Quarantine Epistles 204

The Privilege of Sonship. Galatians 4:4-7.

Dear People of God, 

We wrap up the discussion on the law as a tutor with a return to the centrality of Christ and his work for our salvation. 

 Fullness (v. 4). God’s preparations for the salvation of man in Christ were “foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1:20) but were revealed in God’s perfect time. God always gets it right. He does not rush things but acts at the right time. God sent his son, but Paul wants us to see the son’s humanity as well, so he says that the son was born of a woman and under the law. 

 Freedom (v. 5a). The son was sent to set those who were under the law free. That is why the son came under the law, meaning that he was under obligation to obey the law – which he did perfectly (Hebrews 4:15).  The perfect keeping of the law gave Jesus the standing of blamelessness, despite which he was killed, anyway. The death he died was not for his own sins, of which he had none, but for others. 

 Filiation (vv. 5b-6).The work of Christ has enabled us to gain adoption into the family of God. This adoption has been achieved through the Holy Spirit whom God has sent into our hearts. This Spirit “bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16) and “by whom we cry out ‘Abba, Father’”(Romans 8:15). In the Aramaic language, abba was an endearing term, much like the English “daddy.”This closeness to God should be seen in the light of what has already been discussed. God as the judge is aloof. The law posts him as a judge. But God as a father is close. We can call him “daddy”.

Fulfilment (v. 7). Going back to the discussion about the heir who is minor and no different from a slave (v. 1), Paul combines that thought with the idea of adoption, in which a child who may have no blood relationship with a family may be adopted into it. The adoption child gains the same rights as a child born into the family and is therefore a rightful heir to the family estate. This is what Christ has done for us! 
The message here also is, the law makes you a transgressor and keeps you at arm’s length. Faith in Jesus brings you into the family through adoption. It ought to be obvious what we should choose. 

Your Loving Pastor Chris.