Sunday Morning Bible Study: Galatians 3 and 4
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
From Law to Promise — From Slaves to Sons
In Galatians 3 and 4, Paul brings his argument to its heart.
The question is no longer merely what went wrong in Galatia, but what does it mean to belong to God at all?
Are we made right by what we do — or by what God has done?
Paul’s answer is unmistakable.
Galatians 3 — Faith Before Law
Paul begins by taking his readers back before Moses — all the way to Abraham.
Abraham was counted righteous by faith, not by works, and not by the Law, which would not be given for centuries.
The promise came first. The Law came later.
The Law, Paul says, was never meant to save. It was a schoolmaster, a guardian, holding God’s people in place until Christ came.
It revealed sin, restrained sin, and pointed forward — but it could not give life.
The turning point is clear:
“The just shall live by faith.”
In Christ, the distinctions that once marked religious status fall away — Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female — not erased as persons, but united in one standing before God.
Galatians 4 — From Slavery to Sonship
Paul then shifts from legal argument to family language.
Before Christ, God’s people were like heirs who were still children — under guardians, not yet free.
But when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those under the Law.
The result is staggering:
We are no longer slaves. We are sons.
And because we are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father.” This is not fear-based obedience, but filial trust.
Paul grieves that the Galatians are tempted to return to bondage — to trade sonship for rule-keeping, and freedom for religious performance.
His warning is gentle, but urgent: Do not go backward.
What to Listen for as We Read Together
As we read Galatians 3 and 4 aloud, listen for:
How often Paul contrasts promise with performance
How the Law is described — not as evil, but as temporary
How deeply personal salvation becomes when Paul speaks of sonship
How freedom in Christ is not lawlessness, but a new kind of obedience
For Our Gathering
Galatians calls us to ask ourselves quietly:
Am I living as a child in the Father’s house — or as a servant trying to earn a place?
Have I confused spiritual maturity with spiritual anxiety?
Do I trust Christ enough to rest in what He has already finished?
Paul’s message to Galatia is God’s message to every generation tempted to add something to grace.
Closing Word
We begin this week reminded that the Christian life does not start with effort — it starts with faith. And it does not mature by returning to fear, but by growing in freedom as sons and daughters of God.
Bring your Bible. Read slowly. And listen for the voice of the Father calling His children home.
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Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.
Refrain
Come home, come home,
You who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!
Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
Pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,
Mercies for you and for me?
Refrain
Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me;
Shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming,
Coming for you and for me.
Refrain
O for the wonderful love He has promised,
Promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon,
Pardon for you and for me.
Refrain
Will L. Thompson, 1880
Be of good comfort,rise; He calleth thee. Mark 10:49
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