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Commentary on "From Slaves to Heirs"
Day 4: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - "God Sent Forth His Son"
Overview
In context, Gal 4:4 is part of a continuing discussion about the nature or role of the law relative to a New Covenant believer. This lesson treats this verse complete separate from what precedes or follows.
Observations
In order to understand Paul's intent, we need to review the passage not just the individual verse. There is no problem with pointing out that God is active in working His will throughout history, or that Christ came at a specific time, a time that was pre-planned by God. But more important, in the immediate context, is that two verses earlier the passage is also speaking about a date set by God. Ignoring the immediately surrounding verses in order to discuss other applications violates basic rules of reading comprehension and common sense.
In verse 2 the child (the Israelites under the Old Covenant as shown in the previous lesson) is under guardians and managers (described as the law in Gal 3:24) "until the date set by his father". Verse 3 begins describing "In the same way…" comparing our spiritual situation with the child who is an heir. Just as there is a "date set by his father" in the earthly example, there is the point where "the fullness of time has come" in the heavenly reality being described. This fullness of time is the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Before Jesus the followers of God (Israel) were under the guardianship of the law. But that was for a specific period of time leading up to the date set by the Father. After that date the status of the child changed and the guardian (law) no longer managed the actions of the grown heir. "In the same way" the status of God's followers changed and the law that managed the action of these followers no longer ruled them.
The lesson is correct in pointing out that Christ had to take on our humanity in order to redeem us. And there is nothing inherently wrong in examining that truth with along with this passage. The SDA lesson wants the readers to engage in discussion about the "why" of God's action. In this case, several of the verses listed do point out reasons:
- So that Christ could accomplish what the Law could not do, that through Him the requirements of the Law are met in us (Rom 8:3-4)
- So that in Him, we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21)
- So that He could actually make propitiation for the sins of the people (Heb 2:17)
- So that our High Priest can sympathize with our weakness (Heb 4:15)
The lesson correctly points out that "God took the initiative in our salvation"; unfortunately this statement leaves open the idea that salvation is now our responsibility, since God has made the first step.
The lesson also correctly points out that "born under the law" points to Jesus' Jewish heritage and His role in bearing our condemnation. But it blatantly ignores what Scripture says in the following verse that He came to redeem thus who were under the law.
Summary
The same conclusion for that last lesson applies equally to this one. The quarterly lesson does not allow the surrounding Scripture to define what the passages mean. Instead of relying on Scripture to interpret Scripture, the lesson inserts leading questions that direct the unsuspecting reader away from the contextual understanding of the passage. Take the time to evaluate the surrounding context and see how consistently Paul presents the same truth over and over again using different comparisons.
Furthermore, the lesson introduces interesting truths (with a couple of errors mixed in for good measure) that are unrelated to the contextual understanding of the verse. By focusing on these other important and interesting ideas, the reader is distracted from following the analogy being used by Paul in the book that we are studying.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised November 2, 2011. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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