King James Bible
"So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free."
Paul concludes his allegory of Sarah and Hagar with a direct address to fellow believers. The phrase signals a pivotal summary after contrasting two covenants—one of slavery through law (Hagar/Sinai) and one of freedom through promise (Sarah/Jerusalem above). Christians are definitively not spiritual descendants of Hagar, the slave woman who bore Ishmael through human effort. This rejection of slavery refers to freedom from the Mosaic law's bondage and the futile attempt to achieve righteousness through works. Believers belong to Sarah's lineage—the free woman whose son Isaac came through divine promise. This identity as children of freedom forms the basis for Christian liberty and serves as Paul's foundation for urging the Galatians to resist returning to legalistic slavery.