Paul further speaks of Law and grace. He makes a masterful stroke by taking examples from O.T. Although Galatians had not fully turned towards the Law, he wanted them to stop and simply look at the past history in the Old Testament. He gives beautiful example from Hagar and Sarah and their children. We can look at the historical facts from the life of Abraham.
Let’s look at the life of Abraham in chronological order from (Gen. 12-21 chapters) where Paul made arguments with believers of Galatians for the liberty found only in Christ. Using his age as our guide, we will trace the events on which Paul is basing his argument for Christian liberty.
| Abraham’s age | Ref. (Genesis) | Events |
| 75 | 12:1-9 | God called Abraham to go to Canaan and promised him many descendants. Sarah was barren yet God made them to wait until they were as good as dead and consequently God performed a miracle by giving them a son (Rom.4:16-25) |
| 85 | 16:1-3 | Sarah becomes impatient with childlessness. She convinces Abraham to marry Hagar, her maid and have sons. This act was legal in that society, but it was not in the will of God. Abraham followed her suggestion and married Hagar. |
| 86 | 16:4-16 | Hagar gets pregnant and Sarah becomes jealous. This becomes difficult at home that Sarah throws Hagar out. But the Lord intervenes, sends Hagar back and promises to take care of her and her son. When Abraham was 86, the son is born and he calls him Ishmael. |
| 99 | 17-18 ch. | Again God promises to Abraham that he will have a son through Sarah. Later God appears again and reaffirms the promise to Sarah as well. |
| 100 | 21:1-7 | The son was born and they name him Isaac which means laughter. The arrival of Isaac creates a new problem in the home as Ishmael has a rival. For 14-years Ishmael has been his father’s only son, very dear to heart. |
| 103 | 21:8-14 | It was customary for the Jews to wean their children at the age of three and they make a great celebration. At the feast Ishmael mocks Isaac and creates trouble in the home. It was difficult for the two sons to stay in the home. Hagar and her son have to go. With a broken heart, Abraham sends his son away, because this is what the Lord tells him to do. |
We Christians are children of promise, like Isaac (4:23), and therefore children of liberty (4:31). God had promised Abraham a son long before Ishmael was born. Ishmael was added like the Law (3:19) and was a son of the flesh, a slave’s son. The old covenant of law was never a God’s final plan for Israel. It was added, like Ishmael, and brought bondage and sorrow. God’s commandment to Abraham was to cast out Ishmael and Hagar! Law and grace, faith and works, promise and commandment, can never live in the same household. The Judaizers in Galatia wanted to invite Hagar and Ishmael back into the family again!
Paul refers to (Isa 54:1) and applies this verse to the church. Just as Sarah was barren and had to wait for many years for her son, so the Jews had to wait many years before God’s promises to Abraham were fulfilled. Isaiah described the joy of Jerusalem after the return from exile. Paul sees a deeper meaning. We can have joy in the church in spite of persecution and suffering.
The danger Paul saw in Galatia is with us even today. The flesh loves and craves ‘religious excitement’ and feels gratified when it can keep some religious law. While there is nothing wrong with church traditions that are tied to Scripture and magnify Christ, we must beware of inviting Hagar and Ishmael back into the family. There can be no mixture of law and grace. May God help us to understand properly and live in His Grace as His real children. Yes we are not the children of Hagar, but children of Sarah with supernatural born again experience to be the children of God, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.