CLEARING THE CONFUSION - Pastor Ed Calderon
CLEARING THE CONFUSION
Galatians 5:1-15
My wife and I believe that we should teach our children to be independent at a very young age. When we had Andrea, although she has spina bifida, we never focused on the things that she cannot do, but rather on the things that she CAN do, not on her inability to do things but on her ability to do those things.
During her elementary schooling in NY, I remember how she disliked the presence of a para assisting her at school. Although the school mean well, she said it limits het independence, her freedom.
At home, Andrea was encouraged to do chores, i.e. dishwashing, doing her own laundry, folding her own clothes, and other things.
One time, we talked to our daughters about having that freedom to do those things because of their love for us as a family not out of obligation.
Do you know what happened after that?
My daughters started to lose that desire to do their part, to do their chores around the house. Being young and as children, their priorities are of course different, theirs is to satisfy and do what they want, not what’s best for the family.
When we were like “children” in our faith in Christ (not mature), we tend to just do the desires of what satisfies us, not God’s. That’s the reason why Paul reiterated that Jesus Christ set us free from law to do God’s will NOT our will.
Why do so many seem to miss or ignore the fact that we are free in Christ?
Why are so many reticent to accept that we are no longer subject to having to live under the law? Why do so many people in churches today seem to resist the principles of freedom taught in the book of Galatians? The fear of many is that if we take away all of our rules, people will be out of control. If we teach people about liberty in Christ, there will be religious anarchy. Such will not in fact be the case when the teaching of God’s Word is properly understood and applied.
In chapter 5 of Galatians, Paul transitions from doctrine to application. In chapters 1-4, Paul has established the doctrine of sanctification by faith. He has demonstrated in these chapters that those who are justified by faith in Christ should also pursue sanctification on the same basis of faith. They are free from slavery to law and it would not make any sense at all to go back to living under the law.
In chapters 5-6, Paul shows the relationship of the doctrinal truth he has presented thus far to our practical, daily living. He shows how our liberty in Christ will and should relate to our daily conduct. As we will see, a proper understanding and application of what it means to live by faith and be free in Christ will not make us rebels who do whatever we want, but will rather make us people who live and love like Jesus.
What about you? How do you use your God-given freedom? Is it for our own satisfaction or to serve one another out of love, the same love that Christ manifested on the cross to set us free?