Galatians 4:30
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.”
Truth to Learn
Get rid of your legalistic rules and practices. They have no place alongside a life of faith.
Behind the Words
“What does the Scripture say?” Once again Paul uses a quotation from the Old Testament to make his point. His use of the scriptural passage, however, is not a direct quotation, for he changes a few words to more fully apply to his point. He changes the expression “with my son” to “with the son of the freewoman.” The passage he quotes is:
Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” (Genesis 21:10)
The expression “shall not be heir” is from the Greek ou mē klēronomēsei. The words ou mē express a double negative, which in English is bad grammar. It Greek, however, it is used to express the intensity of the negation. In effect, what Sarah said is, “There is no way whatsoever that the son of this bondwoman will be an heir along with my son!”
Meaning Explained
We learned with the previous verse that at Isaac’s weaning party, Ishmael, the teenage son of Hagar, was seen mocking Isaac. This made Sarah quite angry, and she responded by insisting that Abraham get rid of Hagar and her son. Since Hagar was her servant girl, normally Sarah would have full say in what was done to Hagar, but since her son was also the son of Abraham, she insisted that Abraham be the one to take the action.
Understandably, Abraham was distressed at the thought of abandoning his eldest son and his son’s mother. If you read the passage in Genesis 21:11-21, you will see that God confirmed to Abraham that it was appropriate for him to cast out Hagar and Ishmael.
Paul has been telling the Galatian Christians that their relationship with God is solely dependent on faith without any works of the law. There was not to be any toleration for intermingling legalism with faith. Isaac represented those who are spiritually saved and sustained through faith, and Ishmael represented those who tried to complete salvation through the works of the law. By using this allegory, Paul is clearly teaching that the works of the law were to be cast off from a life of faith. There is no way that works of the law have any place with a life of faith.
Application
Salvation comes by grace through faith in the Word of God, not by works of the law. And, as James tells us in his epistle, good works are the result of salvation, not the source of salvation. If we are genuinely saved, then we will do deeds that demonstrate to the world that we are truly a child of God. However, doing works or obeying a set of church rules or ordinances has nothing to do with our relationship or our fellowship with God. Period!
That’s what Paul says.
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2008 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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