The law was our guardian before the promise was fulfilled. Its use was to keep us and show us our need for the ultimate sacrifice that would be the Lamb of God on the cross. Christ has come and sets us free from that guardianship. No longer are we estranged from Jesus, but we are invited into his family as his children. Let that sink in. You and I go from enemies of God to his sons and daughters. We go from being imprisoned by the law due to our sins to a freedom in which we rule and reign alongside Christ as his co-heirs. The greatest exchange and reversal of fortune that this world could ever know. 

Paul then shows us that because of the promise our identities are forever changed. He uses three very strong sets of identities to show the power of the gospel. Paul looks at the Jews and the Gentiles, two groups that have been at war in many ways for centuries, and says no longer does that define you. You are now defined by the promise and becoming united to Christ. If that example wasn’t enough he looks at slaves and people who are free. Is there a greater chasm between two sets of people? And he destroys the difference in the gospel. Now imagine being a woman in Galatia and hearing this. Women in the first century had almost no rights. They were treated as second-class citizens. They were not living in our modern world that heralds equality. Paul looks at them and says no longer are you a second-class citizen, you are a daughter of the Almighty God and you have every right and privilege because of that. Absolutely astounding. 

The most important thing about you is that by faith you have become children of God. If you are united to Christ then you are now united to each other.