Today’s message is from Galatians 4:21-31. Again, the idea the apostle Paul is putting forth in today’s passage is that salvation is not by works, but by faith—by believing what God says he will do he will absolutely do. Listen to Romans 10:8-11: “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’” (Rom. 10:8-11 –NIV)

If you believe God’s promise of salvation, you are his son by adoption. (Adoption is much stronger than being a natural born son. Natural born sons can be disowned. Adopted sons can never be disowned!) No one is righteous by keeping the Law of Moses. No one has ever kept the law except Jesus. No one is righteous by observing any set of rules. Trying to make yourself righteous by keeping rules or rituals had to do with pride. Pride is the devil’s sin (2 Tim. 3:6). God has purposely designed salvation so that no one can boast. It’s “not from works so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:9). We are not able to make ourselves righteous or godly. But if we are adopted as God’s children, we are righteous through the righteousness of Christ and through his sacrifice, and we have God’s Holy Spirit within us—we have Jesus within us—to teach us holiness and godliness.

I can summarize last week’s passage (Galatians 4:8-20) by quoting verse 15: “What happened to this blessedness of yours? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.” The Galatians started out with faith and with great joy at the good news that Paul was bringing them. They had received him as an angel from heaven or as Christ, himself. Even though he had a disability and was a burden to them, they didn’t reject him. They started out with the gift of the Holy Spirit. But when they were misled into thinking they had to be saved by keeping the law, the joy, the blessedness, were all gone. Paul ended last week’s passage with the words, “My children, again I am in the pains of childbirth for you until Christ is formed in you. I'd like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice, because I don't know what to do about you.” (Gal.~4:19-20)

²¹Tell me, you who want to be under the law, don’t you hear the law? ²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman. ²³But the one by the slave was born according to the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. ²⁴These things are illustrations, for the women represent the two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery—this is Hagar. ²⁵Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷For it is written:

In the first verse in today’s passage, verse 21, the apostle Paul says, “Tell me, you who want to be under the law, don’t you hear the law?” The “law”, as Paul is using the term here is not just the Ten Commandments and some other things that God told the Israelites to do or not to do. It’s the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. What Paul is doing here in today’s passage is using accounts of real events to allegorically illustrate the difference between being a slave under the law and being free because of God’s promise. Verse 22 says, “For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman.”

Paul talked about God’s promise to Abraham in chapter 3. You remember that Abraham had complained to the Lord that he had not given him any children so that a servant in his household, Eliezer of Damascus, would have to be his heir. The Lord told Abraham, “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” The Lord took Abraham outside and showed him the sky. He said, “Count the stars if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.” Abraham believed the Lord and the Lord credited it to Abraham as righteousness. (Gen. 15:2-6)

Abraham believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness. When I talked about this three weeks ago, I talked about Abraham’s son Isaac. When the Lord told Abraham to take Isaac to the land of Moriah to offer him as a burnt offering, he did so. The Lord told Abraham, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” (Gen.~22:2) Abraham took Isaac, but he didn’t really sacrifice him as a burnt offering. It was a test. When Abraham was ready to sacrifice Isaac, the Lord told him to stop and provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead. But the Lord had promised Abraham that his offspring, his offspring that would be as numerous as the stars, would be through Isaac, so he believed that even if he did sacrifice Isaac, the Lord would raise him from the dead. He expected to come from the mountain with Isaac alive.

When I talked about this three weeks ago, I pointed out that that the Lord had said to Abraham, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love...and offer him as a burnt offering.” “...your only son, whom you love...” I pointed out that God also sacrificed his one and only son, his one and only son whom he loved, for us and that he has also made a promise to us just as he had made a promise to Abraham. God made a promise to us who believe that Jesus died for our sins—the promise of eternal life.

But there is something else I didn’t mention. Abraham’s only son Isaac, whom he loved, was not his only son. Abraham had another son that was born before Isaac was born. When the Lord called Isaac Abraham’s only son, he was using that way of speaking to indicate Isaac’s special unique status—just as when he referred to Jesus as God’s one and only son. (Do you know the verse? Here it is: “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) (And Donna’s son also likes to quote the next verse, John 3:17: “For God did not send His Son into the world that He might judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” And, you know what? I’m going to quote the next verse after that, John 3:18: “Anyone who believes in Him is not judged, but anyone who does not believe is already judged, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.”)

Anyway, Abraham had another son besides Isaac. Here’s the story: This is from Genesis chapter 16, the next chapter after the account of Abraham’s believing the Lord’s promise the he would have a son and that his descendants through that son would be as numerous as the stars in the sky—the place in the Scriptures where Abraham believed the Lord and the Lord credited it to him as righteousness. Here’s what happened.

Sarah was still barren. She was old and she still had no children. We don’t know whether or not Abraham told Sarah about the promise that he would have a son, but in any case, Sarah was not expecting that she would ever have children. She told Abraham to take her Egyptian slave Hagar as a second wife so that maybe she could have children through Hagar. (Since Hagar was Sarah’s slave, presumably, any children Hagar had would be considered Sarah’s.) Abraham said, “OK,” and Hagar became pregnant. Here’s what happened next. I’m going to read it from Genesis 16:4b-6: “When she (Hagar) realized that she was pregnant, she looked down on her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram (the Lord had not yet changed their names to Abraham and Sarah at this point)... Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering! I put my slave in your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has looked down on me. May the Lord judge between me and you.” (It’s all Abraham’s fault, right? But maybe it really is. He should have said no.) “Abram replied to Sarai, ‘Here, your slave is in your hands; do whatever you want with her.’ Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.” (Gen. 16:6)

I’m going to read some more: “The Angel of the Lord found her (Hagar) by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. He said, ‘Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?’ She replied, ‘I'm running away from my mistress Sarai.’ Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, ‘You must go back to your mistress and submit to her mistreatment.’ (Not a very pleasant thought, but Hagar obeyed.) The Angel of the Lord also said to her, ‘I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.’ Then the Angel of the Lord said to her: You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction. This man will be like a wild ass. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone's hand will be against him; he will live at odds with all his brothers.’” (Gen.~16:7-12) (According to Islamic tradition, the Arabs are descended from Ishmael, and I have to say that they are certainly living at odds with their brothers, the Israelites to this day. But that doesn’t need to last. In Christ all are brothers.)

In chapters 17 and 18 of Genesis, the Lord made it clear to Abraham and Sarah, that Sarah would have a son. Both Abraham and Sarah laughed because they were so old. But the Lord’s answer was, “Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you and she (Sarah) will have a son in about a year.” Isaac was born when Sarah was 90 and Abraham was 100. After Isaac was born to Sarah, Ishmael, who had grown by than, began to mock Isaac. Sarah demanded that Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away. She said, “Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a co-heir with my son Isaac!” (Gen.~21:10) The Lord told Abraham to do as Sarah told him and Abraham sent Ishmael and Hagar away. So, Isaac was the son of the free woman, Sarah, and Ishmael was the son of the slave woman, Hagar.

Let’s look at verse 23 in today’s passage: “But the one by the slave was born according to the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.” Ishmael was born according to human will and decision. Isaac was born according to God’s will and decision. His birth and even who his descendents would be was certain because of the Lord’s promise. Isaac was Abraham’s special unique son. And Isaac is the ancestor of God’s special unique “one and only” Son. (Who’s that? Jesus!)

Let’s look at verse 24 and 25: “These things are illustrations, for the women represent the two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery—this is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.”

There are two covenants. The covenant of Mount Sinai is the covenant of the law. Moses went up on Mount Sinai and received the law from the Lord and delivered it to the Israelites. The Israelites said that they would keep it. The Lord said concerning the law, “If you do these things you will live.” But they didn’t do these things—and neither have we or anyone else. (By the way, just where is Mount Sinai. Did you think it was on the Sinai Peninsula? That’s the traditional location. But Paul says it’s in Arabia. Some amateur archeologists have made the claim that a mountain in Saudi Arabia most closely matches the site described in the Bible. The reality is that there a number of different sites that people have proposed for the actual location of Mount Sinai. If you have a map of the Exodus in the back of your HCSB Bible, you will see that there are several possible locations shown for Mount Sinai. I believe that one of them is in Saudi Arabia.)

Verse 26 in today’s passage says, “But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” The Jerusalem above is the heavenly Jerusalem. It’s the New Jerusalem. Listen to what the apostle John says in Revelation: “Then one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me: ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, arrayed with God's glory. Her radiance was like a very precious stone, like a jasper stone, bright as crystal.” (Rev~21:9-11) That’s the New Jerusalem. And there’s more. There are precious stones and jewels and a street of gold that’s transparent like glass. There’s the sparkling crystal-clear river of living water and the tree of life. The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. The curse that’s on the earth in this present age will be gone. The throne of God himself and of the Lamb (Jesus) will be in the city.

We who believe in Jesus belong to the New Jerusalem. The covenant of the law which is represented by Hagar, the slave woman, and by Mount Sinai is the covenant of death. It sounds beautiful, but the only thing it does is show that we are sinners and that we deserve condemnation. The new covenant is the covenant of life. Every Sunday I read from 1 Corinthians chapter 11. On the night he was betrayed Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. (1 Cor.~11:25) That’s the new covenant. Jesus shed his blood. He gave his life for our lives. He died for our sin and rose from the dead. And he is coming back again with his holy angels!

Let’s look at verse 27: “For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman who does not give birth. Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor, for the children of the desolate are many, more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.” That’s a quote from Isaiah 54:1. It comes right after Isaiah 53, the wonderful Old Testament prophecy that describes Jesus’s suffering and death for our sins and his resurrection. (It’s the passage that critics of the Bible said must have been added after Jesus had already come and gone. But when the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the ‘40’s, Isaiah 53 was there.) I’m going to read the last verse of Isaiah 53, verse 12, and then Isaiah 54:1: “Therefore I will give Him the many as a portion, and He will receive the mighty as spoil, because He submitted Himself to death, and was counted among the rebels; yet He bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels. ‘Rejoice, barren one, who did not give birth; burst into song and shout, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the forsaken one will be more than the children of the married woman,’ says the Lord.”

Let’s look at verse 28: “Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.” We, those of us who believe, have the guarantee of God’s promise. We are children of promise. Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish—ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand.” Do you believe that? Are you one of Jesus’s sheep? Do you know his voice? Do you follow Jesus? Are you a child of promise? Jesus says that no one will snatch you out of his hand. (John~10:27, 28)

Now let’s look at verse 29: “But just as then the child born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so also now.” The Pharisees were trying to live by the law. They were children born according to the flesh. Do you think anyone persecuted them? No one persecuted them. Paul had been one of them. No one persecuted Paul. Those who were teaching the Galatians that they had to keep the Law of Moses were born according to the flesh. I can say with some confidence that they were not persecuted. But Jesus told his disciples, “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” (John~15:20) The apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:12, “All those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” But Jesus told the crowd and his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of Me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matt.~5:11, 12) We are blessed because the kingdom of heaven is ours.

Let’s look at verse 30: “But what does the Scripture say? ‘Throw out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never inherit with the son of the free woman.’” I quoted that from Genesis a little while ago. Sarah told Abraham to throw out Hagar and Ishmael. He didn’t really want to because Ishmael was his son. But the Lord told Abraham to do what Sarah told him. Once you start following the law (or any set of rules that are supposed to bring righteousness or holiness) it is hard to get away from it. It can be, as I’ve said, a matter of pride. Or you may be afraid to let go of the seeming security of living by a set of do’s and don’ts. But you won’t be free otherwise. Throw out trying to live by the law.

Listen to Romans 8:1-4): “Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit's law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. What the law could not do since it was limited by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son in flesh like ours under sin's domain, and as a sin offering, in order that the law's requirement would be accomplished in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” So, let’s walk according to the Spirit. Let’s stop walking according to the flesh. Pray. Jesus loves us. He came to set the captives free.