Galatians 4:23
23 But [alla] he [men] who was of [ek] the
bondwoman [paidiske] was born [gennao] after [kata] the flesh [sarx]; but [de] he of [ek] the freewoman [eleutheros]
was by [dia] promise [epaggelia]. KJV-Interlinear
23 But the son by the bondwoman
was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the
promise. NASB
The phrase, bondwoman born according to the flesh,
is a part of Paul’s symbolism tying together slavery, coming from the term
bondwoman, and worldly, coming from the term flesh.
And the phrase, freewoman by promise, is being used
symbolically to tie together freedom, coming from the word freewoman, and
promise, referring to Gods will.
Your status in life has nothing to do whatsoever
with your success or failure in life.
You can be wealthy beyond imagination, but that does
not make you successful.
You can be dirt poor and unemployed, but that does
not make you failure.
The world ties success or failure, to things, or to
status, or to achievement, or the lack of these things. But such is not the
case.
If you are a person who is extremely smart, and
extremely wealthy, and extremely talented, and extremely accomplished in life,
and you live your whole life with the best of the best all around you, and then
you die without having believed in Christ. Your destiny is the Lake of Fire,
which is the worst possible outcome anyone can have from their life.
So from your birth to your death, which may be
sixty or eighty or hundred years of age, or more, or less, then that lifespan
is but a pinprick on a galaxy, when compared to all of eternity. This makes you
the quintessence of failure.
If you are a person who is extremely poor, who has
no talent, no ability, no achievements or status in life. You are typically
referred to as scum and worthless by the world. But if you had the sense to
believe in Christ, and you had the desire to listen and learn Bible doctrine whenever
you could, even while standing in a soup line, and thus possessed some
semblance of spiritual growth for your life. Then you will be going to heaven,
and standing before the Lord and receiving mind-boggling reward because of your
spiritual life, and thus have blessings beyond imagination for all of eternity.
This makes you the quintessence of success.
Things or abilities or status in life have nothing
whatsoever to do with whether you will be successful or a failure in life.
The existence of your spiritual life, or lack of
it, determines the ultimate outcome of your life.
Paul is giving an example comparing slavery because
of a relationship with the world, to freedom because a relationship with God.
Abraham had two sons. His first two sons, which are
being used in this example.
The first son, was born as a result of Abraham’s
attempt to define and determine his own life. And in this effort, we call human
works.
God had made him a promise that he would have a
son. But no son came along, and so Abraham decided on his own, to have a son,
but not with his wife who seemed incapable of childbirth, but with a slave
woman who could easily get pregnant and have children.
But God’s promise was made based on truth and what
is right, and that means a proper son, born of a legitimate wife, in the normal
course of a marriage and life.
The whole principle of this particular verse
teaches that when you stubbornly pursue your own life in accordance with your
own plans, in total disregard to God’s plan, then you are chasing down the
wrong path, and the inevitable result will be failure. You cannot chase life
for the sake of life and expect to gain anything for the long, very long term.
God has a plan for your life. And more often than
not you’re going to face many difficulties, even difficulties that will seem
insurmountable. And you will be tempted to plot and plan your own way out.
Those plots and plans will arise because of your absence from a daily Bible
study. Therefore, any and all plots and plans that you might have, when they
arise apart from doctrine, are false.
If you pursue Bible doctrine, with a genuine desire
to learn and grow in your spiritual life, then God will present to you, or you
will figure out on your own, the correct plots and plans that you need to
pursue in order to overcome any and all difficulties in life, which includes
simply living with them if necessary.
Pursue the world only, and anything you have or don’t
have, or think you have, or think you don’t have, is failure.
Pursue Bible doctrine from instruction while in
fellowship, on a daily basis without exception, and you will grow up in your
spiritual life. And the results of your life may not be measured in terms of
wealth or success in this world, but when you get to heaven you will have tens
of trillions of trillions of years to celebrate real success.
