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This is the Ephesian parallel with Rom. 8: 29: "conformed to the image of His
Son." The power that worketh in us is the mighty power which wrought in Christ and
raised Him from the dead. It enabled Paul to say: "The life I now live in the flesh, I live
by faith of the Son of God." Paul, however, was under no illusion. He knew the outer
man was perishing. He knew what suffering meant. He did not "claim" any exemption
from these things, but he was more than conqueror in them all.
The day of redemption, which is the day of adoption, has not yet come. Let us beware
lest by any excess of zeal we say that "the resurrection is past already". We have the
earnest, the leading of the Spirit of God, the indwelling of the Spirit of Him that raised up
Jesus our Lord from the dead. We have the assurance that nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. For the freedom from the bondage of
the elements of the world we are unfeignedly thankful. In the bestowal of the spirit of
freedom from the bondage of corruption we rejoice, and for actual and literal
emancipation from the bondage of corruption we confidently wait. Let us not miss the
fullness of the earnest, which is our present possession, by vainly assuming a position
that is ours only when the day of redemption shall have come.
As an appendix we give the following quotation from A historical Commentary on St.
Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, by W. M. Ramsay, D.C.50::--
"The idea that they who follow the principle of faith are sons of Abraham, whatever
family they belong to by nature, would certainly be understood by the Galatians as
referring to the legal process called, huiothesia."
"Adoption was a kind of embryo Will; the adopted son became the owner of the
property, and the property could pass to a person that was naturally outside the family
only through his being adopted. The adoption was a sort of Will-making; and this
ancient form of Will was irrevocable and public. The terms `Son' and `Heir' are
interchangeable."
"An illustration from the ordinary fact of society, as it existed in the Galatian cities, is
here stated: `I speak after the manner of men'. The Will (diatheke) of a human being is
irrevocable when once duly executed. But if Paul is speaking about a Will, how can he
say, after it is once made, it is irrevocable?"
"Such irrevocability was a characteristic feature of Greek law, according to which
an heir outside the family must be adopted into the family; and the adoption was the
Will-making. The testator, after adopting his heir, could not subsequently take away
from him his share of the inheritance or impose new conditions on his succession. The
Roman-Syrian Law Book will illustrate this passage of the Epistle. It actually lays down
the principle that a man can never put away an adopted son, and that he cannot put away
a real son without good ground. It is remarkable that the adopted son should have a
stronger position than the son by birth; yet it is so. The expression in Gal. 3: verse 15,
`When it hath been confirmed', must also be observed. Every Will had to be passed
through the Record Office of the city. It was not regarded in the Greek law as a purely
private document. It must be deposited in the Record Office."
If the reader will read Gal. 3: 15 - 4: 7, and Eph. 1: 13, 14 in the light of this
Galatian usage of adoption, it will be seen how utterly impossible it is for any subsequent
law, sin or forfeiture to deprive the heir of the full benefits of this adoption "when the
time appointed by the Father" arrives. We do not omit from our reckoning that which