d the same faith in
Christ, one and the same Holy Ghost, and the same sacraments.

Do not mistake this one word "above" to refer to the triumphant Church
in heaven, but to the militant Church on earth. In Philippians 3:20,
the Apostle uses the phrase: "Our conversation is in heaven," not
locally in heaven, but in spirit. When a believer accepts the heavenly
gifts of the Gospel he is in heaven. So also in Ephesians 1:3, "Who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in
Christ." Jerusalem here means the universal Christian Church on earth.

Sarah, the Church, as the bride of Christ bears free children who are
not subject to the Law.

VERSE 27. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not;
break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath
many more children than she which hath an husband.

Paul quotes the allegorical prophecy of Isaiah to the effect that the
mother of many children must die desolately, while the barren woman
shall have an abundance of children. (Isaiah 54:1.) He applies this
prophecy to Hagar and Sarah, to the Law and the Gospel. The Law as the
husband of the fruitful woman procreates many children. For men of all
ages have had the idea that they are right when they follow after the
Law and outwardly perform its requirements.

Although the Law has many children, they are not free. They are slaves.
As servants they cannot have a share in the inheritance, but are driven
from the house as Ishmael was cast out of the house of Abraham. In fact
the servants of the Law are even now barred from the kingdom of light
and liberty, for "he that believeth not, is condemned already." (John
3:18.) As the servants of the Law they remain under the curse of the
Law, under sin and death, under the power of the devil, and under the
wrath and judgment of God.

On the other hand, Sarah, the free Church, seems barren. The Gospel of
the Cross which the Church proclaims does not have the appeal that the
Law has for men, and therefore it does not find many adherents. The
Church does not look prosperous. Unbelievers have always predicted the
death of the Church. The Jews were quite certain that the Church would
not long endure. They said to Paul: "As concerning this sect, we know
that everywhere it is spoken against." (Acts 28:22.) No matter how
barren and forsaken, how weak and desolate the Church may seem, she
alone is really fruitful before God. By the Gospel she procreates an
infinite number of children that are free heirs of everlasting life.

The Law, "the old husband," is really dead. But not all people know it,
or want to know it. They labor and bear the burden and the heat of the
day, and bring forth many children, children that are bastards like
themselves, children born to be put out of the house like Ishmael to
perish forever. Accursed be that doctrine, life, and religion which
endeavors to obtain righteousness before God by the Law and its creeds.

The scholastics think that the judicial and ceremonial laws of Moses
were abolished by the coming of Christ, but not the moral law. They are
blind. When Paul declares that we are delivered from the curse of the
Law he means the whole Law, particularly the moral law which more than
the other laws accuses, curses, and condemns the conscience. The Ten
Commandments have no right to condemn that conscience in which Jesus
dwells, for Jesus has taken from the Ten Commandments the right and
power to curse us.

Not as if the conscience is now insensitive to the terrors of the Law,
but the Law cannot drive the conscience to despair. "There is now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1.) "If the
Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (John 8:36.)

You will complain: "But I am not doing anything." That is right. You
cannot do a thing to be delivered from the tyranny of the Law. But
listen to the glad tidings which the Holy Ghost brings to you in the
words of the prophet: "Rejoice, thou barren." As Christ is greater than
the Law, so much more excellent is the righteousness of Christ than the
righteousness of the Law.

In one more respect the Law has been abolished. The civil laws of Moses
do not concern us, and should not be put back in force. That does not
mean that we are exempt from obedience to the civil laws under which we
live. On the contrary, the Gospel commands Christians to obey
government "not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake." (Romans
13:5.)

Neither do the ordinances of Moses or those of the Pope concern us. But
because life cannot go on without some ordinances, the Gospel permits
regulations to be made in the Church in regard to special days, times,
places, etc., in order that the people may know upon what day, at what
hour, and in what place to assemble for the Word of God. Such
directions are desirable that "all things be done decently and in
order." (I Cor. 14:40.) These directions may be changed or omitted
altogether, as long as no offense is given to the weak.

Paul, however, refers particularly to the abolition of the moral law.
If faith alone in Christ justifies, then the whole Law is abolished
without exception. And this the Apostle proves by the testimony of
Isaiah, who bids the barren to rejoice because she will have many
children, whereas she that has a husband and many children will be
forsaken.

Isaiah calls the Church barren because her children are born without
effort by the Word of faith through the Spirit of God. It is a matter
of birth, not of exertion. The believer too works, but not in an effort
to become a son and an heir of God. He is that before he goes to work.
He is born a son and an heir. He works for the glory of God and the
welfare of his fellowmen.

VERSE 28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

The Jews claimed to be the children of God because they were the
children of Abraham. Jesus answered them, John 8:39, 40, "If ye were
Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek
to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth." And in verse 42: "If
God were your Father, ye would love me." In other words: "You are not
the children of God. If you were, you would know and love me. Brothers
born and living together in the same house recognize each other. You do
not recognize me. You are of your father, the devil."

We are not like these Jews, the children of the bondwoman, the Law, who
were cast out of the house by Jesus. We are children of the promise
like Isaac, born of grace and faith unto an everlasting inheritance.

VERSE 29. But as that he that was born after the flesh persecuted him
that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

This is a cheering thought. We who are born of the Gospel, and live in
Christ, and rejoice in our inheritance, have Ishmael for our enemy. The
children of the Law will always persecute the children of the Gospel.
This is our daily experience. Our opponents tell us that everything was
at peace before the Gospel was revived by us. Since then the whole
world has been upset. People blame us and the Gospel for everything,
for the disobedience of subjects to their rulers, for wars, plagues,
and famines, for revolutions, and every other evil that can be
imagined. No wonder our opponents think they are doing God a favor by
hating and persecuting us. Ishmael will persecute Isaac.

We invite our opponents to tell us what good things attended the
preaching of the Gospel by the apostles. Did not the destruction of
Jerusalem follow on the heels of the Gospel? And how about the
overthrow of the Roman Empire? Did not the whole world seethe with
unrest as the Gospel was preached in the whole world? We do not say
that the Gospel instigated these upheavals. The iniquity of man did it.

Our opponents blame our doctrine for the present turmoil. But ours is a
doctrine of grace and peace. It does not stir up trouble. Trouble
starts when the people, the nations and their rulers of the earth rage
and take counsel together against the Lord, and against His anointed.
(Psalm 2.) But all their counsels shall be brought to naught. "He that
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in
derision." (Psalm 2:4.) Let them cry out against us as much as they
like. We know that they are the cause of all their own troubles.

As long as we preach Christ and confess Him to be our Savior, we must
be content to be called vicious trouble makers. "These that have turned
the world upside down are come hither also; and these all do contrary
to the decrees of Caesar," so said the Jews of Paul and Silas. (Acts
17:6, 7.) Of Paul they said: "We have found this man a pestilent
fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the
world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes." The Gentiles
uttered similar complaints: "These men do exceedingly trouble our
city."

This man Luther is also accused of being a pestilent fellow who
troubles the papacy and the Roman empire. If I would keep silent, all
would be well, and the Pope would no more persecute me. The moment I
open my mouth the Pope begins to fume and to rage. It seems we must
choose between Christ and the Pope. Let the Pope perish.

Christ foresaw the reaction of the world to the Gospel. He said: "I am
come to send fire on the earth, and what will I, if it be already
kindled?" (Luke 12:49.)

Do not take the statement of our opponents seriously, that no good can
come of the preaching of the Gospel. What do they know? They would not
recognize the fruits of the Gospel if they saw them.

At any rate, our opponents cannot accuse us of adultery, murder, theft,
and such crimes. The worst they can say about us is that we have the
Gospel. What is wrong with the Gospel? We teach that Christ, the Son of
God, has redeemed us from sin and everlasting death. This is not our
doctrine. It belongs to Christ. If there is anything wrong with it, it
is not our fault. If they want to condemn Christ for being our Savior
and Redeemer, that is their lookout. We are mere onlookers, watching to
see who will win the victory, Christ or His opponents.

On one occasion Jesus remarked: "If ye were of the world, the world
would love his own, but because ye are not of the world, but I have
chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." (John
15:19.) In other words: "I am the cause of all your troubles. I am the
one for whose sake you are killed. If you did not confess my name, the
world would not hate you. The servant is not greater than his lord. If
they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you."

Christ takes all the blame. He says: "You have not incurred the hatred
and persecutions of the world. I have. But be of good cheer; I have
overcome the world."

VERSE 30. Nevertheless what saith the Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman
and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the
son of the free woman.

Sarah's demand that the bondwoman and her son be cast out of the house
was undoubtedly a blow to Abraham. He felt sorry for his son Ishmael.
The Scripture explicitly states Abraham's grief in the words: "And the
thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight, because of his son." (Gen.
21:11.) But God approved Sarah's action and said to Abraham: "Let it
not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy
bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her
voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called." (Gen. 21:12.)

The Holy Ghost contemptuously calls the admirers of the Law the
children of the bondwoman. "If you do not know your mother, I will tell
you what kind of a woman she is. She is a slave. And you are slaves.
You are slaves of the Law and therefore slaves of sin, death, and
everlasting damnation. You are not fit to be heirs. You are put out of
the house."

This is the sentence which God pronounces upon the Ishmaelites, the
papists, and all others who trust in their own merits, and persecute
the Church of Christ. Because they are slaves and persecutors of the
children of the free woman, they shall be cast out of the house of God
forever. They shall have no inheritance with the children of the
promise. This sentence stands forever.

This sentence affects not only those popes, cardinals bishops, and
monks who were notoriously wicked and made their bellies their Gods. It
strikes, also, those who lived in all sincerity to please God and to
merit the forgiveness of their sins through a life of self-denial. Even
these will be cast out, because they are children of the bondwoman.

Our opponents do not defend their own moral delinquency. The better
ones deplore and abhor it. But they defend and uphold their doctrine of
works which is of the devil. Our quarrel is not with those who live in
manifest sins. Our quarrel is with those among them who think they live
like angels, claiming that they do not only perform the Ten
Commandments of God, but also the sayings of Christ, and many good
works that God does not expect of them. We quarrel with them because
they refuse to have Jesus' merit count alone for righteousness.

St. Bernard was one of the best of the medieval saints. He lived a
chaste and holy life. But when it came to dying he did not trust in his
chaste life for salvation. He prayed: "I have lived a wicked life. But
Thou, Lord Jesus, hast a heaven to give unto me. First, because Thou
art the Son of God. Secondly, because Thou hast purchased heaven for me
by Thy suffering and death. Thou givest heaven to me, not because I
earned it, but because Thou hast earned it for me." If any of the
Romanists are saved it is because they forget their good deeds and
merits and feel like Paul: "Not having mine own righteousness which is
of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ." (Phil.
3:9.)

VERSE 31. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but
of the free.

With this sentence the Apostle Paul concludes his allegory of the
barren Church. This sentence forms a clear rejection of the
righteousness of the Law and a confirmation of the doctrine of
justification. In the next chapter Paul lays special stress upon the
freedom which the children of the free woman enjoy. He treats of
Christian liberty, the knowledge of which is very necessary. The
liberty which Christ purchased for us is a bulwark to us in our battle
against spiritual tyranny. Therefore we must carefully study this
doctrine of Christian liberty, not only for the confirmation of the
doctrine of justification, but also for the comfort and encouragement
of those who are weak in faith.

CHAPTER 5

IN this chapter the Apostle Paul presents the doctrine of Christian
liberty in a final effort to persuade the Galatians to give up the
nefarious doctrine of the false apostles. To accomplish his purpose he
adduces threats and promises, trying in every way possible to keep them
in the liberty which Christ purchased for them.

VERSE 1. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made
us free.

"Be steadfast, not careless. Lie not down and sleep, but stand up. Be
watchful. Hold fast the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free."
Those who loll cannot keep this liberty. Satan hates the light of the
Gospel. When it begins to shine a little he fights against it with
might and main.

What liberty does Paul mean? Not civil liberty (for which we have the
government to thank), but the liberty which Christ has procured for us.

At one time the emperor was compelled to grant to the bishop of Rome
certain immunities and privileges. This is civil liberty. That liberty
exempts the clergy from certain public charges. Then there is also
another kind of "liberty," when peo