Freedom in Christ
Galatians 5:1-15
So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favour with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.
You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.
Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended. I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.
For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.
We are really amazingly put together by God. There is a miraculous immune system working in our bodies to fight off viruses and disease when they try to invade our bodies.
Each one of you reading this, will recall times when you succumbed to the flu or some other disease. The body went into fight response, and suddenly the fever broke and then you started to feel you were over the worst of it.
Increasingly, as we get older, "auto-immune" diseases start to rear their ugly heads. Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis are incurable diseases that result in the immune system actually attacking the healthy cells and organs of the body. These horrible diseases trigger an immune response that attacks organs, joints and the nervous system, gradually debilitating the person resulting in pain, increasing disability and even death.
It struck me recently, that the Body of Christ has been susceptible to a type of spiritual auto-immune disease. Where believers are more interested in "biting and devouring" one another than spreading the good news of Jesus!
You only have to look at some of the comments on social media as a case in point.
Christians who have different opinions on prophecy get offended by one another's view, on when Jesus will return and even fall out over it.
The COVID-19 virus and the vaccine has been another bone of contention which has caused emotional response and opposing views.
We've taken our eyes off the prize and have started to destroy one another from within!
I have been suffering from an auto-immune condition for a good few years now and, sadly, what my head wants to do, my body often fails to respond - whether it's through pain or tiredness.
Jesus is the Head of His Body - as believers, we all make up part of Him as we live our lives on this earth. Like a body, we should work in harmony with one another.
How sad that Jesus, our Head, is prevented from carrying out His plans because we are too busy destroying each other!
The good news is, that, unlike physical auto-immune diseases, there IS a cure for the spiritual one: "What is important is faith expressing itself in love."
Let's make up our minds to be done with biting and devouring and concentrate on loving one another!
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