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“The Full Rights Of Sons” Simply Put / 
K.E.Stegall
 
Chapter XVI
-
Sons: “You Are All Sons”
 
164
 
 
Sons:
“You Are All Sons”
 
(Galatians 3:26)The other day 1 was watching an interview on TV. The interviewee was introduced as aprogressive nun. In the course of the discuss
ion she referred to “our mother,
 
God.” The int
erviewer
stopped her and asked, “Doesn‟t that make you feel just a little uneasy? I‟m sure that is not what youwere taught.” The nun answered. “Yes, you‟re right. But I think it‟s important for women to feelrespected and included when they worship.”
 I th
ought to myself, “Oh great! Another woman making us women look bad by trying to makeGod over in her own image.” I know we cannot rearrange God to suit ourselves with language that is
completely unbiblical.
Then it struck me with great joy. I don‟t have to
make God over in my own image. He is
making me over in his image. I don‟t have to call God “mother” to feel valued. God has called me a“son”. And what could be more biblical? “...because those who are led by the Spirit of God are Sons
of God. ...For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”(Romans 8:14,29;
Ephesians 1:5)
God describes himself as “Father”. We cannot pass that off as insignificant. Some would like
 
to paraphrase the Bible to read that God is our “parent”. But this would be quite inappropriate for 
those who believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures. The concept of Sola Scripture demands that wemake faithful translations of the Bible and not paraphrase to suit ourselves.
But God‟s Fatherhood cannot be considered apart from the sonship which he confers on every
believer.
Some would also like to change the translation of “sons” (Romans 8:14
-15: Galatians 3:26,
4:7, etc.) to “children”. They feel that
 
“children” would be more inclusive, telling the reader thateveryone, regardless of sex, can be included in God‟s family.
 
But I think God‟s message to us is even greater than mere inclusion into his family. Of course
it is wonderful that we are all included. But it is even more wonderful that we are all included as sons.If the reader feels that the position of son is in any way, regardless of how remote or subtle, better,more privileged, or more honorable than the position of just a child, then God is communicating
something very important to that reader by his use of the word “son”.
 Whatever value is attached to God being our Father, rather than just our parent, that samevalue in equal proportions must be attached to each believer being a son, not just a child.
God has chosen to make us his “sons”. God uses the same word to describe a believer‟s relationshipto him (Galatians 4:7), that he uses to describe his relationship with his only begotten “son”, Jesus
(Galatians 4:4). We would be no more content t
o read in our Bibles, “...God sent his
Child, born of a
woman...” (Galatians 4:4 paraphrased) than we would be to read, “...by Jesus Christ and God the
Parent, who raised him from the dead-
...” (Galatians 1:
1, 4:2 & 6 paraphrased) If those translationssee
m to be diminishing in any way, then so is this one, “Because you are
children, God sent the Spiritof his Child
into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, „Abba,
Parent.
” (Galatians 4:6 paraphrased)
 But God knows mankind. God speaks his reconciling word to a human race still affected bythe curse (Genesis 3: 16). Consequently, he has chosen instead to communicate to us in these words,
“Because you are sons. God sent the Spirit of his ~ into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, „Abba,
Father.
” (Galatians 4:6) This is the truth of the incredible value of God‟s redemption of each believer.
Each believer is brought to the absolute pinnacle of status in G
od‟s family. Each bel
iever has been
 brought to an absolutely equal status with every other believer in God‟s
family (Romans 8:17).
 
“The Full Rights Of Sons” Simply Put / 
K.E.Stegall
 
Chapter XVI
-
Sons: “You Are All Sons”
 
164
 
 
God‟s Fatherhood is not physical gender and neither is my sonship. Fatherhood and sonship inGod‟s family transcend these physical limitations. “Yet to all who received him, to those who
believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband‟s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12
-13: 1 John 3:1)We do not need fear that God looks upon our standing in his family (Ephesians 2:19, ITimothy 3:15) as in any way diminished because of our physical gender. God calls all believers hischildren. And just so that we will fully understand his meaning,
he defines “children” as “sons.”
 ...because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did notreceive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.
And by him we cry, „Abba, Father.‟ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we areGod‟s children
. Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs withChrist.... (Romans 8: 14-17. Galatians 4:4-7).You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptizedinto Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ, There is neither ... male nor female, for youare all one in Christ
Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham‟s seed,
and heirsaccording to the promise. ...that we might receive the full rights of sons. (Galatians 3:26-29.4:5: II Corinthians 6:18)This is what this book of Galatians is all about. I am a son.In the spirit of saving the best till last. I close my presentation of 
“The Full Rights Of Sons”
with Galatians 3:26-4:7. I have saved this till last because I have heard the accusation that the equalityposition is built on only one verse.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek,
slave nor free, male nor female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) This is a beautiful line from Scripture, but the
equality of women before God and among the brothers is very clear even apart from this plain andsimple statement of truth.These words are icing on the cake. They express what I read in every word of Scripture. Let
me emphasize the “I” in that last sentence. Every word of Scripture speaks of Jesus. Jesus died to save
me. Let me empha
size the “me” of that last sentence. Every word of Scripture is about myredemption. Let me emphasize the “my” of t
hat last sentence. Thus, for me, a female, every word of Scripture radiates the truth encapsulated in this verse.Some have said that Paul was a male chauvinist. But that is a false slander. Jesus has set mefree (John 8:36; Psalm 118:5)By explaining my freedom to me so carefully, Paul has been an agent for the administration of 
God‟s grace in my life (I Peter 4: 10). He has been one of the p
reachers through whom I heard thegospel. I heard and 1 believed. Since I believed, I called on the name of the Lord, and he saved me.
Paul‟s feet are indeed beautiful. He brought “good news” to
me (Romans 10:13-15).I am used to reading Scripture with the understanding that it has been written to me, for me,
and about me. The verses with the word “woman” in them speak to me, of course! They speak 
specifically to my gender. In fact, when Paul does speak specifically about women he treats them asequals. Paul
always upholds women‟s status as equals among all the believers, before God, and within
the church. But if it were only these specific references to women that spoke to me, I would not knowmuch of the gospel.The gospel is not chauvinistic or exclusive. It includes all. And nowhere is that more clearly
enunciated than in Paul‟s letter to the Galatians.
 
 Not long on introductions in this letter, Paul gets right to the point. “I am astonished that
youare so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a differentgospel--
...” (Galatians 1:6).
 
 
“The Full Rights Of Sons” Simply Put / 
K.E.Stegall
 
Chapter XVI
-
Sons: “You Are All Sons”
 
164
 
 
This different gospel was that some were “forcing” the Galatians “...to follow Jewishcustoms” (Galatians 2:14). Paul called it “...no gospel at all.” These teachings threw people “intoconfusion” and were a perversion of “the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:7). These ideas were so perverted that Paul said those teaching such things should go to hell. “...be eternally condemned!”
(Galatians 1:9)Why did Paul consider these teachin
gs “...no gospel at all.”? Because a salvation that depends
to any degree on anything human is not good news. Whether these human things be our innateheritage of characteristics and abilities, or our effort - how hard we try, they can never measure up towhat God requires. God will accept only complete and perfect righteousness.The Galatians were being confused and led away by this false teaching. Paul calls them
“foolish” (Galatians 3:1,
3) for allowing such teaching to take hold in their midst.The sinfu
l human will and desire to fulfill God‟s requirements by ourselves, either by being
someone in particular or by doing specified things, is the false gospel Paul is refuting. Faith and belief in Jesus Christ is the needed good news. Only through Jesus can we become who we need to bebecause he is who we need to be (Galatians 3:6-7, 26, 4:4). Through Jesus we do what we need todo because he has already done it (Galatians 3:3, 6-7, 25).
Paul goes so far as to say that a return to trying to fulfill God‟s require
ments, or living by thelaw (Galatians 3:12) is no life at all; it is death (Galatians 2:16, 3:10-11). Living by the law is being
“prisoners” of sin (Galatians 3:22,
23), a retu
rn to “slavery” (Galatians 5:1),
 
and falling “away fromgrace” (Galatians 5:4).
 
Paul did not consider it safe to compromise on this issue. He didn‟t think the Gentiles should
be circumcised as even a token fu
lfillment of God‟s requirements,
or as a compromise with theirJewish brothers who thought circumcision was necessary, along with faith in Jesus.Paul thought the only safe place on this issue was to completely renounce observing the law or
God‟s requirements. “Mark my words! ...if you let yourselves be circumcised. Christ will be of novalue to you at all.” (Galatians 5:2
-4) Anything else is opposed to the gospel of Christ (Galatians 1:7).
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then....” (Galatians 5: 1). Anything else
would be hiding the truth of the gospel (Galatians 2:4-5).
“What, then, was the purpose of the law?” (Galatians 3:19)
 Yesterday I went bowling. For me at least, bowling is a very graphic illustration of trying to
gain righteousness through obedience to God‟s requirements as set out in the law. When I threw the
first ball, it went in the gutter. Then I started to work on my technique. I tried to make my approachsmoother. I tried not to twist my wrist. Some other members of my group gave me a few pointers.Stand on the dots. Give a good swing to your arm. Point your thumb where you want the ball to go.
Don‟t drop the ball,
let it slide onto the floor.Sometimes I got a few pins down and sometimes the ball went into the gutter. No matter howhard I tried to perfectly do all the proper things, it did not seem to have much effect on the pins. Evenif I practiced daily and improved,
I don‟t think I could ever bowl a perfect game. And even if I bowled
one perfect game, I doubt that I could always bowl a perfect game. Somewhere along the line I would
miss a pin, and then it wouldn‟t be a perfect game.
 Standing on the dots, swinging my arm, pointing my thumb, sliding the ball are not the sameas knocking down the pins. Trying to keep the law, keeping it to the best of our ability is not the same
as righteousness. We may slap each other on the back and say, “Good try. You‟ll get it next time.”
But that is not the same as righteousness. Lots of practice is not the same as righteousness. There isonly one thing that is righteousness - getting all the pins down...every one of them...all the time.
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