His Grace Sets us Free
Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age. Therefore, His grace sets us free from every bondage.
I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ (Galatians 1:6-7).
Paul was astonished that the Galatians were so quickly turning away from God. He had preached the true gospel to them that they were justified by faith in Jesus Christ only, not by the works of the law. But the Galatians have easily forgotten that they were called in the grace of Christ not any different gospel.
In the same way, many Christians of today, have turn from the gospel of grace and truth to works of the law and by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified. We should not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.
But today, we have a lot of preachers who are persuading people to live according to the traditions of men (i.e. if you don’t pray for certain hours, in a certain posture with your hair covered, your prayers will not be answered). Or you’re poor or sick, because you’re cursed (Galatians 3:13-14 says; our curse has been was placed on Christ). It’s not how moral and how good we are that makes us righteous in the sight of God, it is our faith in Christ that makes us righteous (2Corinthians 5:21). Many Christians today are not experiencing their liberty in Christ because of some of these teachings.
This was what Paul was addressing when certain brethren secretly brought in this idea that unless the Christians in Galatian accept the Jewish custom, they can’t be saved (Galatians 2:4).
The Judaizers (referred to here as “false brethren”) were Jewish converts to Christianity who insisted that Gentile believers must adopt Jewish customs and follow Jewish laws as a condition for salvation. Paul consistently opposed their teachings, insisting that only faith in Jesus Christ was necessary for salvation. Christs sets us free from the requirements of the Jewish law because He perfectly and completely fulfilled all its requirements during His time on earth and then died on our behalf.
Consider this:
- Do you feel you have to do some good things to be accepted by God?
- Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?
Prayer: Father, I thank You for Your grace and mercies that liberates me from having my own righteous. Help me to live in the liberty through which you have called me. Amen!
Read: Galatians 1:1-10
