It is written that Abraham had two
sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. —Galatians 4:22
Paul was
not dealing with sin in this chapter of Galatians, but with the relation of the
natural to the spiritual. The natural can be turned into the spiritual only
through sacrifice. Without this a person will lead a divided life. Why did God
demand that the natural must be sacrificed? God did not demand it. It is not
God’s perfect will, but His permissive will. God’s perfect will was for the
natural to be changed into the spiritual through obedience. Sin is what made it
necessary for the natural to be sacrificed.
Abraham
had to offer up Ishmael before he offered up Isaac (see Genesis 21:8-14).
Some of us are trying to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God before we have
sacrificed the natural. The only way we can offer a spiritual sacrifice to God
is to “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice…” (Romans 12:1). Sanctification
means more than being freed from sin. It means the deliberate commitment of
myself to the God of my salvation, and being willing to pay whatever it may
cost.
If we do
not sacrifice the natural to the spiritual, the natural life will resist and
defy the life of the Son of God in us and will produce continual turmoil. This
is always the result of an undisciplined spiritual nature. We go wrong because
we stubbornly refuse to discipline ourselves physically, morally, or mentally.
We excuse ourselves by saying, “Well, I wasn’t taught to be disciplined when I
was a child.” Then discipline yourself now! If you don’t, you will ruin your
entire personal life for God.
God is
not actively involved with our natural life as long as we continue to pamper
and gratify it. But once we are willing to put it out in the desert and are
determined to keep it under control, God will be with it. He will then provide
wells and oases and fulfill all His promises for the natural (see Genesis
21:15-19).
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