DEAR MUSLIM FRIEND …
“WHO IS HAGAR?”
We find out by reading Galatians chapters 3 and 4

Paul writes to the people who live in the area known as Galatia. They were Christians. They were saved. They had eternal security. They knew that Christ had saved them, having fulfilled and completed every single aspect of the law found in the Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, on their behalf. Christ has satisfied all the demands and laws of God, such that he could enter heaven after he died. Christ was sinless - he knew no sin, he did no sin and he spoke no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 3:5; 1 Peter 2:22)

Now when we get saved, Christ’s fulfilling the law gets put into our accounts, just as if we never sinned. Christ is our Saviour. Christ’s perfect record gets put alongside our names. Christ’s perfect doing and dying becomes my doing and dying.

Now the problem was that the people in Galatia, were going back to the law to maintain their salvation. They were observing days, months and religious festivals, water baptisms – in short, they were going back to the ten commandments in order to be saved. Hence Paul says

“Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3)
Paul says “Are you Galatians so stupid that being saved by Christ and his Spirit, that you are now going to push that aside and add your works to salvation … to maintain your salvation?”

He then goes on to point out that their father, Abraham, never did this. Why?
“Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” (Galatians 3:6-7)

Abraham was saved by believing God’s promises for him and not doing works to get saved Ephesian 2:8-9)  

Furthermore, Paul goes on to say to the Galatians that …
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” (Galatians 3:10)
and in addition …
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10)

In other words, you must have a perfect record – one slip up and you are off to burn in hell.

This is what Paul calls the curse of the law and this is, to get to heaven you must have a perfect and clean slate since the day you were born.

Paul calls it the curse of the law. It is impossible to keep. But Christ did it.
“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:” (Galatians 3:13).  

So Paul goes on to say that the function of the law is to show that we are sinners and that we must go to Christ to save us.
“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:24)
Paul says the law is like a school teacher that keeps on saying “You can do better. Try harder. 99% is not good enough!”

So we go to Christ as he has passed our exams for salvation. Christ gets 100% all the time when it comes to satisfying God’s laws. On a scale of goodness, all men are 0% and Christ is 100%, as all the good things we do are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).
Now in chapter four, Paul goes on …
“You Galatians are returning to the weak and pathetic parts of the law, in order to save yourselves. You are spitting in God’s face and Christ’s face and saying that what Christ did in fulfilling the law, is not good enough. You are adding your works to your salvation for the wrong reasons. If that is the case, you are not of the seed of Abraham your father if you do this! He was a man of belief and faith!”
He says
“But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” (Galatians 4:9)

Paul then goes on to talk about HAGAR (Galatians 4:23) … Abraham’s ‘slave’ wife, a bond woman, and her son Ishmael, and compares her to the Jerusalem above which he calls the freewoman (Galatians 4:26).

He equates Hagar with the curse of the law at Mt Sinai (Galatians 4:25)
Now who are the children of Hagar? They are Ishmael and all his Arabians descendants who are the Muslims of today. He says that all who are of Hagar and Ishmael are cursed.

But the blessed children are those of Isaac, not Ishmael (Galatians 4:28). He says that those born of Isaac (those of the line of Jacob culminating in Christ) and will be persecuted by those of Ishmael.

And this is happening today. Paul says “Cast off the law (Ishmael) and become the son of the freewoman who is Christ (Galatians 4:30-31).

Dear Muslim friend, Christ has fulfilled everything God demands to enter heaven - it won’t depend on your baptisms, festivals, goodness and so on.

Dear Reader, leave all attempts of the law (Ishmael) and be justified by the faith of Christ (Galatians 3:24).

Harley Hitchcock

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AustralianBibleMinistries
.com

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