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