Galatians 5:1,2
How patient and merciful is our God! That is the thought that came into my mind as I read past
this first sentence of Galatians 5:1, on my way to see what God wanted to say
to me this morning. It is not a
long sentence; “For freedom Christ has set us
free; Stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of
slavery.” What is being
implied in these first seven words of this sentence? First, I must ask what is “Freedom” and second I must ask
when was I not a free man?
The dictionary gives this definition of “Freedom”: the
power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or
restraint: we do have some freedom of choice. It also adds this;
the power of self-determination attributed to the will; the quality of being
independent of fate or necessity. Accepting this definition of freedom, it incurs that
you and I who are in Christ have the ability to choose, and the power of
self-determination attributed to the will, that is freedom!
Therefore, if Christ has set us free, then I must surmise
that at some point I was being held captive and in slavery to something or
someone! Isaiah the prophet of God
stated the mission of Christ in Isaiah 61:1 and then Jesus stood in the synagogue
and read from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is
upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to
the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who
are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And the Scripture tells us
He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. “And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Therefore, Isaiah prophesied and Jesus fulfilled freedom
from slavery but what was it that held us captive? I found the answer in the book of Romans 6:6, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in
order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no
longer be enslaved to sin.” Romans
6, goes on to tell us that we are dead to the power of sin, that it no longer
has authority over us, it does not say that we will not choose to sin. I must add this note: when we sin it should
break our hearts, almost always it brings shame on the name of Jesus. As we look at Galatians 5:2, we
see the object of sin and that was adding the ceremonial act of circumcision to
the requirement of being a Christian.
Colossians 2:20-23, gives clear direction that we died with Christ to
these regulations of men, and churches, and that they have an appearance of
wisdom in promoting self-made religion, but they have no value in stopping the
indulgence of the flesh.
So we are free in Christ, and are no longer under the
control of sin! It may take a few
days before we get to Galatians 5:13, “For you were
called to freedom, brothers. Only
do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve
one another.”
From The Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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