The Book of Galatians #19
Galatians 4:21-5:1
Galatians chapter 4:21 to Chapter 5:1 form the final section of Paul's argument on justification by faith. He has been trying to prove that a man is saved by grace, not law, by faith, not good works, and he's gone about every way you can go since the beginning of Chapter 3 to show that.
We said that Galatians is divided into three sections, Chapters 1 and 2 are personal. He defends his apostleship there. Chapters 3 and 4 are doctrinal. He defends the doctrine of justification by faith. And Chapters 5 and 6 are practical. He talks about the very practical Christian life that results from right doctrine.
So at 4:21 we are at the close of this doctrinal section.
Now in this particular section of Galatians that we are concluding, we are given contrast between faith and works. There was an old covenant, a covenant of works, there's a new covenant, a covenant of faith and it's not really totally new because it was initially promised to Abraham. In fact, the “new” actually predates the “old”.
And the distinction between the two covenants is clear. Law is absolutely opposite from grace. If you mess grace up with law, you've ruined grace. The co-existence of those two is impossible. One cancels out the other. You can't have law and grace going together. There is only one way to be saved, that's by grace, and law cannot enter into it.
In fact the purpose of the Old was different from the purpose of the New. The Old was not intended to bring us into right relationship with God. It was simply to point out what a failure we were and how much we need what the New would bring in and through Jesus.
However the Old plays right into the scheme of Satan because there is always a tendency among people to seek to earn salvation by how good we are.
I think it's often true of Christians as well. We get saved by grace and then we revert back to thinking that we maintain or earn favor with God by our conduct. It is characteristic of the human mind that it gravitates toward a system of salvation by good works or at least spirituality by good works.
So Paul then brings these two into a final comparison and contrast in verses 21 through 5:1. Grace versus law, they cannot exist together. One cancels out the other.
Now in this section he uses a different type of argument. He uses an allegory. And it's not so much an argument as it is an illustration of the argument that he's already made with an Old Testament historical event.
You say well that's fine, but what's an allegory?
It’s the word Paul uses there in verse 24 that is translated “symbolic”. The word allegory comes from two Greek words, allos, which means another and allegoreo which means to speak. It means to have an underlying meaning.
It means to be speaking a truth to reveal an underlying deeper truth.
So the story which Paul uses here is true. But it has in it principles and meanings which go beyond the historical truth. In particular, he is going to show us that the Mosaic Law led to bondage, because it depended on the flesh. Therefore if you try to earn your salvation through keeping God's law, you’ll wind up in slavery.
On the other hand, the promise given to Abraham leads to freedom, because it doesn't depend upon the flesh. It depends upon the spirit.
See the difference? Anybody who tries to rigidly adhere to a moral code of ethics and earn his salvation leads himself into bondage and spiritual slavery. On the other hand, faith in God purely on the basis of grace frees a man. That's the deeper spiritual truth that is seen through this allegory.
So let’s look at it. Notice verse 21
Basically Paul says, “Anybody who desires to live under the law, are you really listening to what the law says? It's an argument on your own grounds.
You want to live by the law, let me lay a little of the law on you and see how you like it.
There is also a play on word here in a sense because he's saying you want to live by mosaic law and that would include mostly the commands, let me lay on you the whole Pentateuch.
Are you really aware of what's written in that law, the law that Moses wrote? The whole Pentateuch?
By the way, Jesus used this very same argument on different occasions in His ministry. You violate one part of the law, you violate all of the Law. He would ask the religious leaders why they didn’t know what the Law said, etc.
You want to talk about the law? Let’s talk about the law. Then Paul introduces his illustration. And once again he returns to Abraham.
Now Paul's enemies and their Jewish friends, the enemies in Galatia that had come in and moved against him, prided themselves in the fact that they were the descendents of Abraham. Since we're the descendants of Abraham, why that saves us. In fact, it's so important to be plugged into the Jewish line that even you Gentiles are going to have to get circumcised and obey all the law and sort of be Jews by proxy.
So Paul attacks at the point of Abraham and he takes this particular story of Abraham and he says the Spirit gives this as an allegory and then he teaches the allegory to make his point.
This little passage has three sections. There is an historical section in which he recites the story. Then there is an allegorical section in which he explains it, and then he closes with a personal section in which he applies it. I don’t know how much we’ll get through tonight; we’ll just take off and find out.
First of all, let’s look at
1. The History
Verse 22
So historically, there was a man named Abraham who had two sons by two different women. In fact, he had many sons, but for the sake of this story and its illustration, we zero in on two of them. One of those boys was birthed by a slaved; the other by a woman who was free.
Now remember, Paul's enemies were counting on their heritage from Abraham. One of the Jews' greatest and everlasting boasts was we are of our father Abraham. We're secure because we're Jewish. God would never, ever do anything negative to us. We're Jewish. We're in the covenant. We're of the seed of Abraham.
So he starts with Abraham and says, Let me remind you of something: Abraham had two boys. What’s the point? For the sake of the allegory he saying, “It isn't so important who your father was. It's more important who your mother was.”
John the Baptist, in Matthew 3 said to his Jewish contemporaries, "Do not presume to say to yourselves we have Abraham as our father for I tell you God is able to raise up from these stones children to Abraham." That's no big deal.
Jesus confronted them and said, "If you come to me and believe in me and obey my word, you'll be free." And they all said, we've never been in bondage to any man. Why we are the children of Abraham. And Jesus said to them later on, "You're of your Father the devil."
And so Paul here elaborates on what John implied and what Jesus taught. He says there's a great difference between the two sons of Abraham.
First, they were born of different mothers. One was born of a bondmaid, a female slave. Her name was Hagar. Her son was Ishmael.
The other was born by a free woman. Her name was Sarah and her son was Isaac. So his emphasis is on, not who the father was, but who the mother was.
Not only were they born of different mothers, they were born in different ways.
Verse 23
What does that mean?
The first one, it says, was born after the flesh. In other words, the first son was born in the normal way, just according to natural birth. The promise was clear.
We can read about it in Genesis 15. God gave a promise t Abraham, “You are going to have a son.” No big deal except Abraham was 86 and Sarah was 76, and Sarah had been barren all her life.
Then what happened? Nothing! Verse 1 of Chapter 16, "Now Sarah, Abram's wife bore him no children." Time marches on nothing happens. The promise just kind of hanging out there.
Sarah gets desperate and actually told her own husband to go in and have a child by her slave. That was bad advice of Sarah’s part and bad behavior on the part of Abraham. In fact, is sinful.
And it didn't do anything for the relationship between Sarah and Hagar. Nevertheless, this child was born. His name was Ishmael. That is exactly what we find here in Galatians 4:23.
Ishmael was born in just the normal way and the underlying principle is the principle of flesh. Hagar and Ishmael illustrate the flesh principle. There is a way that seems right unto man. This is nothing more than human effort to do God’s will.
That's the underlying meaning. That's the allegory that we're going to see in a minute. This is the principle of flesh, working to obtain what God gives for nothing.
Now in contrast to that we see Isaac. Somebody says, “Wasn’t Isaac born the same way” He wasn’t born of a virgin was he?” No but where Ishmael was born naturally, Isaac was born supernaturally.
Sarah was barren. It was a divine miracle that she ever conceived him. By the time she did, she was 90. And Abram was 100. And if you read Hebrews 11:11, you’ll find the Bible makes a big deal of it, and I think it should!
God gave Abraham and Sarah the power physically to have a baby. It was a supernatural miracle. So what's He saying? He was saying one was born just in the normal way. The other one was born by a supernatural miracle.
And what does Paul say in regard to that? One was the child of the flesh and self effort, the other was the child of the promise and faith.
Now there you have the two parts of the allegory. Ishmael was born according to nature. Isaac was born against nature. And even Isaac's name is significant. Remember what “Isaac” means? Laughter, gladness, rejoicing. God kept His promise.
So these two boys, along with their mothers, become the patterns for the spiritual truth here.
Hagar and Ishmael illustrate the flesh. Sarah and Isaac illustrate the promise.
And so you have a very simple historic event, but underneath is a tremendous spiritual application. That brings us to the second part. We've seen the history. Let’s look at
2. Allegory
Now at the risk of sounding arrogant, I’m going to say the allegory is easily interpreted once you know the history.
Notice verse 24
Notice the phrase, “these are the two covenants”.
That makes sense! The two sons and two mothers represent two different covenants. That's clear isn't it? Ishmael represents the covenant of the law. Isaac represents the covenant of grace through faith.
Now understanding these two covenants is critical to understanding the Bible. The whole Bible's divided into the old covenant and the new covenant. That's just another word for testament. A covenant is an agreement between God and men in which God promises to be their God and they be His people on certain terms.
The Old Testament covenant was basically law. The New Testament and the new covenant originally given to Abraham, was based on promise and resolved in Christ.
So two women, two sons and two covenants. But the allegory goes further.
Now pay attention because here's where it gets a little confusing.
Verse 24b
"The one from Mount Sinai," now which covenant would that illustrate? Law. "which gives birth to bondage which is Hagar."
Now Hagar comes first in the comparison. Hagar's the mother who bore children into slavery. She was a slave so all of her kids were slaves. Ishmael was a slave all his life. She represents then a slavery covenant.
Which covenant was the covenant of slavery? The one given at Mount Sinai where God thundered out and said, “Do this or you'll die.” And Hagar and Ishmael illustrate that.
Now notice verse 25.
Why that word of explanation about geographic location? We are being told that anybody in this covenant is in Arabia. Where is Arabia? More importantly where is it not? It is not in the promised land. It is outside of God’s promise.
So if you follow this covenant, and you're a child of Hagar, a brother of Ishmael from Mount Sinai, you're in Arabia, and outside of the Promised Land.
Byt eh way, it's interesting that Hagar fled to Arabia twice. So Hagar was associated with Arabia. And when she began to produce her descendents and all the descendents started coming out of the line of Hagar, do you know where they settled and where they grew up and where they populated? Arabia.
Do you know where the Israeli-Arab controversy started? In Hagar's bedroom. That's where it started. That was where it began. All of her descendants that poured out of her populated the Arabian region including the Sinai Peninsula and then the trouble began.
And the Israeli/Arab controversy goes on today because both of them claim Abraham as their father therefore, both of them claim the right to the land. That's the problem. And our politicians can make all kinds of promises and put out all kinds of effort, they’re not about to settle something that's been going on since Hagar and Sarah.
So we've got Hagar equals Ishmael equals Sinai equals slavery equals Arabia.
But he’s not through yet.
verse 25b
Now he says, "Hagar is also symbolic of Jerusalem.
The wording that he uses speaks about a ranking or lineup of soldiers. It speaks of being in a column. That’s what he’s doing; he’s lining things up to make his point.
Hagar equals Ishmael, equals Sinai, equals Jerusalem, equals flesh, equals law, equals bondage, equals Jerusalem. He was saying Jerusalem, in his day as he was speaking, was in bondage to law.
So Hagar and Sinai produced nothing but slaves. A child of Hagar is a slave. Ishmael is a slave. Mount Sinai brought down slavery. Jerusalem of today he says hold men in slavery. They're trying to do God's will in the flesh. That's the illustration he wants to get across.
And they represent all those people in every time who seek to be saved by works.
Now in contrast to the child of slavery, the child of Hagar, Sinai and all that, was Sarah and Isaac. And instead of giving all the details, he just gets to the point
verse 26
What Jerusalem is he talking about? The Jerusalem which is above.
He’s talking about a spiritual Jerusalem.
And if you are a Christian you are a citizen of this Jerusalem. Our citizenship is not here; it is there. That is our home.
We're not the children of Hagar, inhabitants of an earthly Jerusalem. Instead, we're the children of Sarah who equals the Jerusalem above. We're the children of faith. We came to God through faith and His promise that He would save us on the basis of Grace. The people attached to the earthly Jerusalem were in bondage to Mount Sinai. The people attached to the heavenly Jerusalem were free.
So Sarah equals Isaac, equals promise, equals Jerusalem which is above, equals freedom. She was a free woman, always free, never a slave, her child was free, and she speaks then of free men, made free by the promise and as Isaac was supernaturally born, so when we are supernaturally born, we are free. The miracle of the new birth sets us free and it's an act of God simply activated by our faith. Heaven is our mother, not Mount Sinai. I was not born again of Sinai.
I was born from above and that's what John 3 is talking about. "Except you be born from above." Heaven gave birth to me. My life is governed there. My name is written there. My seat is already reserved there. My prayers ascend there, my high priest is there.
And notice verse 27
He’s quoting Isaiah 54:1 and it was originally written to the exiles in Babylon, but here it's applied to Sarah.
And the words are used to illustrate that there was an unfruitful childless person and all of a sudden, the one that was barren rejoices, breaks forth for the desolate has more children than the one who was never desolate.
Think about that: This heavenly Jerusalem that we just talked about was empty for a long time as far as human inhabitants are concerned. It was barren and childless.
Do you know when it's barrenness ended? It ended when Jesus died on the cross, scooped up the Old Testament saints and a repentant thief from the cross, led captivity captive and the barrenness of the Jerusalem that is above was ended. And the beautiful statement that it makes here is that the ultimate fulfillment of that above Jerusalem is going to be greater than the Jerusalem below.
The childless Sarah is a picture of the heavenly Jerusalem and that time when heaven was vacant. And then Jesus died and began to populate it. And heaven is going to be populated and populated and populated with the saints till Jesus comes and the full population takes its place. This is the allegory.
Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, born of two mothers, Hagar and Sarah, who represent two covenants. They are reminders of two Jerusalems. Hagar, the slave, symbolizes the old covenant, the earthly Jerusalem. Sarah, the free woman, symbolizes the new covenant, the heavenly Jerusalem. Therefore, the important thing is not whether you're a son of Abraham. It's who's your mother spiritually that matters.
Lastly, after the history and the allegory comes
3. The Personal
Verse 28
He’s talking to these Galatians who have started to defect back to law. You know what they're going to do? They're going to trade in their Isaac heritage for an Ishmael heritage. Can you imagine that? They're going to trade the promise land for Arabia. They're going to turn into Jerusalem that is above for the earthly.
You don't want to go back and mess with that Ishmael stuff. We're the children of promise. Don't go backwards.
Then in fairness he shares three results of being an Isaac child, a Sarah offspring like the Jerusalem is above. The first one is
- persecution
If all this is so clear in Scripture why do the Jews keep telling us you have to do this law. You have to keep this ritual. Why are they persecuting us if we are doing the right thing?
verse 29
This is nothing new. It’s just like it was back then historically.
Do you know that the legalists have always been the greatest persecutors of Christianity?
True Christians have suffered more at the hands of religionists than they ever have at the hands of atheists.
It was the church that condemned and excommunicated Martin Luther because he had the audacity to preach the we are saved by grace and not of works.
And so what Paul says here in verse 29, is don't be surprised if they persecuted you. Ishmael persecuted Isaac from the time they were children. You should expect pressure from the legalists. You should expect persecution..
So one of the results of being a child of Isaac is persecution. But there's another result and that's
- inheritance
verse 30
You will be persecuted, but don’t worry about it because it's all going to be equalized. The persecutors are going to get thrown out and you're going to get the inheritance.
Sarah saw Ishmael as a constant threat to Isaac. She probably thought he might kill him, so she threw him out. But the truth is Ishmael will never inherit along with Isaac. Nobody outside the covenant of grace will inherit anything from God.
That’s true of unbelieving Israel. Don’t you know that went over well with the Judaizers.
Paul said, “You’re not a descendent of Isaac, but of Ishmael!” That made their hair stand on end!
But he didn't mince words or pull punches. The only way that a Jew can ever be a real child of Isaac is to be in Christ.
And then lastly, being a child of Isaac, a son of Sarah, not only involves persecution and inheritance,
But also
-obligation
verse 31-Chapter 5:1
You know what he says? If you're an Isaac, then live like it. If you're free, be free. Don't turn in your freedom for slavery. Christ set us free to be free. Let's be free and enjoy it. This is the good news of salvation and we'll talk more about verse 1 next time, but this is the good news. Salvation is not by works, it's by grace. This is Paul's concluding argument in defense of it.
Let's pray
