AUGUST 20, 2025 – CAST OUT

READ: Gal. 4:26–31: … Cast out the bondwoman and her son … we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.

Paul does not speak about the new Jerusalem that is still to come, but about the Jerusalem that is already in heaven where Christ is seated on His throne as Head of His church.

In Phil. 3:20, Paul speaks of our citizenship being in heaven, from where we eagerly await our Savior, Jesus Christ. Hebr. 12:12 also refers to this heavenly Jerusalem as it exists even now: “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels.”

What Paul describes about the heavenly Jerusalem fulfills Is. 54: “Rejoice, barren one, who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of her who has a husband.”

Isaiah comforts the exiles. They felt like Sarah: barren. But that will change. God will redeem them, and Jerusalem will again be filled with children.

Paul extends this: with Christ’s death and resurrection, the church will greatly expand, even among Gentile peoples like the Galatians. Ultimately, there will be an innumerable multitude who desire to live by grace and according to the Spirit.

Paul now points to the attacks by the enslaved church against the free church. Ishmael mocked Isaac which was already a sign of persecution (v. 29). Ishmael was not allowed to share in the inheritance (Gen. 21:10–14). Likewise, the church in Galatia must now do what Abraham had to do with Hagar, the mother of the mocker: “Cast out the bondwoman and her son.” The Galatians must not associate with the Judaizers but send them away. Slavery and freedom cannot coexist.

The Lord desires a congregation that looks only to Him. Those who rely on themselves pose a danger to others. They want to reimpose the yoke of slavery on the free. But in doing so, they get in Christ’s way. The only yoke Christ asks us to bear is His yoke of grace, which is gentle and light.

What is the purpose of freedom in Christ?

Sing: Ps. 125:3,4