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Texts -- Galatians 4:8 (NET)

Context
Heirs of Promise Are Not to Return to Law
4:8 Formerly when you did not know God , you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all.

Pericope

NET
  • Gal 4:8-12 -- Heirs of Promise Are Not to Return to Law

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The Israelites were not to exploit one another (vv. 35-38). They were not to charge one another interest on loans (v. 37; cf. Exod. 22:25; Deut. 23:19-20). This policy would have enabled a poor farmer to buy enough seed for t...
  • Probably the most distinctive impression one receives from this epistle is its severity. Paul wrote it with strong emotion, but he never let his emotions fog his argument. His dominant concern was for truth and its bearing on...
  • I. Introduction 1:1-10A. Salutation 1:1-5B. Denunciation 1:6-10II. Personal defense of Paul's gospel 1:11-2:21A. Independence from other apostles 1:11-241. The source of Paul's gospel 1:11-172. The events of Paul's early mini...
  • The first of the three major sections of the epistle begins here. We could classify them as history (1:11-2:21), theology (chs. 3-4), and ethics (5:1-6:10).". . . Paul was . . . following the logic of the Christian life: Beca...
  • Paul mentioned the incident in which he reproved Peter, the Judaizers' favorite apostle, to further establish his own apostolic authority and to emphasize the truth of his gospel.2:11 Peter had shaken hands with Paul in Jerus...
  • Here begins the theological section of the epistle, which Paul led up to in his preceding historical account of his own conversion and calling culminating in his confrontation with Peter over justification.79Paul first vindic...
  • 3:6 The Judaizers, in emphasizing the Mosaic Law, appealed to Moses frequently. Paul took them back farther in their history to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation. He cited Genesis 15:6 to prove that God justified Abrah...
  • "Continuing the perspective of salvation history introduced in vv. 13f. and developed in vv. 15-22, Paul gives further consideration to the place of the law in the divine economy by showing the relation between law and faith ...
  • In chapter 3 the Jews' preoccupation with the Law of Moses was foremost in Paul's mind. In chapter 4 he reiterated his argument for the benefit of Gentiles for whom religious syncretism and pagan idolatry were primary concern...
  • Paul next reminded his readers of their former way of life, the transformation that their adoption into God's family had wrought, and his concern that they were in danger of trading their future for a mess of pottage.4:8-9 Be...
  • 4:28 Paul drew three applications from his interpretation. First, Christians are similar to Isaac in that they experience a supernatural birth and are part of the fulfillment of God's promise. Therefore they should not live a...
  • Paul moved next from theology (chs. 3-4) to ethics, from doctrine to exhortation.
  • Essentially Jesus Christ's death has resulted in peace between Gentile believers and Jewish believers and peace between Gentile believers and God.2:14 To understand this verse we must discover what dividing wall Paul had in m...
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