Lesson7
Galatians
Galatians 5:1-15
Freedom Through Christ
Prayer
Lord, give us the vision to see the contrast between the freedom that you have provided through Christ and the bondage that comes from following The Law. Endow us with the boldness and the courage to walk in that freedom each day. Give us the strength of character to share that freedom with those who you lead across our path. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Key Words
Yoke, yeast, abolished, emasculate, indulge
Reading Assignment
Galatians 5:1 – 15
Lesson
Welcome back to Believers Bay’s study on the book of Galatians. Questions and comments should be directed to publisher@believersbay.com. Thank you. We hope you enjoy this study and it helps you to grow in Christ.
With freedom comes responsibility. If you’ve read the scripture for today’s lesson you will see that Christ has set us free for no other purpose than to simply experience freedom! What a wonderful heritage he has provided us. No longer must we be bound by the restrictions of laws and legalism. No longer must we approach God through a priest and an animal sacrifice. No longer must a nation wait for one time a year when a high priest is allowed to call upon God to forgive the sins of the nation.
We have direct access to God through an eternal high priest, Jesus. We have the freedom of trusting in HIS blood sacrifice to cleanse our sins. We may freely walk around in the spiritual realm and extend the hand of freedom to those around us. Class distinctions, racial distinctions, gender distinctions are all wiped away. Everyone may freely access God.
With all this freedom a certain arrogance my present itself, however. We may arrogantly claim that we can do anything that we desire. We are not under the old law so there is no law to govern our behavior. I am FREE!!! I owe nothing to anyone!!! Not so.
We are under a law. The law is summed up in verse 14. We are obligated by this law to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. It is not an option. It is not a suggestion. It is not a social idea. It is a command.
There were some among the Jews that felt that it was necessary, in order to become a Christian, for the Gentiles to become circumcised. They felt that since Christianity came out of Judaism one simply must become a Jew in order to become saved. Paul taught otherwise. Instead of the initiation of physical circumcision he taught that the heart must become circumcised. The cutting away of the fleshly attitudes that govern the heart would allow us to serve God with a newness of life. This conflict reached its peak in Galatia where he felt the need to clearly address this issue.
Circumcision is the cutting away of foreskin from the male genitalia. It was a symbol of the covenant between God and man. God gave this as a sign to Abraham and it represented a blood covenant. This study doesn’t have the room to address blood covenants but you can see this blood covenant created a fiercely committed people; The Jews. Paul suggested that if their focus was on removal of flesh to make them righteous rather than the change of a heart that they simply remove all the male genitalia…which was of course a facetious statement. He was drawing a ridiculous contrast to show them how silly their arguments were.
Word Definitions
Yoke – A harness that was used to force oxen to work together at the same pace.
Yeast – causes bread to rise.
Abolished – cancelled; done away with; discontinued
Emasculate – to become totally feminine
Indulge – give in to desires
Action Assignment
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Re-evaluate your life. See if there are traditions that you are following that are restrictive. Eliminate them.Ø
After re-evaluating your life ask yourself this question: "Am I loving my neighbor?" If you find that you are, give God praise. If you find out you aren’t take a moment to ask God’s forgiveness then go and make whatever changes are necessary to meet this singular law of God in your life.