Freedom & Slavery
Galatians 4:21-5:1
Main Idea: We must patiently stand firm in the freedom of grace, resisting the slavery of self-sufficiency.
I. Two Sons (4:21-23)
Paul returns once more to Abraham, this time contrasting his two sons Ishmael and Isaac. He wants to distinguish between the manner of their births; Ishmael was born naturally “according to the flesh” (cf. Gen. 16) while Isaac was born supernaturally “through promise” (cf. Gen. 21).
The difference between these two manners of birth showcases two different ways of relating to God; Ishmael’s birth was an example of trying to procure God’s blessing through our own strength, seeking to accomplish the Lord’s work by the way of the flesh. Isaac’s supernatural birth was entirely the work of God, showcasing his divine grace and faithfulness to his promises.
From the very beginning there was a fundamental spiritual difference between the two sons. One son was born by proxy, the other by promise. One came by works; the other came by faith. One was a slave; the other was free. Thus Ishmael and Isaac represent two entirely different approaches to religion: law against grace, flesh against Spirit, self-reliance against divine dependence.
~ Philip Ryken, Galatians
II. Two Covenants (4:24-28)
Paul then makes an “allegorical” (or ‘typological’) case between Hagar and Sarah, using this historical account to show the difference between salvation by “works of the law” vs. salvation by grace.
Hagar allegorically represents (4:24-25):
Mt. Sinai & the Mosaic Covenant (cf. Ex. 24:3; Deut. 5:27)
Present Jerusalem (cf. Mt. 3:7-9, John 8:31ff)
Enslavement
The law is the most rigorous master in the world, no wise man would love its service; for after all you have done, the law never gives you a “Thank you,” for it, but says, “Go on, sir, go on!” The poor sinner trying to be saved by law is like a blind horse going round and round a mill, and never getting a step further, but only being whipped continually; yea, the faster he goes, the more work he does, the more he is tired, so much the worse for him. The better legalist a man is, the more sure he is of being damned; the more holy a man is, if he trust to his works, the more he may rest assured of his own final rejection and eternal portion with Pharisees. Hagar was a slave; Ishmael, moral and good as he was, was nothing but a slave, and never could be more. Not all the works he ever rendered to his father could make him a free-born son.
~ Charles Spurgoen, “Allegories of Sarah & Hagar”
Sarah allegorically represents (4:26-28):
The New Covenant (cf. Eze. 36:22-27, Jer. 31:33-34)
The Jerusalem “above” (cf. Col. 3:1-3, Heb. 12:18-24)
Freedom
Paul quotes Isaiah 54:1, a promise given to the “barren” Israelites in the Babylonian exile. He rejoices that the “new Jerusalem” to come will have far more children than the old Jerusalem could contain. This promise is now being fulfilled in the church, filled with both Jews and Gentiles of faith, the true “offspring” and inheritors of the promises to Abraham.
III. Two Implications (4:29-5:1)
We should expect opposition (4:29-30; cf. Gen. 21:9)
The persecution of the true church, of Christian believers who trace their spiritual descent from Abraham, is not always by the world, who are strangers unrelated to us, but by our half-brothers, religious people, the nominal church. It has always been so. The Lord Jesus was bitterly opposed, rejected, mocked and condemned by His own nation. The fiercest opponents of the apostle Paul, who dogged his footsteps and stirred up strife against him, were the official church, the Jews... Isaac is always mocked and persecuted by Ishmael.
~ John Stott, The Message of Galatians: Only One Way
2. We must stand firm in freedom as children of promise (4:31-5:1)
The great disaster of Abraham’s life was that he used Hagar to get what he thought God wanted for him; the great achievement of his life was what God did for him apart from any programs or plans that he put into action. The lesson of that old piece of history is clear enough: the moment we begin manipulating lives in order to get control of circumstances, we become enslaved in our own plans, tangled up in our own red tape, and have to live with grievous, unintended consequences… The life of freedom is a life of receiving, of believing, of accepting, of hoping. Because God freely keeps his promises, we are free to trust.
~ Eugene Peterson, Traveling Light: Galatians and the Free Life in Christ
