Christ in Galatians -- Our Freedom

Paul wrote this letter to the churches in the Roman province of Galatia that he had established during his first missionary journey.  He wrote the letter from Antioch in Syria, probably in about 48 – 49, or perhaps even as late as 53 A.D.  The believers in Galatia were primarily Gentile and had never been a part of the Jewish society and so were not accustomed to the old Jewish traditions.  Like the Corinthians, they had come out of a pagan belief system.  They were so excited about the Good News that Paul preached they were anxious to listen to anyone who claimed to want to teach them more about this Good News.  However, some of the teachers were sadly misinformed and undisciplined in their teaching.  Even Peter and James did not fully understand the freedom that Jesus brought to us who accept His sacrifice for our sins.   In this letter, Paul addressed the issue of false doctrine that was infiltrating the Galatian church.

Paul began his letter by reminding his dear friends that he was not appointed by any group or panel to preach the Good News.  He was appointed by Jesus and by God the Father when He confronted him while he was on the road to Damascus:

This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead (Galatians 1:1).

As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” . . . But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel (Acts 9:3-4, 15).

He quickly gets to the point of his letter, warning them about those who would distort the Good News that he had preached to them:

I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ (Galatians 1:6-7).

The false teachers Paul referred to were saying that these new Gentile believers must also adhere to the old Jewish laws, rites, and traditions, primarily circumcision.  Paul forcefully confronted that false teaching by using several very simple, logical arguments --

• Very pointedly, he asked how they had received the Holy Spirit:

Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ (Galatians 3:2).

• Then he told them that Abraham trusted God in the very same way, many, many years before the law was given to Moses:

In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith”. . . Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:6, 14).

• The promise God gave to Abraham was that the Messiah, the Savior, would be his child.  That promise could not be cancelled by the law:

Dear brothers and sisters, here’s an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case. God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children,” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course, means Christ. This is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise. For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God’s promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise (Galatians 3:15-18)

• Through faith, we are made children of God, therefore heirs of God and heirs of the promise He made to Abraham:

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you (Galatians 3:26-29).

But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir (Galatians 4:4-7).

• Paul made it very clear that, through faith in Jesus Christ, the Galatians had become children and heirs of God.  Christ had bought their freedom with his blood on the cross, however they were in danger of falling back into the slavery of tradition from their old pagan lifestyle and legalism of the Jews:

Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years. I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing. Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you Gentiles—free from those laws (Galatians 4:8-12a).

• Finally, Paul summed up his letter by reinforcing the principle that Jesus brought freedom from the law:

So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law (Galatians 5:1).

You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom (Galatians 5:7-8).

Paul then warned his friends to use this new-found freedom in service to others, not to satisfy their old sinful desires:

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13).

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives (Galatians 5:24-25).

Even though this letter was written by Paul almost 2,000 years ago, I continue to be fascinated with how fresh and how relevant his words are to us today.  Many of today’s churches and many individual believers are still in bondage to tradition, rituals, and legalism.  It saps our strength, it causes divisions within the church, and it causes us to judge those who don’t adhere to our particular brand of tradition or ritual.

My prayer for myself and for you this week, and throughout this New Year, is from the closing verses of Paul’s letter, Galatians 6:14-16 –

As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. It doesn’t matter whether we have (followed man-made laws, rituals, and traditions) or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God.

All scripture references are from the New Living Translation.