In Verse 19 and 20 Paul expresses the pain he is feeling, he relates this to 'child birth' because he feels that the Galatian people are not fully in-bodied in Christ yet.
In Verse 20 he regrets that he can not be present with his church because he would like to be able to respond more directly and he is conflicted by the actions of the people.
Hagar and Sarah
In Verse 21 Paul begins to challenge the people of Galatia on their desire to be under the law* He asks them about if they understand what the law says, then he goes to scripture to explain what the law meant at that time.
He talks of Abraham's two son's, how one married a free woman and the second a woman under bondage whose children would be born into slavery with no choice, this being Hagar.
Paul continues to expand that the child born by Sarah is a child of Promise, that this child is born through the Holy Spirit and and is blessed by God's presence.
If one chooses to live by the law, one surrenders their freedom and becomes a slave to the world and its' traps.
Slavery and The Law
In Verse 20 he regrets that he can not be present with his church because he would like to be able to respond more directly and he is conflicted by the actions of the people.
Hagar and Sarah
In Verse 21 Paul begins to challenge the people of Galatia on their desire to be under the law* He asks them about if they understand what the law says, then he goes to scripture to explain what the law meant at that time.
He talks of Abraham's two son's, how one married a free woman and the second a woman under bondage whose children would be born into slavery with no choice, this being Hagar.
Paul continues to expand that the child born by Sarah is a child of Promise, that this child is born through the Holy Spirit and and is blessed by God's presence.
If one chooses to live by the law, one surrenders their freedom and becomes a slave to the world and its' traps.
21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.
23 His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.
24 These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar.
25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.
26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.
27 For it is written:
“Be glad, barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
shout for joy and cry aloud,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband.”[e]
you who never bore a child;
shout for joy and cry aloud,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband.”[e]
28 Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.
29 At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.
30 But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”[f]
31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
Throughout The New Testament two things come up regularly, these things are the term of Slavery and being Under the Law.
When the term slavery or slave comes up it has several meanings.
First off is one who is owned by another and must do what that person commands them to do, they have no individual rights or voice.
Secondly the words mean one who is submissive to a behavior or addiction, they feel trapped and in bondage to this way of life because they have lived this way for so long in their life.
Third is an extension of the second. Except here it is one who lives their life by the rules of the world because this is all they know, they know of The New Testament but think of it as something that is a nice belief for the holy day(s) but see no way of living by its principles daily.
Lastly it refers to when as a person or collective we bow down to things that are destructive and evil and are put in this world by the enemy of man who only wishes us to fail and to submit to the way things have always been, not being able to see that we have value and purpose beyond the ways of our day to day life in the pattern we have been taught.
That pattern being of our needs only, of judging others who are struggling or do not fit in to the way they know to be "true" Not helping others because they must help themselves on their own and must not gain aid from us collectively because this is "Socialism" when we come together to help one and other succeed.
This pattern is so ingrained that it has become the backbone of a political party that has kept things as they were at the time even before Jesus.
THE LAW
The Law is the Law of Moses and the 660 laws of the Jewish faith. From Burnt Offerings to Sacrifice of Lambs and other animals amongst the laws, all of which must be obeyed to be accepted by God.
When Jesus came into the world, he did away with the need for us to follow these laws, he commanded us to follow only two this being known as The Great Commission.
The first is to Love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength Mark 12 verse 29.
Love your neighbor as you love yourself, (Do unto Others as you would have them Do unto you, Matthew 7 verse 12, Mark 12 Verse 21 and Luke 10 verse 27)
"There are none other commandments greater than these." Mark 12 Verse 29-31.
Some may argue that Jesus did not precisely say he was abandoning the 10 Commandments of Moses. However in his own words he said clearly "There are none other commandments greater than these.
Perhaps the 10 Commandments do still exist, but the main commandments that Jesus commissioned us all to follow is to Love God and Love one and other above all else.
When we follow this simple commandment(s) it takes us from judging others and it puts us in obedience to Gods word and call to us, to follow what we are called to do, which many of us know from childhood but we are told, you have to live in the real world, you can not do that and survive.
The Great Commission is saying to us, not to do what is simple and safe by the standards of the world, obeying The Acts of the Flesh, but to live beyond the world, to listen to God and set a new standard.
A standard when love, compassion, forgiveness and self control among other things are what we live by and we trust that God will help provide for our material needs and other needs as we live by his word.
When the term slavery or slave comes up it has several meanings.
First off is one who is owned by another and must do what that person commands them to do, they have no individual rights or voice.
Secondly the words mean one who is submissive to a behavior or addiction, they feel trapped and in bondage to this way of life because they have lived this way for so long in their life.
Third is an extension of the second. Except here it is one who lives their life by the rules of the world because this is all they know, they know of The New Testament but think of it as something that is a nice belief for the holy day(s) but see no way of living by its principles daily.
Lastly it refers to when as a person or collective we bow down to things that are destructive and evil and are put in this world by the enemy of man who only wishes us to fail and to submit to the way things have always been, not being able to see that we have value and purpose beyond the ways of our day to day life in the pattern we have been taught.
That pattern being of our needs only, of judging others who are struggling or do not fit in to the way they know to be "true" Not helping others because they must help themselves on their own and must not gain aid from us collectively because this is "Socialism" when we come together to help one and other succeed.
This pattern is so ingrained that it has become the backbone of a political party that has kept things as they were at the time even before Jesus.
THE LAW
The Law is the Law of Moses and the 660 laws of the Jewish faith. From Burnt Offerings to Sacrifice of Lambs and other animals amongst the laws, all of which must be obeyed to be accepted by God.
When Jesus came into the world, he did away with the need for us to follow these laws, he commanded us to follow only two this being known as The Great Commission.
The first is to Love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength Mark 12 verse 29.
Love your neighbor as you love yourself, (Do unto Others as you would have them Do unto you, Matthew 7 verse 12, Mark 12 Verse 21 and Luke 10 verse 27)
"There are none other commandments greater than these." Mark 12 Verse 29-31.
Some may argue that Jesus did not precisely say he was abandoning the 10 Commandments of Moses. However in his own words he said clearly "There are none other commandments greater than these.
Perhaps the 10 Commandments do still exist, but the main commandments that Jesus commissioned us all to follow is to Love God and Love one and other above all else.
When we follow this simple commandment(s) it takes us from judging others and it puts us in obedience to Gods word and call to us, to follow what we are called to do, which many of us know from childhood but we are told, you have to live in the real world, you can not do that and survive.
The Great Commission is saying to us, not to do what is simple and safe by the standards of the world, obeying The Acts of the Flesh, but to live beyond the world, to listen to God and set a new standard.
A standard when love, compassion, forgiveness and self control among other things are what we live by and we trust that God will help provide for our material needs and other needs as we live by his word.
