Galatians 4:21-27

Summary retelling of Galatians 4:21-27

Paul gets really blunt here at the end of the chapter.  He asks the people who desire to be under the Law if they have even read the Law.  Paul reminds the Galatians that Abraham had two children.  The first child is from Hagar, a slave girl (see Genesis 16:1-6).  The other child came from his wife, Sarah (See Genesis 21:1-7).  The child born to Hagar was through a human plan – thus the child is “of the flesh.”  The child born to Sarah was by God’s hand, thus it born “through a promise.”  Since the Law was given to us to deal with our sinfulness, Paul equates the Law to the child born of Hagar.  Since grace was given to humanity as a promised gift, Paul equates grace to the child born from Sarah.  Paul equates those – the Jews – who still believe that the Law can save to the Jerusalem here on earth.  He equates those – Christians – who believe that only grace can save us (Christians) to God’s home in heaven.  Paul then quotes Isaiah 54:1 and uses it to illustrate that Sarah’s children are far more than Hagar’s children.  Essentially, he is saying that God can impact far more people through the promise than the Law can genuinely bring to salvation.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul is indeed blunt here.  He is basically telling the legalists who have come among the Galatians that they don’t know how to read the Hebrew Scriptures correctly.  Paul asserts that all the people who read God’s Word and come to the conclusion that obedience can bring about salvation are dead wrong.  Of course, I tend to agree with Paul.  But just because I agree with Paul doesn’t mean that he isn’t being very bold.  He is being incredibly bold and risks offending the very people to whom he is trying to speak words of truth.  Sometimes it is indeed worth risking offending someone to tell them the truth – especially if their error puts them in jeopardy of demonstrating that they really aren’t a part of Christ.

Do you think you would have the boldness to stand up against people like Paul does?  Paul risks everything – including his friendship with the Galatians.  Could you?

Second Thought:

Paul bases this section of his letter on the idea of “motivation.”  What makes Hagar’s child bad is that the child was conceived by a human agenda and for a human purpose.  God does not want us trying to accomplish His agenda through our own means.  God does not want us to act out of our impatience.  God doesn’t appreciate it when we take matters into our own hands – especially when it eventually works in a counterproductive manner towards His agenda!

Do you ever take matters into your own hands?  Is there a danger within you of creating a pattern of behavior should you take this approach too often?

Third Thought:

God did bring about the answer to His promise through Sarah.  God was able to make good on his word.  It took patience and several sets of struggles since neither Abraham nor Sarah were willing to be patient for God’s solution.  But eventually God did bring about the promise.  He is trustworthy, and in this story we can also learn that God can overcome our mistakes – even when they are counterproductive to His plan.  God is powerful enough to work out His ways through us or even in spite of us.

How hard is it to be patient and trust that through prayer God will bring about His will?  How great is it to know that ultimately we cannot screw up so bad as to prevent God from being able to do accomplish His will?

Passage for Tomorrow: Galatians 4:28-31