Eden Day 10 Invitation to Conversation: Digging Deeper

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

1) Why does Paul say Christ has set us free from slavery? (verse 1)
My friend had a vintage Victrola record player to play old radio dramas. I enjoyed how each episode was dependent on the music, tone, and dramatic narration to tell the story. Sometimes they were cheesy, but often they were compelling and captivating. I later discovered a radio program called Unshackled, which I enjoyed for all the same reasons. However, it had an added pleasure as it was a dramatic presentation of redemption stories from people who had been saved out of sinful lives by the love of Jesus. The program asserted that “without Jesus Christ, we are all shackled by sin—by our wrong choices, disobedience and selfish motives. But God is at work, and when the power of Christ sets us free from our bondage, we are…unshackled!” (unshackled.org) Paul tells us the same thing in Galatians 5:1 when he writes, “For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.” When Jesus took our sins upon Himself at Calvary (Galatians 1:4), He made us blameless before God the Father (Colossians 1:22). He also empowers us by His Holy Spirit to walk in a manner pleasing to Him, without sin and fear. (Ephesians 3:17-20) Andrew Murray suggests “he who stands in the freedom of the Holy Spirit–he who is then truly free–cannot be prevented or hindered from being what he could and should be. As it is the nature of a tree to grow upwards–free from all hindrances–so a child of God then grows to what he should and will be.” God blesses His children with freedom from sins that weigh us down and gives us the grace to become more like Him as we walk with Him each day. (Hebrews 12:1)

2) How are those trying to be justified by the law alienated from Christ? (verse 4)
I am not the world’s best housekeeper, so from time to time, I look for ways to help me stay organized and tidy. Once, I found a website many friends vouched for and I signed up for email alerts to help me throughout the day. At first, I appreciated the reminders to clean out one drawer a week or empty my sink and make it shine before going to bed. Eventually, however, all the rules overwhelmed me! I had reminders to do small daily tasks and alerts to build new monthly habits, instructions on developing cleaning zones and even encouragement to always wear shoes in the house to foster a mindset of readiness to work. After 2 weeks, my phone was blowing up constantly and I was exhausted trying to follow all the rules for being a good house cleaner. Paul described a similar frustration and exhaustion with rule following in Galatians 5:4 when he said, ^“You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace.” Instead of walking in the grace of God offered by the sacrifice of Christ, believers were trying to justify themselves by following the laws of Moses. Paul reminded them that not only was it unnecessary, they were keeping themselves from Christ by trying to do for themselves what He had already done for them on the cross. (Titus 3:5) Author Ann Voskamp writes that “Jesus comes to give you freely through His suffering passion what every other god forces you to try to get through striving performance.” With Jesus there is no need to endeavor to be holy. His shed blood makes us righteous. (Romans 5:9) We rejoice in the fact that our righteousness comes through Christ and not from following any list of rules or laws.

3) How is the whole law fulfilled in the statement, “love your neighbor as yourself?” (verse 14)
It sometimes seems like the world has become a harsher place to live lately. People are being banned from flights, restaurants, sporting events and stores for rude and belligerent behavior. The internet is populated with videos of people screaming and feuding over inaccurate fast food orders or long wait times. Even public figures, from school board members to movie award recipients, are resorting to physical violence to solve disagreements. In light of this, we find it difficult to comprehend the sweet simplicity of what God said in Galatians 5:14, “the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.” God’s Word has laws to obey that we cannot do in our own strength. (Ezekiel 36:27) But God gives us His strength by His Spirit to help us obey His laws, which He says are summed up in the command to love our neighbor as ourselves. Angie Smith asserts, “Christ sacrificed Himself on our behalf. And in His fulfillment of the law—in our place—we become free to follow, not forced to follow. This is where we find Jesus. . . He is our Rescuer; our good. When we forget His goodness, He is patient, kind, and compassionate.” It is God’s love that helps us reach out in kindness to our neighbor, treating them the way we would want them to treat us. According to John Piper, our love for God “is made visible and manifest and full in our visibly, practically, sacrificially loving others.” When we love God and allow Him to love others through us, we are obeying God and fulfilling His plans for our lives.

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