Well, we are again looking at Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia. This passage, like the ones before, is about choosing Spiritual freedom over religious tyranny. Liberty over slavery to rituals, rites and ceremonies. It is Paul’s treatise about why religious works can’t make you right with God, only God’s gift can. The Galatians had been earlier convinced by Paul to come out of their heathen systems of works righteousness, and to put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation. But, when Paul was gone, some Jewish individuals, presenting themselves as Christian, had traveled to these Galatian churches, and told them that Grace was not enough, they needed circumcision, participation in all the legalism of feast days, new moons, dietary and cleanness laws, etc. And some of them, maybe many, in these churches had believed the lie. So Paul writes to call them back to freedom in Christ.
The last sermon was all about tests for determining if you are listening to a true Bible teacher. This week, we are looking at tests for a denomination.
Galatians 4:21-31
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For these are [a]the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written:
“Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!
For the desolate has many more children
Than she who has a husband.”
28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.
There are so many groups that call themselves “Christian.” As you are probably aware, from the first century church, there have been a great number of break-away churches. When Roman Catholicism strayed so far from the truth of Scripture, the break-aways came fast and furious. Now I’m not going to pretend to be a church history expert, but this is generally my understanding of how one church became hundreds, if not thousands. The Eastern orthodox split from Roman Catholicism.
From Eastern Orthodoxy came Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, and Greek Orthodox.
Oriental Orthodoxy, Lutheran, and the Moravian Church split from Roman Catholicism.
The Reformed church movement split from Roman Catholicism.
From Reformed came the Church of Scotland, Anabaptists, and Presbyterians.
From the Presbyterians came the Christian and Missionary Alliance.
From the Anabaptists came the Brethren, Evangelical Free, and Mennonites.
From the Mennonites came the Amish.
After all that, I hope you are prepared for the biggest split from Roman Catholicism. The Anglican (Church of England) split from the Roman Catholics, and subsequently others split from them.
The Congregational, Baptists, Episcopalian, and Methodists split from the Anglican Church.
The Quakers/Friends and United Church of Christ split from the Congregational church.
The Southern Baptists, Church of God in Christ, and the 7th Day Adventist split from the Baptists.
The Salvation Army, Holiness, and African Methodist Episcopalian Churches split from the Methodists.
And buckle your seat belts;
From the Holiness churches came the Church of the Nazarene, Assemblies of God, Church of God, Cleveland Tennessee, Church of God Indiana, Church of Christ which spawned the Int’l Church of Christ, and the Int’l Foursquare which spawned the Calvary Chapel and Vineyard denominations.
Now, to the best of my ability, I have simply outlined the “Christian denominations” that are considered mainline in the world. This list doesn’t account for all the little splinter groups, and any other groups who call themselves “Christian” like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, or other “isms” and “schisms” that exist under the banner of the word “church” today.
How can you know who really represents “the truth?” Well as I’ve said before, when considering a denomination, look at how they regard Scripture. And though there are some areas that may be open to some interpretation, two areas should set off alarm bells immediately; Their teaching about God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, and their teaching about salvation. How are you saved? If they stray from Scripture on God, or salvation, get away from them.
As we conclude chapter 4 in this message, Paul is really offering guidelines for not only determining if you are under the teaching of a preacher of the truth, but whether you denomination is teaching the truth.
In this passage, Paul uses an illustration to further his argument. He draws from the Old Testament, from a very familiar story to ask the Galatians; “Why are you abandoning the message of grace?” And the story he uses is of Hagar and Sarah, Ishmael and Isaac, the physical and the heavenly Jerusalem, the Old and the New Covenant.
2 mothers, 2 sons, 2 locations to illustrate 2 destinations
Let us pray…
Now I’m going to unpack this illustration for us today by comparing 2 sons; Ishmael and Isaac, and showing you how Paul uses them to illustrate the covenant of legalism, and the covenant of grace. Denominations
Introduction; A Biblical Illustration-4:21-23- 2 sons
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise,
Now I’m sure most of you remember this story. It’s a very familiar one. You remember that the grand patriarch, the father of the Jewish nation was Abraham. We’ve already talked about Abraham, and how his faith was counted to him as righteousness, in the previous chapter. But now Paul is using Abraham’s wives and sons as illustrations of law and grace.
You remember that when Abram was 75 years old God called him to leave Ur of the Chaldees, and travel about 1000 miles, to the land of Canaan, which God promised to give him, and his offspring as an inheritance. Which Abram did. He took along some family, his wife Sarai and his servants.
So, when they arrived, Abram could see the land that God was promising. The only problem at that point was that he had no offspring; no son. Sarai was 65 years old, and barren. She had never had a child.
But over the next 10 years in Canaan, God kept repeating the promise that Abram’s offspring would inherit the land of Canaan, but he had no offspring.
Then, you recall, when Abram was 85 years old, Sarai his wife proposes a solution. She brings to Abram, her Egyptian handmaid, Hagar. This would have been her servant. We don’t know how old she was, but she was probably young, still in her child-bearing years, likely never married, a virgin. And Sarai says to Abram, sleep with her, have a child by her, and thus God’s promise of your offspring can be fulfilled. Abram did it, and Hagar bore a son to Abram, named Ishmael. But that wasn’t God’s plan.
Later, when Abram was 99, and Sarai was 89, God told Abram that the offspring who would inherit the land would be Sarai’s son, as well as his. And Sarah did have a son named Isaac, who became Abraham’s heir.
The story of the birth of Ishmael and Isaac are in Genesis 16:1-16, and 21:1-7 respectively, if you want to read it for yourself. But here are the elements that Paul is pointing out. And by the way, this illustration would have been shocking to a 1st century Jewish person. Paul starts talking about Isaac and Ishmael, Sarai and Hagar, and who are the Jewish people going to identify with? Sarai and Isaac. The physical ancestors of the Jewish people. And they would have had a certain degree of disdain for Hagar and Ishmael. The physical ancestors to the Arab people. There was a mutual hostility there that continues between Jews and Arabs, even to this day.
But Paul starts by saying, “Hey, you guys who want to be under a legalistic system of salvation, guess who you are identifying with, not Isaac and Sarai, but Hagar and Ishmael. Paul makes the connection, that living under the law goes back to the Arab side of Abram’s 2 sons, not the Jewish side; shocking.
Now that is a quick summary of the essential pieces to the story. Now we can look at how Paul used this story as an illustration of the covenant of law, and the covenant of grace. He starts by looking at Hagar’s son Ishmael, as an illustration of the covenant of law.
Now, again this week, we are looking at a confusing passage of Scripture. So I was trying to think of a way of illustrating what Paul is saying. He’s saying that there are two religious systems, denominations, and both of them are labeled salvation. But one of them has real power to save, the other is dead. Here’s my illustration. This week I was on the phone with a service tech from Direct TV. We were trying to figure out why the DTV connection wasn’t working. So I’m back behind the TV with all these wires. Have you ever been there? Some of them connected to the outlet, others to a power strip. There’s a DTV box, HDMI cables, power cables, and USB connections, and it’s all in a ball of wire behind the TV. And the Pakistani guy on the line is telling me to disconnect this and that. But what’s the first thing I need to do? Unscramble all that mess to see which cord connects to which outlet. That’s what Paul is doing here. The Judaizers were telling the Galatians that the power outlet to salvation is connected to following the Mosaic law, but Paul traces the cords to discover that the Mosaic law is connected to condemnation.
And he makes 5 comparisons to make his point; (These are tests for your denomination.) Hagar in slavery and Sarai in freedom, (Is your denomination a place of slavery or freedom?), birth by flesh and birth by promise, (Is your denomination focused on fleshly or spiritual things?) the old and new Jerusalem, (Is your denomination overly concerned with physical locations?) the persecutor and the persecuted, (Has your denomination historically been the persecutor or the persecuted?) and finally, the final destination will either be “cast out” or “heir.”
Let’s begin with that first test. Is your denomination a place of slavery or freedom? Now when I say this, I’m not talking about freedom to sin. Every true church or denomination is to be an example of righteousness. But when Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians, certain Judaizers were telling the Galatians that they had to follow all the Old Testament ritual laws. They had to be circumcised, not work on the Sabbath day, follow a Jewish Kosher diet, participate in Jewish feasts. In other words, they were giving the Galatians a long list of ritualistic do’s and don’ts. It was religious legalism.
I. Hagar in slavery and Sarai in freedom
So the first thing Paul does is to demonstrate that the cord of legalism (to use my analogy) is connected to the outlet of bondage, in Hagar, not Sarah.
Slavery-7 times Paul reminds the Galatians that Hagar was a slave. He wants to get this point across; Hagar was a slave.
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman
the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar—
Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children
30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.
In this illustration-the legalism that the Galatians were bending under was tied to the slavery of Hagar, not to Sarah. You see the Jews identified in these stories from Genesis with Sarai and Isaac. Those were their physical ancestors. But Paul is pointing out that spiritually their system of religious legalism came from the line of Ishmael and Hagar, because Hagar was the slave who was bound to obey long lists of do’s and don’ts. On the other hand Sarai is described as a freewoman.
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.
he of the freewoman through promise,
26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.
for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.
Five times Paul emphasizes that she is free. Here’s the point; 1st century Judaism was slavery to laws and rules and rituals. It was a denomination of slavery. And Paul will get to the conclusion that if you are following a denomination of slavery, it doesn’t lead to being the heir of God’s kingdom, like Isaac, but rather it leads to being cast out, like Hagar and Ishmael. Slaves are cast out, not sons.
So, as a test, you need to consider your denomination. I mean really look at it. Look at its teachings, and requirements. Is it a denomination of rules, rites, and rituals? You must do this, you must do that. And again, what I am referring to is not morality, or spirituality. As an example I would look at the Roman Catholic Church. If you look at what they say about how you get to go to heaven, it’s a lot of rules and rituals. You’ve got to take Mass regularly. You’ve got to go to confession and do penance; reciting and repeating long prayers. And even if you are a relatively “good” Catholic, you will still have to be punished for the sins you failed to confess and atone for, in purgatory. That’s a religion of slavery, and it leads to being “cast out.” But if you are in a denomination of freedom then,
If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
II. Birth by flesh and birth by promise (Is your denomination focused on the flesh, or on the promise?)
The electric cord connected from legalistic salvation traces to the flesh. They are focused on fleshly things. For the Jews it was the removing of a piece of flesh in circumcision, or rules about what you can and can’t eat, or wear. They had rules about ritual washings. Etc. So Paul starts untangling the wire from the legalism of Judaism, and it leads to Ishmael’s fleshly birth, not Isaac’s miraculous birth by promise. Paul says…
23 But he who was of the bondwoman (Ishmael) was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman (Isaac) through promise,
This is a contrast. I mean, both Ishmael and Isaac were born in the normal fleshly way, but Isaac was miraculous, Ishmael was born by simple biological processes.
Abram, Sarai and Hagar hatched a human plan to bring an heir into the world. It was a fleshly plan. According to the flesh-They were using a human means of acquiring an heir.
Sleep with a fertile young woman. And this is Paul’s point. The plan for Ishmael demonstrated a reliance on the flesh and a lack of faith on Abram and Sarai’s part. They weren’t trusting God for the future, they were taking it into their own hands.
This still demonstrated a lack of faith in Abram, dependence on the flesh, because he just does it. Sarai brings a young lady to Abram, says; sleep with her and have a child, and Abram says, okay. Let’s put it this way, shouldn’t there be a verse in there that says, “Abram inquired of God what he should do?”
There is no evidence here that Abram or Sarai asked God if it was the right choice to have a son by Hagar.
Now Paul continues to make the case that choosing Jewish legalism, which focuses on fleshly works to achieve salvation, over freedom in Christ ties these Galatians back to Hagar and Ishmael, not Sarah and Isaac. Isaac’s birth, on the other hand, was a birth by promise.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise,
Isaac’s birth came by a promise, not just normal processes of procreation. It was a Miraculous birth to an 89 year old barren woman. It was a miraculous birth, impossible apart from the work of God. And Paul is connecting that to Christianity. As Christians, we have become God’s children by a miraculous birth. We did not work to cause our birth. God made us alive in Christ. So our new birth is like the miraculous promised birth of Isaac.
And we, if we come by faith, inherit the promise;
1 Corinthians 3:21-23
21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Ephesians 1:3
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
And you can judge a denomination with this same criteria. Does your denomination give you all kinds of fleshly requirements? Let’s be clear, every religion has moral standards regarding our bodies. We are called on in Scripture to treat our bodies as the temple of the Lord. We are not to participate in sexual immorality, or drunkenness. But some denominations add lists of requirements like eating or not eating certain kinds of foods, at certain times. You can’t wear certain clothes, colors, or patterns. Your hair has to be a certain length or style. And the list goes on and on. This type of legalism, isn’t the gospel that we received from Christ. It goes back to the slavery and fleshliness of Hagar and Ishmael.
III. Covenant From Mount Sinai in Arabia (Is your denomination obsessed with geographical location?)
This power cord connects legalistic salvation to Arabia, and grace salvation to the new Jerusalem. In this point Paul continues to unravel the cords. One set of cords connects to the true source of power; salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The other set connects to a dead outlet. And here he is emphasizing geographic location.
24 which things are symbolic. For these are [g]the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children—
This is what Paul is saying. The Mosaic law that you Galatians seemingly want to be in bondage to, was given at Mount Sinai. Where is Mount Sinai? It was on the way from Egypt to the Promised Land for the children of Israel. It is in the southern end of the Sinai Peninsula. It was outside of Israel. And historically it was occupied by guess who? The descendants of Ishmael. Paul is saying, the beginning of the law took place in Arab, not Jewish territory. Then he adds to that illustration from geography by saying,
25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children—
That law from Mount Sinai, in Arabia, was carried, those tablets were carried, in it’s highest expression to Jerusalem, in the temple worship system. The slavery of Hagar, and the law, made it’s way to the earthly Jerusalem and it’s sacrifices, and rules, and feasts and legalism. You Galatians desire to be enslaved like you spiritual ancestor, Hagar, in the country of Arabia.
A. Grace salvation to New Jerusalem
heavenly Jerusalem
26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Paul is saying that in Christ you trace your spiritual lineage to Isaac who is associated, not with Mount Sinai or even the physical city of Jerusalem, but with the new Spiritual Jerusalem.
Hebrews 12:18, 22
18 For you have not come to a mountain that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and to blackness, darkness, storm,
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable multitudes of angels,
Then Paul quotes Isaiah 54:1
27 For it is written:
“Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!
For the desolate has many more children
Than she who has a husband.”
The long and short of his quoting that passage is that Sarah waited a long time to bear the child of promise, and while she waited the children of Ishmael multiplied. But despite the fact that they multiplied, she would still bear the child of freedom and promise. So rejoice, you who are in Christ, though you’ve waited a long time, the promise is come.
But Paul is emphasizing that the physical locations tied to legalism are Mount Sinai in Arabia and the earthly Jerusalem. But the message of grace comes out of the New Jerusalem that comes out of heaven.
And denominations can come under the same test. It is astounding to me how many legalistic religious groups heavily emphasize devotion to some physical location on this globe. Many have a “holy city.” The seat of their power, their mecca. Whether it’s the Mormon temple or Rome, they have some place that is extra special in some way.
In addition to that, many legalistic religious groups require that you come to their place. You have to be baptized in their baptistery.
But Scripture teaches that when you have faith in Christ, you are the temple of God. No building or city is more sacred than another. It doesn’t matter where you are baptized, because physical baptism is only an act of obedience after you have been baptized by God’s Holy Spirit.
IV. Persecutor or persecuted (Has your denomination historically been the persecutors or the persecuted?)
The cord connected to legalistic salvation ties to persecutors, grace salvation to the persecuted.
Paul continues by pointing out that “the legalists” are persecutors of those who come by faith. And the illustration of that is again Ishmael and Isaac.
29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.
You might recall an incident in Genesis 21:8-9 concerning Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was born when Abram was 86. When Abraham was 100, Isaac was born. Sometime after that Isaac was weaned, or quit nursing. Now we’re not told exactly what happened, but Ishmael, as a teenager, by now Ishmael may have been 15 to 17 years old, and Isaac was 2 to 4 years old, is said to have been “scoffing” or mocking Isaac. In the context of being weaned, the mockery may have been Ishmael joking about Isaac being a baby, struggling with losing nursing.
We don’t know exactly what happened. But Sarah overheard what he said, and viewed it as a threat. But Paul is pointing out that Ishmael here represents legalism, that persecutes the son of promise, just like Arabs have persecuted Jews, and in Paul’s day, Jewish legalists were persecuting Christians.
The untangled cord here connects legalism to the persecutors to being cast out. The other cord connects the gospel of grace to “the persecuted” to being heirs of the kingdom.
Now here’s the denominational test. Has your denomination been among the persecutors or the persecuted?
Obviously, this test has to be given alongside all of the others. It cannot stand alone as a gauge for a denomination. Because practically every denomination can point to some time in their history that they were persecuted, somebody could probably label every denomination as a “persecutor.”
But what I want you to look at is the whole of history. He is pointing out that Jewish legalists were the main instigators behind true Christian persecution, dating back to Jesus crucifixion. He is pointing out that the descendants of Ishmael, the Arabs have historically persecuted the Jews.
And many religious groups can be historically found among the persecutors. Islam and Roman Catholicism have historically persecuted the church.
And you also need to look at how those who leave your denomination are treated. And I’m not talking about shunning that may occur because of a sin. But let’s say someone leaves your denomination and converts to another Christian denomination. How is that person treated? So is your denomination a persecutor, or the persecuted.
V. Cast out or heir (The final destination of religious legalism is to be “cast out.” The final destination of grace salvation is to be Christ’s heir.)
The cord from legalistic salvation connects directly to Hagar and Ishmael who were cast out, the one from grace salvation to Sarai and Isaac the heir.
Here Paul puts the final point on his illustration. First, Ishmael and his mother, who represent religious legalism, were “cast out.”
30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”
After Sarah sees Ishmael mocking her son Isaac, she insists that Abraham send Ishmael and his mother packing. She sees a future threat to her son. And though Abraham was grieved about it, God told him to do what Sarah said, because Isaac was to be his heir. (Genesis 21)
So this is the final point of the illustration; Paul is saying, “Galatians, you want to be under legalism? You are following the spiritual lineage of Hagar and Ishmael, not Sarah and Isaac, and that lineage was cast out!” At the end of this age, or at the end of your life, religious legalism only gets you thrown out.
But what does that mean? Well consider one of Jesus parables with me. Jesus describes a wedding feast where all of the guests were given “wedding garments” to put on. But the master of the house walks into the reception hall and sees one man who didn’t put on the provided garment.
Matthew 22:12-13 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, [a]take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
This is where the parable goes from being a quaint story, to being a serious indictment of religious legalism. You see, it’s as though the guest who was provided a garment to wear, thought, “What’s wrong with my clothes?” “Aren’t my clothes good enough?” He represents the religious legalist who is presented with the covering garment of forgiveness offered by belief in Jesus’ atoning death. He says, “I don’t need to put on Christ’s righteousness, my righteousness is good enough.” But it’s not, and he is cast out into outer darkness; where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
That is eternal hell for the legalist. You see my friends, those who purport to be Christians, but who are trusting in their good deeds to get them to an eternal reward, do not get an eternal reward, they are cast out. A myth has been perpetuated through the centuries, that if you just call yourself “Christian” God is going to throw open the gates of heaven at your death. Paul is saying, no, if you don’t come by grace alone, you will be cast out. Paul said earlier,
2:16 16 knowing that a man is not [i]justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
3:10, 23-24 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
On the other hand, if you put on Christ’s righteousness, by faith, you are made an heir. You become a child of God by adoption.
And the final part of the illustration regarding Isaac is that he becomes the heir.
30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”
Galatians 3:29 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Paul concludes by saying,
Verse 31 So then, brethren; we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.
Paul is just using this illustration to further persuade the Galatians not to slide back into the legalistic system of the Mosaic law. The next chapter begins with,
5 Stand[a] fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
We will look at that passage starting next time. And I am excited to get started in chapters 5 and 6, because they answer the question, how should a Christian live? We just spent 4 chapters telling you that you don’t have to follow legalism, but that may leave an unanswered question. If you take away my list of rules, how do I know what I’m supposed to do, and not do?
You see many people prefer legalism, because it’s simpler. Just write down all my instructions, and I’ll follow it. But if I don’t have the instructions, what do I do? We’ll begin that next time.
What is the message for us? God has provided a means to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, and nothing added.
Christ has already born the curse of the law, so you need only put your faith in Him.
Let’s pray