Living in Freedom

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”

(Galatians 5:13-15 ESV)

What a blessing it is to know that we’ve been freed from the law. No longer must we live according to the regulations of the Old Testament ceremonial law. And no longer are we bound to the teachings of men, in their efforts to ensure that the law is followed.

We are free to worship on Sunday, rather than Saturday (the Sabbath). We are free to mow our lawn on Sunday. We are free to eat pulled pork, for which I am extremely thankful. And we’re free to wear clothing made of a cotton/polyester blend.

None of these things will condemn us. And none of these things contribute to our salvation in any way. Our salvation is found in Christ alone and is received through faith alone.

However, that being said, care must yet be taken. As with anything, there are two extremes to which we can go. Just as we can easily fall into legalism, we can also fall easily into antinomianism.

I realize that many of you may not be familiar with that term. It literally means “no law.” And what I’m saying is that, because of the freedom given to us in Christ, many of us go to the extreme of believing that we can do anything and everything our heart desires.

Our freedom, Paul tells us, is not to be used as an opportunity for the flesh. In other words, our freedom is not to be used as an excuse to indulge our sinful desires. Instead, he says, we’re to use our freedom to serve one another through love.

Loving others, then, is a stark contrast to the indulging of our sinful desires. Loving others means denying the self. It means repenting of selfishness that we might live selflessly.

We're free from the burden of the law, we're free from the burden of trying to earn our salvation, that we might love one another. Our freedom is given that we might serve one another. Our freedom is given that we might bless one another.

Loving others as we love ourselves fulfills the law. If we love our neighbor, we will seek not to harm him. If we love our neighbor, we will seek only his blessing.