Galatians 4:1-11

content/bible_journal/galatians_4:1-11.md

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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.