Neville Goddard on Galatians 4:1-7 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Galatians 4 in context

Scripture Focus

1Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;

2But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

3Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

4But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

5To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

6And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

7Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Galatians 4:1-7

Biblical Context

An heir who is a child is no different from a servant; under tutors, he awaits the father’s time. When the fullness of time comes, God sends His Son to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons and the Spirit within makes us cry Abba, Father.

Neville's Inner Vision

All the terms—heir, child, bondage, law, redemption, adoption, Spirit—are inner states. The 'child' is your dormant sense of lack; the 'tutors and governors' are the old beliefs that bind you to external rules. The 'fulness of the time' is your interior turning to the I AM, the Father within, where the inner Son is awakened. The sending of the Son is not a past event but the realization that your true self is already the Christ-identity embedded in consciousness. To redeem those under the law is to release yourself from identifying with rules and appearances and to claim adoption as a son, a state of awareness in which you know you belong to God. The Spirit of His Son into your heart, crying Abba, Father, is the felt sense that you and the Father are one in consciousness. Therefore, you are no longer a servant but a son; and as a son you are an heir of God through Christ. The practical aim is to shift from lack to sonship by assuming the feeling of being the Father’s heir here and now.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes and revise your sense of self to the heir who already possesses all. Feel the words Abba, Father echoing within as you declare, 'I am the Son, I am the heir of God through Christ,' and let that feeling be real now.