“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
So you are no longer a slave, but God's child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. — the legal status is reversed: sonship replaces slavery ('doulos'), and with sonship comes heirship ('klēronomos'), the reversal of the minority condition described in 4:1-2, now realized through adoption into God's family.
Church Fathers on Galatians 4:7
“And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So that you are no longer a bond-servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.” Had not we been first made sons, we could not have called Him Father. If then grace has made us freemen instead of slaves, men instead of children, heirs and sons instead of aliens, is it not utter absurdity and stupidity to desert this grace, and to turn away backwards?
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!