We Are Children Not Slaves - November 6

Read Galatians 4:4-7 

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 

Reflect 

How is being an heir with a father different from being a slave with a master? 

Yesterday, we examined Paul’s analogy that children are similar to slaves and servants. Both are under the authority of others. Both have people who tell them what they can and cannot do. In this analogy, unbelievers who are under the law are like children and slaves. But in today’s reading, Paul presents us with some key differences between slaves and children with an inheritance (those of us who are believers in Christ). 

Throughout the book of Galatians, Paul urged his readers not to subject themselves to the law’s requirements anymore because they had been set free in Christ. In today’s verses, he reminded them that God, in His own perfect time, sent us His Son, Jesus, in order to set us free from the law. When we receive Christ, we are adopted as sons of God! We are His heirs. Furthermore, one of the blessings He bestows on us as His children is His Holy Spirit in our hearts. We didn’t do anything to deserve it. We were guilty under the law. We were slaves to the law but it couldn’t save us.  

But God sent us Jesus at just the right time. He was born of a woman, so He was fully human and yet, He was God’s Son so He was also fully God. As a human, He was born under the law but as God, He was able to perfectly fulfill the law’s requirements. That’s why He was able to redeem us. Mankind was cursed because of our sin so man needed to pay the penalty for our sin. But no human can perfectly fulfill the law and even if a human could, one human’s death would never be powerful enough to atone for the sins of the entire world. We needed someone totally God, totally man. John MacArthur put it this way in his commentary on Galatians: “He had to be God to have the power of Savior, and He had to be man to have the position of Substitute.”  

Jesus is our Savior and our Substitute. He died in our place. He paid the penalty that our sin required. He perfectly obeyed the law and fulfilled the requirements that we failed to keep. In doing so, He saved us. But what now? What did He save us for? For adoption as sons and daughters of God! We have salvation, yes, but we have so much more than that. We are heirs of God! 

In his New Testament commentary, Warren Wiersbe identified five ways that being a “son of God” is different from being a servant. First, a son of God shares in the nature of God because the Holy Spirit comes to live in us and makes us new. But, if we return to the servitude of the law, we are returning to our old, fleshly selves instead of living out our new nature in Christ. Second, sons have fathers whereas servants simply have masters. It is a very different relationship. The father/son relationship is intimate and loving. Which brings us to our third difference—sons obey their fathers out of love but slaves obey out of fear. We don’t obey God because we are afraid of His punishment, we know that Jesus paid that punishment for us. But we obey because we want to please our heavenly Father. Fourth, as heirs, sons are rich but slaves are poor. Wiersbe pointed out that we are rich because He has lavished on us His immeasurable grace, glory, goodness, and wisdom. We have access to all that He has and is. Finally, we have a future that servants simply do not have. Being enslaved to the law is a dead end. But as heirs of God with Christ, our inheritance is already but not yet. We have already been redeemed. We are already set free. The Holy Spirit is already living in us but we have the promise of Christ’s return when our inheritance will be fully realized for all eternity! 

Friends, why would we ever want to return to a life of servitude under the law when we have been set free to live instead as children of God? May we live like sons and daughters of a King instead of servants and slaves to legalism. 

Respond  

Father, I praise You because in Your perfect timing, You sent Your Son, Jesus to set me free from the law and the punishment that I deserved under it. Jesus is my Savior and my Substitute but You have given me so much more than salvation alone. By Your Spirit, help me to walk in the freedom You have given me as Your child and live a life that brings You glory. Amen. 

Reveal  

This week, look for someone who feels overlooked or undervalued—maybe a coworker whose contributions go unnoticed, a classmate who tends to sit alone, or a neighbor who keeps to themselves. Take a small but intentional step to affirm their worth: thank them for something specific they do, invite them into conversation, or offer help without expecting anything in return. When you treat someone as valuable rather than expendable, you mirror the heart of a Father who calls His children beloved, not enslaved. Through your simple act of care, you remind them—and yourself—what it looks like to live as someone deeply loved and freely accepted.