Galatians 4:28-30. 28Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.”
This part of the Sarah and Hagar saga in Genesis is one of the most difficult to read, but also one of the most misunderstood. Genesis tells us that at the time when Isaac was weaned and Ishmael was around 16 or 17 years old, that Ishmael began to mock Isaac. This behavior led to Sarah asking Abraham to remove Hagar and Ishmael from the homestead. Sarah wanted to “cast out the slave woman and her son.” It reads as if Sarah were being overly petty and jealous. But look at how Paul describes what happened—“persecution.”
Could Sarah see another Cain and Abel situation brewing? Maybe. Sarah understood that Ishmael was not the son of promise. “Ishmael will not be your heir,” she said to her husband, quoting God to him. Sarah knew that Abraham would have a hard time making Isaac the heir of the covenant over Ishmael. So Hagar and Ishmael had to go. And God agreed—“Cast out the slave woman and her son.”
Paul is reminding us that the son of the slave woman will always persecute the son of the free woman. That is, allegorically, the law will always persecute grace. Grace will always be mocked by those who believe that they can control their own lives by their own choices. This includes both religious and irreligious people. Further, in our personal walk with Christ, our attempts to earn our righteousness and prove ourselves worthy will always persecute our simple trusting of God’s grace.
This is why we must “cast out the slave woman.” We must cast out anything that seeks to remove us from the shelter of the gospel of grace. Typically, this means rooting out a legalistic attitude or motivation. Or maybe it means casting off a behavior or habit. And it may even mean cutting off a toxic relationship. Walking in gospel freedom is amazing, but it is not painless. It requires the daily casting off of the self-righteous sin that so easily weighs us down, and the taking up of the cross of love and self-sacrifice that makes us soar.
You: What self-righteous attitude, behavior, or mindset do you need to cast out?
You in Christ: What might living under grace rather than law change for you today? An attitude? A choice? A habit?
Christ in you: How can you help others to “cast out” legalism from their lives?
Pray: Father, law and grace can’t live together, I know that. And yet I often try to get them to get along. Help me to cast out the self-righteousness from my life that seeks to enslave me. Amen.
