An Exploration of Galatians: Bondage and Freedom
Galatians 4:21-31 - Paul reminds the Galatians and Judaizers that Abraham had two sons from two women - One in bondage and one in freedom.
”Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise.
This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.
For it is written, “Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; For more numerous are the children of the desolate Than of the one who has a husband.”
And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.
But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, For the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.” So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman.“
Galatians 4:21-31 NASB1995
I had initially thought about tackling this challenging passage that ends Galatians 4 a few verses at a time, but I think it will make more sense doing it all in one devotional, although this could be quite long.
So I am not alone in thinking that this is an incredibly difficult passage to understand. One commentary I read said that most people reading Galatians will likely skip this section (eyes will glaze over) and race into Galatians 5 so they can learn about the Fruits of the Spirit. When I was doing a “Bible in One Year”, that was likely my reaction, too, because this passage looked strangely new to me, in spite of doing those Bible readings for years. As I’ve said before, nothing beats having to actually analyze and write about a Biblical passage to help me or perhaps others understand it. In fact, the Gospel Coalition says this about the entirety of Galatians 3:1 to 5:1 and, in particular, Galatians 4:21-31:
This section is the climax of the argument of 3:1–5:1, and it is the most difficult passage in Galatians. The central thrust of this paragraph is that the Abrahamic covenant has been fulfilled in Christ, the promised seed and suffering servant. Through his death and resurrection, the heavenly Jerusalem has come into existence and bears children (all who belong to Christ by faith) into the freedom that Christ has purchased for his people, something the Law could never accomplish.
Let’s start first with Paul’s question ”Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law?” Paul is challenging the churches at Galatia that are following under the spell of Judaizers to actually think about and listen to the law, if that’s what they want to do. Enduring Word nails the answer to this question (note: David Guzik is being sarcastic here in the first paragraph):
There are many advantages to being under the law as your principle of relating to God. First, you always have the outward certainty of a list of rules to keep. Second, you can compliment yourself because you keep the rules better than others do. Finally, you can take the credit for your own salvation, because you earned it by keeping the list of rules.
Under the law it is what you do for God that makes you right before Him. Under the grace of God, it is what God has done for us in Jesus Christ that makes us right before Him. Under the law the focus is on my performance. Under the grace of God, the focus is on who Jesus is and what He has done. Under the law we find fig leaves to cover our nakedness. Under the grace of God we receive the covering won through sacrifice that God provides.
The Christian has no business living under the law. “What is God’s law now? It is not above a Christian – it is under a Christian. Some men hold God’s law like a rod in terrorem, over Christians, and say, ‘If you sin you will be punished with it.’ It is not so. The law is under a Christian; it is for him to walk on, to be his guide, his rule, his pattern… Law is the road which guides us, not the rod which drives us, nor the spirit which actuates us.” (Charles Spurgeon)
So many believers fall under the spell that God is all about punishment rather than His Grace. “The Law is the road which guides us, not the rod which drives us” as neatly stated by Charles Spurgeon. My late Mom, bless her heart (I do miss her) would often say that God would punish me or both of us because of something we said or did (or didn’t do, like having children). So that persistent and weighty guilt played into the decision many years ago to turn away from faith, because we both thought we were done for anyway, so we might as well have fun. We can drive ourselves absolutely bonkers trying to meet every single little law in every little nitpicking detail. Our thoughts give us away (who hasn’t looked at a handsome actor or beautiful actress, for example, and admired them? That’s adultery!). We even sin in our dreams! We cannot earn our way to Heaven, ever! We will never be able to take credit for our salvation.
Paul then talks about the fact that Abraham had TWO sons, Ishmael by Hagar, the slave woman, and Isaac, the promised progenitor of the people of God (by Sarah). The Judaizers are all about going back to the basics of the Law and calling themselves sons of Abraham and wanting Gentiles to follow their laws, so Paul reminds them that there were two sons, so which one is truly relevant? The two mothers represent two covenants, allegorically. One was born of the flesh (bondage) and one was born of the promise (freedom). Paul metaphorically compares Hagar to Mount Sinai (see picture above for one of the alleged locations) and to the Jerusalem at his time, for she was in slavery with her children. By comparison, the covenant of Abraham/Isaac leads to the Jerusalem that is above. An excellent commentary on this is referenced from Precept Austin to a Sermon by Ray Pritchard (I’ve linked to the original source material:
It’s clear why Paul uses this example. The Jews revered Abraham as their spiritual father. As far as they were concerned, if you were a physical descendant of Abraham, then you were in good standing with the Lord. As long as you could find Father Abraham somewhere in your family tree, then you didn’t really need anything else. It was a matter of lineage, of heritage, of tracing your family tree. If you could find Abraham back there somewhere, you were in God’s family. Paul is saying, “Not so!” God’s family is made up of those who have a relationship with him by faith in Jesus Christ. It’s a matter of faith, not your family tree.
This is a crucial point to consider because millions of people today think that being right with God is merely a matter of spiritual pedigree. They say things like, “I’m Catholic so I must be okay.” Or “I was baptized Presbyterian so I know I’m going to heaven.” Or “My father was a Baptist minister and that puts me in good with God.” Or they trust in their Lutheran heritage or their Episcopal connections or their Methodist church membership or their Charismatic leanings. Joe Moakley, the recently-deceased Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts, liked to joke that when a child is born into an Irish family in Boston, three things automatically happen. He is baptized into the Catholic Church, registered with the Democratic Party, and given a union card. Down South where I come from almost everyone was Baptist, and many folks trusted in their baptism by a Baptist pastor as their assurance of eternal life. Others think that because they are the children of a missionary or of a pastor, they must be in good standing with God. But it is not true. You don’t go to heaven because you get credit for what your mother or father believed. That may help you on earth; it won’t make a dime’s worth of difference in eternity.
The problem in Galatia was this: The Judaizers taught that you either had to be a Jew or you had to act like a Jew in order to be saved. That meant being circumcised and keeping the outward trappings of the Law of Moses.
The Judaizers said, “Who’s your father?” Paul said, “I’ve got another question. Who’s your mother?”
The arguments in the last part of this passage point to several things, by fleshing out the stories of being born in bondage or freedom. I found a good table in Precept Austin that compares the two mothers and their “covenants” (screenshot of the table):
I think the Holy Spirit took charge of Paul’s writing utensil for him to come up with this incredible argument against the Judaizers! The way of the flesh is the way of legalism and leads to slavery and eternal death. The way of promise is miraculous the way of faith and grace and leads to freedom and eternal life. One is works righteousness, the other is imputed righteousness in Christ. The Ishmaels of the world trust in themselves, the Isaacs of the world trust in God. Whew! Glad I have some good Biblical resources open in tabs on my iPad all the time!
My next devotional dives into Galatians 5:1-6, where Paul really lays it on the line about what it means to return to a yoke of slavery.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord: Make me an Isaac, a free and forgiven child of your Grace! Amen
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
The text of Galatians, excluding all Bible quotations, is © 2023 by The Gospel Coalition. The Gospel Coalition (TGC) gives permission to reproduce this work in its entirety, without any changes, in English for noncommercial distribution throughout the world. Crossway, the holder of the copyright to the ESV Bible text, grants permission to include the ESV quotations within this work, in English.
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.
Keep Believing Ministries has Ray Pritchard sermons, copyright 2020
The personal of Bruce Hurt, creator of Precept Austin, is found Here.
Nicely clarified on a tough scripture