GALATIANS 4:24

In this part of Galatians chapter four we are being told about the two sons of Abraham and the symbolism from the fact that one was born from Sarah, the free woman; and the other was born from Hagar, the bond woman. The Bible says in Galatians 4:24-25, “Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which genders to bondage, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.”

One of the points that Paul is making here is the same as he was making earlier in this chapter: the first is the fact that the child of promise came from the free woman. God made a promise, Abraham believed the promise, and then eventually Isaac was born as a result of a promise being made by God and a human being believing that promise. In contrast to this situation and because of one of the failures in Abraham’s life, through lack of faith and through trying to take things into his own will and works, Abraham had a son through Hagar. Hagar was a bond woman, and therefore this symbolizes that those who attempt to achieve righteousness through their own works will only be in bondage to the law that will put burdens on their backs that they cannot bear.

The second point that Paul is making here concerning Hagar and her son is the fact that Paul is associating the son of Hagar with the law because Ishmael went out into the wilderness to live, the same wilderness where the law came from. Moses was out in the wilderness on Mount Sinai when the law was given to him. This is another association between the law and bondage. Also with this Paul makes the interesting point (that is not said very often) that the Jerusalem of his day that was occupied primarily by Jews under the law was in the same boat as Ishmael and the descendants of the son of bondage. That’s why Paul said in Galatians 4:25 that Arabia “answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.” There is no real spiritual difference between the Jews and the Arabs. There wasn’t in the day of Paul and there is not today either. Both religions make the same major mistake: both reject Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah. Only through faith in Jesus can righteousness be found. Jews and Arabs go about to establish their own righteousness through their own works, and they are both in bondage to the requirements of the law, which will end up condemning them. When Paul looked at Jerusalem and Arabia in his day, that’s what he saw; and that’s what we still see today. Nothing has changed from a spiritual standpoint.

Jerusalem on the earth is in bondage, but there is still a place to which one could look and find spiritual freedom. The Bible says in Galatians 4:26, “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Many of the physical and material things in this life are simply an imperfect reflection of that which is perfect and spiritual. This is true of the city of Jerusalem. O what Jerusalem could have been! The Psalmist sang its praises of what it could have been. Psalm 48:2 says, “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great king.” Jesus looked at the city of Jerusalem knowing how great it could have been and knowing how terrible it became instead. Jesus said in Matthew 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them which are sent unto thee, how often I would have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens, and you would not.”

Not in this life or in this world will you find the city that your heart desires. There is a city where dwells peace and goodness and safety and health, but such a city comes from above. It will never be found in this world. The old Jerusalem of this world is a city of human deception, of violence, and of false religion. Even the Lord was murdered there. But the new Jerusalem will be sent down from heaven, and the desire of our hearts will sit on a throne there. That is the city Paul was talking about when he wrote in Galatians 4:26, “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”

Back on the subject of Abraham and his two sons, the reason that Abraham thought he had to take things into his own hands was because he and is wife were very old and Sarah was barren. But the principle that was at work in Sarah was the fact that the power of God is greater than the limitations of man especially where the promises of God are concerned. Paul quoted a great promise from Isaiah in Galatians 4:27 where it says, “For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not: break forth and cry, thou that travaileth not: for the desolate has many more children than she which has an hundred.”

God can turn the tables. He can comfort any sorrow. He can reverse any disaster. He can empower any limitation. To those who have no children, He can give many children. Perhaps it will be spiritual children, but those are more important than physical children any way. Also, those who are not the children of Abraham, God can turn into children in a spiritual way. Galatians 4:28 says, “Now we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” There are two lineages from Abraham. One is the lineage from the bond woman and the other is the lineage from the free woman. One is the lineage of bondage, and the other is the lineage of freedom and promise. If you are related to Abraham based upon faith in Christ, then you are of the lineage of promise.

The sons of Abraham could not live together. There was too much contention. There was too much of a difference between bondage and freedom and too much of a difference between Spirit and flesh. Concerning the difference between the two, the Bible says in Galatians 4:29-31, “But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless, what says the scriptures? Cast out the bond woman and her son; for the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond woman, but of the free.”

God knew that slavery and freedom could not exist together. The general principle is this: if you say that you have freedom, but then allow slavery you are hypocritical and creating a situation that just will not work. Freedom and slavery are at odds with one another. Freedom will eliminate slavery and bondage. Slavery and bondage will fight against freedom. America learned that the hard way. The same principle is true with spiritual things. If you have tasted freedom from sin and from the law through faith in Christ, then you need to do the same thing in a spiritual sense that Abraham was told to do: “Cast out the bond woman and her son; for the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.” Do not give any place to the law or legalism or the bondage that comes with it in your heart and mind.

The Bible says in Galatians 5:1, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” If you have been saved, then you know what it is like to get saved: you turn to Christ because you are a sinner and you know that you cannot save yourself. Once you are saved, a tremendous joy comes over you because you have been set free: free from your sins, free from guilt, and free from the law. Once you have tasted such liberty, what do you do with it? You stand fast in it. If you do not stand fast in that liberty, what is the other option? The only other option is that you will get entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

The yoke of bondage under legalism can take many forms. It always involves good works or religious ritual performed by man. Paul wrote of the form that it took among the Galatians. Galatians 5:2-3 says, “Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.” This is how legalism gets into someone’s mind: they take one of the laws of God, and they say it’s good to obey this law. Therefore, they attempt to obey it, and they start thinking that their own obedience is the reason that they are accepted by God. The truth is that if you are accepted by God, it is only because of Christ and not because of what you have done. The Galatians started with circumcision as the work to do, but it could be anything. Some of the things that people use today are water baptism, church attendance, and tithing. If you are justified before God, it is only because of Jesus and not by anything that you do.

The Bible says in Galatians 5:4-6, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” Notice the things that are in contrast to law and being justified by law. If you take the law, then you have law and law only and your obligation to keep it, and it will eventually condemn you. But if you reject law, look at the wonderful things that you can have through Christ that are mentioned in these verses: grace, Spirit, hope, faith, righteousness, and love.

Paul wrote, “For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness.” In this first verse of this chapter Paul told us to “stand.” “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.” Notice those two verbs: stand and wait. There is no activity and no physical effort required to accomplish these two things. That is because you should not think of Christianity and the doctrine of justification as requiring you to do something. If you want to do something to serve God in this world then do what Paul said to do: stand and wait. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.” “For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness.”

It’s called the hope of righteousness because complete practical righteousness will not be realize until we obtain our glorified bodies and are in the perfect environment of heaven. Yes, the moment that we are saved through faith in Christ we given spiritual righteousness: righteousness is credited to our account, and God views us as a righteous person. Practical righteousness refers to your own actions and behaviors. It’s a sure thing. It will happen through Christ, but it’s in the future. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” The people who serve God in this world long to do the right thing, and they desire to see righteousness all around them. It is no small suffering to have to endure the opposition of sinfulness when it is all around us in the world. Sin will not exist in the Kingdom of God. We look forward to that day when we will be delivered from the presence of all of the sin, even the sins of our own selfish nature. We have the hope of righteousness.

In these verses once again Paul states that circumcision is of no value in regards to justification. Does that mean that it is better to be uncircumcised? Actually, neither one are of value in regards to justification. Paul wrote in Galatians 5:6, “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” This is the kind of faith that means that you have trusted in Christ to be your Savior. That kind of faith worked in you by means of love. The only reason that they faith worked in you was that God visited you and gave you the faith, and the reason that He did that was love. “God is love.” “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Earlier in this chapter Paul said that the Galatians who started trusting in their works for justification had “fallen from grace.” A Christian falls away from grace when that Christian stops giving grace its proper emphasis in life. A Christian falls away from grace when that Christian starts thinking that he or she is accepted by God because of his or her good works and accomplishments. Paul said, “You are fallen from grace.” In the same vein Paul wrote in Galatians 5:7, “You did run well; who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth?” Once they ran well, but then they stopped. Many people start, but not near as many finish what they started. If you start the life of faith, depending only upon the grace of God; God wants you to finish that way. Be careful. There are false teachers who will teach law. They will get in your way and hinder you unless you learn to avoid them. At the end of his life Paul said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” Hopefully your Christian life will also be that kind of a race. In order to be that way you must start by trusting totally in the grace of God through Christ, and you must end by trusting totally in the grace of God through Christ.

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