The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Adoption” it comes from the Greek Word “huiothesia” which means “adoption as sons.”
Paul explains the enormous difference between living as a slave under the law and living as an adopted son. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Galatians 4.
Paul explains that an heir, while still a child, differs little from a servant, even though everything technically belongs to them, remaining under guardians and stewards until the appointed time set by their father. In the same way, before Christ came, believers were held in bondage under basic principles of the world, but “when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the “adoption,” “huiothesia” in Greek, “of sons.”
Paul explains that because believers are now genuinely sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, crying “Abba, Father,” so that they are no longer servants but sons, and if sons, then heirs of God through Christ. He expresses real concern that the Galatians, having once known God, or rather being known by Him, are now turning back to weak and beggarly elemental principles, wanting to be enslaved all over again, observing days, months, seasons, and years, causing Paul to fear his labor among them might have been wasted.
Paul appeals emotionally to their earlier warm relationship, recalling how they once received him as an angel of God despite his physical infirmity, and would have plucked out their own eyes to give him if possible, asking what has happened to that earlier blessedness. He introduces an allegory contrasting Hagar, the bondwoman, representing the covenant from Sinai that produces bondage, with Sarah, the freewoman, representing the heavenly Jerusalem and genuine freedom, insisting, quoting Genesis, that believers, like Isaac, are children of promise, and should cast out the bondwoman’s influence entirely, since “we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.”
Paul’s contrast between living as a servant under the law and living as an adopted son captures the emotional heart of this entire letter. The Galatians were being tempted to trade genuine, intimate sonship, crying Abba Father, for a return to slavery dressed up as spiritual devotion, a trade Paul desperately wanted to prevent.
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