GALATIANS 4
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. – Galatians 4:21-31
GALATIANS 4 SONS OF THE LAW OR SONS OF GRACE
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When you believed in God, you were saved by grace
No longer are you enslaved to sins and the laws
You are given God’s spirit who lives inside of you
You are now a new creation because of your faith
Remember that you belong to the covenant promise
You are free from the shackles of shame and selfishness.
Paul explains to the Galatian believers the difference between living in the law and living in the grace of God. He gives the example of Sara and Hagai who bore two sons to Abraham. Isaac was born out of the covenant promise of God, so he is a son of grace. Ishmael on the other hand wasn’t. Because Sara took matters in her own hands and got impatient with having a son, she asked Abraham to have a child by Hagar, her slave servant which resulted in the son of the law.
REFLECTION
- How is the unending conflict in Israel a consequence of the sons of Abraham?
