Children of the Free Woman (Gal 4:21-31)

Staying Free: A Letter to Recovering Pharisees (10)
Sermons on St. Paul's letter to the Galatians 
Reading: Galatians 4:21-31

​In this section Paul turns his readers back to the story of Abraham, but this time he focuses on a different part of the story (Gen 21:1-14). His purpose is to highlight that Abraham had two sons, one to a free woman & one to a slave woman. Firstly, he introduces this story as an OT account (21-23), then secondly, he uses it as powerful allegory (24-27) & thirdly he applies its truth directly to believers (28-31). So, we have the account, the allegory & the application. His whole point here is that we might see who we are in Christ & the freedom that is ours in him so that we “do not submit again to the yoke of slavery” (5:1)!