29 Oct Galatians 08: From slavery to sonship

Galatians 3:26-4:7

²⁶ for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, ² but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. ³ In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. ⁴ But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. ⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

If you have a sibling, then you would know that there were times when your sibling used to be extremely annoying. My sister and I used to fight all the time for whatever reason. And if we didn’t have reason to fight, I would create one. I remember one time I wanted to play with her, but she did not want to play with me. I was annoyed. So, I did what every younger sibling would do. I interrupted her. She was playing with her Barbie, I sat next to her, stripped all her Barbies of their clothes, threw them in different directions, and we fought. I don’t know how it was in your fight, but in the fight between me and my sister, the loser was the one who cried first. I might be physically stronger than her, but she had these magic words that made me lose the fight. She would look at me and say, “You are not my brother. You are not Dad and Mom’s real son. You don’t even look like them. They saw you at a garbage dump and felt sorry for you. So, they took you home and adopted you.” And every time she said that I started crying.

Here is why I tell you this story. If we are not careful, it is very easy for us to assume that adoptive children are somehow less than biological children. We think that adoptive children are second-class. Of course, we know better than to say those things with our words, but it is in our minds. That’s why I cried when my sister told me that I was adopted. For the record, I am not adopted. I am my parent’s biological child, I think. But I assumed that if I was adopted, it meant that my parents loved me less than my sister. However, this is not true both on experiential and biblical grounds. I can’t speak on experience since I am not adopted, nor do I have adoptive children, but I have read a few adoption stories. They all say a similar thing. Adoptive children are not less than biological children. Yes, there is a difference in how they become part of the family but there is absolutely no difference in the affection of the parents for the children. That’s on the experiential grounds. And on the Biblical grounds, do you know that Christians are God’s adoptive children? That is our primary identity. And our adoption was not an afterthought. Ephesians tells us that before the foundations of the world, God already had our adoption in mind. Our adoption is not God’s plan B; it is God’s plan from the very beginning. Praise God for justification. Praise God for salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone. That is a beautiful blessing. But adoption is an even greater blessing than justification.

Let me read you a quote from J.I. Packer. “If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. Adoption is the highest privilege the gospel offers.” Let me be honest with you. I’ve been preaching the gospel for more than 12 years now. But for most of those years, I did not know what it meant to receive adoption. I thought of salvation as Jesus died for me, so my sins are forgiven. I thought of salvation only as having things removed from me. The moment I put my faith in Jesus, my sins were removed from me. My guilt was removed from me. That’s true, but that’s only half of what happened at salvation. At the moment of my salvation, not only something was removed from me, but something was also given to me. I have been given a new legal status. I did not just get a pardon, but I was also adopted. That means I am accepted. I am welcome. I am cherished. And I missed that. But if we want to understand who a Christian is, and why being a Christian is a privilege, we need to appreciate our divine adoption as sons of God. And that’s what our text is about tonight.

Three things that the text will tell us: Gospel unity; Gospel status; Gospel experience.

Gospel unity

Galatians 3:26 – for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

This is the climax of Paul’s argument. If you’ve been following our series on Galatians, then you know that Paul is arguing against the false teachers who teach that in order to be saved, you need the gospel plus circumcision. They say that the gospel alone is not enough. If the Gentiles want to become Christians, they must accept Jesus, but they also must become Jews. So, the false teachers treat Gentile Christians like second-class members of the family unless they get circumcised. But Paul argues strongly, “You don’t need to get circumcised to be saved. You don’t need to become a Jew to receive salvation. It is faith in Christ alone that saves. Full stop. You add or remove nothing to Christ’s finished work.” And last week we looked at the role of the law and how the law led us to Christ. The law kept us in prison and disciplined us until the coming of faith. But once faith came, once Christ came, we are no longer under the law. For in Christ Jesus, we are all sons of God. So here is the liberating truth of the gospel. When we put our faith in Jesus, God is no longer our judge who through the law imprisoned us. God is no longer our guardian who through the law disciplines us. But God is our Father who accepts us and has forgiven us. We are all sons of God through faith. Note that Paul does not say we will become sons, but we are already sons. Our sonship is not a future attainment but our present state. We can’t be ‘more sons.’ We are either sons or we are not sons.

And our sonship is not in ourselves. Our sonship is in Christ Jesus through faith. This is important. We often use the phrase “God loves you” to people around us. Although it is true that God loves everyone, it is not true that God loves everyone equally. God is the Creator of all, but he is not the Father of all. God has a special love for his children. It’s like this. Ps. Sem, our senior pastor, loves everyone in this church. But the way Ps. Sem loves me and my sister, especially his granddaughter, is very different from the way he loves you. He would gladly give his life for his family, but I am not so sure he would do the same for you. There is a specific special kind of love that God has for his children. And that special love is only given to those who are in Jesus. The moment we put our faith in Jesus, we become sons of God. And ladies, don’t be offended when the Bible refers to you as sons of God. Paul is not being sexist. In those days, sons have special privileges that daughters do not. For example, daughters could not inherit property. And Paul is very intentional in his choice of words. God adopts those who have faith in Jesus as sons of God, which means that daughters have all the privileges that sons would have. All Christians are sons of God. We are all heirs. And ladies, if you think you have it hard, think about what men have to embrace. The Bible describes all Christians as the bride of Christ. So, gentlemen, we are not the bridegroom; we are the bride of Christ. But don’t push the metaphor too far and picture yourself in a wedding dress. It is not a pleasant picture. So, God is even-handed in his gender-specific metaphors. Ladies, you must be okay with being called sons of God. And men, we must be okay with being called the bride of Christ.

And it gets better. Galatians 3:27 – For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. When we put our faith in Christ, we not only become sons of God, but we have put on Christ. Paul is not saying that we must be baptized first before we become sons of God. Paul is not teaching salvation equals Jesus plus baptism. It is our faith that secures our union with Christ. But baptism is the visible outward sign of us being in Christ. So, a side note. If you have put your faith in Jesus and you have not been baptized, you should. Baptism does not save you, but it is an outward expression of your faith in Christ. And baptism is not a suggestion; it is a command from God. Baptism is a visible symbol that we have put on Christ. This is amazing. Do you know what it means to put on Christ? It means that Christ becomes our clothing. It means that we are covered by Christ. So, when God looks at us right now, he does not see us; he sees Jesus. He does not see our weaknesses and our flaws. He does not see us in our sins that we did last night. He does not see us in our sins that we will do tomorrow. He sees us in Jesus. God sees Jesus’s righteousness and perfection covering all our flaws. To say that we have put on Christ is to say that we are loved because of Jesus’ perfect work and performance. I know this is hard to believe but listen. God does not love us less than Jesus. He loves us as much as he loves Jesus because we have put on Jesus. We never need to add anything to receive or maintain God’s love and acceptance of us. We are clothed with Christ.

Paul says all that to make this grand conclusion. Galatians 3:28-29 – ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. Listen. There is no such thing as second-class Christians. The gospel creates unity where there is no division between races, social classes, and genders. We are all one in Christ Jesus. It does not mean there is no longer any distinction inside the church. Paul is not saying, “Because you are in Christ, there is no such thing as different cultures. There is no such thing as employer and employee. There is no such thing as gender differences. You are all the same.” Paul is not saying that. Paul is not removing distinctive duties and practices for different cultures, classes, and genders. But he is destroying barriers that divide the Christian community.

When Paul says there is neither Jew nor Greek, he is saying that there is no racial privilege in Christ. Being a Jew does not make one better than being a Greek. Being an Indonesian does not make one better than being an Australian. When Paul says there is neither slave nor free, he is saying that social status does not improve one’s standing before God. We are not more accepted before God because of our pedigree. When Paul says there is no male and female, he is saying that women are not inferior to men before God. Women are as equally gifted and able as men. How so? Because we are all one in Christ. And we become Christ’s not because of something that we do or did not do. It is not our race, status, or gender that makes us sons of God; it is our faith in Jesus. Get this. We are equal under the law – we are equally condemned because of our sins. And we are equal under the gospel – we are equally loved and accepted because of Jesus. So, what reason do we have to withhold fellowship from other Christians? What reason do we have to look down on other Christians who are different from us? None. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ adopted by grace. The gospel creates a unity that no other worldview or religion ever could.

Gospel status

Galatians 4:1-2 – I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, ² but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.

After giving us his grand conclusion, Paul wants us to grasp what it means to be adopted by God. And he once again compares life under the law with life under faith. Paul begins by saying that there were times when we were like slaves. He is referring to the use of the law of God before Jesus arrived on the scene. He equates that to a child who has yet to come to age to receive his inheritance. It’s like this. Let’s say Bob is the son of a billionaire and the heir to everything his father has. One day all his father’s riches will be his. It is already his in status but not yet in experience because Bob is still 7 years old. During his childhood, Bob is no better than a slave because he can’t do anything with all those riches. His father would put Bob under a guardian who would teach Bob everything he needed to know. This guardian would act to make sure that Bob does not squander his riches, and he is also responsible for directing and disciplining Bob as necessary. Can you see what happened? Bob is the heir to great riches, but he is not free. While he is a child, he is no different than a slave. And he will remain in this condition until the date set by his father for him to be freed from his guardian and receive his inheritance. Paul uses this analogy to describe life under the law of God before Jesus. The law was the guardian that trained and disciplined God’s children until the right time came.

Galatians 4:3 – In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. The elementary principles of the world in this context refer to the Old Testament laws. In other words, Paul tells us that there were times when we needed the law. None of us can jump straight into adulthood. Before we can go to high school, we first need to go to elementary school. Before we learn how to read, we first need to learn the ABC of the alphabet. Without learning the elementary principles, we can’t move on into adulthood. And during that time, we are enslaved to the elementary principles. It’s like me when I was learning Greek. There were many days that I cried and wanted to give up. It was a totally foreign language to me, and I had to learn a totally different alphabet system. I spent countless hours studying every week for my weekly quiz. I can say that I was enslaved by the elementary principles of Greek. But unless I went through that process, I wouldn’t be able to read the Greek New Testament. And this is what the law did. The law taught us the elementary principles to prepare us for what was to come. Let’s continue.

Galatians 4:4-5 – ⁴ But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. This is Paul’s argument. When Jesus came into the world, it changed everything. God sent Jesus to redeem us from the law. Jesus completely fulfilled the demand of the law on our behalf, and he freed us from the slavery of the law. And because of it, the law has nothing on us. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. How many of you believe that? This is great. This is good. But this is not the full gospel. This is only half the gospel. Praise Jesus for forgiveness of sins. But he did more. Listen. Jesus did not die to save us from sins; Jesus died to make us sons of God. The gospel is not only good news of redemption; the gospel is also good news of adoption.

Let me illustrate it for you. Let’s say I am a criminal who is guilty of my crime. I know I am guilty, and I deserve capital punishment. But then Jesus shows up and offers to be my defence attorney. And now in the courtroom of heaven, Jesus is arguing my case before God the Sovereign Judge. And Jesus is not arguing my case based on mercy. He is not pleading with God saying, “God please be kind to Yosi. I know he did many stupid sinful things but deep inside he is a nice kid. Look at him. He is very busy serving the church. He has lots of white hair because of stress dealing with the people in the church. He travels a lot to preach the gospel. Why don’t you be nice to him? Why don’t you let him off the hook this time? Pretty please?” That’s not the way Jesus argues my case. Jesus does not appeal for mercy; he appeals for justice. He says to God, “Sovereign Judge, look at what I’ve done. I have paid the full price of Yosi’s sins. I absorbed every ounce of your wrath against him, and my blood was shed. I suffered a horrific death at the cross on his behalf. I have satisfied all your claims against him. Therefore, it is only right and just for you to forgive him. Yosi cannot be held accountable for his sins because I have paid the price.” And when God hears Jesus’ argument, he hits the heavenly gavel and declares, “Not guilty!” And listen. God forgives me not because he is soft on sin. He hates sin, but he is just. And a just God cannot demand two payments for the same sin. That would be unjust. But that’s not the end of the story. Then God gets up from the bench, walks up to me, takes off the handcuffs from my hands, looks at me in the eyes and says, “From this moment, you are my son. You are coming home with me. Everything I have is yours.” My friend, this is the gospel. It is wonderful news that the God of the universe looks at us and declares “not guilty” for all our sins. But it is so much better news for the God of the universe to call us his sons. In Jesus, we are not only forgiven criminals; we are adopted sons. Jesus not only removed the curse we deserved, but he also gave us the blessing he deserved.

But let’s be honest. It is very easy for us to think of the gospel only in terms of the forgiveness of sins and not adoption as sons. We think that we have received forgiveness, but now it is up to us to live a good life and maintain God’s favour. We still strive to be accepted by God. We forget that we already have the privileges of sons. And when we forget that we are sons, we will quickly become weary and exhausted in our walk with God. Let me share with you my personal story. Growing up as a pastor’s kid, my parents loved me very much, but they were busy with ministry. So, I learned to be very independent, to the point that I hardly ever asked my parents for help. I did not want to disturb them, and I wanted them to be proud of the fact that I could do everything on my own. That’s the way I grew up. And oftentimes, that is the way I relate with God and the people around me. In early 2021, our leadership team was doing a book study, LEAD by Paul Tripp. And at one of the chapter’s discussions, I had a breakdown. Paul Tripp was talking about the importance of being vulnerable with each other. And what happened was, I had been extremely frustrated for months. There were 14 of us in the leadership team at the time. But ever since the lockdown, I felt like I was the one doing all the work. I felt like I was alone. That is not true, but that’s how I felt. Because we could not meet in person, most of the things we did were online, and I was the one doing most of the work. It was a very tiring season for me, and I became frustrated at the lack of support I received from the leadership team. But I kept it to myself. I didn’t share it with them. They already had their own challenges in coping with the lockdown and I did not want to add more burden to them. And they thought I was doing great because I told them I was doing great. But deep inside, I was very frustrated with them. I felt like no one understood what I went through. No one understood the sacrifice I made to keep the church service running every week. I carried the weight of ministry on my own and I was very exhausted. But I pretended like everything was fine. Finally, it blew up as we discussed the importance of being vulnerable with each other.

Do you know what was my main problem? It was not the leadership team. I was living the half gospel. I forgot that I have a heavenly Father who loves me, accepts me, and enjoys me. I felt like I needed to slave myself to be accepted by God and the people around me. I forgot that I already have the approval of my heavenly Father. And instead of taking all those weights to God and letting him carry my burden, I put it on myself, and I carried what I was not supposed to carry. I knew God had forgiven me, but I lived as if God had yet to accept me. And because of it, I refused to be vulnerable to people around me. I refused to ask for help. I was afraid I might lose their approval. Can you see what happened? My gospel was only half gospel. I forgot who I am in Christ. I knew my sin was forgiven but I forgot I am a son. How many of you can relate to me? And God knew our problem. That’s why he sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts.

Gospel experience

Galatians 4:6-7 – ⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

I love this. In verses 4 and 5, Paul deals with our status as sons. Jesus met all the qualifications for our adoption as sons. We have legal status as sons because of Jesus. But legal status alone is not enough. And now in verses 6 and 7, Paul deals with our experience as sons. We need both legal status and experience, facts and feelings, objective truth and subjective experience. The gospel is both. We don’t choose one over the other. If all we have is facts, how do we know if God truly loves us? If all we have is feeling, how do we know it is true? God does not want to leave us in doubt as to what he feels and thinks about us. So, he does the unthinkable. God sent the Spirit of Jesus into our hearts, crying “Abba! Father!”

Paul deliberately uses the Aramaic word ‘Abba’ to make a strong point. In the Jewish context, they hold God in such high reverence that they are afraid to pronounce his name. They are very careful about using God’s name. However, there was one person who showed up and boldly referred to God as ‘Abba.’ Jesus entered the scene, and he taught his disciples to refer to God as “our Father.” And Paul says that God sent the Spirit of Jesus into our hearts crying, “Abba! Father.” The word crying is from the Greek word ‘krazon’, which is an intense loud cry from the heart. So here is the point. The Spirit not only gives us a new relationship with God, but the new relationship we have with God is as intimate and precious as the relationship Jesus has with the Father. In other words, the kind of joy and delight that Jesus has in his relationship with the Father is also ours. God delights in us as much as he delights in Jesus. We have the freedom to come to God as if we were as righteous and faithful as Jesus himself. This is incredible. The same intimate relationship Jesus has with God the Father is also ours through the Holy Spirit. If Jesus makes us legally sons, the Spirit makes us feel like sons.

Let me tell you why it is very important for us to embrace this truth. It is because we mess up every day. And it is very hard for us to believe that God delights in us as much as he delights in Jesus. It feels unnatural. Do you know what feels natural to us? Making amend. It is very hard for us to believe that we are accepted by grace alone. We have the status of sons, but we have the mindset of slaves. Do you remember the younger brother in the story of the prodigal son? He rudely asked his father for his part of the inheritance, and he squandered it. He lost everything. He was hungry and he had nothing to eat. So, he ate pig’s food. Finally, he decided to go back home and ask for his father’s forgiveness. And he prepared a line to say to his father. “Father, forgive me. I am not worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” And listen, that’s us. Am I right? When we mess up, we come to God and say, “God, I don’t feel worthy. I don’t want a father-son relationship. I want a boss-employee relationship. Let me make an amend. Give me another chance. Let me do the right thing. Let me try to clean up my life. And then you can bless me.” Do you know what we are doing? We are forgetting the gospel. We might say, “Oh, I believe that I am saved by grace. I believe that I am a son of God,” but we don’t. We might have the legal status as sons, but we don’t experience our sonship. When the prodigal son came to his father and said, “I am not worthy to be called your son,” it seemed so humble. But it is not. It is an insult. Because he was saying to his father, “I do not think you are gracious and merciful enough to forgive me and make me your son.” That is not humility. That is an insult. And that’s the natural condition of our hearts. It is very hard for us to believe how gracious and merciful our heavenly Father is. That’s why God sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts.

Do you know what the Holy Spirit does? Let’s go back to the story. Do you know what the father did when he saw his son? The father ran to him and kissed him. The son was expecting to be a servant. Instead, he received a kiss. That’s what the Holy Spirit does. The Spirit comes into our hearts and helps us experience the love of God. The Spirit enables us to experience the Father’s kiss. Because the truth is, we can be adopted and not experience the joy of our adoption. We can be completely loved and accepted and not live like we are. We don’t feel like we are sons. But when the Spirit comes into our hearts, we not only know we are sons, but we feel we are sons. So, we don’t just say, “Yes, I believe that God loves me” but we sense him, we are excited, and we are melted by his love. Can you see the difference? And I know what some of you are thinking right now. “Yos, you don’t know what I have done. I might be a son, but I am a very troublesome son. I am sure God wants nothing to do with me. It is only a matter of time before he gives up on me.” Let me tell you why that’s not true. Parents, you get this. What do you do when one of your children messes up? Isn’t true that your heart gets more engaged with that child? You give more of your attention and affection toward that child. Your troublesome child is only making you more engaged with him or her. Right? If that’s true of imperfect parents, how much more God as the perfect Father? God does not hide from his troublesome children; he runs to them and kisses them. And this is Paul’s argument. Christians, God has made us sons. He has freed us from the bondage of the law. So, don’t go back to being slaves. The Christian life is not the life of slaves; it is the life of sons. It is a life of freedom and not bondage.

That’s why Paul says in verse 7, “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” Do you know what is the biggest difference between a slave and a son? A slave obeys because he must. The mentality of a slave is always about performance. “If I perform well, then I will be accepted. If I don’t perform well, then I won’t be accepted.” But a son is different. A son rests in his father’s love for him. A son obeys his father because he wants to please him. The mentality of a son is always about relationships. A son has the confidence that even though he messes up, his father is there to clean up the mess with him. If we still think that we are not worthy to draw near to God because of our sins, and if we still think that we must somehow pay for our sins, we have yet to experience our sonship.

So, here is the million-dollar question. How do we experience our sonship? How does the Holy Spirit make us feel like sons? Here is how. By pointing us back to the gospel. Notice that Paul says we are already sons. The Holy Spirit is given to us based on what Jesus has done. Therefore, we cannot separate the work of the Spirit from the work of the Son. This is how Timothy Keller puts it. “The work of the Son is done externally to us, and is something we can have without feeling. But the work of the Spirit is done internally to us, and consists in us being completely moved—emotionally as well as intellectually—by the love of the Father. The work of Son and Spirit should never be divorced, nor one made to obscure the other. The fullness of the Spirit is experienced as we meditate on the love of the Son. The gifts of the Son are enjoyed as we look to the Spirit to guide us.”

That means, if we want to experience our sonship, we don’t say, “Okay Yosi, why don’t you lay your hand on me and make me experience my sonship.” That’s not the way it works. I can pray for you, but the way we experience our sonship is by meditating and praising God for what he has done through Jesus on the cross. We look at the gospel. We look at the objective truth in verses 4 and 5. Here is the objective truth. We were not sweet innocent cute orphans just waiting to be adopted. That’s not the picture the Bible gives us. We were extremely problematic orphans with a lot of issues. Picture a boy who had a father who was a serial killer and a grandfather who was a child molester. Both ended their own lives, and the boy has a history of serious violence and has been in and out of psychotherapy ever since he was three years old. Would you adopt the boy? That is the picture of us. There was nothing in us that was appealing. But even then, God screamed out, “Yes, I want to make them my sons.” So, what did God do? He sent his one and only beloved Son to live under the law. Jesus lived the perfect life we ought to live. He loved God with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind. He loved others as himself. Then, at the end of his life, he redeemed us. He paid the full price of our sins by dying on the cross. And at the cross, the perfect Son of God lost his sonship. For the first time in his life, Jesus called his Father, God. He said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Do you know why Jesus said that? Because his Father was not there for him. His Father was not protecting him. His Father was not showing love to him. At the cross, Jesus was abandoned by his Father. Why? Because he got what we deserved. Jesus was cast out of the family so we could be brought in. Jesus lost the sonship he deserved so we could have the sonship we don’t deserve.

And when we see Jesus did all of that for us, the Holy Spirit cries out in our hearts, “Abba! Father!” We say, “Now I know how much you loved me. Now I know I am fully accepted in your sight because I see what Jesus has done for me at the cross. I can feel your embrace. I can sense your kiss. And I am melted by your love.” Without the Holy Spirit, we can know we are legally sons. But only the Holy Spirit can make us love God for God. Only the Holy Spirit can turn knowledge into experience. And the Holy Spirit does it by pointing us to Jesus and his work at the cross. So, if we want to experience our sonship, don’t wait for an experience. Immerse ourselves in the gospel and pray that the Holy Spirit might open our eyes to see the beauty of Christ in the gospel. Let me give you one practical way to do it. Come to church on time. Our worship service, from beginning to end is designed for us to immerse ourselves in the gospel. The order of worship, the song choices, the bible reading, the sermon, the communion, all of them are designed to retell the story of the gospel. And that’s one of the vehicles the Holy Spirit use to cry out in our hearts, “Abba! Father!” Don’t waste it. Let’s pray.

Discussion questions:

1. What struck you the most from the sermon?
2. How does our unity in Christ help us overcome the barrier between races, social classes, and genders?
3. “The gospel is not only good news of redemption; the gospel is also good news of adoption.” What happens when you only live out the half-gospel? Give daily life examples.
4. Give some practical ways to immerse ourselves in the gospel.
5. Explain why we cannot separate the work of the Holy Spirit from the work of Jesus.