Galatians 4:1-7 Heirs Through God (February 15, 2026 AM, Dr. Michael Grasso)

"In Galatians 4:1–7, the Apostle Paul unfolds one of the most glorious truths of the gospel: God sent His Son and His Spirit so that sinners would no longer be slaves, but sons—and heirs of all that God has promised.

This sermon explores how justification by faith necessarily leads to adoption. God does not merely declare believers righteous; he declares them his own children. Everyone who is justified in Christ is also adopted in Christ. To deny justification by faith, therefore, is not only to deny how sinners are forgiven, but to deny the freedom, intimacy, and inheritance of the children of God.

Paul explains this reality through the metaphor of an underage heir—one who is truly an heir, yet lives under guardianship until the time appointed by the father. Before Christ came, God’s people lived under the law in this way. But apart from Christ, Gentiles were not heirs at all—they were slaves, bound under the “elementary principles of the world,” enslaved to false religion and the power of sin.

Into this bondage, God acted. In the fullness of time, the Father sent His eternal Son—born of woman, born under the law—to redeem those under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. Christ placed himself under the law, not for his own sake, but for ours, accomplishing the obedience we could never render. He became the Son of Man so that sons of men might become sons of God—by grace.

And God did not stop there. Having made us sons through Christ, he sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. This Spirit testifies to our adoption, crying out “Abba, Father,” granting assurance, intimacy, and confidence before God. The Spirit confirms what the Son has accomplished: you belong to God.

The conclusion is unmistakable: if you are in Christ, you are no longer a slave—you are a son. And if a son, then an heir through God. This is the glory of the gospel: redemption, adoption, and inheritance, all given freely by grace through faith in Christ alone.

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