26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.
26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
26 In contrast to that, there is an invisible Jerusalem, a free Jerusalem, and she is our mother - this is the way of Sarah.
26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.
26 But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother.
31 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
31 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
31 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
31 So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides.
31 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
31 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand.
(Read Colossians 3:1-4)
As Christians are freed from the ceremonial law, they must walk the more closely with God in gospel obedience. As heaven and earth are contrary one to the other, both cannot be followed together; and affection to the one will weaken and abate affection to the other. Those that are born again are dead to sin, because its dominion is broken, its power gradually subdued by the operation of grace, and it shall at length be extinguished by the perfection of glory. To be dead, then, means this, that those who have the Holy Spirit, mortifying within them the lusts of the flesh, are able to despise earthly things, and to desire those that are heavenly. Christ is, at present, one whom we have not seen; but our comfort is, that our life is safe with him. The streams of this living water flow into the soul by the influences of the Holy Spirit, through faith. Christ lives in the believer by his Spirit, and the believer lives to him in all he does. At the second coming of Christ, there will be a general assembling of all the redeemed; and those whose life is now hid with Christ, shall then appear with him in his glory. Do we look for such happiness, and should we not set our affections upon that world, and live above this?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Galatians 4:26
Commentary on Galatians 4:21-27
(Read Galatians 4:21-27)
The difference between believers who rested in Christ only, and those who trusted in the law, is explained by the histories of Isaac and Ishmael. These things are an allegory, wherein, beside the literal and historical sense of the words, the Spirit of God points out something further. Hagar and Sarah were apt emblems of the two different dispensations of the covenant. The heavenly Jerusalem, the true church from above, represented by Sarah, is in a state of freedom, and is the mother of all believers, who are born of the Holy Spirit. They were by regeneration and true faith, made a part of the true seed of Abraham, according to the promise made to him.