From Slaves to Sons and Heirs

Transcript

GR 1158 From Slaves to Sons and Heirs
07/18/1999
From Slaves to Sons and Heirs
Galatians 4:6, 7
Gil Rugh


All right, I want to direct your attention to the book of Galatians and the fourth chapter. Galatians, chapter 4. The apostle Paul has been talking about the matter of our salvation. And there are 2 dimensions that both are important for us to understand and appreciate in our salvation. There is that objective standard, that we might call it, which is represented in the truth of the Scripture. For example, the statement in chapter 3, verse 26 of Galatians, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” That is an objective statement that stands true, and gives us confidence and assurance that those who have believed in Jesus Christ as the one who loved them and died to pay the penalty for their sins have been forgiven and brought into the family of God.

But there is also another dimension, sometimes called the subjective, but that has a ring to it that I don’t think is quite correct. We call it the inner assurance and confirmation of our salvation. Something that God does within the heart of the person who is born into His family that gives them the confidence and the assurance of knowing that God is their Heavenly Father, that they belong to Him, and enjoy a relationship of closeness and intimacy with their Heavenly Father.

In chapter 4 of Galatians, Paul has been making the point that Israel’s time under the Mosaic Law was a time of childhood, of immaturity, of bondage or servitude, but in the appointed time in God’s plan, He came and intervened so that Israel might experience the fullness of the blessing of adult sonship. So, in chapter 4, verse 3, he said, “So while we were children we were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world,” referring to Israel’s time under the Mosaic Law. “But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son,” the divine intervention of God, “so that,” verse 5, “He might redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive the adoption as sons.” We note here the purpose of God sending His Son, to provide redemption, so that the redeemed might enter into the full position of sonship.

The word “we” here, in verse 3 and verse 5, is talking about Israelites. Paul was identifying himself with the Jews, we, Jews, because he’s making the point: If we Jews needed redemption when we lived under the Law, if we Jews needed to be set free from the bondage of servitude and the curse of the Law, upon what basis would these Jewish teachers be coming to the churches in Galatia and telling them Gentiles need to go under the Law? When the Jews’ time under the Law was a time of immaturity, a time of bondage, a time that God brought to an end by the sending of His Son to redeem them, and establish them as His sons. If that’s the case, it makes no sense at all to say that Gentiles need to keep the Law in order to be saved or to be pleasing to God.

Paul said at the end of verse 5 that we were redeemed “that we might receive the adoption as sons.” The purpose of God sending His Son was not only to pay the price to set them free from their bondage and servitude, but also to establish them in the position of God’s sons. “That we might receive the adoption as sons.” That word “adoption” means literally to be placed as a son. And pictures those redeemed being put into the position of full sonship. Here he’s talking about Jews and how they came into the position of full sonship and all of its privileges as God’s children. Adulthood, if you will, as God’s children. That word “adoption” expresses that in this concept. The word “adoption” is used 5 times in the New Testament. I want to just run through these passages quickly because the context may vary, and you have to be careful. You say, well, here’s the biblical doctrine of adoption. But you don’t want to just take it from one passage.

Look over in Ephesians, chapter 1. Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 4, “Just as He,” referring to God the Father, “chose us in Him,” in Christ, “before the foundation of the world.” God’s sovereign work of election in selecting from fallen, sinful human beings some to come to salvation in His Son. And those, verse 5, “He predestined to adoption as sons.” So, what you want to note here, is God’s plan in placing us His sons goes back before the foundation of the world. When God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, He also predestined us to the full prerogatives of sonship.

Come back to the book of Romans, chapter 8. A little bit before the book of Galatians. The book of Romans, and the eighth chapter. And 3 of the 5 uses of the word “adoption” are found in the book of Romans. In Romans, chapter 8, verse 15, we have a section that is parallel to what we are talking about in Galatians, chapter 4. Note verse 15 of Romans 8, ‘For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’” We’ll talk more about the details of this verse as we talk about Galatians 4 and verse 6, but note here, “we have received the spirit of adoption.” Views it as something they have. So you don’t go back to slavery, making the same point he made to the Galatians. You don’t go back under the Mosaic Law.

Then jump down to verse 23, “And not only this, but also, we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons.” Now here he views adoption as sons as something future. But in Galatians, chapter 4, and in Romans, chapter 8, verse 15, he as argued that we have experienced and received that adoption as sons. And there is a sense we can talk about we have been placed into the fullness of adult sonship with those privileges and prerogatives, but there is also another way to look at it, and say there is another yet dimension, a dimension yet to come, of our sonship. A time when we will be placed even in a fuller and greater way as God’s sons. And at the end of verse 23 that is identified as the “redemption of our body.”

Back up to verse 19, “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” So, we have been placed as God’s sons, but there is a future time when we will receive our glorified bodies, thus bringing our salvation to its completion with glorification, and then we will be presented before all creation as God’s sons. And that will take place at the second coming of Christ to earth to establish His kingdom. And that’s why “all creation,” verse 19 says, “waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God,” because Romans 8 indicates that at that time the curse will be lifted from the creation. So, there is the present reality of our having been placed as God’s sons with the full prerogatives and rights of sonship. But there is also a future dimension, when we will be placed before all creation with the glory of our redeemed bodies and all will see that we are the sons of God.

While you are in Romans, turn to chapter 9, verse 4. This is the other use of the word “adoption.” Paul is talking about the privileges and prerogatives of the nation Israel as a nation. And he says in Romans, chapter 9, verse 4, “Who are the Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the temple service, the promises, whose are the fathers, from whom is the Christ.” All these prerogatives and blessings of the nation Israel. And included among those is the adoption as sons. Here he’s talking about those privileges of the nation as a nation.

Turn back to the Old Testament to the book of Exodus, chapter 4. Exodus, chapter 4. Genesis, Exodus. And the fourth chapter. As God is preparing Moses to go and speak to Pharaoh in anticipation of the coming exodus out of Egypt, he tells Moses in verse 22 of Exodus 4, “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Israel is My son, My first-born.”’ You can see, when Paul says in Romans, chapter 9, verse 4, “to Israel belongs the adoption as sons,” God declared Israel, the nation Israel as His son in the Old Testament. Hosea, chapter 11, verse 1 says, “Out of Egypt I have called My son,” referring to the exodus of Israel from Egypt. That was the exodus of God’s son out of Egypt. Remember, because the Pharaoh would not let Israel leave Egypt, God says, “I will destroy your first born,” punishment because Israel was His Son and He’s taking revenge.

Now the picture there is of the nation Israel having been placed in a position that no other nation on earth ever has or will enjoy, and that is the unique role of being God’s son as a nation. Now that national adoption of Israel does not assure or guarantee the individual adoption of Israelites. That’s a national adoption. The nation was selected as God’s son.

Now Paul has been talking about in the book of Galatians the individual adoption. So, to be in the line of fulfillment of all the promises given to the nation Israel through Abraham, you not only have to be in the physical line of the nation, but you have to be in the spiritual line of Abraham: A believer. Then the individual Israelite is placed into the full rights of sonship. You see the concept of being placed as a son, used these five times by Paul, and at different times there may be a little different emphasis, a future emphasis, the national emphasis, the individual salvation emphasis that is before us in the book of Galatians. So, back in Galatians, chapter 4, at the end of verse 5 when he says that Christ came to redeem Israelites so that they might receive the adoption as sons, he is talking about entering into the fullness of the salvation He provided in Christ, His redemption, and thus being placed as adult sons, if you will, in God’s family.

Now he picks up in verse 6, “Because you are sons.” So, he’s going to elaborate on this concept of sonship, and he’s going to turn attention, he’s given the external evidence, if you will, of sonship, the clear statements of God. Now, he’s going to turn attention to show the internal confirmation of sonship. I’ll know that I am a son of God, not only because of what the scripture says in passages like chapter 3, verse 26, that I become a son of God through faith in Christ, but I also know it by the inner work of the Spirit of God in my heart that testifies to me and confirms to me that God is my heavenly Father and I belong to Him. And that’s the point Paul’s making in verse 6. He says, “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.” Now you note, Paul has moved from the first person plural, we, he used “we” in verse 3, “So also we . . . while we were children.” Verse 5, the end of the verse, “That we might receive the adoption,” we noted there that Paul was speaking as a Jew and identifying with Jews to show that Israel, under the Law, needed redemption so that they might be placed as sons.
Now, he uses the second person plural, you. Now in English we just have the word “you.” In Greek they could say it. We’d have to say you and you’ens, trying to make a singular and a plural, because our “you” is singular or plural depending upon context. But Greek has a “you” and a “you’en,” to give you the idea, they have a singular and a plural. So, this you is a plural. I mention that because in verse 7 we will go to a singular you as he draws it down. He’s talked to Israel. Now in verse 6, “because you are sons,” and the “you” refers to the believers at Galatia, most of whom would be Gentiles, but might include some Jews.

So, you are sons, God’s sons. That’s the major point. You don’t need to go back under the Mosaic Law, you are God’s sons. And he’ll show, as a son you’re an heir, you’re in the full line of Abraham’s promises to believers. Why would you go back under the Law? There’s nothing to be gained. That’s retrogression. Go back under condemnation, go back under slavery, so that you could believe in Christ and be set free? That’s already happened! You are sons. They have the position of the full adult son of God.

“Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son.” Also here, he is not setting out a chronology or order of events. He’s not saying, “First, you’re a son and then, because you’re a son, God sends the Spirit to you. So that’s a second step.” Salvation is given as a package and everything comes in that package. And from our perspective they are simultaneous events. We become sons of God by faith in Christ. So, at the gracious work of God, we are caused to understand and believe that we are sinners and Christ died for us. At that moment of faith the Spirit of God works in our hearts and lives, and all the work of God is accomplished to justify us, to sanctify us, regeneration, indwelling, baptism, sealing. All these works of the Spirit take place at the same time as a result of the grace of God in causing us to believe.

So, what he is saying here is the Spirit is given to those who are sons. That becomes the evidence of sonship. In fact, in Romans, chapter 8, the Spirit is called the Spirit of adoption. So, you could not experience being placed as a son without the Holy Spirit and His work that brings it about.

I mention it, you have to be careful. People sometimes, you can talk about the different parts of our salvation, if you will. You can talk about regeneration, you can talk about the baptism of the Spirit, you can talk about justification, you can talk about sanctification, you have to understand, even though we can talk about these individually, they come as a package at the same time. And any who try to break it down and create a chronology will create disorder and confusion.

So here it’s because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son. If you weren’t a son, you wouldn’t have the Spirit. And if you don’t have the Spirit, you’re not a son. And so they go inseparably together.

“God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son.” The Holy Spirit is the Person in view here. And here He’s called the Spirit of His Son. And in this statement, all three members of the triune God are mentioned: God, the Father, has sent forth the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, of His Son, Jesus Christ. Just one of the many, many passages in Scripture that connect the three Persons of the triune God together. And here, in the work of our salvation, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit enroll.

The Holy Spirit is connected in different ways. The Holy Spirit of Truth; the Holy Spirit connected to Christ; Acts chapter 16, verse 7, calls Him the Spirit of Jesus; Romans 8:9 calls Him the Spirit of Christ; Philippians chapter 1, verse 19 calls Him the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Often connected with Jesus Christ. Being sent by God the Father; being sent by Jesus Christ. Here we’re told that God the Father sent forth the Spirit, even as God the Father sent forth His Son in verse 4. John’s gospel, chapter 14, Jesus says, “I will send the Spirit.” That relationship and the interaction goes on.

He’s called the Spirit of His Son in this passage, verse 6, because He’s showing the close connection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, with those who by faith have become the sons of God. This connection will be made by Paul in the book of Romans, chapter 8, when he says that we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Jesus Christ, so that we have become the sons of God. Now, Jesus Christ is the only begotten, the unique Son of God, a Son in the way that no one else will be a son, but there is also an area where we have become sons of God also, and joined with Christ as heirs of all that God has promised to His Son, and through His Son to all who become His sons. So, He is the Spirit of His Son. And it is that Spirit, who by the grace of God and the redemption of Christ, makes those who believe sons of God, and thus heirs, as he’ll say at the end of verse 7, of God.

“Sent forth the Spirit of His Son,” and in the context, if you’ve been following in the details become important. Remember, bad theology always catches up to you. And when we have the details wrong, that leads to trouble down the road. You know, you’re taking a trip, and you come and there’s like a Y in the road, and you say, “It’s not a big difference. It’s just a, look they’re really close together. Doesn’t matter whether I go left or right.” Well, it makes a big difference, perhaps, because they maybe together, here they may run together for a while, and all of a sudden they’re going like this. If we’re not careful in our theology, we’ll say, “Well, it’s not a big difference.” But down the road it will be a big difference.

When did you get the Holy Spirit? Well, if you’d been following the context of Galatians and the details of Galatians, it’s not difficult. You’ve got the Holy Spirit the moment you believed. Chapter 3, verse 26 said, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” Now, if you are a son of God through faith in Christ, when did you get the Spirit who identifies you in your sonship? Well, you’d have to get it when you believe.

Back up to the opening verses of chapter 3. Look at verse 2. “This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of faith?” Down in verse 14, the end of the verse, “That we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” At the same time we were justified, back in chapter 2, verse 16, ?Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but through faith in Christ Jesus.” Chapter 3, verse 6, that whole development of Abraham believed God and God credited to him as righteousness.

So, when did you receive the Spirit into your heart? When you believed in Jesus Christ. You received Him by faith. You became a son of God by faith. You received the Spirit of adoption, where by we’ve been placed as sons when you believed in Christ, which is when you were justified. You see, it’s all a package. People get confused in this and say, “Well, I believed in Christ, and I was saved.” Then, at a later time, “I need the Spirit,” or “I need more of the Spirit,” or “I need to enter into the fullness of ....” No, you got it all. Everything pertaining to life and godliness has been given to us in Christ Jesus, Peter wrote. So much confusion on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and when and how you get the Holy Spirit. It’s not very complicated. You receive Him when you place your faith in Jesus Christ. It’s part of the package, if you will, of salvation. It’s part of what God has included in the provision of His Son for all who believe in Him.

Now, back in chapter 4, verse 6, “God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.” Tremendous statement here. God is the one doing the action. He is the one who sent the Spirit into our hearts. This is the carrying out of His plan, a plan that He established before the foundation of the world. Remember Ephesians chapter 1? When He chose us in Christ and predestined us to adoption as sons. Now in Christ, “God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.”

An enjoyable time this week reading some material on the heart in Scripture, in the Old and New Testament alike. We don’t have time to go into that, would be its own separate study, but the heart refers to that innermost being of a person, what you are as a person, in contrast to the physical body in which you live. That’s the center of my moral and spiritual being. It’s what I am as a person. So the heart is what’s used for what we are in our inner-most being. And the Spirit of God has been sent into our inner-most being. The very seat of what I am as a person, as a being created in the image of God.

Go back to John, chapter 14. John’s gospel and the fourteenth chapter. This is a fulfillment of what Jesus promised His followers shortly before His crucifixion. In John, chapter 14, verse 16, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (another Helper like Me); that He may be with you forever.” Who is this Helper? The Spirit of truth. Where in Galatians He was identified as the Spirit of His Son, here He’s the Spirit of truth, because, Jesus is going to tell them, He’ll guide you into all the truth.

“Whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, but He will be in you.” It is a remarkable transformation brought about with the coming of Christ, His death and resurrection, and the provision of redemption in Him is the provision of the Holy Spirit, not only to be present with people, He’s always been present in the world, always been present with the people of God, but now He comes into our inner-most being. You see something of the intimacy and the closeness that is established. The One who is the Spirit of His Son now resides in the inner-most recesses of what I am. That’s what Jesus had promised would take place. That’s part of the maturity of sonship that had not been experienced prior to Acts chapter 2 in the sense that Jesus is talking about.

Come over to Corinthians, chapter 6; First Corinthians, chapter 6. Here Paul is talking about the importance of a pure and holy life as a people of God. In verse 15 he’s talked about “do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ,” that would be the baptism of the Holy Spirit that places you into the spiritual body of Christ. Down in verse 19 he says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you.” You see, the Holy Spirit dwells within me in the inner-most part of my being, in my heart, and this physical body is just a temple for Him. “Whom you have from God,” it was God who sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, “you are not your own ... you have been bought with a price,” there is redemption, purchased by paying the price. Sent His Son to redeem that we might be placed as sons. “You have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” You see the practical outworking of this? The Holy Spirit resides in the innermost part of our being. He has joined us spiritually to Christ. That is a permanent, unending relationship.

That is why sin is more ugly and more repulsive in a Christian than it is in a non-Christian. We say, “Well, sin is sin, no matter who commits it.” Well, sin is sin, but it is more vile, more repulsive, more sinful, if you will, when it’s committed by a Christian. You know why? The Holy Spirit of God dwells within you. This physical body is His temple. You have been joined with Christ. Back up to verse 15, look at the last part of that verse, “Shall I take the members of Christ and make them the members of a prostitute? Me-genoito! May it never be!” Such a thought is repulsive.

You see, I cannot break my relationship with Christ, I cannot tell the Holy Spirit to move out for a little while, I may be doing somethings that would not be fitting. No, you see, He dwells there. I am inseparably connected with Christ. There is something even more repulsive, more vile about sin in a Christian’s life because of the presence of God Himself in that life, and thus the connection that’s made. Now be careful. I’m not saying that our sin draws Christ into sinning, but the defiling that takes place. When the unbeliever sins, his body’s not a temple. The Holy Spirit doesn’t dwell there. Of course he is rebelling and guilty before the Living God. But when I sin, I take that which belongs to God and corrupt it and pollute it with immoral and ungodly connections. So, you see the practical outworking of the theology is crucial. You stop and think. I can’t close the door and ask God to wait there while I go and do what would be so inconsistent with His character. He never leaves. He’s there.

That’s the picture Paul has pictured here. He has come into my spirit. What a glorious truth! I can have a close relationship on the human level. Close relationship between husband and wife is beautiful and wonderful, but you know you can never have a relationship with anyone else in the way you are related to the Spirit of God who dwells in you, to the Son of God with whom you’ve been joined in a relationship, with God who you’ve been joined . . . There is a depth there that only God can bring about in a life.

And we will experience in a fuller way when we enter into glory. And that’s why the relationships we will enjoy in glory, and that dimension of our salvation, will go beyond anything that we have been able to experience here. We get a taste of it with the closeness we have with the family of God. There’s a fullness yet to be realized, and we have the Spirit of God in our hearts.

Back in Galatians 4. This Spirit is crying, Abba! Father! Abba, Father. The word “abba” is simply the Aramaic word for father. The word we have translated into English “father,” “pater.” So you have “abba, ho pater.” Abba, Aramaic word for father. Pater, Greek word for father. Our translators chose not to translate the Aramaic word and to translate the Greek word. We do get an accurate representation. We have two different languages expressing “father” here.

Now, abba was often used by children in addressing their father. (And some have) Therefore we could use the word “daddy” here. But I think that misses the point. The word abba connotes intimacy but not infancy. The idea in the word abba is not immaturity, it’s closeness and intimacy.

So one writer said we over sentimentalize. (My computer kept saying that’s not a real word, but . . . .) We over sentimentalize this word when we refer to it as mere baby talk and translate it into English as daddy. As a word of address, abba is not so much associated with infancy as intimacy. And that conveys the idea.

What we have here is the intimacy that has been established. We are the sons of God and this is just not some kind of formal position that has been bestowed upon us. This is a relationship in which we have been brought. A relationship of intimacy that is closer than any other relationship that could be established, because you can’t move into my inner being, I can’t move into your inner being. But the Spirit of God Himself has been sent into my heart. There is a closeness and intimacy established here between God and His sons that goes beyond any other relationship that can be established, that can happen.

This expression, “Abba, Father,” was used of Christ, used by Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. You can jot down Mark, chapter 14, verse 36, when He prayed in anticipation of the agony of separation with His Father. “Abba, Father, if possible let this cup pass from Me.” The closeness, the intimacy expressed in the context of coming separation. So, you see the intimacy and closeness there. It’s not immaturity, but the closeness and the agony of knowing what is before Him.

Turn back to Romans, chapter 8. The three uses of “Abba, Father” are that reference in Mark 14:36, a reference in Romans chapter 8, verse 15, and then our reference in Galatians, chapter 4, verse 6. All three of those passages use Abba, Father. The relay, the use in Romans, chapter 8, verse 15 parallels what we’re doing in Galatians chapter 4. And you’ll note, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again.” You didn’t receive the Holy Spirit who would take you back under the Law. “But you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” You note in Galatians 4:6 it says “the Spirit cries out ‘Abba! Father!’” Here we cry out, “Abba! Father!” And what it is is the Spirit is moving on our spirit so we have the confidence, the assurance and the understanding to speak to God in this intimate way, “Abba, Father,” that closeness.

Verse 16 of Romans 8, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit,” he’s come into our heart, in our inner-most being, into our spirit, and He testifies with out spirit, “that we are children of God.” We have the objective, if I can say, external confirmation. “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” We are all sons of God through faith in Christ. But I also have, if you will, the subjective, or internal confirmation of that. The Spirit testifies with my spirit by His indwelling presence, giving me the confident assurance that I am a child of God. He moves me to call God my father, my dear father, as one translated it. That is an inner confirmation and assurance.

You know, sometimes people have said in the study of the Scripture, they feel like maybe they’re not believers, that, you know, the constant emphasis on distinguishing believer and unbeliever, constantly causing people to wonder, “Am I really saved?” But you know true believers shouldn’t wonder. I’m not saying there aren’t times when the Devil works to bring doubt, but you know the constant study of the Scripture, the constant hammering of the Scripture in these areas does not shake me and my confidence that I am a child of God. It further confirms it as the Spirit testifies to my spirit

Now, you note, there are a series of things here that come together to give confirmation you are a son of God. You must have faith in the truth that God has revealed concerning His Son. So, if a person says, “Oh, I know in my heart I’m a child of God.” Do you believe that the only Savior is Christ? “Well, I believe it’s important, but I also believe you have to be baptized.” Say, you’re not saved. “Oh, no, I know in my heart I am.” Well, that assurance that you think you have, that feeling you have in and of itself is not enough. It must be joined with faith in the truth.

And then there is a third dimension, that if we ever get to chapter 5 we will get to. And that is the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. He is producing from within the character of God in our lives. And Paul will say, if His, God’s character is not produced in your life, you are on your way to hell.

So, it’s these joined together: Faith in the truth concerning the Son of God; the confirmation of the indwelling Spirit to my heart and mind; the evidence being produced as God’s character is seen as I am molded and shaped in conformity to Him. And all three will be there in the life of one who has truly become a son of God. And you say, “Oh, no, I believe the truth. And I know in my heart I am.’ But the works of your life are the works of the flesh not the works of the Spirit. God says you are a liar, you are on your way to hell, you cannot and will not belong to Him. So I can’t pick out one or two of these and say, “Oh, okay, that confirmed it.” I must look at all three. But this one is certainly a blessing, is it not, to us as believers, to have God Himself dwelling within us and giving us that confirmation, and moving us to address God in the most intimate, warm terms as our Father; to know that we belong to Him and He is the One who loves us.

Keep something in Romans 8, unless we run out of time we’ll get back here. Come back to Galatians 4, verse 7. Verse 7 summarizes all that Paul has said in the first 6 verses. In fact, Galatians 4:7 summarizes everything he has said from chapter 3, verse 1 to chapter 4, verse 6. Wrap it all up in two statements.

“Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son.” And he moves in verse 7, “Therefore you,” he moved remember from the first person plural “we” to the second person plural, verse 6, “you” plural, now in verse 7, “therefore you” singular, “are no longer a slave, but a son.” Now he narrows it down to each individual believer. Now “you are no longer a slave, but a son.” This applies to you personally, you individually. The purpose of the Law was fulfilled with the coming of Christ. There’s no longer a place for the oversight and domination of the Law. When you believe in Christ, you become a son, you are a son. Don’t let anyone confuse you. Don’t let anyone try to take you back under bondage, take you back to a place of condemnation.

“Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son.” And the second part of that, “if a son, then an heir through God.” Only way err - error often comes into the Church and to believers. Oh, what you have is wonderful! But there is so much more. Well, what do you mean? More than I got in Christ? More than everything that pertains to life and godliness? More than I have in having become a partaker of the divine nature in Christ? I mean, tell me about this “more” It sounds like it’s an alternative God. You’re offering more than God Himself has given? And sometimes, if we’re not clear on what we have and what God has provided and how He has given it, we say, “Well, boy, I want more.” And what? We open the door, down the road, and we’re being lead away from the truth as the Galatians were.

You are an heir. If you are a son, you are an heir. That was the issue. Back in verse 19 of chapter 3, the end of the verse, “Until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.” What had been promised to Abraham is realized in and through the “seed,” singular, of Abraham, Christ. So you must be related to Abraham through Christ, Jew and Gentile.

Verse 29 of chapter 3, “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.” There’s certain promises in the covenant given to Abraham that pertain only to physical descendants of Abraham. But the only physical descendants of Abraham who will inherit those promises are what? Those who are also spiritual descendants. There are promises given to Abraham, and this is the focal promise that Paul is talking about in Galatians, the promise of righteousness by faith, God’s salvation. That’s promised to all who will believe in Him.

So, if you’re a son, you’re an heir. So, these Judaizers come and say, “That’s all right. Great! You’ve believed in Christ. That’s important, that’s necessary. But if you want to be fully an heir of Abraham and all that God’s provided, you have to keep the Law.” No, you are a son in Christ. And when you were a son, you were an heir.

Go back to Romans 8, verse 17, following on verse 16, “That the Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” Verse 17, “And if children, heirs also.” You see again, you can’t break it apart and say wonderful, now you’re a child, you’re a son. Next you need to become an heir, as though that’s the next step. No, it came together. It’s the package of salvation. You are “an heir also; heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ.” And even our sufferings in this life are part of that beautiful plan. “If indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may be glorified with Him.” And it goes on to talk about sufferings, and so on. We are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. The presence of the Holy Spirit is an assurance and guarantee of the final inheritance. And he refers to that glorification.

While you’re in Romans 8, jump down to verse 23, and note this presence of the Holy Spirit. “Not only this, but we ourselves also having the first fruits of the Spirit,” the first fruits of the Spirit picture the Old Testament, the first ears of grain brought in and presented before the Lord. What did they indicate? There is a coming harvest, the guarantee of the coming harvest. The Holy Spirit is the first fruit. It’s the guarantee of the redemption of our body. I’ve never seen a redeemed body. How do I know I’m going to get one? I have the Holy Spirit within me. He’s the first fruits.

Turn over, just after the book of Galatians, to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians, chapter 1, note the order here, verse 13, “In Him, (Ephesians 1:13), in Him, you also, after listening to the message of the truth (You have to hear the truth.), the gospel of your salvation -- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.” You hear the gospel and you believe it. And God works in salvation and the Holy Spirit seals you, guarantees your security.

Look at the next verse, “Who is given as a pledge of our inheritance.” That word, “pledge,” down payment, earnest. Whenever you’re going to buy a house, they want earnest money, a down payment, something to guarantee that you’re going to go through with the transaction. Here we’re told that the Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee He’s going through with the transaction. I think it’s beautiful. He gives me the guarantee! He knows my guarantee would be no good. He gives the guarantee. The guarantee is the Holy Spirit. He’s the pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

So, the Holy Spirit that God sent into our hearts to confirm that we are His children, to enable us, and move us to understand and enjoy the intimacy of a relationship with God as our Father, to confirm that relationship, to guarantee the final outcome, the inheritance promised in that relationship. It is fixed.

And that is why, then, Galatians 4:7 says that this is through God. It’s a settled matter. Salvation is God’s work from beginning, the planning of it in Eternity Past, before the foundation of the world, down through the provision of it in His Son, to the moving on our hearts to believe, to the providing of all that is involved in redemption, to the entering in of the inheritance that’s promised; is all through God. What a salvation! We as believers live totally, differently. We have been changed within. The Holy Spirit is working and moving in each believer. And we walk in fellowship with our God as our heavenly Father.

There’s a verse in Romans 8, verse 9, that you at least ought to note, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” So, you divide everyone in world, everyone in this room into one group or another. Those who have the Holy Spirit, those who do not. Those who have the Holy Spirit belong to Christ, they are the sons of God. Those who do not have the Holy Spirit do not belong to Christ, are not the sons of God.

We’re all in the same room. That’s not the issue. The issue is not are you in this room? The issue is is the Spirit of God in you? We get confused. You think, “I come into the room. I go through the same actions as other people. I go out. We’re all God’s children.” Wrong. The issue is not what you are in, the issue is who is in you? You must have the Holy Spirit in your heart. How can I get Him there? Be baptized. No. Join this church. No. What do I have to do? Believe the gospel. You are a sinner, separated from God and on your way to hell. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was sent to die on the cross to pay the penalty for sin. He is the only Savior. You must let go of everything, turn from everything, place your faith in Him alone. He’ll redeem you. He’ll set you free. He’ll cleanse you, make you new. You’ll be born into God’s family. You become a son of God. The Holy Spirit takes us residence in your heart, and begins to change you in dramatic ways from the inside out. All in preparation for entering into the inheritance that He has promised to His sons, which will involve eternal glory in the splendor of His presence.

Let’s pray together. Indeed we are greatly blessed to be able to call You our Father. Not just to be using a form of address, but to call You ?Abba, Father,? to have the Spirit move us to know that this is a relationship of intimacy and closeness, a relationship that in love and mercy and grace You have brought about by the provision of Your Son. By Your grace in opening our blinded eyes and causing us to believe in the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Lord, You know our hearts, deceitful and desperately wicked, yet You search these hearts. And Lord, You know the hearts in which Your Spirit resides, hearts in which Your Spirit does not reside. Our desire is that each one might experience this wonderful salvation in Jesus Christ. Lord, may we who have entered into such a glorious and wonderful salvation, such a beautiful relationship of intimacy with You the living God and Your Son and the indwelling Holy Spirit. May all of our thoughts, and all of our actions, be shaped by the beauty of a relationship of oneness that is ours as sons of the Living God. We praise you in Christ’s name, amen.