Galatians 4:21-5:1
Tell me, you who desire to be subject to the law, will you not listen to
the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave
woman and the other by a free woman. One, the child of the slave, was
born according to the flesh; the other, the child of the free woman, was
born through the promise. Now this is an allegory: these women are two
covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar, from Mount Sinai, bearing
children for slavery. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds
to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But
the other woman corresponds to the Jerusalem above; she is free, and she
is our mother. For it is written,
"Rejoice, you childless one, you who bear no children,
burst into song and shout, you who endure no birth pangs;
for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous
than the children of the one who is married."
Now you, my friends, are children of the promise, like Isaac. But just as
at that time the child who was born according to the flesh persecuted the
child who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. But what
does the scripture say? "Drive out the slave and her child; for the child
of the slave will not share the inheritance with the child of the free
woman." So then, friends, we are children, not of the slave but of the
free woman.
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not
submit again to a yoke of slavery.
