"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm... and do not let yourself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." (Gal 5:1)
Two things jump out from this verse. First, this verse is teaching us that Christ has set us free. But what kind of freedom is Paul talking about? In Gal 5:13 Paul says, "But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature." So clearly freedom is opposite to sinning. We are not set free so that we can sin all we please. Rather, I believe true freedom is the ability to do what we were created originally to do, which is to love and obey God. As Christians we now have that power through our new nature and by the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
The second thing this verse is teaching us is that we must not believe in the lie of sin's slavery. When Paul says "and do not let yourself be burdened by a yoke of slavery", he's basically saying that we must not believe the lie that we are not free. Sometimes the influence of sin is so great, the temptation so irresistible that we feel imprisoned in our sins. But if we are truly Christian, this verse is basically telling us "don't let yourself be fooled into believing the lie"; Christ has set us free!
All true believer have been set free from the bondage of sin and therefore has the power to live a life pleasing to God. It's just that we are so use to the old way of indulging in sin that we find it so hard at times to break out of the old way and to believe that we've been set free from the power of sin. But we have been set free and Paul is telling us to stop believing in that lie that we are in bondage to sin.
So let us not make any more excuses. Next time we're tempted, let us remind ourselves that Christ through his death has broken the power of sin and given us the Holy Spirit to resist and overcome all temptations. Let us cry out to Christ in our moments of temptation!
Posted by Pastor James
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