians, whether Jews or Gentiles. The reason why everything changed was the coming of Jesus.
The gospel and the Jews
The title of this heading is not meant to suggest that there is a different gospel for Gentiles. Instead, the apostle is explaining the situation from an historical point of view. In doing so, he provides a succinct summary of the gospel in verse 4. In that verse, he mentions five things.
First, God is sovereign over the events of time. There is nothing haphazard about the way he fulfils his purpose. He decided when the period covered by the Mosaic law would begin and he decided when it would end. The fullness of time refers to the completion of that period, and since that is the case something new has been introduced by God as far as the experience of his people is concerned. It is important for us to remember that God is sovereign over all events, but especially in the history of his kingdom.
Second, God the Father sent forth his Son. Here we have a reminder of the Trinity and each of the three persons is mentioned in verse 6. Two of them are mentioned in verse 4 – the Father and the Son. When we think of the Trinity, it is important to remember that the persons are equal in power and glory. Obviously, the existence of the Trinity is very hard for humans to understand. Indeed, humans would never have discovered about the Trinity if left to themselves. Thankfully and wonderfully, the Trinity have revealed some details about themselves and their relationship to one another and to their creatures.
Theologians have attempted to explain the activities of the Trinity by referring to the Trinity in two ways. One is what is called the essential Trinity and the other is called the economic Trinity. By the essential Trinity is meant what the Trinity is in essence, and very profound and complex suggestions are made about what that means, and by the economic Trinity is meant what the Trinity does, especially in the works of creation and salvation. As far as we are concerned, the Bible focuses on the economic Trinity. We can read about what the Father, Son and Holy Spirit did when the universe was created and we can read about what they did, are doing and will do in the plan of salvation.
In the plan of salvation, each of the divine persons has specific roles. It has been summarised as the Father plans salvation, the Son procures salvation, and the Spirit applies salvation. We can see from Paul’s brief description that the Father’s role was to send the Son. We will see in a minute what this sending entailed. Meanwhile we can consider why the Father did this.
John 3:16 tells us that he did this because he loved the world. In 1 John 3:16, the author says that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. By the world, John does not have in mind the numerical world because if that had been the case vast numbers perished before the Son was sent. Rather John has in mind the moral world, the world composed of sinners, the world that was rebellious and bad. At the same time, we should recall that the Father also sent his Son to deliver those who had been given to the Son as a gift by the Father. They are mentioned by Jesus in his prayer recorded in John 17.
How did he send his Son? If an earthly parent wants to send a child somewhere, he or she will arrange for the best means of travel. In a far higher sense, how was the Son to travel? What methods would he use? Paul tells us what they were. The methods were (1) born of woman and (2) born under the law. ‘Born of woman’ states the reality of his humanity and ‘born under the law’ states that he was a Jew and that he was born during a particular stage in God’s plan. So the Son became a real man living within the kingdom of God.
The incarnation and life of Jesus are full of wonderful features. He became a man without ceasing to be God, and he lived among sinners, tempted by the devil, without sinning. The travel involved humiliation for the Son, but he embraced it gladly and willingly.
What task did the Father give to his Son? Several answers can be given to that question, but the one given by Paul is that the Son came to redeem those who were under the law. Redemption in biblical examples includes securing a person’s estate as well as his life by the payment of a price. It was impossible for the ceremonial law to do any of those requirements. The law only demands a penalty, it does not pay the penalty. In contrast, the Son, because he was now also a man, could, and he did so when he suffered on the cross, paid the penalty for the sins of his people, and purchased their inheritance for them.
What goal did the Father have when he gave his Son? Paul says it was that God’s people would be adopted into his family. The apostle is using an illustration when he refers to adoption. In those times, it was an adult who enjoyed the inheritance, and sometimes a person would adopt a suitable individual to have the inheritance. It is amazing for us to think about the kind of people that God the Father adopts.
With regard to many Jews who were adopted in the early church, they had been involved previously with demanding the death of Jesus as they celebrated an important event in the law – the Passover. Yet to them the gospel came in gracious power on the Day of Pentecost. Even Paul himself had used the law against God when he attempted to obey it without believing in Jesus, but he too discovered that he could become a son of God.
The gospel and the Gentiles
The apostle now turns to the Gentiles and reminds them that they became sons when they believed the gospel. He also reminds them that something wonderful happens to all the family members and that is that the Father sends the Spirit of his Son into their hearts.
Again we see the role of the Father is to send, except this time he is sending the Spirit. This means that we can describe the Father’s actions as sending the Son for us and as sending the Spirit to us. He sent his Son to live and die for us, and he sends the Spirit to indwell us.
Paul calls the Holy Spirit by a particular name – he is ‘the Spirit of his Son’, which clearly means that there is a connection between what Jesus did and does and what the Spirit does. The best way to understand this is to consider what Jesus meant when he promised his disciples in the Upper Room that he would send to them another Comforter. The word translated ‘another’ means ‘another of the same kind’, and the indication was that the Spirit would do in believers what Jesus would do if he was literally present with them. Moreover, both the Father and the Son send the Spirit because he is one of the purchased blessings connected to the redemption of God’s people. The presence of the Spirit is an essential feature of the heavenly inheritance for believers even now. Elsewhere, Paul describes the presence of the Spirit as the sample as well as the guarantee of the inheritance (Eph. 1:13-14).
What does the Spirit do when he comes into the hearts of believers? He cries, ‘Abba, Father.’ Paul does not say here that this is the cry of a believer, but that it is a cry within a believer coming from the indwelling Spirit. One assumes that this means a shared experience of communion in which both the believer and the Spirit say the same thing, but that the Spirit strengthens the believer’s cry and so testifies with the believer that they are children of God. The ‘you’ in this verse is unusual in that it is singular, which could suggest that Paul is highlighting the reality of each person’s spiritual experience.
Paul, by the use of pronouns, could be saying that he and other Jews experienced this divine cry within them when Gentiles started embracing the Saviour. Their coming to faith was evidence that a new stage had come in the kingdom of God.
It is amazing to think that this cry is ascending to heaven from within the heart of every Christian in the world. No doubt, there are many noises coming from our world that from heaven only sound as screeches. Yet the cry from within his people brings great pleasure to the heavenly Father.
Moreover, we can see here that the experience is an intimate one. Anything that happens between two persons in the way described by Paul must be one that is very loving. Although the believer is a sinner, the Spirit loves to be with his people. In Romans 15:30, Paul mentions the love of the Spirit in connection with prayer for him by his brothers, and it may be the case that we experience the love of the Spirit best as we pray.
The intimacy is also seen in the word ‘abba’ that Paul uses. It was the word that a son would use when speaking to his father, not only when a young child, but also as an adult. The son would have respect for his father, but he would also know that he could approach his father in an intimate manner. In a far higher sense, we use the word ‘father’ of our God.
Of course, we can see from the apostle’s words that the Spirit is involved in the intercession of believers, not only as an enabler, but also as a participator. He, as it were, is described as agreeing with the desire expressed by the believer. As Paul says elsewhere, the One who searches the heart knows what is the mind of the Spirit who dwells there.
The conclusion that Paul draws from this experience is that it is an indication that the person who has it is no longer a slave to sin but a son of God, and since he is a son he must be an heir of God. Since that is the case, why did the Galatians think that the gospel he preached needed adjusting?
Applications
Paul in verses 4-5 gives a succinct summary of the gospel and states what Jesus did for his people. It would be a good exercise to try and write out our own summary and highlight what we have received through the work of Jesus.
Another use we can make of this set of verses is to turn to them when someone suggests to us that our gospel is not sufficient. It is both objective (what Jesus did for us) and subjective (what the Spirit does in us). If we value both, we know we have the right response to the gospel.