Living By Rules

Living by Rules

“Slave Woman”

Read: Galatians 4:21-30

Nora tried to hide her surprise as her friend talked about her plans to play cards with her sisters after church. She definitely comes from a different background than I do, Nora observed. Nora’s family had a long list of things they weren’t allowed to do on Sundays. Movies were taboo all the time, and girls and women couldn’t wear slacks. Although Nora loved her new church and the people’s passion for God, she still struggled with her ingrained attitudes. Sometimes she felt confused and wanted to shout, “Just what are the rules, anyway?”

Nora resembles the “slave woman” of Paul’s metaphor in Galatians 4. This passage illustrates new life in Christ by contrasting two women from the Old Testament, Hagar and Sarah. As a slave woman, Hagar represents the old covenant, under which people tried to please God by following rules and regulations. Her mistress, Sarah, represents the new covenant, a life of grace in which believers rely on God’s Spirit instead of on laws to guide them in holy living.

Rules are often necessary, but in the spiritual life, no amount of adherence to laws and rituals can help us earn God’s love. We become acceptable to God by believing in Jesus, being forgiven of our sin, and receiving the gift of new life. Jesus’ sacrificial death accomplished what the old covenant could not: It empowers us for godly living through obedience to the Holy Spirit living in us. If we are legalistic in our approach to God, we miss out on the life of grace that he intended. God gives us a choice: Will we live like slave women or free women?

Now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?

Galatians 4:9