Galatians 4:6 – Frees sons

… that he should be reclaiming those under law that we may be getting the place of a son. Now, seeing that you are sons, God delegates the spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying “Abba! Father!”

In verses 4 and 5 Paul refers by “we” to Israel “under the law” and ” you ” refers to his readers among the nations. In verse 6, Paul joins his readers (“the Spirit of his Son in our hearts”).

We hardly know the phenomenon of “sonification”. It denotes the ceremony at which a child officially attains the status of adulthood and is no longer at the expense of its parents. It is definitely not adoption (“adoption to children”) as some translations misrepresent it. Since the death and resurrection of Christ, Israel is no longer “under the law”; “the old covenant” has ended.

Although “the new covenant” will not officially be made until the future with Israel and Judah (Jer.31:31), the blessings of this new covenant are already available to all who believe. So we also receive the vivifying Spirit, the same as that of the new covenant (2 Cor.3:6,8,17,18). That is also the “spirit of sonship” that God sent into our hearts and through which we cry: Abba, Father! (Rom.8:15).

Delen: