Set Free!

MEMORY SELECTION: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” —Galatians 5:1

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Galatians 4:8-11; 5:1-10

IT WAS God’s design that justification would come only by faith. The Ancient Worthies were justified by their faith even though they performed great and noble works. The Apostle Paul in Romans 4:3 states, “For what saith the Scriptures? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Why, then, was the Law added? Why was this burden or yoke placed upon the necks of the fleshly seed of Abraham? The Apostle Paul states in Galatians 3:19, “Wherefore then serveth the Law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.”

The Law provided a standard of performance that could be attained to only by a perfect man. Since none of Adam’s imperfect offspring could attain to the perfect standard, it should have been a constant reminder to the Jews of their fallen, imperfect condition and the need for help in attaining a personal relationship with God. The failure of the Jews to earn justification by works was also an object lesson to all of mankind.—Rom. 3:19,20

Most of the Jewish leaders—the scribes and Pharisees—made an outward appearance of keeping the Law, but inwardly they were far from being perfect. (Matt. 23:27,28) But there were sincere Jews who were aware of their inability to attain to the lofty requirement of the Law, and one of these was the Apostle Paul, who said, “For I was alive without the Law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.” (Rom. 7:9,10) And then in the 24th and 25th verses of the same chapter he states, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind [the spirit-begotten new mind] I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

The apostle proclaims this wonderful liberation from the condemnation that resulted from the Law in Romans 3:21-25: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto … all them that believe: for there is no difference: … being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.”

So it is entirely by faith that we have standing with God—faith in the shed blood of Christ—faith in God and his provision for the application of the merit of Christ to cleanse us individually from all sin.—Col. 2:13,14

In spite of this wonderful provision by the Heavenly Father to believers free from the heavy yoke of the Law, there were certain Jewish converts called Judaizers who held to the belief that it was necessary for Gentile converts to come under the Law before they could accept Christ. These had considerable influence among the brethren at Galatia, and some began to compromise their newfound liberty in Christ. And so the apostle, in our memory selection, admonishes the brethren not to get entangled again with the yoke of bondage, but to hold fast to the liberty that is in Christ Jesus.

But the liberty that is in Christ is a sacred trust, and is not to be used for an occasion to the flesh. The apostle recognized that with the restrictions of the Law lifted, some would have a tendency to return to worldly habits and pursuits, and so he admonishes in Galatians 5:13,14,16: “For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. … This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

The apostle then concludes with the thought that if we live in the Spirit we should walk in the Spirit, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made believers free from the law of sin and death, and elevated the plane of our conduct—if we are led by the Spirit—above that of the flesh.—Rom. 8:2-5

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