Galatians 4:24-26 – The Law Teaches Justification By Faith
Why is Hagar is compared to Mount Sinai in v25? Sinai was where the 10 commandments were given. At the time of Moses, God had renewed his covenant with his people. So did this covenant say that if they obeyed the 10 commandments, they would get to Heaven? No! It was a promise of spiritual life through faith in Jesus. All those sacrifices and offerings and priests that were put in place under Moses – God didn’t give them as a way for sinners to deal with their own sin! He gave them to point forward to Jesus. But very few of the people in Moses’ day put their faith in God’s promises. Instead, they turned the law into a way of trying to get right with God. It became a form of slavery.
Paul says of the Jews of his day: ‘Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works’ (Romans 9:31-32). Those last few words are vital. What explains Israel’s failure? Not God’s covenant. But their own lack of faith. They ‘did not succeed in reaching that law (or to put it another way – they did not succeed in reaching the righteousness the law pointed towards)…because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works’. AS IF it were based on works. God’s promises never offer righteousness by works. But that’s what the people turned them into. We see the sad fruit of this in the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. They firmly believed that they could get right with God by their own efforts. But the promise to Abraham didn’t come about through Ishmael. And the promise to Moses didn’t come about through law-keeping.
What happens to Hagar as a result of this attempt to gain what God has promised through human effort? In Genesis 21 she’s left wandering in the wilderness. What happens to the nation of Israel as a result of their attempt to gain what God has promised through human effort? Failure to gain what was promised. The implication for the Galatian Christians is clear. Any attempts to earn God’s promises by human effort rather than faith end in disaster.
Questions
- Why did God give Israel the sacrifices and ceremonies?
- What happened in the Old Testament when people tried to earn God’s promises?
Prayer Points
- Pray that we would trust in God’s promises.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.