In and Out (Galatians 4:21-31)
Peter Fitch, St. Croix Vineyard
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Study on Galatians
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Early letter
Focus on freedom
Use in history
Main ideas so far
– Paul’s right to speak
– It’s a mistake to exclude people because we all
(Jew and Gentile) come to God through faith (not
laws)
Galatians 4:21-31
21 Tell me, you who want to be under law, do
you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written
that Abraham had two sons, one by the
bondwoman and one by the free woman.
23 But the son by the bondwoman was born
according to the flesh, and the son by the free
woman through the promise.
Galatians 4:21-31
24 This is allegorically speaking, for these
women are two covenants: one proceeding
from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to
be slaves; she is Hagar. 25 Now this Hagar is
Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the
present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with
her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is
free; she is our mother.
Galatians 4:21-31
27 For it is written, “Rejoice, barren woman
who does not bear; Break forth and shout,
you who are not in labor; For more numerous
are the children of the desolate than of the
one who has a husband.”28 And you brethren,
like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But as at
that time he who was born according to the
flesh persecuted him who was born according
to the Spirit, so it is now also.
Galatians 4:21-31
30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out
the bondwoman and her son, For the son of
the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the
son of the free woman.” 31 So then, brethren,
we are not children of a bondwoman, but of
the free woman.
Allegory
• Son of bondwoman, Ishmael of Hagar, born
according to flesh, representing the covenant
that comes from Mount Sinai (Law) and the
current state of affairs in Jerualem
• Son of freewoman, Isaac of Sarah, born
according to promise (‘of the Spirit’),
representing a covenant built on faith and
grace and ‘the Jerusalem above’
Question of Law—true Law
Martin Luther King, Jr. in ‘Letter from
Birmingham Jail’ to ‘fellow clergymen’ who
criticized him for breaking ‘the law’
Who’s In and Out?
• One system ‘casts out’ those that don’t keep
similar laws, those that don’t eat or live ‘the
right way’
• The other accepts everyone who will allow the
real goodness of God to be born in their souls
• How can you tell who’s in this group?
Perhaps it has to do with John 14:6?
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the
truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father
but through Me.”
Possible Meanings
• Prayer-based conversion of the soul
• A real act that changed everything for all
people (whether they know it or not)
• A Life and teaching that is completely in line
with the flow and direction of God’s life (we
participate in it to the extent that we flow in
the same direction)
• Jesus is the Judge as well as the ultimate
means by which we are transformed
Simone Weil: two kinds of people
those who recognize and appreciate a
foundation of goodness outside of themselves
and grab hold of it . . .
are changed by it
Sheep and Goats
• There is a distinction in Scripture between
‘good’ and ‘bad’ from God’s perspective
Implications
• For Others
• For Ourselves
• For the Church