Parallel Bible results for "galatians 4"

Galatians 4

New Living Translation NLT

1 Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had.

2 They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set.

3 And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.

4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.

5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”

7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

8 Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist.

9 So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?

10 You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years.

11 I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing.

12 Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you Gentiles—free from those laws. You did not mistreat me when I first preached to you.

13 Surely you remember that I was sick when I first brought you the Good News.

14 But even though my condition tempted you to reject me, you did not despise me or turn me away. No, you took me in and cared for me as though I were an angel from God or even Christ Jesus himself.

15 Where is that joyful and grateful spirit you felt then? I am sure you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me if it had been possible.

16 Have I now become your enemy because I am telling you the truth?

17 Those false teachers are so eager to win your favor, but their intentions are not good. They are trying to shut you off from me so that you will pay attention only to them.

18 If someone is eager to do good things for you, that’s all right; but let them do it all the time, not just when I’m with you.

19 Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives.

20 I wish I were with you right now so I could change my tone. But at this distance I don’t know how else to help you.

21 Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says?

22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife.

23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.

24 These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them.

25 And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law.

26 But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother.

27 As Isaiah said, “Rejoice, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into a joyful shout, you who have never been in labor! For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband!”

28 And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac.

29 But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit.

30 But what do the Scriptures say about that? “Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”

31 So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.

The Message Bible MSG

1 Let me show you the implications of this. As long as the heir is a minor, he has no advantage over the slave. Though legally he owns the entire inheritance,

2 he is subject to tutors and administrators until whatever date the father has set for emancipation.

3 That is the way it is with us: When we were minors, we were just like slaves ordered around by simple instructions (the tutors and administrators of this world), with no say in the conduct of our own lives.

4 But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law.

5 Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage.

6 You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, "Papa! Father!"

7 Doesn't that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you're also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.

8 Earlier, before you knew God personally, you were enslaved to so-called gods that had nothing of the divine about them.

9 But now that you know the real God - or rather since God knows you - how can you possibly subject yourselves again to those paper tigers?

10 For that is exactly what you do when you are intimidated into scrupulously observing all the traditions, taboos, and superstitions associated with special days and seasons and years.

11 I am afraid that all my hard work among you has gone up in a puff of smoke!

12 My dear friends, what I would really like you to do is try to put yourselves in my shoes to the same extent that I, when I was with you, put myself in yours. You were very sensitive and kind then. You did not come down on me personally.

13 You were well aware that the reason I ended up preaching to you was that I was physically broken, and so, prevented from continuing my journey, I was forced to stop with you. That is how I came to preach to you.

14 And don't you remember that even though taking in a sick guest was most troublesome for you, you chose to treat me as well as you would have treated an angel of God - as well as you would have treated Jesus himself if he had visited you?

15 What has happened to the satisfaction you felt at that time? There were some of you then who, if possible, would have given your very eyes to me - that is how deeply you cared!

16 And now have I suddenly become your enemy simply by telling you the truth? I can't believe it.

17 Those heretical teachers go to great lengths to flatter you, but their motives are rotten. They want to shut you out of the free world of God's grace so that you will always depend on them for approval and direction, making them feel important.

18 It is a good thing to be ardent in doing good, but not just when I am in your presence. Can't you continue the same concern for both my person and my message when I am away from you that you had when I was with you?

19 Do you know how I feel right now, and will feel until Christ's life becomes visible in your lives? Like a mother in the pain of childbirth.

20 Oh, I keep wishing that I was with you. Then I wouldn't be reduced to this blunt, letter-writing language out of sheer frustration.

21 Tell me now, you who have become so enamored with the law: Have you paid close attention to that law?

22 Abraham, remember, had two sons: one by the slave woman and one by the free woman.

23 The son of the slave woman was born by human connivance; the son of the free woman was born by God's promise.

24 This illustrates the very thing we are dealing with now. The two births represent two ways of being in relationship with God. One is from Mount Sinai in Arabia.

25 It corresponds with what is now going on in Jerusalem - a slave life, producing slaves as offspring. This is the way of Hagar.

26 In contrast to that, there is an invisible Jerusalem, a free Jerusalem, and she is our mother - this is the way of Sarah.

27 Remember what Isaiah wrote: Rejoice, barren woman who bears no children, shout and cry out, woman who has no birth pangs, Because the children of the barren woman now surpass the children of the chosen woman.

28 Isn't it clear, friends, that you, like Isaac, are children of promise?

29 In the days of Hagar and Sarah, the child who came from faithless connivance (Ishmael) harassed the child who came - empowered by the Spirit - from the faithful promise (Isaac). Isn't it clear that the harassment you are now experiencing from the Jerusalem heretics follows that old pattern?

30 There is a Scripture that tells us what to do: "Expel the slave mother with her son, for the slave son will not inherit with the free son."

31 Isn't that conclusive? We are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.