TRUE FREEDOM HAS LIMITS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

Galatians 5:13

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In his letter to the churches in Galatia, we have seen the Apostle Paul speak about the matter of spiritual freedom, especially as it pertains to Jesus, the Judaic Law, and sin. Here’s a summation of key points building up to our verse for today:

1. True freedom only comes through belief in Jesus the Savior of the world. Nothing more, nothing less.

2. Trying to comply with the Judaic Law actually imprisons a believer, keeping them enslaved and captive to sin. This is because no one can ever perfectly go through life without breaking some aspect of the Law (aka sin). All are sinners and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and the Law cannot redeem or justify a sinner. Only Jesus can do that.

3. Since belief in Jesus is the only way to salvation as set forth by God, there is no need to meet the requirements of the Judaic Law. For example, no Christian would need to be circumcised because this was a requirement under the Law and was not mandated by God as a prerequisite to be saved.

The bottom line is that Paul wanted the Galatian believers to know they were free children of God through Christ Jesus just through their faith in Him to save them.

But look at what he adds in our verse for today. For true freedom in Jesus has its limits. Paul writes:

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13

Christians are made truly free as a result of their trust and belief in Jesus but this doesn’t give anyone the license to behave however they want. Rather, those who follow Christ are to strive to live exactly as He did and this commitment will actually lead a person away from transgression, not to it. This is the life Paul wanted the Galatian believers to participate in but we get a sense from the tone in verse 13 that he had doubts.

Specifically, the Apostle warns the member of the Galatian churches to not use their freedom “to indulge in the flesh”. The Greek word used for flesh in this verse is “sarx” and it refers to human sinfulness which is typically presented as being in conflict with the Spirit. And so Paul urges the believers in Galatia to not pleasure in sinful behavior.

Instead, the Apostle encourages the Galatian Christians to serve one another out of humility and love. There’s a sense of circling the church wagons here, a call to bond with one another with Jesus as the glue that would hold them together. This sense of togetherness in Christ would serve to drive out the outside influence of the Judaizers who were trying to push a perverted version of the Gospel, one asserting that adherence to the Law was required in addition to believing in Jesus in order to gain salvation.

Today, we need to remember that the liberty we find in our Savior doesn’t include freedom to engage in sin and wickedness. For God can and will still bring His judgment and punishment on the saved who betray Him as easily as He will those who don’t believe. It’s far easier to answer Paul’s call to come together and serve one another out of humble love, the love that comes from the God who so loved the people of the world that He chose to save them through giving up His Son.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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