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Sunday 20 January 2019

Galatians 4:5,6 - Abba! Father!

4:5
Paul has already shown that no one can be made righteous by the Law. Indeed we are under a curse because of it, for it demonstrates our sinfulness and therefore makes us subject to the due penalty. Jesus came to redeem us from the Law. Now He could only do this because He was fully human, because He lived under the Law, and because He fully kept the Law. And He did this so that we might receive the adoption to sonship. We are meant to have a much richer relationship with God, the relationship of a son to the Father.

4:6

All this was not purely theoretical, but was also experiential. The Galatians had experienced the Holy Spirit. The Father had given the Holy Spirit to them, the Spirit of His Son and been sent to them, to dwell in their hearts. And the Spirit then cries out “Abba, Father”. There is a relationship between us and the Father. All the “you must be circumcised” stuff was empty of relationship. Indeed, we should beware of any teaching that is devoid of relationship, for it will be nothing more than a method. Notice also the trinitarian aspects of this verse. The Father sent the Spirit, who is the Spirit of His Son (Christ). We see in this letter (as in all of the Bible) the linking of theology/understanding and experience. The two are not opposed to each other, but work together. There was a clear and real experience of the Holy Spirit, and this is understood within a clear theological framework that explains the Bible.

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