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.
God sent his Son at the set time to bring about his plan of redemption. Paul gives a similar thought in Romans 5:6 and Ephesians 1:9-10. Paul does not say here what factors made the time right for Jesus’ coming. Although Jesus died at the hands of Romans at the instigation of the Jewish leaders, this was God’s plan all along. Nothing was accidently or beyond God’s sovereign purposes. Jesus came in the flesh as a human because he was born of a woman. Paul uses poetic language to describe Jesus’ birth by the virgin Mary. Jesus’ humanity is a crucial element in the gospel message. The Epistle to the Hebrews helps us understand that Jesus was fully human just like us but without sin. This qualified him to be the perfect high priest and sacrifice for sin. Heresies would develop in the early church that denied Jesus’ humanity. As a Jew, Jesus was also born under the law. Paul may have added this phrase to show that Jesus came under the same circumstances as everyone else and was part of the covenant community. The law still had value because Jesus was obedient to it. He came to fulfill the law (Rom 10:4) and put it in the right perspective in God’s plan.
The reason Jesus came was to redeem those under the law. Law could be broadly understood to include the Old Testament laws for Jews and the law written on the conscience for Gentiles (Rom 2:14-15). To be under the law means to be trapped by the inability to keep the law and thus to be found guilty of sin (Rom 3:19-20, 23). Redeem means to deliver, liberate, or free, often by paying a price. The price paid for redemption from the power and penalty of sin was the precious blood of Christ (Gal 3:13; 1 Cor 6:20; Heb 9:14). The result is that we might receive adoption to sonship. Paul uses adoption imagery also in Romans 8:15-17. The adopted child has the full rights and privileges of the natural born child. Jesus is the only “natural” child of God, but we can become co-heirs with him by dying to the old life and rising to the new Spirit-filled life of holiness symbolized in baptism (Rom 6:3-4). Adoption into God’s family through Christ has been part of God’s plan since before creation (Eph 1:4-5). Sonship is inclusive of both males and females (Gal 3:28).
Our deep need is the redemption Jesus provides. We cannot redeem ourselves, although we must participate in our redemption by our faith. Jesus provides the biggest cost and then we come along and add our faith, will, devotion, and worship. The Galatians had an imbalance between the divine and human elements of salvation. They had added into the equation too much human by including elements of the Jewish law, particularly circumcision, so Paul reminds them in this letter of the God’s grace in Christ.
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