“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Galatians 4:4-7)
Do you want to be a child of God? Paul’s words tell us that we have to stop trying to follow the Law as our means of attaining our inheritance. The Law was like a tutor that taught us right from wrong and helped keep us in line. Yet it also kept us in bondage because we were slaves to it and slaves to sin. The whole idea of law is to enforce obedience, promote order and protect others from harm. It does this by threatening punishments which engender fear that is supposed to produce the desired effects of cooperation and tolerance. The fear of God ought to lead people to Him, but He desires we obey out of love and faith. Paul points out that those who still follow the law, who strive to atone for sin by good works, are slaves, not sons of God at all.
Those who are in Christ need no longer come under the Law for they are sons, they have their inheritance already, the fullness of life and the guarantee of salvation as granted to us by the Holy Spirit. Here is good news for those of us who are facing the New Year with trepidation or mixed feelings. Those of us who have faith in Jesus are sons of God! We need not fear God’s wrath anymore because we live by the Spirit. He enables us to walk in loving obedience in accordance to God’s will. We have been adopted into the family of God through the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. Consequently when the Father sees us, He sees Jesus. He sees us as cleansed, whole, and righteous. Therefore we are able to stand in His presence without fear.