Day 56: Galatians 5-6. Do you want to be Free?
That's the question Paul has for the Galatians. Do you want to be free, or do you want to be slaves? He is angry with them because he told them the truth, he spoke the Gospel to them, and God set them free, and he thinks that they want to be slaves again.
Freedom.
What does it mean?
Freedom is a loaded word in our culture. We are the "land of the free and the home of the brave." Paul wants the Galatians to be free, free in Christ, which is not "freedom to do anything you want", even though he speaks of "freedom from the demands of the law." Freedom in Christ is freedom from: freedom from fear that we are not acceptable to God; freedom from keeping the law in a slavish way. but it is also freedom to: freedom to love our neighbor, freedom to love God, freedom for love, joy, peace, patience, and all of the other fruit of the Spirit.
Someone wants the Galatians to be circumcized. Paul thinks that these "Judaizers" believe it would be a feather in their cap to claim the Galatians for their cause. But Paul says, if they do this ritual, they will be enslaved again, they will be oglibated to keep the whole law, they will no longer be free in Christ.
Do you want to be free?
That's the question Paul has for the Galatians.
It's not about self-improvement, but it's about death and resurrection, about freedom and new creation every day. God is making us a new creation, and focussing on what we do is just muddying the waters.
Do you want to be free? Free to bear one another's borders, and carry your own load? Free to let Christ live in you? Free to love your neighbor, and claim living resources that are not your own, but that belong to the crucified one?
Do you want to be free? That's the question that Paul has for the Galatians. I think that Paul, and Jesus, are still asking.
Freedom.
What does it mean?
Freedom is a loaded word in our culture. We are the "land of the free and the home of the brave." Paul wants the Galatians to be free, free in Christ, which is not "freedom to do anything you want", even though he speaks of "freedom from the demands of the law." Freedom in Christ is freedom from: freedom from fear that we are not acceptable to God; freedom from keeping the law in a slavish way. but it is also freedom to: freedom to love our neighbor, freedom to love God, freedom for love, joy, peace, patience, and all of the other fruit of the Spirit.
Someone wants the Galatians to be circumcized. Paul thinks that these "Judaizers" believe it would be a feather in their cap to claim the Galatians for their cause. But Paul says, if they do this ritual, they will be enslaved again, they will be oglibated to keep the whole law, they will no longer be free in Christ.
Do you want to be free?
That's the question Paul has for the Galatians.
It's not about self-improvement, but it's about death and resurrection, about freedom and new creation every day. God is making us a new creation, and focussing on what we do is just muddying the waters.
Do you want to be free? Free to bear one another's borders, and carry your own load? Free to let Christ live in you? Free to love your neighbor, and claim living resources that are not your own, but that belong to the crucified one?
Do you want to be free? That's the question that Paul has for the Galatians. I think that Paul, and Jesus, are still asking.
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