A Charter for Freedom

Reading through the Book of Galatians this morning, I found this interesting quote in the comments section at the beginning of the book.

The book of Galatians is the charter of Christian freedom.  In this profound letter, Paul proclaims the reality of our liberty in Christ — freedom from the law and the power of sin, and freedom to serve our living Lord.

The book of Galatians was written by Paul in approximately A.D 49 to the churches in southern Galatia (which is now an area in the modern country of Turkey).  Many churches had been founded in this area on Paul’s first missionary journey.  After Paul’s departure, many zealous Christian Jews (called the Judaizers) began to preach a gospel that said that Gentile Christians had to submit to Jewish laws and traditions in addition to believing in Christ.  The purpose of the book of Galatians was to refute these Judaizers and to bring the believers back to the pure Gospel, one that the Good News is for all people and salvation is by God’s grace alone through faith in Christ Jesus and nothing else.  Faith in Christ means true freedom.

Jesus himself in his own words tells us exactly what we need to do for eternal salvation.

Jesus told them, ‘This is what God wants you to do:  Believe in the one he has sent.’  -John 6:29

I assure you, those who listen to my  message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life.  They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death to life.  -John 5:24

I could share many verses, but the point is, throughout the Bible we are taught that Jesus has taken the yoke of the law from us and carried that burden to the cross.  When he conquered death, we are no longer tied to the law.  The law showed us how imperfect we were, Jesus took our imperfection upon himself and made us clean through his blood.  He’s given us our freedom from the law of the old testament.

I think I may have a few more posts in me on the book of Galatians as it’s a fascinating book that I’ve not studied in depth before.  I may talk more about that and more about the role of good works in our lives….because while not a requirement of salvation, it is something that Christians ought to want to do.

God bless you all today.