GALATIANS CHAPTER 4 - CONTEMPORARY ALIGNED VERSION (SPIRITCODE)

Verses 1-20 only - unfinished

1. When a son is still a child he has no access to his inheritance, just as if he were a servant, even though potentially he owns it all.

2. He has to come under tutors and guardians until the father appoints the time for him to receive his inheritance.

3. It is the same for us spiritually, in that when we were like children, we were bound by the principles of the world.

4. But when the time came that the Father had ordained and planned for, he sent his Son to be born of a woman, and to be made subject to the Law

5. In order to redeem those that were bound by the law, to become adopted fully into his family as sons and daughters

6. And because you are part of his family, he has sent his Son’s Spirit into your hearts so that you can relate to him as a Father with bonds of endearment and affection.

7. Which means that you are not to think of yourselves as servants any more, but as his children, sharing the inheritance from the Father with Jesus.

8. Before you came to know God and were people of the world, you trusted in so-called gods that had no power to do any good for you.

9. But now that you know God, or I should say, you are familiar to him as part of his family, why do you go back to trusting the useless worldly principles which rob you of the freedom that has been won for you.

10. You set aside special religious days, and months and years.

11. It concerns me that I have wasted my time giving you something you do not even value.

12. My dear friends, I am pleading with you, stick with me, like I stuck with you. You were responding so well.

13. You know that I came to preach to you when I was sick, and because of that I had to stay with you.

14. And you graciously took me in even though I was physically a liability, and you treated me like I was an angel, or even Jesus himself.

15. What happened to all the blessing you said it meant for you to care for me? You would have even given me your eyes for my poor old ones at the time.

16. So now I am your enemy – because I tell you the truth?

17. Those charlatans want to make you feel good, to do you bad. They would cut you out of your freedom so that you could do them the good they want to get out of you.

18. It is good to do good things for people I agree, but don’t just be nice to me when I am there with you.

19. You are like my dear children and I intercede in prayer for you that faith would be born in you and that the life of Christ would be formed in you.

20. I wish I was with you now, able to say how confident I was of you, rather that write to you of how doubtful I am of you.