4. gave himself--
(Ga 2:20);
unto death, as an offering. Found only in this and the Pastoral
Epistles. The Greek is different in
Eph 5:25
(see on
Eph 5:25).
for our sins--which enslaved us to the present evil world.
deliver us from this--Greek, "out of the," &c. The Father
and Son are each said to "deliver us," &c.
(Col 1:13):
but the Son, not the Father, gave Himself for us in order to do
so, and make us citizens of a better world
(Php 3:20).
The Galatians in desiring to return to legal bondage are, he implies,
renouncing the deliverance which Christ wrought for us. This he
more fully repeats in
Ga 3:13.
"Deliver" is the very word used by the Lord as to His deliverance of
Paul himself
(Ac 26:17):
an undesigned coincidence between Paul and Luke.
world--Greek, "age"; system or course of
the world, regarded from a religious point of view. The present
age opposes the "glory"
(Ga 1:5)
of God, and is under the authority of the Evil One. The "ages of ages"
(Greek,
Ga 1:5)
are opposed to "the present evil age."
according to the will of God and our Father--Greek, "of Him who
is at once God [the sovereign Creator] and our Father"
(Joh 6:38, 39; 10:18,
end). Without merit of ours. His sovereignty as
"GOD," and our filial relation to Him as
"OUR FATHER," ought to keep
us from blending our own legal notions (as the Galatians were doing)
with His will and plan. This paves the way for his argument.
JFB.
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