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Become God’s Sons, and Heirs Through Christ,
December 3
Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then
an heir of God through Christ.
Galatians 4:7
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The Galatians were given up to the worship of idols, but as the apostles
preached to them, they rejoiced in the message that promised freedom
from the thraldom of sin. Paul and his fellow-workers proclaimed the
doctrine of righteousness by faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ. They
presented Christ as the One who, seeing the helpless condition of the fallen
race, came to redeem men and women by living a life of obedience to
God’s law, and by paying the penalty of disobedience. And in the light of
the cross, many who had never before known of the true God, began to
comprehend the greatness of the Father’s love. Thus the Galatians were
taught the fundamental truths concerning “God the Father,” and “our Lord
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from
this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” “By
the hearing of faith,” they received the Spirit of God, and became “the
children of God by faith in Christ.”
Paul’s manner of life while among the Galatians was such that he could
afterward say, “I beseech you, be as I am.” His lips had been touched with
a live coal from off the altar, and he was enabled to rise above bodily
infirmities, and to present Jesus as the sinner’s only hope. Those who
heard him knew that he had been with Jesus. Endued with power from on
high, he was able to compare spiritual things with spiritual, and to tear
down the strongholds of Satan. Hearts were broken by this presentation of
the love of God, as revealed in the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, and
many were led to inquire, What must I do to be saved? ... The cross brings
us near to God, reconciling us to Him. With the relenting compassion of a
father’s love, Jehovah looks upon the suffering that His Son endured in
order to save the race from eternal death, and accepts us in the Beloved
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The Acts of the Apostles, 207-209
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