Rachel Workman: 23 Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.
24 Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. 25 And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.
26 For you are all children[m] of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.[n] 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile,[o] slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children[p] of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.
When God began working with Abram (his name was later changed to Abraham), God gave him a command and an amazing promise. The command was, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).
Explaining the promise He would give Abraham in exchange for his obedience, God continued: “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (verses 2-3).
It's very humbling to think about what we've done to even deserve this.
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John Burnett: 23 But before faith came, [a]we were kept in custody under the Law, being confined for the faith that was destined to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our [b]guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a [c]guardian. 26 For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is [d]neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you [e]belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s [f]descendants, heirs according to promise. The law provided us with a means to show us we are in need of a Savior and are justified by faith. There are no longer any racial, class, or gender lines for those of us who belong to Jesus Christ as we are adopted sons and daughters of God and are heirs to the promises made to Abraham's descendants. God always keeps his promises.
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Tomorrow’s reading for Galatians 4:1-7
Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. 2 They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 3 And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles[a] of this world.
4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.[b] 6 And because we[c] are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”[d] 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child.[e] And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.
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