Grace in Galatians (Part 123): The Truth About Freedom

https://youtu.be/yfwYDnpQsfo

Today, we continue our series entitled “Living the Grace Life,” where we will learn to embrace and walk in God’s unmerited, unearned, and often undeserved favor throughout 2025.

As part of this series, I am teaching a verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Galatians.

Key scriptures for this year:

(2 Corinthians 9:8 TPT)

"Yes, God is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace, so that you will have more than enough of everything—every moment and in every way. He will make you overflow with abundance in every good thing you do."

(Galatians 5:4 TPT)

"If you want to be made right with God by fulfilling the obligations of the law, you have cut off more than your flesh—you have cut yourselves off from Christ and have fallen away from the revelation of grace!"

(Romans 6:14 ERV)

"Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law. You now live under God's grace."

(1 Corinthians 15:10 CEV)

"But God treated me with undeserved grace! He made me what I am, and his grace wasn't wasted. I worked much harder than any of the other apostles, although it was really God's grace at work and not me."

Scripture we will study today:

(Galatians 4:4-5 TPT)

“But when the perfect time arrived, the Father sent his Son, born of a woman, and born under the [demands of the] Law. His purpose was to set those who live under the Law free, so that we would be adopted as his manifested sons.”

Supporting scriptures:

(Romans 5:6 NLT)

“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”

(Hebrews 9:26 NLT)

“If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.”

(Ephesians 1:5 NLT)

“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”

Setting the Stage:

Yesterday, we dissected the dual bondage that controlled us before Christ: the religious principles of external performance and the worldly principles of human effort. That system kept us in a spiritual catch-22 between immaturity and inability, and God’s people could not move forward. But now, Paul explains how God’s intervention shifted everything with Jesus.

Paul said: “But when the perfect time arrived,” “the Father sent his Son,” and “His purpose was to set those who live under the Law free.” This wasn’t a last-minute decision or a divine reaction to our failure; it was the exact, pre-appointed moment when God initiated the greatest prison break in history to set you free from the bondage of the Law and the limits of your humanity!

So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.

1. Christ’s Arrival Happened at the “Perfect Time” to Set Us Free From The Dual Control Of Rules and Flesh.

Paul says Christ arrived “when the perfect time arrived.” This phrase, the pl?r?ma tou chronou in Greek, means the “fullness of time.” The single, predetermined moment in history when the legal, political, spiritual, and prophetic conditions were perfectly aligned. This proves that God’s plan of grace and freedom is never late.

How this applies to you:

— You must understand that God’s timing was perfect when He sent Jesus to set us free from sin, death, the Law, and the limits of our humanity. And what’s crazy to me is that this perfect timing came over 2,000 years ago, and most of us today were raised like that moment never came. We were raised under the Law, and we spent years focused on the limits of our humanity, not truly realizing what Jesus did for us on the cross!

— The period of being under the guardianship of the Law had an expiration date, and that date was the moment Christ arrived, which means that external guardianship is permanently terminated for you today. You are now living in the “after” era, where the system of faith has fully arrived.

— The Law’s inability to save was the necessary setup for the “perfect time” of grace to be revealed. The Law revealed the sin, but Christ removed the sin “once for all time” by His sacrificial death, ensuring you never have to revisit the old performance requirements. IT’S ALREADY FINISHED!

— This divine timing also means you can let go of the anxiety and human striving that come from trying to force things in your own timing. God already perfected the timing of the most important event in history; He certainly has the perfect timing for the next step in your life and ministry.

— I also need to point out that since God knows everything before you do it, and since He planned for you before you were born, then His plan for your life is not a reaction to your failure; it is a sovereign, calculated plan to bring you into your inheritance.

— Understanding how God does things in “the fullness of time” means a few things. I will share two: 1) it means there is a time for everything and everything will happen for you at just the right time (Ecc 3:1), 2) it means that in the fullness of every time (and season), God has already given you the fullness of His grace and Spirit! It is your TIME to be free!

2. The Father’s Purpose: To Set You Free From Every Limit!

Paul makes the purpose crystal clear: “His purpose was to set those who live under the Law free.” This single purpose directly addresses the dual bondage we discussed yesterday. Jesus didn’t just come to make the Law easier; He came to legally terminate its control over you. Freedom means you are no longer confined by the religious expectation to perform or the worldly pressure to prove things to others.

How this applies to you:

— Christ’s mission was not about modifying the rules; it was about redemption. He came to “set those who live under the Law free,” meaning He broke the legal hold that both religious performance and worldly standards had over your life. You are “NO LONGER” under the old system. Please let that mentality GO!

— You were set free from the Law so you could stop the religious performance of trying to justify yourself to God through daily devotional checklists and the worldly performance of trying to prove yourself to colleagues through workaholic schedules. Your value is unconditionally established in Christ alone, freeing you to work excellently without the anxiety of performance-based validation!

— I don’t need anyone to approve of me when I know who I am in Christ! I am not performing for people. I live for the audience of ONE! Living #TheGraceLife is liberating. Jesus set us free!

— The Law was a prison, and Christ gave us full liberation. When you try to go back to rules or legalism, you are essentially choosing to re-enter the prison you were freed from.

— Freedom means you are delivered from the Law’s curse and the Law’s demands. Christ took the curse so you could walk in the blessing, and He fulfilled the demands so you could walk in righteousness by faith. Do you remember a few messages ago when I laid out all the details of the curse? Well, Jesus set you free from all of that, and you must receive this freedom (like everything else) BY FAITH!

— This freedom is the foundation for your singular, Spirit-led life. Because you are free, you can now focus entirely on communion and obedience to the Holy Spirit.

— If you are feeling trapped by fear, guilt, or the pressure to perform, you must remind yourself of Christ’s singular purpose: He came to set you free. Therefore, living in bondage is living in direct contradiction to Christ’s achieved goal for your life.

— This freedom is permanent because it is based on what Jesus did, not what you do! Your freedom was purchased with Jesus’ own blood. Please do not go back to the yoke of bondage!

3. The Ultimate Goal: To Be Adopted as God’s “Manifested Sons.”

The ultimate reason for Christ’s intervention was not just freedom from the Law, but freedom for adoption. The text says the purpose was “so that we would be adopted as his manifested sons.” Adoption is a legal act that immediately elevates your status from a controlled minor to a fully recognized heir with every right and privilege. You are now a full-fledged family member!

How this applies to you:

— The guardian’s job is over because the Father has now given you the full legal status of a son with access to the entire inheritance. Your position is now based on Jesus’s finished work, not your performance.

— This adoption was “decided in advance” by God and gives Him “great pleasure,” demonstrating that your current status as a son is an eternal, unchanging reality rooted in the Father’s unconditional love and desire, not a reward for your good behavior.

— As a fully adopted son, you have the right and the authority to access every spiritual and natural blessing promised to Abraham, because you are now a joint-heir with Christ Himself. Stop praying like a beggar asking for scraps and receive like an heir demanding his rightful inheritance!

— I was not adopted, but I can imagine that when someone is adopted, it takes them some time to develop the mindset and the heart positioning to fully open themselves up to be a full-fledged member of the family. Until they changed their mindset and how they see themselves as released, so there’s no family. They will be legally a son, but experientially an outsider. It is not until their mindset has changed, and their heart is open, that they get to fully embrace the freedom and the blessing of being a true member of the family! This is what is happening with some of you as you learn about God’s grace. You were a Christian, but your heart was not OPEN TO LIVING AS A son!

— The word “manifested” implies that your status should be outwardly visible; you are meant to live and walk in your sonship in a way that demonstrates the Father’s Kingdom. Your freedom should be evident to everyone around you. If people can’t tell you’re a son of the King, you’re not manifesting what’s legally yours!

— Being a son gives you full access, full inheritance, and full authority to FIND, FOLLOW, and FINISH your holy calling and divine purpose. The limitations of the old system are gone, and the potential of the new position is limitless through the Spirit that lives in you.

4. The Practical Shift: From Dual Control to Sonship Provision.

The shift from Law to Adoption means you have moved from a system that demanded perfection (religious control) with only carnal ability (worldly control) to a system that demands faith (singular focus) with supernatural empowerment (Spirit-led freedom). This completely changes how you live and how you expect to receive provision.

How this applies to you:

— If you are a son, then you have to believe that your Father, who loves you, who decided to make you a member of the family in advance, who planned certain things for you to do from the foundations of the world, has already stored up everything you need to do what you’re called to do! Not because you’re good, but because you’re a son.

— Everything that you need for your divine assignment has already been stored up for you: all the relationships you need, all the resources you need (buildings, manufacturing equipment, whatever it is), God is going to connect you to the right people at just the right time. Put in the chat: “has been stored up for me.”

— You are going to walk out your divine assignment knowing that you’re a Son of the Most High God. God is on you and in you and with you and for you, and your singular focus in life is to be led by the Holy Spirit so you can do what God has called you to do while you’re in the land of the living.

— Stop comparing yourself to anybody else because they don’t have your assignment! You’re going to run your race at your pace with your grace. You will do what God called you to do, knowing that everything you need to do what God has called you to do has to come to you at just the right time.

— When you understand sonship provision, you can pray with confidence: “Lord, I’m doing this for You. I’m doing this for Your glory. I’m doing this because I believe You’re leading me to do it. I want to be a manifested son to the point where people know that I am Your son. Don’t let me look stupid, because if I look stupid, You look stupid, but You’re not going to let me look stupid because I’m Your son!”

— You’re not begging, you’re not pleading; you’re walking with God and God is walking with you. The Father knows what you need. The Father is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace so that you would have more than enough of everything every moment and in every way, not because you’re good, but because He’s good.

— This is the essence of #TheGraceLife: you’re free to glorify God! You’re free to live your life in such a way where God is glorified, people are edified, and Satan is horrified. Your failures are covered by Christ’s work, your needs are met by the Father’s love, and your life is led by the Holy Spirit’s singular guidance!

That's enough for today.

Declaration of Faith:

Father, I thank You that Jesus came at just the right time to deliver me from every form of bondage!

I am free from religious control, and I am free from the limits of my humanity!

Jesus died to make me free, so I will walk in that freedom!

I don’t have a babysitter anymore; I’m not under the guardianship of the law!

I have been adopted into Your family, and this adoption is permanent, sealed with the blood of Jesus!

I am an heir and a joint heir with Your Son, and I have the power and authority to operate in this world knowing that I represent You!

Everything I need is already provided; I walk in sonship provision every day of my life!

I am free to glorify God, free to live so that God is glorified, people are edified, and Satan is horrified!

I’m running my race at my pace with my grace, and I will not compare myself to anyone else!

I am Living the Grace Life, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!

I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!