The gospel of Christ, that of freedom

Wednesday January 5, 2022

The gospel of Christ, that of freedom

There are people who trouble you, and who want to pervert the gospel of Christ. Galatians 1:7

Christ set us free by setting us free ; therefore stand firm, and be not again held under a yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1,2

In these verses, the apostle Paul addresses the Galatians, who were troubled by certain troublemakers of Jewish origin, who asserted that they had to keep the law of Moses and be circumcised in order to be part of God's people. No, he tells them, Christ has freed you from the Law and you are freed from his obligations.

But, blessed be God, we have also been released from the power of the devil. Since his victory over Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Satan has held men in bondage. It was he who had the power of death, and men by fear of death were held in bondage all their lives (Hebrews 2:14,15). Through his victory, Jesus Christ delivered us from his power. Associated with Christ in his death and resurrection, we are set free. We are no longer children of the devil, but children of God (1 John 3:10).

We were also slaves to sin, rebels against God, for man seeks to make sense of his life outside of the will of God. Dead with Christ and resurrected with him, we are animated with a new life, his. Having become a new creation, we are no longer under the dominion of sin, we have been set free from sin (Romans 6:18).

To live in this threefold freedom that Christ has given us, we need faith, that is, believing the statements of the Bible. If we are Christians, delivered from the wrath of God, it is by faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for us. Likewise, believe that we are delivered from the power of the devil, even if he seeks to intimidate us by lying. Let us also believe that sin no longer rules over us, even though we must face temptations. Finally, let us believe that we are not subject to the bondage of the law of Moses, yet great and honorable (Isaiah 42:21).

When we appreciate the extent of our freedom in Christ, we thankfully and truthfully write to ourselves, “How wonderful is the gospel of Christ, the gospel of freedom !”

Source (Pleasing the Lord)