Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another,and the Lord listened and heard them;so a book of remembrance was written before Himfor those who fear the Lordand who meditate on His name.Malachi 3:16The Righteousness of God Apart from the Law Is Revealed"But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear! Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.” Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free."  Galatians 4:26-31Both those who have been born again through the words of the Bible and those who have not need to listen to what this passage is saying. If we read the last verse in particular of this fourth chapter, we can see that the apostle Paul is asking something of those who are born again. We have already discussed the relationship between Ishmael and Isaac. In the biblical account we find that Abraham sent Ishmael and his mother, the bondwoman Hagar far away from his house. Also, after his wife Sarah died, Abraham took other wives and had many sons through them, but before he himself died, he gave gifts to those sons and also sent them far away. Abraham was making the preparations for God’s promise to be fulfilled through Isaac, the promise God had made to Abraham when He said, “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever” (Genesis 13:14-15). This issue—particularly Ishmael being sent far away—provides a great lesson for those who know the Bible.At the time of the early Church, many Jews acknowledged Jesus Christ and were born again. Then one day, the gospel came to be spread through Peter to the family of an Italian Gentile. From then on, the gospel gradually trickled out to the Gentiles. At a similar time, a young man by the name of Saul came to know the gospel. After He came to know Jesus Christ, he was addressed by the name of Paul. Yet, as Gentiles began to intermingle in the Church that was developing with Jews at the center, problems began to arise. Some Jews said that the born-again Gentiles had to be circumcised. Also, on one occasion when Peter had been sitting eating with some Gentiles, he arose from the table as though he had not been doing this as soon as apostles arrived, and so Paul rebuked him for this. At that time, Paul said to Peter, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?” (Galatians 2:14). Paul also said that to those who are circumcised he became as one circumcised, and to the Gentiles he became as a Gentile, since both have need of salvation (see First Corinthians 9:20-23), and that those who have been born again through God’s word—be they Jews or Gentiles—are being built up into one new man in Christ Jesus, the middle wall of separation between them having been broken down (see Ephesians 2:11-15).The apostle Paul said, in the letter to the Galatians, he used Abraham as an example. He was saying, “You people who are under the law, have you not heard what it says in the law? Don’t you know that Abraham had two sons, one born according to the flesh, and the other born to the free woman in accordance with the promise?” Then he said to those who are born again, “we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.” He was saying that just as Abraham drove out the bondwoman, those who are born again are to do the same.He was definitely not saying they did not need to keep the law and they could just sin as they pleased. Paul was saying here that a born-again person, as a child of promise, is completely freed from the law. He was explaining that the grace that comes through the blood of Jesus Christ is so great that it surpasses the law. These words are addressed to those who are completely freed from the law, revealing with confidence that a Jew is to live as a Jew, and a Gentile as a Gentile. They are saying that a Gentile does not need to force himself to follow the law. So Paul referred to the new law according to which born-again people are to live as “the law of the Spirit of life” (Romans 8:2).These words were inspired by the Holy Spirit, as the apostle Paul witnessed the struggle between those who advocated the law and those who were not able to keep the law in the midst of the situation at that time. In that case, what does it mean to be freed from the law?Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.  Romans 3:19-21Here it says, “apart from the law.” It says that “the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed.” We must be sure to remember this verse. Just as the images of two sons are revealed through Abraham, there are also two images within our individual hearts. Abraham’s first son, Ishmael, was sent far away with his mother. This is a reference to the struggle that arises within our hearts after we have experienced the word of God, and as such it applies directly to us as individuals. It is true that it reflects the past four thousand years of history in regard to the relationship between the Jews and the Church, but when we consider our hearts in light of the situation between Ishmael and Isaac, the differences in the thoughts that mingle within our minds are revealed. So if, when you read the Bible, you think this is a story about Abraham’s sons and has nothing to do with you, you will find yourself gradually distanced from the Bible. All the accounts in the Bible are very important lesson for us individually.Here in Romans, it is saying that a righteousness of God has now entered my heart, a righteousness that is apart from the law and is unrelated to the law. The image of God saying on the first day of the creation, “Let there be light,” and there was light (see Genesis 1:3) is the same as that of God’s righteousness being planted in your heart. Also, the image of God dividing the light from the darkness is an image of the righteousness of God that has been planted in your heart.After that, a battle arises in the heart. For a while after I was saved, I thought that everything was great, but as I continued with my life, I encountered many troubles. I kept finding myself committing sins. There were times when a cloud of darkness passed through my heart, like the clouds that cross the sky in front of the sun, blocking its light. This happens because the power of the flesh takes hold of me and clashes with the power I have received from God. The image presented through Abraham’s two sons is also to be found continually within my heart. Even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.  Romans 3:22-24Here it says that we have been justified freely by the grace of God. The garments of skin in which God clothed Adam are the gift of salvation that is given to us through the Bible and have nothing at all to do with the garments that Adam made for himself out of fig leaves.Now let’s take a look at the verse that follows, Romans chapter 3 verse 25. We will examine some of the words that appear here.Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. First it says “whom” in reference to Jesus. Then, it says “by His blood”; there is the word “blood.” And, we come across the words “faith,” and “propitiation.” When Cain offered the fruit of the ground as a sacrifice, God did not accept Cain or his offering. Yet, when Abel brought the firstborn of his flock and offered it to God, He accepted both Abel and his offering.This verse from the letter to the Romans is telling us that when we are able to see the blood of Jesus through the Bible and we come to believe in our hearts, this is offered up to God as a sacrifice along with ourselves. In other words, if the blood of Jesus is righteous before God, I need only be within that blood. Also, it says there that when I am offered up to God along with the blood of Jesus in this way, it is in order that God might reveal His righteousness within this. This is the only way that a person can be acknowledged as righteous.This blood of Jesus is a one-way gift that God has given to an individual and that is completely unrelated to anything in that person’s life so far or anything that person has achieved until now. This is why the task of keeping the law that may have been the way of life of a person before receiving this gift is no longer relevant to him. He now has a different gift that is completely unrelated to whether or not he keeps the law. It is with this gift that we go before God. And a person who has received this gift comes to walk the path of struggling against the power that is attached to the flesh.Nevertheless, someday when our flesh is changed and we put on new bodies before God, we will discard and leave behind everything that has followed the will of the flesh. That will be the time when the saved Christians will, in the flesh, enter the kingdom of God. So, the apostle Paul wrote, “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith” (Romans 3:27). When it comes to the things I have done, I have nothing at all of which to boast; nothing is possible except by the law of faith.This is why we need to think carefully about the accounts of the two sons of Abraham when we read the book of Genesis. These passages provide guidelines and lessons for the lives of everyone, whether born again or not.Images in the Bible of the First-born Son and the Second-born SonWhen Isaac, the s

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