Hagar and Sarah

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March 1, 2009 - Galatians 4:21-31

Open It

  1. What is unique about being the firstborn child in a family?

  2. In your family, how were you and your siblings each treated differently?

Explore It

  1. Before the Galatians truly gave themselves over to the Law, what did Paul ask them to consider? (4:21)

  2. Why did Paul appeal to the example of Abraham? (4:22)

  3. What was the difference in status between Abraham's two sons? (4:22)

  4. How were Abraham's sons conceived? (4:23)

  5. How did Hagar represent the covenant at Mount Sinai? (4:24)

  6. How did Paul refer to the birth of Abraham's sons? (4:24-27)

  7. In what way did Hagar typify first-century Jerusalem? (4:25)

  8. How was Sarah an example of the "Jerusalem that is above"? (4:26-27)

  9. How did Paul apply an ancient prophecy to Sarah's history? (4:27)

  10. How were the Galatians like Isaac (the child of promise)? (4:28)

  11. How were the Judaizers like Ishmael (the child of slavery)? (4:29)

  12. Based on his illustration, how did Paul expect the Galatians to deal with the legalists? (4:28-30)

  13. How did Paul compare Ishmael's persecution of Isaac to the legalists' opposition to the Christians? (4:29-30)

  14. How did Paul align himself with the Galatians and Sarah? (4:31)

Get It

  1. Why was Paul's allegory helpful in explaining Law and grace?

  2. In your family, do you feel like a child of Hagar or a child of Sarah? Why?

  3. In what ways do Christians try to impose extra-biblical standards on one another?

  4. Which of your own rules or personal standards are you tempted to require of others?

  5. How does the new birth in Christ give us freedom?

  6. What do you have in common with Isaac?

  7. How should you treat people who try to impose their standards on you?

Apply It

  1. What can you do this week to encourage other Christians to enjoy their freedom in Christ?

  2. What will help you avoid unfairly imposing your own standards on others?

  3. How can you start drawing on your inheritance in Christ today?

Notes

Galatians 4:21ff: People are saved because of their faith in Christ, not because of what they do. Paul contrasted those who are enslaved to the law (represented by Hagar, the slave woman) with those who are free from the law (represented by Sarah, the free woman). Hagar's abuse of Sarah (Genesis 16:4) was like the persecution that the Gentile Christians were getting from the Judaizers who insisted on keeping the law in order to be saved. Eventually Sarah triumphed because God kept his promise to give her a son, just as those who worship Christ in faith will also triumph.

Galatians 4:24: Paul explained that what happened to Sarah and Hagar is an allegory or picture of the relationship between God and mankind. Paul was using a type of argument that was common in his day and that was probably being used against him by his opponents.

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