As a result of revelation, Saul of Tarsus experienced a tremendous upheaval in his personal life

In 4:21–5:1= , the apostle Paul dramatically illustrates to the Galatians who they are and whe= re they stand through God’s promise in grace. Paul asks those who desire to be u= nder the law whether they really have read and understand the law. He goes on to explain what the Scr= ipture presents concerning who we are through God’s promise. Paul describes in detail a compari= son between two sons, from two women, representing two covenants with two resul= ts. The Galatians had been purpo= sely misled and Paul meant to restore them to their proper standing and relation= ship to God, according to what God intended through His promise.

Abraha= m had two sons – Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael, Abraham’s son from the servant Hagar, was born accord= ing to flesh, that is, he was born according to the natural course of human activity. Isaac, however, was= born as the son of Abraham’s wife, a free woman, through promise. Ishmael came about from the best o= f intentions, but he was not born according to God’s promise. Isaac came into being according to God’s promise, which far exceeded what man could predict, produce or expect according to man.

The two women inv= olved in this story are presented as an allegory of two covenants. Hagar represents the old covenant,= from Mount Sinai, which is the law. This covenant produced children un= to slavery. Paul identifies Haga= r with the mountain in Arabia where the law was given. Paul says this covenan= t, and this woman, corresponds to the “Jerusalem that now is, for she is in slavery with her children (4:25).” In comparison to being born of a s= lave into slavery, Paul explains that the “Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother.” This corresponds to Sarah, through whom God’s promised seed would come. <= /span>

The po= int of Paul’s allegory is this: We believers must realize who we are – and who we are not. We are not children born according to flesh. Thes= e are born into slavery, destined to be cast out and will by no means share the promised inheritance. We are = not born into slavery and therefore must not be entangled with a yoke of slaver= y, which the Judaizers placed upon the Galatian believers.

Rather= , we are children of promise in the same way Isaac was. Isaac’s birth was a miraculo= us event and was only possible through God’s promise. Even with the best intention to “help” God fulfill His promise, man’s effort apart from G= od can at best produce “Ishmael.”= It seemed impossible that Isaac could come into existence based on t= he external, physical facts. But= God “. . . calls the things not being as being, and gives life to the dead (Rom 4:17).” We are tho= se born according to Spirit. As children of the “Jerusal= em above which is free,” we are free.&n= bsp; We must stand in who we are in Christ – we are free because Ch= rist set us free to inherit all that He is, all He has done and all that He has.= We were born to be heirs of God.

Those = born according to flesh persecute those according to Spirit, both then and now.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> In Galatians religious zealots sou= ght righteousness and justification through adherence to the law and religious tradition. They sought to bri= ng believers into subjection to their ideology and practice which shut them out from Christ. Ironically, rath= er than understanding the true meaning of circumcision, they cut people of from Christ to live instead by their “good” flesh. What a shame if heirs of promise w= ould forfeit their standing in grace and be brought to nothing in their relation= ship with Christ! Therefore, Paul = urged the Galatian believers to know who they are as children of promise and to s= tand fast in that reality, free from the snare of slavery under religious law.