If you notice in this chapter Paul takes a very parental approach when addressing the Galatian church. That is because he deeply cares for their soul, and he sees the dangers of turning to legalism. We will divide this into two parts.

The Covenants

The reason why Paul brings up Sarah and Hagar is because he wants to show the Galatian church the nature of the old and new covenant.  The reason Sarah and Hagar are used is because in chapter 3 Paul had spoken about Abraham and the promise of the gospel that was given to him. Hagar is a representation of the Old Covenant law, because if you remember Abraham tried to force the promise of offspring that God gave him by having a child with Hagar (which was Sarah’s servant). Eventually, Hagar and Ishmael were both sent away, and the promised offspring did not come through Ishmael, that is because Abraham tried to work his way into God’s promise by his own merits and God had other plans. He tried to take things into his own hands, which is exactly what the Galatians are trying to do by turning to circumcision and the law. They are trying to take the gospel promises by working their way in, which is not possible, and it is not how God operates. The law was given to define sin and it was not something that gave eternal life, so trying to gain righteousness by the law will lead to death. But Sarah is a representation of the New Covenant of grace. The bible clearly tells us that both Sarah and Abraham were super old and way past their time to conceive children, which means that Isaac was nothing less than the hand of God sovereignly moving, opening the womb of Sarah. Which shows that the promise of offspring that came through Isaac was given by grace and not by anything that Abraham and Sarah could have done. Which is what Paul is telling the Galatians, that righteousness is something that can only be gained by grace in the work and person of Jesus Christ.

The Concern

Understanding how the old and new covenants operate is important in understanding why Paul voices his concern to the Galatians that they are turning down the wrong path. The law was not given as an end all be all, but a guardian until the person of Christ would come to fulfill the law and be the perfect sacrifice to die on the cross for sinners. Paul reminds them; you are turning to legalism when you think that by following the law you gain righteousness. He is urging and pleading with them to remember the pure gospel that he preached to them when he first visited them. It is only the gospel that can help us gain a righteous standing before God and it is only when we are saturated in the gospel that we can be sanctified. VS 9 “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?” When I read this, what pops in my mind are the lyrics from Come thou Fount of every blessing “Prone to wander Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.” The Galatian church was wandering away from God, they were going back to that which they had turned away from. How easy it is for us Christians to wander away from the God that loves us. Our hearts are so prone to leave and wander away thinking that we can find something better than the gospel elsewhere. But Paul reminds us, to forsake those things and to run to Christ and the gospel, and that we may be able to sing the other lyrics of Come thou Fount that says, “here’s my heart, O take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above.”