Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, 2 but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ (NKJV).
Our Theme: SONS AND HEIRS THROUGH CHRIST
In our last lesson, we ended with Galatians 3:28-29: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (NKJV).
These powerful words are not simply Paul’s viewpoint or understanding, but heaven’s view. God the Father planned it from before time. God the Son said, I will carry out Your plan Father. God, the Holy Spirit, said, I will implement the plan in human beings from all of the nations We create. The Godhead purposed to live in those who would receive them through the means of faith. By the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit they would become “heirs” of God through Christ.
As we begin chapter four, this theme of “the heir” continues. In chapter four verses 1 and 2 draws an illustration from the natural development of a son. Note the principle of how the “son” or heir is the master. “Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.”
The heir begins as a child. That is how we began in our relationship with Father God as well. We were given the right to become a child of God through “belief.” We looked at this a few lessons back. “For as many as believed on Him, to them gave He the power to become the children of God” (John 1:12). Can you hear the Godhead in this passage? “Believed on Him,” Jesus the Christ. On the human side of things, He is the “the son of David.” Yes, it is this son of David, who is the Son of God, and faith in Him gives the power to become a child of God and an heir of the promise. The power is derived from the Holy Spirit coming to dwell in each believer, sealing their salvation and their inheritance as the New Testament revels.
We begin as a child. We need discipline, instruction, and development to grow into the maturity of a son who is able to manage the inheritance. Even Jesus, as He came in human form, had to learn “obedience by the things He suffered.” (See Hebrews 5:8). Remember His suffering was under the law. The “law” tutored even the Son of God. He was bound to the law until His resurrection from the dead. He suffered under those who had distorted God’s holy law. Those religious leaders made it even harder to obey as they added their own unreasonable demands.
Jesus was under the law and came to fulfill what the law and the prophets of old had declared of Him. He had come to fulfill all that the law and the prophets spoke concerning Him. “Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures”’ (Luke 22:44 NKJV ).
All of the above concerning Christ was appointed by the Father for our instruction and learning. I believe that even Paul saw his life and apostleship this way. He was to be an example to the saints of a fully and completely surrendered child of God, learning “obedience” through suffering so that he might enter into the full possession of being an heir helping others to follow his example. We find the Lord’s plan for Paul outlined in Acts 9: “Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” 13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:10-16 NKJV.)
As we turn our attention to verse 3 here in Galatians 4, we understand how Paul brings these thoughts home to where we live. “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.” Do you resonate with Paul’s description of our past, “The elements of the world?” Things such as: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. Paul instructs us to put off these things. Consider Colossians 3:8 “But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds. Paul tells us that those who practice these elements of the world “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21).
Salvation is certainly about forgiveness of sin, but it is also about “conversion” from the ways of the world which is controlled by the rule of the “kingdom of darkness.” When we understand this, we also must understand that those who belong to Christ reign with Him presently above the kingdom of darkness.
God had an appointed time for His King to be born and deliver those who would trust in His King as Messiah to be brought into His Kingdom by His Holy Spirit. Galatians 4:4-5 emphatically states this: “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Many teach and think that the time is in the future, but Paul declared it to be in his generation. Jesus’ birth marked the day of “fullness of time” as He was born of a woman. He was born under the law. It was in that day that “He redeemed those who were under the law.” Beginning in His resurrection and continuing to the present, those who believe and are converted “receive the adoption of sons.” Glory be to God! I am free to receive what God has purposed, and there is much more to come!
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. As sons we receive the inheritance. “God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts.” This is the down payment of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13). We speak of the “Spirit in our hearts” or you can say in our innermost being, our spirit man or our regenerated spirit. All four are an accurate way of understanding what Paul is saying. What should be coming from our heart is “Abba Father” or Father dear Father. As a son and daughter, we say “Father.” Jesus came to “reveal the Father” (John 14:8-9).
Verse 7 sums it up for today, “Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Part of the victory is to know in our heart that sonship and the inheritance which belongs to us. We are no longer a slave of sin, but a son. I believe it to be unscriptural to continue to confess as sons of God that we are yet sinners. We were sinners, condemned to judgment and death. But no longer is that our state if we are true “sons of God” and an “heir of God through Christ.” Our state of being has changed. Remember Jesus told His disciples, “all that is mine belongs to you.” We really need to lay ahold of John 17 and Jesus High Priestly Prayer. Not only was He praying for those disciples who became His apostles, but He was also praying for us as well.
Salvation in its fullest sense is ours presently. You and I are not going to be a son at some future time in eternity; we are presently a son through Christ. All that Christ has accomplished is ours to enjoy and to pass on to others as well. Forgiveness presently is our portion; Healing presently is part of the covenant. Peace presently is intended to reign in our hearts even when the going is tough, and hazards beset us. Our blessed hope is in our Lord’s glorious return and the promise of the resurrection of our body.
Think Kingdom, for we belong to the King. Think wholeness, for He has made us whole. Think deliverance, for He has delivered us from the “kingdom of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.” Think “supernaturally,” for we have been born again supernaturally, not by the will of man, but by the will of God.
Live in a posture of “faith,” believing the “Word of God.” Walk by faith and not by sight. To put on Christ means to receive Christ and His inheritance in the now, knowing that He also is our future. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:16-17 NKJV).