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Galatians 4:1-11

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Lyle Mantooth 2023-08-12 11:09:15 -04:00
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title = "Galatians 4:1–11"
date = "2023-08-12"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Galatians4.1-11)
The word picture painting the law of Moses as a guardian is now expanded. While
an heir is a minor, he has about as many rights as a slave even though he will
be the one in charge eventually. He is told where to go and what to do for most
of his day. Paul says the pagan superstition the Galatians lived under before
Christ had enslaved them, making them act in the ways it dictated. But then
Christ came, allowing them to be set free from their enslavement and to be
adopted, becoming heirs in God's family. "Abba" means "father" in Aramaic, but
the connotation is more like "daddy". It can easily be a child's first word, at
a time when he is completely dependent on his parents. Paul says the Spirit of
the Son is saying this in our hearts toward God.
Note the conditions for an heir to be considered a full member of the household
in verse 2: "the date set by his father". In the modern day, children become
adults automatically on their eighteenth birthday (more or less, depending on
your local laws, I suppose). In the ancient Greco-Roman world, that doesn't
appear to be the case. Instead, a son was dependent on his father to recognize
his adulthood. In the same way, we are not justified by living under any
teaching for a certain amount of time. It's wholly on the decision of the Lord.
Paul's next point is extraordinary. He equates the pagan superstitions of their
former lives with the legalistic devotion the Judaizers are trying to put on
them. Observing holy days, ritual cleanliness, etc. all have the same power to
produce righteousness as the things they were doing before. None. Why then
would they try to go back to a system that enslaves them and puts them under a
heavy burden of obligation, especially when it doesn't actually benefit them at
all?
* * *
You are the source of all righteousness, and we are powerless without You.