Scripture Daily

Context No. 4044 of 4322 · Galatians

Context · Reflection

Galatians 4:1-7: in context

1But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a bondservant, though he is lord of all, 2but is under guardians and stewards until the day appointed by the father. 3So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental principles of the world. 4But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, 5that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as children. 6And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” 7So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Paul explains the great change the gospel brings. Before Christ, he says, we were like children who, though heirs, were no better off than slaves, held in bondage. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

And because we are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Here is the wonder of the gospel: not merely that our sins are forgiven, but that we are made God's own children. We were slaves; now we are sons and daughters, adopted into God's family, made heirs. And the proof and experience of this is the Spirit within us, who moves us to cry out to God with the intimate word Abba, Father, the word of a beloved child to a trusted father. Our relationship to God is not one of fearful servitude but of belonging in his family, with all the privileges of an heir. If you are in Christ, you are no longer a slave but a son, and an heir of God.

Do I live in the truth of the gospel, that in Christ I am no longer a slave but an adopted child of God and an heir, crying by the Spirit within me, Abba, Father, with a child's confidence before him?

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