We begin worship this week with:
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
This verse starts with an odd phrase that repeats itself. Why was Paul being so emphatic about freedom? The Galatians were doing something nonsensical. They were wasting the freedom given by Christ and returning to the familiarity of enslavement.
You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
We live in a freedom-loving country. We abhor the idea of slavery. We love movies where the hero breaks free from the yoke of oppression. We would never fall into such a trap. Or would we?
If we are honest with ourselves, freedom scares us. If we are free to decide, then we have to . . . decide. If we decide, we could get it wrong. If only there were a set of rules we could follow, then we would know that we are doing the right thing. Our shoulders actually yearn for the familiarity of the yoke.
Paul takes one of those rules and shatters the yoke.
For in Christ Jesus neither ________ nor ________ counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
Paul did not replace the rule that you must be circumcised with a new rule that you must not be circumcised. He threw away the rule.
In the verse above, I left the rule blank. Think for a moment, what rule you cherish, to which you are yoked, that prevents you from showing the love of Christ. Then break it,
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