We're Called to Freedom

[Christsfreeservant]

Galatians 3-4 Summary

When the Jews were under the Old Covenant relationship with Almighty God, they were required to obey a litany of liturgical, ceremonial and purification statutes.

But when Jesus Christ died on the cross and he became our sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world, that old order was done away with. But some people were trying to convince the Christians that they had to follow some of those Old Covenant requirements in order to be saved.

So, Paul set out to correct that error. Circumcision was no longer required of God’s people, who were now those who believed in Jesus Christ with genuine faith. And all those old liturgical, purification, and ceremonial laws (including the Sabbath) were also no longer required of God’s people (Gal 4:8-11).

So, Paul explained that adding these old traditions and ceremonies onto their salvation by grace was not of God, but it was of human origin, of the flesh of man, for Jesus had set them free of that old order of things, for now they were under God’s grace. So, these outward works would not save them.

But the people were being persuaded that the Jews were somehow superior to them and that they needed to be more like the Jews in order to be saved. So, Paul made it clear to them regarding the stature of the Jews who had rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah (the promised seed of Abraham).

He told these Christians plainly that the unbelieving Jews were NOT the children of promise, but the Christians (Jew and Gentile) were. He told them that the unbelieving Jews (symbolized by Jerusalem) were of Hagar, the slave woman, because they were still in slavery to sin. But they (the Christians) were of the free woman (the Jerusalem from above).

And he went on with this allegory by explaining that the unbelieving Jews were the persecutors of Christ and of Christians, too. And he encouraged them to cast aside these Jews who were trying to convince Christians they needed to be more like Jews in order to enter into the kingdom of God.

Galatians 4:31-5:1 ESV:

“So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”​

Okay, let’s stop here. I know that in context this is speaking specifically about the Old Covenant regulations (not God’s moral laws) that they who believed in Jesus were set free from having to keep now that Jesus had died on the cross for their sins, and now that they were under grace.

But what was the reason Jesus died on that cross? He died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. He shed his blood for us to buy us back for God so that we would now honor God with our lives (1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15, 21).

He died so that by faith in him we would be crucified with him in death to sin and so that we would be raised with him to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, and so that we would now walk (in conduct) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh (Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; Gal 2:20).

Jesus died, not just to forgive us our sins, and not just to promise us eternal life with him, but he died to deliver us out of our yoke of slavery to sin so that we would now become slaves of God and of his righteousness. For, if we continue living in slavery to sin, we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8).

So, the Jewish Christians were not just delivered from slavery to all those old liturgical regulations of the Old Covenant, but they were now delivered from their bondage to sin so they would now be slaves to God.

So, they still had to obey God. They were not set free from having to obey the Lord. And they were not forgiven their sins so that they could go on living in their sins guilt-free, either. So, God setting them free from those Old Covenant stipulations was not God saying they no longer had to obey.

Galatians 5:13-15 ESV

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”​

So, we aren’t forgiven our sins so that we can make it our practice to look at inappropriate content, to swear, to chase after idols, to commit adultery against our spouses (adultery by Jesus’ definition), or to lie, to cheat or to steal from others, etc.

Jesus died to free us from slavery to sin so we would be slaves of his righteousness, and so we would love God by obeying him, and so we would love others as we love and care for ourselves. For God’s grace instructs us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for His return (Tit 2:11-14).

So, please understand this. If we make sinning against God our practice, our habit, our addiction, we will not inherit eternal life with God, but we will die in our sins no matter what we profess with our lips that we believe (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8).

Shine Jesus Shine

By Graham Kendrick

Lord the light of Your love is shining
In the midst of the darkness, shining
Jesus, Light of the world, shine upon us
Set us free by the truth You now bring us
Shine on me
Shine on me

Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this land with the Father's glory
Blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire
Flow, river, flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth Your Word, Lord and let there be light

Caution: This link may contain ads

 

[disciple Clint]

Galatians 3-4 Summary

When the Jews were under the Old Covenant relationship with Almighty God, they were required to obey a litany of liturgical, ceremonial and purification statutes.

But when Jesus Christ died on the cross and he became our sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world, that old order was done away with. But some people were trying to convince the Christians that they had to follow some of those Old Covenant requirements in order to be saved.

So, Paul set out to correct that error. Circumcision was no longer required of God’s people, who were now those who believed in Jesus Christ with genuine faith. And all those old liturgical, purification, and ceremonial laws (including the Sabbath) were also no longer required of God’s people (Gal 4:8-11).

So, Paul explained that adding these old traditions and ceremonies onto their salvation by grace was not of God, but it was of human origin, of the flesh of man, for Jesus had set them free of that old order of things, for now they were under God’s grace. So, these outward works would not save them.

But the people were being persuaded that the Jews were somehow superior to them and that they needed to be more like the Jews in order to be saved. So, Paul made it clear to them regarding the stature of the Jews who had rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah (the promised seed of Abraham).

He told these Christians plainly that the unbelieving Jews were NOT the children of promise, but the Christians (Jew and Gentile) were. He told them that the unbelieving Jews (symbolized by Jerusalem) were of Hagar, the slave woman, because they were still in slavery to sin. But they (the Christians) were of the free woman (the Jerusalem from above).

And he went on with this allegory by explaining that the unbelieving Jews were the persecutors of Christ and of Christians, too. And he encouraged them to cast aside these Jews who were trying to convince Christians they needed to be more like Jews in order to enter into the kingdom of God.

Galatians 4:31-5:1 ESV:

“So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”​

Okay, let’s stop here. I know that in context this is speaking specifically about the Old Covenant regulations (not God’s moral laws) that they who believed in Jesus were set free from having to keep now that Jesus had died on the cross for their sins, and now that they were under grace.

But what was the reason Jesus died on that cross? He died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. He shed his blood for us to buy us back for God so that we would now honor God with our lives (1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15, 21).

He died so that by faith in him we would be crucified with him in death to sin and so that we would be raised with him to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, and so that we would now walk (in conduct) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh (Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; Gal 2:20).

Jesus died, not just to forgive us our sins, and not just to promise us eternal life with him, but he died to deliver us out of our yoke of slavery to sin so that we would now become slaves of God and of his righteousness. For, if we continue living in slavery to sin, we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8).

So, the Jewish Christians were not just delivered from slavery to all those old liturgical regulations of the Old Covenant, but they were now delivered from their bondage to sin so they would now be slaves to God.

So, they still had to obey God. They were not set free from having to obey the Lord. And they were not forgiven their sins so that they could go on living in their sins guilt-free, either. So, God setting them free from those Old Covenant stipulations was not God saying they no longer had to obey.

Galatians 5:13-15 ESV

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”​

So, we aren’t forgiven our sins so that we can make it our practice to look at inappropriate content, to swear, to chase after idols, to commit adultery against our spouses (adultery by Jesus’ definition), or to lie, to cheat or to steal from others, etc.

Jesus died to free us from slavery to sin so we would be slaves of his righteousness, and so we would love God by obeying him, and so we would love others as we love and care for ourselves. For God’s grace instructs us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for His return (Tit 2:11-14).

So, please understand this. If we make sinning against God our practice, our habit, our addiction, we will not inherit eternal life with God, but we will die in our sins no matter what we profess with our lips that we believe (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8).

Shine Jesus Shine

By Graham Kendrick

Lord the light of Your love is shining
In the midst of the darkness, shining
Jesus, Light of the world, shine upon us
Set us free by the truth You now bring us
Shine on me
Shine on me

Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this land with the Father's glory
Blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire
Flow, river, flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth Your Word, Lord and let there be light

Caution: This link may contain ads

I have a little question about this part

So, Paul explained that adding these old traditions and ceremonies onto their salvation by grace was not of God, but it was of human origin, of the flesh of man, for Jesus had set them free of that old order of things, for now they were under God’s grace. So, these outward works would not save them.

to say that the old traditions were not of God may be a little bit of an overstatement. Many of those traditions were given directly by God, so they were of God, they were no longer required but many Jews, including Paul continued to observe those traditions because it was part of being a Jew, part of their culture.

 

[Clertole]

Thank you brother, I needed this today.

 

[Christsfreeservant]

I have a little question about this part
to say that the old traditions were not of God may be a little bit of an overstatement. Many of those traditions were given directly by God, so they were of God, they were no longer required but many Jews, including Paul continued to observe those traditions because it was part of being a Jew, part of their culture.

Under the Old Covenant, those were God's directives. Under the New Covenant he did away with all those external requirements. The Judaizers were trying to persuade the Christians that they had to follow those Old Covenant liturgical statutes, but that was not of God but of man, and it was contrary to the gospel of grace. But they were to maintain God's moral laws and they were to continue to obey all that God commanded them under the New Covenant.

 

[Christsfreeservant]

Thank you brother, I needed this today.

Clertole, I am a sister, not a brother. I am a 71 year old grandma of 14 grandchildren. You are welcome for the encouragement. All glory to God.

 

[Soyeong]

Galatians 3-4 Summary

When the Jews were under the Old Covenant relationship with Almighty God, they were required to obey a litany of liturgical, ceremonial and purification statutes.

But when Jesus Christ died on the cross and he became our sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world, that old order was done away with. But some people were trying to convince the Christians that they had to follow some of those Old Covenant requirements in order to be saved.

So, Paul set out to correct that error. Circumcision was no longer required of God’s people, who were now those who believed in Jesus Christ with genuine faith. And all those old liturgical, purification, and ceremonial laws (including the Sabbath) were also no longer required of God’s people (Gal 4:8-11).

So, Paul explained that adding these old traditions and ceremonies onto their salvation by grace was not of God, but it was of human origin, of the flesh of man, for Jesus had set them free of that old order of things, for now they were under God’s grace. So, these outward works would not save them.

But the people were being persuaded that the Jews were somehow superior to them and that they needed to be more like the Jews in order to be saved. So, Paul made it clear to them regarding the stature of the Jews who had rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah (the promised seed of Abraham).

He told these Christians plainly that the unbelieving Jews were NOT the children of promise, but the Christians (Jew and Gentile) were. He told them that the unbelieving Jews (symbolized by Jerusalem) were of Hagar, the slave woman, because they were still in slavery to sin. But they (the Christians) were of the free woman (the Jerusalem from above).

And he went on with this allegory by explaining that the unbelieving Jews were the persecutors of Christ and of Christians, too. And he encouraged them to cast aside these Jews who were trying to convince Christians they needed to be more like Jews in order to enter into the kingdom of God.

Galatians 4:31-5:1 ESV:

“So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”​

Christ set a sinless example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to the Mosaic Law, and his followers we are told to follow his example (1 Peter 2:21-22), and that those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way he did, so Paul's problem in Galatians was not with those who were teaching Gentiles how to follow Christ, but with those who were teaching that Gentiles had to obey their works of the law in order to become justified, so we should be careful not to take things that were only said against following the teachings of men as being against obeying the commandments of God as if Paul had the authority to countermand God.

In Galatians 4:8-11, Paul addressed those verses to those who formerly did not know God, also known as former pagans. As such, they were not formerly keeping God's holy days and thus Paul could not have been criticizing them for returning to them, so whatever he was criticizing them for in these verses was in the context of pagan holy days, not God's holy days.

Either there are right and wrong reasons for being circumcised and Paul only spoke against the wrong reasons, or according to Galatians 5:2, Paul caused Christ to be of no value to Timothy when he had him circumcised (Acts 16:3) and Christ is of no value to roughly 80% of the men in the US who have been circumcised. In Acts 15:1, they were wanting to require all Gentiles to become circumcised in order to become saved, however, that was never the purpose for which God commanded circumcision, so the problem was with a man-made requirement that was being added on top of what God commanded. This means that the Jerusalem Council upheld the Mosaic Law by ruling against that requirement and a ruling against requiring something that God never commanded should not be mistaken as being a ruling against obeying what God has commanded.

In Psalms 119:29, David wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Mosaic Law, in Romans 1:5, we have received grace in order to bring about the obedience of faith, and un Titus 2:11-14, our salvation is described as being trained by grace to do what is godly, righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, which is essentially what what the Mosaic Law was given to instruct how to do, so God graciously teaching us to obey it is itself part of the content of His gift of salvation. Furthermore, Titus 2:14 does not say that Jesus gave himself to end any laws, but in order to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people of his own possession who are zealous for doing good works, so become zealous for doing good works in obedience to the Mosaic Law is what it looks like to believe in what Jesus accomplished on the cross (Acts 21:20), while saying that he did away with any laws undermines both what he went to the cross to accomplish. Sin is the transgression of God's law (1 John 3:4) and the freedom that we have in Christ is the freedom from sin, not the freedom to sin. Our salvation is from sin, so being trained by grace to live in obedience to God's law through faith is what it looks like to receive the gift of Jesus saving us from living in transgression of God's law.

The reason why God saved the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt was not in order to put them under slavery to His law, but rather it is for freedom that God sets us free (Galatians 5:1), and the Mosaic Law is a law of freedom (Psalms 119:45). In Psalms 119:142, the Mosaic Law is truth, and in John 8:31-36, it is sin in transgression of God's law that puts us in bondage, while it is the truth that sets us free.

Okay, let’s stop here. I know that in context this is speaking specifically about the Old Covenant regulations (not God’s moral laws) that they who believed in Jesus were set free from having to keep now that Jesus had died on the cross for their sins, and now that they were under grace.

Morality is in regard to what we ought to do and we ought to obey God, so all of God's laws are inherently moral laws and there are no examples of disobedience to any of God's laws being considered to be moral.

But what was the reason Jesus died on that cross? He died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. He shed his blood for us to buy us back for God so that we would now honor God with our lives (1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15, 21).

He died so that by faith in him we would be crucified with him in death to sin and so that we would be raised with him to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, and so that we would now walk (in conduct) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh (Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; Gal 2:20).

Jesus died, not just to forgive us our sins, and not just to promise us eternal life with him, but he died to deliver us out of our yoke of slavery to sin so that we would now become slaves of God and of his righteousness. For, if we continue living in slavery to sin, we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8).

Jesus expressed His righteousness through His actions and what that looks like was a life lived in sinless obedience to the Mosaic Law, so obeying it is what it looks like for us to die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. In Romans 6:19-23, no longer presenting ourselves as slaves to impurity, lawlessness, and sin is contrasted with now presenting ourselves as slaves to God and to righteousness leading to sanctification, and the goal of sanctification is eternal life in Christ, which is the gift of God, so obedience to the Mosaic Law is again itself part of the content of God's gift of salvation.

In Ezekial 36:26-27, the Spirit has the role of leading us to obey the Mosaic Law. In Romans 8:4-7, those who walk in the Spirit are contrasted with those who have minds set on the flesh who refuse to submit to the Mosaic Law. In Galatians 5:19-22, everything listed as works of the flesh that are against the Spirit are also against the Mosaic Law, while all of the fruits of the Spirit are aspects of God's nature that are in accordance with it.

So, the Jewish Christians were not just delivered from slavery to all those old liturgical regulations of the Old Covenant, but they were now delivered from their bondage to sin so they would now be slaves to God.

So, they still had to obey God. They were not set free from having to obey the Lord. And they were not forgiven their sins so that they could go on living in their sins guilt-free, either. So, God setting them free from those Old Covenant stipulations was not God saying they no longer had to obey.

Galatians 5:13-15 ESV

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”​

So, we aren’t forgiven our sins so that we can make it our practice to look at inappropriate content, to swear, to chase after idols, to commit adultery against our spouses (adultery by Jesus’ definition), or to lie, to cheat or to steal from others, etc.

So, please understand this. If we make sinning against God our practice, our habit, our addiction, we will not inherit eternal life with God, but we will die in our sins no matter what we profess with our lips that we believe (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8).

Shine Jesus Shine

By Graham Kendrick

Lord the light of Your love is shining
In the midst of the darkness, shining
Jesus, Light of the world, shine upon us
Set us free by the truth You now bring us
Shine on me
Shine on me

Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this land with the Father's glory
Blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire
Flow, river, flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth Your Word, Lord and let there be light

Caution: This link may contain ads

It is contradictory for you to say that they still need to obey God while arguing against obeying what He has commanded. Works of the flesh are always in transgression of God's law, so it is contradictory for for you to say that we should not use our freedom as an opportunity for the flesh while also speaking against obeying some of God's laws.

 

[Soyeong]

Under the Old Covenant, those were God's directives. Under the New Covenant he did away with all those external requirements. The Judaizers were trying to persuade the Christians that they had to follow those Old Covenant liturgical statutes, but that was not of God but of man, and it was contrary to the gospel of grace. But they were to maintain God's moral laws and they were to continue to obey all that God commanded them under the New Covenant.

Jesus set a sinless example of how to walk in obedience to the Mosaic Law, he did not hypocritically teach something other than what he practiced, and he did not establish the New Covenant in order to undermine anything that he spent his ministry teaching by word or by example, but rather the New Covenant still involves following it (Jeremiah 31:33). So while we are under the New Covenant and not the Mosaic Covenant, we are nevertheless still under the same God with the same nature and therefore the same laws for how to testify about His nature. If the laws for how to testify about God's nature were to change under the New Covenant, then God's nature would not be eternal, but it is eternal, therefore any laws that God has ever given for how to do that are eternally valid regardless of which covenant we are under.

In Exodus 20:6, God wanted His people to love Him and obey His commandments, so obedience to God has always been a matter of the heart. Paul's problem with the Judaizers was not that they were teaching Gentiles how to follow Christ's example, but that they were teaching a false works-based salvation. It is God who commanded the Mosaic Law, so it is of God, not of man. In Psalms 119:29, David wanted wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Mosaic Law. Jesus began his ministry with the Gospel message to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand (Matthew 4:17-23) and the Mosaic Law was how his audience knew what sin is, so teaching people to repent and obey it is the Gospel of grace, not contrary to it.

 

[disciple Clint]

Under the Old Covenant, those were God's directives. Under the New Covenant he did away with all those external requirements. The Judaizers were trying to persuade the Christians that they had to follow those Old Covenant liturgical statutes, but that was not of God but of man, and it was contrary to the gospel of grace. But they were to maintain God's moral laws and they were to continue to obey all that God commanded them under the New Covenant.

It would be a little more accurate to say that the Judaizers were attempting to persuade the Christians who were Gentiles to follow Jewish customs, Jewish Christians were free to follow Jewish customs