The Messianic Covenant (part 11)

· Gal 4:28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

Here Paul begins the application of the allegory. As Sarah represented the covenant of grace, Isaac represented the true children of God. Our standing is essentially different from Ishmael’s, because He, like the great mass of those under the Sinai Covenant, belongs to the ordinary course of nature; whereas genuine Christians are the children of the promise, that promise made to Abraham.

· Gal 4:29 At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.

Now a further detail supplied by the allegory. In referring to the opposition to Isaac by Ishmael, this received its counterpart in the attitude of the Judaisers toward the Christians. The Judaisers were holding to the old covenant and were hostile to those who were experiencing the freedom of the new covenant. The carnal has always persecuted the spiritual.

· Gal 4:30 But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son."

Here is the final point of the allegory. This is taken from:

· Genesis 21:10 So she said to Abraham, "Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac."

This pretty well settles the argument that Israel, after the flesh, would not share in the spiritual inheritance. Hagar represented the Sinai Covenant and Ishmael its carnal worshipers, and their being cast out of Abraham’s household prophetically signified God setting aside Judaism and the fact that the natural descendants of Abraham had no place among his spiritual children and could not share in the promised inheritance. Pure Christianity excludes Judaism, not the Jews, but Judaism. In other words, any who hope for salvation and heaven by obedience to the Law will miss heaven.

· Gal 4:31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

Here then is the inescapable conclusion; since Christians are the children of promise, they, not carnal Jews, are the true heirs of Abraham. Since the New Covenant is superior to the old and believers in Jesus are freed from servitude to the law, it follows that they must conduct themselves as God’s freemen.

The controversy here in Galatians 4 centered around the question of who are the real heirs of Abraham. In chapter 3 there are three very important verses:

· Gal 3:7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham

· Gal 3:16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.

· Gal 3:29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

The Judiasers said, “We are the children of Abraham.” Paul replied that Abraham had two sons, one of a free birth and one of a servant’s birth. Then he asked them to which son did they belong. Of course the Judiasers were the natural descendants of Abraham, but not of the spiritual seed.

Paul’s purpose was to get the Galatians to understand the promise and thereby deliver them from the Judiasers. He accomplished this by opening up the deep significance of the covenant allegory which presented three main contrasts: birth by nature as opposed to grace; a state of bondage as opposed to liberty; a status of temporary tenure as opposed to permanent possession. Just as Hagar was rightfully the maidservant of Sarah but was wrongfully accorded the position of Abraham’s wife, so the Sinai Covenant was designed to supplement the Abrahamic Covenant but was perverted by the Jews when they tried to get from it salvation and fruitfulness.