Paul has used, up to this point, several masterful illustrations to show the Galatians the relationship of the Law to the Church Age believer. In Chapter 3 Paul showed us that the Law existed to curse wayward and unbelieving Israel. Paul showed how Christ took the curse of the Law on Himself as He hung on the Cross, and redeemed us back from our enslavement to the Law (Galatians 3:13). Paul showed us how Abraham our forefather was not under the Law but under Grace (Galatians 3:6), and how Abraham was saved by faith some 430 years before the Law was ever unveiled on Mount Sinai. Paul illustrated that the Law, when it came, did not eradicate the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant (Galatians 3:17) - in fact, the Law could not break the promises that God made to Abraham. The Law was no more than a schoolmaster who taught backslidden Israel that they could not work their way to Heaven. Once the Israelite, or any believer, for that matter, came to God by faith in Jesus Christ, they came out from under the schoolmaster Law (Galatians 3:24). The last illustration that we studied was how the Law could be related to the coming of age of the Roman child. Once that child reached the age of accountability, he was given the toga virilis of manhood .... and became an adopted son of his father. The child was kept under a master (illustrative of the Law) until he was given the toga virilis. Afterward the child was recognized as a man, and the master of the master (the Law - see Galatians 4:3-6).

Paul has approached this subject from so many fascinating and effective ways that only a dolt could not understand the truth. The Christian is no longer under the Mosaic Law. Though the Christian is not lawless, for we are under the higher Law of the Spirit, we are no longer to look to the old schoolmaster, the Law, for guidance. The Christian way of life is a life lived by faith: entered into in the power of the Spirit of God, governed by the doctrines of the Word of God, ever listening for the leading of our Creator. Yet Christians persist in trying to live their lives by the Law. Some believers become Sabbath-keepers, and preach that - unless you meet for Church on Saturday you are not saved nor right in the eyes of God. Other believers demand a certain ritualistic form in water baptism, and preach the error that - unless you are baptized in the proper ritual you are not saved. Yet other believers speak of a tithe, and demand that all members of the Church tithe ten percent of their income to the Church, lest the lights be turned off by the power company. Yet other believers mandate certain times of fasting, certain festival days, certain holy days, certain times of prayers within the Church community. Beloved, I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed labor upon you in vain!

The Christian way of life cannot be lived within the framework of Judaism. Tithing? Believers, if you are believers, you are called to sacrificial giving as God leads, not the giving of a pitiful ten percent of your money. Ten percent was for the babies, the backslidden Israelites. As God demands is for the adult son, the inheritor. Rituals? Look beyond the ritual and see what God was trying to tell you by the ritual. No ritual nor formula will save you, only faith in Christ and what He did for you on the Cross can save. Fasting and festivals? Follow them if you desire, but dare not make them a mandatory thing for salvation. Sabbath keeping? Worship God in Spirit and in Truth when you will, but do not try and levy your Levitical oddities on other believers. No where in Scripture does God mandate when you will worship Him; He just demands that you will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. Strive in God's Word, study that Word, humble yourselves so that God can build the character of Christ in you. Think of the character of Christ. When the religious crowd was saying, "Do nothing on the Sabbath", Christ and His disciples threshed corn on the Sabbath so they could eat (Matthew 12:1-8). When religion said, "Let the sick suffer on the Sabbath", Christ said "God heals, even on the Sabbath", and healed to prove it (Matthew 12:10-13). When religion taught stale truths on the Sabbath, our Jesus taught astonishing and fresh truth from God's Word (Mark 1:21-22), astonishing the "Seminary Trained" speakers in the Temple.

Christianity and the Mosaic Law are like oil and water. You may shake and shake, mixing them together, but in time they will separate once more.

(Galatians 4:20 KJV) "I desire (thelo {pronounced thel’-o}, Imperfect Active Indicative, keep on desiring from the emotional pattern) to be present (pareimi {pronounced par’-i-mee}, Present Active Infinitive, to be present with) with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you."

(Galatians 4:21 KJV) "Tell me, (lego {pronounced leg’-o}, Present Linear Aktionsart, Participle, Imperative = keep on telling me now) ye that desire to be (einai {pronounced i’-nahee}, Present Active Infinitive, to stay under) under the law, do ye not hear (akouo {pronounced ak-oo’-o}, Present Active Indicative, keep on intelligently hearing) the law?"

(Galatians 4:22 KJV) "For it is written, (grapho {pronounced graf’-o}, Perfect Tense, Passive Indicative, written so it stands forever) that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman."

Just as Paul wanted to "change his voice", to speak in a sterner tone to those who desired to live under the Mosaic Law, even so I "change my voice" to those of you who fall into this trap today. For once any of us who are Christians entertain the idea of legal bondage, when we do so we may derive a certain sense of aesthetic pleasure, but at the same time we lose that wonderful relationship with God that Jesus Christ our Lord purchased for us on the Cross. Not only that, but we also appear no better than the average religion to the world at large. What difference is there between Christianity and, for instance, Buddhism, if we place ourselves back under the Mosaic Law? Does not Buddhism and most other Eastern religions possess holy writings, taos, laws by which their adherents must live? No, Christian, if you are a Christian, we must approach our relationship with God by faith, not by Mosaic Law. If we are to live our lives unto God, we must do so by faith in His provision, in His Grace. We must approach God by faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Consider now the allegory that Paul gives us. Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael. Ishmael, as we have studied before, was the child that Abraham had with Hagar his servant. In Biblical times the family name lived by passing from one generation to the next through the sons of the father. Abraham had been promised a son to bear his name by God our Creator. Abraham believed God, trusted God, and was willing to wait on God. The Scripture tells us:

Romans 4:16-22 (KJV) "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, {17} (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. {18} Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. {19} And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: {20} He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; {21} And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. {22} And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness."

Abraham was willing to wait on God, but not so Sarah his wife. As they both reached 90 and beyond Sarah began to consider. Couldn't it be possible that God wanted Abraham to have a child through Sarah's servant Hagar? Didn't the custom of that day allow the servant, if the wife so allowed, to have a child that could be the heir of Abraham? Perhaps this is what God meant by Abraham having a son. Isn't that always the way it is with us? God promises, then we begin to fabricate ways to help God out lest our situation be too hard for Him. No, we don't come out and say that, but that's what we imply. God needed a little help, needed a little human help, and out of this blasphemos thought came Sarah's response. Sarah was happy to lend Hagar to Abraham for the night. Rather than rebuke Sarah Abraham did as many of us since then have done - he talked himself intro believing that what he was doing was righteous. Abraham went along with Sarah in all sincerity but also in faithlessness. He took Hagar to bed as Sarah asked, and, in time, Hagar bore a fine child - Ishmael - to Abraham.

Consider the two wives in this recounting and you will see why it is an excellent allegory of the Law and Faith. Hagar was representative of the Law, Sarah of Faith. God had promised Abraham a child through Sarah, though both Abraham and Sarah were well past childbearing years. God did not promise that He would bring Abraham a child through Hagar, nor did God ask Sarah's help in impregnating a woman so that Abraham would have an heir. God asked Abraham, whom He had a relationship with by faith, to continue in his faith in believing that Sarah would bring him an heir. Sarah and Abraham were married by choice. They were in a marital relationship by choice. Hagar was a slave, subject to the whims of Sarah. When Sarah offered Hagar to Abraham, an act of faithlessness if there ever was one, Hagar had absolutely no choice in the matter. As a slave she had to go along with what Sarah demanded. She could not even call the child that she bore hers. Ishmael was considered Abraham and Sarah's child, because Hagar was Sarah's property. What choice did Hagar have in the matter? What choice does any slave have but to obey? Hagar did as Sarah commanded, not out of loyalty nor out of love, but because she had no choice. Had she refused to go in to Abraham she could have been put to death for disobedience, perhaps even forced. What Hagar did brought her no pleasure, and certainly no promise from God. Who can blame her if she mocked Sarah later for failing to conceive? Faith was promised a seed from God. Faith would have bore that seed, had faith only been active and not unbelieving. Faith was given the promises of God: promises of a seed, of many seed, of a nation, of vindication from her previous fruitless state. All that was required of faith was .... to believe.

(Romans 9:6 KJV) "Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:"

Sadly but truly, Sarah set the stage for future unbelieving Israel. Though many children would be born to Israel from the promise of God, few of these born would believe in God. Being born from the Abrahamic Promise does not mandate belief. Many would see the pillar of Fire and the pillar of Cloud, and yet persist in believing in Pharaoh rather than God. The exodus generation would die in the desert rather than inherit the promises of God. Many children of fine, upstanding Christian parents grow up to be faithless despots, even though these children grew up in the Church. Why? Because often the parents fail to point out the relationship with God beyond the ritual. When we forget that the ritual exists only to point us to the reality that is God, when we begin to worship the ritual rather than the Creator that the ritual addresses, we lose that which sets Christianity apart from all other religious systems. When we worship the ritual rather than the Person of Christianity, the Christ, our Lord and Savior, then we become instrumental in making Christianity into something less than it should be. This is the state of many local Churches today, and the reason why Christianity has become wildly popular and yet tremendously ineffective in many areas of the United States. Ritual for the sake of ritual serves no function. God does NOT help those who help themselves, nor does He appreciate when we take His words and twist them, uniting with Hagar in a vain attempt to help Him out. God wanted Abraham to wait on Him, not on Sarah. God wanted Abraham to come to Him in prayer, seeking the fulfillment of His promise through the relationship of love that was established when God first called Abraham. When Abraham, I am certain sincerely and with all good intentions, decided to help God by committing adultery with Hagar, he did as we often do. He looked at the sin and began to rationalize, began to consider it smaller than it actually was. Didn't Sarah say that it was all right? If she approves, certainly her approval makes the act sinless. Didn't God say that I would have a child? Here I am, ninety years old, and still childless. Perhaps God is speaking through Sarah, and wants me to take Hagar to bed. If so, then this couldn't be sin, could it? I'm just helping God out, not sinning. As Spurgeon said:

Christian, beware how thou thinkest lightly of sin. Take heed lest thou fall by little and little. Sin, a little thing? Is it not a poison? Who knows its deadliness? Sin, a little thing? Do not the little foxes spoil the grapes? Doth not the tiny coral insect build a rock which wrecks a navy? Do not little strokes fell lofty oaks? Will not continual droppings wear away stones? Sin, a little thing? It girded the Redeemer’s head with thorns, and pierced his heart! It made him suffer anguish, bitterness, and woe. Could you weigh the least sin in the scales of eternity, you would fly from it as from a serpent, and abhor the least appearance of evil. Look upon all sin as that which crucified the Savior, and you will see it to be “exceeding sinful.”

(Galatians 4:23 KJV) "But he who was of the bondwoman was born (gennao {pronounced ghen-nah’-o}, Perfect Passive Indicative, was born) after (kata, according to the norm or standard of the flesh) the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise."

(Galatians 4:24 KJV) "Which things (hostis {pronounced hos’-tis}, Qualitative relative pronoun = which class of things) are (esti {pronounced es-tee’}, Present Indicative Active, keeps on being) an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar."

Here is a fantastic point that most theologians, even in our day, fail to grasp. When Moses received the Law on Mount Sinai, Israel was on the way to the Promised Land. They had not entered the Promised Land, they were on their way there. The benefits of the Promised Land were Israel's only when they believed God for them, and because the first generation of Israel failed to believe God they died in the desert with Law in hand but promises unfulfilled. The Covenant of the Law, received outside of the Promised Land, received by unbelievers, is a perfect allegory or illustration of Hagar and Abraham. Just as Hagar had absolutely no power to give Abraham his promised Son, the Law had absolutely no power to give Israel the blessings of the Promised Land. Both Hagar and the Law are outside of the Promised Land, outside of a believing relationship with God. God promised Abraham a son through Sarah, not through Hagar, and this was the only way that Abraham was going to get that promised son - he had to believe in God. God promised Israel blessings in the Promised Land, not in the land of their choosing. The only way that Israel was going to receive the promises of the Promised Land was by believing God. Hagar was a slave, and any output that Hagar made would be the output of the slave. Hagar was an automation, forced to do the bidding of her master. She had no choice in submitting to Abraham. The Law was an automation, a slave, a slavemaster, without will or ability to choose. The Law did as God directed, ritualistically teaching Israel that she was sinful, and that she needed the Savior. The output of the Law was slavish obedience, not the loving relationship that God wanted between Himself and His children.

(Galatians 4:25 KJV) "For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, (literally, For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia) and answereth to (sustoicheo {pronounced soos-toy-kheh’-o}, Present Active Indicative, “keeps on answering to, being in the same rank with someone”) Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage (douleuo {pronounced dool-yoo’-o}, Present Indicative Active, keeps on being in slavery with) with her children."

What can someone in bondage do for the freeman? Hagar the slave could only produce a slave-child for Abraham. The Law, a thing of slavery, could only convict people of their absolute need of a Savior. A slave could never be inside of the family of the free, unless the slave had his slavery revoked. A slave cannot revoke his own slavery legally - someone outside of the bondage must make manumission or payment for the slave.

Paul points out the sheer idiocy of allowing Judaisers from Jerusalem into the Church at Galatia as if they were somehow saviors or guides. Jerusalem, the place that these Judaizers came from, was in bondage in many ways. First of all, Jerusalem was in bondage to sin. This city was instrumental in unjustly executing the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord. When Pilate found no sin in Jesus and sought His release, those in Jerusalem demanded His death.

Matthew 27:22-25 KJVA Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? [They] all say unto him, Let him be crucified. (23) And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. (24) When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but [that] rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed [his] hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye [to it]. (25) Then answered all the people, and said, His blood [be] on us, and on our children.

The people of Jerusalem, enslaved to sin, blinded to sin, demanded the death of Christ and, by their words, took credit for the action. Jerusalem was in bondage to the Mosaic Law. Jerusalem was in bondage to its religious leaders. Jerusalem was in bondage to Rome. Jerusalem was, in reality, an enslaved city. Galatia was a Roman province that was not enslaved, but was comprised of voting Roman citizens. Could an enslaved city send slaves from its ranks to Galatia to "free" these already free Galatians - freed both politically as well as spiritually by the Grace of God. How ludicrous! How utterly revolting a thought! Paul points out the utter foolishness of the Galatians in allowing themselves to fall into the Jerusalem trap of legalism. Jerusalem may be the unofficial headquarters of the Church because the Apostles remained in its walls. Jerusalem may be the holy city, the city of David. Jerusalem may be a wonderful place. But Jerusalem is, at this time in history, enslaved and downtrodden. Her emissaries certainly have no right to tell the freedmen of Galatia how to live their lives in Christ!

(Galatians 4:26 KJV) "But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is (esti {pronounced es-tee’}, Present Indicative Active, keeps on being) the mother of us all."

(Galatians 4:27 KJV) "For it is written (grapho {pronounced graf’-o}, Perfect Passive Indicative, written so that it stands written forever), ^{Isaiah 54:1} Rejoice, (euphraino {pronounced yoo-frah’-ee-no}, Aorist Passive Imperative, once for all receive inner happiness) thou barren that bearest not (tikto {pronounced tik’-to}, Present Active Participle + negative OU, keep on not bearing); break forth (rhegnumi {pronounced hrayg’-noo-mee}, Aorist Active Imperative, break through) and cry, (boao {pronounced bo-ah’-o}, Aorist Active Imperative, raise a cry of pain and joy once for all) thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband."

It would have been different if the Jerusalem which is above, that Heavenly Jerusalem where our Lord now lives, had sent delegations to Galatia. That Jerusalem is sinless, holy, and ever in the presence of Christ. The Jerusalem that is on earth is weak, downtrodden, beggarly, full of self righteous men who - if they did not actively crucify Christ, they certainly did nothing to stop His crucifixion. The Jerusalem that is below knows little of justification by faith in Christ. The Jerusalem that is above, that Heavenly Jerusalem, knows all about the finished work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Following this statement Paul prophetically quotes from Isaiah 54:1:

Isaiah 54:1 KJVA "Sing, O barren, thou [that] didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou [that] didst not travail with child: for more [are] the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD."

The point is this. Sarah, the mother of promise, the mother promised the son by God, was faithless. Because she was faithless she demanded that Abraham her husband mate with Hagar her slave so that she could take this child as her own. Her disobedience and faithlessness caused her shame and misery, and eventually earned her the ridicule of Hagar her slave. Hagar, on the other hand, had Ishmael from her union with Abraham. Hagar, who is a type or foreshadow of the Gentiles, would have many more children than Sarah (a type or shadow of Israel) because she was faithful. Think on this. Israel was set apart, chosen to be the bride of God in the Old Testament. God chose Israel initially when He called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees. God chose Israel when He promised Abraham covenant blessing. God chose Israel when He gave faithless Sarah the child Isaac. God chose Israel when Isaac, 60 years old, had two children called Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25:26). God chose Israel when He fought with Jacob, that old thief and liar, and broke his heart with repentance. Jacob became known as Israel:

Genesis 32:28 KJVA And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

The Chosen of God. God chose and blessed Israel the man and Israel the nation. Israel, though enslaved to Egypt, came out in exodus as a mighty nation that God wanted to richly bless. But Israel refused to believe in God. Israel kept following after strange gods, idols, demons, false doctrines, all but that blessed Word of God. God punished Israel, called Israel to repentance, demanded that Sarah believe - but like Abraham's wife Israel refused to believe in God. God sent the Law through Moses to tame and quieten Israel, to point Israel back to a living relationship with the Savior. Israel had it all. Sarah had it all. But, because of faithlessness, Israel/ Sarah lost her blessing. Just as Abraham went in to Hagar because of Sarah's unbelief, God our Savior came to the Gentiles because of Israel's unbelief. Israel's faithlessness became our blessing. Sarah's faithlessness became Hagar's blessing. The Apostle Paul explores this truth in Romans, where he states:

(Romans 9:30 KJV) "What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith."

The Gentiles (that's all who read this who are not blood descendants of Jacob/ Israel) did not dioko {pronounced dee-o’-ko}, run swiftly or chase after righteousness. In the above text the word the King James renders "followed", dioko, is a Present Active Participle with the negative me {pronounced may}. Together the two words are better translated "did not keep on chasing after" righteousness. When Israel was initially established through Abraham our common father, the roots of that nation was NOT Jewish but was Gentile. Abraham had no Mosaic Law to guide him, and his sons Ishmael and Isaac had no Mosaic Law either. Isaac had a child, Jacob, who would one day be named Israel. Israel the person had no Mosaic Law. Jacob/Israel had a child called Joseph, who would be sold into slavery in Egypt, but through the Grace of God would become the root that would make Israel the nation great. This Joseph lived out his days in Egypt, died a great man, and never had the Mosaic Law. Joseph's children would be born in Egypt, in bondage, and Moses - a child of Israel - would be raised up by God to the state of Highest Prophet in Israel. Moses had no Mosaic Law given to him when his exodus began from Egypt. All of these people, great fathers of the nation Israel, would not have the Mosaic Law but WOULD have a relationship with God by faith. The Gentiles, that is, all those from Abraham through Ishmael the son of the bondslave, and all those born outside of Abraham - these Gentiles would never be given the Mosaic Law. This was something given to Israel because of her faithlessness. Israel would be given the Law then, in typical fashion these people would begin to chase after righteousness by following the Law. The Gentiles, never given the Law in the first place, would have no righteousness to chase after. They would have no Law, nor rituals of the Law, to keep or aesthetically admire. The Gentiles, with all who are created in the image of God, would have a conscience that would provide guidance in making moral choices - but no Mosaic Law.

The Mosaic Law, rather than becoming a blessing to Israel, became a stumbling block. The people became so fixated on the Law that when Christ came they were unable to accept, for the most part, the truth that He was the Savior of the whole world.

(Romans 9:31 KJV) "But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness."

Israel followed or "kept on chasing after" (there's that word dioko again, and once more a Present Active Participle) the Mosaic Law. But as they chased after the Law a terrible thing happened. They reached the point where they couldn't see the forest for the trees. That is, they were so focused on maintaining the rituals of the Law that they never grasped the truths and realities of the Law. The Law was given to convict Israel that she was a sinner, one and all. The Law was given to force Israel to look for the Savior. The Law was given to teach Israel about Jesus, that He was and will always be the only Savior of mankind. Israel became like the bright student in school who learned all the mathematical rules and algebraic systems, but couldn't add 2 + 2 in real life. They had the understanding of righteousness, but lacked the application to their daily lives.

(Romans 9:32 KJV) "Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone;"

Israel focused on the works of the Law without regard to faith. That's so sad. You can see this evidenced in the earthly ministry of Jesus. The Rabbis, the teachers, the Scribes, the great scholars of the Law lacked any capacity whatsoever toward true righteousness. When Jesus and the disciples merely satisfied their hunger on the Sabbath:

Matthew 12:1-4 KJVA At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. (2) But when the Pharisees saw [it], they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day. (3) But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; (4) How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the Shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

The Pharisees condemned the very act of eating as unlawful. How foolish! The Law of Moses was never given to starve Israel, but to show her the way to faith. When Jesus went to heal - TO HEAL - a sick man on the Sabbath the Jews condemned even this:

Matthew 12:10-12 KJVA And, behold, there was a man which had [his] hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days? that they might accuse him. (11) And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift [it] out? (12) How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.

And considered even the act of healing, an act that ONLY GOD can accomplish, to be unlawful. Can you imagine this? To tell God when and when He can't heal based on the Law that God gave! Israel was so focused on the Law, so worshipful of the Law that they never understood salvation by faith in Christ. When God healed,

John 5:10 KJVA The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the Sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry [thy] bed.

Israel would NOT rejoice, but focused on satisfying the Law regardless as to human salvation by faith. Israel stumbled at salvation by Grace. They stumbled at the Exodus, stumbled in the desert, and stumbled after God gave the Law to drive them to faith.

(Galatians 4:28 KJV) "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise."

The Christian is not the child born by the Law, but we are the children of promise. Just as Isaac was promised to Abraham, and just as Isaac came into being because of the faithfulness of God's promise, we who are saved by faith in Christ stand by the very faith that saved us. We have not been given the Mosaic Law. We're Gentiles, Beloved, not disobedient Israel. The Grace of God made us, not the action of man. Abraham faithlessly went in to Hagar and made a baby, Ishmael, an act that any moron with a sexual drive could have accomplished! This is not faith, nor is it righteous. It is works apart from the promise of God. But when Abraham went in to aged Sarah, himself well over child bearing years, this is an act of honorable faith - an act that God will bless. What good came of Abraham's faithlessness in bedding Hagar? Little, if any good at all.

(Galatians 4:29 KJV) "But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted (dioko {pronounced dee-o’KO}, Imperfect Linear Aktionsart, kept on chasing after, kept on persecuting) him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now."

The Apostle Paul, full of the Spirit of God, makes a wonderful transition that shows volumes of truth by using the same word that he used in our Romans 9 passages. When you see how all this comes together, you see the wonder and the beauty of God's inspired Word. Ishmael, who was over 13 years old when Isaac was born, persecuted his younger brother. He knew that Isaac was the heir apparent to Abraham and, as children will do, mocked and tried to shame Isaac. This led to both Hagar as well as Ishmael being cast out of Abraham's household:

Genesis 21:9-11 KJVA And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. (10) Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, [even] with Isaac. (11) And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son.

Just as Ishmael, the child born of faithlessness, symbolic of the Law, mocked Isaac, the child born of faith, symbolic of salvation by faith - even so those who chase after righteousness by Law still today mock the children of faith. Legalists are usually the first to mock those who accept salvation by faith in Christ. Why? Because Legalism is older than Grace? No, God's Grace preceded the Law, as we have amply shown. Abraham was saved by faith, as was Israel the person, Joseph his son, and Moses - just to name a few. The Law did not come on the scene until Israel the nation rejected salvation by faith. Only after they consistently rejected believing in God did God give them the Law of Righteousness. No, Ishmael persecutes Isaac because Ishmael - the Law - knows that it is only a pseudo relationship with the Father. No matter how you sliced it, Ishmael was still a slave born of a slave mother Hagar. Though Abraham was fond of Ishmael, he loved Isaac. When Abraham and Hagar mated, it was businesslike, but when Abraham and Sarah mated they made love. That which is produced from love is always vastly superior to that which is mechanically produced. Ishmael knew his days were numbered, and that he was the lesser when compared with Isaac. The Judaizer, full of the ritual of the Law, persecutes those saved by faith because we have no visible ritual, no fancy dance or prescription, no symbolism as the legalist has. Human pride cannot foster in salvation by faith in Christ. We have nothing to glory in. Christ is all in all, we are saved by faith in His work.

(Galatians 4:30 KJV) "Nevertheless what saith the scripture? ^{Genesis 21:9-10} Cast out (dioko {pronounced dee-o’KO}, Aorist Active Imperative, to separate them from you) the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman."

Here Paul uses our old friend dioko again. What should our response be to the legalist, the Judaizer who comes in to rob us of our promised inheritance by faith in Christ? Just as Abraham chased away Ishmael, we are to chase away the Judaizers. Their solution to sin is not God's solution to sin. Their rituals will not cleanse us, nor will their festivals empower us. These are children of Hagar, of the bondslave, children of the Law of disobedience. We, on the other hand, are children of the Grace of God, children of Promise, Isaac, the inheritors of God's Kingdom because of what Jesus did and keeps on doing for us.

(Galatians 4:31 KJV) "So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free."

Remember where you come from, Christian! Do not be drawn into Judaism thinking that the greater ritualism is more impressive to God. It is not. What has God said?

Psalms 40:4-8 KJVA Blessed [is] that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. (5) Many, O LORD my God, [are] thy wonderful works [which] thou hast done, and thy thoughts [which are] to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: [if] I would declare and speak [of them], they are more than can be numbered. (6) Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. (7) Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book [it is] written of me, (8) I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law [is] within my heart.

God does not want the ritual, He wants the relationship. God does not care for what we do for show, but cares for our relationship with Him through Jesus Christ our Savior. We who are believers are to cast out Ishmael. The Mosaic Law and salvation by Grace cannot exist in the same house, no more than Ishmael and Isaac can exist in the same house. The two will war against one another, destroying one another. Beloved, Ishmael is not the way of Christianity.

• Those who want to be under the Mosaic Law do not understand the Law:
  • The Law was for the ______________, not the faithful: Romans 4:16-21
  • Being under the Mosaic Law as Israel was does this "save" you? Why or why not? see Romans 9:6 _________________________________________________________________________
  • The Law __________, but Faith liberates: Galatians 4:23-26
  • Can the Mosaic Law impart or impute righteousness? see Romans 9:30-32
  • What is the attitude of those under the Mosaic Law toward those who are saved by Grace? see Galatians 4:28-29
  • The believer is commanded to ________________in favor of relationship with God through Christ. See Galatians 4:30-33
• God is at work in the believer: Philippians 2:13
• The Word of God works in us who believe: 1 Thessalonians 2:13
• We must live our Faith to be effectively sanctified!