Nowhere does the Bible teach that we are all God’s children. Yet I say with confidence, “I am a son of God.” “So,” writes Paul, “you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God” (Galatians 4;7).
Paul, for the sake of the new Galatian believers, has argued against “the circumcision party” who insisted that Gentiles believe plus be circumcised and follow Jewish law to be right with God. Paul countered, “Now before faith came, were we held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith” (3:23-26). From slaves to law. To justification by faith. To sons by adoption.
“I mean that the heir (to all God’s saving promises) as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father” (Galatians 4:1,2).
Under Roman law, a child—heir of his father’s estate—lived under a tutor’s supervision. The child, in Paul'[s view, was “no different from a slave”, because he had to follow the tutor’s rules. But at the son’s 25th birthday, he inherited everything that was his.
“So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic [elemental] principles of the world” (4:3).
We were children pre-Christ. And Paul sees that life as “slavery under the basic principles (Greek, stoykaia) of the world”. For Jews stoykaia was the Hebrew Law. For Gentiles concepts of pagan religions. So our “designer religions” today. Whatever we design—a little Christianity, a little Judaism, a little New Age—has rules to follow, ceremonies to attend. All of it to merit a right-standing with God. But how can we be sure it’s enough? And how to compensate for falling short of our self-made rules? In Paul’s mind, it’s childhood slavery.
But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of [adoption as] sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir” (4:4-7).
When God’s calendar said, “Time!”, he sent his Son. ” . . . born of a woman” to represent us humans. ” . . . born under law to redeem those under law.” That is, God’s Son was born under law, lived under law, and fully obeyed the law without transgression. He did it so we might stand before God justified by faith. He did it so we might receive his righteousness as a gift of grace. And he did it “that we might receive adoption as sons.” Or, as the NIV interprets huiothesian. “that we might receive the fulls rights of sons.” Like the child-“slave” now turned 25. All the “estate” God has for his Son, his sons share in.
Adoption as sons—-it’s more than a “legal” transaction. “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out ‘Abba, Father.” The Spirit applies adoption to believers. Adoption is an experience in our inmost being. God sends the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. And the Spirit calls out “Abba, Father.”
Gordon Fee, theologian and Professor Emeritus at Regent College, writes, “The jury is still out on the precise meaning, and therefore the significance, of the term Abba. Most likely the word was in fact an expression of intimacy, used by children first as infants and later as adults, reflecting what is true in many such cultures where the terms of endearment for one’s parents are used lifelong” (God’s Empowering Presence). The Son prayed in Gethsemane, “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36). The Spirit witnesses in our spirit that we are God’s adopted children, sharing in the Son’s relationship with the Father.
Fee writes, “Here is the ultimate evidence that we are God’s children, in that we address God with the same term of intimate relationship that Jesus himself used . . . The Spirit has taken us far beyond mere conformity to religious obligations . . . For Paul—and for us—this is the ultimate expression of grace” (God’s Powerful Presence).
And, since we are sons, God has made us also heirs of all his promises. What we enjoy with him now is just a taste of what’s to come forever.
I am an adopted son of God. The Spirit of God’s Son lives in me. And what I will be has not yet appeared; but I know that when he appears, I shall be like him, because I will see him as he is (1 John 3:2). If you belong to Christ by faith—you too.
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Let the Spirit of the Son stir your heart with his love . . .
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