Stay Out of That Net!

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1 NKJV)

Once again, the word, “therefore,” is a pointer to direct you back to the previous section of the text. Sometimes it references something immediately prior but in this case it refers to the entire discussion from chapters 3 and 4. Paul was pointing out that subjecting oneself to Old Covenant Law for things like circumcision or any other compliance detail makes one subservient to every point of the law, thus the grace of Christ of no effect for that person.

“For this reason,” he says, “hold firm; there is no reason to confine yourself to subjugation under the Old Covenant.” The, “yoke of bondage,” is the burden of complying with every jot and tittle of the Law. As a fish who has gotten free from the net, those who have been freed from sin should live in the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, not again getting tangled up in that net of restriction.

Does that give us liberty to ignore everything from the Old Testament? Paul would respond, “By no means!” Paul time and again uses scripture from the Old Testament to support his arguments and positions, as does every other writer and even Jesus Himself! He even said, during His Sermon on the Mount, “‘Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.’” (Matthew 5:17 NKJV)

What did He mean by that? His point was clarified a couple of verses later. “‘For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.’” (Matthew 5:20 NKJV). Just as Paul said, if you are relying on adherence to the Law for your salvation, you’ve got a long row to hoe.

In Christ we are free but not free to do whatever we our old nature might want. Paul said to the Romans, “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:18 NKJV) We are free to serve our Savior and others in righteousness, the end of which is eternal life. “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:22-23 NKJV). What a wonderful trade-off!

Related scriptures:

“Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.” (Philippians 4:1 NKJV)

“Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” (Acts 15:10 NKJV)

“And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” (Galatians 2:4-5 NKJV)