Year 5, Day 140: Galatians 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Challenge

• Challenge: God does not merely wish us to be in relationship with Him as we are.  He challenges us to grow, stretch, and transform as we take on the mantle of being His representatives to this world.

I believe Galatians 4 is all about the challenge.  We can see this because Paul is bold in his proclamation to a bunch of Jews.  He compares being under the Law to Ishmael, the slave born to Hagar.  He compares being free in Christ to Isaac, the child of the promise born to Sarah.  This is a bold claim indeed.

Paul knows that his audience wants to identify with Sarah and more so with Isaac, the child of the promise.  But by comparing the Law to Ishmael, Paul sets up conflict within his audience.  He uses this conflict to challenge the Galatians to jump to the side grace and to be willing to give up the idea that a person is justified by their ability to do the law.

I believe the same challenge exists within our culture today.  How many of us will only listen to a certain person, or a certain gender, or people of a certain age, or people who dress a certain way, or people who cut their hair a certain way, or people who have a certain amount of money?  We as human beings like to put limits and credentials upon those to whom we will listen.  But Paul advocates a position of grace.  He advocates a position of spirit.

Does the Holy Spirit only indwell those who dress the right way?  Does the Spirit only indwell with people who cross over a certain threshold of money?  Does the Spirit only indwell with people of a particular gender?  I can keep going.  But what I’m getting at here is how we respond to challenge.  Do we have to have things our way?  Or am I open to however God is working in my life?  That is the challenge that Paul puts forward here in this chapter.

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