21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand 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 through the promise.

24 These things serve as illustrations, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery: This is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written:

“Rejoice, O barren woman,
who bears no children;
break forth and cry aloud,
you who have never travailed;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband.”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Omar Dewan

Do you like rules?

I like rules, because they provide me with 'guardrails' of what to do and what not to do. Rules usually come from other people’s experience and wisdom for general wellbeing – someone must have pushed the boundaries too far and suffered consequences for it.

But there’s a risk that I hold so tightly to rules about the right way of doing things that I judge others who don’t do things by the same rules. If those rules don’t actually apply to them like I think they do, then my disapproval is entirely unfair.

This risk is greater when I think about the Christian faith. I know that Jesus has fulfilled the Old Testament law by living a sinless life and defeating death through his resurrection. The Old Testament law exposes our sin – but by believing in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we have been declared righteous. We are not bound by the Law, but we still learn things from the Law about how to live in a way that honours God. However, I have been guilty in the past of being legalistic and negatively judging others who don’t appear to have every ‘Christian’ thing or habit ticked off.

This Galatians passage today is a great reminder that we, as Christians, are not bound and condemned by the Old Testament law in the same way Israel were under the old covenant through Moses. The children of Israel under the law of Moses were like Hagar: enslaved under rules that condemned them. But just like Sarah was a free woman, we are free because we call Jesus our Lord and Saviour – free from the burden of the Law, and righteous.

Let’s praise God for the fact that we are no longer bound by the Old Testament law, because Jesus has fulfilled it perfectly by living a sinless life, even to death on a cross – and, even though we are unworthy and have no chance of meeting all of the rules, we are considered ‘free’ from its consequences and can enjoy a loving relationship with the most holy God.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Omar is a member of our Fairfield Evening congregation.