Galatians 4:30, Cast aside the Law

Posted on Saturday, November 15, 2014 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”

//One of the most interesting “arguments” that takes place in scripture is this matter of whether the Old Testament law is to be heeded or ignored. Scholars recognize Matthew to be the gospel most sympathetic to the Jewish law. It’s in this book that Jesus promises that “not one jot or tittle shall pass from the Law till all be fulfilled.” We also have sympathetic epistles, such as the book of James, which twice refers to the “Law of Liberty” (James 1:25 and 2:12).

But Paul did not think kindly about the Law. In a fascinating passage to the Galatians (4:22-31) Paul refers to the law as just the opposite as James does. He considers it a law of slavery, not of liberty. He uses the sons of Abraham as an analogy to communicate that the Law brings slavery. The mother of each son represents the two covenants: Hagar, the slave woman, represents the Mosaic covenant (the Law) and Sarah, a free woman, represents the Abrahamic covenant (the promise). Hagar’s son, Ishmael, is a child of slavery, but Sarah’s son, Isaac, is a child of the promise.

Paul’s argument concludes with today’s verse, reminding us that God wanted Abraham to cast out the bondwoman and her son, and choose instead Sarah and the son of promise.

Thus, we as Christians are called to cast out the Law, becoming righteous not by works but through faith.