Be Free!

Galatians 4:21–26 ESV

Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

1. Children of Slavery (4:21-25)

How Law Works (v.21)

Galatians 4:21 ESV

Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?

Martin Luther: “It is an urgent necessity that the preaching of the Gospel continue among us, that we may hear and retain it, otherwise we would soon forget our Lord.”

Popularly: "We need the gospel every day because we forget the gospel every day."

We need to be reminded of how wretched we are but how wonderful the saving grace of God is.

How Law Works:

Romans 2:13 ESV

For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

Keep the commandments, escape the penalty.

Break the commandments, suffer the penalty.

Keep the law, be free.

Break the law, be enslaved.

Paul’s main thesis up to this point in Galatians: no one is justified by following the law (because all are sinners). We are justified by grace through faith.

Paul provides an illustration of this:

Hagar & Slavery (v.22-24)

Galatians 4:22–24 ESV

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar.

An allegory: A story that veils the true meaning being expressed.

Uses symbols, characters, and actions that represent something else. Example: CW Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, etc.

Abraham’s children: Ishmael and Isaac

Flesh (Law) vs. Promise (Grace/Faith) - Chart

Consequence: Children of Slavery (v.25)

Galatians 4:25 ESV

Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

The point: the law enslaves and the Judaizers and all who rely upon Law (including those who reject Jesus as the Messiah) are enslaved to sin.

Parable of the Landowner in Matthew 21

Matthew 21:43 ESV

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.

Paul, in Romans 11, talks about how the unbelieving Jews were like branches broken off from God’s kingdom, the vine.

They were broken off because they sought righteousness through the law rather than grace through faith in Jesus.

2. Children of Freedom (4:26-29)

How Grace/Promise Works

Keep the commandments, suffer the penalty

Break the commandments, escape the penalty, OR:

Follow the Law, be enslaved

Don’t follow the Law, be free

Sarah & Freedom (v.26-28)

Galatians 4:26–28 ESV

But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 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.” Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

Reference to Isa. 54:1 about the future glory of God’s people. The ultimate reference is to Sarah, who was barren, but given her son Isaac by promise.

Connection is this: just like Isaac came from promise, so we, too, come from promise, not the law or slavery.

Flesh (Law) vs. Promise (Grace/Faith) - Chart

Consequence: Children of Freedom (v.29)

Galatians 4:29 ESV

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.

“born according to flesh” stands in contrast with “according to the Spirit,” i.e., by the will of man vs. by the will/promise of God.

Abraham attempted to fulfill the divine promise of a son by his own will by having relations with Hagar. This is “according to the flesh.” But this was not to be. Isaac the child of promise was to be born by God’s will. It was God’s doing, his promise.

Point here: the consequence of being a child of promise is persecution. This is what Ishmael did to Isaac.

Genesis 21:9 ESV

But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.

Judaizers persecute and divide

3. Be Free! (4:30-5:1)

The Result (v.30-31)

Galatians 4:30–31 ESV

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.” So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

Flesh (Law) vs. Promise (Grace/Faith) - Chart

Galatians (3) The Personal Application (4:28–31)

When this kind of heresy invades the church, there can be no question of compromise or concessions for the sake of a superficial harmony. Thus as F. F. Bruce has put it, “Whatever moral or legal problems may have been raised by Sarah’s demand in its historical setting, in Paul’s application it becomes the statement of a basic gospel truth: legal bondage and gospel freedom cannot coexist.”

It does not matter what gospel you have been taught for 5, 10, 20, even 60 years, if it does not match what Paul says here, then it is a false gospel.

The gospel: the promise of eternal life, forgiveness of sins, gift of God’s Spirit, heavenly blessings, to be renewed and changed, to become more human than we ever have been—salvation—by the grace of God through faith and NOT works of law.

Cyprian, 3rd century theologian and pastor: “The gospel cannot stand in part or it will fall in part.”

The Gospel is not moralism; it is not about having your best life now; it is not about psychological well-being (feeling good about yourself); it is not about doing the right things; it is not about “going to church”; it is not that every path leads to heaven/salvation

The Gospel is not American Patriotism

We Have a Choice (5:1)

Galatians 5:1 ESV

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

What kind of freedom? Freedom from the law.

A false gospel or the true gospel?

4. Implications

There is an “In” and an “Out”

When it comes to defining the Gospel, it is exclusive, not inclusive.

There are lines, not circles.

There is Salvation and Condemnation

There is a heaven and a hell

Interestingly, Pew Research shows that 62% of Americans believe that hell exists. However, Barna research shows that only 0.5% believe they are going there.

Most probable reason for this: people believe that if you are a “good person,” you get to go to heaven.

Romans 3:10 (ESV)

As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one.”

Romans 3:23 (ESV)

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

But:

Galatians 2:16 (ESV)

Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

We Shall Be Persecuted

Persecution takes all forms, not just physical.

Matthew 10:22 (ESV)

. . . You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

John 15:18 ESV

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

1 Peter 4:12 ESV

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

Persecution is not just external to the church, i.e., from unbelievers outside the church. It comes from even within the visible church—those who claim to be Christians (see the Judaizers).

Being persecuted and hated by the world is o.k. It is actually good if it hates you because you are a Christian.

Acts 5:40–42 (ESV)

And when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

There is a True Freedom

Another way to state Gal. 5:1:

“It is for freedom that Christ has emancipated us.”

If we are in Christ, this is what we have presently.

During the Civil War, after the city of Richmond, VA, had fallen, Pres. Abraham Lincoln was escorted by Admiral Porter through the city. Author Ron Chernow in his book Grant describes the scene this way: (picture of statue as you read)

“Abraham Lincoln bravely strode Richmond’s streets, past hundreds of charred, blasted buildings, his steps shadowed by black people who shouted with rapture, as if suddenly beholding the Messiah. One elderly black man exclaimed, ‘Glory, hallelujah!’ and knelt reverently at his feet. Lincoln stood chagrined. ‘Don’t kneel to me,’ he admonished the man tenderly. ‘That is not right. You must kneel to God only, and thank Him for the liberty you will hereinafter enjoy. I am but God’s humble instrument.’” (p.495).

The freedom Jesus has to offer is emancipation from the old slaveholders of humanity: sin, death, and the devil.

Philip Graham Ryken

Pres. of Wheaton College