Galatians: The Life I Now LiveSample

Paul is coming to the end of his main argument against the non-gospel promotion of law for Christian living. In the next chapter, he will summarise what he has written and then go on to discuss the difference the gospel makes in daily life. But first, he finishes this section with a flourish. He tells a story. He paints a picture. And this picture is in black and white. Again, the contrast is huge. 

Paul uses the story of Abraham to write figuratively in an allegory. Looking back to Genesis 12–22, Paul paints innocent slave Hagar in negative hues and complicit, disbelieving wife Sarah in positive. While that seems unfair, his goal is to give a biblical picture of the situation: there are two versions of Christianity and they cannot live together. 

The false teachers loved to associate themselves with Jerusalem as supposed children of Abraham. So Paul offers a two-sided picture of the situation in Abraham terms. He paints the two sons of Abraham as the fruit of two versions of gospel ministry. One, Ishmael, is born by fleshly human effort that tries to help God work out His righteous plans, and this side of the story is characterised by slavery (vv. 23a, 24–25). The other son, Isaac, is born by faith in God’s promise, according to the Spirit, and is characterised by freedom (vv. 23b, 26). 

There were two different sons, but these two could not co-exist in the same family (v. 29). Likewise, Paul resists any idea of blending his gospel with the false message that had been preached since his departure (vv. 30–31). Paul also says there are two different Jerusalems: one is the law-gripped earthly one, the other is the heavenly one to come. 

Paul’s allegory offers a positive encouragement: there is hope for the spiritually barren who will trust in God’s promise (v. 27). But there is also an implicit warning: there will also be persecution. The law-obsessed folks will always persecute the grace-gripped free folks. A faith characterised by trust in God’s grace will always be threatening to a self-reliant perversion of the real thing. Seeking to co-exist will ultimately fail. So Paul urges the Galatians to get rid of the law-enslaved brigade lest they corrupt the true church.

Reflection

Have you, like Abraham, ever relied on yourself to do God’s work? Does your Christianity fit the Isaac profile, or the Ishmael profile?