Galatians 5

There is a fork in the road of faith. Which path will you choose? Freedom in Christ, or Slavery to the sinful nature?  If you did not get a chance to catch up on the history behind Paul’s rant, please check out the links in my Galatians 4post. Paul continues to draw a line in the sand between freedom and slavery in Galatians 5.

v. 1 “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.” Paul continues to question the Galatian believers about their choice to be burdened by following every letter of the Jewish law (v. 3), because Paul had plainly taught them that Christ had already fulfilled the ultimate sacrifice of the law in order to set them free.  My husband had a Jewish friend who told him, “As Jews we rarely encourage you as Gentiles to convert to Judaism. Then you would be responsible for keeping the WHOLE law.” I want to join the Apostle Paul in urging my friends to find peace and wholeness and liberty in the Cross of Jesus Christ. What is keeping you in bondage? Will you confess it here so I can join you in prayer, asking God to lift this burden for you? Oh, wait; there will be more on this topic in Galatians 6. I love how the Word of God fits together like a puzzle!

v. 13 “You my brothers were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another in love.” The purpose of our freedom is not so we can twist off and do whatever gratifies our perverted cravings. The mysterious paradox of living the Christian life is that faith in God’s redemptive plan sets us free to serve others. Jesus portrayed this to his disciples during the last supper as he knelt before them to wash their feet. This was not false humility. Jesus was able to serve sinners unconditionally because he was completely secure in his relationship to the Father.  Oh that you and I would indulge in the freedom to serve others! Jesus was living on the timeline as the perfect Son of God. He had no need to repeat a cycle of sin. When you and I recognize our security in Christ, we will no longer desire to repeat the sin cycle either.

v. 16, 25 “Live by the Spirit.” “Keep in step with the Spirit.” The contrast between a Life of Sin and Life by the Spirit is clear. My Life in Christ must be obviously different than my old life of bondage. When you come to faith in Jesus, your friends and family should be shocked and perhaps offended by your life change. Your old habits should make you squirm with conviction, not because you are condemned, but because your Spirit life changes you to be like Christ. Paul gives a vivid picture of old life vs. new life in vs. 16-26.

I can tell you which life will bring you the peace you so desperately seek. Live in the Spirit, girlfriend! Keep in step with Spirit!

Galatians 4

(Everything in blue on this blog is a clickable link. I want you to read the Scriptures for yourself and ask God to teach you. His Word is so much more powerful than my own!)

Galatians 4  is one of many demonstrations of why we must study both the Old and New Testaments side by side to gain a complete picture of God's redemptive plan for all people. Passages like this one in Galatians simply do not make sense if we ignore God's story in the Old Testament. To understand this chapter, we need to know the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael from Genesis 15-25. Ishmael was Abraham's first son, born of Hagar, the slave woman. Isaac was Abraham's firstborn son of Sarah, the result of God's promise that Abraham would become the father of many nations. Wrapped up in Galatians 4 is the age-old struggle between two nations, between Hagar and Sarah's sons, whose descendants have always warred against one another, Muslim vs. Jew.

v. 20  Paul was so frustrated with the Galatian believers, because through Christ, they had been born free, children of the promise of Abraham. However, they were choosing to live as slaves to the law. v. 11, 19  Paul had struggled to bring spiritual birth to the Galatians, and he felt like he had wasted his time. We can really hear Paul's frustration and sarcasm in Galatians 5:12!  Because we have children, you and I can probably relate to his feelings of wanting to pinch their heads off, but Paul took it up a notch!

v. 3-7  These are really the focal verses of Paul's rant.  He paints the picture of a timeline.

 

Paul was perplexed and asked, "Why would you want to cycle back to being slaves after all God did to redeem you?"  This reminds me of Hosea and Gomer's story! This has been a cycle of Israel throughout history, and it is repeatedly told throughout the Bible.

 

You and I get stuck in the cycle too!  God has a plan for freedom in our lives.  Let's follow His timeline and get off the merry-go-round of slavery to sin. This is the secret to Victory in Christ!

v. 28-31  This is what Paul is trying to teach to the Galatians:

1. You are sons.
2. God gave you His Spirit.
3. You have a Father.
4. You are free.
5. You are heirs of the promise. 

Are you living as a slave or as a child of the promise? Will you get off the cycle that keeps sending you back into slavery? Will you live in the victory of your freedom in Christ? I guarantee you that Paul has much more to say about this in Galatians 5!

Galatians 3

Lord, will you teach us from Galatians 3?

You foolish Galatians!  Who has tricked you into believing that you could possibly earn your salvation by all the good things you do? Paul's frustration with the believers in Galatia is very evident in his writings. He had been to their city and plainly and vividly declared the truth of salvation to them. The Galatians had received the Spirit by faith in the death and resurrection of Christ. Then they were foolish enough to believe the Judaizers who were telling them they had to follow the law to be saved. Paul was furious that they had so quickly traded the simplicity of the Gospel and were making it difficult for people to receive the Spirit. Do we make it too hard for our friends and family to come to faith in Jesus?

Paul reminded the people that Abraham received God's promise by faith and God saw him as righteous. It was 430 years later before God even gave the law to Moses. The purpose of the law was to prove how unrighteous the people were. It was never intended to bring salvation. It was designed to show us that we need a Savior.

Girlfriend, you can never be good enough to earn eternal salvation. Why not ask Jesus right now to cleanse you from all your sin? Ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit and to give you the peace for which you are longing. It is that simple. Do not be tricked into believing that it is any more difficult than that.

If you ask God for salvation today, will you let me know so I can rejoice with you? Post a comment here, or contact me by email. I want to be one of the first to welcome you to the Family of God!