Daily Manna Update, Wednesday July 17, 2013 Topic: Stay free! Text: Galatians 5:1-12 Key Verse: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage (Galatians 5:1). What do you think of a group of people who have been under severe bondage for a very long time? Yet, when a so-called liberator eventually came, it was only to plunge them into a more severe form of captivity! You will say, it is like going from frying pan to fire! This was what Apostle Paul tried to warn the Galatian Christians against. The Galatian Gentiles who had come to believe in Christ were under pressure from some professing Christian Jews to become circumcised. They taught that the salvation of these Gentiles was not complete except they obeyed the Mosaic Law and become circumcised. They tried to make them believe that circumcision will give them superior spiritual status and right. Thus, they tried to add the works of the law to the finished work of Christ. Paul in our text warned Gentile believers of the danger of believing in this error. Circumcision would bring the Gentiles into a new form of captivity. Should they do this, they would be forfeiting the liberty which Christ has gotten for them through His death. If they agreed to be circumcised as a condition for salvation and righteousness, they then would be under obligation to keep the whole Mosaic Law which the Jews themselves have not been able to keep. As such, they would lose their salvation. The goal of the gospel is to set us free and not to bring us again into any form of bondage. There is complete liberty in Christ. Faith in Him is the only condition for salvation, not in addition to any other carnal and human prescription. We must avoid those who want us to feel that our salvation is not complete except we conform to and live by a particular style of life, conduct and appearance. This however, does not mean that we should see our liberty in Christ as a license to live and dress carelessly. It is our responsibility to ensure our liberty by living in total obedience to the whole word of God. If you do this, you will never fall. Thought for the day: Faith and obedience guarantee our freedom in Christ.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 06:28:31 +0000
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