Today's passage: Galatians 4:21-31
Helpful thoughts:
- The way people have abused Scripture through allegory makes verse 24 hard to translate…but what Paul was doing was not allegory as it is understood today as much as he was using the OT narrative as an illustration.
- Paul makes this correlation:
- Abraham's attempt to make his own son of promise pertains to those who try to keep the law to earn their own salvation
- Ishmael was not the son of the promise. Those who try to fulfill the law on their own are not children of promise. They are not saved.
- God's fulfilled promise of Isaac through Sarah pertains to those who receive salvation by grace through faith
- Isaac was the son of promise. Those who receive God's gift by faith are children of promise. They are saved.
- Abraham's attempt to make his own son of promise pertains to those who try to keep the law to earn their own salvation
Questions to consider:
- Who is the author and the finisher of your salvation (Hebrews 12:2)? Why should that give us more confidence in our salvation even if others might try to persuade us otherwise?
- Why could it sometimes seem attractive to follow a sort of law instead of purely believing by faith?
- How can your heart of thanksgiving toward God as a child of promise impact your day today?