The law is a matter of man’s labor with man’s ability to produce something, whereas grace is God given to His chosen people to produce the many sons. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2670)
The experience of our father Abraham is very much related to our experience, and the things he learned in his experience with God are the things we should learn as well.
In the book of Galatians we see how the Galatian believers received the gospel through the apostle Paul and his co-workers, believed into Christ, were baptized in Him, received the Spirit through faith, and became a new creation, members of the Body of Christ.
However, at a certain time some strong “Judaizers” (brothers from the Jews who preached the gospel and tried to convince others that you need to keep the law and be circumcised in order to be saved) came to visit them, and they were distracted from the enjoyment of Christ to the law.
So in the book of Galatians Paul is fighting for the truth of the gospel, testifying clearly that salvation is through faith in Christ and we are called to walk by the Spirit. In Abraham’s experience he used his flesh to fulfill God’s purpose, and in the book of Galatians we see that the Judaizers were stirring up the believers to use their flesh to fulfill the law.
But praise the Lord for our brother Paul who made it clear that there are two covenants (represented by Sarah and Hagar), and we as believers are NOT under the covenant of the law but under the covenant of grace (Gal. 4:21-31).
The covenant God made with Abraham was a covenant of grace, and today in the new testament we are under the continuation of this covenant: we are qualified to enjoy the processed and consummated Triune God as grace day by day for the fulfillment of His purpose!
Also, Paul brought out that there are two kinds of children brought forth by the two covenants: one was Ishmael (who was rejected by God and was not an heir of the promised blessing) and the other was Isaac (the rightful heir of the promise, enjoying God as grace).
We need to see Galatians 4:21-31 in the light of Abraham’s experience in Genesis, in particular that:
Sarah and Hagar represent Two Covenants
In Galatians 4:21-31 we see that Hagar signifies the law (symbolized by the earthly Jerusalem who is under slavery and under law) and Sarah signifies grace (symbolized by the heavenly Jerusalem, the free woman) (see Gal. 4:25-26).
Hagar represents the covenant of law (man’s striving to produce something for God according to the law through his fleshly effort) and Sarah represents the covenant of grace (man enjoying God and waiting on Him to bring forth the seed). We are called NOT to labor with our ability to produce something for God under the law; we are called to enjoy God as grace until He brings forth Christ as the seed in us.
God’s desire is to have many sons, and as many as receive Him and enjoy Him by faith, He gives the authority to become children of God born of God (John 1:12-13). Grace is not merely “unmerited favor from God”; grace is God Himself being our enjoyment and our everything in order to make us sons of God.
Our Christian life should be a life full of the enjoyment of Christ as grace and not a life of laboring for God in our natural efforts under the law.
God’s Covenant with Abraham was a Covenant of Grace
The first covenant God made with man, the original covenant, is the covenant of grace God made with Abraham. According to this covenant God will bring forth many sons to Abraham but without the need for Abraham to exercise his ability or effort (see Gal. 3:29).
According to God’s covenant of grace, He brings forth many sons without man’s ability, effort, or natural zeal to help God and work for Him. This covenant, though made in the Old Testament with Abraham, equals the new testament; the new testament is the full continuation of the covenant God made with Abraham (see Gal. 3:8; Heb. 8:7-8).
The first son God produced according to His covenant with Abraham was Abraham himself, the first believer (see Gal. 4:6; Heb. 2:10), and we are the many sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:26).
Today, in the New Testament age, we are under the covenant of grace, the continuation of the covenant God made with Abraham; this means we should STOP all our fleshly efforts and endeavors to please God and work for God and simply enjoy Christ! Under the covenant of grace God Himself is our enjoyment and our constant supply for the bringing forth and manifestation of the sons of God.
The Two Kinds of Children Brought Forth by the Two Covenants are Different in Their Natures
The covenant of the law brings forth children born according to the flesh and under the law as signified by Ishmael, and these children are not the ones who inherit the promised blessing. God asked Abraham to send the maidservant and her son away from him, since this son was not to inherit the promised blessing. The children born according to the flesh have no right to participate in God’s promised blessing.
However, the children brought forth by the covenant of promise are born according to the Spirit (Gal. 4:29) and they have the full right to enjoy God’s promised blessing (Gal. 4:30-31).
As believers in Christ we are under the covenant of grace and we have the full right to enjoy the processed and consummated Triune God as grace every day! Right now Christ is in us as the hope of glory (Col. 1:27) and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with our spirit (Gal. 6:18).
Grace is with our spirit, Christ is in us, and the life-giving Spirit is joined to our spirit (1 Cor. 6:17; 15:45) – this means that we are children of God according to the Spirit, inheritors of the promised blessing!
We are not children according to the law through man’s striving in the fleshly effort; we are children according to the Spirit by virtue of being regenerated by the Spirit and having the Spirit with our spirit. How marvelous!
Now, as children of God we need to remain in the fulfillment of God’s desire by enjoying Him as grace through exercising our spirit to enjoy the all-inclusive Spirit as the blessing of the gospel (see Gal. 3:14).
It’s All About Turning to Our Spirit and Walking According to the Spirit
When we as believers in Christ are under the Lord’s shining and He exposes our natural efforts to please Him, our fleshly endeavors to work for Him, and the manifestations of our flesh, we realize that our flesh is so active and living both in doing things against God and in doing things for God.
On the “active for God” side the flesh may be active to do and speak things in the meetings, serve in the church, visit others, and even preach the gospel. When the Lord shines on us and we realize this, we may begin to limit that activity so that we may not be in the flesh – so we get into the passive side of the flesh.
Once we were active in doing things for the Lord and now we are not doing things for the Lord because “the flesh is exposed” and we don’t want to be in the flesh. This passive flesh is even worse: you expose yourself to the sin and death who so easily entangle us and swallow us when we are not in the things of God.
However, it’s not about DOING a lot of things for God and in the church or NOT DOING things for God; it’s all about turning to our spirit and living according to the spirit. Whether we do things or not – that’s not the point. What matters is our constant turning to the Lord in our spirit and our living according to the spirit.
When we are not enjoying Christ in spirit yet we are active in our flesh to fulfill the word of God we nullify the grace of God (Gal. 2:21). When we don’t allow Christ to live in us because we are so active in trying to do so many things for God, we are apart from Christ and from grace.
All we have to do is just turn to our spirit. Grace is with our spirit. Christ as the Spirit is joined to our spirit. We need to turn to our spirit and enjoy the Lord as grace, then we will walk according to the spirit and spontaneously not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
The Spirit is with our spirit; we need to live in the spirit, walk by the spirit, and do everything in spirit so that we may be led by the Spirit and be in spirit. This is the key to being a person in the covenant of grace and not in the covenant of the law.
Lord Jesus, we turn to our spirit right now. We want to exercise our spirit and be in spirit today. We simply call on Your name, Oh Lord Jesus! that we may be in spirit one with You. Thank You that grace is with our spirit. Hallelujah, we now have the right to enjoy God as grace! We have the privilege to turn to our spirit, enjoy God, and live by the spirit! Lord, we choose our spirit. We choose to exercise to cooperate with the Spirit’s speaking and moving within. We are sons of God, those being led by the Spirit and walking by the spirit!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament (msg. 254), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Genesis (2), week 6 / msg 6, The Allegory of Two Women.
- Further reading: recommending msgs. 25-26 in, Life-Study of Galatians (by Witness Lee).
- Hymns on this topic:
# We all can do so many things, / But first of all to Christ we’ll cling; / Enjoy Him, blessings then He’ll bring, / His life-supply means everything! / Enjoy Him—grace He will bestow, / And we’ll be led to join the flow; / Yes, we will do all things in Him. (Hymn on Enjoying Christ)
# And now I’m walking by the Spirit / Step by step, day by day, / O Lord, I love You. / You’re the precious One to me. / As I do this and that / Lord, remind me where You’re at; / You’re in my spirit, / Dispensing grace to me. (Hymn on Gal. 2:20)
# The new covenant ministers’ living / Is a living of grace, / The experience of grace, / Which is the Divine Trinity / Transmitted into us for our enjoyment. (Hymn on the Ministers of the New Covenant)
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