Christ's Freedom for Us

[Christownsme]

Galations 5

Verse 1
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Paul is saying here and in the rest of the book, that there are two ways of being a slave, two ways of having a yoke of slavery: observing the law, and serving sin.

We are to do neither one. By observing the law, we never become good enough. This is a yoke of slavery. We will utterly earn the wages of sin by our slips.

By serving sin, we will obviously become enslaved to sin again, and will also earn the wages of sin.

The answer is to live and walk in the Spirit of God, with freedom to love one another however we choose. Freedom to serve and do good works however we choose. Indeed, the truth will set us free.

 

[Kim Pierce]

Amen!

 

[NoBama2012]

.......that there are two ways of being a slave, two ways of having a yoke of slavery: observing the law, and serving sin.

We are to do neither one. By observing the law, we never become good enough. This is a yoke of slavery. We will utterly earn the wages of sin by our slips.........

Remember: The Law that Paul speaks of here is the Torah. (Torah is Hebrew for "Law".)

Be careful not to misguide yourself into thinking that this means there are no rules to follow at all. There are numerous times when Jesus points out things you must "do" in order to be saved. The Torah may be slavery, but the Laws laid down by Jesus Christ are not to be ignored.

 

[Christownsme]

Remember: The Law that Paul speaks of here is the Torah. (Torah is Hebrew for "Law".)

Be careful not to misguide yourself into thinking that this means there are no rules to follow at all. There are numerous times when Jesus points out things you must "do" in order to be saved. The Torah may be slavery, but the Laws laid down by Jesus Christ are not to be ignored.

I agree that the Law which Paul talked about was the Levitical Laws. However, I think his message for Gentiles here was not to get caught up in mechanical traditions and man made laws. Traditions are ok, except when you're just going thru the motions. Then we are observing the law as a Gentile in a sense.

Take for instance, a church I used to attend. All the people were "secretly" aware that if they didn't wear a suit and tie to church, they'd be thought less of. Plus, a minister one day decided to wear a blue shirt underneath his suit instead of white, and he was told he must change into a white shirt before he got on the pulpit. Maybe my selection of words aren't right, but I call this either legalism, or observing the law - the law, because it has been turned into a rule that nobody spake against. They let slavery occur under this rule, law or tradition, eventually leading into false doctrine coming from the pulpit. God's grace is sovereign. It has been established and decreed. No one nor anything (rule or whatever) attempt to take that away.

We have to be careful to not minimize the leaven of the Pharisees to just the Levitical Laws. In short, it's anything you do mechanical and without authentic worship. Isaiah speaks of how frustrated God was because of worship that got to be mechanical.

 

[sealacamp]

Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

People were born to serve as can easily be demonstrated by the fact that every person on earth has Addictive Behavior Syndrome (ABS), some to a greater and some to a lesser degree. When we surrender to the Lord we become His and though we are owned by God we are free because we are His slaves. There is only one choice that brings freedom and that is choosing to belong to God. If we don't choose to belong to Him we will serve something by default, it is our nature. And this, among others, is part of the paradox of Christianity, we must be a slave to be free. The world can't understand this and that is part of the reason that we struggle with the world and are ridiculed by those that belong to this world, they can't understand what it is we do or who it is that we serve. In a logical sense paradoxes don't make sense but in a realistic sense it is the only thing that does makes sense.

Sealacamp

 

[Christownsme]

People were born to serve as can easily be demonstrated by the fact that every person on earth has Addictive Behavior Syndrome (ABS), some to a greater and some to a lesser degree. When we surrender to the Lord we become His and though we are owned by God we are free because we are His slaves. There is only one choice that brings freedom and that is choosing to belong to God. If we don't choose to belong to Him we will serve something by default, it is our nature. And this, among others, is part of the paradox of Christianity, we must be a slave to be free. The world can't understand this and that is part of the reason that we struggle with the world and are ridiculed by those that belong to this world, they can't understand what it is we do or who it is that we serve. In a logical sense paradoxes don't make sense but in a realistic sense it is the only thing that does makes sense.

Sealacamp

You're absolutely right, that there is one we are enslaved to - Christ Jesus. His yoke we do put on.

 

[Heavens]

Remember: The Law that Paul speaks of here is the Torah. (Torah is Hebrew for "Law".)

Be careful not to misguide yourself into thinking that this means there are no rules to follow at all. There are numerous times when Jesus points out things you must "do" in order to be saved. The Torah may be slavery, but the Laws laid down by Jesus Christ are not to be ignored.

If Christ is IN US, He is keeping the Law. We aren't. He is doing it in us;

(Php 1:6) Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Paul is talking of the Mosaic Old marriage Law that came from Sinai in stone that is fulfilled and abolished;

(2Co 3:3) Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

Known as the "ministration of death";

(2Co 3:7) But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

The OP is dealing with something light years beyond anything of that O.T. Law and has it right.

The Law of Jesus Christ is a "changed law";

(Heb 7:12) For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

The only law for Christians now is THIS law of "Life";

(Rom 8:2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Aka, the Law of Liberty;

(Jas 1:25) But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Blessings in the New Law

 

[Wanda Lee]

Galations 5

Verse 1
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Paul is saying here and in the rest of the book, that there are two ways of being a slave, two ways of having a yoke of slavery: observing the law, and serving sin.

We are to do neither one. By observing the law, we never become good enough. This is a yoke of slavery. We will utterly earn the wages of sin by our slips.

By serving sin, we will obviously become enslaved to sin again, and will also earn the wages of sin.

The answer is to live and walk in the Spirit of God, with freedom to love one another however we choose. Freedom to serve and do good works however we choose. Indeed, the truth will set us free.

Actually, isn't the freedom to submit to Jesus and serve as He desires us to serve - sometimes it isn't what I "want" to do but it is what I know I must do. It is what will bring Him the greatest glory.

 

[Heavens]

Everything I want to do is only what brings Him the greatest glory