Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely
Galatians 4:5
5 To [hina] redeem [exagorazo] them that were under [hupo]
the law [nomos], that [hina] we might receive [apolambano] the adoption of sons [huiothesia]. KJV-Interlinear
5 in order that He might redeem
those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. NASB
And so Jesus Christ who is God, and therefore equal
with God, came into this world being born a baby boy, and therefore equal with
humanity.
Jesus came into this world under the authority of
the mosaic law, and lived by the requirements of that law, to perfection, and
was therefore qualified to go to the cross and gave himself in our place, and
therefore Jesus possesses the right to purchase us out of the slavery to sin
and death.
The word for redeem, means to buy, to ransom, to
rescue from loss.
And under the law we as humanity were in effect
enslaved to the law because of the major requirements and demands of the law.
The mosaic law established a contrast between the
efforts and ability of the world as opposed to the efforts and ability of God.
Therefore what is being compared are the works of
man versus the works of God, and the works of man are far inferior, actually
they are infinitely inferior, to the works of God.
So, through the work of Christ on the cross, he was
able to defeat death, pay the price of sin, and earn the right to purchase our
freedom.
And the objective for purchasing us out of slavery,
is so that Christ could make us family of God, but more than that, so Christ
could make us sons.
The word for son here, is the same word that was
used to identify Christ as the son of God in the previous verse. And, since we
were children of man, and now being brought into the family of God, we are
adopted children, but more than that we are adopted sons.
Also, we are more than adopted sons, we are adopted
firstborn sons.
Historically in human history, the firstborn son is
the heir of the father’s estate. When there are several children or several
sons, then the firstborn son, is entitled to a double portion, or double that
of any of the other children who might inherit.
And since God the Father is the legitimate owner of
everything in this universe as well as everything in heaven, which is beyond
this universe, then our inheritance is far greater than anyone can even begin
to imagine.
To be born a human being, and then reject Christ,
is a fool’s decision. Because what you would be doing, would be throwing away a
fortune that is beyond calculation.
To be born a human being and then believing in
Christ, means that you qualify for blessings that are infinitely greater than
what the unbeliever would have.
To be born a human being, and as a believer,
advancing to spiritual maturity by means of pursuing a daily Bible study, means
that you will qualify for greater blessings that are infinitely greater than
what the non-advancing believer will have.
Believing in Christ qualifies you for heaven, and
that is a very good thing.
But as a believer, your objective does not end with
faith in Christ, that is only the beginning of the obligations and
opportunities that exist before you.
Your ultimate objective in the spiritual life, once
you have believed in Christ, is to grow up in your spiritual life. And there is
only one way to grow up, and that is by wanting to grow up, reading or hearing
or studying under instruction so that you can learn spiritual phenomena, and
doing this while in fellowship which is accomplished by confession a sins.
And doing this with repetition on a daily basis
will lead to understanding, and the application of what you learn to your daily
life, and eventually wisdom.
The objective of your life is to complete your
life. And you do not have a complete life until you have attained spiritual
maturity.
This is why we study every day, word by word, verse
by verse, precept by precept, principle by principle, and so forth.
Often times the study material is interesting, as
when we have been studying a prophecy or some such thing.
But also there are times, many times, when the
study material is repetitive or boring, and that typically separates the
spiritual infant from the spiritual mature.
Spiritual infants do not want to listen, do not
want to learn, do not want to be responsible or held accountable, do not want
to grow up. Spiritual infants do not want to be taught. They want things done their way and won’t
listen to anyone else. And so as babies
go, they do not grow up and they are not entitled to the rights and
opportunities of the adult.
Spiritual adults look forward to the prize. They
recognize the prize. They understand the prize. They know the extreme value of
the prize. And therefore they endure whatever it takes, through thick or thin,
to knuckle down and stick it out and learn more and more and more, so that they
will be a winner not only in this life, but especially in the next life.
