Cast Out the Bondwoman and Her Son


Is bondage an issue in the church today?

Are some Christians spiritually like the descendants of Hagar?

If so, how do we recognize it and deal with it?


Paul writing to the Galatians explains how the two sons of Abraham are typical products of two different covenants. Ishmael was born of the slave woman Hagar while Isaac was born of Sarah the free woman. The Old Covenant law, like Hagar, carried a gene so to speak that reproduced bondage and slavery. Sarah as a type of the New Covenant on the other hand was born free. Therefore her offspring carried a spiritual DNA that would reproduce freedom. Those born of Hagar were of the flesh and the earth while the descendants of Abraham through Sarah were the result of a promise from above. (See Galatians 4: 25-26)

Abraham and Sarah resorted to earthly human reasoning to produce a child through the slave woman Hagar. Human reasoning will always conflict with the ways of God. Therefore the descendants of Hagar and Ishmael will reproduce the same conflict against the wisdom and promises of God. The son that God promised Abraham through Sarah required that He make a way where there was no way. She was not only barren but advanced in years well past the age of child bearing. Isaac was called the son of promise because it was not humanly possible for Sarah to give birth.

Paul is amazed that the Galatians would choose slavery in place of freedom in Christ. Paul reminded them slaves do not receive an inheritance. He repeats the words of Sarah recorded in Genesis 21:10 “Cast out this bondwoman and her son for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” The Galatians had fallen from grace and had gone back to using the law as their standard for righteousness. In doing so they unwittingly forfeited their inheritance as free children of God through Christ. Interjecting legal requirements into the New Covenant is like expecting human reasoning to fulfill God’s promise, or like trusting in human effort to solve a God sized problem.

When New Covenant believers receive Christ and are born again of the Spirit of God they exchange their former identity as slaves to sin for that of God’s own Son. We become sons of God, joint heirs with Christ and partakers of the divine nature. The Galatians had a problem that still exists today. They turned back from trusting in the work of Christ alone and began to integrate some of their former religious requirements. In effect they tried to pour new wine into old wineskins and burst them. They sewed as it were, new cloth into a worn out garment which made matters worse. The Galatians were trying to mix religious works of old with the finished work of Christ. They were in effect saying Christ had not completed or satisfied God’s requirements for righteousness and his work on the cross was inadequate. Paul was trying his best to wake them up to what they had cut themselves off from. They, like Abraham resorted to human effort and reasoning to bring about a promise only God Himself could fulfill.

So the question I would like to examine is how do we apply these things to our lives in this modern twenty first century? Are Paul’s words here even relevant to us today? Is it possible some believers are living like slaves? Who is the bondwoman and her son today, and how would we cast them out? In the following paragraphs I would like to shed some light on these questions.

Hagar is a type of the Old Covenant law which was given to Moses on Mt Sinai. The law was intended for those who had a slave mentality and nature. Slaves had no land therefore had to work for those who did. As a result they had nothing to pass on to their children except a slave’s heritage.

Paul tells the Corinthian church in chapter 1 that he had begotten them through the Gospel. The Gospel, or the New Covenant is like a mother, and Paul speaks on behalf of Christ. So God is our Father and the Gospel or New Covenant is the mother of all who believe. Sarah is a type of the New Covenant mother which speaks of freedom from legal requirements. The Galatians were being confused by those promoting the Jewish religion and the law as a requirement for salvation and righteousness. Paul explained; if righteousness were the result of observing laws then Christ died in vain. (See Gal. 2:21)

In today’s church world, though we are begotten through the Gospel and are of the free woman, there are many who promote a gospel mixed with the law. We who have been exposed to this mixture of law and grace could be like Ishmael with a slave mentality and void of the understanding of who we really are and the inheritance we have. Imagine if Isaac had been raised by Hagar and led to believe he was her son. He most likely would have developed a slavery mentality without any concept of his true identity. He could have wasted much of his life working as if to earn something that he already had coming to him by birthright.

Imagine a believer today who is born again through the gospel then is raised or trained up under those who instill the rules and regulations of the law as the approved method of being acceptable to enter God’s presence. Many believers have received mixed messages informing them of who they truly are and the great inheritance they have in Christ, but find hurdles placed before them in the form of religious duties. They are tripped up in their attempt to press into their inheritance. Possibly the most common hindrance for believers is their own mentality. We need to retrain our thoughts and recognize the patterns we learned as former slaves to sin. On top of that we have an enemy who comes as an angel of light promoting religious practices that are intended to keep us bound. He doesn’t want us to know our true identity lest we also discover his in the process.

In my own experience I think the latter was most prevalent. I had a slavery mentality like the Israelites coming out of Egypt, and I had a hard time receiving the truth that I was no longer a slave. I had developed a comfort zone based in a slavery mentality and I naturally gravitated to those who nurtured that mentality in me. Looking back from where I am now I see that I can not blame anyone as if they were purposely trying to keep me from all God had, it was just a matter of sowing and reaping. Those who went on before me were doing the best they knew based on what they received.

The signs of a slavery mentality are many but I want to mention just a few. A slave is an outsider, not part of the family so they feel like they do not belong. They want to be included so they strive for acceptance. They are used to doing what they are told and they make few decisions on their own. They may have guilt because of their condition and position. They feel underprivileged and taken advantage of by others. They often develop a perception which causes them to misinterpret the intentions of their leaders. A slave often lives with a sense of shame which makes him susceptible to being motivated by guilt, but yielding to that motivation gives only temporary relief. Slaves have no family connection with their master but are committed to performing required duties.

I would say that casting out the bond woman and her son is compared to ridding ourselves of a slavery mentality and no longer receiving from those who nurture or reproduce that mentality. Flee from anyone who habitually uses guilt or shame as motivation to do something for Christ. A true Shepard will put their own life on the line to protect their sheep from the bondage of slavery. The hireling will sell his sheep into slavery to further propagate their dependence on Him. He is most interested in job security as opposed to true shepherds who will lead his flock into maturity and dependence upon God. Good shepherds will work themselves out of a job and empower others to take his place.

Those who promote rule keeping above relationship are reproducing a slave mentality. Relationship leads to inheritance. We receive from our Father because we are related to Him by birth not just because we work hard to earn it. Isaac had and inheritance unlike Ishmael though they both had the same father. Ishmael was not the son of promise but Isaac was. The promise was given to Abraham and Sarah not to the woman in bondage. We become partakers in the inheritance with Christ as the promised seed of Abraham. There is nothing we can do to earn it or deserve it, it is entirely a gift based on the goodness of God. We receive through believing the promise of God. By faith we enter into His family and become heir of all that He has.

The key or hinging point is what we believe and how we think. Our actions, attitudes, and speech are indicators of what we believe. Do we believe we are of the free woman or do our attitudes and actions reveal us to be more like slaves without an inheritance? Jesus spoke a parable that reveals how He tests His servants and makes a distinction between slaves from owners. In the book of Matthew, He spoke of three servants and their responses to being entrusted with a portion of their master’s wealth. To one servant he gave ten talents, to the second he gave five, and to the third he gave one talent. The amounts varied according to their abilities. The master told them to do business or make investments until he returned. The first two servants went right to work and increased the wealth, but the third hid his in a safe place. When their master returned he asked each to give a report of their stewardship. The first and second both reported they had doubled the money but the third just returned the exact amount that was given him. He explained that he feared loosing it through a bad investment and was also suspicious of his master’s motives. The third servant displayed a slave mentality. He thought His master would take advantage of his efforts without reward, so as it turned out he received exactly what he expected. The master took the one talent from that slave minded servant and gave it to the one with the ten.

Jesus said; “Those who have, shall be given more, and those who have not, even that which they have will be taken away.” The other two servants did what they believed their master would have done and treated the wealth as if it were their own. As a result they actually realized ownership and were promoted. They received their inheritance and were trusted to rule over cities. The one with the slave mentality proved himself to be unworthy of promotion and even lost that which he had.

The first two servants mentioned obviously knew their master well enough to believe he was good. They trusted him to do what was right. The third did not truly know and trust his master. He totally misread his motive and as a result lost out on the inheritance. The test was not for the master to know who to promote but for the servants to understand the basis of receiving an inheritance. Though it appears to be based on performance and works I believe it was to expose true motives. Owners will outwork slaves any day of the week. Slaves don’t see the advantage of doing anything they do not have to do because it will not seemingly benefit them. Servants that think like owners do not measure their service according to legal requirements. Their ownership mentality caused them to treat another’s wealth as if it was their own. Jesus said those who are faithful with that which belongs to another will be given their own. Jesus intends to make owners out of slaves but we must believe those are His true intentions. He is not like many earthly masters but wants to share His Kingdom with His servants. God is our Father and wants His sons and daughters to share the wealth of the family inheritance

Unfaithful servants are also called unprofitable. If a servant does only that which is required of him he is unprofitable. In other words if a servant restricts what he will do for his master to the legal agreement or the law, he is revealed to be a slave not a son with an inheritance. The third servant in the parable restricted what he would do to the legal binding agreement between slave and master. Slaves agreed to work off a debt to their master by committing to a certain amount of work each day. If the master comes up with something extra not in their agreement he doesn’t have to do it. In this case the servant totally misread his master’s intentions. He expected to be taken advantage of not rewarded. His lack of truly knowing his master is the real issue here.

This parable reveals there are some who serve God but see him through the eyes of a slave in bondage. They think He is just like all the other masters and only bought them from the slave market to see how much work he can get out of them. They totally miss that His true intentions are to turn slaves into owners, orphans into sons, and joint heirs with His Son Jesus.

Some have a difficult time with the idea of work in the context of the New Covenant. For sure it is based upon the finished work of Christ and not dependant upon anything we can do to earn our position in the family. We receive everything from God by faith and not by works, but faith without works is dead. To understand the difference between the works of the law and the works of faith we need only look at the motivation. From the outer appearance both types of servants may appear identical. The one who works by the law is attempting to fulfill an obligation and gain his master’s approval through his work. He is mindful of duty and requirements. His goal line is to meet his obligation. But the one who works by faith is doing so to express his gratitude and love for his Master. His focus is not on the finish line or on meeting a certain obligation. The one under the law strives for approval by meeting his obligations while the other is joyfully expressing gratitude because he is already accepted.

The goal of faith is not meeting obligations. As we enter into Christ we join in His work, and co-labor with Him. He has already met all the requirements and obligations of the law. His very nature surpasses obligations. Anyone who is dutifully striving to meet obligations is not yoked to Christ because striving for approval is contrary to His very nature. So duty or requirements are a beginning point for us who have received the divine nature and are yoked with Him. The New Covenant has its beginning where the legal requirement ended. A fulfilled law becomes the foundation for inheritance and ownership. Love is the fulfilling of the law so love is the foundational motivation for the servants of Christ.

Hagar and her son Ishmael were born slaves and unable to inherit the promises of God to Abrahams seed through Sarah. We were also born as slaves and unable to inherit those same promises. But thanks be to God who made a way through His Son Jesus Christ that whoever believes and receives Him as Lord and Savior will be adopted into His family and included in the inheritance.

Again, it all boils down to what we believe. We may know and even confess that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ but if we think and act like slaves we will not realize those blessings in this life. We can not afford to be satisfied with an Old Covenant relationship with God. We are no longer slaves but free. Though we all believe that and can confess it, if our every day attitudes, speech and actions are slave-like we will not realize our full inheritance and purpose in this life.