Galatians 4:21-31

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 91:1-2
• Hymn — To God Be the Glory (#55)
• Catechism — Westminster Shorter Catechism Questions 86 & 87
• Hymn — Be Thou My Vision (#642)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — Galatians 4:21-31
• Sermon
• Hymn — (#455)
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: The Power, Place, and Persecution of True Freedom

Scripture: Galatians 4:21-31

I. The Power of True Freedom

A. Paul uses Abraham's two sons as an allegorical illustration of two kinds of offspring

1. Ishmael — born of the slave woman Hagar, born according to the flesh (human effort)
2. Isaac — born of the free woman Sarah, born according to promise and according to the Spirit

B. The people of God have always been a people born by the Spirit, not by the flesh

1. Isaac's supernatural birth to the barren Sarah is a prototypical example
2. Jesus makes the same point in John 3:5-7: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit"
3. Nicodemus, a teacher of the law, should not have marveled — it was already in the Torah

C. Paul rebukes those desiring to be under the law: are you not reading your own scriptures? (Galatians 4:21)

D. To live by the Spirit is to live in constant dependence and helplessness before God, trusting him alone

1. Sarah living according to the flesh: giving Hagar to Abraham through her own scheming
2. Sarah living according to the Spirit: utterly helpless, trusting only in God's promise
3. Augustine: "God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them"

E. Every religious system outside of Scripture ultimately redirects trust back to human effort

1. Islam — Christ is acknowledged as a sinless prophet, but salvation depends on your own effort
2. Mormonism — sounds orthodox on the surface, but ultimately depends on human effort
3. Roman Catholicism — affirms orthodox Christology, but adds human effort through works and tradition
4. All systems outside the closed Canon share this common ingredient: they take eyes off Christ alone

F. The Canon of Scripture is thoroughly Christ-centered from beginning to end

1. Begins with the promise of the seed of the woman crushing the serpent (Genesis 3:15)
2. Ends with the promise of Christ's return (Revelation 22:20-21)
3. Anything seeking to take eyes off Christ is of the flesh, not of the Spirit

II. The Place of True Freedom

A. Paul sets forth two covenants and two Jerusalems (Galatians 4:24-26)

1. Present (earthly) Jerusalem corresponds to Hagar — slavery
2. Jerusalem above (heavenly) is free — she is our mother

B. Paul quotes Isaiah 54:1 — the restoration of Zion fulfilled in redemption and citizenship in heavenly Zion

C. True freedom is found where Christ is seated — Colossians 3:1-2

1. "Set your minds on things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God"
2. An earthly mindset is produced by slavery to the law and human effort as the means of salvation

D. Herman Ridderbos: God's word of power to barren Sarah, the promise to Israel in captivity, and the preaching of the gospel are united — all share the common element of the Divine word giving life, freedom, and redemption; all find their home in Christ

E. The earthly types and shadows of the old covenant were always meant to point to the heavenly reality

1. The earthly Tabernacle was a copy and shadow of the heavenly original (Hebrews 8)
2. In Christ, the heavenly reality itself has arrived

F. The veil that blinds to heavenly Jerusalem is removed only in Christ — 2 Corinthians 3:15-17

1. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom"
2. This heavenly mindset comes not by human effort or law-keeping, but only by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit

III. The Persecution of True Freedom

A. Just as Ishmael persecuted Isaac, those born of the flesh persecute those born of the Spirit — Galatians 4:28-29

B. The persecution Paul has in view here is not Roman imperial persecution, but a more crafty and insidious persecution from within the covenant community

1. The Judaizers had infiltrated the church and were enslaving Gentile consciences to the law
2. Paul's command: cast out the slave woman and her son — expel false gospel peddlers from the church

C. This persecution can be summarized as the enslaving of the conscience by anything outside of the gospel of Christ

1. The Reformers understood this — no bishop or pope has the right to bind consciences outside of the one gospel
2. If anything outside of Christ alone is used as a litmus test for standing before God, that is persecution of the children of God

D. Examples of false litmus tests that persecute the freedom of believers

1. Allegiance to a political movement or party
2. Method of educating one's children
3. Allegiance to philosophical systems or cultural commentators
4. Loyalty to certain preachers, podcasts, or media personalities

E. Charles Hodge refused to bring politics into the pulpit, recognizing the insidious nature of this persecution; the best of the Reformed churches have followed suit

F. The church is to be a consistent place where Christ and Christ alone is magnified and exalted, in every era of redemptive history, regardless of surrounding culture