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Searching for Belonging?
May 4, 2026 · 40 min
You were chosen to be loved and secured as part of His family. Continue this powerful study in Galatians and discover how to step out of striving and into the freedom of belonging.
Series Set Free - A Study In The Book Of Galatians May 4, 2026 · 40 min · Set Free - A Study In The Book Of Galatians
You were chosen to be loved and secured as part of His family. Continue this powerful study in Galatians and discover how to step out of striving and into the freedom of belonging. ...more Show the full description Show less You were chosen to be loved and secured as part of His family. Continue this powerful study in Galatians and discover how to step out of striving and into the freedom of belonging.
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Set Free by Grace: Embracing Adoption in Christ 0:00 Today, I wanna talk to you out of Galatians chapter 4, set free to be a son and daughter. Set free to be a son and daughter. We've been0:11 talking grace of Jesus Christ. And it's demonstrated through what we call, and the scripture0:23 calls, the gospel. Pastor, what is the gospel? I'll say it again. Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. Watch this. He lived a sinless life. He died on the cross0:35 in our place. Wasn't like he just died on the cross. It was actually in our place. We should have been on that cross. He died in our place, bore our sin, was buried, and rose again on the third day. When we receive0:47 Christ, we're receiving the gospel message. And it's about grace. What is grace, pastor? I'll tell you what grace is. I've been saying it the last 4 weeks. It's God doing for us0:59 what we can't do for ourselves. And this is exactly what the churches in Galatia, that region in modern day Turkey, this is what they were struggling with. False teachers called Judaizers1:11 were adding rules from the Jewish law to the gospel. They were saying this, yes, believe in Jesus plus. Plus what? Well, plus you need to do these things in order to be right with God. You1:22 need to, well, you need to honor certain Jewish dietary laws. It's faith in Christ plus dietary laws. It's faith in Christ plus honor these holy days. It's faith in Christ1:34 plus don't mix with the wrong people. Be circumcised. In other words, they were saying that it's not just faith in Christ, it's faith in Jesus plus.1:47 Paul, the last 3 weeks in chapter 2, chapter 3, he's been addressing. He rebuked Peter. He was rebuking people. He's like, hey, time out. It's it's Jesus. It's faith in Christ. Paul was1:59 so concerned about this early church. He was concerned about what they were doing to try to be right with God. The reality is is that Paul was clear, we don't go back to a2:10 system, a system of rules that could never make anyone right with God. How many people today? Maybe that's where you are. Maybe those of you that are watching, whatever location you're watching, those online, maybe you2:22 think there's something watches you have to do to be right with God, to be acceptable to God. The book of Galatians is an affront to that mindset. All you need to do2:34 is you need to receive Christ. And when you receive what the work of Jesus on the cross was for us, everything changes. Paul was addressing this concept. He was saying don't slip2:46 back into performance. Don't try to earn God's favor. Don't try to live that way. That's not that's exhausting. If you guys are taking notes, chapter 1 was really about there's2:58 only 1 gospel. Gospel sets us free from legalism. Last week, the gospel is all about faith today. In chapter 4, I want to3:10 take us on a deeper journey in this sense. I wanna talk to you about how Paul teaches us that the gospel is all about adoption. The gospel is all3:22 about adoption. There are so many families in our church and I'm so proud of them. There's so many families in our church that have adopted children. And if you have conversation with somebody that's adopted a natural3:34 child, I'm telling you somebody I'm talking about, they have adopted a child. Their understanding of God's adoption, it's just it goes to another level. When they recognize how3:45 how they chose to adopt the child, and God chose to adopt us. We didn't choose God, God chose us. How many are grateful that God chose us? I'm grateful for that. The power of3:57 adoption, this is a theme that Paul begins to unpack in chapter 4. It's a new theme that they were unaware of. It's like, wait, time out. And all of a sudden, he starts introducing4:09 this concept of adoption. The reality is these believers, these early believers, they knew they were going to heaven if they trusted Christ, but but but And they were still living4:21 with something. Kind of made him feel like on the outside. Paul began to identify that's actually an orphan heart. When you're adopted by God, you're brought into relationship with God and then you're brought4:33 into the family of God. Paul was concerned. He was concerned that these believers were not living in God's confidence and they were actually living like orphans, although they'd been adopted.4:45 Galatians chapter 4 verse 1, Paul explains adoption is 1 of the greatest joys of being a believer in Jesus. And why we never wanna go back. Listen to me church. We never wanna go back4:57 to living like an orphan. We've been adopted. Everybody say adopted. We've been adopted by God. Galatians chapter 4 verse 1. What I am saying is that as long as an5:09 heir is underage, he's no different from a slave. Although he owns the whole estate. Verse 2, the heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.5:21 So also when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. This is powerful. But when the set time Everybody say set5:33 time. This is important. When the set time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law that we might5:45 receive, come on say it, adoption to sonship. I do want to make 1 qualification for all the ladies. This chapter talks a lot about being sons, and and I've often said this over the5:56 years. Ladies, of course we're talking about being sons and daughters, and I tell the guys this. Listen guys, you don't get upset when God calls us a bride, the bride of Christ. Ladies, just relax when the Bible calls us6:07 sons, alright? There are times when daughters are mentioned, but it's all of us, sons and daughters. Everybody say sons and daughters. We have been adopted by God when we place our faith in Christ.6:19 In Paul's day, everyone understood exactly what it meant come of age. A Roman child was under guardians until 14 years old and under trustees until 25.6:31 Only then could the heir step into their inheritance and manage the estate. Matter of fact, if a family did not have an heir, did not have a natural biological6:43 child, they would actually an ad they would adopt an adult in order to receive an inheritance. It's very big that we understand this. So when Paul used this illustration, the Galatians6:55 immediately understood. His point was this, before coming of age, an heir wasn't any different than a slave. Why is that important? Both were under authority. Both7:06 were limited in freedom. Neither could fully access what was theirs. Here's the picture. Before Christ, we were like children under the guardian of the law,7:18 bound, restricted, and waiting. But when the time was right, God sent his son to redeem us. And when he redeemed us, we were then7:30 no longer slaves under the law, but sons and daughters to live free as full heirs of God's promise. How many are grateful that we are full heirs of7:42 God's promise? Here's how this plays out in our lives today. When we first accept Christ, we're set free. But many of us keep walking like we're slaves to sin, like we'reThe Witness and Transformation of the Spirit 7:54 slaves to the law. Being a slave to law means you're slave to performance. What was the law? If I do this, then God will like me. If I don't do this, then God won't like me. Here's what Paul said, we don't live that way8:04 anymore. And they had drifted back into that mindset of trying to be justified. Remember what justified is? Being right with God. They were trying to be justified again, watch this, by their performance.8:17 And they said as long as you're bound under the law, guess what? A slave, let me tell you, and someone who's technically free, they live no different in their mindset. The reality is is that they were having pressure8:29 placed upon them to go back, and they were trying to find their value and acceptance and meaning in all the wrong places. By the way, when you try to live enslaved to the law to be acceptable to God, by the way, when8:41 you try to live that way before people, thank God that when we have the love of God in our hearts we should accept people and love people and care for people. But the reality is is that these people, Paul was so8:51 concerned because he says, You're living with an orphan spirit even though you've been adopted by God. You're living with a slave mentality. That was before Christ. That's how I lived.9:04 I lived but with with enslaved to sin, enslaved to my passions, enslaved to lusts. And when Christ comes, Christ listen, he saves us, but he saves us out of something and brings us into something.9:16 A lot of people don't understand that. They say, well, you know the gospel. I'm coming I'm coming out of. Everybody say out of. But you're also going into. You're going into sonship. But you're also going into. You're9:24 going into sonship. You're not just coming out of sin, you're coming into relationship with God, where you're a son and daughter of God. Let me tell you, when you carry that name, everything changes.9:37 To do this. If you have your Bible, I'm going to ask you to open to Galatians chapter 4. Do you guys enjoy studying books of the Bible? Come on. How many of y'all enjoy this? If you're just new today, you can go back,9:48 and watch online. I did Galatians 1, Galatians 2, Galatians 3. Today is Galatians 4. Next week, Galatians 5, and then we'll finish up Galatians 6. So I wanna teach you today what does Galatians 410:00 teach us about our adoption in Christ. What does Galatians 4 teach us about our adoption in Christ? Number 1, the evidence. Everyone say evidence.10:12 The evidence of adoption. So, Pastor, how do we know that we're adopted by God? Paul says here's the proof. It's not through a birth certificate by the way. It's not through10:24 a court date or some paperwork. It's not like this court date. That's not how we know. But it's through the spirit of God quickening in our heart that we belong to10:35 God. Galatians chapter 4 verse 6 says this, Paul writes, Because you are his sons, of course sons and daughters ladies, because you're sons, God sent the spirit10:48 of his son into our hearts. The spirit who calls out Abba Father. You're no longer a slave, but you're God's child. And since you are his child, God10:59 has made you also an heir.11:15 That that we belong to God. And here's the thing, we get this language. It's like, are you saved? Absolutely. What does it mean to be saved? Trust Christ, you're saved. You know, you're saved. You're washed by the blood11:26 of Jesus. But you're not only saved, you're adopted. Adoption language, watch this, is familial language. It's family language. It's it's11:38 and then he uses oh my gosh, he uses something so intimate here, Abba Father. Very deep intimate language. Very deep intimate language. Abba11:50 Father. What a message to a broken world. What a message, by the way, to a fatherless generation. That you can be adopted by God, that you can be Listen, not12:02 only brought out of sin, but brought into relationship with almighty God. What a message. Jesus's work on the cross gave us legal status, justified. I love12:14 it. I love the legal status. We've been justified before it got. But the spirits work makes the status real, tangible, experiential, and personal. We12:26 can feel and sense the spirit in our heart. The witness of the Everybody say witness. We sense it. We belong to God. So so pastor, how do how do how does somebody know they've been adopted by12:38 God? You sense in your heart there's been a change in your heart. There's been there's a witness of the Holy Spirit on the inside of you. That's what shows that you're a son or a daughter of God. Imagine a person,12:50 they're on death row and the guard comes to the cell and says, Hey, you're free. What do you mean I'm free? Well, somebody else is taking your place. What do you mean somebody else is taking your place? The gates swing13:00 wide open, they walk out, but if they have no home, if they have no friends, they have no job, if they have nowhere to go back to, chances are, guess what, they may end up in the same place. Pastor, why are13:11 you saying that? Because friends are important, family's important, a guide is important. Can I tell you something? When Jesus took our place on the cross, he didn't just say, Hey, you get out of jail, go for it. But he13:22 gave us his spirit in our hearts. And his spirit leads us to the family of God. His spirit watches, guides us, speaks to us. How many are grateful for the Holy Spirit living in our hearts?13:34 I I think the Holy Spirit has been so discounted in the body of Christ. We understand the the the just the legal action of we've been justified by God.13:46 Jesus Christ took our sin upon we got his righteousness and and he took our sin and we understand that. We we get that. But then he wasn't He didn't leave us as orphans. He gave13:58 us his spirit, his spirit living in our hearts. It wasn't just get out of jail, but the spirit of God is in our hearts. I wanna encourage you to lean upon the spirit in your heart. Lean upon the14:10 spirit of Christ. It's the spirit of Jesus Christ, and here's what he does. He leads you into the right path. Here's what he does. He leads you into the family of God. He gets you connected with other believers. He14:22 does for you what you can't do for yourself. The Holy Spirit. By the way, Paul calls it the spirit of adoption. The spirit. I wonder how many14:33 believers are walking out with an or walking around with an orphan spirit. They don't feel connected. They don't feel connected to God. They don't feel connected to people. They've been saved. Right? They're not going to14:43 hell. That's awesome, obviously. That's huge. But but yet they're still living with an orphan spirit. Insecure, worried, not not sure what everybody's thinking, not sure what God's thinking all the time.14:56 And yet God is saying so clearly that we don't have to live enslaved to unhealthy habits and wounds from our past and patterns. Watch this, we've been given the15:08 spirit of adoption. Paul says in Romans chapter 8 verse 15, The spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live again in fear. You know what fear does? Fear15:20 enslaves. You know what fear does? Here's what fear does. Y'all check this out. Fear puts its bony finger in your face every day saying, You can't, you won't, you're not. You You ever seen that finger15:32 before? I have. You won't, you'll never, you'll never change, you'll never become, you'll never have, you'll always be like Like what? Like that person, or you'll always be like your past.15:44 That's the finger of the enemy. That's the finger of fear. Can I tell you something? The opposite is not the finger of fear, but the finger of God. The spirit of God that comes into your heart that says, you are more15:54 than a conqueror. You can overcome. That's the spirit of God. You've been adopted. Say, I've been adopted. Let that language Here it is. All of our locations. Let that language16:06 rest on you. You've not just been purchased out of sin, but you've been brought into relationship with God. You have the spirit of adoption.16:18 You're you're not an orphan anymore. But the spirit you receive does not make you slaves so that you live again in fear. Rather, the spirit you received about brought your adoption to sonship.16:30 This is where freedom begins. Fear at its core is broken off of our lives because we're accepted by God. Thankfully, let me just say this, and I say this respectfully to everyone that's listening to me.16:42 Maybe you grew up in a home that wasn't the best. There's some Bobos in your heart, some wounds. Maybe it was from a mom, a dad, an absentee parent. Maybe there was fractures. I know that I'm16:54 speaking to people that all of us have experienced levels of that. I did. All of us have at some level. Here's what's here's what's so beauty about Here's what's so beautiful about the body of Christ. Of17:10 adoption is the Holy Spirit. Everybody say Holy Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit. Here's what's so beautiful. When you when you receive Christ, you're not just forgiven, but you receive the Holy Spirit. The spirit of17:22 adoption Here's what the spirit of adoption does. The spirit of adoption doesn't just leave the baby there. The spirit of adoption brings the baby into family. Brings the baby into17:34 family. That's what I love and I wanna say this very respectfully. That's what the body of Christ does. You know what the body of Christ does? A lot of remothering and re fathering. Reparenting, we've all17:46 needed that. That's what I love about our men's breakfast. You know, I know a couple weeks ago they had some older men that prayed for men that never received a father's blessing. Let me tell you something, that's only17:56 happening in the house of God by the spirit of almighty God. That's why I love our sisterhood groups. That's why I love our youth groups and our our young adults on Thursday nights18:08 in Baton Rouge and at Little Creek and some of our other campuses. What what I love is that you can be re fathered, you can be remothered, you can be re parented. Why? Because the spirit of adoption in other people,18:19 guess what? Draws 1 another together. It never leaves you isolated. That's why somebody said, Well, God told me don't go to church. Really? How many know the spirit of adoption leads you to family?18:32 It doesn't lead you into isolation. Number 1, Paul says the evidence the evidence of adoption is the spirit within. Number 2, the outworking of adoption. Galatians chapter 4 verse 9.18:44 I'm just going verse by verse through this. Watch this. But now you know God, or rather are known by God. How is it that you are turning back to those weak18:56 and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over? Again, the word miserable, this is really interesting. The word miserable means worthless, powerless,19:08 unable to enrich your life. Yeah, how often do we drift into things that are worthless, unable to enrich our life? They're powerless. We give ourselves to old habits, old patterns. We give19:19 them power. And yet they should never control our lives. And let me say this, this is very important. Everybody say justification. Justification. Come on louder. Justification.19:32 Justification. Everybody say sanctification. Remember what I said, when you're justified, it means when you trust Christ as your savior, here's a little theology. When you trust Christ as your savior, you are justified.19:42 You God makes you Watch this. Christ, I'm made right with God through my faith in Christ. Not my works, through my faith in his work. Okay? I'm justified. I'm made right. Nothing that I do, I receive19:54 Christ. But sanctification is a process. Pastor, when does sanctification begin? The moment you get saved. When does it stop? The moment you die. That's why I tell our church, I've said it for years,20:06 you're in a crock pot on low as a Christian, okay? I grew up in a family. Mom did everything in a crock pot literally. She washed clothes in a crock pot. No, I'm just joking. She made a lot of roasts in there.20:19 And so there there are habits that we bring into our walk with God. There's hurts, there's habits, there's hang ups. And can I tell you something? The more you press into Jesus, the more Christ grows in His power on the20:29 inside of you. Guess what? Guess what? Those habits break off of your life. So I don't want you to be discouraged. Pastor, I went up front. I raised my hand. I got saved. I even got20:41 baptized. I told him I was real bad, hold me under a little longer. Come on, I mean you know what I'm telling. And yet pastor, I still have some habits. Can I tell you something? That's called sanctification. Everybody20:52 say it, say it again. Sanctification, you're being sanctified which means being set apart, spirit, soul and body. Habits don't always immediately break off your life. You've been justified, you're right with God. Habits21:03 don't disqualify you, but they can steal peace out of your hearts. And Paul's dealing with this. We hear this term a lot, spiritual formation. What does that mean?21:15 Watch this. Spiritual formation. What does it mean to be spiritually formed? Paul addresses that right here. Galatians chapter 4 verse 19. So number21:27 1 he says, The evidence of adoption is the witness of the spirit. And the Spirit leads you into good places. The Spirit always leads you into family. But number 2,21:40 the outworking of adoption is this, watch this, is that my dear children, here's what Paul says, my dear children, verse 19, for whom I am21:51 again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. What time out pastor? When you get saved, like does Jesus come into22:03 your heart or not? The answer is yes. What does he mean Christ being formed in me? What does that actually mean, Christ being formed in me? I'll tell you what it means. The spirit of Christ has come into your22:15 spirit, into your heart. But the spirit of Christ, watch this, has still not taken supremacy and preeminence over your emotions, over all of your thought patterns,22:27 over all of your pain. So this So when you get saved, you don't get anymore saved in the sense of you're going to heaven, your name is written down in the lamb's book of life, right? You've been washed in the blood, you22:37 receive the spirit, everybody say the spirit of Christ. But when you walk with God, spiritual formation, discipleship, sanctification is when the spirit of Christ in you starts22:49 taking ascendency throughout you. You're no longer governed by your emotions. You're growing in the character. Everybody say, the character. The character of Christ.23:01 We're gonna talk about the fruit of the spirit next week. What is the fruit? The fruit of the spirit is the evidence of the spirit's work in your heart. And spiritual formation is a lifelong process. I tell people this23:11 all the time. I'm not where I wanna be, but I'm not where I used to be. I'm not where I wanna be. There's times in my life I get disappointed. I'm like, Man, why did I I've got in the flesh.23:23 We use all these terms as Christians, I got in the flesh, which means you lost your temper. You did something stupid, I don't know, you know, foolish, whatever biblically correct word is that. But here's the thing, as23:34 you walk with Jesus, this is so amazing, as you walk with Jesus the spirit within you starts flowing throughout you. And the Spirit of God, growing in the character of Christ, watch this, is when the Spirit of23:46 Jesus begins to govern your mind, your will, your emotions, and then there's an outworking where your behavior changes. So yes, there is an immediate transformation23:58 in your heart. You're saved. You're born again. But then the spirit within you starts working throughout you. The outworking of adoption, watch this. And can I say this? The more you grow in24:10 Christ, the more you spend time with Christ, the more you become like Christ. You know how that is you though? You you start hanging out with somebody long enough. You start taking on their mannerisms. I remember as a24:22 kid, we would, you know, have different people. And I've always kind of picked up on accents and stuff. And I remember 1 time, it was with my brother and he goes and we were with these guys and they had this accent. He24:30 goes, why are you doing this? I don't even know why I'm doing it. I just kind of had this accent. I just kind of picked up this guy's accent a little bit. You know? Why? Because if we were around him for a week and it24:38 was a friend, we've got to pick it up. You know how that is. You're married with somebody a long time, you know, and I'm very clear on genders, but you know you can pick up some of their mannerisms, some of their speech,24:47 some of the things. You know how it is with your parents. I remember 1 time I told my son, I said, I said, If you do it right the first time, you don't have to do it what? Again.25:00 My dad told me that. How many know the more you spend time with somebody, you become like them in their characteristics? The more time you spend with Jesus, the more you25:12 take on his characteristics. How many are grateful that we can be formed into the character of Christ? So don't let somebody get on get, you know, get onto you in the sense of, I25:24 don't even know if that's right English, but somebody run you down just because when you're in a process. Again, we wanna grow, we wanna mature, but we're still in a process. And the goal is to be Listen, the goal is to25:35 end the year more like Christ than the year when you began. Alright. So number 1, the evidence Everybody say the evidence. The evidence of the spirit the evidence of adoption is the witness of the spirit. The outworking25:47 of adoption is you become more like Christ. You never become Jesus, but you reflect his characteristics because of the spirit of Jesus. Let me give you the third and final thing. Y'all learn anything? ComeShow more In this video 0:00 Set Free by Grace: Embracing Adoption in Christ7:43 The Witness and Transformation of the Spirit25:50 Heirs of Promise: Living in God's Inheritance
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