Freedom

Galatians 5:1-6 The freedom we enjoy as a nation and so often take for granted, was won for us at great cost. Many lives were lost, and many suffered ridicule, injury and imprisonment; from the Revolutionary war to the marches of Dr. Martin Luther King. Probably only those who have been denied their freedom or who have had it challenged or denied at one point or another really have a sense of the value of freedom. When one is born free, he tends to take it for granted. Our freedom in Christ also came at great cost. The price for our freedom was paid once and for all on the cross at Calvary. There is nothing that can be done to gain it or improve upon it; but only to receive it by faith as a gift of God. The Apostle Paul gives an excellent example in the previous chapter, the example of Hagar and Sarah. Abraham was given an impossible promise, at least from the human perspective. I believe that God made Abraham wait until Sarah was 90 and he was 100 so that Isaac was a product of God’s doing, not Abraham’s. So that Isaac was born as a result of God’s promise. Ishmael was born as a result of Abraham taking matters into his own hands. Abraham was "helping God out." Abraham’s effort had results - Ishmael; but God’s promise didn’t pass through him. Our freedom and salvation in Christ are also a result of God’s promise and not our own efforts. There is not a human act that can be performed that will make it happen. It is only in receiving by faith what God promised through His Son. Ceremonies, rules, or laws have no value in obtaining God’s promise. “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Galatians 5:6b. We can be very creative in expressing anger or getting revenge. Let’s use that same creativity in expressing our agape love towards one another and to God. Let’s do because we are His not in order to become.