Maturing Under Grace pt. 2
When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir. (Galatians 4:4-7)
Yesterday, we read at the end of verse 3 that before salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, mankind was subject to the “elements of the world. Yet, in verses 4 and 5, “when the time came to completion, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” In the NIV, this turning point from hopelessness to hope is denoted in verse 4, “But when…God sent His Son.”
The Lord planned before everything was even made when the appropriate time was to send His Son into the world to save mankind. He was fully human, being “born of a woman,” facing the same temptations and challenges of daily living. As Max Anders states, “He faced the same expectations each person did, being born under the law.” Yet, Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law of God, living a perfect life, as it says in Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.”
Through Jesus Christ, mankind can be redeemed, as He paid the penalty of breaking the law with His death on the cross, setting believers free from the slavery of the law. Not only that, but through Him, believers can receive adoption as sons, meaning that they receive the full rights of being a child of God. Both of these actions cannot be accomplished by human effort. It is all by grace.
In verse 6, because believers are children of God, they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, allowing them to pray to God, “Abba, Father!” The law only established a distance, separation from the Father, yet this prayer highlights the close intimate relationship now made available through grace.
Finally, in verse 7, Paul concludes that believers are no longer slaves to the law, but are now a “son” and therefore are an “heir.” Anders explains this progression of maturity through grace, “Thus, under grace we have progressed from being slaves to being sons and heirs. Grace is adulthood. Law is childhood. With the privileges of adulthood, why regress back to the law?”
Blessings,
Isaac De Guzman
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