Galatians Reading (#11)

Take a few minutes to catch up and pray that God would bless you through the reading of His word.

Read Galatians 4:1-7

[4:1] I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, [2] but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. [3] In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. [4] But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. [6] And because you are sons, God has 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 an heir through God.

Observation:

• From what is an heir “no different” (v 1)? 
  • For what period of time is he in that condition? 
  • What is also true of him during that time (v 1)?
• What else is true of an heir (v 2)? Until what time?
• What was true of us “when we were children” (v 3)?
• When did God send forth his Son (v 4)? What two things does Paul tell us about how he was born?
• Who did God’s Son come to redeem (v 5)? For what purpose?
• Whom has God sent “into our hearts”? What does he cry?

Interpretation:

• In v 3, Paul says “when we were children” we “were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world”.
  • Do you think he’s talking about the time when they were literally children (that is, young human beings)? Or is he talking about an earlier time when they were spiritually immature/unrealized?
  • What does he mean by “the elementary principles of the world”? It’s a phrase that he’ll use again in Galatians 4:9, and if you have trouble figuring this out, try to piece it together from context. 
    • How were the Galatians “enslaved” to those elementary principles? That is, how were they not free? 
    • How is that analogous to the illustration that Paul lays out in verses 1-2?
• What does Paul mean by “the fullness of time”?
  • Who is God’s Son? 
    • What is Paul referring to when he says that God sent him forth?
    • How was he born “under the law”?
  • Who are “those who are under the law”?
    • What does it mean for God’s Son to “redeem” people?
    • What does it mean to “receive adoption as sons” (compare to verse 7)?
• Who is “the Spirit of his Son”?
  • What does that tell us about the relationship/connection between the Spirit and the Son?
  • What does it mean to have him sent by God “into our hearts”?
  • What does “Abba” mean?
    • Why would the Spirit of his Son cry “Abba! Father!”? 
    • What does that mean in terms of our lives? What does it look like for the Spirit of his Son to be in our hearts crying out in that way?

Application:

• It seems that part of the work of the Spirit is to help you (in your heart) have an experience of calling out to God as a child would call out to his Father. 
  • How does (or doesn’t) your daily life reflect the fact that you are God’s child and he is your Father?
  • What does it mean for you to relate to God today as a son (or daughter), not as a slave? 
•  Look at all of the things that God did in order to make you his child. One of the goals of all of that is to make you his heir, and to give you an inheritance. 
  • How does the help you be sure of God’s love?
  • How does knowing that you will receive an inheritance from God in the future help you deal with troubles today?

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