The Contrast between Sonship and Servanthood - Part 1 (Gal. 4_1-11)

GALATIANS EXPOSITORY SERIES

 

 In cultures that practiced slavery, there were obvious differences between the one who served and the master, between the son of a slave and the son of a slave owner. Although the servant may have possessed greater physical strength and innate intelligence than that of the owner's son, the servant was still regarded as an inferior person. The servant was under orders to obey, and the son was free to enjoy the provision of the father.

In his argument for the superiority of Christ, the author of Hebrews pointed out that Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s household, as a testimony to what would be said in the future. But Christ was faithful as a Son over His household. And we are that household if we hold on to the courage and the confidence of our hope (Heb. 3:5-6). A slave is never free to do anything voluntarily; rather he is always obligated to obey laws.

Although regeneration changed the spiritual position of a slave, it did not eliminate his social status. He was still a slave. Many NT epistles provided valuable counsel for the converted servants and slave owners. Paul encouraged Philemon to receive the recently saved Onesimus no longer as a slave, but more than a slave—as a dearly loved brother... (Philem. v. 16).

This cultural background of the first century provided an excellent analogy between the principles of spiritual sonship and those of spiritual bondage.

 

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