⁶ Now it is not as though God’s word has failed. Clearly, not everyone descended from Israel is part of Israel ⁷ or a descendant of Abraham. However, as Scripture says, “Through Isaac your descendants will carry on your name.” ⁸ This means that children born by natural descent from Abraham are not necessarily God’s children. Instead, children born by the promise are considered Abraham’s descendants.

⁹ For example, this is what the promise said, “I will come back at the right time, and Sarah will have a son.”

You Are God’s Children

4 Let me explain further. As long as an heir is a child, he is no better off than a slave, even though he owns everything. ² He is placed under the control of guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. ³ It was the same way with us. When we were children, we were slaves to the principles of this world. ⁴ But when the right time came, God sent his Son into the world. A woman gave birth to him, and he came under the control of the laws given to Moses. ⁵ God sent him to pay for the freedom of those who were controlled by these laws so that we would be adopted as his children. ⁶ Because you are God’s children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into us to call out, “Abba!^[a] Father!” ⁷ So you are no longer slaves but God’s children. Since you are God’s children, God has also made you heirs.

⁸ When you didn’t know God, you were slaves to things which are really not gods at all. ⁹ But now you know God, or rather, God knows you. So how can you turn back again to the powerless and bankrupt principles of this world? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again? ¹⁰ You religiously observe days, months, seasons, and years! ¹¹ I’m afraid for you. Maybe the hard work I spent on you has been wasted.

What Happened to Your Positive Attitude?

¹² Brothers and sisters, I beg you to become like me. After all, I became like you were.

You didn’t do anything wrong to me. ¹³ You know that the first time I brought you the Good News I was ill. ¹⁴ Even though my illness was difficult for you, you didn’t despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were God’s messenger^[b] or Christ Yeshua himself. ¹⁵ What happened to your positive attitude? It’s a fact that if it had been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶ Can it be that I have become your enemy for telling you the truth?

¹⁷ These people who distort the Good News are devoted to you, but not in a good way. They don’t want you to associate with me so that you will be devoted only to them. ¹⁸ (Devotion to a good cause is always good, even when I’m not with you.)

¹⁹ My children, I am suffering birth pains for you again until Christ is formed in you. ²⁰ I wish I were with you right now so that I could change the tone of my voice. I’m completely puzzled by what you’ve done!

You Are Children of the Promise

²¹ Those who want to be controlled by Moses’ laws should tell me something. Are you really listening to what Moses’ Teachings say? ²² Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one by a woman who was a slave and the other by a free woman. ²³ Now, the son of the slave woman was conceived in a natural way, but the son of the free woman was conceived through a promise made to Abraham.

²⁴ I’m going to use these historical events as an illustration. The women illustrate two arrangements.^[c] The one woman, Hagar, is the arrangement made on Mount Sinai. Her children are born into slavery. ²⁵ Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She is like Jerusalem today because she and her children are slaves. ²⁶ But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷ Scripture says:

²⁸ Now you, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise like Isaac.

²⁹ Furthermore, at that time the son who was conceived in a natural way persecuted the son conceived in a spiritual way. That’s exactly what’s happening now. ³⁰ But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, because the son of the slave woman must never share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.” ³¹ Brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave woman but of the free woman.

Live in the Freedom That Christ Gives You

5 Christ has freed us so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. Therefore, be firm in this freedom, and don’t become slaves again.

² I, Paul, can guarantee that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. ³ Again, I insist that everyone who allows himself to be circumcised must realize that he obligates himself to do everything Moses’ Teachings demand. ⁴ Those of you who try to earn God’s approval by obeying his laws have been cut off from Christ. You have fallen out of God’s favor.^{[d] 5} However, in our spiritual nature, faith causes us to wait eagerly for the confidence that comes with God’s approval. ⁶ As far as our relationship to Christ Yeshua is concerned, it doesn’t matter whether we are circumcised or not. But what matters is a faith that expresses itself through love.

¹⁷ When God tested Abraham, faith led him to offer his son Isaac. Abraham, the one who received the promises from God, was willing to offer his only son as a sacrifice. ¹⁸ God had said to him, “Through Isaac your descendants will carry on your name.” ¹⁹ Abraham believed that God could bring Isaac back from the dead. Abraham did receive Isaac back from the dead in a figurative sense.

We Show Our Faith by What We Do

¹⁴ My brothers and sisters, what good does it do if someone claims to have faith but doesn’t do any good things? Can this kind of faith save him? ¹⁵ Suppose a believer, whether a man or a woman, needs clothes or food ¹⁶ and one of you tells that person, “God be with you! Stay warm, and make sure you eat enough.” If you don’t provide for that person’s physical needs, what good does it do? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it doesn’t cause you to do any good things.

¹⁸ Another person might say, “You have faith, but I do good things.” Show me your faith apart from the good things you do. I will show you my faith by the good things I do. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. That’s fine! The demons also believe that, and they tremble with fear.

²⁰ You fool! Do you have to be shown that faith which does nothing is useless? ²¹ Didn’t our ancestor Abraham receive God’s approval as a result of what he did when he offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice on the altar? ²² You see that Abraham’s faith and what he did worked together. His faith was shown to be genuine by what he did. ²³ The Scripture passage came true. It says, “Abraham believed God, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abraham’s approval by God.” So Abraham was called God’s friend. ²⁴ You see that a person receives God’s approval because of what he does, not only because of what he believes.