“Grow up and follow the truth or remain wishy-washy and betray Christ’s act of love.” I can see this as the summary of Paul’s anger towards false teachers.
Christ sets us free for freedom. We are not to create a new legalistic way of worship. The law proved we are incapable of true worship by God’s standards. We needed freedom in order to worship. To be chained to the very law from which Jesus died to free us reduces faith to mere words without power. To add legal components to Christianity puts us back under the burden of the law.
Freedom is from Christ. We are free to live righteous lives. I am bound by the morality placed within me, and only I can make the choice to uphold the proper way to live life – the way that honors God. I cannot legalize it but I can expect it of others.
To put the law before redemption cheapens the work of Christ. Being obedient to the law doesn’t merit the grace of God. God’s grace is given freely! Circumcision doesn’t earn me more grace or any brownie points. Faith in Christ delivers to me His grace. Faith opens the door to the work of the Holy Spirit who instructs me in righteousness. As Paul says, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (v. 6)
So if love is the expression of my faith, then why choke myself with the burden of being obligated to follow the whole law. Just subjecting myself to parts of the law obligates me to the whole law! Faith sums up the whole of my worth and is full of value. The law leaves me without value because it measures me as unworthy. Grace gives me value because it shows how valuable I am to God – He gave His life to prove it!
Running the “race” requires us to obey the truth. Paul is not against obedience; he just wants us to obey Christ in love. Only one person who is disobedient or who distorts the truth is enough to spread malicious teachings within the church body. Paul speaks adamantly against false teachers to the point of suggesting such people should “emasculate” or castrate themselves (those are pretty harsh words) which is a worthless act before Christ. Paul’s wish was to use this letter to weaken the arguments of the false teachers (emasculation) though he probably would not have objected to their castration if it proved his point. “Go ahead and do it and see where it doesn’t get you!”
We are called to be free at the high cost of the life of Christ. We should not abuse this freedom and continue to live in sin. The “repent and confess” pattern of life is not freedom because freedom does not give us a license to sin. Don’t get me wrong. Some people will struggle for a while in some areas – but the struggle is meant to teach us how to become more dependent on God not to keep sin in our lives or to use it as a reason to give up!
Freedom is for serving others in love. Without love and a willingness to serve one another, we will destroy each other like the petty bullies in school today. “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- First, we love because God is love, and we are made in His image; the very image He pulls out of us when we turn to Him for salvation.
- Second, we love our neighbors because Christ died for them also. He did not hold anything back from us, and we must choose to follow this path – the path of the cross.
- Finally, we are to love others as we love ourselves. Self-deprecation and self-absorption do not make us good lovers of our soul. Temperance is the key. Learning to serve others gives us purpose and helps us to remember we are not the only ones who suffer. Indulging in sin is selfishness. Serving is the way of Christ; I choose serving.
If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. Galatians 5:15 (NIV)
Besides, bitterness destroys. I have seen too many marriages and families and friendships dissolve over constant bickering. People all trying to choose sides and some caught in the middle. Maybe we should all stop for a minute and simply pray,” God, am I devouring others? Am I bitter? How can I change? Let me find forgiveness from you, show forgiveness to others, and grow through forgiving myself.”
- How does Galatians 5:15 affect you?
- Are you able to love your neighbor as you love yourself?
- Are you making your faith count through serving others in love? Or are you just trying to feel good about yourself and forgetting others?
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