Scripture:
Galatians 4:23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.
Observation:
Paul wrote to the Galatians, gravely concerned with reports that they had been polluted by those who added observance of Mosaic Law to the grace of God through faith in the finished work of Jesus. In several paragraphs of allegory and metaphor, Paul compared living under the law – a life he knew better than anyone – to life of faith. To an observer with no interest in either side, the argument could seem pointless, for even faith requires human work. But that is the point of verses like the above, interspersed throughout the passage. Contrasting the children of Abraham, Paul shows the crux of the issue. Abraham, as encouraged by Sarah, had a son named Ishmael with Sarah’s servant, Hagar – the son of the slave. But then Sarah herself conceived and Isaac was born – the son of the free woman. But it is the prepositional phrases – “according to the flesh” and “through promise” that hammer home the difference. Ishmael was conceived in a more or less desperate attempt to bring about a blessing through human means. Two in a bed make three; they knew that in Abraham’s time too. But the promise – a word spoken by a third party, an angel from God – was achieved miraculously through the womb of a nonagenarian (90-something) woman. Two dried up old people in a bed make three. And thus, the gospel of Jesus Christ is displayed as the fulfillment of promise. The law had its day and was, by this time, the work of human will. But Jesus the Messiah came to extend God’s sovereign grace across the boundaries of human families.
Application:
Am I living as one born again through promise? A blessed third party was involved in my coming to faith – let me remember that. And that third party remains in me and keeps me in faith. I cannot achieve through human means anything regarding salvation or heaven’s reign. If by my own strength I eke out some tiny obedience, it is filled with the worst motives and filthy glory. It is only as I walk out the promise, utilizing the deposit of faith I have, that I can know that I live the life of Christ. Because it is all too easy for me to revert to doing good things, paying restitution for my sins, making it up to the offended and angry, for instance. Do I strive to be accepted by people? I am God’s son! May I never let that make me proud, but also never let that fade from the center of my identity. Though work-a-day challenges and even affronts will come, let them never make me a slave to human evaluation, for it is a foul taskmaster, reveling in oppressed compliance. That’s slavery at heart and at execution. And let me also understand the promise is not at arms length, shouting across and down echelons of reporting hierarchy. I was born through promise, not only influenced or persuaded. The Kingdom is in my blood; it’s part of my being. Let me not regress into thought of being still a foreigner to the most intimate of relationships. My bold entering before the throne is not as one groveling, though it is not proud either. Let me regain anything of the promise I have laid aside or out of which I was intimidated or argued. For it is to bless all around me.
Prayer:
Father, it is by Your word that I live and move and have my being. I rejoice this day. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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