Children of God: An Identity You Don't Have to Earn
La Corriente explains why the Bible calls those who believe in Jesus heirs, and how that grace breaks a slave mentality.
Being children of God isn't something you earn: you receive it. It's an inheritance that comes by grace, not by your own merit. An article from La Corriente develops the idea from Galatians 4 and the parable of the prodigal son.
In that parable, a son leaves home, squanders his inheritance and ends up in need. When he returns, his father runs out to meet him and restores him: his place as a son was still intact. The older brother, on the other hand, lives under the same roof and keeps score. His relationship with his father runs on complaint and obligation.
That's the danger for anyone who grows up close to the church: handling the things of God and still thinking like a slave, as if you had to earn the Father's love every single day. Paul wrote to believers who were going back under the very thing Jesus had already broken.
«Your identity isn't manufactured: it's received.»
"So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." (Galatians 4:7, ESV)
Your identity isn't manufactured: it's received.
What you worship shapes you
Exodus 20:4-6 isn't a box-checking rule. God asks for exclusive worship because he knows what worship does to a life. Ancient cultures raised up gods for weather, fertility, art and business success. Today's gods just change the packaging: consumption, money, recognition, success.
And they work the same way. A life ends up taking the shape of what it worships. Sincere worship, on the other hand, renews the way you think, your decisions and your relationships. A community that truly worships doesn't stand still in the face of pain: it serves and brings Jesus into the home, the workplace and school.
Idolatry also creeps in among believers. It shows up when we put a person above God, when gifts become merchandise or when ministry serves as a platform for our own glory. "You shall not bow down to them or serve them" (Exodus 20:5, ESV). No talent, title or applause deserves the Lord's seat.
An inheritance that reaches those who come after
Exodus 20:5-6 warns that idolatry doesn't stop with one person: it spills over onto those who come after. And it adds a promise: God shows mercy to those who love him. What you decide today leaves a mark on children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. You don't need to have kids to influence the next generation.
Nor is this about living in fear of an inherited condemnation. Wounds and patterns do get passed down in a family, but in Christ there is real transformation: cycles can be broken and a different legacy left, one of faith, integrity and love.
Galatians 4 closes with Sarah and Hagar. Hagar experienced abandonment and vulnerability; God saw her in the middle of her distress. Sarah went through years of barrenness, waiting for something that humanly made no sense. Both stories involve mistakes and pain, and in both God fulfilled his purpose.
From this comes something that applies to parenting and also to those who aren't parents yet: nobody raises children well without first learning to be a child. A received identity keeps us from putting the weight of our frustrations and expectations on kids. The task doesn't belong only to moms and dads; the whole church walks alongside those who are growing up.
This week, identify the specific idol that, if it fell, would leave you with no footing, and take it to prayer. Ask yourself out loud: am I living as a son or daughter, or as an employee? Tell us what changed when you stopped keeping score.
