Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave, although he is owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. (vv. 1-2)

… if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. (Romans 8:17)

There are so many important truths written in chapter 4. It would take hours, if not days, to explain the core Christian doctrines written here. But I’d like to focus on one thing, that is our adoption as children of God. If one truly understands this adoption, he/she will not fall into false doctrines.

In verses 1 and 2, Paul speaks of the divine election. The Father does not choose sons out of slaves. He does choose sons neither by foreseeing what they would become in future nor by examining their actions. He already knows who His sons are before they are born. However, until the appointed time, the children are no different from slaves, meaning they go through the elemental things of the world.

So we too, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elementary principles of the world. (v.3)

Paul emphasizes again here that salvation is not just by Christ alone but also by the Holy Spirit. Adoption is not possible without the Holy Spirit.

Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!” (v.6)

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness, but in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, …  (Titus 3:5)

Everything Christ did on the earth was focused on the making of the priestly kingdom of God. And the adoption is in the center of the kingdom. Many Christians want to believe that Adam was a son of God or an adopted son of God. But he did not have what a son of God must have – the divine wisdom that makes him know, understand, believe, and love God. Adam’s true status, a mere slave who does not know the Master’s business, became evident when he ate the forbidden fruit. Disobedience came because Adam was not a son of God. Adam did not have the Holy Spirit.

No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15)

God does not only want people who obey Him but also, more importantly, understand, know, believe, and love Him. Therefore, we must be careful when we interpret the word, obedience, in the Bible. God’s ultimate goal of creating people is not just obedience to Him. Obedience, like any good works, is only a consequence of the new relationship with God.  

Therefore, it is absurd to say that Christ had to keep the Law perfectly (obey God’s commands) to gain righteousness for His church. Christ did not come to keep the Law but to fulfill it. What the Law truly requires is the adoption through God’s grace, mercy, and love. That adoption Christ fulfilled on the cross.

The Covenant Theology along with the Active Obedience of Christ has many different theories because it was born out of human needs, not according to the truths written in the Bible. Many Christians struggle to understand them because the Bible speaks against them. Those doctrines focus on men’s salvation from men’s point of view. They lack in richness that the true gospel brings through the words of God. They were born because some evil people wanted to bring people back to slavery. I do not doubt that God will forgive those who spoke and wrote in ignorance. But now that God has started the third reformation, the doctrines must go. The church era is ending.

Do not worship churches or church authorities. But like the Galatians, many people in churches want to hold onto them, think that they would bring salvation. Without knowing God, there is no salvation because God gives every child His Spirit. And the Spirit testifies through the words of God that righteousness is NOT rooted in the Law because we are children of God, not slaves.

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. (Romans 8:16-17)

If our righteousness is based on the keeping God’s commands, our adoption is conditional, not unconditional. As the relationship between the Son and the Father is based on the unconditional love, our relationship with the Father must be the same. It is the Spirit who teaches and nurtures us so that we become good children of God. Obedience comes naturally, not by some strange doctrines.

And you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that time the son who was born according to the flesh persecuted the one who was born according to the Spirit, so it is even now. But what does the Scripture say? “Drive out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.” So then, brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave woman, but of the free woman. (Galatians 4:28-31)

The reason why I have been tireless criticizing the Covenant Theology and the Active Obedience of Christ (AOC) is because they have opened the door to work-based salvation. They have led people back to slavery. The AOC, in particular, can lead either legalism or antinomianism. There is no middle ground. Besides, it started from Anselm’s heretical teaching.

From 2016, I have been shown that people are ignorant, and they are going back to Egypt in my dreams. I hardly had any knowledge on theology or the church history back then. But God has made me know His concerns and write them.

The church era is ending. Hold onto the true gospel. Do not be like the Galatians who went back to slavery.

So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? (Galatians 4:16)