So you are no longer a slave
The phrase "no longer a slave" signifies a profound transformation in the believer's identity. In the Greco-Roman world, slavery was a common institution, and slaves had no legal rights or personal autonomy. The Greek word for "slave" here is "doulos," which denotes a person bound to serve without freedom. Spiritually, this refers to the bondage of the law and sin. In Christ, believers are liberated from this bondage, echoing the Exodus narrative where God freed the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. This liberation is not just a change in status but a complete transformation of one's relationship with God.

but a son
The transition from "slave" to "son" is monumental. The Greek word for "son" is "huios," which implies not just a child by birth but one who is recognized as having the full rights and privileges of a family member. In the Jewish context, a son was an heir and had a special place in the family. This sonship is not based on ethnicity, law, or works but on faith in Christ. It reflects the intimate relationship God desires with His people, akin to the father-son relationship seen in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), where the father's love and acceptance are unconditional.

and since you are a son
This phrase emphasizes the certainty and permanence of the believer's new identity. The use of "since" (Greek "eiper") indicates a logical conclusion based on the previous statement. Being a son is not a temporary or conditional status; it is a definitive change brought about by faith in Jesus Christ. This assurance is rooted in the promises of God, who is faithful and unchanging. The believer's sonship is a present reality, not just a future hope, and it affects how one lives and relates to God and others.

you are also an heir
The concept of being an "heir" (Greek "klēronomos") is rich with meaning. In ancient times, an heir was someone who received an inheritance, often the firstborn son who had the right to the father's estate. Spiritually, this inheritance is the fullness of God's promises, including eternal life, the Holy Spirit, and the kingdom of God. Romans 8:17 echoes this truth, stating that believers are "heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ." This inheritance is not earned but given by grace, highlighting the generosity and love of God.

through God
The phrase "through God" underscores the divine origin and guarantee of this transformation and inheritance. It is God who initiates, sustains, and completes the work of salvation. The preposition "through" (Greek "dia") indicates the means by which something is accomplished. This emphasizes that it is not by human effort or merit but by God's sovereign will and power that believers become sons and heirs. This truth is a source of great comfort and assurance, as it rests on the unchanging character and promises of God, who is both the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

(7) Thus, by your redemption, adoption, and the gift of the Spirit, it is distinctly proved that the old state of servitude and minority is past. You have entered upon the full privileges of the adult son. And the son is also called to the Messianic inheritance.

Thou.--The singular is used in order to individualise the expression and bring it home pointedly to each of the readers.

No more.--Since the coming of Christ, and your own acceptance of Christianity.

If a son, then an heir . . .--The Roman law (which the Apostle seems to be following) treated all the sons as heirs, and provided for an equal division of the property between them.

Of God through Christ.--The true reading here appears to be, through God--a somewhat unusual expression. The Christian is admitted as an heir, not through any merits of his own, but through the process of redemption and adoption wrought for him by God.

Verse 7. - Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son (ὥστε οὐκ ἔτι εῖ δοῦλος ἀλλ υἱός); so then, no longer art thou a bondservant, but a son. "Ωστε, properly "so that," is frequently used by St. Paul for" so then" or "wherefore," to state a final conclusion (cf. ver. 16, below; Galatians 3:24; Romans 7:4, etc.). It here marks the conclusion resulting from the statements of the preceding six verses, viz. of God having sent forth his Son to do away with the Law, subjection to which had marked the nonage of his people, and to raise them to their complete filial position, and of his then sending forth his Spirit into their hearts loudly protesting their sonship. "No longer art thou;" by this individualizing address the apostle strives to awaken each individual believer to the consciousness of the filial position belonging to him in particular. Believe it: in Christ Jesus, thou, thine own very self, art a son! The phrase, "no longer," marks the position of God's servant new, as compared with what it would have been before Christ had wrought his emancipating work and the Holy Spirit had been sent forth as the Spirit of adoption; then he would have still been a bond-servant; he is not that now. This abrupt singling out one individual as a sample of all the members of a class is an instance of the δεινότης of St. Paul's style (comp. Romans 11:17; Romans 12:20; Romans 13:4; Romans 14:4; 1 Corinthians 4:7). The individual cited by the "thou" is neither a Gentile convert only nor a Jewish believer only; it is any member of God's kingdom. "A son," a member of God's family, an οἰκεῖος τοῦ Θεοῦ (Ephesians 2:19), one free of all law of bondage and in full possession of a son's privileges; no sinner, now, under his Father's frown; but accepted, beloved, cherished, honoured with his Father's confidence. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ (ei) de\ ui(o/ kai\ κληρονόμος διὰ Θεοῦ [Receptus, κληρονόμος Θεοῦ διὰ Ξριστοῦ; and if a son, an heir also through God. So Romans 8:17, "And if children (τέκνα), heirs also; heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ." The inheritance here meant is the possession of every blessing which the theocratic kingdom entitles its members to look forward to. And the point of this added clause is that no further qualification is needed for our having a vested right in that inheritance, than that which is supplied by faith in Christ, uniting us to him and making us sharers with him; no such qualification, for example, as the Mosaizing reactionaries insisted upon (see Acts 15:1); no observance of ceremonial rites, whether of the Law or of such freaks of heretical" will-worship" as are referred to in Colossians 2:23. Thy faith in Christ (says in effect the apostle) gives thee now for good and all an assured place in whatever inheritance God designs to give his people. The manuscripts 'rod other authorities for the text present considerable variety in the reading of the last words of this clause. The reading adopted by L. T. Tr., Meyer, Alford, Lightfoot, and Hort and Westcott, namely, κληρονόμος διὰ Θεοῦ, is that found in the three oldest uncials, and presents a form of expression which was likely so greatly to surprise the copyist as to set him naturally upon the work of revision; whereas that of the Received Text, κληρονόμος Θεοῦ διὰ Ξριστοῦ, would have seemed to him so perfectly natural and easy that he would never have thought of altering it. The words, "heir through God," taken in connection with the foregoing context, insist upon the especial appointment of the supreme God himself; his intervention displayed in the most conspicuous manner conceivable, through the incarnated Son and the sent-forth Spirit. The believer is here said to be a son and an heir "through God," in the same sense as St. Paul affirms himself to be an apostle "through Jesus Christ and God the Father," and "through the will of God" (Galatians 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:1); for "of him and through him and unto him are all things," and most manifestedly so, the things composing the economy of grace which the gospel announces (Romans 11:36). The apostle has thus brought back his discourse to the same point which it had reached before in Galatians 3:29. The reader will do well to carefully compare this section of the Epistle (vers. 3-7) with Romans 7:25-8:4 and Romans 8:14-17. With great similarity in the forms of expression, the difference of the apostle's object in the two Epistles is clearly discerned. There he is discoursing the more prominently of the believer's emancipation from the controlling power of a sinful nature, which, under the Law, viewed under its moral aspect rather than its ceremonial, was rather fretted into yet more aggravated disobedience than quelled or overpowered. Here his subject is more prominently the believer's emancipation from the thraldom of the Law's cere-monialism, which in the present Epistle, relative to the troubles in the Galatian Churches, he has more occasion to deal with. Both the one deliverance, however, and the other was necessary for the believer's full consciousness of adoptive sonship; and each was, in fact, involved in the other.

Parallel Commentaries ...


So
ὥστε (hōste)
Conjunction
Strong's 5620: So that, therefore, so then, so as to. From hos and te; so too, i.e. Thus therefore.

you are
εἶ (ei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

no longer
οὐκέτι (ouketi)
Adverb
Strong's 3765: No longer, no more. Also ouk eti from ou and eti; not yet, no longer.

a slave,
δοῦλος (doulos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1401: (a) (as adj.) enslaved, (b) (as noun) a (male) slave. From deo; a slave.

but
ἀλλὰ (alla)
Conjunction
Strong's 235: But, except, however. Neuter plural of allos; properly, other things, i.e. contrariwise.

a son;
υἱός (huios)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5207: A son, descendent. Apparently a primary word; a 'son', used very widely of immediate, remote or figuratively, kinship.

and
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

since [you are]
εἰ (ei)
Conjunction
Strong's 1487: If. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc.

a son,
υἱός (huios)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5207: A son, descendent. Apparently a primary word; a 'son', used very widely of immediate, remote or figuratively, kinship.

[you are] also
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

an heir
κληρονόμος (klēronomos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2818: From kleros and the base of nomos (reflexively) getting by apportionment); a sharer by lot, i.e. Inheritor; by implication, a possessor.

through
διὰ (dia)
Preposition
Strong's 1223: A primary preposition denoting the channel of an act; through.

God.
Θεοῦ (Theou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.


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NT Letters: Galatians 4:7 So you are no longer a bondservant (Gal. Ga)