Meant to be Free

"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." (Galatians 5:1) Paul, in writing this, was telling the Gentile believers to stop striving for salvation and righteousness by following the Law, the Law being the rules set forth by God for the Israelites before the coming of Jesus. Before Jesus came, the Law was the only means of justification, but when Christ died for our sins, He introduced grace as our means of salvation. "For it is by grace you have been saved, by faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)  Now that Jesus had died for their sins, all the Gentiles (and Jews, for that matter) had to do was believe in Him to be saved and made righteous. They could not follow the Law perfectly, nor did they need to because they had already been saved by God's grace, through faith.   

Even though Christ had set them free, some of the Gentile believers were enslaved because the Jewish Christians convinced them that they must follow the Law to the letter as well - that grace wasn't enough. For the Gentile Christians, the pressure to be righteous in the eyes of the Jews was enslaving.  The Gentile Christians did not need to follow the Law to be righteous because their sins were forgiven and they were no longer condemned.  "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.  And so He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:1-4) The Gentile Christians felt the pressure of the Jewish Christians' condemnation, but Christ did not condemn them.    

Living as a slave after being set free by Christ didn't stop with those first Gentile believers. It seems obvious that Christ meant us to be free when He set us free, but the truth is, we don't always live like we are free. We let fear, doubt, sin, anger, pain, sickness, death, envy, deceit, addictions, guilt, lies about who we are in Christ and who God is, and countless other things enslave us. We are not meant to be burdened by these. We are not meant to be slaves to these. Christ set us free so that we would be free! More than just setting us free, Christ sent His Spirit to live within us, giving us the power and authority to overcome the things that enslave us, through Him, if we would only ask.

If you are in Christ, you are free and He wants you to live freely. Today I am asking myself, Where am I still chained, where am I burdened? If we are aware of our chains, we can cast them off by the power of the Holy Spirit because Christ has already set us free.

"Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Be resolute in your freedom and give your burdens to Christ, in whom you are free. God did not create us to be enslaved, nor did Christ set us free to live as captives.  All the same, we have a choice every second of our lives - to be enslaved or to be free.  It's never too late to give our burdens to Christ and be free, He is abounding in grace and His love is never-ending and unconditional.       

Choose freedom, friends.  

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

"I am free to dance, I am free to sing, I am free to live for You, I am free.  Who the Son sets free is free indeed."