...to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 

Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:5-6).

What does that really look like, to be His “sons?” What does it look like to actually live life as these “sons” (and daughters) who are free to know Him as Father? In the letters to the Galatians we find that Paul is outraged that the believers in Galatia had so soon derailed their newfound faith. He wasted no time in ripping off the mask of this false identity set in by a group of people called the “Judaizers.” They were opponents of Paul’s message who sought to force Gentile Christians to observe Jewish religious and ceremonial customs for full acceptance by God. Paul thoroughly revealed this for what it was: an enslaving legalistic lie that was powerless to save. 

Do we do similar things ourselves, trying to 'mask' ourselves in our supposed self-righteousness? 

For Paul the essential problem had to do with identity; they didn't know who God truly is, and they didn't know who they were either. It must have been a radical concept for them to hear that it’s through Christ's redemption that they’ve received adoption to sonship, and now they could live in a grace-filled inheritance.

He showed the Law for what it is: rules that are powerless not only to redeem us but also powerless to make us His sons. The Law was meant as a healthy way of living as it pointed us to our need for Him. It wasn’t meant to save us.

We’re complete in our identity as His beloved sons and daughters. We can come out from hiding. The false supposed identities have been unmasked. We’re no longer slaves to the things of the world, including fear and sin. We no longer have to strive to live up to needless standards with futile efforts in attempts to make ourselves worthy of His love. We are “born from God” and have been made completely and undeniably new. This is what the world desperately needs to see in us.

Sons and daughters. 

What might be two or three ways in which we could demonstrate that we understand what it means to be adopted into God's family?