This teaching is relevant for us today. Although the underlying elemental principles of our day manifest differently, they nonetheless enslave us the same. Cultural currents like hyper-individualism, careerism, aestheticism, consumerism, technological optimism, inclusivism, polarization, and coercion are always pushing and pulling us along. Let us instead imitate our Father as dear children, looking to the teaching and example of His Son, Christ Jesus.

Galatians 4:1-3   Before Christ, we were enslaved to the elemental principles of the world—powers behind the way the world works.

Galatians 4:3-5   Because of Christ, there’s been a fundamental change in how people relate to both God and the world. God has adopted us into His family.

Galatians 4:6-7   God’s spirit inspires us to cry out, “Abba! Father!” This way of addressing God comes straight from Jesus’s private prayer life. (See Mark 14:36.)

Galatians 4:4-11   God has redeemed us from slavery, set us free, and adopted us, making us heirs of a mighty inheritance. As His children, we address Him as “Abba Father”. In such a state, how could we go back to slavery? How could we return to the old way of relating to God and the world?