“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” – Galatians 5:1
LIGHT FOR NOW: Your arrival in Christ is freedom from bondage.
What does liberty in Christ mean? Are there restrictions to how I exercise my Christian liberty? The believers’ liberty means several things. Romans 6 talks a bit about our freedom in Christ; it climaxes with the following statement in verse 23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. The liberty the believer possesses is ultimately eternal life in Jesus, freedom from the normal consequence of sin and death. But the believer’s liberty in Christ can also be taken to mean freedom from the constriction of the Jewish law and sacrificial system. Romans 3:20 says that “through the law comes the knowledge of sin”. But the law can only expose sin and make us aware of it. The beginning of verse 20 says, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified”, so it is clear that the law can take us to the knowledge of our sin but not do anything permanent about it. The law provided the sacrificial system whereby sin was covered, but the sacrifices had to be made every year. Jesus on the other hand, shed his blood once for all; there is no need for a repeating sacrifice (Hebrews 9:18-28). So believers are free from the structure of the law and the sacrificial system.
Thus, trying to practice the Law of Moses after being saved is entangling yourself with the yoke of bondage; you have been freed from the law. Man could not meet the demands of the law, only Jesus could. Man could not keep the law; Jesus kept all his requirements, dictates and ended the law because He was the fulfillment of the law. The Apostle Paul echoed this in Romans 10:4 “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth”; so Jesus ended the law. Our goals as believers should be to glorify God, build up the church and draw others to Christ. Galatians 5:13 sums this up when it says, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love sense one another”. Glory!
INSTRUCTION: Stay in your liberty.
CONFESSION: Father, I thank you for meeting the demands of the law on my behalf and making me free from it through your redemptive sacrifice. Thank you for this liberty I have in you, in Jesus Name, Amen.
QUOTE: Life in Christ is freedom from bondage and not entanglement with bondage.
DAILY READING: MORNING: ROMANS CHAPTER 5; EVENING: ROMANS CHAPTER 10
LIGHT FROM THE WORD 