Enslaved by the Law | What we Learn from Galatians 4:21-27

Topic: Enslaved by the Law | What we Learn from Galatians 4:21-27

Reading: Galatians 4:21-27

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under law, do you not hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise. 24 Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not in travail; for the children of the desolate one are many more than the children of her that is married.”

Introduction and Overview

The law given through Moses is holy, just, and good. But it came with a cost. It was necessary, but there was a better way coming. The purpose of the law was to attempt to bring sin under control. But by doing that people were enslaved by the law. People had to keep the law or suffer condemnation as sinners. There were severe and serious consequences for breaking God’s law. And while the law was good, it came with a sting.

Being enslaved by the law was never God’s plan. God’s plan was for people to do what was good, right, and true because it was the right thing to do, and to please God. He never intended for us to be enslaved by the law. His intent was for man to be free. Not to do whatever we want, but free to do what is right. We have the freedom to choose what is good, right, and true. Sadly, mankind as a whole chose evil rather tan good. As Jesus showed:

And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

It was because mankind chose darkness rather than light that we became enslaved by the law.

But we see in these scriptures from Galatians today, that this slavery has roots that start long before Moses was given the law. The roots of this slavery go back to Abraham. In the explanation of this scripture, we also find a disturbing situation that affects the modern church.

Even though the church today talks about freedom from the law, most of the church is enslaved by the law. Why? Because they do not teach true freedom from the law and how we receive this freedom from God through Jesus Christ. Much of the church proves they are still enslaved by the law because they call themselves sinners. Sin is the breaking of the law. But if you are truly set free from the law, then you are not under the power of sin and cannot be called a sinner. You cannot break a law that you are no longer under. Therefore, when a person calls themselves a sinner, they are showing that they are still enslaved by the law.

But there is a way to break free from the bonds of slavery under the law. It is achievable through faith in Jesus Christ and doing what He instructed. We are set free from the law when we die with Christ in baptism and are raised as new creations in His resurrection. Water baptism and faith in what God has achieved in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the key to cease being enslaved b the law. (If you want to know more about this, grab a copy of my FREE eBook discussing the Six Foundation Teachings of Christianity).

So, let us look at the teachings in these words today. We will see that being enslaved under the law goes back a lot further than the receiving of the law through Moses, and what it means for us today.

Key points from reading:

• It is written in the law and prophets that we are to be set free from the law
• There are two covenants, one that leads to being enslaved under the law, and one that sets us free from the law and sin.
• Those who become followers of the law and are enslaved by the law far outnumber those who are set free from the law and from sin in Jesus Christ.

Discussion:

Scripture: Galatians 4:20 – Do not seek to be enslaved by the law

• In the books of the law and prophets we are given an analogy for this situation. We are encouraged to read and learn from what is written there, for it explains why so many are enslaved by the law.
• As already mentioned, the law is holy, just, and good. But the law enslaves people to do its bidding. It was necessary for a time to bring sin under control. But the law was never the full story. It was never intended to be the path through which the promises of God would be received by His people.
• The law was a teacher to show us right from wrong. It was enacted to define sin and righteousness. But it was not able to make a person good. The law could not transform the heart and mind of a person to become like Christ. All it could do was punish or reward those who broke or kept the law. And that is how people were enslaved by the law.

Scripture: Galatians 4:22-23 – The two sons of Abraham

• In the Old Testament we find that Abraham had two sons. But they were born to different mothers and under very different circumstances. God had come to Abraham some time earlier and promised that he would have a son to inherit his wealth and property. He was told that this son would be born through his wife, Sarah.
• Now this presented a problem because Sarah was already old and past the time of menopause. She also had some physical condition that prevented her from bearing children. But because God spoke to Abraham that this would happen, Abraham believed God could do anything. And so God reckoned righteousness to Abraham because Abraham believed God. The son he was to have through Sarah was promised to him by God, even though in every physical way it seemed impossible.
• Now, Sarah had a maid, an Egyptian slave woman named Hagar. Sarah knew she herself was unable to bear children, so she gave Hagar to Abraham saying, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my maid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” The scripture tells us that Abraham hearkened to his wife Sarah and Hagar bore him a son named Ishmael. Ishmael was born when Abraham was eighty-six years old.
• It was after this that God came to Abraham and promised him a son by Sarah. And here is where we see a distinction between these two women and the two sons.
• Ishmael was born of Hagar some fourteen or so years before Isaac. Ishmael was born because Sarah thought she could never have a child and sought through Hagar to give Abraham an heir of his own flesh. Thus Ishmael was born as the son of a slave woman and was conceived through the flesh.
• By contrast, Isaac was born of Sarah, the son of a free woman. Isaac was born as the result of a promise from God to Abraham that he would have a son by Sarah. And Isaac was conceived, not of the flesh, but because God healed whatever the physical issues were in Sarah’s body preventing her from bearing children. God also opened up her ovaries and womb to enable Sarah to carry Isaac, even though Sarah was well past menopause, and was about ninety years old. Thus, Isaac was not born by the will of the flesh, but through the power of God and by the promise of God.
• Now, Hagar was a slave but Sarah was a free woman. And these differences are important as we see in the next verses.

Scripture: Galatians 4:24-26 – The Children Enslaved by the Law

• The scripture here refers to these two women, Hagar and Sarah, as an allegory of the two covenants.
• Hagar was an Egyptian slave from Mount Sinai and she was in slavery. The scripture then aligns her to the Mount Sinai, which was the mountain where Moses received the law hundreds of years later. And just as Hagar bore a son (Ishmael) who was born under slavery, the allegory shows that Mount Sinai represents those born under the slavery of the law. The scripture here shows that Hagar represents the current Jerusalem, the physical Jerusalem and nation of Israel, that is born enslaved by the law. All people are born under the power of the Old Covenant law and Hagar represents all who are enslaved by the law, just as she was a slave herself.
• Sarah, though, was a free woman. She was not born under slavery and her son Isaac was not born a slave. Furthermore, Isaac was not born by the will and desire of the flesh, but was conceived through the promise, power, and working of God. There is no way that Isaac could or should have been born apart from the power and working of God, as He promised to Abraham. Sarah’s children represent those who are free and they are those who are born, or born again, under the New Covenant.
• When we come to Christ to receive the promises of God and are born again as new creations in Christ, we step out of the slavery of the law and sin. We are removed from sin and cease to be enslaved by the law by the power and working of God. When we receive the death and resurrection of Christ through baptism, we die to the Old Covenant of law, and are raised as new creations under the New Covenant of freedom in Jesus Christ.
• Effectively we cease to be citizens of the “old Jerusalem,” which is enslaved by the law, and we become citizens of the spiritual Jerusalem from above that is free.
• Through faith in the working of God and the power of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are reckoned righteous. And we are reckoned as children of Abraham because we share the same faith that he had. He believed God and was reckoned righteous, and we believe God and are likewise reckoned righteous too. We are no longer enslaved by the law, but we start living under the power of grace.

Scripture: Galatians 4:27 – Enslaved by the Law Outnumber the Free

• This last verse is an incredible teaching. It has both a physical and spiritual perspective from which we can learn. In physical terms today (as of 2025), the world population of Jews is about 15.8 million Jews across the globe. By contrast, according to World Bank statistics, in 2024 the world Arab population was 492.6 million people. That is, the Arab nations outnumber the Jews by 31:1.
• The Arab nations are the children of Ishmael in the physical sense. But in the spiritual sense, especially as it relates to being enslaved by the law, everyone who is under the law is a child of the slave woman and is in slavery to the law. There is no distinction based upon physical genealogy. Jew, Arab, Gentiles, or any nation of peoples upon the earth, all are born as slaves under the law. Everyone is enslaved by the law when they are born. They cannot and will not escape being under the slavery of the law unless and until they come to Christ.
• I would point out also that most Christians still believe they are enslaved under the law. They may not think so, but they have not followed the path established by Christ to be set free from the law. And when they say they have to keep the commandments of tithing, fasting, and so on, or when they say they are sinners, they are proving that they are still enslaved by the law.
• This is why the scripture here says: “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not in travail; for the children of the desolate one are many more than the children of her that is married.”
• Sarah was the one who was barren. But she found great reason to rejoice in the birth of Isaac, who was born according to the promise of God. The desolate one was Hagar whose son was born under slavery and according to the flesh. And like them, there are many more who are the children of the flesh, born under the slavery of the law. And there are likewise very few who are truly born again of the Spirit in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• This situation is echoed in the words of Jesus when He said: “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
• There are few who will even FIND the gate that leads to life, let alone enter it. We have to seek diligently and listen to the words of Jesus to accurately learn the truth. We can escape the slavery under the law through Jesus Christ. God has promised this to all who will come to Him. But we must come to Christ according to His plan and His instructions, not the ways that are based in error as taught in too many churches today.

Prayer Points:

• Pray and ask the Lord to show you the fullness of the truth that will open the door to the narrow path that leads to life.
• Pray and ask God to help you see the problems of being enslaved by the law and the method He has established through Jesus Christ to escape the confines of the law, and to remove your sins.