05/10/2026
📖 Exposition on Galatians (Lesson 16)
Children of Promise, Not of the Bondwoman
Galatians 4:21–31
In Genesis chapter 1, God spoke to the earth that was without form, void, and covered with darkness upon the face of the deep, saying, “Let there be light.” When light came upon the earth, it was divided into light and darkness. The reason our hearts become confused, weary, or unable to discern what to do is that the light of the Word has not shone upon them. When the Word of God enters us, that light brings order to our confused hearts and enables us to receive God’s guidance clearly.
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Ye That Desire to Be Under the Law
The words beginning in Galatians 4:21 clearly arrange for us the matter of “law or promise.” This must be clearly settled not only in the hearts of those who are not saved, but also in the hearts of saved believers. The believers in the Galatian church suffered great confusion because law and promise had become mixed together in their hearts. They were not clear whether they should keep the law or follow the promise of God.
> “Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?”
(Galatians 4:21, KJV)
The believers in the Galatian church desired to be under the law. Is it good to live according to the law, or is it not? If it seemed bad, people would abandon it. But because it appears good, they hold on to it. However, if one fails to live according to the law, he comes under a curse. Since there is not one person among us who can keep the law perfectly, to be under the law is to be under the curse.
Yet many people do not think about what happens when they fail to keep the law. They only think about keeping it. Therefore, the thought, “If I live according to the law, blessings will come, so I must live that way,” rules their hearts.
Paul said to the Galatian believers, “Ye that desire to be under the law.” This means that they were trying to receive blessings by living according to the law. But there is no one who can receive blessings that way. No one except Jesus can live according to the law.
Is there anyone who, as Jesus said, can turn the left cheek when struck on the right? Is there anyone who can go ten miles when compelled to go five? Is there anyone who can lend money without any thought of receiving it back? There is no one. Yet people still possess a heart that desires to be under the law.
In Luke chapter 18, there is the story of two men who went up to the temple to pray: a Pharisee and a publican. The Pharisee prayed, “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.” He also said that he fasted twice a week and gave tithes of all that he possessed. But the publican could not even lift his eyes toward heaven. He smote upon his breast and prayed, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”
Yet the Bible says that the publican went down to his house justified. God did not declare the Pharisee righteous, though he claimed to have lived well. Rather, He declared righteous the publican who was too ashamed even to lift his eyes toward heaven.
Here, the Pharisee represents a person under the law, while the publican represents a person under the promise of God. The Bible clearly distinguishes between one who seeks righteousness through the works of the law and one who receives righteousness through the promise of God.
The lawyer in Luke chapter 10, who asked Jesus, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” was also a man under the law. Even though no one can receive eternal life by doing the Word of God, he stood under the law, seeking to receive blessings by living according to the Word.
Even among saved believers, there are those whose hearts are under the law, and there are those whose hearts are under the promise.
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Those Whose Hearts Are Under the Promise
What kind of person is under the promise of God? It is one who clearly knows that he can never become righteous by keeping the law. Such a person has no choice but to hold on to the promise of God.
In John chapter 9, the disciples of Jesus saw a man who had been blind from birth begging, and they asked Jesus, “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” People try to find the cause of problems in man because they think that if one does well, he receives blessings, and if one does wrong, he receives punishment. This is the heart that is under the law.
God is not such a God. How did Jesus answer His disciples? He said that it was not because of this man’s sin or his parents’ sin, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. This means that the reason we have problems is not because we did wrong, but so that the works of God may be revealed.
How does God work? Because we are His children, He causes us to be blessed. Therefore, those whose hearts are under the promise have hope through God in every circumstance and give glory to Him.
A person under the law says before problems, “This happened to me because I lived wrongly,” or says to others, “This happened to you because there is something wrong in you before God.” Such a person is under the law himself and also preaches the law to others.
In the church, there are those who preach the law, and there are those who preach the promise. Is your heart under the law, or under the promise?
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Not Children of the Bondwoman, but Children of Promise
Believers are those who have received by faith the grace God has spoken. They are those who have entered into the promise of God. Yet Satan deceives them and continually tries to drag them back under the law.
> “Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.”
(Galatians 4:21–23, KJV)
Abraham had two sons. One was Ishmael, born after the flesh through the bondwoman, and the other was Isaac, born by promise through the freewoman.
> “Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bo***ge, which is Agar.
For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bo***ge with her children.
But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”
(Galatians 4:24–26, KJV)
As Paul explained, Hagar, the bondwoman, represents the law. Hagar was young and healthy, and she bore a child by her own strength. In contrast, Sarah, whose monthly cycle had ceased and who could not bear children, bore a child by the promise of God. That son was Isaac.
> “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.”
(Galatians 4:28, KJV)
Paul told the Galatian believers, “You are not children of the bondwoman, but children of promise.” When we were saved, we were saved not by the works of the law, but by believing the promise. God delivered us from sin and perfected us forever. This is the promise of God. Whoever believes this promise becomes righteous and perfect. He becomes a child of promise.
Yet there are people who hear this Word and say, “Still, we must live according to the Word of God.” Trying to live according to the Word may seem good, but if one follows that path, he can never reach the righteousness of God. We become perfect within the promise of God when we believe the promise.
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The Gibeonites Who Were Under the Promise
When the Israelites entered Canaan to conquer it, the six nations living in the land prepared to fight. But the inhabitants of Gibeon said, “We can never defeat them. Let us surrender.”
They devised a plan. Their ambassadors loaded old sacks and torn, mended wineskins on their donkeys. They wore old patched sandals and old garments, and they brought moldy bread with them. Then they came to the camp of Israel.
When Joshua asked them who they were and where they had come from, they said, “We have come from a far country because we heard of the great things God did in Egypt and on the other side of Jordan, and we have come to make a covenant with you.” They said that the bread they had taken when they left home had become dry and moldy, and that their sandals, garments, and wineskins had become worn out and torn.
Joshua listened to them and made a covenant with them. The Gibeonites lied in order to live, and Joshua was deceived and made a covenant with them.
> “And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.”
(Joshua 9:15, KJV)
Three days after making the covenant, they discovered that the Gibeonites were actually people living in the land of Canaan.
> “And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim.”
(Joshua 9:17, KJV)
What would you do with the Gibeonites, who obtained the covenant by lying? Many people would say, “You lied, so this promise is invalid.” However, because Joshua and the leaders had sworn to them by the name of God, they could not break the promise.
> “And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel….”
(Joshua 9:18, KJV)
Once a promise is obtained, no matter what the Gibeonites were like, that promise does not change. When we enter into a promise with God, no matter what we are like, that promise never changes. Even if we are foolish, proud, or evil, the promise does not change.
In Numbers 23, God says that He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither has He seen perverseness in Israel. This was because Israel had obtained the promise of God. They did not serve God well, but God did not change His promise.
God has said that He has perfected us forever. That promise never changes. Even if we resist and oppose God, He still looks at us and says that we are perfect. But Satan says, “Look at yourself. Do you even know what kind of person you are?” If we listen to that voice and leave the Word of promise to look at ourselves, we will fall.
We must not believe our own judgment; we must stand before God.
What did the Gibeonites do after their lie was exposed? When the other peoples of Canaan came against them, calling them traitors, they asked Joshua for help. Some may think, “How can they ask for help after lying?” But they sent messengers to Joshua and said, “Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us.”
This is a truly beautiful scene. They were people under the promise.
Saved believers must be bold under the promise. Even if we have lived darkly, wickedly, and falsely, God works for us according to His promise. If our hearts go down under the law, we cannot live the life of faith properly. We become bound by ourselves and by our circumstances and lose strength.
In every situation, our hearts must go under the promise.
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Cast Out the Bondwoman and Her Son
God promised to give a son to Sarah, who could not bear children, and according to that promise, Isaac was born. We who are saved are children of promise, born by the promise of God, just like Isaac.
> “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.”
(Galatians 4:28–29, KJV)
When Sarah gave birth to Isaac, Ishmael, the son born of Hagar, was fourteen years older. Ishmael mocked young Isaac after he was weaned. When Sarah saw this, she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.”
Just as the one born after the flesh persecuted the one born after the Spirit in Genesis, so it is now. The child of promise may appear outwardly weak and lacking, and the one born after the flesh mocks the one born after the Spirit.
“Why is your life like that? You should live more properly according to the Word.”
When believers hear such words, their hearts are continually dragged under the law. They begin to feel that they must live properly. But our lives are not required to be perfect; we must stand under the promise of God. God has made us perfect. Therefore, when we feel that we are lacking, we should not try to live perfectly by ourselves, but go before God, who says we are perfect.
> “Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”
(Galatians 4:30, KJV)
Trying to become perfect by doing something is of the law. It is the son of the bondwoman. God says to cast it out. We must cast out from within us the heart that seeks to receive God’s grace or blessings by doing something. And we must establish the heart that believes the promise.
> “So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.”
(Galatians 4:31, KJV)
We who are saved are not children of the bondwoman, but children of the freewoman. We are children of promise.
