Freedom Is In Jesus Christ

(Galatians 2:3-10)

Christianity possesses the greatest power on earth. Within the teachings of Christianity are all of the things you need to know to set you free, because freedom is in Jesus Christ.

Apart from Christ there is no freedom and there can be no freedom. Apart from Christ there is only bondage and slavery.

Look at the world around you. Who in this world is truly free? Any person who is confined under law, fear and bound up by the passions of human nature cannot be truly free. All people in this world are in bondage because true freedom can only be found in Jesus Christ. That is what these few verses of Paul are saying too.

Attempted Freedom

Many people have tried to create a state of freedom in the world over the millennia, but all attempts have failed.

As an example, consider the USA, which was founded on the basis of freedom and is known as the “land of the free.” But are they really free?

No they are not, and neither is any other country in this world, especially the western world. All have failed to achieve the dream of freedom because, they are ruled by men, and unfortunately no man can be trusted.

Look at what Jesus had to say about mankind in general:

24 but Jesus did not trust himself to them, 25 because he knew all men and needed no one to bear witness of man; for he himself knew what was in man. (John 2:24-25)

Jesus did not trust himself to any man because He knew what was in men. Jesus knew that man was driven by lusts and passions. Man sought power, influence, control and wanted to be in charge. This is the nature of man.

And so freedom in this world cannot work because the only way man can control things is through the wielding of power to control other people. And to control people man does this through bondage.

Man today is bound by a crushing amount of laws and they are increasing every day. None of these laws ads to the freedom of man, but rather they detract and confine mankind to greater and greater bondage.

In addition man is bound by fear of the world around him. We see on the news daily, acts of terror, financial collapse, loss of jobs and income, wars and rumours of wars. Not to mention the natural and man-made disasters that plague the world on a daily basis.

All of these things lead to bondage, and the governments have no answer to most of the things going on. In many cases they are to blame for some of the problems because it is their actions and laws that bring bondage rather than freedom.

The answer to the question of true freedom will never come while man is in control. True freedom can only come through Jesus Christ who died an horrific death to buy our freedom from all forms of bondage and slavery so that we could be truly free.

True Freedom

We see the true freedom that is in Jesus Christ hinted at in these scriptures. We see also the confirmation of Paul’s gospel as being accurate and delivering freedom, because he was accepted by the Apostles and Elders who first learned the truth of freedom from Jesus Christ Himself.

Paul made these comments in these verses.

3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 But because of false brethren secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage— 5 to them we did not yield submission even for a moment, that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. (Galatians 2:3-5)

Remember that in this letter to the Galatians Paul was addressing some false doctrine brought down by some of the teachers in the early church, who Paul described as false teachers and false Apostles. These men were attempting to bring the Galatians church (and others) under the law of Moses and requiring the men to be circumcised as required under the law.

Paul disputed that teaching vehemently and went to Jerusalem with some of these teachers to place the matter before the Apostles and Elders of the early church.

They agreed with Paul.

The ministry of the New Covenant and the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ is about freedom. Under it you can be truly made free from all things, including: sin, the law, and the passions, lust and desires of the flesh.

All of this freedom is both possible and offered to anyone who believes and follows the sound teachings of Jesus Christ.

It won’t free you from the laws of the land. That is not the point of this freedom. But it will set you free from the bondages of sin and the laws of Moses and most importantly, it will bring you to the place where you can control the passions of the flesh through walking in the Spirit so they can be dealt with once and for all as you are transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

And recall the words of Jesus who said,

31 Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32)

Jesus is not concerned about whether we are free from the laws of the land. They have been established for the purpose of governance, and although some of the laws are becoming suspect, and there are some bad laws being passed recently, for the most part we need to abide by the laws of the land except where they directly oppose the words of God. In the end we are all accountable to God, so we must listen to Him over the words of any man.

What Jesus and God are concerned about is the nature of man. In Jesus Christ they have set up the means by which we may be reconciled to God, set free from sin and set free from the law, so that we can be restored and transformed back into the image of His perfection. And that mechanism comes through Jesus Christ and faith in Him.

Freedom is in Jesus Christ and Him alone. Apart from Christ there can be no freedom. But with and in Christ there is total freedom. We are free to do what is right in the sight of God, which is to believe in and follow His son, Jesus Christ. We are set free in Him so that we can stand before God righteous and not bound by sin. We are set free from the law so that we cannot break the law and thereby sin, because sin is the breaking of the law. We are set free so that we will be in a place where God has said He will help us to be transformed into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the image of His Father.

And we are set free so that God would send down His Holy Spirit to all who ask Him for the Spirit, so that we can be transformed by the Holy Spirit into the image of Christ. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to help us deal with the lusts, passions and desires of the human flesh so that we can be like Christ.

And all of this is possible because Christ died for us so that we can know, freedom is in Jesus Christ.

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