No Longer Slaves But Sons and Heirs

Now I say, for as long a time as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he[a] is master of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the time set by his father. So also we, when we were children, we were enslaved under the elemental spirits of the world. But when the fullness of time came, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order that he might redeem those under the law, in order that we might receive the adoption. And because you are sons, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba![b] (Father!),” so that you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, also an heir through God.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Galatians 4:1 Here “although” is supplied as a component of the participle (“is”) which is understood as concessive
  2. Galatians 4:6 “Abba” is Aramaic for “father”