Welcome back to our study in Galatians. I hope everybody has had the opportunity to check out last week's post about the Reformation. This week we will be finishing up Chapter 4, discussing the topic of God's promised Salvation through the example of the Hagar and Sarah, the mothers of Abrahams's two sons. This story is an excellent example of how God's plan of Salvation has been constant and never changed throughout all of Scripture. This brings us to our theme of Truth. Truth is consistent, without contradiction, and without change. God is Truth, and He is absolute and perfect. He has given us Truth in a physical form called the Bible. We cannot change the Truth, we can warp it and bend it to our liking, but in doing so, we destroy all validity of that Truth. Truth is not designed to justify our worldviews but to change our worldviews to match the Truth.
Galatians 4:21-31 "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."
This story begins in Genesis 11 and carries through 15, 17-21, but to save you the reading time, I will attempt to sum it up the best I can. I encourage everyone to read these passages when you have the chance. These passages give you a back story of Salvation and show the historical relationship between the Jewish and Arab nations. I won't spend too much on these passages as this study is not on these passages, but I will share enough to give context, so we might understand the point Paul is making in this passage of Galatians.
Abraham was promised a Son, and his wife Sarah felt she was too old to have a child. Sarah did not believe God could allow her to become pregnant. Sarah convinced Abraham to lay with her servant Hagar, who became pregnant with a son named Ishmael. Ishmael becomes the father of the Arab nation and the basis of the prophet Muhammad's theology known as Islam. Side note: I think it's fascinating that in the Old Testament, we can find not only the promises of the Jewish people, the promises of Salvation, but the promises of the Muslim population.
God was not thrilled by the lack of Faith Abraham, and Sarah exhibited, but still blessed Sarah with a Child in her old age, who was named Issac. Issac became the first of the great nation of Israel and the Jewish people. It is through Issac that the promise of Jesus and Salvation would come through. This leads us to our discussion in Galatians. Hagar represents those who are enslaved to flesh, and Sarah represents those who are set free through Jesus.
Paul here uses a familiar story that both Jewish and Arab nations would recognize. Paul explains to the Church in Galatia that the Covenant of Salvation promised Abraham to come through the line of Isaac. This promise manifested through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. Paul is not saying that we have to all be born Jewish to be inheritors of Salvation. He is stating that we must be born into the family of Jesus. If we are not a part of the spiritual family of Christ, then we are all slaves and disinherited from the promise of Salvation. If we remain separated from Jesus, we are all slaves to this world. It does not matter if you are Jewish, Arab, or a gentile; as spiritual sons adopted into God's family, we are set free.
So let's talk about what it means to be born into the spiritual family of God. We don't get to choose what family we are born into, and it's the same with God. We proved that we are all sinners and unable to live perfect lives to be a part of God's family (Romans 3:23). The good news is that God chose us and chose to save us by sending His Son Jesus to die for us (John 3:16-17). We must only confess our sins, admit our inadequacy to save ourselves, humble ourselves before God, asking for his forgiveness through our belief in His Son Jesus to be saved (Romans 10:9). There is nothing we alone can do to save ourselves, but God has already paid the price for our sins, and welcomes us into his family (Ephesians 2:8-9).
This is the message Paul is reteaching to the Church of Galatia. Somewhere down the road, the Galatians were led astray by false teachers. Paul is urging the Galatians to cleave to the Truth. He encourages them to give up on finding any other way into God's family; no laws, traditions, or rituals will save them. Paul is reminding them that it is through Christ alone that we can be saved.
It does not end there, though; once we are adopted into this new family, it's our job to learn, grow and become more like our new Father (Hebrews 6:1). We must live our lives on this earth separating ourselves from the falsehoods of this world and grow in the Truth of God. In this passage of Galatians, Paul makes it clear that we can either be inheritors of the free or of the slave, inheritors of Salvation or death. We must choose to serve God or the world, for we cannot do both (James 4:1-12). Paul calls our spiritual life on earth a race, and our price for running the race is the Crown of Salvation (2 Timothy 4:7-8). This means to be adopted into God's family is not a one-and-done act. It's a decision to change our whole life to serve God. We are choosing to leave the things of this world behind us, our dreams, and plans to follow God and submit to His will for our lives.
The decision to follow Christ is not easy; if you think it is easy, I would question if you have given up everything to follow Christ. I had many other plans, dreams, and goals for my life before becoming a Christian. I am doing nothing remotely similar to what I had dreamed of, but now I follow God's plan. His plan has been a roller coaster, and I don't know what He has in store for me, but I can say, based on what I've seen so far, I am not disappointed. It was hard to surrender everything to him. I like to be in control, and giving up that control so God could run the show was extremely hard for me, but I have not regretted a second of it. I look forward to every day to come and to spending all of eternity getting to know my God and his ever-expanding creation. I used to worry about the future and make sure I had everything planned out, which caused me so much stress. Today I don't worry about it; God has never let me down and provided for me at the moment I needed it. Becoming a Christian was the best decision I ever made, and I am humbled knowing that God has taken the time to care for me, a creature so undeserving and insignificant compared to all of the cosmos.
If you want to speak to anyone about this week's passage or have questions about Salvation or what it means to follow Christ, please reach out to us. information@triplehares.com. You can also message us on Twitter or Facebook. We would love to talk with you or even put you in contact with someone local to you that can discuss these things with you.
Below are our reflection questions:
Whose plan are you following for your own life, yours or God's?
What in your life are you scared of giving up to follow God?
What hesitations do you have in following God?
What worries you and causes you to stress?
From your answer to question 5, what of those things have you surrendered to God and prayed about?
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