Galatians 4:7-9 - Why do you want to be a slave?

4:7

The Judaisers teaching encouraged the Galatians to see themselves as slaves, though they would probably not say that. Any teaching that does that is a wrong teaching. We are no longer slaves but sons. It is vital that we see ourselves aright. As since are sons, we are also heirs. And it is God who has made us heirs. This sonship is a result of God’s doing, not our doing, and He has decided that the route to sonship is faith in Jesus Christ. There is no other way.

4:8

“Formerly when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.” Man thinks that by rebelling against God, by rejecting God, that he sets himself free, when in reality he actually becomes a slave. it is only when we know God that we are truly free. We may reject God’s ways on sexual morality, but the outcome will be enslavement and misery. We may seek to be autonomous, but we are not. All the so-called freedom that atheism offers is illusory.

4:9

The Galatians did know God. Paul then immediately reverses the emphasis, saying we are known by God. Any view of anything which puts man first is mistaken, God is the source of all things. Do we need to believe in Christ? Of course we do, we must choose to follow Christ, but Jesus then reminds us that “we did not choose Him, but He chose us”. Everything begins with God. In choosing to be circumcised, or to otherwise follow the Law, the Galatians might have thought that they were choosing a good thing, a godly thing. In reality they were choosing to be enslaved all over again. What a foolish thing to do! Life without God, life enslaved to sin, is weak and miserable. Why on earth would anyone want to turn back to such a life?