the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Sometimes the son feels like a slave. “Why are you always telling me what to do!?” Well, it’s not because I own you, it’s because I love you. One day, all this will be yours and I need to ensure you grow up correctly. Do not act like a petulant child when the Lord corrects you. Don’t act like you’re “someone” when a brother or sister in Christ attempts to lovingly correct you, they may be speaking God’s word into your life. We are not under the “elementary principles of this world” (that is to say, the Mosaic Law, the basic governing precepts) because we have the Spirit of God in us. We DO follow God, but not because we are obligated under the law like a slave, we are obligated by who we are, the heir. We are not free to simply act however we see fit, we are being moulded and shaped to receive the inheritance of the entire world. Follow the Lord, not because you have to, but because He lets you!
