(Read Galatians 4:21-26)
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing to look at The Law given under Moses vs. the Grace provided by Jesus. In yesterday’s passage Paul explained how he was raised a strict Jew, but was living like a Gentile, free from the Law. On the other hand, many Gentiles who had been raised free from the Law, were somehow tricked into accepting the bondage of the Law, even after they had been Born-Again in Christ. Why anyone would want to take on the bondage of the Law was baffling to Paul. The Apostle addresses this group in today’s passage.
Paul says, “Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says?” Unfortunately, many believers who were told that they had to live under the Law, and who willingly accepted whatever they were told, really had no clue what the Law actually said. It is sad, but this still happens today. People blindly accept what a Pastor or Priest says, without reading the Word for themselves. I don’t ever want you to receive anything I teach without seeing the Word for yourself. Not only do I provide you the actual scriptures and many references, but I urge you to double check what I am saying. I want you to see it with your own eyes. Because once you are convinced that this is what the Bible actually says, you will be changed!
Paul goes on to give an analogy. He says, “The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.” The child born from Abraham’s slave wife came into the world through human effort and he represents the Law, while the child born from Abraham’s freeborn wife came into the world by God’s Grace and he represents the New Covenant. Paul makes it plain as he says, “These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them. And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law. But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother.”
So what does this mean to you today? Let’s seek to glean a few golden nuggets:
1. Many believers blindly accept what a Pastor or Priest says, without reading the Word for themselves. This is dangerous and it is not what the Bible teaches us to do (see Acts 17:11).
2. Abraham had a son (Ishmael) with his slave wife (Hagar). This boy was born through human effort and he represents the Old Covenant of the Law.
3. Abraham also had a son (Isaac) with his freeborn wife (Sarah). This boy was born by God’s Grace and he represents the New Covenant.
4. Paul likens the Old Covenant to Abraham’s first child, born of a slave, and he said “the law enslaved” those who attempted to live by it.
5. Just like Paul calls Abraham our Father, he calls Sarah our mother. Sarah was a free woman and she gave birth to a child when it was a human impossibility. She was 90 years old and she had been barren all her life. Abraham was 100 years old and he was dead from the waist down. But God gave them a baby by His Grace, NOT human effort. Paul then likens this baby — born by Grace, through the faith of Abraham and Sarah — to the New Covenant we have with God!
6. The Old Covenant made us slaves to the Law. The New Covenant makes us free to embrace, enjoy and get employed by God’s Grace!
Closing Confession: Father, I thank you for taking the time to teach me Your Word. Paul made it very clear for me. He used Abraham’s two wives, Hagar and Sarah, and the children that were born through them, as a clear example of the two covenants. Hagar was a slave. She and Abraham had a child through human effort. This child, Ishmael, represents the slavery and human effort associated with The Law of Moses. However, Sarah was a free woman. She and Abraham had a child by Your Grace, through their faith. This child, Isaac, represents the New Covenant of Grace. I am not under the Law, but under Grace. I don’t live my life on human effort alone, I live my life by Your amazing Grace. Like Abraham, I seek to hear from You, to find out what Your will for my life is, and I then accept it by Grace and pursue it by faith. Not because I deserve it, not because I have earned it, and not because I am so good. But only because Jesus paid the price for my sin and because You are so good to me. So Father, I enter this day and every day determined to accept Your will by Grace and pursue Your will by faith. This way I will be able to accomplish Your Kingdom plans and purposes in the earth. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
