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Gal 4:21-31 (ESV)
Example of Hagar and Sarah
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,
"Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than those of the one who has a husband."
28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? "Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman." 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.
I am blessed to have some friends who love theology. They enjoy getting into the weeds of the conversations as they pull on every thread of thought and take delight as they see how every tug affects the rest of the garment.
I deeply appreciate these friends, but I often have to stop them when we have these conversations because I can’t keep up, so I ask them to explain things to me in simpler terms. At that point, they usually begin their explanation by saying, “It’s like this…”
That’s what Paul is doing here in this passage. There are loads of threads being pulled on, and perhaps he realizes that these Galatian believers, who are relatively new Christians, are getting confused by the debate between Paul and the Judaizers. So Paul is going to try to make things clear, and I can almost picture him starting these verses off by saying, “It’s like this.”
You see, Paul is striving to reassure the gentile Galatian believers of their status and identity in Christ, that those who entrust their lives to Christ alone are like Isaac. They are people of God’s promise going all the way back to Abraham (Genesis 15).
Remember that the Judaizers were coming to the Galatians after Paul had left and were telling these new gentile converts that they must first become fully Jewish before they could become true Christians and followers of Jesus. That meant that these gentile Christians had to observe all the laws, practices, and observances prescribed in the Law of Moses (including circumcision) if they believed the prescription of Judaizers. In support of their position, the Judaizers claimed Abraham as their heritage and claimed that Gentile Christians didn’t belong in that family line.
However here, Paul flips their argument upside down and reassures the gentile believers that through Jesus, they are part of the line of Abraham who believed the promise of God, and as such, they are inheritors of the same promise as Abraham. In other words, because of their faith in Jesus, they too are in line with the promise given to Abraham, just like Isaac who was born according to God’s promise rather than through human action like Ishmael.
It’s interesting to me that there are so many things that come along that seek to block and deny us our freedom and joy in Jesus. Sometimes the theft of our freedom in Christ is self-imposed as we focus on the things that we think we must do in order to be a “real Christian” rather than simply “being” with Jesus and letting His life infect our own. We are called to be in a relationship with Jesus, and from that relationship, the doing will follow. It’s never the other way around (doing in order to be with Jesus—that’s not how it works)!
So my encouragement to you this day is to rest in the fact that you are in the line of Abraham and you are part of, and heir to, the promise given to Abraham, all because you’ve entrusted your life to Jesus. Live in relationship with Jesus today and every day, and the rest will follow.
Here’s a good challenge that may help you along the way. Before you begin any task today, take a moment to pray and ask Jesus to reveal Himself to you through whatever you do.
God bless you and know that I’m praying for you constantly.
Scott
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