The Children Of God Series

The Children of God

Galatians 4: 1-11

Our text continues the line of thought from the previous passage as Paul further argues that salvation is a gift of grace received by faith in Christ, not obtained through personal merit or works of the flesh. He again uses the illustration of children, here revealing the changes in a child as they grow into maturity. The children, or servants, depict life under the law, and those who have become mature children represent those who now live under grace in salvation.

Those apart from Christ remain under the law, condemned in their sin. Those in Christ have been adopted into the family of God, (and being children of God,) are now liberated from the demands and condemnation of the law. The law was not given to save, but to reveal the holiness of God and our desperate need for salvation.

As we examine the changes revealed in the text, I want to consider: The Children of God.

I. The Prior Position (1-3) – Paul begins by discussing the position of those prior to coming to faith in Christ. Notice:

A. The Analogy (1-2) – Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. We must understand, here Paul is referring to the lives of those prior to salvation. Although the young children are heirs of their father, as long as they remain under the direction of a tutor, they really are no different than the servants. They remained under the guidance of the tutor until the father decided their education and guidance was sufficient and had been completed. The placement and guidance of the child was directed under the wise counsel of the father.

“Some scholars have seen here an appeal to that all-pervasive Roman law, under which, of course, the Galatians lived. Until he was fourteen, an heir was placed under the authority of a tutor, nominated by his father in his will. At the age of fourteen, the boy came of age, but he was still not free to do what he liked because the paetor urbanus (magistrate) then placed him under the control of a curator until he was twenty-five. Only then did he come into his full inheritance. That was the analogy. A minor—although heir to a noble name, great expectations, wealth, honor, position, and power—was still a minor and, for all practical purposes, no better than a slave,” Phillips.

B. The Application (3) – Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. It is interesting to note that the word, nepios, translated children, speaks of a small child, literally an infant. As we consider an infant or small child, we are reminded of their inability to care for themselves and make adequate decisions. They are under the continual care of their parent or guardian. Small children are told practically every move to make – when to eat, when to go to bed, when to take a bath, when to get dressed, etc. You cannot expect a child to make reasonable decisions alone. Their lives must be guarded and their behavior and actions spelled out for them.

This is an accurate depiction of our lives prior to salvation. We lived according to the lusts of the flesh. We were unable to make proper decisions regarding our lives, particularly in regard to spiritual matters. The law served to guide and direct our lives. The law reveals a list of “do’s” and “don’ts”. Such expectations give rise to excessive legalism. One is expected to keep the letter of the law, in order to be acceptable to God. Again, God desires us to live uprightly, seeking a righteous life, but He never intended for us to keep the letter of the law in order to be saved. Apart from salvation, we remained in bondage to these demands. Coming to faith in Christ, resulting in our salvation, provided the spiritual maturity necessary to be delivered from the bondage of the law. Rom.8:14-15 – For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

II. The Present Position (4-11) – Paul revealed the change that transpires when one is saved by grace through faith in Christ. Consider:

A. The Redemption (4-5) – But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Paul again argues and affirms that it was never God’s intention for the law to save. When the fulness of time had come, (according to His sovereign plan since before the world began), God sent forth His Son, born of a woman under the law, to redeem those who were in bondage to the law that we might become the adopted children of God. Rom.8:2-4 – For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.