1. Galatians 4:31 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What is the meaning of Paul’s concluding phrase?

Galatians 4:31 (ESV)

31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

Since Christian believers are born of the Spirit and not the flesh, they are children of the heavenly Jerusalem and not children of Hagar. They share in the covenant of grace, the promises made to Abraham and they can look forward to the inheritance of eternal life in God’s presence in the new creation. The implication is that such children have no need of submitting themselves to old covenant law in order to secure their salvation.