Galatians 5: 1

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5: 1 will be our theme verse over the next few weeks as we consider the Gospel as presented by Paul to the churches of Galatia. It was Christ and Christ alone who set us free to live in (what else) FREEDOM. This is not just some kind of abstract idea or concept. Today, in Christ, we can live in freedom from our past life of sin, freedom from our failures and experience freedom to live a life wholeheartedly pursuing the one who freed us.

What keeps us from a life of Freedom in Christ? In his first epistle John warns about the threat from outside the church referring to the love of the world. But for the churches in Galatia, the challenge to the Gospel was altogether different. The Galatians had been led away by perverted teaching within the church.

We face the same type of challenge today with at least three different methods of “Jesus Plus” types of teachings.

In the next post, we’ll begin with the first chapter of Galatians. We’ll consider what makes the Gospel the Gospel and how to spot the difference and we’ll consider the life of a person whose life was literally transformed by the power of Christ.