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Christian Freedom
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 As a nation we celebrate our freedom. As a nation we struggle with what the freedom means. As Christians we celebrate that we have, by the grace of God, been set free from bondage to sin. Christ by his suffering and death sets us free from the power of sin death and the devil. We have life in Christ. We are God’s chosen and redeemed children. Paul explains to the Galatians what this freedom looks like. We are set free by the power of the Spirit to serve God and serve others.
“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. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:13-25
I am struck by what Paul writes in verse seventeen, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want.” (Galatians 5:17) In our culture we have the idea that we should be able to do anything we want to do. We put the caveat that if we are not hurting anyone else it is ok. This leads to divisiveness and strife. We are set apart by Christ to serve others we a not called to satisfy the desires of our flesh. We are free from enmity and strife when we love as Christ has loved us, serve as Christ as Christ serves, and forgive as we have been forgiven in Christ.
We repent and pray that God will fill us with the fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:23-24) This is what Christian Freedom looks like. We are not free to do what we want. We are free to serve Christ and as we serve our neighbors.
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