We
Are All Born Into Freedom
[Galatians
chapter 4, verses 21-31]
Continuing
today with the book of Galatians, we're going to finish chapter four
as we sort through this Biblical book of the early church at Galatia,
which would be in modern-day Turkey. Taking up where we left off last
week, let's continue starting at verse 21 as the apostle Paul
continues to express his concern for the congregation there because
of false teachings that were contrary to what Paul had taught them in
person and in the Spirit. He begins by comparing false doctrines with
slavery.
“Tell
me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the
law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the
slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave
woman was born in an ordinary way; but his son by a free woman was
born as the result of a promise. These things may be taken
figuratively, for the woman represents two covenants. One covenant is
from Mt Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar.
Now Hagar stands for Mt. Sinai in Arabia and corresponds with the
present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her
children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our
mother. For it is written, 'Be glad, oh barren woman, who bears no
children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains;
because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who
has a husband'.” (Gal. 4, verses 21-27, NIV)
As
we noted in an earlier study, Paul is once again writing about early
Christian converts who were formerly Jews who practiced adhering to
the Law of Moses while also professing belief in Christ as the
promised Messiah. They clung to both practices even though they were
no longer required to do so, since the crucifixion and resurrection
of Christ was the fulfillment of the Old Law, and this is why Paul
was so upset with them. And so he goes on by comparing the origins of
the Jews and Gentiles. Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, had
his son Isaac with his wife Sarah when he was 100 years old. Prior to
this (in Genesis chapter 16) Abraham had a son with one of his
slaves, whose name was Hagar. He agreed with his wife, since they had
been unable to conceive and they had become elderly without any
offspring, and so at age 86 Hagar bore Abraham a son, Ishmael. The
way that Isaac had come into the world was by a promise of God made
to Abram (who soon became Abraham) in Genesis chapter 15 when He
said, “But
Abram said, 'Oh sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain
childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of
Damascus?' And Abram said, 'You have given me no children, so a
servant in my household will be my heir.' Then the Word of the Lord
came to him: 'This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from
your own body will be your heir.' He took him outside and said, 'Look
up at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count
them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' Abram
believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”
(Gen. 15, verses 2-6, NIV)
There are therefore two sets of descendants from
Abraham; that of Hagar, who bore him Ishmael and that of Sarah, who
bore him Isaac 14 years later. The descendants of Isaac became the
inhabitants of Jerusalem during the times of King David and his son,
King Solomon, from whom Christ was a direct descendant. That is what
Paul was referring to when he wrote those words the way he did.
“Slavery” refers to those who do not believe in Christ as the Son
of God, but those who are free represent those who have put their
complete faith and trust in Jesus and the Savior of the world. Those
who refuse to believe in Christ are in slavery to sin, often without
realizing it. This is something all of us can remain ever mindful of,
and the way we can do this is to follow the writings of the apostle
Paul when he wrote that we are to “continue to work out our own
salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord”. This does not
mean we should be scared to death of God – quite the contrary, in
fact. It does mean that as we live our lives for Christ and place our
complete faith in Him, we should be ever mindful of the awesome power
and unimaginable glory that God personifies. To say the least, it is
completely beyond man's understanding or comprehension. It is “the
peace of Christ which surpasses all human understanding”, as Paul
wrote in the book of Philippians, a book that we'll be getting to
later on. For now, let's conclude today's study beginning at verse
28.
“Now
you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the
son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of
the Spirit. It is the same way now. But what does the Scripture say?
'Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son
will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son.'
(Genesis
21:10 – PB)
Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of
the free woman.” (Gal. 4, verses 29-31, NIV)
Paul hits a very important point right here when he
compares Isaac, Abraham's first-born, to Christ, the second Adam and
God's first-born. Also notice, the son of Abraham and the Son of God
were both borne by “the power of the Spirit” since both were of a
supernatural conception. That is the exact parallel Paul is using
when he compares the two, and it is striking to me that the validity
of his argument remains unchanged up until today. Since we are all
descendants of Isaac, and since the descendants of Ishmael became the
modern-day Arab nations, we are not borne into slavery but into
freedom, a freedom whose only precondition be an uncompromising and
full-fledged belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Lamb who
takes away our sins. But when we are born again “of the water and
the Spirit”, as Jesus taught Nicodemus in John chapter 3, the Holy
Spirit then inhabits the hearts and minds of those who truly believe.
Interestingly enough, the descendants of Hagar the
slave woman became the nations of Islam, and the descendants of Isaac
became the modern day Israelis, as well as all Jewish people in other
nations such as the US and Europe. But there is still more to this
than merely tracing family trees. As you will recall from one of my
previous studies, the difference between the Gospel of Christ and the
Old Law is that the Old Law was for the Jewish nation as God's chosen
people according to the promise He made to Abram that I already
quoted. The new law, or New Testament as we now call it, extended the
salvation of Christ to both Jews and Gentiles, which became the
modern Christian church denominations we have today (personally I do
not count myself among any denomination other than the followers of
Christ, but that's another topic altogether). Salvation through Jesus
Christ, which is essential for everlasting life even when our human
bodies wear out, is now unconditionally available to everyone, or as
Luke wrote in the book of Acts, “even all whom the Lord our God
will call”. This is the best news of all, but there are two things
we have to do first. The first is to believe in Jesus and accept Him
into your heart as your personal God and Savior, because Jesus is not
only the Son of God, but he is also the way, the truth, and the life.
No one, Jesus said, can come to – or even approach – our heavenly
Father unless they come to his Son first. Jesus then intercedes to
the Father on our behalf. But there is one more thing we must do, and
that is to obey His commandments. This means we are to love God with
all our hearts and minds, with all our souls and all the strength we
can muster. Degrees of human strength are unimportant here, but a
willingness to serve plus a thankful and grateful heart are the most
necessary ingredients. The last commandment we must obey – not
counting the original ten commandments which are understood here –
is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Not compared to ourselves, but
instead as well as we treat our own selves, which is always as best
we can. So it should be with others also. Being a steadfast student
is very important here when it comes to following Christ. If we
follow Christ's two greatest commands, that's how we know we are
operating within God's will.
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