Christ Hath Made Us Free

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free,

and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

(Galatians 5:1)

An English Gospel preacher in the 1800s wrote of having intervened in a situation where a young girl had been indentured to pay off debts that her poor parents could not afford to pay. She had been subjected to a very abusive taskmaster, so he intervened, paid off her debt and released her back to her parents.

This story reiterates in a small way our own helpless estate whereby we were sold into bondage because of the sin of our earthly father Adam, Romans 5:12. We lavished under the debt of our sin, condemned to a life of servitude, until the LORD Jesus Christ came into the world to satisfy God’s law and justice in His life, death and resurrection, to free those sinners that His Father had given Him, Galatians 4:4-5. It was upon completion of His death at the cross that those He came to save were once for all, fully, freely, finally and forever justified (made free) from the yoke of bondage of their debt before God, Romans 5:9-11.

By law, a freeman is someone who possesses and enjoys all the civil and political rights belonging to the people under a free government.What a beautiful description of those that the LORD Jesus has made free (justified) and they now live in the liberty as free citizens in the Kingdom of Christ (His church of the elect, redeemed and called out sinners). As freed citizens, we are instructed to live as freed (justified) sinners. How so?

1.) “Stand fast, therefore” Be firm and unwavering against any pressures from men or even our own flesh to subjugate us to any rules, regulations or forms of religion that would in any way draw us away from the freedom of Grace that we enjoy in the finished work of the LORD Jesus Christ.

2.) “Be not entangled again” One commentator renders this as; ‘wrap not yourselves again’ as in becoming slaves again to any rites, customs or habits that men and religion impose on their adepts either for gaining or maintaining salvation. Our salvation is in Christ and His work accomplished before the Father. To return to the beggarly elements of the flesh to attempt to add to His work is to deny Him and His work and to declare His work to be vain, Galatians 2:21.

The liberty here is that freedom from the curse and condemnation of the law and from contribution, cooperation or condition required by the sinner. This is a liberty of the Grace of God in Christ, where we live by His Spirit, willingly and exclusively to glorify Him Who has made us free from the condemnation of the law, sin, Satan and the world. Where Christ has made free, we are free indeed, John. 8:36.