Galatians 4:21
21 Tell [lego] me [moi], ye that desire [thelo] to
be [einai] under [hupo] the law [nomos], do ye [akouo] not [ou] hear [akouo] the law [nomos]? KJV-Interlinear
21 Tell me, you who want to be
under law, do you not listen to the law? NASB
Paul is going to describe an example between the
life of someone who is free, and the life of someone who is a slave.
Those who choose the life of slavery, are ignorant
of the truth and do not know what they are choosing.
And Paul begins with this verse, which in effect
says, once you know the difference between freedom and slavery, tell me then
that you desire to be under the law, tell me then that you desire to place your
life in slavery, rather than freedom.
The law in this case, is referring to a story from
the book of Genesis.
Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. And
often, all five books are collectively referred to as the law. But the example
for this, came from the time of Abraham, which was several centuries prior to
the writing of these books by Moses.
And in his example, Paul, will describe the life of
Ishmael and his mother, as compared to the life of Isaac.
The first, Ishmael, was a slave child born to a
slave mother, of which both lived like slaves, were treated like slaves, and
were rejected as slaves. Ishmael was not the son of promise or of freedom.
Isaac on the other hand, was born free, grew up free,
and possessed honors in his life of freedom.
The law, represents submitting oneself to works for
the accomplishment of freedom, but is in reality a choice for slavery.
Faith, represents submitting oneself to the work of
God, and is in reality true freedom.
When submitting yourself, and looking to, the
energy of your own efforts, you are also subscribing to the limitations and
restrictions and burdens of this world. And from that there is no escape.
When submitting yourself to Christ, who is the
sovereign authority over heaven and this universe and all that exists, then
there are no limitations, no restrictions, and no burdens that can enter into,
much less hinder your life.
What most people don’t seem to get, is that you
cannot subscribe to something that you do not know or understand. And in order
to align yourself with Christ, you have to learn Christ, which is the word of God,
and that requires a daily study.
The right choice of course is freedom, but in
freedom there is responsibility. Absent
that, the default is slavery.
