A Tale of Two Cities | Galatians 4:21-31

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, cut from the same cloth, a chip off the old

block.

These are all expressions in the English language to communicate that what you come from actually

makes you what you are.

And this is something that Paul will bring our attention to in our passage this morning.

In a way he's going to be pointing out to all those who have called upon the name of

the Lord that the Christian might be thought of by another colloquial expression, like

mother, like son.

But before we get into this rather interesting and complex part of scripture, let's have

a bit of a think about the context.

We might think of the book of Galatians in sections that have been paired up to make

things easier for us to remember.

Chapters one and two, we got a bit of an autobiography of our apostle and how the gospel rescued

him and how he had to stand for it, even within the church and amongst other Christians.

And then in chapters three and four, we've seen our apostle dig deeply into the scriptures,

our Old Testament, to show us the theology behind grace alone, in faith alone, by Christ

alone.

And then as we'll see in the coming weeks in chapters five and six, we'll see Paul really

focus in on the application of the spirit led life.

Our Christians are to love God and our neighbors as ourselves.

Now as you may have noticed, we're not quite in chapter five just yet.

We're still in chapter four and thus in the very last part of Paul's theological section.

And as expected, Paul is still taking us through the scriptures to warn people of the danger

of adding the law to the gospel of grace.

And we know that to be the case because his whole argument starts for us this morning

there in verse 21.

He says, tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law

says?

It's interesting, right?

Paul was really drawn on the law throughout this book to really prove his point about

the grace of the gospel.

And he's done that particularly by drawing on the life of a man named Abraham.

First in chapter three, verse six, he showed us how we're justified.

It's by faith in what God promises.

Abraham believed.

He believed God and we're told that it was credited to him as righteousness.

Second, Paul showed us that what Abraham believed was essentially the gospel, the promise that

was given to him that what was that all nations would be blessed through him.

We saw that in chapter three, verse eight.

And Paul made the case that all nations have indeed been blessed through him, not by a

people group, but by a person.

And that person is none other than Jesus Christ himself.

We saw that in chapter three, verse 16.

And that's by using the law, the first five books of our Old Testament, Paul has shown

that Abraham was saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, though in a time

before the promises were manifested in this world.

That's always been the way God saves his people by faith in the promises and not by the law.

And that's been something else that Paul has drawn our attention to the mosaic code, the

mosaic covenant that was given at Sinai.

As he's pointed out, that was given 430 years after what God did with Abraham.

And though the law is good, it was never given to save people.

Now as we saw just a few weeks ago, the law was like a school teacher, which was given

to lead and guide people until the promises had come.

And thus anyone who tries to find their righteousness by the works of the law and not by faith in

the promises, will only ever find themselves under its curse.

We saw that in chapter three, verse 10.

And so as Paul has shown us, because the law has been fulfilled by Christ's coming, we're

no longer under the mosaic code which teaches circumcision, dietary requirements and special

festivals among other things.

As we saw in chapter three, verse 25, the school teacher has done its job.

It's pointed us to Jesus and now that we have this faith in Christ, we're no longer needing

the school teacher to give us the ins and outs of what it is to be a child of God.

All that to say through faith in Christ, we have received the Holy Spirit to which we

now live our lives out on this earth as children of our heavenly Father.

This is the case that Paul has laid out for the Galatians and for you and me thus far.

Jesus revealed to him the gospel that saves, not the law that enslaves.

Abraham believed and was saved, the law was given and could never save.

It could only ever point us to the one that could.

And so after Paul proving over and over and over from the Scriptures that salvation is

by grace through faith in Christ, he asks us, he asks all of us, anyone who is tempted

to leave the grace of the gospel for a works-based righteousness.

He says, you who want to be under the law, are you aware of what the law says?

Well, this morning we're going to see Paul once again draw upon the life of Abraham.

But surprisingly, he's going to focus more in on his two sons and a person named Hagar

and his wife, Sarah.

And I say surprisingly because Paul is going to draw something out of the text, an illustration

of you will, of what he's been telling us this whole time.

Like I said before, it's a rather complex part of Scripture.

It's interesting, but it is complex.

And so I've broken it into three sections to help us digest it a little easier.

First in verses 21 to 28, Paul's going to show us what grace has achieved for the Christian.

Second in verse 29, he'll point out the issues that those who live by grace will face.

And then third in verses 30 to 31, how the Christian is to respond to some of these things

that we may face in this world.

Okay, so if you have your Bibles with you this morning, let's jump into this and first

look at what grace achieves for the Christian.

Look with me at verses 22 and 23.

We read, for it's written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other

by the free woman.

His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman

was born as a result of a divine promise.

So Paul, he takes us all the way back to this story of the two sons that were born to Abraham.

One was born to Hagar who was the slave woman here and her son was born according to the

flesh.

We'll have a look at what that means in a moment.

And the other son was born to his wife, the free woman, and was born according to a promise

that was given.

Now to understand what's going on here, we need to highlight something from the get-go.

Paul is showing us a contrast between works and faith.

One way to live is to be a slave, the other way is to be free.

Now if you had the privilege of doing Sunday school, you might remember the story.

If not, let me just give you a quick synopsis of what's happening here, the story that he's

drawing on.

See Abraham, he was chosen by God and promised a son.

But the problem was from his end, at least, here and his wife Sarah were way beyond the

age of childbearing.

They were somewhere in their 80s or 90s, something to that effect.

And so they didn't reject what God had to say per se, but devised a plan to go about

what was promised by natural means.

And to Hagar, she was the slave of Sarah, and she was given to Abraham to have a child

with and a child named Ishmael was conceived by natural means.

But then after all of this happened, God fulfilled his promise and by no merit of their own.

Abraham and Sarah supernaturally conceived and Isaac was born to them.

Okay, we got that?

It's a bit strange.

It's a bit strange at first, admittedly, but let's slow down and look at what Paul is doing

here.

You see, he's drawing on this historical event to show us that there's two ways to relate

to God's promises.

There's a way in which we can take matters into our own hands with the mindset of, well,

God helps those who help themselves.

And then there's another way which rests on the promises of God and trusts that he can

do what he said he would do.

In a way, Paul is saying we all approach the promises of God with one of these two mindsets.

You either trust and obey or take matters into your own hands.

One way is to live as a slave.

The other is to be free.

But let's dig a little deeper here because, believe it or not, it gets a little bit more

complex.

Paul says there to us in verse 24, these things are to be taken figuratively.

The women, they represent two covenants.

They represent two covenants.

Hear that?

These women, though very much historical figures to Paul, they represent something to us.

They represent covenants that God has made with his people.

Now, before we think about this a bit more, we have to remember what we've been taught

in Galatians so far.

When God makes covenants with his people, what he gives doesn't cancel out what's come

before.

As in the law given to Israel, didn't cancel the way God saved Abraham by faith.

We saw that clearly in chapter 3, verse 17.

But the Judaizers, these legalists that infiltrated the churches there in Galatia, they didn't

understand that.

They saw the Mosaic covenant standing on it as its own thing, cancelling out what had

come before.

They took the law and turned it into a way of looking for self-salvation, which he was

never designed to do.

But as we've seen, that's how these false teachers were using the law and the covenant

made it signo.

They didn't see the whole thing as complementary to the covenant given to Abraham, but something

entirely different in which justification by faith in the promises of God was replaced.

Replace with the works of the law, which Paul says only enslaves people to a system that

they needn't be.

We see that there in the rest of the verses there in 24 and 25.

All this to say because these Judaizers, they saw two covenants and replaced the first

with the second, they were like the son of Hagar, Ishmael, a product of taking matters

into their own hands.

And thus with that mindset were enslaved to a life of working and walking according to

the flesh.

God had promised blessing, but they were working for what God had promised by using the law

to secure God's favor, which had as Paul notes here had only achieved spiritual slavery.

Not just for these Judaizers, for these teachers, but for all the Jews there in Jerusalem that

were living by the same mindset.

And that's a warning for all of us this morning.

Anyone who uses religion and tries to work their way up to heaven will only ever find

themselves in spiritual slavery and bondage.

So says Paul, Hagar models the fleshly approach that we all must be on guard against as looking

to the promises of blessing and trying to earn them by our own works, by taking the

law, well it will only ever result in spiritual slavery and bondage.

God says Paul, there's another way, there's another way to approach all of this, to approach

the promises of God.

And it's like what happened with Sarah.

You see God promised by his grace that he would give a child.

That was his promise and by no human effort or works, Isaac was given.

So if we really think about what Paul is laying down for us here, if Hagar is the symbolic

mother of the law, of the cyanide covenant and legalism and was represented in Paul's

day and age by a city full of self-righteous Pharisees there in earthly Jerusalem, then

Sarah, then Sarah must be symbolic.

The symbolic mother of all those who receive God's promises by faith.

And thus as Paul says here in verse 26, belong to the Jerusalem that is above and free.

That is a contrast that our apostle highlights for us here in just these first couple of

verses.

There's a way that leads to bondage and slavery and that is to live under the law and work

for God's blessing.

That's to be like Ishmael, the son of Hagar, enslaved to the works of the law or there

is another way.

That's to believe and accept the promises of God and rely on him to fulfill what he

said he would do.

That's to be like Isaac, to be born free and belong to the city that is above.

And this is the most incredible thing Paul sees that God had planned this from long ago.

He planned to fill a heavenly Jerusalem with spiritual children by his grace alone.

And he draws on Isaiah the prophecy that we heard read out for us this morning in verse

27.

He says, be glad barren woman who has never born a child, shout for joy and cry aloud,

you who were never in labor, because more are the children of the desolate woman than

of her who has a husband.

Now the image of a barren woman is present, no doubt, but Isaiah's not primarily thinking

of Sarah here, but of the city of Jerusalem.

In his context, the city of Jerusalem laid in ruins because her children had been taken

into exile by pagan Babylon.

But in the midst of it all, in the midst of utter hopelessness, God made a promise to

his people.

And that promise was that one day he would work and by his grace, more children of the

promise would fill a new Jerusalem and the earth than ever before.

This is the most awesome thing that Paul is saying here.

He draws on this prophecy of Isaiah because he's saying this promise.

This promise of God is being fulfilled now by the gospel.

Spiritual sons and daughters are being born and being added to the new Jerusalem, not

to an earthly city, but to a spiritual one that spreads across this globe.

So with all that said, brothers and sisters, he's saying to anyone who believes that God

has done all that needs to be done to make us totally and utterly right in the eyes of

God by sending his son, Jesus Christ.

He says to anyone who believes the good news and trusts Jesus Christ implicitly and quits

working and striving under the law, he says, you brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are the

children of the promise, verse 28.

To put all of this as simply as I can, it's complex, so I thank you for your attention

so far.

Paul is essentially asking us to reflect on who is your mother.

Whom do you belong?

What cloth are you cut from?

Do you belong to the covenantal mindset of Hagar or of Sarah?

Do you look to cyanide or to Calvary?

Do you look to Moses or to Christ?

Do you look to the law or to the gospel to define you?

Because that makes all the difference not just in the world but in eternity.

The good news is this, if you are trusting in Jesus alone on the basis of the promises

that have been held out to you by the gospel, if you look to Jesus to define you, then you

are a child of the kingdom of God.

A citizen of the New Jerusalem, supernaturally born and reborn like Isaac, not of blood nor

of the will of the flesh but of God's grace alone.

That's a fitting passage that our apostle has used there, isn't it?

It's a fitting passage that is drawing on Isaiah because we no longer belong to this

world.

We've been supernaturally born again and citizens of heaven and thus we should rejoice and shout

for joy and cry aloud like it says there because we are no longer slaves to sin, no longer

under the curse of the law, no longer a people that is chained to a mindset of trying to

achieve righteousness in front of a holy God by our own works.

No, we are free and this freedom has come about by the grace of God.

And so I might ask you again, who is your mother?

Are you bound to the law or have you experienced the freedom which the gospel promises all

those who believe?

So that's first, that's what the grace of God achieves for the Christian.

It's a wonderful thing, it's amazing but does that mean we now then go through this life

skipping and jumping and all of that with no problems, no problems to worry about?

Well, this is what Paul talks about next.

And again, he points us to his illustration that is drawing from Abraham and his sons.

He says there in verse 29, at that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted

the son born by the power of the spirit.

It's the same now.

And if you look back on this story you'll quickly see that Ishmael, the son of the flesh,

was an issue for Isaac, the son of promise.

And Paul says in the same way these Judaizers that have infiltrated these legalists who

work by their own strength and fight for merit will be an issue for those who were born through

the promise.

We just need to think on Paul's life to see how real that is, right?

He was a Pharisee of Pharisees studying and living in earthly Jerusalem and he dedicated

his life to the decimation of the Christian movement.

We read in Acts that he was there at the first killing of a Christian and as you read through

his autobiography there in chapter one of this very book, he certainly wanted to be

there when the last Christian was killed as well.

There's something about those who live by faith and trust God implicitly that is like

a spit in the face to those who strive and toil to gain merit before God.

And so this is another warning for us.

Don't be surprised by the pushback, the slander, the gossip that you might receive when you

live your faith out in this world.

If you take the claims of the gospel seriously, if you take the instructions of our Lord to

heart, if you live differently in this world, if you tell other people that there is a way

of salvation and his name is Jesus and he's the only way, if you walk by faith and not

by sight, you will get opposition pushback.

You will get criticism and in some places on this earth persecution to the point of

death.

But notice what Paul's drawing here.

His point isn't primarily about those out there in the world, but about those who are

driven by the legalist mindset, driven by a self-righteous worldview, driven by a works-based

righteousness within the church.

And so we mustn't be surprised that when you witness about the faithfulness and the grace

of our Lord Jesus Christ and how he saved you and how you belong to him and how you're

secure in his work on your behalf that maybe, maybe, just maybe you'll find resistance,

slander and persecution coming from places that you never even imagined.

Church as it's been said in this series previously, we don't become lawless people because of

the gospel.

Very much the opposite.

We live out the spirit of the law and its intention as the very Holy Spirit of God leads

and guides our new hearts and we'll be looking at the application of that in the coming weeks

in chapters five and six.

But with that said, many people, they can't wrap their heads around the gospel how it

can be so simple, so simple in the fact that God made a promise and gave his only but God

and Son to fulfill all that he said needed to be done to receive his blessing.

He achieved that in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The gospel in its simplicity is so offensive to those who hear God's promises but think

that they need to earn it and hang their hope on their own works.

If you're believing and trusting the gospel, no matter who you are or what you've done,

you will meet resistance in this world.

You'll meet it from people out there in the world and in places a little closer to home.

Brothers and sisters, grace has achieved something that is an awesome reality for every single

one of us.

We're also warned that we will meet resistance from those who are against the gospel.

And third, Paul tells us how we're to deal with some of these things.

Look with me at verses 30 and 31.

What does the scripture say?

Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in

the inheritance with the free woman's son.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we're not children of the slave woman but of the free

woman.

Again, our apostle has our minds squarely focused on this historical event.

And like he told Pastor Timothy, how the scriptures are given by inspiration and are profitable

for doctrine and instruction.

Paul is showing the Galatians from the scriptures what needs to be done in their situation.

And I don't think you need to be a world-class scholar to figure out what he's saying here.

It's pretty simple.

Paul is saying that there came a time where Abraham and Sarah had to eject Hagar and Ishmael

from their presence because of their resistance to Isaac's rightful status as the heir to

the promises of God.

And so in the same way, the Galatians, Paul is saying there must be a limit to your tolerance

when it comes to these false teachers and their dangerous doctrine of self-righteousness.

There needs to come a point when they need to be thrown out from among you.

And let's be blunt here.

Let me be entirely honest.

We live in a day and age where there's a lot of tolerance of a lot of things in the church.

But the Bible is clear to us this morning.

There must be a limit.

We can't tolerate people's twisting of the gospel forever.

We can't ignore those who come into the church whose desire is to scatter and devour the sheep

with their false doctrines.

In other words, false teachers need to be seen for who they are.

And if they won't repent, they need to be ejected.

They need to leave because they have no place in and among the children of promise.

And that is a solemn charge that we, your elders, take deadly seriously at this church.

Brothers and sisters, the gospel ultimately brings joy.

It brings peace and freedom.

And that is a promise that God has given to all his children who embrace Jesus Christ

by faith.

We may not have an easy life this side of eternity as we struggle and strive against

those who resist who and what we stand for.

But know this this morning.

The world isn't all that we live for.

No, we've become, by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, through the work of the Holy

Spirit, citizens of a new city.

We've become children of the kingdom of God.

And because of the final and finished work of Jesus Christ on behalf of his people, we

can say amen to Paul's last comment there in verse 31.

We are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

That is your status.

That is your status.

That is your identity.

It is Christ who defines you.

He defines you because you're clothed in his perfect righteousness.

And so let us resist the temptation to go on in our Christian life by grabbing onto something

to look to, to gloat about, to boast in.

Let us boast in the Lord.

Let us tell the world about him.

And let us be reminded of the gospel ourselves this morning.

God promises and all those who trust his promises about the Lord Jesus Christ, they are blessed

along with Abraham, the man of faith.

We began our time in Holy Scripture this morning by looking at that question in verse 21.

People asked, tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?

Well the law asks of all of us this morning, who's your mother?

Are you a child of the flesh?

Are you someone who desires to obey God, but is going about it all in your own strength

and looking to your own works for God to reward you?

Well you're not here by any mistake this morning.

The gospel is being held out and it calls us all to look upon the perfect and final

work of our Lord Jesus Christ and to turn from the things of this world and embrace

him by faith.

Would you please pray with me?

Father, we began our time this morning by asking you to draw us to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we thank you that we aren't people that clamour around in the dark wondering what

you're like, but that you have revealed yourself in your word and ultimately revealed yourself

in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that we can look upon him and see that our salvation is secure because of the resurrection.

Lord we ask this morning, we're all struggling with all sorts of different things in this

room, but Lord we just ask that through the work of your gospel, through the work of preaching

and singing and praying together that we would be reminded that you are our saviour, that

you are the one by grace has come to seek us.

And Lord we ask that we would walk in the light and the truth of the gospel all the

days of our life and that you would cause us Lord to be a people to share this good

news with others.

We ask for this in Jesus' name.

Amen.