“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1
When we trust in Christ as our Savior, He sets us free from bondage under the law, having fulfilled all its righteous demands in our stead and having made full atonement for all our sins. Since we have been pardoned and set free through faith in Christ Jesus, our Substitute, let us not turn back and again become entangled in the demands of the law or the observance of human traditions in an attempt to merit our salvation.
O Christ, You freed us from the law’s curse by being cursed for us. Grant that we hold fast to You and the salvation You won for us in faith and not turn back again to our own works and observances under the law. Amen.
“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.’ So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.” Galatians 4:30-31
Ishmael, Abraham’s son with Hagar, the slave woman, did not inherit along with Isaac, Abraham’s son with Sarah. Instead, he was cast out. So also those who are descendants of Abraham by the flesh but do not share his faith in God’s promises will be cast out and not inherit the promises. Only those who have faith in Jesus Christ, the promised Seed of Abraham who was offered up on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for sin, will inherit the promises of forgiveness and eternal life.
Grant that I trust in You alone, O Christ, that I might receive Your pardon and inherit the eternal joys of heaven. Amen.
“Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 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.” Galatians 4:28-29
As Isaac was a son of promise to Abraham, so all who trust in the Messiah and Savior promised to Abraham are the promised children of Abraham and inherit eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, the Seed of Abraham who made atonement for the sins of the world. But as Ishmael mocked Isaac, so those depending on their own religious works and ceremonies mock and persecute those trusting in Christ alone for salvation.
Grant that I trust in Thee alone, O Christ, that I might be a child of promise and inherit eternal life. Amen.
“For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai, which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar — for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children — but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Galatians 4:24-26
The Apostle Paul compares Sarah and Hagar to two covenants: the covenant of promise made with Abraham and the covenant of laws given later on Mt. Sinai. When we seek to be acceptable to God by our own keeping of the laws given to Moses at Mt. Sinai, we are like the children of Hagar, in bondage under the law and condemned by it because of our sins. When we trust in God’s promise of righteousness imputed to us by faith in Jesus Christ, the promised Seed of Abraham, we are like the children of Sarah and are free from the condemnation of the law and inherit the blessings promised to Abraham.
Thank You, dear Lord Jesus, the promised Seed of Abraham, for fulfilling all righteousness for me and then paying the price for my sins by Your death on the cross. Grant that I trust in You alone that I might inherit the blessings promised to Abraham. Amen.
“Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise…” Galatians 4:21-23
The question Paul raises is whether we are children of promise or children of bondage, for Abraham had two sons, one of the flesh by a slave woman and one of promise to Abraham and Sarah, and free. Those seeking to be counted righteous based on the law are bound to the law and condemned by it. Those trusting in the promise are counted righteous through faith in Jesus Christ and are free from the law’s condemnation.
O God, grant that I not seek to be counted righteous by my own works under the law but trust in the perfect righteousness of Christ and His atoning sacrifice for my sins. In His name, I pray. Amen.
