FROM SLAVE TO SON

“Therefore you are NO LONGER A SLAVE BUT A SON, and if a son, then an HEIR of GOD through Christ” – Galatians 4:7

In Christ, my position and status has shifted FROM SLAVE to SON of GOD: “Therefore you are NO LONGER A SLAVE BUT A SON, and if a son, then an HEIR of GOD through Christ” (Gal.4:7). Paul warned the Galatians that having been set free from the bondage of sin, they should not backslide into the bondage of the law. Satan doesn’t care if we try to keep the Ten Commandments, attend church services, teach Sunday school, preach, or fulfil a moral agenda, provided we rely on ourselves and take credit for it instead of giving all glory to God. His goal is that we lose sight of our Identity as sons of God! Paul used the slave-son analogy to differentiate between genuine and counterfeit Christianity. He reminds us: what we were – slaves in bondage (vv.1-3); what God did – redeemed us (vv-4-5); and what we are – adopted sons of God (vv.6-7).

The Galatians longed to return to spiritual childhood rather than mature. As appealing as childhood is however, it is greatly limited. In Roman society for example, no matter how wealthy a father might be, his infant son could not enjoy that wealth, but was put under a servant’s supervision with ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts.’ The child had about as much status as the slave caring for him (vv.1-3). This was the spiritual condition of the Jews under the law; the law was like a guardian that disciplined the nation and prepared them for the coming of Christ (Gal.3:23-25). So, the legalists trying to lead the Galatians back into keeping the law were really leading them not only into spiritual bondage, but also into spiritual infancy or childish immaturity.

Before Christ’s coming, people were enslaved to trying – and failing – to keep the law, thinking they could be saved thereby. At God’s set time, He sent Jesus to be born, suffer and die for sin. All in one sentence, we see who, how , and why He came (vv.4-5). He came: “to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship” (v.5). To redeem means to “buy back” or to set free by paying the price. Jesus – the eternal Son of God – died to redeem us so that we could become God's sons: “And because YOU ARE SONS, God has sent forth the Spirit of HIS SON into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father.” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (v.5-6). This seemingly little word, “Abba” expresses the heart’s affection far above the eloquence of the mouth.

I have been adopted into God’s Family. He “sent the Spirit of His Son” into my heart, to enable me call Him, “My Father, My Daddy!” A Christian is one for whom God has become Father. This cannot be said of everyone. It is amazing that God desires that we call Him “Father” with the staggering implications: He is living and personal; we can get to know Him; we can talk to Him; and we can relate to Him on a personal and even intimate basis. The Fatherhood of God sets Christianity apart from other religions. We are invited to believe in the Son and enter into an intimate family relationship with a loving Father! The eternal Son of God introduces us to His Father, to be adopted into His Family, and related to the God of the universe in an intimate, personal, concrete way as sons and daughters (2 Cor. 6:16, 18).

Someone said: “Many who say “Our Father” on Sunday spend the rest of the week acting like orphans”! In Christ, I’m no longer an orphan! Jesus came, suffered, died, and rose to bring “many sons to Glory” (Heb.2:10). That’ where I belong! My Lord and Saviour died on the cross and rose from the dead to divinely reposition me from SLAVE to SON, and HEIR. Now, my passion is to learn to know, love, and trust God as my Father, as I grow, transform, and mature into SON-HOOD!