What happensPermalink
Before Christ, both Jews and Gentiles were enslaved—Jews under the law, Gentiles under false gods. But when the right time came, God sent His Son to redeem both groups so that we might receive adoption as children. Paul fears the Galatians, once joyful in faith, are slipping back into bondage. Those who depend on law are children of slavery; those who depend on God’s promise are free. Therefore, Paul urges them to live as heirs, not servants.
Why it mattersPermalink
Paul uses the very Torah his opponents trust to prove their error: faith, not law, makes God’s children. To return to law is to renounce adoption.
Key versePermalink
So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.