Galatians 4:1
1 Now [de] I say [lego], That the heir [kleronomos],
as long as [epi] [hosos] [chronos] he is [esti] a child [nepios], differeth
[diaphero] nothing [oudeis] from a servant [doulos],
though he be [on] lord [kurios] of all [pas]; KJV-Interlinear
4 Now I say, as long as the heir
is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of
everything, NASB
The heir and the servant are compared while they are
children, or youngsters that have not reached the age of adulthood.
The word for child, ‘nepios,’ refers to a young
person who has not yet reached the age of adulthood. In general this can be 18
years of age or 21 years of age, but back in Paul’s day or in ancient times, in
general, the time of designating adulthood was decided by the father of the
family.
The heir is one who inherits property, and that is
the child, or son, who is not the servant.
So both children while they are minors are similar
in that both are under the guidance and control of another, such as a guardian.
However the one who is to inherit is different in that he has an inheritance to
look forward to, while the servant does not.
By example the Jewish people were under the law
which in the illustration that Paul was making was the brutal guardian, the Mosaic
Law, out from under which they could not get free.
And by the same token all people whether believers
or unbelievers before the birth of Christ, before the cross, were under the
rule of the Mosaic law and therefore slaves to a system that demanded
perfection that no one could achieve.
But unlike the servant, the child who is heir to an
inheritance, has a promise. And that promise is that one day he would inherit
from his father all of the father’s property.
The servant on the other hand did not have a father
who owned any kind of property and therefore the servant will not inherit
anything. He would simply live out his life and then die, and then be gone
forever.
So in comparing the two opposite concepts, works by
means of the Mosaic law, and an inheritance by means of a promise, then God the
Father who owns all things would determine the time that the promise would
become a reality. That promise was the savior, and the promise was fulfilled with
the Cross through the resurrection.
Works then, by means of the Mosaic law, means that
there is no inheritance, no destiny, and therefore nothing to gain by pursuing
an unachievable result.
So long as the promise remained unfulfilled there
was no difference between the servant and the son or the child, with regard to
their freedoms or rather their lack of freedom in their functions in life.
The difference between the servant and the child,
while they are both children, is that the child has a promise and the servant
does not. Also, the servant will never reach the age of adulthood, will never
achieve freedom, and will always remain under the control of the guardian. The child, or the son, has the promise and
will be one day declared an adult by his father.
Without faith in Christ, there is no freedom, only
perpetual slavery to a cruel master namely the law, and the works programs that
it represents, that no one can fulfill.
With Christ, the promise is fulfilled and the child
who was once contained by his being controlled by a guardian, is now set free,
and free to inherit, with no further restrictions demanded by the Law and the
world that opposes the promise.
Satans plan was to prevent the fulfillment of the
promise of the Messiah, but in that effort, he failed. And therefore, the works of the Law became
obsolete and null and void, and abrogated once the promise was fulfilled with
Christ’s work on the cross.
Now no one is forced to look to living a perfect
life, nor even trying to attain Gods approval by means of their own effort,
because now all that is needed is faith.
Christ did the work and there is no further work required.
