The Israelites are the physical descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They are the nation God promised to Abraham that would come from Abraham. Having Abraham as their father was a profound status – and they thought so.
In John 8 the Jewish crowds were “discussing” things with Jesus. He said, “If you hold to my teachings you really are my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” The crowds took issue with this last point about being set free. They responded indignantly, “We are Abraham’s descendents and have never been slaves to anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
But Jesus was speaking of their spiritual slavery – not their political circumstances. He replied back to them, “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free you will be free indeed.” They retorted, “Abraham is our father!” And Jesus goes on to tell them, “No, Abraham is not your father.”
You see, Abraham was their physical father – they traced their lineage physically back to Abraham as Israelites. But spiritually, he was not their father and they were not his children. Why? Because they did not have faith like Abraham had. They did not believe God’s words. They rejected Jesus, the very Word of God made flesh. They had Abraham’s blood, but they didn’t have his faith. That’s why Jesus tells them, “No, Abraham is not your father….”
This is what the rest of the NT talks about too, like in Romans 9:7, “For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s offspring.” You may be a physical child of Abraham, but that won’t count for anything before God. You must be a spiritual child of Abraham. Which is why in Galatians 3:7 Paul declares, “Understand then that those who have faith are children of Abraham.” And in 3:29, “If you belong to Christ [by faith] then you are Abraham’s seed…”
Now here we pivot spiritual fatherhood to motherhood. The title of our sermon today is “Who is your mother?” The question is not about our physical mother, but our spiritual mother. That is the theme of this section in Galatians 4:21-31 – our spiritual mother. In chapter 3 Paul told the believers that Abraham was their spiritual father (v7, 29). Now he is going to inform them that their spiritual mother is Sarah – the wife of Abraham. (We could even notice that in verse 19 Paul called them “his children,” which is yet another element of this spiritual family language used in Galatians, and in all the NT).
The take-away is for all believers to know that we are children of the free woman, not of the slave woman. Understanding this, and the details of what Paul explains here, will keep believers from turning away from grace and following the Law of Moses.
Preventing the Galatian believers from submitting to the Mosaic Law is the entire purpose of the letter in teh first place, so this section is one more argument Paul is making among many to persuade them from making that mistake. Galatians is teaching that a Christian cannot live in God’s grace by faith AND follow the Law of Moses. To follow the Law of Moses is to re-enslave yourself. The Law is for slaves and Christians are NOT slaves.
In this section of chapter 4 we are going to come across two mothers, two sons, natural vs supernatural births, two types of people: slave and free, two covenants, two Jerusalems and more. We are going to see all the themes we’ve seen so far in Galatians also: redemption from slavery and being set free, being heirs, having the right spiritual parents and more. But one thing I will repeat: the main theme of all Galatians is to persuade the Galatians of how enormous a mistake it would be for them to begin submitting to the Law of Moses. It’s incompatible with their new life in Christ:
- He rebukes them in 1:6 for “so quickly deserting the one who called [them] to live in the grace of Christ and [they] are turning to a different gospel.” That different gospel is one that obligates them to follow the Law of Moses.
- In chapter 2 he describes how he resisted those Judaizers who tried to enslave them to the Law of Moses (3-5), and that his Law-free Gospel was affirmed by the other Apostles in Jerusalem. In the same chapter explains how he rebuked the Apostle Peter for reverting back to the Law of Moses in how he related to Gentile Believers (11-14).
- Then he really turns it up in chapter 3, rebuking them for forgetting how it is they received the Spirit. He says it wasn’t by following the Law, but by faith – again contrasting faith and following the Law just as all the NT does. Chapter 3 explains further that just like Abraham was justified by faith alone, long before the Law ever existed, therefore proving the Law is not the means to righteousness with God, he says that everyone who has faith is also righteous before God like Abraham. Faith – not following the Law is what justifies. He explains the purpose of the Law is not to overcome sin, but to expose sin in us (19).
- Then in chapter 4 so far we’ve seen Paul explain that redemption is redemption FROM the law – going back to it in one sense reverses God’s redemption of us. That they are redeemed and children of God because of faith – two things following the Law does not result in. He says going back to the law is going back to slavery and going back to weak and miserable forces.
- Then here in our passage, in verse 21 Paul is brining yet another stern challenge to those who want to follow the Law. He is highlighting their ignorance of the Law – the Law is for spiritual slaves, and Christians are not slaves. He concludes this section with this point – that we Christians are free, not slaves. We belong to the free woman, not the slave woman. And I’ll show you how Paul brings out that the slave woman and her children are all those who follow the Law of Moses. The Law is for slaves – not free people.
IGNORANCE OF THE LAW
In verse 21 Paul challenges the Law-keepers by implying their ignorance, “….READ….”
Those among the Galatian believers who want to follow the Law, and who are promoting it and pressuring others to follow it, are ignorant of the Law. They don’t know what they’re talking about, is Paul’s insinuation. He actually says this explicitly in 1 Timothy 1:6-7, “Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the LAW, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.” When a Christian takes up devotion to the Law of Moses they do so out of ignorance.
When Paul asks the question, “are you not aware of what the law says?” he is implying something. He is implying that if they truly understood the Law they would know they are not supposed to follow it. They would understand that the Law is for slaves and Christians are not slaves. The very essence of “redemption” means to be set free from slavery, and Paul explained earlier in this very chapter (and so many other places) that they were redeemed from the LAW! They were enslaved to the Law and through faith in Jesus Christ they have been redeemed – set free – from the Law. Look back at 4:4-7
APPLICATION: Do not negate your redemption by going back to the very thing you have been set free from that used to enslave you. Do not despise your freedom by going back to the very master you were enslaved by and liberated from when that precious blood of Jesus paid for your freedom.
One thing about the Law to factor in here is this: the Law is the first 5 books of the Bible, and they were written by Moses. The Law includes Genesis, which is all the history prior to Moses. The life of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, and so on that Moses wrote about was all long after their lives. This is important because Abraham lived BEFORE the Law – which came through Moses far later in history. Abraham lived before the Law, and so he did not live under the law or by the law. Yet he is the man God said was righteous – not because of the Law (which didn’t exist yet), but because of his faith. He was credited righteous because he believed God. This fits in here because those Paul is challenging who want to follow the Law so they can be righteous are ignorant that the Law itself tells how Abraham was righteous apart from the Law – just like Paul argued in chapter 3.
MATERNAL HISTORY (22-23)
Second, we see the Maternal History, verses 22-23…READ
Paul is bringing up the OT history of Abraham and the two sons he had. Just as a quick reminder: Abraham and Sarah were married and had no children, Sarah was unable to have children. In a moment of weakness, Sarah gives her slave Hagar to Abraham so they can have a child together. Her reasoning was that if she can’t personally have kids, then she will build a family through her slave. The child born to Hagar was Ishmael, and he was born the normal, natural way all children are born.
However, God promised that he would give Abraham a son through Sara, and later on he did. Abraham’s son through Sarah was named Isaac. He was born not the normal, natural way all humans are born. God enabled a woman who was physically unable to have kids to become pregnant and deliver a child – at 75 years old! That’s what God promised and that’s what God did. He is the promised son, born because of God’s promise and because of God’s power to make it happen.
APPLICATION: God is the giver of life. He created life and He made an old woman able to become pregnant. You know who else He enabled to become pregnant? A virgin. Our God is not limited by this physical universe He made. He is God! And the lesson is that He gives life. Where there is no life He is the one who brings life. Where this application is going is that this God who gives life is also the God who gives spiritual life. A man has NO spiritual life until God makes Him alive. A man may believe there is a god, he may try to live a good life, but until God gives a man spiritual life he is spiritually dead. You are dead without Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He can make you alive today!
So Isaac is the divinely promised child, born as the result of a promise and the power of God. But Ishmael, on the other hand, was his older half-brother, and he was born to Hagar the slave woman. He was not born because of a divine promise, nor was he born because of a supernatural enabling.
So in the OT there are these two sons and these two mothers. There are the two sons – the promised son Isaac and the slave son Ishmael. There are the two mothers – Sarah the free woman and Hagar the slave woman. Two sons, two mothers.
This is important. Every human being is either a spiritual child of one mother or the other. Every human being is either a child of the slave mother, or the free mother. And that means that every human being is either a slave in their sin, or they are redeemed by Christ and set free.
APPLICATION: Who is your mother?