That's the question Paul has for the Galatians. Do you want to be free, or do you want to be slaves? He is angry with them because he told them the truth, he spoke the Gospel to them, and God set them free, and he thinks that they want to be slaves again.
Perhaps they do not understand, so he tries to find an analogy. He tells them about the two sons of Abraham, the son of Hagar (Ishmael) and the son of Sarah (Isaac). Ishmael was the child of slavery, and Isaac was the child of freedom, the child of promise. Isaac was given by the promise of God, and so even though the children of Israel lived in slavery for awhile, they were destined to be free, to live by faith rather than by the law.
Freedom.
What does it mean?
Freedom is a loaded word in our culture. We are the "land of the free and the home of the brave." Paul wants the Galatians to be free, free in Christ, which is not "freedom to do anything you want", even though he speaks of "freedom from the demands of the law." Freedom in Christ is freedom from: freedom from fear that we are not acceptable to God; freedom from keeping the law in a slavish way. But it is also freedom to: freedom to love our neighbor, freedom to love God, freedom for love, joy, peace, joy and all of the other fruit of the Spirit.
Someone wants the Galatians to be circumcised. Paul thinks that these "Judaizers" think it would be a feather in their cap to claim the Galatians for their cause. But Paul says, if they do this ritual, they will be enslaved again, they will be obligated to keep the whole law, they will no longer be free in Christ.
Do you want to be free?
That's the question Paul has for the Galatians.
It's not about self-improvement, but it's about death and resurrection, about freedom and new creation every day. God is making us a new creation, an focussing on what we do is just muddying the waters.
Do you want to be free? Free to bear one one another's burdens, and carry your own load? Free to let Christ live in you? Free to love your neighbor, and claim living resources that are not your own, but that belong to the crucified one?
Do you want to be free? That's the question that Paul has for the Galatians. I think Paul, and Jesus, are still asking.
Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts
Friday, August 3, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Day 49: Bondage to Sin/Freedom in Christ
Perhaps chapter 7 of Romans confuses you somewhat. I find the sentence structures convoluted, and it seems like (at times, anyway) that Paul is really struggling to say what he wants to say. Then, for a moment, it becomes clear. Then, it's a struggle again.
Since Paul is talking about the relationship between sin and the law, between our desire for God and our temptations to do evil, it's perhaps understandable that his language sounds like a struggle. Because there's a struggle going on inside us: the struggle to do good, and the knowledge that we have done evil, and our guilt before God.
Many people have assumed that what Paul is writing is a sort of confessional, that he is saying, "this is what it was like for me before I followed Jesus." But actually, he is not writing about himself, but his "I" is meant to be EveryMan. He is not telling his story; he is telling all our stories. We are in bondage to sin, struggling to do the right thing but failing at every turn and in every way imaginable. We are spiraling out of control. What are we going to do?
The good news is: "what are we going to do?" is not even the right question. There is nothing for US to do. The question is not "what are we going to do?" but "what is God going to do?" And the answer is,
Thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through out Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter 8 follows as one of the most soaring chapters in all of scripture. The chapter begins: Now there is no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. God has ended the struggle. God does not condemn us.
By grace God's spirit dwells in us, and helps us to turn to God again and again. By grace God's spirit dwells in us, and helps us through our suffering, helps us in our weakness, and proclaims to us, holds on to us, so that we know that God's love will never let go of us, no matter what happens to us. Even death can't separate us from God's love.
This is such a long way from the struggle just one chapter ago, in chapter 7, but it is the movement of our lives, every day, and every time we confess our sin. We move from our awareness of our bondage to experiencing the gift of freedom again. That is the power of God in Christ.
Since Paul is talking about the relationship between sin and the law, between our desire for God and our temptations to do evil, it's perhaps understandable that his language sounds like a struggle. Because there's a struggle going on inside us: the struggle to do good, and the knowledge that we have done evil, and our guilt before God.
Many people have assumed that what Paul is writing is a sort of confessional, that he is saying, "this is what it was like for me before I followed Jesus." But actually, he is not writing about himself, but his "I" is meant to be EveryMan. He is not telling his story; he is telling all our stories. We are in bondage to sin, struggling to do the right thing but failing at every turn and in every way imaginable. We are spiraling out of control. What are we going to do?
The good news is: "what are we going to do?" is not even the right question. There is nothing for US to do. The question is not "what are we going to do?" but "what is God going to do?" And the answer is,
Thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through out Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter 8 follows as one of the most soaring chapters in all of scripture. The chapter begins: Now there is no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. God has ended the struggle. God does not condemn us.
By grace God's spirit dwells in us, and helps us to turn to God again and again. By grace God's spirit dwells in us, and helps us through our suffering, helps us in our weakness, and proclaims to us, holds on to us, so that we know that God's love will never let go of us, no matter what happens to us. Even death can't separate us from God's love.
This is such a long way from the struggle just one chapter ago, in chapter 7, but it is the movement of our lives, every day, and every time we confess our sin. We move from our awareness of our bondage to experiencing the gift of freedom again. That is the power of God in Christ.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Day 48: Abraham, Adam, Jesus -- Peace with God
In the next three chapters are three different models for us. In Chapter 4 we meet Abraham, the father of Israel, the father of the circumcised, the one who originally heard God, and set out on a journey to a place he had never been before. Paul makes the argument that Abraham is the father not just of Israel, not just of the circumcised, but of all who trust God's faithfulness. Didn't God's call to Abraham (and Abraham's answer) precede his circumcision? Paul asks. (Yes). Well, then, it is not circumcision that makes the difference but it is faith in God. It is trust in Christ's faithfulness, not whether we meet a particular legal requirement, that makes the difference.
Before we meet the next model (Adam), there is that wonderful portion of Romans 5 that shows us the consequences of trusting in Christ's faithfulness: peace with God. This peace transcends our circumstances, builds character, and gives meaning to our suffering, because God's love has overflowed into our hearts.
So, what about Adam? Paul also lists Adam as a model -- a model not of obedience but of disobedience, not of trust but of distrust. Adam and Eve were in the garden, with free gifts all around them, and instead of seeing the abundance of gifts, they focused on the one thing denied them. Paul says -- we are like Adam -- and yet, God values us, loves us, and Jesus died for us.
Then, finally, is Jesus, the third model. Unlike Adam, Jesus trusts God. Jesus is faithful to God -- and to us. Somehow because of this faithfulness, the cycle of sin is broken, and we are set free. We don't have to obey God, out of fear or obligation. But we get to hear God's voice, experience God's love and caring, and help our neighbor in ways that really help.
Paul is talking about, trying to explain big things, big concept: Freedom and captivity, sin and faith and righteousness. What do those words mean to you? What does it mean to be free? or, not free?
Before we meet the next model (Adam), there is that wonderful portion of Romans 5 that shows us the consequences of trusting in Christ's faithfulness: peace with God. This peace transcends our circumstances, builds character, and gives meaning to our suffering, because God's love has overflowed into our hearts.
So, what about Adam? Paul also lists Adam as a model -- a model not of obedience but of disobedience, not of trust but of distrust. Adam and Eve were in the garden, with free gifts all around them, and instead of seeing the abundance of gifts, they focused on the one thing denied them. Paul says -- we are like Adam -- and yet, God values us, loves us, and Jesus died for us.
Then, finally, is Jesus, the third model. Unlike Adam, Jesus trusts God. Jesus is faithful to God -- and to us. Somehow because of this faithfulness, the cycle of sin is broken, and we are set free. We don't have to obey God, out of fear or obligation. But we get to hear God's voice, experience God's love and caring, and help our neighbor in ways that really help.
Paul is talking about, trying to explain big things, big concept: Freedom and captivity, sin and faith and righteousness. What do those words mean to you? What does it mean to be free? or, not free?
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