Shownotes
What if everything you’re working so hard to earn has already been freely given? Why do we still feel like we have to prove ourselves to God? In this powerful episode, we explore the bold message of Galatians 4—one that shatters performance-based faith and calls us to live fully as beloved heirs of God.
Episode Summary:
In Galatians 4, Paul delivers a heartfelt plea to believers who are slipping back into legalism, reminding them of their true identity as children and heirs of God. Through vivid analogies, real-life emotions, and spiritual urgency, this episode walks through Paul’s message that our relationship with God isn’t based on our ability to follow rules, but on His promise and grace.
We’re reminded that although we were once slaves to the world’s principles, Jesus came to set us free—truly and completely. The conversation highlights the danger of falling back into a mindset of earning favor and showcases the beauty of being fully accepted, loved, and given an inheritance simply by being children of God.
Top Topics:
1. From Slaves to Heirs:
Paul uses the analogy of a child heir and a slave to show the radical shift in our spiritual status. Though both may appear under restriction, only one stands to inherit everything. This contrast helps illustrate our position before and after Christ—once bound by law, now adopted into divine freedom.
2. Paul's Heartache Over Regression:
The Galatians had embraced the gospel but were falling back into law-following and rule-keeping. Paul’s emotional appeal is more than theological—it’s deeply personal. He likens his anguish to the pain of childbirth, desperate for Christ to be formed in them again.
3. Two Covenants, Two Realities:
The story of Hagar and Sarah becomes a spiritual metaphor: one child is born of human effort (law), the other by divine promise (grace). This comparison invites reflection—are we living as children of fear and performance, or as those born of promise and faith?
4. Walking in Freedom:
Freedom doesn’t mean recklessness. It means living from acceptance, not for it. We’re called to reject every influence that drags us back into spiritual slavery and instead walk with the confidence of sons and daughters who “own every slab” of the path beneath them.
Takeaways:
Living as heirs of God changes everything. We don’t have to strive, hustle, or perform to earn what’s already been given. Our status as children of God is not based on our balance sheet of good deeds versus bad—but on Christ’s finished work. Legalism may look righteous, but it keeps us chained to fear and failure. Freedom in Christ isn’t a future reward—it’s a present reality. So let’s stop trying to help God along with our plans and efforts, and start walking as people who’ve already been given everything. Grace isn’t a supplement—it’s the whole inheritance.
Download blank templates, schedules here:
Logos RAMPS Workflow - RAMPS Bible Study - The Bible in Small Steps in Logos Workflows
Jill’s Links
https://jillfromthenorthwoods.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@smallstepswithgod
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/smallstepspod
Email the podcast at jill@startwithsmallsteps.com
“Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.”
Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
“The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved”.
Bible Maps and images used with permission from https://www.bible.ca/maps/ or https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/bj-ot-world/
Copyright 2014 Faithlife / Logos Bible Software. Free for non-commercial use by individuals or organizations. May be presented before live audiences; may be posted on social media; may be re-distributed. May not be used commercially. May not be modified or included in published works without permission; contact permissions@faithlife.com. Attribute as: “Copyright 2014 Faithlife / Logos Bible Software ()”.
By choosing to watch this video or listen to this podcast, you acknowledge that you are doing so of your own free will. The content shared here reflects personal experiences and opinions and is intended for informational and inspirational purposes only. I am not a licensed healthcare provider, psychiatrist, or counselor. Any advice or suggestions offered should not be considered a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice. You are solely responsible for any decisions or actions you take based on this content.
Transcripts
What does it mean to be heirs of God? That's what we're going to talk about today in Galatians 4. If the works of Jesus on the cross is finished and we live still as we're enslaved, what does it mean that we're trying to earn something that was already given to us? Hi, this is Jill from the Northwoods talking about Bible topics one small step at a time. You probably asked yourself that question many times. Why can't I just do what God wants to do? wants me to do. And in that chapter, this chapter, we reveal this true status as children and heirs, not slaves. And not, he used the word slaves, but I always think of it is that we always think that Jesus is sort of this wispy guy who walks around and goes, oh, Jill, I'm so disappointed in you all the time. You know, this very disappointed Jesus. I'll just call him that. And instead, what we're learning is that we have a true status as children. And it challenges us to stop walking backwards and stop trying to earn something that was already given to us. Paul's letter, as we remember, these chapters are given to this church to be read out there, probably read to them in one big, long, flowing thought from Paul. So they all connect to each other. It's very easy for us to say, chapter three, now I have a new thought. But it's one letter. And so when we look at this, we will step into the this continuing message. He starts out by reminding us, like I said, that we are heirs. He compares a child heir to a slave. Even though a child owns everything that he was promised, he's still under guardianship and he's still appointed. There's still an appointed time where that is set by the father. A child heir doesn't have it all, right? Doesn't have free reign, free rule, even though everything there is to that child and everything there is a part of that child's legacy. And so that reflects the condition that we were at before Christ. We were children enslaved to this basic principles of the world. But now God sent his son, born of a woman, made human. That was our sermon topic this morning about he was man. He was made to be like us. Didn't need to be baptized, got baptized. And so God sent his son to redeem us. And even Though this is received to us as adoption, as children of God, sons of God, we are still sons. And then Jesus sent the Spirit into our hearts, you know, and it's because now we say Father. In the Hebrew word, it's Abba. But we are no longer slaves, but sons. And the sons are heirs through God himself. It's a powerful idea that, you know, reads through this entire thread where someone asked, you know, I saw a thread on Reddit one day. It says, why can't I just do what God wants me to do? And I sat there and thought about this for a long time. You know, I've thought the same kinds of things, but the truth is, is that we can't and not on our own. Remember, the speed limit sign tells us how we're failing at driving the speed limit signs. It doesn't help us to be better people. And that's why Jesus came. Paul is urging us not to see ourselves imprisoned by this law anymore. but instead that in Christ were a child and heir the work is finished. And this is an important message for the Galatians because remember they started listening to other people that started telling them that they had to go and live all the Jewish laws all over again. And then this continues on then at verse 8 of this. Paul said that the Galatians took this tragic backsliding. What happened? And back before they were Christians they didn't know God. They were slaves. They were slaves to false gods. Now you know God. And you are also known by God. Why are you turning your backs on them to this weak and worthless principles of the world yet again? You were on the right track. And now you're not on the right track. This expresses Paul's heartbreak and wondering, is all his work in vain? Because they had welcomed him with joy, even in his illness, possibly with whatever condition it is he had. And they would have given him their own eyes. But now he tells them the truth. He is their enemy because they're not doing what it is he grew in them. He explained it to them. You know, it reminds me of how quickly people can turn when truth gets uncomfortable. You know, Paul speaks to them like a father in pain. And I think God is in pain. You know, I kind of, you know, you listen to the news of the world and you look at how frail life is. is just like, oh, children, I wanted so much more for you. I think God is in pain for what we do to each other and what we've done to this world. And now Paul is who shares that pain, anguish, cause like childbirth. And he wants Christ to be formed in them. He doesn't want to speak harshly, but he's really confused about this. And I think, you know, as leaders and parents and mentors, we find ourselves watching people walk right back to the chains we helped them escape. And that's Paul's grief right there. You hear all sorts of stories about, you know, kids who are drug addicted and the parents do everything, pay any expense. And the kid never walked out of it, you know. And I think Paul's grief is right there. He wants them to come out the other side. So Paul then draws on this new kind of analogy, which was an Old Testament story about Abraham and Sarah. and Hagar. Now, God promised a child to Abraham, said you're going to be the father of great nations. And Sarah was going to be the mother of great nations. And they lost faith. You remember the story, Sarah laughed at it because she's like, I'm super old. There's no way I'm having a kid. And I think that at first they thought, okay, well, we'll just see what happens. And as time passed on, you know, that they lost hope, Sarah gave Gave her maidservant, Hagar, who was Egyptian, to Abraham. They had a child, and that child was called Ishmael. And the child was born out of fear. It wasn't born out of the promise of God. And it was, gosh, insane. Like, obviously, God's not going to make this happen. Let's us make this happen. And they continued on, and eventually Isaac was born to Sarah, who was the child of promise. Born, through the power of God. And Paul says that these two women represents two covenants. Hagar represents Mount Sinai, the law. Remember, that's where the Ten Commandments come down. And slavery, slavery to the law. And Sarah represents this new Jerusalem, the future of Jerusalem, the freedom, and this promise that's going to happen in Jesus. Hagar's child, born according to flesh, represents the old covenant and is our to fix himself. We couldn't wait. And Sarah's child instead was the actual child that was born through promise through a miracle, right? So all these people, you know, all this time, like I said, even my grandmother, oh, we're going to send a Messiah. We're going to send someone to save the people. We're going to send the Savior to put them back right with God. And instead, they started believing other things were Messiahs or, you know, if Herod believed that Jesus was Messiah, he wanted to kill him. And even my grandmother gave up hope in the Messiah and just said, oh, you know, we're the Messiah. And I'm like, I don't think that's what it meant. And this was me as an atheist, Jewish person. But like I said, I spent a lot of time in Israel thinking about and then talking to people about, well, if you don't believe Jesus is the Messiah, what was the Messiah supposed to be and why did Jesus fall short of that? And so that's kind of where this story illustrates this truth that human effort, no matter what we do, is rebellious. Even if it looks religious, we cannot produce the promises God promised to do. When Abraham tried to take matters in his own hands, it resulted in a pain. And now we have this child of the flesh who will not be the heir. We have the child of promise who was born through God and not through human effort. That's where we're kind of contrasting these two pieces. Now, here comes the interesting part of the story is that Paul brings this point. where there's a part in Genesis 21 that said, cast out the slave woman. This is what Sarah says to Abraham and her son. This is harsh. I mean, it was even, you know, I think harsh then. And I think Abraham was saddened to do this. But Sarah saw that Hagar's child was getting attention. And she wanted this promise. to say, he's not getting the inheritance. Cast him out. Now, again, this was kind of interesting because this was something that God wanted to do, but I think Hagar did it out of fear that her son would no longer share in the inheritance because technically the older child always got the inheritance. That was the way that the world worked, but the inheritance was with a free woman, not the the inheritance through a slave woman. And so it's kind of a history lesson for us, but it also shows us this action that every time we try to earn God's love and we try to perfect our world, put all our chess pieces in place through the law, it is not going to add anything to it. We can't supplement God's grace with our own efforts. It's just not going to work. And if you try to earn God's favor through the law, you're going to be a child of a slave. If you receive faith, you are a child of a free woman. And one leads to, you know, the kingdom of heaven, and one leads to the kingdom of laws. That's where the Galatians are headed towards. And so we have to walk in the freedom, reject any teaching or influence that brings us back under the law and condemnation. We're going to talk more about this era story when we get to that particular chapter. But Paul is not just telling the Galatians to be careful here. He's commanding them to reject this enslaving, message of works, rejected entirely. And so I think of it like this, that God tried to, or Abraham tried to help God along because he thought God was late or not doing what he was doing. And I think we think that too, that we ask for something or we hope, you know, that God's plan is still in place. We try to help it along. We try to act out of fear instead of faith. We try to go our own way. You know, I talked about that when I talked about it. talked about Jacob. You know, Jacob had the promise of God, and he always was sitting halfway in the seat and always thought he had to make it happen. It always results in pain and bondage to something that God never promised. And Paul says, cast out that thinking. You are not children of slaves, but you are free in Christ. And so when we head into chapter 5, we're going to see that Paul is going to explain this freedom a little bit more and how it plays out in daily life. How do we live as free people? Do we get ready? Because there is something that we feel like we have to do because we are in works? Or do we have the gospel's theology and put it into practice every day that we're free people? I just was watching a TV show and the guy says to a prince, he says, well, I've noticed how you walk the streets. And then the prince guy says, well, how do I walk the streets any differently than anyone else walks the streets? And he says, will you walk like you own every slab? That's how heirs walk. We own every slab. What I'm going to meditate on this week is what it means that we are sons, daughters of God. Not slaves, not servants. Working for acceptance, trying to build ourselves up. But a beloved child already. An heir. And consider it, I guess, in my life where it may be slipping back to legalism. where I feel like I have to perform or have to be afraid. And bringing them, you know, these thoughts back to God, who has already accepted us, where are we trying to help God out? And where is it that we've tried to control or speed up or change God's answer when he's already promised us this, whatever, you know, whatever promises he's made to us? And to lay those efforts down, just as another side story, is there's a, A famous book author who's dying right now. And he, I think, doesn't have long in this world. And he says he's going to ask Jesus into his life right before he dies. He has it scheduled, which is kind of interesting. But he says, overall, I think I led a pretty good life. And I helped more people than I hurt. And that's legalism. You know, that is us trying to say, did I do enough? Did I do enough to be your child? And I just want to hear that from people. You are already His child. He is just asking you to accept Him and to accept His gift freely. What I'm going to pray about is that, I guess, Thanksgiving, that we're no longer slaves. Instead, we're sons and daughters. He sent Jesus as man, as one of us, to fully redeem us. There was this passage in 2 Corinthians where it said that Jesus was made sin. What does that even mean? That means that God took the entire sin of the world, that was all the sin that had happened, all the sins that are happening right now, and all the sins that will happen, and put them and said, Jesus was made sin. And when Jesus was crucified, that sin died right there and then. And Jesus was resurrected. And that's it. We now call out God as our Father, our Abba. We forget, you know, who, who sent him, you know, I think sometimes. And I think we have to ask God to forgive us that when we have something that is freely given, we have to learn how to walk in freedom. And so we ask God then to teach us to walk in that path of freedom instead of striving and trying and in patience and instead walk in the path of Isaac, path of promise, covenant, and trust, and that we should be reminded daily that we need to do that. And what we share with others is the idea that we are heirs of God, not because of what we've done and not because that when we look at the balance scale of our lives, it ended up being that I did some things better than worse. Instead, it was something that Christ had done perfectly once and for all and that our inheritance isn't earned. It is received as a gift. It's grace and mercy and forgiveness all bundled up into one. We're not children of law, born of fear. We're children of the promise, born through faith. And when we act like a slave, we're forgetting the gospel. We're missing the joy of being part of God's family already. And we need to remember who we are and not to go back into chains. And we were never meant to wear again. So I hope that helps. I hope that helps with the understanding of this particular chapter. You could always email me at jillstartwithsmallsteps.com. I'd love to hear from you. You can put a comment right here. Say hi, tell me how you're doing. I think Galatians 4 is such an incredible book. And to know that our true status is children and not heirs helps us to live moving forward and not going backwards. Thanks so much. Have a great day.