Good Monday to you my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Have you ever been in a job, or a relationship, or an organization which you felt restricted you to the point you almost felt in bondage? If you were delivered from that bondage, do you remember the exhilarating freedom you felt?
That is the focus of the apostle Paul’s third chapter in his powerful letter to those he had met, as he and Barnabas traveled the region known today as southern Turkey. In the first century that region was the provinces of Pamphylia, Pisidia and Galatia.
Paul’s letter, we call Galatians, is a letter which celebrates FREEDOM from bondage. What bondage? Well actually two types of bondage that we find ourselves in today:
First, the bondage of our human sin nature which we are all born with.
And unless the power of God delivers us, that bondage is unbreakable by any human power. We’ll wallow in it all our lifetime and without Jesus we’ll die in that bondage and spend eternity far away from God. We have all experienced the shame, the pain, the broken heartedness of our sin nature, right? It’s suffocating, isn’t it?
But if the unlimited power of resurrected Jesus has set you free from your sin nature bondage, I hope you are living a daily celebration and thanking Jesus often!
Second, the bondage of ‘legalism effort’ trying to earn God’s favor or God’s blessing or for some who doubt what Jesus offers, they even try to earn God’s forgiveness!
Some of these people desperately seek to be perfect, which of course is impossible. Others try to live by a long list of do’s and don’ts hoping God will bless them, but that’s nothing short of frustrating.
So… what is God’s answer? Is there any hope for any of us? YES!!! The Holy Spirit of God led the apostle Paul to write a brief, 6-chapter letter to Christians living in the towns Paul and Barnabas had visited. Remember, we traveled with them in Acts 13 & 14.
Today let’s take a brief look at Galatians chapter 3, where Paul calls us to CELEBRATE our deliverance accomplished by the unlimited power of Jesus Christ unleashed into our lives. May I point out three freedoms which I hope you have experienced?
First is the power of the Holy Spirit of God living INSIDE every person who has trusted Jesus Christ for their deliverance!
You and me, living empowered by God, is nothing short of a miracle! Are you living that miracle my friends? Paul asked the question this way: “Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you have believed the Gospel message you have heard about Jesus Christ!” (Gal. 3:5 NLT)
Are you living free in the power of the Spirit of God celebrating His cleansing of you, (1 John 1:9) His gifting of you, (1 Cor. 12:4,7) His teaching you the deeper things of God? (John 14:26) Is the fruit of the Spirit evident in your life? (Gal. 5:22-25)
Second is the deliverance available to ANY and ALL people of the world only through Jesus Christ.
And when a person experiences that deliverance, they are drawn into the wonderful family of God so all other delivered Christians are their brothers and sisters all around the world! It’s remarkable! Have you ever traveled to another country and discovered a wonderful bond of closeness to Christians whose language you cannot speak, whose foods you’ve never eaten, whose lands you’ve never seen before?
That’s the miracle of the family of the redeemed, the delivered people of God! Paul wrote: “Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announced the Gospel in advance to Abraham. ‘All nations will be blessed through you’…So, in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you were baptized into Christ…” (Gal. 3:8,26) Oh my there’s a wonderful freedom in being part of the global family of God, isn’t there?
Third, are you living free from the curse and burden of the law?
Paul wrote: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” (Gal. 3:10) Oh my that fear weighed so heavily upon generations of people who knew they could not possibly obey every aspect of God’s laws of perfection. Have you ever felt like you were a failure all the time with everything you attempted? But Jesus changed all that.
Paul wrote: “Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God because ‘the righteous will live by faith’…Jesus Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law…” (Gal. 3:13) But how did Jesus deliver us? Paul wrote to the Corinthians Christians: “God made Him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21) It’s the miracle of God placing upon us the holiness of Jesus, as God places on Jesus the dreadfulness of our sin!!
So, friends, on this Monday, Paul calls us to celebrate…IF, you are FREE in Jesus Christ!? In fact, Paul adds these words: “It is for FREEDOM that Jesus Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by any yoke of bondage.” (Gal. 5:1)
So, on this Monday, let’s not allow the expectations of people, nor our failures in the past, nor anyone trying to shame us that we don’t measure up, we’re not good enough…nor anything else… hold us back from living FREE in Jesus, with the Holy Spirit of God giving us great, great FREEDOM joy today!
The ‘lessons learned’ notes will be very helpful for you at the link below and then of course a celebration song, and tomorrow, will you meet me here again and with Paul, as he writes his fourth chapter of his Galatians letter?
Today’s Scripture: Galatians 3.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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