You've been redeemed, and that changes everything.
Galatians 4:1-7
As long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s son; and since you are his son, God has made you also an heir.
Canons of Dordt
Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election
Articles 1-9
Article 10: Election Based on God’s Good Pleasure
The cause of this undeserved election is exclusively the good pleasure of God.
This does not involve God’s choosing certain human qualities or actions from among all those possible as a condition of salvation,
but rather involves
adopting certain particular persons
from among the common mass of sinners
as God’s own possession.
Summary
In our day and age, heirs to large fortunes enjoy a privileged life and often command massive media empires. But this wasn't the case a couple of millennia ago in the Roman empire. In that age, if a wealthy father died, his estate was left to guardians and trustees until his oldest son was of legal age. However, until the set time had fully come, that boy wasn't any different from a slave.
So it is with you, writes Paul. There was a time when you were underage - that is, in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. For many of us, these memories are fuzzy. Others can instantly recall the darkness and hopeless of living "captive to the world's hollow and deceptive philosophy" (Col. 2:8).
This gets right to the heart of the gospel! Humanity had put itself into this miserable slavery. God's requirements for His sons were both simple and good, but yet we had rebelled from this law. Yet instead of emancipating ourselves to freedom, we became enslaved to sin.
But our Father, whom we had rebelliously evicted from His world - sent His Son, born of a woman. Jesus didn't just come as a spiritual representative of our heavenly Father, rather He became like us in every regard, even being put under the law that we had failed to keep.
Dig Deeper
Paul often uses two overarching analogies to describe the gospel. He often describes what Christ accomplished in legal terms, using words like guilt, forgiveness and justification. But his other favorite foil comes from the financial world - like the word he uses in v5. God sent His Son... to redeem those under the law. In other words, Jesus came to buy back those who had sold themselves into slavery.
Christ's financial transaction resulted in a change in legal status for those He purchased, getting us back to Paul's favorite analogical realm. When Christ paid the price with His blood, you received adoption to sonship. Maybe that rubs you the wrong way, especially if you happen to be a daughter of God! But in the day and age Paul wrote these words, it was only sons who could be legal heirs. So as a slave turned heir, you are in every regard a son of God, no matter your sex.
But the results of your redemption are far deeper than just a new legal status (as incredible as it is). It also brought about a spiritual transformation. Because you are God's sons, Paul explains, God sent the Spirit of His Son into your heart. So in Christ you've gone from being a slave to sin to one who can call out to God in the most intimate way possible - as Abba, the Aramaic word for Father.
Paul sums it all up in v7. So you are no longer a slave, but God's son; and since you are His son, God has made you also an heir.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, to whom all things belong;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that your life will demonstrate gratitude for the redemption from slavery that Christ accomplished for you;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Hebrews 1
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