From Spiritual Adolescence to Gospel Maturity

From Spiritual Adolescence to Gospel Maturity
Galatians 3:29–4:10

The other day in the car, I reached for my son’s hand and he quickly swatted mine away—“Dad, I’m good.” He's at the stage where he needs to prove he’s tough, independent. But later that night, after the game, we stepped into a darker, scarier parking lot, and this time it was my son reaching for my hand.

And isn’t that how we live with God? We swat His hand away when life seems fine—but when fear or loss hit, we realize we were never meant to walk without Him.

That’s exactly what Paul is saying to the Galatians: “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3:29). You’re not a slave. You’re a son. You’re an heir of God’s promises. Until we believe that, we’ll stay stuck in spiritual adolescence.

Paul reminds them: “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods” (Gal. 4:8). Before Christ, we worshipped “little-g gods”—pleasure, possessions, pride. They promised freedom but only enslaved us deeper.

But then came the miracle: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son… to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4–5). Through the cross, God’s wrath was satisfied. Through the Spirit, “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Gal. 4:6).

That’s the gospel: God isn’t just a Judge declaring you innocent, He’s a Father welcoming you home.

And yet, like the Galatians, we drift. Paul pleads, “How can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?” (Gal. 4:9). Don’t go back. Don’t live like God never adopted you.

Gospel maturity isn’t about stacking up religious achievements. “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God” (Gal. 4:7). It’s waking up every day to the depth of God’s grace and living as who you already are in Christ.

At Vintage, we dream of a community living holistically as children of God—no longer like slaves, but fully free, fully alive, and all-in on God’s mission.

Take His hand today. Live as His child.