Galatians 5:1 "For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, ..."

"For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1).

Comment:

The first passionate controversy to arise among the followers of Jesus Christ concerned the question of whether their spiritual practice had to be confined within the forms and laws of Judaism. The church based in Jerusalem held that Christians must first become Jews, and obey all Jewish laws—dietary, circumcision, etc. Paul, on the other hand, was centering his ministry in non-Jewish parts of the world, and was vehemently opposed to the perceived necessity of obedience to Jewish law. His argument was that the demands and strictures of the law were "fulfilled" through the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. What was required going forward from Jesus was not obedience to laws based on limited human perceptions but faith in the message—faith in the Christ. Hence the passion of this ringing statement to the Galatians: "For freedom Christ has set us free." The limits and demands of the law were intended to guide us through our own confusion to the point at which we could hear and receive the "good news" of our innate Oneness with the divine through the Christ Presence in each of us. Now we are free to understand and follow the Christ. Of course, this doesn't mean that we are now free to break all laws with impunity—to kill or commit adultery, for example. We would not be following the Christ if we did. The "freedom" Jesus offers does not allow us to disobey divine Law. It allows us to fully embrace divine Law by direct connection, without needing to obey manmade rules and regulations based on more limited understandings from our earlier spiritual path. It is in exercising this new freedom that we become fully co-creative with the Power of God, transforming this human experience into the kingdom of heaven in ways that mere blind obedience could never achieve.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed