My friend Matt used to be fond of saying, "I'm free in Christ. I've read Galatians". Sometimes it seems as if Matt had an issue with libertinism in regards to Christian freedom. I've been doing some reading ab out in Galatians 5 the last couple of days.
Here is the full text of Galatians 5:13-15
"For you were called to freedom, brethren, only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh but through love serve one another. For the Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you bit and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
Sometimes Christians can look at grace and think that they can sin because will give them grace and forgive them. Paul completely does away with that idea here. We do not have a base from which we can sin freely and without consequence. It is not freedom for the flesh to do what it will, but rather it is freedom to love one another openly through our actions. In this, we fulfill God's ultimate law, that everything we do would show love to others in a way that is similar to how we love ourselves.
The consequences of using our freedom as a license to sin are found in 5:15. If we do not love one another, then we become little better than wild animals. We live only for self and therefore fight and claw against anyone in order to make our way to the top. Others are not there to be loved but rather to be used and then rejected as we focus only on the self.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
What I didn't understand then, that I understand now (but don't live very well yet) is that the freedom we recieve is freedom to climb up on the cross with Jesus and suffer with him.
Post a Comment