"We’re No Longer In Bondage"

Galatians 4:1-6

1) Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;

2) But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

3) Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

4) But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

5) To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

6) And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

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esus takes care of everything and everyone who belongs to Him. Therefore, our concern should be that we, indeed, belong to Him.

Verses 3 and 5 (particularly) sound great. But “the adoption of sons” is not necessarily a reality for all. You see, the statement of “sonship” can apply only to those who are “free.”

The scriptures relate the state of Man from the beginning (meaning that he is in bondage to his flesh.) Specifically, the book of Genesis pronounces that the desire of the woman “…shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” This was spoken to Eve concerning her relationship with Adam, but beyond this, we received a glimpse into the role that flesh would play (as “first husband”) over the one who operates in the human spirit.

In the book of Romans, chapter 7, we find that one with a husband is “bound” to that husband as long as he is alive. However, once he dies, the “bond” no longer has any strength. In like manner, when one comes to the Lord, he “pledges” himself to Him. This, in effect, should be enough to break the bond with the “first husband” (the flesh), but when the connection with that which had “first” rule” is not completely severed that “influence” remains alive.

Now, rarely, does it seem to occur to us that we are “two-timing” the Lord. Why should He be willing to do that which we would not? Specifically, how would we feel finding ourselves committed to one who still has an entanglement with another? Just as the aforementioned relationship would be doomed, so too, is our walk with the Lord when we fail to allow the death of our “first husband”—the flesh.

One of the reasons that it is essential to “kill” at that is fleshly is that the mind must be free to operate unencumbered by anything that it has known before. Without this freedom, we will miss every important blessing that the Lord has designed for us. This is because a divided focus will neutralize all effectiveness.

How blessed we will be if we ever accept that all operations of the human spirit bring bondage! We have been brainwashed by the enemy and the time in which we live to believe that “captaining” one’s own life brings ultimate control and freedom. The truth is that whatever one comes to find or believe that it “takes” to “get” what he wants or achieve is that to which he will become devoted and obligated. The Lord saves us that we might come to know and accept that our devotion and obligation belong to Him, only!

The saints of God have done themselves a disservice in these times by not really being familiar with the One to Whom they have pledged themselves. You see, when one is not sincere, he will avoid any kind of “intimate” relationship with the Lord for one knows that intimacy gives the right of “correction.” Therefore, we erroneously believe that if we “reserve” ourselves before the Lord, He will get no opportunity to correct us.

Of course, the Lord allows us “learning opportunities” (tests and trials) every day and while these will teach us of ourselves, we remain incomplete unless we come to know our “better half.” Therefore, it would be good for us to study the Gospels and the behavior of Jesus.

We have a challenge before us to come to understand our own powerlessness before God. Unless and until we do, the Lord will never be able to assume His rightful position and we will remain ignorant of the glory that He could shed in our lives.

Every day, we experience something meant to prove to us that nothing can or will be changed by our attempts to do so! Not accepting that only God has the power of “change” tells us something about our true “god.” In that He is God and that all by Himself, we must live according to His dictates.

Our scripture text refers to us as “children” because of the fact that a child operates according to his fleshly understanding. Therefore, in verse three, we are told that while we were still children (attached to our flesh), we were in bondage. As long as we conduct ourselves as children, we will make incorrect, immature, dangerous decisions.

The Lord delivers us from bondage that we might be free to serve Him. You see, without deliverance from bondage, we have no “loyalty” to anyone but ourselves—and without loyalty, we are unable to be committed. Salvation was never intended to be a “one-time commitment.” In other words, the Lord had no intention of giving all that He had and was that we might “get baptized and filled”—and stop there. Through “inoculation” with the Holy Ghost, we were to inherit a permanent “condition”—salvation.

The Lord can have certain expectations of us after accepting His Spirit because we have, in effect, been “infected” with His DNA. Scientifically, DNA is that which determines, genetically, who we are. Therefore, all that Jesus is, we become. DNA is contained within the “seed” so to speak and as such, determines the characteristics of the “fruit.” Spiritually, if the “DNA” being obeyed is that of the flesh rather than the Spirit, one’s “fruit” will be that of sin.

If it were true that we have “evolved” into our current species, then it would mean that we would have had to have gone through a process of DNA mutation and regeneration. Generationally, this would, indeed, have taken more time than the world has even existed. What a pain staking, excruciating process of development! In contrast, the only being that Man has every had to “evolve from” is the human being. That “process” which is the only thing that can change or “save” his life is as simple as accepting that “we are no longer in bondage.”