Galatians 5:1–6 ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.’ (v1)
Freedom is very much a positive word for many. A child looks forward to the holidays because they will be free from school.
A teenager may look forward to university days because they will be free from home. Those in challenging relationships may look forward to when those relationships come to an end and they can be free at last!
But there’s a difference between freedom from and freedom to. The same child who is free from school may not feel free to enjoy the holiday.
The student freed from home may not have sufficient maturity to cope with the freedom that they now enjoy in university years.
And the person free from a challenging relationship may not have done the internal work to make another relationship possible for them.
When the apostle says that it is for freedom the Christ to set us free, he has in mind many aspects of freedom.
In this letter he is saying that we are free from the law in as much as Christ has kept the law for us so that we do not need to feel the guilt of our weakness.
But this freedom from the law is not a licence to do what we want. We are freed to live for Christ as we experience God’s Spirit and seek to live with Him, and to know the fruits of the Spirit displayed within our lives.
So we will avoid legalism on the one hand and licence on the other, and look to be led by the Spirit into the ways of God. That is true freedom.
A Prayer To Make:
‘Thank You, Lord, that I am freed to live for You. Help me to live in the good of that freedom. Amen.’
An Action To Take:
Have a think about how free you really are.
What can you do and what constraints do you experience?
Scripture To Consider:
Deut. 15:1–11; Ps. 115; Luke 8:26–39; Rom. 8:1– 4
