Born Through the Promise

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
The Lord Provides

Galatians 4:21-28

The Message

 ^21-31Tell me now, you who have become so enamored with the law: Have you paid close attention to that law? Abraham, remember, had two sons: one by the slave woman and one by the free woman. The son of the slave woman was born by human connivance; the son of the free woman was born by God's promise. This illustrates the very thing we are dealing with now. The two births represent two ways of being in relationship with God. One is from Mount Sinai in Arabia. It corresponds with what is now going on in Jerusalem—a slave life, producing slaves as offspring. This is the way of Hagar. In contrast to that, there is an invisible Jerusalem, a free Jerusalem, and she is our mother—this is the way of Sarah. Remember what Isaiah wrote:

   Rejoice, barren woman who bears no children,
      shout and cry out, woman who has no birth pangs,
   Because the children of the barren woman
      now surpass the children of the chosen woman.
Isn't it clear, friends, that you, like Isaac, are children of promise? In the days of Hagar and Sarah, the child who came from faithless connivance (Ishmael) harassed the child who came—empowered by the Spirit—from the faithful promise (Isaac). Isn't it clear that the harassment you are now experiencing from the Jerusalem heretics follows that old pattern? There is a Scripture that tells us what to do: "Expel the slave mother with her son, for the slave son will not inherit with the free son." Isn't that conclusive? We are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

For Reflection
The early Christians struggled with the question, "Does one have to become Jewish before one becomes a Christian?"  This explanation may be a bit foreign to our understanding.  However, if seen as an allegory, the metaphor is strong.  One can be in a relationship with God by following the law.  But it is difficult.  Being a slave to the law produces more slavery to the law.  This relationship is not fruitful.  On the other hand, Christ has shown us that we can be free from servitude to the law.  Like the children of Sarah, we are children of the promise, free to live as God intended us to live - free to follow the intent of the law and not be enslaved by the letter of the law.  Faithfulness to the law may not always lead to faithfulness to God.

We all have rules that we follow to live a faithful Christian life.  They are a confusing mess of moral concepts and scriptural illusions.  Each of us is responsible for examining the basis for our own behavior.  Think about a time when your "Christian Rules" did not seem to fit the circumstances you faced.  How did you resolve the dilemma?

Pray
that you will listen to God's call to be a slave to his word.  Pray that your rules will be tempered in the wisdom of love and justice.  Pray that you will recognize rules do not govern your life in Christ only obedience to His will to serve Him.