Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
That word "freedom" is like water in a desert. When you're reading the narrative of Scripture and you bump into this word, especially in the New Testament, the word "freedom" is like a relief and a release.
Paul's Message to the Galatians
The writer here, Paul, is writing to a group of people who are wrestling back and forth in their understanding of how to follow God on earth with this idea of freedom. The reason Paul was writing to this particular crew is that someone had come to them, and the teaching that they had introduced into their community was anti the one that Paul himself had shared with them.
Paul preached the message to this group of people that it is through the work of Jesus Christ alone that you would find release and relief from the bondage and the slavery of sin and death. It is through Christ alone that you would have what you need for salvation and life. What was happening is somebody came to this group and said, "Well, of course that's true. It is true that Jesus brought freedom, but you do know that there are things that can be true about your life that make you a little bit more spiritual than others."
What this group of people was wrestling with is that there were things about the former life for the person who found freedom in Christ that maybe identified them as a little bit more spiritual than others. There were some people who found faith and salvation through Jesus Christ who were not Jewish. They had new salvation conversations because of Christ alone. But then there were others who were Jewish and had history and some of Judaism's religious customs that led to them having a background in this faith thing that maybe they believed gave them a little leg up on other people.
Freedom Through Christ Alone
What Paul was saying is, "No, no. It is through Christ and Christ alone that you have freedom." Now the word "freedom" has become a little complicated for some of us in contemporary times, because you might read the Bible and think, well, if you have freedom, if Christ set you free, does that mean you can do whatever you want, whenever you want, no matter whatever that decision is, and you don't have to worry about judgment or getting in trouble?
See, that's sort of a humanistic way of thinking about freedom. It's because we're limited in our own understanding of what we think is best and what we think we need in terms of our ability to make any decision that we want. Freedom when it comes to the Gospel is dramatically different.
Jesus, in John chapter 8, talked about sin, and what He said is those that are in sin are slaves to sin. But then He goes on to say in John chapter 8, verse 36, "If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed." Freedom is what comes as a result of the work of the Gospel in our lives.
Freedom to Serve Others
Paul knows that for us to work according to our own effort and our own energy and our own ideas, according to us judging how other people should live according to our perceived belief of whether they're spiritual enough or not—Jesus says, "No, no, no. There is a freedom that comes from knowing Me. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, you will run in freedom. This freedom is not meant for you to lord it over people or do whatever you want. But it's with this freedom that you now have the opportunity to serve other people in love and in grace, and in truth and in kindness."
It is this freedom from slavery to sin, freedom from our proving and working to earn God's righteousness that leads us to love other people well. Today, think about freedom. Think about how Christ has set you free, and think about how that freedom allows you to love other people around you.
