Day Four

In Galatians 4, we see that Paul is pouring out heart and soul for the churches of Galatia. He is desperately pleading with them to realise that they’re not slaves anymore. But slaves to what, you might be wondering?

Following the letter of the law prior to Jesus was complex and time-consuming. He compares this to being slaves. One could imagine this would be quite jarring, after generations of their Jewish ancestors being taught the importance of following the law, to the sudden and radical redemption offered by Christ eradicating the need for the traditions they’ve always known. Paul paints the picture that the law made them slaves, but Jesus made them heirs to God's kingdom - yes, there's an inheritance that we all have access to! As heirs, we have been gifted the Holy Spirit, which means we can call God the Father ‘Abba, Father’ just like Jesus did when he walked the earth.

It seems like a no-brainer, right? If given the choice of being an heir or a slave, what would we want to choose? In verse 9, Paul says, “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?” Let’s unpack that for a moment, Paul makes a distinction here, that his audience not only know God, but more than that, God knows them!

For anyone under the Jewish law, this would be such a difficult concept to comprehend, the slavery of the law would almost make more sense… because it’s familiar. Is there anything that is familiar to you that doesn’t bring you closer to God? It is this picture that we are to consider from this message, to break away from old habits and to submit instead to the freedom God has given us through Jesus.

As Paul says in Galatians 5:1, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

From verse 21, Paul expands on the slave versus heir example, using context that would make sense to his audience. Paul is urging the listeners to remember that they’re born from a promise, set free and raised into a place of freedom and inheritance, not from the law but from God himself.

What’s incredible to realise is that there is a time in history where those who were not a Jewish-born descendent, did not have access to God. Jesus completely eradicates this barrier and allows anyone who would accept Jesus as their Lord into this inheritance, to become an heir and have full access to God and his kingdom. What a blessing!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank you and celebrate that we are an heir of the kingdom of God. Thank you for welcoming us in as sons and daughters and saving us all from slavery. As we go about our day, help us to remember that we live in the freedom you created for us, and help us to resist the slavery of old habits. Amen.