But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar — for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children — but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all (Galatians 4:23-26).

Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise (Galatians 4:28).

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage, (Galatians 5:1).

God is no respecter of persons – I have heard that preached by those that claim to have more of God’s respect than those they are preaching to. Too many preachers make the fact that they preach the chains around the wrists and ankles of the children of God. Those that are reborn into bondage are born of the bondswoman and not the free. But didn’t Paul refer to himself as a bondservant? Yes. Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God (Romans 1:1). Paul referred to himself as a bondservant of Jesus Christ and not of a man. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake (2 Corinthians 4:5). Paul also referred to himself as a bondservant to those that he taught. That is not the same as claiming that those you teach are your servants. Those born of faith are born of the freewoman – the Jerusalem from above. The children of Israel refused to hear the voice of God and go to the mountain for themselves, and as such they became servants of the law – the Jerusalem that is in bondage.

Those that were born from the blood of Abraham, that would not believe, became children of the bondswoman and all the children of Eve, that believe, became children of the freewoman. Jesus came to set all of mankind free, and not just those born after Abraham. A bond is either a binding (chains of slavery) or something that stands in the place of another to guarantee payment. In the quotes from Galatians above, Paul wrote of a bondswoman that was bound (in chains) to the flesh. In Romans 1:1, Paul was writing of a bondservant of Jesus Christ – and Jesus is the One standing in the place of another to guarantee payment. We are no longer children of the bondswoman because our bond has been paid and we are free. As adopted children of God, our birth in the flesh has no hold or control over us – we are free. As a believer, I may be a bondservant of the One (Jesus) that paid my bond; but He released me upon His death and at His resurrection made me a joint heir with the free. The sin of Adam made us slaves to the flesh; the Christ has set us free. Jesus broke the chains all the way back to the garden, posting a bond (His life) for the sin of Adam.

The One that paid our bond has given us only one commandment and a commission. The commandment is to “love one another,” and the commission is to go into the world, teach, and make disciples – teaching them to “love one another.” It is as it was in the garden; God gave Adam one commandment (do not eat of fruit of the tree) and a commission to tend and multiply. That is also our commission, tend (love) and multiply (make disciples). In our quest to know good and evil, we isolate the people we are told to tend (love) and deny that they are or can be disciples. In our attempts to be righteous by our own knowledge of good and evil, we hold on to the rules given to the slaves, and we enslave others with them. Jesus came to set us free – that freedom is not given to a few while new chains are given to the many. We are free – free to serve (love and multiply – tend and make disciples). The message of the gospel is the good news that we are free – the one that preaches the gospel is not our taskmaster – we are free. The word of God is not a yoke of bondage – we are free.

© 2008, Tim D. Coulter Sr.