Galatians 4: 28-31….Whose child are you?

Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

Comment: Continuing the allegorical interpretation which Paul started yesterday of Abraham and his first two sons, remember that in the historical story Hagar was a slave to Abraham’s wife. Hagar and her son were thrown out of Abraham’s camp but not totally deserted by God. But the difference was that Isaac was the son of a free woman whereas Ishmael was the son of, and therefore himself, a slave. Paul wants us to realize that being born according to the promise of God puts us in the free category, whereas to depend on the law makes us enslaved to the Law, with all its demands and failures.

Prayer: Help me not to use my freedom as licence, but rather help me to use it to bring glory to Your Name, O God.