Freedom is freely given but kept through sacrifice.
“So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.”
Galatians 5:1 NLT
The Apostle Paul challenges the church in Galatia to guard their freedom in the beginning of the fifth chapter. There are two things we can deduce from this verse.
First, our freedom is given. Let’s not move to hastily past this thought. After all, our freedom is not cheap. Christ paid for our freedom by going to the cross and giving up His life. Because Jesus enslaved Himself to God’s will and died on the cross, we get the benefit of genuine freedom. We were once shackled to sin, our wrong choices, our destructive compulsions, our guilt, and never ending search to justify ourselves. All of that was broken off when we responded to God’s call to say yes to Him.
Second, is our job to guard that freedom. We may have been given our freedom at no cost, but maintaining it requires a big sacrifice. Imagine someone gave you a brand new car. While the car is free, we must be responsible to clean and maintain the car if we want to keep it and enjoy it. Our freedom is no different. This work involves guarding our thoughts, our behavior, and our ongoing faith in God’s call to follow Him. Unlike the free car, our freedom never depreciates. The longer we walk with Christ, the closer we become to God, and our freedom appreciates!
Interestingly enough, Paul names legalism as a trap that robs us of our freedom. The Jews in Galatia were struggling with following Jesus. They had embraced Christ and were eager to sacrifice anything to draw closer to Him, but sadly they reverted to following the old laws to be good. Paul reminded them that it’s Christ‘ blood that declares us good, not our deeds and rules.
Let‘s heed Paul’s advice. You may or may not be tempted to follow rules to be good. Whatever is tempting you to take your eyes off of Jesus will rob us of our freedom. And we must overcome it! It’s our responsibility in receiving this gift of freedom.