They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.
They were eagerly courting the Galatians with intense zeal for a harmful purpose, to win their affection and devotion to themselves. They wanted to shut the Galatians off from Paul and from others so the Galatians would seek them instead, and by doing so to separate them from the truth and shut them out from faith in Christ and from Christ himself. Their work was selfish in motive, seeking to profit from the Galatians turning away from God and to glorify man. It was part of drawing the converts away from the gospel and back toward bondage by teaching that pardon and salvation came through circumcision and human doing instead of Christ, whereas the message is salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, that men are saved by faith, justified by faith, and kept by faith.
Zealous Courting for Exclusion
The new teachers were eagerly courting the Galatians with zeal for a bad and harmful purpose, seeking to win their devotion to themselves for selfish ends. Their zeal was not well directed but pursued with improper and harmful motives. They wanted to separate the Galatians from others and shut them off from Paul, so that the Galatians would seek the teachers instead and become devoted to them.
That shutting out was also a separating from the truth, an excluding from faith in Christ and from Christ himself by drawing them away from faith in him. They zealously tried to draw the Galatians away by teaching that pardon and salvation came through circumcision instead of Christ, desiring to shut them out from Christ that they might seek the teachers themselves instead of Christ. They sought to separate the Galatians from the truth so the Galatians would become devoted to them.
Their work was selfish in motive, wanting to profit from the Galatians' turning away from God and to glorify man, even when those deceived did not see the selfishness. Zeal itself is good when directed toward what is good, and it should continue not only when the person being sought is present. What is said of those Judaizers describes not only them but all such teachers who do the same work.
Faith Versus Human Works
Galatians 4:17 stands within Paul's warning that false teachers were laboring to draw the converts away from the gospel, turning them from Christ and back toward false worship and bondage. The men from Judea pressed that effort with zeal, seeking to shut the Galatians out from faith in Christ by teaching that pardon and salvation came through circumcision instead of Christ. The verse belongs to Paul's correction of the trouble caused by Judaizing teachers who taught salvation by human doing and human works, that man must do something to save himself, and its message is salvation through faith in Jesus Christ with the emphasis upon Christ, parallel with Romans that men are saved by faith, justified by faith, and kept by faith. The teaching that man himself can do something toward his salvation enters into every false system of salvation and every perversion of the true.
The false teachers tried to turn believers from whole-hearted faith in Christ by persuading them that fleshly descent from Abraham would make them heirs of the promises. Abraham's two sons show that the promised inheritance belongs to children of the promise, born through faith, not to those whose claim rests on descent after the flesh. The chapter shows that Jerusalem which now is and her children are rejected, so descent from Jacob does not by itself make them God's chosen people.
Law Covenant and Promise
Being under the law in Paul's argument means being under the law's condemnation apart from the blessings of pardoning grace, and when grace forgives sin the believer is no longer condemned by the law but lives in harmony with it, for grace aims to keep the law by writing it in the heart. Galatians 4:9-21 does not condemn keeping the seventh-day Sabbath or any precept of God's moral law, for returning to weak and beggarly elements and desiring to be under the law means keeping the Mosaic ceremonial law. That ceremonial law is the body of law written by Moses and placed beside the ark, the law of commandments contained in ordinances that was contrary and enmity and was taken out of the way at the cross. It is distinct from the moral law spoken by God, engraved on stone, placed in the ark, declared holy and by which sin is known, of which the Sabbath is a part and which remains binding. Keeping that ceremonial law, including circumcision, is returning to bondage and places a person where the atonement of Christ profits nothing.
The ten commandments are not what Paul compares with bondage, since keeping nine commandments would not also mean bondage. The Sabbath command is not oppressive, because God made the Sabbath for people and calls it a delight. The surrounding explanation identifies the Jerusalem that now is, rather than the ten commandments, as what Paul compares with bondage.
The chapter's reference to being born of the free woman supports the resurrection as the birth of God's children into freedom and eternal life. Believers are now begotten through the truth and have the Spirit as the pledge of adoption, but they await the redemption of their bodies before they are born into the kingdom. The verse belongs to Paul's proof that the barren woman called to sing in Isaiah 54:1 is the New Jerusalem, the mother of us all.
They were eagerly courting the Galatians with intense zeal for a harmful purpose, to win their affection and devotion to themselves. They wanted to shut the Galatians off from Paul and from others so the Galatians would seek them instead, and by doing so to separate them from the truth and shut them out from faith in Christ and from Christ himself. Their work was selfish in motive, seeking to profit from the Galatians turning away from God and to glorify man. It was part of drawing the converts away from the gospel and back toward bondage by teaching that pardon and salvation came through circumcision and human doing instead of Christ, whereas the message is salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, that men are saved by faith, justified by faith, and kept by faith.
Zealous Courting for Exclusion
The new teachers were eagerly courting the Galatians with zeal for a bad and harmful purpose, seeking to win their devotion to themselves for selfish ends. Their zeal was not well directed but pursued with improper and harmful motives. They wanted to separate the Galatians from others and shut them off from Paul, so that the Galatians would seek the teachers instead and become devoted to them.
That shutting out was also a separating from the truth, an excluding from faith in Christ and from Christ himself by drawing them away from faith in him. They zealously tried to draw the Galatians away by teaching that pardon and salvation came through circumcision instead of Christ, desiring to shut them out from Christ that they might seek the teachers themselves instead of Christ. They sought to separate the Galatians from the truth so the Galatians would become devoted to them.
Their work was selfish in motive, wanting to profit from the Galatians' turning away from God and to glorify man, even when those deceived did not see the selfishness. Zeal itself is good when directed toward what is good, and it should continue not only when the person being sought is present. What is said of those Judaizers describes not only them but all such teachers who do the same work.
Faith Versus Human Works
Galatians 4:17 stands within Paul's warning that false teachers were laboring to draw the converts away from the gospel, turning them from Christ and back toward false worship and bondage. The men from Judea pressed that effort with zeal, seeking to shut the Galatians out from faith in Christ by teaching that pardon and salvation came through circumcision instead of Christ. The verse belongs to Paul's correction of the trouble caused by Judaizing teachers who taught salvation by human doing and human works, that man must do something to save himself, and its message is salvation through faith in Jesus Christ with the emphasis upon Christ, parallel with Romans that men are saved by faith, justified by faith, and kept by faith. The teaching that man himself can do something toward his salvation enters into every false system of salvation and every perversion of the true.
The false teachers tried to turn believers from whole-hearted faith in Christ by persuading them that fleshly descent from Abraham would make them heirs of the promises. Abraham's two sons show that the promised inheritance belongs to children of the promise, born through faith, not to those whose claim rests on descent after the flesh. The chapter shows that Jerusalem which now is and her children are rejected, so descent from Jacob does not by itself make them God's chosen people.
Law Covenant and Promise
Being under the law in Paul's argument means being under the law's condemnation apart from the blessings of pardoning grace, and when grace forgives sin the believer is no longer condemned by the law but lives in harmony with it, for grace aims to keep the law by writing it in the heart. Galatians 4:9-21 does not condemn keeping the seventh-day Sabbath or any precept of God's moral law, for returning to weak and beggarly elements and desiring to be under the law means keeping the Mosaic ceremonial law. That ceremonial law is the body of law written by Moses and placed beside the ark, the law of commandments contained in ordinances that was contrary and enmity and was taken out of the way at the cross. It is distinct from the moral law spoken by God, engraved on stone, placed in the ark, declared holy and by which sin is known, of which the Sabbath is a part and which remains binding. Keeping that ceremonial law, including circumcision, is returning to bondage and places a person where the atonement of Christ profits nothing.
The ten commandments are not what Paul compares with bondage, since keeping nine commandments would not also mean bondage. The Sabbath command is not oppressive, because God made the Sabbath for people and calls it a delight. The surrounding explanation identifies the Jerusalem that now is, rather than the ten commandments, as what Paul compares with bondage.
The chapter's reference to being born of the free woman supports the resurrection as the birth of God's children into freedom and eternal life. Believers are now begotten through the truth and have the Spirit as the pledge of adoption, but they await the redemption of their bodies before they are born into the kingdom. The verse belongs to Paul's proof that the barren woman called to sing in Isaiah 54:1 is the New Jerusalem, the mother of us all.