Not by Works (Part 6) - by Creflo Dollar Summary Jesus died to give us the opportunity to become adopted sons and daughters of God, led by the Holy Spirit. It is dishonorable and prideful for us to try to fulfill the demands of the Law when Jesus has set us free. We are now free from the bondage of having to rely on our own ability to become right with God. Many times we try to keep the Law so we can have something to brag about. However, submitting ourselves to God and living a Spirit-led life is much more rewarding than trying to keep the Law. “Tell me, you who are bent on being under the Law, will you listen to what the Law [really] says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bond-maid and one by the free woman (Galatians 4:21, 22, AMP). One son was born according to the flesh “and had an ordinary birth; the son of the free woman was born in fulfillment of the promise” (Galatians 4:23, AMP). In an effort to produce the child God promised them, Sarah gave her maid Hagar to Abraham. However, when Abraham and Hagar had a son outside of God’s promise, He didn’t speak to Abraham for another thirteen years (Genesis 16:9-16; Genesis 17:1) God is not going to force us to do things His way. When we insist on doing things our way, He will allow us to do so. “Now all this is an allegory; these [two women] represent two covenants. One covenant originated from Mount Sinai [where the Law was given], and bears [children destined] for slavery; this is a Hagar” (Galatians 4:24, AMP). An allegory is a figurative treatment of a subject under the guise of another subject. We are now under the covenant of grace, being guided by the Holy Spirit instead of rules and laws (Galatians 4:24-31, AMP). Ishmael was the son produced by human ability instead of God’s promise. Isaac was born when Abraham was no longer able to produce a child through his human ability. Therefore, Isaac was the child of the promise, born by God’s ability instead of human ability. Likewise, we are also children of the promise because we have been given the promise of the Holy Spirit. Scripture References Galatians 4:21-31, AMP Genesis 16:9-16 Genesis 17:1
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 12:36:42 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015