Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Galatians 4:1-7.

 

“¹ Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, ² but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.  ³ So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.  ⁴ But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, ⁵ so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.  ⁶ Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”  ⁷ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son;  and if a son, then an heir through God.”  Galatians 4:1-7. 

 

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Paul continues to build his case that we should not seek to be under the Law, but rather, that we should seek to be “in Christ”.  

 

At the end of the preceding chapter, Paul used the analogy of students and a tutor:  “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.  For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”  Galatians 3:24-26. 

 

In today’s Scripture, Paul uses the analogy of slaves in bondage.  Christ redeemed His elect under the Law, so that they might receive the adoption as sons and be no longer slaves. 

 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved (Christ).”  Ephesians 1:3-5.

 

And so, we begin to see more clearly that God’s grace, including our adoption as sons and every other spiritual blessing, is not based on our performance under the Law, but rather, God’s grace, including our adoption as sons and every other spiritual blessing, is based on our position in Christ:  “which (grace) He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved (Christ)”.