Read: Galatians 5
Christ has set us free. We are no longer
obligated to fulfill the entire law in order to please God (v 1). What good
news for imperfect people like ourselves! We must choose to remain in this
freedom daily. This means fully placing our trust in Him by acknowledging that
we can do nothing to make ourselves blameless. Paul illustrates this truth with
the example of circumcision (v 2-6). By making salvation dependent on our work,
we deny Jesus’ power to fully liberate us from bondage to sin and death. Christ
demands our entire hearts. By denying His power in one area, we effectively
deny His power in our entire lives.
Now that he has hammered against legalism,
Paul addresses people on the other side of the matter. People, by nature,
overcorrect. When we learn that one extreme is bad, we often swing to the
opposite extreme. Paul addresses this tendency when he writes this: “You, my
brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the
sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love” (v 13). To say that we are
released from the Law does not mean that our actions do not matter. We are
still called to deny sin and practice love (v 13-23). However, the motivation
behind our actions changes when we live under freedom. Previously, we tried to
live well in order to make ourselves right before God. Now we are obey not out
of fear, but out of love. We obey because we are grateful for what Christ has
done and we want to give our lives back to Him as a gift. We obey as children
wholly loved by our Father. When the Holy Spirit is alive and active in our
hearts, we begin to obey not because we have to, but because we eagerly desire
to!
Journaling
and Prayer
1. Reflect on the nature of your obedience.
Do you seek to obey God? Why or why not? Ask God to show you why an obedient
life is pleasing to Him.
2. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control
(v 23). Ask God to show you where these traits have been evident in your life.
How have you grown in these lately? Receive His encouragement – these characteristics
are tangible evidence that the Holy Spirit is working in your life!
3. People
who live in repeated, unrepentant sin “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (v
21b). Spend some time in confession today on behalf of the Church in Canada. Jesus
is returning for a pure bride. Reflect on our sins and the broken nature of
Christ’s bride in our nation. If you need a place to start, you can begin with
the sins listed in Galatians 5:19-21. Acknowledge that the Church has displayed
both legalism and outright sin, but has forgotten the power of Christ’s grace.
Ask God to help us to do what we can: denying sin because we love Him and He is
worthy of our praise. Ask Him to help us trust Him to do what we cannot: making
us wholly pure and blameless before Him.
