Many of our debts can be repaid via monetary means. However, there is one debt which we can never repay by any means on our own. It is the debt of sin which can only be repaid by death. The consequence of this sin-debt is eternal death in hell and it can only be repaid by the Lord Jesus Christ who came into this world to redeem us from this sin-debt. In Galatians 4:1-7, the Apostle Paul shows us our need for the Lord Jesus Christ to be our Redeemer for our sins.

The Old Testament Jews were God’s chosen children. As children of God, they are the heirs to His promise, which is the salvation from sins (Gal 4:1). However, like a child, they will always be under the guidance and instructions of the Father through obeying the laws of God (Gal 4:2). These laws were not given by God to save them from their sins, but to point them to Jesus Christ, the only Saviour and Redeemer of their sins. Hence, it is required of the Jews to perform all the ceremonial laws and sacrifices instructed by God to remind them that they were under the bondages of sin (Gal 4:3) and to point them to the Redeemer who will come “when the fulness of the time was come” (Gal 4:4a).

The time will come when the Jews will grow from being a child into an adult. This is when God will fulfill His promise and send forth His Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, made under the law (Gal 4:4b). Jesus, being born of a virgin, is born sinless and thus He can be our perfect Substitute to redeem us from our sins. While on earth, Jesus kept the laws perfectly and He remains sinless. Then He died on the cross to redeem us from our sin-debt. Through His life and death, we can now be adopted by God to be His children (Gal 4:5). This adoption is received, through the conviction of our hearts by the Holy Spirit, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

As children of God, we are no longer slaves to the law. This means that we no longer need to keep the ceremonial laws because Jesus had fulfilled the law by coming into this world and dying on the cross on our behalf. Therefore, we are to look unto and follow the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour and our Redeemer. May God help us.