The Liberty In Christ - Part 1
Galatians 5:1
“1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
Freedom is something that most people desire. There are those who want to be free from the law and want to do as they please. To allow that to happen results in anarchy. Laws are necessary and they are important. Feminists think that they are free when they can cast off any dependance upon men. They think they can do anything a man can do, and many times they think they can do it better than the man can do it. Those women that have chosen that path have not found that which they claim they want. They have not found freedom. They have chosen bondage. Our society today is rejecting God more and more and claiming that in so doing, they are liberated. Rather than getting to know the true God, they have chosen ‘chance’ as their god. They put on a big smile when they speak of a carbon tax which will help us to find a better way of living. With their foolish ideas, they are in reality taking man back to the times when there was no electricity and man had to light a lantern to get light in the dark. The difference now is that they do not want the lantern lit, because they causes ‘climate change’. They want to take the coal away, and tax the oil and gas so that people will be forced to turn the thermostat down and put on a jacket to try to keep warm. However, the dreamers of these schemes will be living in their fancy houses and getting around with their fancy transportation methods. Man will not be liberated, but will be further in bondage. There are also those among professing Christians who believe that because they are saved they can decide what is sin and what is not because they have the liberty to do so. This attitude is common among people, but not supported by the Word of God.
The Greek word translated as “liberty” in our text is found ten times in the New Testament. The basic meaning of the word is “freedom”. This Greek word comes from another Greek word which is found twenty three times in the New Testament. That word means “unrestrained”. If we look at the various verses that use one or the other of these two words, we need to examine the context as to what is being spoken of.