Out of Slavery

Galatians 4:1-7

I mean that the heir, 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. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 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!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Every morning I pray a prayer, one section of which goes like this: “Heavenly Father, you are my Father, and I am your son. You have adopted me out of slavery into your family by the mercy of Jesus who loved me and gave himself for me.” It’s a prayer that reminds me what I need to remember every single day. 

The late theologian J. I. Packer had a similar practice of reminding yourself of such truths. “Do I, as a Christian, understand myself? Do I know my own identity? My own real destiny? I am a child of God. God is my Father; heaven is my home; every day is one day nearer. My Savior is my brother; every Christian is my brother too. Say it over and over to yourself first thing in the morning, last thing at night, as you wait for the bus, any time when your mind is free, and ask that you may be enabled to live as one who knows it is all utterly and completely true.”

Today’s passage highlights three truths that we would do well to burrow deep into our souls. First, we are adopted for new freedom. God’s people had been enslaved. To what? For Jewish believers, it was the need to perfectly obey the Old Testament law. But Paul uses more basic language: “the elementary principles of the world.” The earthly principles of doing, of legalism, of trusting in ourselves, of thinking our best intentions and best performances make us stand out for divine approval. No, we needed freedom, and through Christ we were emancipated. 

Second, it shows our new relationship. Jesus didn’t just free us in a general sense. He made us adopted children of our Father. Now the Holy Spirit himself shouts on our behalf, “Abba, Father.” Of course God remains Judge, Creator, Lord; but now we know him as Father, the best of all fathers, who delights in his children, not casting them off when they fail, but running to them in joy when they come home. 

Third, it shows our new inheritance. In Paul’s day inheritance passed from father to son; hence all Christians can be called adopted sons regardless of gender as a way of showing that all Christians are heirs to his bounty. All that is his to give he gives to his children without stinginess. An eternity of love, joy, peace, and so much more: he’s written us into his will. 

We would do well to pray daily “that you may be enabled to live as one who knows it is all utterly and completely true.”