Redeemed

Galatians 4:1–7 ESV

1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

How many of you remember the old S&H green stamps? I can remember books and books of them in a drawer, and every time we would go shopping new stamps would be brought home and placed in those books.

Why did we keep those books? They were a type of reward - the more you spent, the more stamps you got AND then you got to redeem them for everything from drinkware, dishes, kitchen appliances, jewelry, housewares, to games and toys. Some people might call it a loyalty program - you shop at stores that had S&H stamps and you were rewarded. So it took an intentional decision on our part to choose to receive this reward - a blessing if you might say it. Something we didn’t have to work for, something we didn’t have to purchase, but something we saved up for in an effort to receive a reward.

Biblically, redemption means to secure the release or recovery of persons or things by the payment of a price. If we look at redemption, it means receiving something someone else has paid for. How many of you remember the lyrics to the song “Redeemed”?

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child, and forever, I am.

WE are redeemed by the blood of the lamb! We are not redeemed by our works, our thoughts, our opinions, our tithes, our church attendance…any of those things we “think” are important. Redemption is not something WE do, but it is something we RECEIVE when we are washed by the blood of the Lamb - when we receive Christ as our Savior.

In Galatians chapters 3&4, we are given the reminder that it is by faith alone, and not by our works that lead to our redemption. Some influential people had joined the churches of Galatia and the churches took pride in their presence. The new members were so capable and the churches were so glad to have them that they were immediately placed in positions of leadership and teaching. However, these new members had not been truly converted by Christ or else their understanding of the gospel was all confused. They began to teach that faith alone was not enough to save a person, that a person had to undergo the basic ritual of religion (circumcision) and focus his life upon the law in order to become acceptable to God. Summarizing, people were placed in positions of authority simply because of what they had instead of who they were in Christ.

Paul’s answer is direct: the experience of the Galatian believers disproves that a person becomes acceptable to God by law. The believer’s experience proves that he is justified by faith alone, and all a believer has to do is to rethink his experience and he will see the truth.

Misconception of Law

Galatians 4:1–3 ESV

1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.

When sin entered the world, the world was in a hopeless state, in bondage to sin. The illustration used here is one of a young child who stands to receive an inheritance. While the inheritance is intended to be the childs, it will not become his until an appointed time arrives. There is no more right to the inheritance than a slave. It is still the owners - the guardians and managers - until the transitional time where an inheritance is passed on. This is decided upon, not by the child, but by the father. And, like the illustration of the prodigal son it was not the son but the father that allowed his son to receive his inheritance. Good, bad, or indifferent, once the son had received his inheritance, it was up to him to decide how he would spend it. As we know, he squandered the money and had to come home penniless.

Now, we too are considered children of the inheritance of God. It is up to us to figure out how we are to use the inheritance God has given to us, when He decides we are ready and able. Until then, we may try to figure out how to influence God to give us our inheritance before our time. We may try to use the law or the works of man to persuade God we deserve our inheritance. We may look at rituals or ceremonies as rites of passage into justification before God. We may think being a member of a church, or taking communion, maybe even having an understanding of “religion” as our rite of passage. But this scripture sets aside the clear understanding doing these “things” are elementary approaches to salvation. It is looking more at how the law points out sin, and how sacrifices were a temporary and ceremonial fix, but not how sinners are redeemed for eternity.

Redemption

Galatians 4:4–7 ESV

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

There was an appointed time. There was a time where the temporary fixes were remedied and God delivered the world. This is one of the great passages of Scripture dealing with the mission or work of God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God had been preparing the world for Christ’s coming. It was only Jesus that could deliver mankind - not an angel, not a leader, not even a priest, but Gods own Son who could deliver us from the condemnation of the law - the bondage of sin and death.

One of the other truths we must understand is that, while Jesus was fully divine, Jesus was also fully human. He was “born of woman”. But note the most glorious truth: He was “sent forth” by God. Jesus Christ was “His Son,” the Son of God. God spoke the Word and the woman conceived miraculously. The Virgin Birth did take place: God’s very own Son has been sent into the world as a man to save men. Note that God sent His Son born under the law. Jesus Christ had to live under the law in order to secure the perfect righteousness of the law for man. He had to obey the law in every single precept and stand before God as the Perfect and Ideal Man—the Ideal Embodiment of Righteousness. As stated, He had to do what no other person had ever done: secure the Ideal Righteousness and Perfection so that the Ideal and Perfect could stand for all men.

Note why God sent His Son: to redeem mankind. Galatians 3:13-14 tells us that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

Galatians 3:13–14 ESV

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Jesus took our sins upon Himself so that we would not be seen as guilty in His eyes. The word redeemed means to buy back or to buy from or to ransom. Christ has bought man back and ransomed him from the curse of the law. That man has broken the law of God is unquestionable; every honest man knows this. Therefore, every man stands guilty before God and must be judged and condemned to bear the curse and punishment of the law. But this is the glorious news: Jesus Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. How? Jesus Christ was made a curse for us. Simply stated, Jesus Christ took our condemnation, doom, death, and punishment upon Himself and bore them all for us. Jesus Christ took our place as the lawbreaker and guilty party before God, and He bore the punishment of the lawbreaker for us. How was this possible?

Because Jesus Christ had obeyed and kept the law of God perfectly. He had never broken the law, not even once. He was sinless and perfect. He had secured the Ideal Righteousness and Perfection before God. Therefore, He bore no guilt, no penalty, and no mark of death. He had the right to stand before God and claim eternal life, the right to be accepted by God and to never experience death. He was perfect; He had secured incorruptible righteousness. Stated as simply as possible, Jesus Christ substituted Himself, His perfect life, for man’s sinful life. He substituted His obedience to God for man’s disobedience. He bore man’s sin and punishment so that man might stand righteous and perfect before God. Jesus Christ bore the curse of the law for us.

The result of God sending Jesus to redeem men is simple - we are adopted as children of God. When a person believes in Jesus Christ, God takes his faith and counts the person as being in Jesus Christ. Since Christ is God’s Son, the believer is counted as a son of God—all because he is seen as being in Jesus Christ. His faith in Jesus Christ causes God to cover him with the Sonship of His Son, to adopt him as a son of God.

Believers receive assurance of being accepted by God through the Spirit of His Son. The Spirit of Christ is sent by God to dwell in our hearts and to give us a personal relationship with God. The Spirit of Christ, that is, the Holy Spirit, gives us a fellowship of communication and communion with God: He stirs our hearts to cry out to God as our Father: “Father, Father.”

Believers are made heirs of God. But note: they are heirs because they are sons of God. Both sonship and heirship are “through Christ”—through faith in Him.

Closing

The coming of Christ upon the world scene was not by chance. His coming was under the strategic timing providentially set aside by God. His coming was not one day before or behind the appointed time.

God and God alone decided the fullness of time for the coming of Christ. Christ was born of a particular person, at a particular time, in a particular way (incarnation), and under a particular system (the law). He shared the frustration and agony of being subjected to the very system from which He came to save men. The world had been wonderfully prepared for His coming.

The law had done its educational work. It had shown through the Jewish nation that men are terrible transgressors, and despite all of God’s favor and blessings, men still failed to worship God in love. The world now had a picture of the depraved heart of man.

The world was full of people spiritually starved. The worship of self, pleasure, gods, and philosophical ethics—all had left many empty and barren. The soul was now ready to have its hunger met.

Many today still have that hunger, they are spiritually starved. They are looking for their hunger to be met. And, we have the spiritual food. Are you willing to be fed?