Adoption

Introduction

Paul has been making an impassioned plea for the Galatians to not substitute their faith in Jesus for their own human effort. The Galatians are in danger of exchanging their walk with God for their own works. They have come to believe that if they do all the right things then God will honor them. Such thinking results in falling from grace. Paul has demonstrated that the law was needed to lead them to Christ, but the law was never intended to be a substitute for faith. The Galatians trust themselves to secure salvation instead of Jesus. Such a decision will only result in their denying the sufficiency of Christ.

In our text this morning, Paul is going to summarize what he has been trying to say about the importance of faith. Faith in Jesus brings a relationship which keeping the law cannot bring. Faith brings a family relationship. Law brings slavery. In this section, Paul will give us insight into what it means to trust Jesus rather than ourselves.

Faith and Baptism

In 3:26-29, Paul introduces the subject of being in God’s family. Those who place their faith in Christ become sons of God or children of God. It is faith which brings one into relationship with God. It is not doing all the right things well which ushers us into the family of God. Our faith in the work of Jesus brings us into God’s family. There is a direct connection between faith and baptism. Our faith expressed in baptism results in our being in Christ. In other words, without baptism one is outside of Christ. With baptism one is in Christ.

Paul’s point is to remind the Galatians of the significance of their baptism. If they would think carefully and fully about what transpired when they were baptized then they would not be trying so hard to trust themselves for salvation. Baptism, Paul says, brings us into Christ and makes us heirs of the same promise which was made to Abraham as stated in 3:9 and 18. Only faith in Christ Jesus expressed in baptism can result in relationship and the promise. Trusting in one’s ability to do the right things well will not lead to relationship with God or the promise of an inheritance. Only those who belong to Christ can receive the promise. And only those who have expressed their faith in baptism belong to Christ.

For Paul speaking of faith and baptism go together. When one expresses his faith and is baptized then all earthly distinctions pass away. All who come in faith become part of God’s family. In God’s family ethnic, economic, and gender distinctions are not made. We all become one in Christ. Some want to use verse 28 to support the idea of women preachers. Such is an abuse of the text. While Paul does indeed say all distinctions are brought down, he does not say all serve the same function. Paul deals with functionality in the body in other passages. His point in this passage is to make sure that the Galatians understand their standing with God based on their faith rather than their own human effort.

In these four verses then, Paul wants the Galatians to recall the importance of their baptism. He reminds them that it was their baptismal faith which resulted in a family relationship with God through Jesus. He is concerned that they are willing to give that up by trusting themselves.

In 4:1-7, Paul makes a summary statement of what he has been trying to say. Let’s suppose that you want to guarantee that your children have money to live on when they become an adult. You would set up a trust fund for them. You would specify the conditions of the trust fund. Let’s say that you put in the condition that your children couldn’t touch the money until age 25. Let’s further say that you died. Would your children now get the money? Probably not. Someone would have to take care of them until they turned 25. Although a large sum of money awaits them, they still have no control over that money. Your children would have to answer to someone else even though the money belonged to them.

This is what Paul says. Under the law, verse 3, whether that law was the Jewish law or the pagan law, the Galatians were enslaved to the basic principles of this world. We were spiritually enslaved to the law. Before Christ, the law left them spiritually enslaved. There was no real freedom. No real relationship with God. The law enslaved. The law reminded us of our sin. The law showed us how lacking we were to do all the right things well.

Verse 4 begins with a word which is to show a clear contrast. But when God sent Jesus into this world, he came to redeem or to buy us back from the law. Trying to keep the law was a curse. It reminded us of our sin. But Jesus came and broke the curse. He became the curse for us (3:13). And by removing this curse we can enjoy our full rights as God’s children. This phrase “full rights of sons” is the word adoption. We should read 4:5 this way: “to redeem those under the law, so that we might be adopted into God’s family.” Adoption signifies that our relationship with God is the result of his gracious act and is not a natural right. This adoption is based on what God does and not on what we do.

What does it mean to be God’s child?

First, Paul says God gives to his children the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is given only to those who belong to God. This Spirit is a sign that we belong to God (Eph. 1:13-14). He guarantees that we are part of the family.

Second, with the coming of the Spirit we now have a special relationship with God. This relationship is seen in the way that the Spirit speaks to God by calling him “Abba, Father.” This expression is the combination of the Aramaic word “Abba” which means papa or daddy and the Greek word for father. Paul uses two languages to express the closeness of relationship between God and his children. The presence of the Spirit speaks to the closeness of relationship in which we call God “daddy.”

Third, Paul says being God’s child means that we are heirs of all God’s blessings. Being a part of God’s family means that we are allowed to share in God’s wealth. Paul is speaking in spiritual terms. He is not talking about material wealth. He is saying that faith brings relationship and with that relationship with God comes a special consideration to share in the joys of walking with God. Those who try by human effort to secure their salvation will not share in the spiritual blessings of God’s family.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. It is appropriate that we take the Lord’s Supper at this time. We are part of God’s family. Brought together because of God’s gracious act of adopting each one of us. We were enslaved. We were without a family. But God adopted us so that we might share in the fullness and richness of his spiritual blessings. We celebrate what he did for us and the fact that we are part of this large family in which there are no distinctions.

We want to offer an invitation to any who may not be a part of God’s family this morning. This invitation comes from God. Express your faith in baptism and become a part of the family.

Follow Jesus

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