Christmas Season · First Sunday after Christmas Day · Year B
Galatians 4:4-7
Sons of God
December 27, 2026
Overview & Insights
“God sent forth his Son, born of woman... so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)
The basis upon which Paul makes the previous statement in verse 25 is his conviction that the Galatians are all sons of God by virtue of their being in Christ Jesus . Paul continues to work with the metaphor of inheritance to underscore that all of his readers are inheritors of God’s promise. Paul emphasizes that the Galatians already are “sons” or inheritors of God’s promise. (Paul’s use of “sons” is meant not to exclude the female members of the Galatian churches, but to work with the inheritance metaphor. In the ancient world it was generally sons and not daughters who could expect to be inheritors.) For the benefit of both his Gentile Galatian converts and the Jewish Christian troublemakers who would have eventually heard his words, Paul says that “all” receive the inheritance through the faith of Jesus Christ.
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Commentary
Galatians 4:4-7 Working Preacher
A commentary on the fullness of time and adoption as children of God by grace apart from the law.
Galatians 4:4-7 Center for Excellence in Preaching
A Reformed reading on incarnation, redemption and the Spirit's cry of Abba as the meaning of Christmas in Paul's terms.
Galatians 4 Word on Fire · Bishop Barron
A Catholic scripture resource on divine sonship and adoption, reading Paul's argument within the church's sacramental theology.
Galatians 4 Enduring Word · David Guzik
An evangelical verse-by-verse study of heirs versus slaves and the sending of the Son and the Spirit.
Classic commentaries on Galatians 4 BibleHub
A classic aggregator comparing historic interpreters on 'born of a woman, born under the law.'
Background & Word Study
The Church Fathers
Questions preachers ask
Why is Galatians 4 a Christmas reading?
It gives the theology of Christmas in one sentence: in the fullness of time God sent his Son, born of a woman, to redeem us and make us sons and heirs who cry, “Abba, Father.”
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